Chapter One
"Damn credit card debt," Tally whispered as she looked over the record one last time. She'd been on hold with the debt settlement company for the past hour, waiting for someone to come along and work with her on Cecil's exorbitant amount of debt.
"Hello," someone on the other end of the line finally said.
"Yes, I'm looking for a debt settlement agent. You see, my grandfather passed away not long ago, just a few years after my father, and he seems to have wracked up this insane amount of debt."
"Well, you've come to the right place. How much did your grandfather owe?"
"Fifteen thousand dollars."
"Oy vey, that's bad. Now, which credit card company did he use and what was his number?" Tally passed this information on as it was stated on both the bill and Cecil's credit card, which she'd pulled out of his wallet. "Okay, and your circumstances?"
"Single, working as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History, living in my late grandfather's apartment until I can move out."
"Okay, we'll give you a call as soon as we get everything worked out."
"Thank you so much. You're a hero."
"Thanks. Bye."
Tally hung up and sagged in her chair, letting her phone slip from her fingers and land in the pile of bills that scattered the floor and kitchen table. It'd been a long three weeks since both McPhee's trial and the funerals of Cecil, Gus, and Reginold, and she was stuck with all of Cecil's crap.
She closed her eyes and thought back on the dent she'd made in Cecil's disorganized estate during the past three weeks, especially since the jury at McPhee's trial was hung. She'd just begun to settle his massive debt and clean out his apartment. She'd sold several things already, which gave her some breathing room, but his extensive notes and the things he kept from being a night guard were virtually worthless save to an intellectual who'd gone mad.
Dawn was fast approaching, and she had to trust Larry to make sure everyone got back to where they had to be before the new curator clocked in. That shrew was always early. Always.
Eventually, Tally opened her eyes and hauled herself out of the chair, walking over to the coffee table where she'd put all of Cecil's notes that she could find in his apartment. Again, she scoured for traces of anything she'd missed, and she put whatever she found, amounting to what she hoped were the last two sheets of loose-leaf paper, with the rest of the notes. She looked again, but she found nothing.
She looked around for some sleeves and binders for some of the loose-leaf pages, and she set to work organizing everything.
After six or seven hours of sleep, Tally woke, changed, and headed off to the museum for her shift, careful to avoid the curator shrew. Sadly, this proved impossible.
"Who are you and where do you think you're going?" she snapped. The new curator looked more like one of those uptight librarians, with her blond hair up in a bun and dressed in one of those pink and purple suits with the skirt, than anything else.
"Tally Johannson, and I'm going to work," Tally replied, waiting for the sun to fully set so she could find someone to talk to to get her out of this.
"Your position?"
"Night guard."
"Ah, you're the one that took leave because of your grandfather's death. Tsk, tsk."
"You try settling that guy's debt!"
"I would within the week. Now, don't just stand there, get to work!"
"That's what I was going to do until you forced me to stand here!"
The woman huffed and walked off with her nose in the air, and Tally found Larry in no time at all. "I see you met Mrs. Tinsley," Larry said, rather half-heartedly, as he walked up to meet her.
"And they hired her why?"
"No clue. Guess the board had nothing better to do."
"So they're taking it out on us?"
"I guess."
"Now what?"
"We just do what we do."
"We just do what we do," Tally whispered to herself.
