Free Options Are Good by Jerry D. Young Page B

Mr. Longhammer isn’t selling the place. I’m just here to do a security walk around. He is thinking about upgrading the security. You know how things are in the country now. Young punks just out to vandalize to terrorists wanting to disrupt a community and its production capability. This could be a prime target.”
     
    “So he did decide to take my advice,” Terri Xanderhaven said, with a broad smile. “I’ve been telling him for months that we would get hit at some point by that group of ruffians hanging around the county. Bunch of no good, beer guzzling, dirty, stinking, no accounts in their fancy trucks and loud stereos. I’m sure they are the ones that have been doing all the mischief around the whole county.”
     
    Bandy concealed his surprise. Angus had not said anything about Terri’s request for additional security. It was possible that Colin had heard about the possibility and instructed Angus not to attempt anything.
     
    With a small smile on his face, Bandy replied, “Well, we’ll just see what we can do to eliminate some of the risks without being too obvious about it.”
     
    “Very good. No need to advertise anything,” Terri said as they headed out of her office and into the large main building. “Rather catch those hooligans than just keep them from showing up. Do the county a favor. And lend a hand to Julie-Anne. She’s my niece, once removed, and is doing a great job, but everyone can use some help from time to time. She has a lot on her plate at the moment.”
     
    Again surprised, Bandy didn’t let it show. He was looking around the huge showroom floor at the equipment. He wasn’t too concerned about it, but the security of the building.
     
    There wasn’t much to do about that huge expanse, but fortunately, three sides of the open space had offices or other rooms constructed, with two story sections along the two side walls because of the high roof line. Due to their height, only the big cotton pickers and a couple of other pieces of equipment could not be brought onto the showroom floor through the huge glass sliding doors that made up the front of the showroom.
     
    Terri quizzed Bandy almost incessantly as they toured the place, but took no umbrage when he just grunted a few times and took notes, switching to local gossip between questions. She seemed to realize that Bandy wasn’t going to say anything about the security until it was installed, but her insatiable curiosity kept her asking anyway, when Bandy looked particularly interested or made a longer than normal note on his pad.
     
    Finally, back in the huge front parking lot, Bandy asked Terri, “Do you know if the county allows fences along the roadway?”
     
    “Sure they do. On private property. But the road easement is twice the width of the current road. Future plans for a four lane through here. The first section of parking slots in on the easement. Angus got a waiver for it when he decided to enlarge the place a few years ago.
     
    “But no permanent structures can be constructed within… I think it is thirty feet from the edge of the actual easement. We have plenty of room when they do the road, but right now Angus sponsors some events on the parking lot and we use the whole thing then.”
     
    “I see. That should really help the traffic through here when it happens,” Bandy said as yet another car zoomed past. There’d barely been a minute, or less, between cars, and often there were several in a row, going both ways on the busy road.
     
    Bandy glanced at his watch.  “Well, I’d better get back to my office and get these notes into the computer.”
     
    “Be glad to type them up for you,” Terri immediately offered. “I’m very good typist, and very fast. Fastest the secretarial school ever had. Still hold the record. And I’m almost as good now as I was at twenty-six.”
     
    Bandy didn’t doubt her. But she wasn’t going to con him into letting her see his notes. “I just bet you were,” he