“UNTITLED MASTERPIECE”

PART ONE: “BODIES’

CHAPTER 10 B: “PIECES”

It took Ian another two hours but he had finally gotten everything that he needed, he hoped. He had pulled in the driveway and had just figured out how to get everything in one trip when the damned cell phone rang. He dropped a few bags on the ground and flipped it open.

“Yeah, This is Ian.”

“Be careful.” He recognized the voice, but hesitated at the ominous tone.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. We can’t talk now. Maybe tomorrow. I’m being watched, too.”

“What? Who?”

“I have to go.” And the phone went dead.

Ian looked at the cell phone, closed it and put it back in his pocket. He fumbled to pick up the dropped packages and mumbled as he rand his own doorbell. “What the fuck is that bitch up to now?”

The door swung open, a beaming Tippy on the other side. “Boys!” she immediately screamed. Billy, Reece and Jesse sprang to the rescue each grabbing part of Ian’s wares and carrying them to the kitchen.

While Tippy babbled, Ian was literally flabbergasted at his house. It was immaculate. He considered himself quite anal retentive, but not enough so that he obsessed about it since he had moved in. He had figured he’d have to scrub from top to bottom tonight. But someone had already beaten him to it.

Tippy stopped talking and was standing there with her arms crossed. “Billy had all this done before I got here this morning.”

“Holy crap, I think I’m in love!”

Billy was standing in the doorway between the dining room and the living room beaming from ear to ear. “I couldn’t find where you kept the French maid’s uniform, so I just did it naked. You’d become a slob, buddy. It took twenty minutes just to get what was splattered on the wall there between the couch and the easy chair.”

Ian for three seconds vividly remembered what that splatter was and how it got there. “Great. You want a job?” Ian asked.

Billy’s voice got low and he looked around, “Like the one I got in the shower this morning?”

Tippy giggled, and put her hand over her mouth. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be in the kitchen if ya need a third pair of hands…” and off she went.

“That’s not really what I meant.” He put his arm around Billy’s shoulder and let him know exactly what he had in mind. Billy’s face turned red, but he nodded. Ian handed him the keys. “Everything is in the trunk. Can you do it?”

“Absolutely.” Billy kissed Ian on the cheek and darted out the front door.

Ian dashed upstairs and changed clothes. By the time he was pulling his sweats up Billy was already in the bedroom looking through the white plastic bags and putting things together.

“Yeah, I thought so.” Billy said. “This should be pretty easy.”

“God I hope so,” Ian offered as he pulled a tee shirt over his head. He smacked Billy on the ass, and headed for the kitchen.

“Okay, what’s cookin’ in here?” he asked as he made his entrance. Jesse was at the sink washing potatoes, Tippy was stirring something boiling in