by Dale Young
When she finished unbuttoning his shirt, Sarah rotated the chair until Logan was facing her. Then she slowly descended to her knees while her hands slide down his bare chest. When her hands touched his belt buckle he felt a wave of pleasure wash over his body. To Logan there was nothing quite like the feeling of a beautiful woman unbuckling his belt.
Logan drew in a deep breath as Sarah slowly took him into her mouth. He felt the stress of an entire month of trying to sell cars and keep his head above water instantly evaporate as Sarah moved slowly up and down. Just when he thought he would explode, Sarah stopped and stood up in front of him. She reached up and released the clip in the back of her hair, letting it spill onto her shoulders. Logan watched as she slowly unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall to the floor revealing an expensive black lace bra. Then she unbuttoned her skirt and let it fall to her feet. Just has he had requested she was wearing a black garter belt that matched her stockings, and no panties.
Sarah moved over Logan and guided him into her. At first she moved slowly but then began to grind against him faster and faster. His hands moved over the lace material of her bra and then down to the garter belt. Before long he felt his climax building. He finally let go as Sarah let out a long moan while holding onto his shoulders. Then she collapsed and leaned forward onto Logan, both of them panting and out of breath.
***
“You know Logan, you’re a good guy. You can do better than this,” Sarah said as she waved her arm and motioned to his small office. She was dressed and had herself together. Logan had done the same and was still sitting in his desk chair. “You just need the right woman, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well my mother-in-law said I’d never amount to anything. I mean my ex-mother-in-law, that is. Maybe she was right.” Logan looked down into his lap, almost ashamed of himself. Sarah just shook her head at him.
“I’m just a used car salesman,” Logan said as he raised his eyes and admired Sarah. She had gotten up and walked across his office to the front window. She was peeking through the blinds at the cars out on the lot. He was once again taken aback by her beauty. He could not take his eyes off her long, slender legs.
“You can be more and you know it.” Sarah s let go of the blind and looked over at Logan in his chair.
“I guess,” he finally replied. He decided to try and change the subject.
“So how are things going for you?” he asked Sarah as she walked back over and sat down in the chair next to his desk. He could see a hint of satisfaction in her dark eyes.
“I’m almost finished with them, every last one of the partners in my husband’s firm. Only one is left, and he’s the top guy. Once I have him, I’m going to ruin them all.”
Logan couldn’t help but smile. He hated lawyers as much as Sarah did.
“I’ve fucked every last one of them and I’ve got the audio to prove it. You know lawyers and politicians rue the day the cellphone was invented. Once I get done with the last partner then I’ll make sure every last one of their wives gets an email with an attachment. I made sure I screamed each of their names when I had sex with them just so their wives could hear it. The first thing the partners will do is fire my sorry ass husband and that will complete my revenge. It will serve him right for cheating on me. Since his affair he thinks I’ve forgiven him because I haven’t left. But I haven’t forgiven him. I’m just biding my time.”
“So why are you here with me? I’m no lawyer. What gives?” Logan said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk.
Sarah paused for a moment, got up and then walked back over to the front window of the office. She peeked through the blinds again and then turned towards Logan.
“You were nice to me, Logan, nice to me on a day that was probably the worst day of my life up until that point. I had just found out my husband was cheating on me and I was in a state of shock. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I took some money out of the bank and just wanted to run. I didn’t want half of what he had, half of the house, or any of that crap. I just wanted to run away. So I just started walking. It must have walked for hours before and I finally came here. I saw the cars and figured that any one of them could be my ticket out of town.”
He was silent. Sarah had never opened up to him like this before. He knew her situation but these details were something new to him. She had never told him any of this.
“And here’s what did it, Logan. I had heard stories about used car salesmen. I fully expected that I’d have to blow you in your office, or let you fuck me bent over your desk to get a good deal on a car. But you didn’t try that with me. You were nice to me and I’ve never forgotten it. You’re a good guy, Logan. You may not be rich, and I know you probably have a bottle over there in your desk, but deep down inside you’re a nice guy. I like you. You give me faith that there might be a few good men left in the world.”
With that Sarah reached for the knob on the deadbolt. Before Logan could say anything she pulled the door open and stepped out into the darkness. Logan stood up and called out to her but after a few seconds he heard her crank the BMW. The sound of the engine was followed by the crunch of gravel under the tires as Sarah drove off the lot.
Logan let out a long breath. He was bowled over by what Sarah had just told him. He ran his fingers through his hair and then looked down at his desk. The three one hundred dollar bills were still lying on his desk calendar.
Sarah had apparently decided that she didn’t want his money.
4
Two days after his evening with Sarah, Logan was in his office watching heavy rain pelt the cars on his lot. Rain was bad for business. But then again the sun had been out yesterday and no one had walked onto his lot. He was convinced that his lucky streak was over and things were now back to normal.
Outside the thunder was getting louder as the rain hammered the roof and walls of his office. With nothing to do, Logan walked over and sat down at his desk. After a few moments he picked up the letter from the law office in Starlight.
He pulled his cellphone out of the clip on his belt and did a search on the name of the town. The only town by the name of Starlight came up somewhere in the middle of New Mexico. No such town was found in the state of North Carolina. Logan then searched the name of the law firm and found no firm by the name of Blackwell and Burns anywhere in the country. The closest match was a firm that contained the name Burns but it was in Kansas City.
Logan looked at the screen on his cellphone. He was glad he had sold the red Toyota and settled up with his provider over the bill. Otherwise he wouldn’t even have service. Still, he wished he could find something on this law office. He knew that all he had to do was rip open the letter and read it if he wanted to find out more, but it was raining outside and he was bored. He figured the least he could do was play up the mystery of this strange letter from a town that he couldn’t even find on the Internet.
With his curiosity now at its peak, Logan finally ripped open the envelope and removed the letter inside. He unfolded the single sheet of paper and began to read.
Dear Mr. Shaw,
As the attorney of record for the estate of the late Rosemary Abigail Shaw, it is my duty to inform you that you have been named as the sole beneficiary in her will. Mrs. Shaw was very specific in her last will and testament that you be located and notified at the time of her death. The instructions in her will state that you are to be told in person of your inheritance, therefore please understand that I cannot convey any details to you over the phone. Please visit my office at your earliest convenience so that we may discuss this matter.
To my knowledge you are the only family member of Mrs. Shaw to survive her. I have represented Mrs. Shaw for many years and the discussions I had with her before her death led me to believe that you have been unaware of your connection to her over the years. I will provide more details when we meet in my office.
Very Truly Yours,
Harmon Blackwell III, Attorney at Law
Logan read the letter a
gain and then dropped it on his desk calendar. Then he frowned as he looked down at the letter.
“What the fuck?” he said after staring at the letter for almost a minute.
He picked up the letter and read it one more time. Then he began to smile. After a few seconds, he began to laugh.
“Jeez, what kind of shit is this?” Logan said as his voice echoed through his empty office. “Somebody has way too much time on their hands. I’ll bet it’s that shithead Gavin over at the Post Office. He probably typed up this crap and talked my new mail girl into sticking the envelope in my mailbox.”
Logan was beginning to believe his theory until his eyes caught sight of the postmark on the envelope. If Gavin had typed it up as a joke, he had actually mailed it like a normal letter. Logan knew his buddy was a cheapskate so he found it hard to believe that Gavin would waste money on a stamp just to pull off a practical joke. But maybe he did. The fact that Logan had not been able to find the town of Starlight or a law office by the name of Blackwell and Burns anywhere on the Internet only helped to convince him that the letter was a joke. If the town existed, surely he would have been able to find it online. And every business has a webpage nowadays, Logan thought as he continued to try and convince himself that Gavin was having fun with him.
There was a phone number listed on the letterhead, along with the address of 104 Magnolia Avenue, Starlight, NC. He immediately picked up his cellphone and dialed the number on the letterhead. He was greeted by the friendly voice of a woman.
“Blackwell and Burns, may I help you?”
“Uh, yes, my name is Logan Shaw. May I speak to mister, uh,” Logan fumbled for the letter. He had suddenly forgotten the name of the attorney that had signed it. When he located the name he regained his composure. “Uh, yes, Harmon Blackwell. May I speak to Harmon Blackwell, please?”
“Mr. Blackwell is in court today. May I take a message?”
He was suddenly at a loss of words. Apparently this wasn’t a joke. Or if it was, Gavin had gone to great lengths to make it all seem real. This was apparently a bona fide law office with real attorneys.
“I’ll just call him back tomorrow. Thank you.”
He hung up the phone before the woman on the other end could say goodbye. He immediately felt embarrassed by his actions. What was wrong with him? This was apparently a real letter, written by a real attorney from a real law office. That meant there might be a real inheritance just like the letter said. But who in the hell was Rosemary Shaw? He knew of no relative by that name. Logan knew very little about his family’s roots. There had been no family reunions over the years and his mother and father had never shared any details about anyone else in the family before their deaths. All they had ever told him was that they had a very small family and that the three of them were the only ones still living.
Logan stared at his phone for a few seconds and then put it back in the case on his belt. What in the world was going on? The thought of actually inheriting something was dancing around in his mind despite his best attempts to stop it. What if it was a fortune? What if some old aunt of his that was estranged from the family had died and left him a million dollars? How nice would that be? He would finally be able to give up the lousy car business and retire to the Keys. Logan liked the idea of not selling cars anymore. Maybe he’d ask Sexy Sarah to run away with him. They could spend their days with their toes in the sand and umbrella drinks in their hands, and their nights having sex under the stars.
A loud crack of thunder broke Logan free of his daydream about rich aunts and running away with Sarah. A bright flash of lightening blistered the windows of his office, followed by another clap of thunder a few seconds later. The storm was getting worse. He knew that he was wasting his time in his office on a day with such crappy weather. No one would go car shopping in this weather.
He decided that Gavin probably didn’t have anything to do with the letter about this Rosemary Shaw lady. He would just have to call the law office back tomorrow and see if he could get the lawyer to tell him something. But then Logan remembered what the letter said about this. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to get Mr. Blackwell to spill the beans about Rosemary Shaw, but Logan knew that he would at least be able to get the lawyer to confirm that he had sent the letter.
He thought about how he had not been able to find the town of Starlight on the Internet. Either the attorney would have to tell him where the town was located or Logan knew he would have to find it on a map himself. For all he knew it could be on the other side of the state, way up in the mountains. Or it could be less than an hour’s drive away. He had no way of knowing until he found the town on a map.
***
Logan brought his car to a stop outside of the public library. He had spent thirty minutes digging through the drawers in his desk and then every box in the small storeroom in the back of his office. He could have sworn he had an old road atlas tucked away somewhere but he had not been able to find it. Who used those things anymore? But modern technology was failing him so he had hoped that he could find the town of Starlight on his old atlas. But he had not been able to find it. He had finally given up and decided that he was going stir crazy in his office. That’s when he came up with the idea of going to the public library. At least it would give him something to do.
The library was in an old brick building that dated back to the early 1900’s. It was in downtown Wilmington about halfway between Logan’s car lot and his trailer by the port. He figured that even if he couldn’t find the town’s location in the library that at least he was halfway home. He would dig around in some old books about the state and then hit a taco drive-thru on his way to his trailer. Then he would watch whatever old movie he could find on TV and fall asleep on his couch. It would be just another typical Friday night for him, just like the last one and the one before that.
The musty smell of books brought back memories when Logan walked through the huge front doors of the public library. The last time he had been in a library was in high school, and that was only because he had not had a choice in the matter. He didn’t much like to read but if the mood did come over him he usually just hit a used book store or the pawn shop that was close to his car lot. Sometimes in the winter reading a book was the only way to cure the boredom of being cooped up in his small office waiting on a customer to wander onto the lot.
“May I help you?” the librarian said as Logan approached the counter.
“Yes ma’am. I’m looking for old road maps of the state of North Carolina. I’m looking for a small town that I can’t seem to find on any of the Internet maps.”
“What’s the name of the town?” the woman said as she peeked over the reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.
“Starlight,” Logan replied.
The woman crinkled her nose and Logan watched as her reading glasses rose up closer to her eyes.
“I’ve never heard of it,” she finally replied.
“Me neither. Can you point me to the section where I might find a book about North Carolina? Maybe one with maps in it?”
The woman told Logan to go to the second floor and then to the rear of the building. There along the back wall she told him he would find lots of books about North Carolina and that many of them would have maps of the state that went back over a hundred years. Logan thanked her and headed for the stairwell.
Once he got to the back wall he was overwhelmed with the number of books about the state of North Carolina. All he really wanted was an old map, or maybe even just a new one. But it was raining outside and he had nothing else to do so Logan decided to take his time and look at a few of the books. What could it hurt to maybe learn a little something about the state he was born and raised in?
Logan pulled a large book from the shelf that looked like it might contain a lot of pictures. He sat down at the table and began to flip through the pages. The book was a collection of black and white photographs taken all across the state starting back around the time of the First World
War.
Flipping through the pages Logan saw old photos of Moonshiners and their stills way up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, along with photos of some of the larger cities in the state when they were nothing more than small towns. Logan was amazed at how many horses were in the photographs. Then he flipped to the index in the back of the book and looked for the town of Starlight. It was not listed.
Frustrated, Logan returned the book to the shelf and then began to walk down the aisle until he spotted another book. He turned his head sideways and read the title engraved on the binding.
One Hundred Years of the Golden Leaf in North Carolina, 1850 to 1950.
He whispered the words as he read the title, then he pulled the book from the shelf and sat back down at the table. He knew he could just go find the town on a road atlas but all that would tell him was where it was located. He wanted to see if he could learn a little more about the town before he did that.
“What the hell is a golden leaf?” Logan mumbled as he opened the book. There were only three other people on this floor of the library but he still didn’t want to disturb them. One of them, a very pretty young girl wearing a college T-shirt, glanced up at him. He smiled at her and then turned his attention to the book in front of him. The first page of the book had a photo of a large plant with yellow-green leaves. Underneath the photo was a caption that read Tobacco, The Golden Leaf.
Logan read the paragraph underneath the photo of the tobacco plant and learned that it was called the golden leaf not only because of the color of the leaves but also because of the money a farmer could make from a crop of tobacco. Other crops paled in comparison to tobacco when it came to profit. The leaves might as well have actually been made out of gold.
Flipping through the pages of the book Logan didn’t see the connection between money and the people working the fields in the photos. They looked extremely poor to him. They also looked like they were about to drop dead from exhaustion. Even the mules looked tired, Logan thought.
