“Now if you want it.”
“I want it now.”
I was escorted into a back room and relieved of my clothes. They gave me the works — and passed me.
“How much time do you want to get your business straightened up?”
“Twenty-four hours?” I asked.
“Okay. Be back here at one o’clock Tuesday afternoon, ready to go.”
I told him I’d be there, and drove up to the agency office. Bertha was fuming with impatience.
“Where the hell have you been?” she demanded.
“I was in a couple of times during the morning, but you weren’t here, so I had to go ahead on my own.”
Her eyes were snapping. “What have you been doing now, wrecking the business, I suppose?”