{"id":37,"date":"2024-08-21T00:03:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T00:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/?p=37"},"modified":"2024-08-24T16:38:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T16:38:38","slug":"digging-dirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/zcu\/digging-dirt\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging Dirt"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Timelines' Retrospection<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

After a cold winter, the 68 degree spring weather made even the most obnoxious, entitled bureaucrat showed some hint of humanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Hernandez leaned up against his red restored 1965 Mercedes-Benz and pulled out his phone. He played up his Spanish accent for anyone in an earshot, playing up the stereotype of an immigrant tradesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did you get?\u201d the voice on the other end asked. \u201cDid they suspect anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, se\u00f1or.<\/em>\u201d Anthony gave a quick nod to a dark-haired woman walking her dog. She gave a pursed smile and a nod back, then quickened her pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He waited until she disappeared around the corner before talking normally, his accent nearly non-existent. \u201cThey rarely suspect a plumber who only speaks in Broken English.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour former boss\u2026\u201d Anthony switched his phone to his other ear. \u201cThe senator is definitely having an affair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn Affair. That’s it. Just an Affair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d Confusion set in. \u201cWith multiple women and some men. You wanted me to dig up some dirt, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow embarrassed would he be once that\u2019s revealed to the public?\u201d The voice over the speaker cracked. \u201cThat\u2019s not a big deal anymore. It\u2019s even considered a badge of honor in some circles. All he would have to do is have his wife claim that they\u2019re in a consensual open relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I suppose I\u2019m still a bit old-fashioned.\u201d Anthony chuckled. \u201cIt\u2019s a big deal to me. But, you\u2019re right. I can poke around more to see if there is some financial scandal. I\u2019ve seen some red flags and taken some notes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small worn-out blanket, by some bushes that could use a trim, caught Anthony\u2019s eye. He picked it up. \u201cI\u2019ll get back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pink and white pattern on the blanket reminded the old private eye of the pink and white play set and other miscellaneous toys had littered the yard of the Senator\u2019s house he serviced. It must have come from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighed. Kids need their \u201cblankies\u201d no matter how awful their parents are. His children, now adults with families, had their own. They are too innocent to understand. Too innocent to pay for their parents\u2019 crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cloud passed over the sun, dimming everything around Anthony as he trudged his way back to the house, making his way up the sidewalk and onto the porch. Before he could ring the doorbell, a small purple sparkle caught his eye as it floated towards the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iridescent sheen enticed Anthony to pick it up. The thin oval shaped seemed to change from purple to dark green and he wondered if it was part of some weird jewelry or sequins from an overpriced blouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The curtains in the open window ruffled apart as a cool breeze floated through. A humanoid shape, facing away from the window, ducked suddenly and darted out of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony dropped the blanket and turned on his heel before regaining his composure, pulling his phone from his pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I just saw a giant lizard!\u201d Anthony texted his client. \u201cIs that what you are looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His heart leaped into his throat when the following text read, \u201cGet out of there now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony made his way to his car, nodding with a tight smile to another woman walking her dog… or was that the same woman as earlier? He slipped into his car and took a deep breath, letting it out with a groan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting too old for this.\u201d He rubbed his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phone went into its holder and Anthony put his arm over the seat, looking over his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An iridescent green and purple reptilian face looked back at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds flew overhead. Alternative music blared from a flatbed truck, only to be cut out for the hourly call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s now eight a.m. on this beautiful Tuesday morning in the DC area and your headlines for the morning. Three shot in a Seven Eleven robbery last night. One of them has been identified as a former Whitehouse employee and known whistleblower. A local missing man was found in his car this morning submerged in the Potomac river in an apparent suicide. More on these stories after our sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlright Hank!\u201d a voice called out. \u201cIt\u2019s all secured. Let\u2019s bring it to the lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truck pulled away from a river, passing a Chevy van with \u201cThe Office of the Chief Medical Exam\u201d emblazoned on its side. The still dripping 1965 Mercedes-Benz creaked on the flatbed as the driver carefully navigated around a large pothole by the stop sign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Timelines' Retrospection<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

After a cold winter, the 68 degree spring weather made even the most obnoxious, entitled bureaucrat showed some hint of humanity.  Anthony Hernandez leaned up against his red restored 1965 Mercedes-Benz and pulled out his phone. He played up his Spanish accent for anyone in an earshot, playing up the stereotype of an immigrant tradesman. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[19,16,18,10],"series":[13],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zcu","tag-alien","tag-paranormal","tag-politics","tag-shorts","series-timelines","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/diggingDirt.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions\/38"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zherosha.com\/elusive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}