One Man's Trash
By Brate
ATF Universe
Vin Tanner headed his Jeep back to the office. Ezra Standish sat beside him, going over the notes from the meeting they had just attended. Not far down the road, Vin slowed the vehicle before pulling over to the right side of the road and parking.
"May I inquire what you are doing, Mr. Tanner?" Ezra asked, seeing nothing of interest.
Vin pointed at the sign by a driveway. "Yard sale."
"Pardon?"
"I'm stopping at the yard sale."
Ezra focused on what Vin was saying and looked. Strewn across the front yard of a house was an immense collection of odd and ends. Standish saw a baby crib, a treadmill, two lawn mowers, bikes, and multiple tables filled to their capacity with a variety of junk.
Refusing to get out of the car, Ezra watched Vin have a boyishly good time finding trinkets. One man's trash is another man's treasure, he thought, and Vin has hit the jackpot. Now Ezra knew how the sharpshooter had decorated his hodge-podge apartment.
For ten minutes, Vin continued his journey around the grounds, continually holding up objects he erroneously thought Ezra would be interested in, never losing the big grin on his face. The undercover agent was certain Vin had gone completely insane. Ezra simply repeated his mantra of, "Oh, my God," and wished he was elsewhere. He hoped no one he knew saw him here. Standish couldn't live with that mortification.
Nearing the far end of the heap, Vin held up something that drew Ezra's attention. Why in the world would anyone get rid of that? Standish fought against himself. He hated the idea of buying someone else's refuse. But the item Vin was holding aloft drew him out. He could not help himself; he had to get out and take a closer look.
****
From inside his private office, Chris Larabee heard his two missing agents arrive. He walked out to greet them.
"What took you guys so long?" Chris asked. "I thought you'd be back by two; it's almost four."
Ezra ducked his head, focusing his attention on straightening his desk.
Chris directed his gaze to Vin who shrugged. "We woulda been, but Ez kept makin' me stop at all the roadside sales."
Author's note: I have no idea what the sales are actually called in Colorado: garage sale, yard sale, lawn sale... so I just picked one and went with it.
