Week one picks from Husk-husk.

     Cassandra joined us at the table. 'Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats was blaring from the speakers. I couldn't quite see the stage. Perhaps that was best.
     "Ive been doing your homework for you, again," she said. Made the calls that needed to be made and collated what needed to be collated."
     I was trying to think if there had been any legwork that I had outsourced to her. I couldn't think of any, but I reminded myself that her legs were more than capable. I was starting to sound like Preach, I thought. "What did I forget?"
     "This week's picks," she said. "I made the calls to your assortment of hoods, con-men and hucksters and got their predictions for you."
     "Hey. Those are my friends," I said. "You're right about them, but still..."
     "Who does LeRoix say will win in his red-neck of the woods," Lloyd asked.
     "He picks Auburn Tigres two-point-oh over 12. Clemson Tigers two-point-one; 8. South Carolina Gamey Cocks over Vandy; 6. Florida State over Murray State, duh; 5. Ugas of Georgia over Buffalo not the Bills; and 3. Les Tigres of LSU over North Texas, double-duh."
     "LeRoix is always so busy this time of year. What about Bubba?"
     "Your mobbed up buddy down in OKC only has two picks this week. He's taking 11. West Virginia over Marshall, and of course, his beloved 4. Oklahoma-Oklahoma-Oklahoma over The West Texas town of El Paso."
     "Good, good," I said. "You were able to get a hold of Marcus, out on the Left Coast?"
     "Yes, sirree, I did. He says 9. Oregon Quackers over Arkansas State, and 2. University of Spoiled Children over Hawaii, the prettiest place in the country to play bad football."
     "Cool. That just leaves Granny's picks from the Leaders division and we have Lloyd right here for the Legends of the B1G."
     "Yep, almost done," Cassandra sighed. "Granny is going with 11. Wisconsin's Stinking Badgers over Northern Iowa; The Ohio State Buckys to beat Miami of Ohio; Purdue Boilmakers will top Eastern Kentucky; Illness will prevail over Western Michigan; The Hosers of Indiana will beat Indiana State in the Hoo-gives-a-crap bowl; and Pederasty State will hold on to beat Ohio."
     "Pederasty State? Nice," I nodded. I Looked over at Lloyd. "What have you got, in the good division?"
     "The Golden Rodents of Minnesota will get off to a good start, beating UNLV. The Purple Pussies of Northwestern will squeak by Syracuse. The Iowa Hackneys will Beat Northern Illinois. The Michigan State Thpartans will fall in an early season upset to Boise State. And the Other half of Michigan will be sad when 7. Wolverhampton gets Rolled over by the Crimson Elephants of 1. Alabama."
     "That just leaves me with my Husker prediction for tomorrow," I said. "It seems like business here is concluded."
     Preach, Cassandra and Lloyd all left me alone at the table. I was trying to finish my bourbon and figure out my next move. I supposed I should meet the guys from the band, figure out what they knew and how they were set up for funds. The down side of missing persons cases was that it meant a lot of legwork. The other big question that came up with these kinds of cases, 'what if she didn't want to be found?'
     Husk-husk and on the qb.