Chapter 7

I couldn’t believe my luck. There were addresses for each of the three names. It was like betting at the race track and winning a couple of Daily Doubles. When you can do that, you walk away with a huge bundle.

The other $20,000 is good as mine, I laughed as I studied the addresses that corresponded with the names. I was finally having a little bit of luck. This wasn’t going to be hard at all since all three of them lived in Calgary. Even the wife was still alive. Not that it mattered because Tom promised I’d get paid for finding her whether she was six feet under or still a few feet above ground.

I saw that Sofia’s address was the closest so I decided to try her first. It was right off the immediate downtown centre so it was in an older neighborhood. Most of the houses were small and so shabby looking they might not have seen any major repairs in years. However, I was surprised when I parked my Charger across from the house that bore Sofia’s address.

Compared to the others, hers looked like one of those well-kept ginger bread houses. It looked newly painted and her front yard was freshly mowed with a couple of big, flowering lilac trees. And while her neighbors had old weather beaten fences that were missing slats and tilted at crazy backward angles, hers was a nicely painted white picket fence. It looked sturdy and it even had a functioning gate.

I couldn’t see any activity in the yard. I studied the front bay window which had wide open drapes but I couldn’t see anybody moving around inside so I wondered if she was home. Where could she be” If she were anywhere near the age of old Tom, I figured she couldn’t have gone very far. Since that old codger looked to be on his last legs, she was probably not far behind him.

Well, only one way to find out. I climbed out of my Charger and made my way across the street. All the while I kept my eyes open for any kind of movement. As if I were expecting and old lady like her to cause me trouble. What the hell, what kind of shit can some old lady raise? I laughed as I opened up her gate and walked up to the front door.

Better knock loud and long, I thought. After all she’s probably one of those old hags who lost her hearing along with a few other important things. So that’s what I did. First I heard nothing so I knocked again and waited. I was just beginning to think nobody was home when I heard footsteps coming from inside. Ah, so somebody is home.

I stepped back and waited impatiently. What’s keeping the old bat? Finally I heard the door knob rattling and saw the door slowly opening. Then I saw a head of long, grey hair appear. After that came the face of an elderly woman. She pushed the door wide open and stared at me.

She was old alright but she looked as spry as a spring chicken compared to her long, lost husband. On second look her hair wasn’t quite as grey as it seemed on the first look. It had some color in it and fell almost to her shoulders but it was neatly brushed. Although her face was creased with age it didn’t carry as many lines as many older women have. Despite her age she still carried herself erect and there was a gracefulness about her. I immediately thought that she must have been a real looker in her younger days.

“Sorry, no salesmen and no religious nuts,” she immediately announced.

She definitely looked old enough to be old Tom’s missing wife so I decided to be on my best behavior. I didn’t want to piss the old lady off and get her mad enough that she somehow managed to screw me out of my bounty so I smiled nicely back at her.

“Oh, you can rest assured. I’m neither of those. In fact I hate it when those kind of people come to my door too.”

“Well, what do you want then?”

“Well, I’m looking for a Sofia Wilson. You wouldn’t be her would you?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. My name is Jay Bittner and a fellow named Tom Wilson hired me to find his family. He said he hadn’t seen them in years and that his wife’s name was Sofia. Would that be you?”

The old lady frowned at me.

“You some kind of private detective or something?” How did you find me anyway?

Since I didn’t want to admit that I illegally hired somebody to search DMV records, I merely smiled.

“Oh, us private eyes have our ways, you know.” I winked and smiled again, hoping my charm would somehow manage to soften her attitude.

She was silent for a moment and just stared at me. It suddenly occurred to me that it was just kind of look old Tom gave me. It was eerie and it gave me the creeps because it also made me feel just like Tom did. Like she knew I was up to no good. However, while the old man’s eyes held a glint of amusement, hers was more like disapproval.

Finally she spoke.

“Okay, I’m her alright. You trying telling me that old bastard’s still alive? I wonder why he wants to see me now, after all these years?”

I could barely keep the grin of triumphant off my face. I’d found her and it hadn’t been that hard at all. Visions of another $20,000 raced through my head. Hell, I deviously thought. Maybe I could get hit Tom up for a few more thousand. I’ll call it unforeseen expenses since there always seem to be some of those. He’d probably be so happy that I found his family he wouldn’t quibble at all over a couple more thousand bucks.

Again, I was so eager to get my hands on all that money that I neglected to ask the woman the same question I failed to ask Tom. It was why they had lived separately for all these years and asking that could have saved me a lot of grief. However, I was so eager to get my hands on all that money I didn’t even ask myself why it was so easy to find her. All it took was a check at the DMV. It was like she was hiding in plain sight, if she was actually hiding at all? Also I must admit something nagged me a bit somewhere in my brain but not enough to set off any alarm bells.

“Yes, he’s still alive alright but he’s had a heart attack. It was quite a serious one from what I understand. He claims that because he’s cheated death once already, he wants to meet with his family one more time before another one gets him,” I replied.

“It might be a very urgent matter because Tom looks so weak he might go any time,” I added.

It didn’t even hit me that I’d actually told the truth for once. It was just me using whatever words I could think of to motivate Sofia into immediately wanting to go to Edmonton. The sooner she gets there, the sooner I get my hands on that other $20,000, was my line of reasoning.

“Where did you say he was living? What makes you think I even want to see him again, even if he is near death, as you claim?”

Sofia’s response was a real shock to me. It just didn’t seem fair. Naturally, I was assuming that she would want to rush to Edmonton in order to be at her dying husband’s bedside. I hadn’t thought of her refusing to see Tom so it hit me like a low blow. It was like she was deliberately trying to upset my plans and I became determined I wasn’t going to let that happen, no how.

I returned it to the dealer yesterday because I couldn’t get the radio to work. The service technician explained that the radio was voice activated.

“Nelson”, the technician said to the radio.

The radio replied, “Ricky or Willie?”

“Willie!” he continued and “On The Road Again” came from the speakers.

Then he said, “Ray Charles!”, and in an instant “ Georgia On My Mind” replaced Willie Nelson.

I drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time I’d say, “Beethoven”, I’d get beautiful classical music, and if I said, “Beatles”, I’d get one of their awesome songs.

Yesterday, some guy ran a red light and nearly creamed my new truck, but I swerved in time to avoid him.

I yelled, “Stupid Idiot!”Immediately the radio responded with, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Premier of Alberta.”

I love this truck...

“He’s living in one of those senior places in Edmonton and he’s very close to death. He could pass away at any time so I suggest you contact your son and daughter and all three of you immediately head there as soon as you can. After all, I assume you would like to be at your husband’s death bed before he passes, no matter how many years it’s been since you’ve seen him. I’m sure Roger and Annie would also like to see him one final time. It’s the decent thing to do, isn’t it? I have the address for you right here.”

I put as much urgency in my voice as I could and deliberately mentioned the son and daughter. I figured if Sofia contacted them it would save me the time and effort of trying to find them myself. Not that it would be that difficult. I already had their mother and the addresses they put on their drivers licences. It would be just make it easier, kind of like three for one, if she did all the work for me. Besides, she didn’t know how much money old Tom was paying me.

I thought it was a pretty good effort on my part. One of my best performances in a long time but it didn’t seem to be enough to move Sofia to action.

She just stood there staring at me for a long moment with those eyes. They were intense and unwavering like Tom’s had been, maybe even more so, but different. Like I said, Tom’s held a hint of amusement, as if he knew my game and was laughing at it. However, hers were a stern, judgemental glare. It was like she also knew what I was doing but didn’t like it.

Finally, just when I thought I couldn’t take her unblinking eyes for one more moment, she spoke.

“Hardly think it’s worth it,” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Me and Tom haven’t been together for years. I don’t think Roger and Annie have seen him either so what’s the point now, eh? We just go there and watch him die, then what? He’s gone and we come back here to our own lives, just like we did when he up and left us. He left me without a penny and two young kids to look after, you know.” There was a hint of bitterness in her voice.

“It wasn’t easy but we managed, now we got our own lives and we’re doing okay without him so why stir up the pot now? You know I don’t think I’ve ever really forgiven him for upping and leaving us like that.”

Fuck, why this old bag being so difficult now. After I’d come so close, there was no way I was going to let all that money slip through my fingers. I could practically smell it and it had a warm, secure feeling to it.

“Sure, I understand Sofia. It was a terrible thing that Tom did. Must have been tough on you with two young ones to raise, but don’t you think that maybe it’s time forgiveness. You know, it’s not that good to carry all that anger around with you for all those years. Perhaps it is time to make your peace with Tom, don’t you think? That way you and the kids can see him one last time and kind of unburden yourselves. That way you can finally be rid of him for good. That’s the decent thing to do isn’t it?”

I didn’t believe a thing about what I’d just said. I didn’t give a shit whether she unburdened herself or not. Or whether or not it was good for the soul. All I wanted was to get my hands on that money. That’s why I gave what I thought was an Academy Award performance.