Chapter 8: Grave Digger

I wake up and look at the clock, 5:52. Like every morning for the past week I rise silently and make my way into the bathroom. I showered last night night before going to bed, so all I need to do is brush my teeth, run a comb through my hair, and put on the clothes that I laid out after the shower. As I leave the bedroom the clock reads 5:59.

With my new routine, I am up and ready to leave the house before Abby rises. But this day is different. This Monday morning I will call on a local client and when that meeting concludes I will be going to Sault Ste. Marie for the supplier appreciation event that Sheila has planned. It starts Tuesday morning so I will stay with my parents tonight, and tell them that the appreciation event is for two days so they won’t expect me Tuesday night. I’ll probably call them from the road on Wednesday and tell them that it wrapped early and I had time to get back to Sudbury at a reasonable hour so I’m en route home.

The in-town customer meeting goes incredibly well. The customer has grown, and is in talks to acquire a rival, and with those two factors the services they are looking to add will more than double my already decent sales figure, and hence commission, from this customer.

I get out of Sudbury by 2:00 PM and hit the road feeling like I just won the lottery. There will be a nice bump in both my next paycheck and my end-of-year bonus. I can’t help but smile as the miles melt away. I will get the chance to spend the night with Sheila. Every time she brought it up I would downplay the significance, but in reality, I was looking forward to a night of carnality with someone that was going to be equally engaged, and not just there to service me as seems to be Abby’s new approach.

The traffic is very light the whole way and I make it to my parents’ house by 5:20. Granted, I started with a 20 mile head start coming from the client and not my house, but it was still a very good time for the trip.

When I let myself into the house I call out, “Mom, dad, I’m here.”

Mom is in the kitchen putting the final touches on dinner. As I walk past the dining room I see that she has set three place settings. I enter the kitchen and give her a brief hug as she labors over the stove.

“Your father is in the shed taking inventory of what he’ll need to start putting up the new shelving in his study. Go tell him to wrap up. Dinner will be on the table in 10 minutes.”

I dutifully head to the backyard and convey the message. Dad and I return to the house. I go to the kitchen to help mom with plating dinner while dad goes to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Mom is an excellent cook and I thoroughly enjoy the meal. After eating and helping with the dishes my dad suggests I accompany him to the hardware store to get the parts he’ll need for the study. It has been eons since I last did anything like that with him so I eagerly accept.

Even as an adult I seem to learn something new from dad every time we go to the hardware store. Today he explains a new way of mitering the edges of the shelves for a stronger connection which will be able to hold more weight.

By the time we return to the house it is almost 9:30 so we drop the supplies in the garage and quietly go into the house as not to wake mom. We settle in the study for a drink and cigar.

“Thanks for the help, Frederick,” says my father as he pours us a drink. He hands it to me along with a cigar I do not recognize.

“This is new. Trying a new brand?”

My father goes into a long-winded answer about the way this particular company rolls their cigars and how their process maximizes the flavor. Whether due to a unique rolling process or not, the cigar is exceptional.

We finish our cigars and a few drinks and rise to go to bed. As I start to leave my father asks, “What time are you leaving in the morning? If you’re going to sleep in I don’t want to start working in here too early.”

I tell him the event starts at 8:30 promptly, so I plan on leaving by a quarter of eight.

After the big win at work, a great cigar, and several drinks I sleep soundly. The alarm gets me up and I am dressed and out of the house exact at 7:45 as I predicted.

I take the shortest pathway to the highway, get on for about six miles, then leave to wind my way through some scenic wood covered roads before arriving at small complex of buildings. It is a facility that specializes in team retreats and surprisingly, Sheila was able to secure it on short notice.

The phone rings and Frederick III answers it on the first ring.

“Carlos? What’s the status?”

Carlos Bentiago served with Frederick for over 10 years. He was sitting in a car with Butch Davies. Butch also served with Carlos and Frederick. The three of them saw heavy fighting in the Middle East and were the only three from a reconnaissance team to survive an ambush. The experience left them bonded for life.

When questions about Jimmy arose, Frederick didn’t hesitate to call his compatriots and enlist their help in getting to whatever situation Jimmy was embroiled. He met with them on Saturday night and gave them the barest overview of what he knew and told them the basic plan. On Tuesday he needed them in front of his house by 7:30 AM in order follow his son. He also gave them some pictures he printed from the Internet.

“Nothing too exciting. Freddie hit the interstate, then exited on 292 North, went another six miles and eventually ended up at a place called Teamwork Companion.”

In the background Frederick could hear Butch saying that he found it on his phone. It was established about 15 years ago and specialized in day-long team building events.

“Did I hear Butch say ‘day-long’?” asked Frederick.

There was a brief rustling sound on the phone and then Butch’s voice came through. “Yeah, they only have rudimentary water and power so they can’t get licensed to serve food or have guests overnight. They specialize in three to five hour team-building events.”

Frederick was silent. Thinking. Going first to a remote team building site that only provides day-long adventures did not necessarily negate his son’s claim. But, he was starting to feel worse about the outcome.

“Have others arrived?”

The phone had been passed back to Carlos and he replied, “Affirmative. The blonde in the photo you gave us arrived about two minutes after we got settled. Since then we’ve seen about ten individuals that look like they could be part of the team.”

“Good work. Let me know once they leave. I will plan on meeting you this afternoon.” With that Frederick disconnected and sat looking at the bare spot on his wall that was going to be his new shelving. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Building the new shelving would have to wait until next week.

I wasn’t the only supplier present at the event. Sheila had managed to get four of us from various wares and services to join them for the day. I guess it wasn’t too hard. Who doesn’t want a free day away from the office?

I thought the event itself was stupid. Lots of hand-holding and talking about how we “feel.” As the event started I dutifully snapped photos on my phone to show my parents and Abby. The agenda had us at this remote resort for five hours, but we fortunately finished by noon and were able to head back into town for lunch.

Lunch was at a swanky new downtown restaurant. All food and drinks were covered so collectively the group had a pretty good buzz by the time we finished. We then walked a few blocks north and entered a puzzle-house. It had just opened and Sheila was told hers was the first corporate event they had scheduled.

The puzzle-room was very hard. We had to use all of our allotted clues in 15 minutes to just get past the initial set of puzzles. The second set was a bit easier, but by the third set we were stumped and failed to complete all of the tasks to successfully complete our mission. Even so, the puzzle-room seemed to be the highlight of the day. The group congregated on the sidewalk outside of the main door animatedly discussing the highs and lows of the experience. One by one, the puzzlers started to take their leave, shaking hands and offering hugs to one another, making a particular effort to stop and thank Sheila for a wonderful day.

Frederick was talking with Carlos from the backseat when Butch opened the passenger door and joined them. He had just re-positioned his car to point the opposite direction of Carlos’ car to minimize the likelihood of losing Jimmy when he left the puzzle-house.

“So far everything seems to be on the up-and-up,” said Carlos.

Butch agreed, but knew that if mischief was afoot, there was bound to be enough legitimate activities to use as cover.

“That looks like they are breaking up for the night and not for a short break to reconvene at a hotel,” Butch said, stating what everyone was thinking.

At first they had lost sight of Jimmy, but as the last person bid farewell to Sheila, Jimmy approached from the shadows. She reached out for him and gave him a big hug, and then an even bigger kiss, groping his ass as she raised her leg at the knee as they made out like teenagers on the street.

“Fuck, it just got real.” Again, Butch said what everyone was thinking.

The trio quickly dispersed to their own cars and engaged their radios. Butch was the one that was able to catch their trail first due to putting his car in the southbound lane. He fell in three cars behind Jimmy and conveyed his current location and direction to the other two. After a few miles, Butch called out a guess on their final location and suggested Carlos speed ahead to position himself inside.

Sure enough, ten minutes later Jimmy and Sheila arrive at the hotel Butch guessed. They parked in adjacent slots and walked into the hotel hand-in-hand.

The headpiece of their radios was not easily concealed so Carlos left it in the car when he entered the hotel. He was loitering near the front desk looking at the tourism to-do brochures when he saw the couple enter. He was using the brochures to cover his phone as he snapped photos of the two approaching the counter. He could hear Sheila’s voice, but could not make out the words as she talked to the receptionist.

When they got their keys Carlos took a handful of pamphlets and rushed to the elevator getting there just as the doors were closing. He was amused at the look of disdain Sheila gave him as she straightened her blouse and moved a half-step away from Jimmy. He told them he was on the same floor as he repeatedly hit the already lit button. She stared at Carlos the whole ride, which he in turn found amusing even though he kept staring straight ahead.