Chapter 61

I was sitting across from the attorney again. He was shaking his head in disagreement with my accepting their offer.

“You have them in a position to extract so much more. All the time and effort you put into this and your losses, their treatment of you.”

“You’re getting your cut as we agreed. What is the issue?” I asked.

“It’s the shark in me.” He laughed.

“Now it is just a couple of bucks a truckload out of their profits. Any deeper and its losses of jobs and people not attached to this suffer.”

“You had to get more than just that?”

“Didn’t say I didn’t but it’s a need to know and we...” I stopped in mid-sentence.

“Fair enough. This issue is settled. I know there is lingering pain but as they say, time heals. Get some counseling or find a group. You had the focus of this to keep your mind engaged, that’s done.” He stood to shake my hand; we said our goodbyes. I stopped at the front desk to give his receptionist the wire transfer information.

Walked out into the bright sunlight and looked around. It was the same world just now a lot less of it for me. A deep breath and headed over to the office. Partner had things running well, she wanted me to stop by after I meet with the attorney to go over things.

I walked into the office, and she was standing there with her arms open. “Don’t disappear now that this is over.” She sniffled.

“Well, if we could work out a dating arrangement and you...” she slapped my arm.

“Enough.” She laughed.

“Care to go dancing?” I asked.

“Lilly told me about your dancing, and I am not going to change from that either.”

“Says you.” I stuck my tongue out.

“I would say don’t display it if you’re not going to use it but I know you have some reply to that. I will ignore it instead.”

“Spoilsport. I worked hard to have just the right reply.”

“Yeah, likely five different sayings.”

“It’s the lifetime of knowledge I had to acquire to process it that quickly.”

“You’re that goof, my goof for now, but a goof all the same. I do need to sit down with you and review what they sent over.”

“Too much for us to do?”

“I think we can work on the financial aspects rather than the buildouts and make more with less effort.” We walked into her office and closed the door.

“I want to set this right from the start. This is outside of the settlement the attorney got a piece of. I’m ahead by a third now. We are going to split it in half. I’m effectively only paying seventeen percent to do that. No arguments. I know it’s not a forever thing with them so let’s take what we can and do the great work we do and make it happen.”

“I’d argue with you, but I won’t win so why try? Thank you it is more than I am entitled but I’ll take the shark’s cut.”

“It’s not more, I am here only because of you and all you stepped up to do. I know, I was gone there for a while. On a positive note, the shrink gold stared at me, so I am back in the pits. I’ll do some ride-alongs to be reevaluated and then back to weekend duty.”

“Any idea what you’re going to do with your nights?”

“Not a clue yet, but I can always find some type of trouble to get into. Of that, I am certain.”

She laughed. “Yeah, trouble. On a delicate issue are you ready to move to a new place and put away all the past?”

“I’ll have you know my trouble at nights was packing it all and then dropping it off. I will not tell you it didn’t affect me, but I push through, and MADD arranged for the pickup of it all last week.”

“I would have helped if you told me.” There were tears in her eyes.

“I did not shut you out because I didn’t know you would help. I used it to cleanse my soul. Accept what was now in the past and then open the door to a new future. I believe that a change of location would be good, so I’ll move into the townhouse we have open. You can lease this place at the beginning of the month.”

She sat and looked at me. I had done more to move forward in the last few months than I had told her. The battle had pulled me into it, and I was moving from that past. I’d always have the memories and I kept just enough to have them. Life is for the living, and I was done not living. “I did save a few things I thought you might like that Lilly cherished but I don’t have the same feeling for. They are in the trunk when we’re done here.”

I got the look and she stopped what she was going to say.

“No, I am not giving the last away to do myself harm. I gave some of the girl’s things to their friends last week also. Here I am still a pain in your rear.”

“Let’s look at the agreement he sends and work to maximize the returns. I hate to see you starving.”

We spent the next few hours looking at the deal and then looking at how we could work to make more from it. There are always little back doors when you look for them. We walked out together and over to where our cars were parked. I opened the trunk and took out a box of things. Her parents’ knickknacks and heirlooms that really held no meaning to me without Lilly there.

I set them down in the back of her SUV and she opened the box to look inside. “I would say that these are priceless, and I can’t accept them, but you would just go give them away then. I will take them and cherish them as I do the memory of Lilly and the girls.”

“That is all I can hope for. Enjoy them.” She walked to me and hugged me then kissed my cheek.

“You are a special man and never forget it. This is a tragedy and yet I know you will survive to live more adventures. I know you need to go see your parents again. Try a softer hand at getting them to get some help rather than moving to a facility. More carrot and less stick.”

I left her and flew down the next morning and found another tragedy awaiting me. I landed at the airport, got the rental car, and made my way to my parent’s home. There what was left of it was smothering in places. The fire personnel pulled the pieces apart to douse them and another man poked around the rubble. There was a police officer with him.

“Hello, Can I help you?” Officer Timmons his name on his uniform asked as I walked towards them.

“This is or was my parents’ home. Are they okay?”

“I’m Sorry, I’m Jack Timmons and this is Stanley Johnson with the fire department’s investigative team. I have the duty to tell you that your parents did not survive.” I collapsed then and woke up in what I thought was Fran’s front parlor as she called it. My shoes were off, and I was covered.

“What, how?” I asked no one just trying to get my bearings.

“I saw you collapse and had them bring you here instead of the hospital. Their gone Thomas. They said the smoke did them in before the flames, but they are gone all the same.” Vince came to stand next to her.