by Matt Lincoln
“Perhaps,” he shrugged. “Education can only take me so far, though. It’s the experience I need to practice on.” Doc sighed and pulled up a picture on his cell of a young boy, a young woman, and an older lady, all hugging one another. He proudly showed it to me. “That’s Aditi, Ekta, and Zaid. My secret, mostly unknown family. That was before Ekta’s final surgery. She was still in decent health then.”
I could hear the remorse and regret in Doc’s voice when he said that. The photo showed Aditi, the mother of Doc’s daughter, who was a very charming woman with black and silver hair and laughing dark eyes. Ekta, their daughter, was already showing signs of illness in her thinning hair and sunken features. She was smiling in the picture, but she was masking so much more. Her arms were thin, and there was bruising all along them.
Little Zaid was the focal point, though. He had lighter eyes and was laughing at the moment they took the photo. He must not have known what was going to happen to him in the coming months, and that would have been for the best. In my own experience, knowing that something happy and great was about to stop didn’t help anyone, especially a kid.
When my dad died, I didn’t get to tell him goodbye in the way I would have liked. His having the two families that he did made it near impossible sometimes to communicate and spend the time I would have liked with him. I told myself that it had to be the same for him. That as much as I missed seeing him, he missed being with me, too.
The older I got, the more unsure I was that this had ever been true. I stopped blaming my dad years ago because it didn’t do me any good. As an adult, I knew that we all had to try to make the best choices with what we were given. Some worked out, some didn’t, and that was just a fact of life. But it took me a lot of harsh experiences to understand that.
“They’re all beautiful, Doc. Good thing they took after Aditi, huh?” I wasn’t being flippant, but laughing about this kind of thing was the only way I could help him. That was just how I’d always been with Doc.
“They are, thank you.” Doc lowered his phone and turned back to address me again. “Well, I know that there’s a lot been going on in my absence, and I had Xavier give me the rundown on most of it. I’m sure that you know, with your mild head injury, you should not be diving for a while.”
And now, there it was—the dreaded talk about my health and this latest mission of ours. “Yeah, I know. And I’m willing to let Rosa take the lead in some matters, but not all.”
“Meaning?” Doc challenged me, and I knew that look in his eyes all too well. He was going to pull the medic card on me if I wasn’t careful.
“I won’t dive until you clear me, fair enough?” I clarified. “I can run the show from up top on Wraith, but that means that you will have to go with Rosa and retrieve the bodies and the cases where the Speirs inheritance items are.”
Upon further reflection, that might have been a better idea. Doc would be able to verify certain aspects of the crew’s and Mr. Speirs’ deaths on the scene without us having to break international law.
Doc still seemed unconvinced, though, judging by the scowl on his face. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I know you, Header. You’ll try to weasel your way into the water with or without my say so.”
“A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, Doc.” He knew that I was only teasing, mostly. “I’m not going to jeopardize the team or the mission. You have to trust me on that.”
“I will try to.” Doc grinned weakly and shook his head. “So, an old man with a gunshot wound? I know that you must have a theory on that.” He was referring to Speirs on the Hester, which meant that he was studying up on the mission.
I hadn’t done a tremendous amount of thinking since I’d left George’s place the other night. This was also the first time since I’d woken up that I remembered the crash and the fact that I’d been the target of someone trying to kill me. My focus changed instantly, and I instinctively looked around for my cell phone.
“Doc, where’s my phone?” I asked as I rifled uselessly beneath the bedsheets. “I need to call the MPD to find out what happened to the guy that ran into me and caused the crash.”
“I have very bad news about the phone. It died so that you may live.” Doc was teasing, and I knew that I deserved it from before. “But don’t worry. Xavier is extracting the SIM card and updating all the info on it into a new phone. He insisted. He should have it back to you by the end of the day.”
“Wow, that’s… really nice of him.” And a little unexpected, but in a good way. “But never mind that, do you know anything about the driver that hit me or anything about the police reports?” I needed to know what had really happened that night.
“I know that they took a man into custody for questioning. Xavier hasn’t updated me whether he’s been charged or released, though.” Doc stared at his phone for an instant and then handed it to me. “You can call him if that would make you feel better, or you can use my phone to contact the police. I know you must have a lot of questions for them.”
I considered this for a minute, and then I decided that my head was too dull to absorb any important information right now. I was better off planning for the things I knew could get done and influence. “I’d rather concentrate on the team’s mission. And your new domestication plans.” I recalled that he was going to need a place for him and Zaid to live, and that was just for starters. “How’s the house-hunting going?”
Doc groaned in irritation. “It’s not. I’ve been working on locating a school for him first, and then I intended to find something nearby. Zaid only knows very limited English. I’ve been working with him, but I must take that into account. He’ll need special classes on top of kindergarten just to develop his communication.”
I didn’t want to get too far off track, but I really wanted to know something. “Doc, why did your daughter want you to raise Zaid here, in Florida? Why not let his grandmother, Aditi, adopt him?”
Doc started to tear up, and he turned away before he answered me. “She would have. She wanted to, actually. But Ekta insisted that Zaid should be raised outside of India, away from the stigma that she’d faced growing up. She didn’t go into great detail, but it was obviously extremely hard for her. She and Aditi weren’t allowed to be close to one another, and Ekta was treated… differently, as my daughter.”
I could tell he was suffering major guilt about his past. But he continued to speak. It seemed to make him feel better about it, to acknowledge it to someone else for a change.
“The money that I sent was held back for her education, which I’m glad for,” he continued. “But now, knowing how things turned out, she could have been helped more, in different ways.” Doc cleared his throat, choking back other things he would have liked to say. “But she wanted her son to live a distinct life from hers. Once I got there, Ekta talked about nothing else. She’d always wanted to move to America, and that was one thing she wanted to pass on to her son since she couldn’t have it.”
That was a very imposing thing to ask, not only of Doc but of her son. I felt I could admire Ekta, but I wasn’t sure I would have made that kind of choice.
“That’s… something.” I didn’t want to voice what I was thinking, as Doc was going to need our support more than us questioning his deceased daughter’s requests.
“I know it is. Trust me, I know.” Doc ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I never even thought about being a parent before all this, Header. I certainly wasn’t planning on settling down, buying a house, and plotting babysitting schedules. I’m not complaining about it, and I’m glad that I’ll get this chance. I just… I wish that I’d had some time to decide that I was ready for it.”
Doc looked sickened by saying that out loud because he quickly tried to cover it up. “But I’ll try to be the best grandfather and father-figure I can to Zaid. He deserves that, and I promised Ekta that I would. I won’t intentionally let either of them down.”
I looked at him and nodded. “You know, your
situation has made me a little more concerned with my future if you can believe that. I’ve spent some time thinking about whether I want to do the whole family thing someday, and if so, with who, and where and… all those things most people try to figure out before jumping into it.” That wasn’t a dig at him. It was more that I knew that at some point in my life, I wasn’t going to be able or willing to do the kind of stuff I was doing now. I felt I should probably have a plan for what was going to come later.
“Yes, I completely understand that. It’s a great luxury if you can manage it.” Doc grinned and moved to get up out of his chair. “Well, I need to stretch my legs a bit. How about I leave my phone here with you and let you make some calls in private? I don’t mind. I’ll see you in a few.” He headed for the door and left me alone.
I picked up the cell and dialed up a number. Then I stopped. I deleted it all and searched instead for the MPD information line and tried to get in contact with someone about my vehicle incident case. That would be a far better use of my time.
11
Jake
Thankfully, they released me from the hospital later that evening. I asked Rosa to drive me back to my condo, as she was the one with me when I got permission to leave. I was tired of lying in bed and wanted to be up doing something, but when I expressed that out loud, I got one of her Rosa stares. I knew that I’d better wait until I was alone to try anything more strenuous than making a pot of coffee.
The doctors warned of soreness in my muscles, and they gave me a list of things that I should not do for several days to several months. I politely listened to their instructions as they expected me to. There was no use in arguing about the rules. I just signed what I needed to and got out into the Miami air.
Rosa was devoted enough to make sure that I got into my condo alright, but it turned out to be a ruse to bombard me with lots of intelligence and information that she’d been unable to sign about while in the car.
Xavier has been following your accident and gaining every scrap of information that he can about it, she signed rapidly as soon as the front door to the condo had closed behind us. The man they questioned and arrested has ties to a cartel from Colombia. What does that tell you?
“Crap,” I muttered. “The Yabut, again? Oh wait, does this have something to do with the hit Judge Fu had on me? Is that still a thing?” I grabbed a beer from my fridge and made my way over to the dining table. I had kind of suspected as much. “I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. She doesn’t seem to want to give up on punishing me for saving her son.”
I suppose not, Rosa replied as she joined me. You’d think having your DEA Task Force unraveled before your eyes and possibly being implicated in a drug cartel scheme was enough to make a person slow down and lie low, but not her. Rosa joked, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. She’s very determined to get her way and to make you pay for knowing about her fraud.
“Yeah.” I agreed solemnly. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared about a corrupt Federal Judge peddling her influence to save her career, but when she made me a target for her wrath, well, that was another matter altogether.
Rosa looked my place over and absentmindedly straightened things up. She had never broken the habit of taking care of the team, even when we all lived apart and across the city from one another. She was just like that.
You need to call the police and find out what’s going on with the creeps that tried to kill you, though, she signed in between tasks. You don’t have to mention the Judge. But you need to get all the information that you can now before it disappears.
She was right, of course. I needed to do just that.
Rosa continued on, not bothering with an answer or comment to that last bit. If you’d like, I can come by tomorrow morning and take you car shopping, seeing as how you’re going to be hoofing it otherwise.
I hadn’t put a lot of thought into that yet, but I was glad that someone had. I certainly needed wheels to get around Miami, and I wasn’t going to be happy bumming rides from my team or calling a cab every time I got the urge to go somewhere. “I’d really appreciate that, Rosa. Thanks. And thank you for bringing me home tonight. I know that you probably had more exciting plans than carting me around, but I am grateful for it.”
She smiled over at me as she finished putting away my cleaned dishes from the dish rack. Rosa signed, Is nine o’clock okay? I might have to bring company, depending on Doc and Xavier’s schedules tomorrow.
“Yes,” I nodded. “And that’s completely understandable. Is Doc getting any closer to finding a place for him and Zaid?” I hadn’t heard from him since that first visit. I knew that he was busy getting his new life set up and working to catch up on the mission. That also reminded me of something. “Hey, I’d like to head back out to the Speirs site the day after tomorrow if the car shopping goes well. Think the rest of the team would be up for it?”
Rosa turned to me quickly and answered. More than ready. We’ve been keeping tabs on the tracker, but it went dead yesterday. The battery must have finally run out. Oh, and don’t think you can get a new car and still have the rest of the day to do anything. That’s going to be an all-day thing, whether or not you want it to be. She looked guilty for a moment about something and then confessed. And just so that you know, I took Wraith out while you were in the hospital. Doc wanted to see where we’d be diving, and I didn’t think you’d mind. Sorry, it slipped my mind until now.
I took a quick sip of my beer. “I’m only surprised that you took it out once. I know that you’re as anxious about getting back down there as I am.”
Maybe I should have been more concerned, but I just wasn’t feeling it. What I was feeling was that I was letting down Mr. Speirs by not having gotten further in the mission of retrieving his brother’s body and the inheritance now at the bottom of the Atlantic.
She nodded and headed for the door to leave, sliding my new cell phone across the table at me on the way. Xavier wanted me to give this to you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then. Try to get some rest and don’t stress over the dive. The team’s all back together now, and that has to count for something. She waved goodbye and let herself out.
I finished my beer and then decided on a long, hot shower. I threw on some old, faded shorts and a green tee-shirt that was too big but felt good when I had nothing else to do for the rest of the night. The laundry was piling up, so I put in a load, and then my stomach growled, so I hoped there’d still be something worth eating left in the fridge. The leftovers left something to be desired, but I never turned down pizza, even if it was a few days old. I really needed to clean out that refrigerator.
Next, I phoned the MPD to get an update on my case. They informed me that the man driving the armored truck was in on it and that he’d been arrested as well. Both drivers were currently waiting to be extradited as they had a long criminal history in their home country of Colombia. The officer apologized for not getting back to me sooner, but they’d been hoping to give me some good news instead of this.
I wasn’t in the least bit surprised, and I told him not to worry about it. Privately, I had figured this sort of thing would happen. If Judge Fu were involved, she would work her way into getting those idiots out of the country without so much as a slap on the wrist.
There wasn’t much else to do, so I called it an early night and headed for bed. Maybe it was just the fact that I was home and back in my own bed, but I slept great. I woke up at a little before six and felt better than I had since, well, the crash.
Over some oatmeal and coffee, I browsed the classified ads for a new vehicle. I wasn’t in the market for a brand-new anything. I knew that I’d have to deal with the insurance for the Mercedes, and that could get tied up for months at the least. No, I was looking for something in good shape, gently used, and able to fit the team, plus all the junk I would haul around at any given time.
After about half an hour, I thought I had found the perfect one. I was going to want to look at it firsthand before I committed,
so I called up the number that was listed and made a nine-thirty appointment to see it. It was not too far from where I lived, so that would be a bonus in getting to the location so soon.
By the time Rosa texted me from the condo parking lot, I was ready with cash in hand, just in case. I hated to admit it, but I thought I already had my heart set on this one particular vehicle, and if it didn’t work out, I might find it hard to recover. Or not. It was just a car.
I found Rosa driving Xavier’s little Outback with Doc and Zaid in the backseat. I hadn’t prepared myself for that. But it was probably well past time to meet Doc’s grandson, and I had seconds to prepare.
I opened the passenger side door and stuck my head in. “Good morning, all.” My cheerfulness was genuine because of the vehicle I was on my way to see, but they didn’t need to know that.
Morning, Rosa signed.
“Good morning, Header,” Doc imitated. He motioned to the adorable kid beside him with a smile. “This is my grandson, Zaid. Zaid, this is the man I told you about, our team leader, Jake Header.” Doc seemed to prompt the kid to speak or do something as I slid into the seat and buckled up.
In the smallest voice I’d ever heard, Zaid said, “Good morning to you, sir.”
I couldn’t help but grin at this. “Good morning, Zaid. How are things going for you? Your granddad treating you alright?” Then it hit me that he probably wasn’t ready for so much conversation, so instead, I reached around the seat and offered him my hand to shake.
The young boy took it and barely shook it, but it was a start.
I went instead with, “Pleased to meet you, Zaid.” I then turned to Rosa and showed her my cell. I had the address for the vehicle I wanted to check out pulled up and ready. “This may be a quick trip. I found this one this morning, and I’m extremely interested in it. If it all works out, I’ll leave you three to the rest of your errands and head out to the marina.”