by Bill Bernico
Elliott and Rose said their goodbyes to Lila and expressed their disappointment in Conrad’s behavior. By the time they got back to Hollywood, Eric had finished his shift and Elliott was able to drop Rose at his house again and return to his office.
Tricia finally called the Cooper office four days later and asked to speak to Matt. Elliott gestured at the phone and held up two fingers, mouthing, “Line two” from across the room.
Matt picked up the phone and answered with a cheerful voice. “Matt Cooper speaking.”
“Matt, it’s Tricia Jenkins.”
“Yes, Tricia,” Matt said. “Are you calling to reschedule the meeting between Conrad and Lila?”
There was a bit of a pause before Tricia finally said, “Matt, Gramps died in his sleep night before last.”
Matt took a deep breath and said, “Oh, Tricia, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Elliott perked up when he heard Matt’s reply.
“He went to bed at the usual time, said good night and went to sleep,” Tricia explained. “The next morning I knocked on his bedroom door and he didn’t answer. When I went in, he looked so peaceful, like he was still sleeping. I tried to wake him and then realized that he’d passed away.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Matt told her. “I hope he at least died happy. I hope we were able to give him that much anyway.”
“That’s kind of why I’m calling,” Tricia said. “We’re having his service tomorrow and I was hoping you could make it.”
“Absolutely,” Matt said.
“And I was also hoping Lila might want to attend as well.”
Matt paused and then offered, “I can ask,” he said, “But like I told you the day I brought him home from her house, things didn’t quite go as planned so I’m not sure Lila would come.”
“Please ask her anyway,” Tricia said. “And ask your father if he’d like to attend as well.” She gave Matt the name and address of the funeral home and thanked him again for his compassion. She was about to hang up when she remembered something. “I almost forgot,” she told Matt. “What do I owe you for your services?”
“What do you owe me for my services?” Matt repeated it to let Elliott know what Tricia had asked. Elliott looked at Matt and shook his head. He held his thumb and fingers in the shape of an O and mouthed, “Nothing” to him.
“Don’t worry about it,” Matt said. “There’s no charge. I was glad to do it.” He could hear Tricia sniffling on the other end.
By the time he hung up his phone, Matt’s eyes had started to well up. He looked up at Elliott. “Conrad died in his sleep night before last.”
“So I gathered from your end of the conversation,” Elliott said. “Is she planning some kind of service for him?”
“Yes,” Matt said. “And she’d like us both to attend. She also asked if I’d ask Lila if she could make it.”
“I don’t know about that, Matt,” Elliott said. “That wasn’t what I would have called the reunion of a lifetime.”
“Maybe we should at least ask her,” Matt said. “All she can do is say no.”
Lila said yes and agreed to have Elliott pick her up and drive her to the funeral home. When it came her time to say her goodbyes, Lila stepped up to the casket, laid a single red rose on Conrad’s chest, kissed her fingertips and pressed them to Conrad’s cheek. “Goodbye, Conrad,” she whispered before moving on.
Even though he might not have realized it, Conrad had accomplished what he’d set out to do all those decades ago when he’d first sought the services of the original Matt Cooper. Matt’s great-grandson had humored Conrad Jenkins and had allowed him to die thinking that his wishes had been carried out. Elliott had joked with Matt, saying that he could get him a white jacket and visored cap and he could hire himself out as the Good Humor man. Matt didn’t think that was particularly funny.
The day after the memorial services for Conrad Jenkins, Eric Anderson called Elliott to thank him for spending time with his grandmother, Rose and for showing her an interesting time.
“Interesting time?” Elliott said. “Are those her words?”
“She really did enjoy spending time with you,” Eric said. “Thanks again. I’m just calling to see what I owe you for your time.”
“What you owe me for my time?” Elliott said aloud for Matt’s benefit. He looked to Matt.
Matt shook his head. He held his thumb and fingers in the shape of an O and mouthed, “Nothing” to his father.
“Let’s just say you owe me big and leave it at that,” Elliott told Eric. “I guess I had about as good a time as she did, so how about you just send some real work my way and we’ll call it even.”
“Are you kidding, Elliott?” Eric said.
“Really,” Elliott explained. “I actually had fun. Your grandmother was good company. Speaking of which, is she planning on staying in Los Angeles now?”
“No,” Eric said. “She flew home to Phoenix three days ago. She said she was looking forward to getting back to her regular routine. You know, Bingo and her friends and everything. You know how old people are with their routines.”
“Well, you give her my best when you talk to her again, will you?” Elliott said.
“That I will,” Eric said.
Eric never got to convey Elliott’s regards to Grandma Rose. He got the call three months later that Rose Anderson had slipped in the shower and had broken her hip. Four days after her fall she slipped into a coma and died a week later.
Such is life.
133 - Full Circle
“Are you sure Dad doesn’t suspect anything?” Matt said to his mother, Gloria. “I’d like this party to be a surprise for him. Everybody’s going to be there.”
“If he suspects anything,” Gloria said, “he’s not letting on, at least not to me. Tell me again who’s coming, would you, Matt?”
“Of course, you and I will host this party,” Matt began. “Eric’s going to be there and I think he’s even bringing a date.”
“You mean Eric, the confirmed bachelor?” Gloria said, somewhat surprised since Lieutenant Eric Anderson of the Los Angeles Police Department usually kept his private life private.
“Yup,” Matt said. “And I hear she’s quite a looker for an older…” Matt trailed off, suddenly realizing that Eric was about the same age as his parents.
“What was that you were going to say?” Gloria said, her hands on her hips in a defensive posture.
“Nothing,” Matt said quickly. “Eric seldom talks about any of his dates or other women he’s met. Did you ever notice that about him?”
“Good save,” Gloria said.
“Oh, and Andy Reynolds is bringing his wife,” Matt added.
“That should be a real scream,” Gloria said. “I hope he’s a lot livelier than the people he usually deals with.” Andy was the county medical examiner that the Coopers had come to know over the past couple of decades. More than a few of Eric’s suspects had ended up on Andy’s slab in the morgue. “Who else is coming?”
“Sergeant Crowley said he’d be there,” Matt said. “His wife can’t make it, so he’s bringing his son, Jason instead. And there’ll be some more cops and even a few of Dad’s own clients coming to wish him well. Should be one hell of a night.”
“What about your sister?” Gloria said. “Have you heard from her or Tom yet?”
“Tom was out when I called but Olivia promised to get him moving as soon as he came home. She told me they already have their airline tickets and their flight is coming in at four-fifteen. I sure hope there are no delays. Boy, won’t Dad be surprised? Didn’t he ask why you’re making three cakes and all this other food?”
“He did,” Gloria explained. “I just told him it was for my bridge club’s bake sale and he didn’t even question me about it. He must have his mind on something else lately. Do you know what he’s working on?”
Matt thought about it for a moment and said, “We got this call yesterday from some guy looking to hire Dad to find his
step-brother or some other partial member of his family. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Maybe we should have told him about the party,” Gloria said. “Just in case he would be asked to give a speech, he’d have time to prepare something.”
“It’ll be a lot funnier the other way,” Matt said. “Could be good for a few laughs just watching him try to ad lib.”
“I guess he’ll be all right,” Gloria said before turning her attentions back to the frosting she was spreading on the last cake. “How are you planning to get him to the twelfth precinct tonight?”
“I’ve got that all figured out, Mom,” Matt said. “I’m going to tell him that Eric wants to see us both in his office. I’ll tell him Eric has some work for us and wants to lay it out for us. Then when we get there, Eric is going to ask us to follow him to the break room, where everything is going to be set up and the guests will be waiting to surprise him.”
“And you’re taking him straight there after work?” Gloria asked.
Matt nodded. “It’s almost on his way home anyway,” he said. “I tell him it’ll be a quick in and out. Too bad Eric doesn’t really have something for Dad to work on. It would be nice if he could go out with a bang next week.”
Gloria stopped spreading frosting and turned toward Matt. “Don’t say ‘bang’ in your line of work,” she said. “How about it would be nice if he went out like a lion?”
“But he didn’t come into the business like a lamb,” Matt said. “When he joined Grandpa Clay, he hit the ground running, from what I’ve heard. And then Grandpa had his first heart attack and you came along.”
“Pretty neat how it worked out, isn’t it?” Gloria said. “If Clay had enjoyed perfect health, you wouldn’t be here today.”
“What do they call that?” Matt said. “Kismet, karma, fate or just that all the pieces fell together in the right order?”
“Call it what you will,” Gloria said, “but as far as I’m concerned, it worked out the way it was supposed to.” She reached out to hug Matt, but he pulled away, pointing at the frosting covering her fingers.
Matt looked at his watch and then up at the wall clock in the kitchen. “I’d better get moving,” he said. “This time of day it’s a good hour drive to the airport. I guess I’ll see you at the precinct.” Matt looked at all the food and the three cakes. “Do you have someone to help you get all of this to the party?”
“Judy’s coming over in an hour to help me get all this over there,” she said, shooing Matt out the door with a flick of her wrist. “Just drive careful on your way to the airport and tell Olivia and Tom that I’ll see them at the party.”
Matt leaned over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. “I will. See you later, Mom.” Matt fought the traffic for the next hour and still managed to get to the airport with twenty minutes to spare.
As Elliott sat talking with his potential client, he managed to sneak a peek at his wristwatch and noticed that it was nearly five o’clock and he was still no closer to closing this deal than he was an hour ago. The man asked Elliott question after question regarding if and when he could begin trying to locate his step-brother. There was some question about settling his father’s estate and the man’s lawyer suggested he hire someone to find the step-brother so they could finally settle any arguments about who gets what.
“Look, Mr. Dobbs,” Elliott said. “I can probably find your step-brother in a relatively short time, but only if we can conclude this question and answer session and I can actually get to it. Now, do you want to hire my services, or not? If not, I have other clients that need my attention.”
Charles Dobbs looked at his own watch and then back up at Elliott. “Oh my goodness,” he said. “I have taken up way too much of your time, haven’t I?” He said nothing else but just looked at Elliott as if he still had questions.
Elliott broke the silence. “So, is that a yes or a no?” he said and then waited for Dobbs’ response.
Dobbs shook his head. “I just don’t know, Mr. Cooper,” he said. “If I spend the money on you and you find him and then I find out that he doesn’t get anything from the estate anyway, then that’s just that much less I’ll end up with in the end. Oh, I just don’t know.”
Elliott had had enough at his point. He stood, grabbed his coat and said, “Why don’t you think about it and call me when you make up your mind? Better yet, when you decide what you want to do, just call the office and ask for my son, Matt. This is my last week of working. I’m retiring as of this Friday at five o’clock. Good day, sir.”
Elliott left the man’s house and slid behind the wheel of his surveillance van. He started the engine and sat there, shaking his head. “People,” he said under his breath. He pulled out into traffic and headed back to the office. A few seconds later his cell phone rang. He could tell by the caller I.D. that it was Matt on the other end. “What’s up, Matt?”
“Dad,” Matt said, sounding frustrated. “Where have you been?”
“The guy I came out here to see couldn’t make up his mind and I finally had to leave,” Elliott told his son. “I told him when he makes up his mind to call you. He can be your headache after Friday.”
“I can hardly wait,” Matt said, sarcastically. “So, where are you?”
“I’m about twenty or twenty-five minutes out,” Elliott said. “Why?”
“Were you planning to come back to the office before you went home?” Matt asked.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Elliott said. “Why?”
“Because we need to make a quick stop at the twelfth precinct,” Matt explained. “Eric wants to brief us on some work he has for us and wants to make sure we stop in tonight yet.”
“Can’t this wait until the morning?” Elliott said. “I’m kind of beat.”
“It really can’t, Dad,” Matt said. “Eric said it was pretty important that we be there. He also said it would be a quick in and out. Five minutes, tops.”
“Why doesn’t he just call me and tell me what he has?” Elliott said, frustration beginning to set it.
Matt sighed. “Because he has a couple of things that he needs to show us that he can’t show you over the phone. I’m leaving now, Dad. I’ll meet you in the parking lot at the twelfth precinct.”
“Couldn’t Eric just tell you?” Elliott said. “He knows I’m retiring after this week and that you’ll end up with this assignment on your own anyway, doesn’t he?”
“Dad,” Matt said. “The job he has for us is for this week and it’s a simple one day job for the two of us. Apparently it’s an easy job but it pays pretty well, so don’t screw this up for me, okay? I need to stay on good terms with the L.A.P.D. even if you don’t. Now, will you just meet me there and stop giving me a hard time about it?”
“All right,” Elliott said. “Gees, I don’t know what you’ll do when I’m gone.” He looked at the dash clock in his van and added, “It’s twenty after five now. I can meet you in the parking lot behind the precinct in fifteen minutes. Good enough?”
“I’ll be there,” Matt said. “Goodbye.” He closed his phone and rolled his eyes. It shouldn’t have to be this hard to get his father to his retirement party, he thought. Matt closed the office and drove to the twelfth precinct parking lot and waited. It could be a few minutes yet before Elliott got here and he could use those minutes trying to calm himself down again. Part of his anxiety was due to Elliott’s reluctance to meet him here and another part was due to the fact that his father was leaving him alone in the business. He wasn’t sure he could handle the whole business by himself, but he was about to find out pretty darn soon. Matt opened his cell phone and called Eric to let him know that he’d be bringing Elliott into the break room in just a few minutes.
It was almost twenty minutes to six when Elliott’s van pulled into the lot and parked next to Matt’s sedan. Elliott got out just as Matt closed his car door and approached him. “Come on,” Elliott said. “Let’s get this over with. I just want to get home and unwind.”
Matt said nothing, but just led his father down the hall to Eric’s office. He knocked and opened Eric’s door, sticking his head in far enough to realize that the office was empty. He closed the door again and turned to Elliott. “Not here,” he told Elliott. “But he told me that if he wasn’t in his office that he’d be in the break room. Let’s go.”
Elliott followed Matt down another hall to a door marked, ‘Break Room.’ Matt pushed the door open and noticed that the room was dark. Elliott pushed the other swing door open and then turned to Matt. “I guess he couldn’t wait,” Elliott said, just before the lights came on and three dozen people all yelled, “surprise” at the same time.
Elliott’s eyes got wide when he saw the banner stretched across the far wall. It said, “Happy Retirement, Elliott” in shiny gold letters, each two feet square, hanging on a silvery rope near the ceiling. The entire crowd began taking at once. Elliott looked across the room to see Gloria smiling broadly. Elliott smiled back and shook his head. He scanned the rest of the room and saw the cakes that Gloria had been making when he’d left home that morning. All the other food was laid out on the tables across from the cakes and at the far end of that table Elliott noticed a piled of beautifully wrapped boxes, which he assumed to be presents for him.
As if this wasn’t enough of a surprise, the crowd parted in the middle and Elliott could see a young couple looking back at him. It took him a few seconds to register recognition before he realized that it was his daughter, Olivia and her husband, Tom. Elliott’s eyes misted over as Olivia ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheeks and then buried her face in his chest. “We missed you, Daddy,” she said.
He hadn’t heard Olivia call him Daddy in a long time and it felt good. It felt really good. When he finally released her, Tom stepped up and extended his hand. “Hi, Dad,” he said and shook Elliott’s hand.
“Are you taking good care of my baby?” Elliott said.
Tom looked surprised. “But we don’t...”
Elliott laughed. “I meant my little girl.”