The Fix-It Man

by Donald Wells

  Sophie looked aghast. “You must shop at thrift stores Mr. Krebbs, and John I apologize, but I did buy the less expensive of the two I considered, why they had this Russian sable that was the most beautiful thing I ever saw, and I put it back and got the mink.”

  “Sophie?”

  “Yes John?”

  “I want you to go back to the store.”

  “I was afraid you would say that, and I will, I’ll take it back. I’m sorry John, you’ve been so generous and I—”

  “Sophie!”

  “…Yes?”

  “When you get back to the store I want you to buy the Russian sable, and anything else that strikes your fancy.”

  Krebbs shot me a look. “Mr. Faron, I really must protest, if you keep spending money this way you’ll—”

  “I’ll be richer next year than I am now. Krebbs, take a guess, how much would you say I earn a day on investments alone.”

  Krebbs fooled with his calculator for a few seconds.

  “As of yesterday, it was roughly a hundred and ninety three thousand.”

  “Dollars? In one day?”

  “Yes Sir, but the market has been down lately.”

  “Mr. Krebbs I’d like you to issue Ms. Delgado a credit card and a checkbook linked to my personal account, no limits.”

  Krebbs suddenly looked like he wanted to faint.

  “Oh, Mr. Faron, I,I have to protest. I’m not making accusations mind you, but to just hand someone the ability to ruin your credit, it’s it’s… unwise to say the least. Why the harm she could do if—”

  I pointed across the table.

  “Mr. Krebbs, there are two people on this planet that I know will never intentionally harm me. They’re seated across from you right now, Bill Healy and Felicia Delgado, if they want anything I have, it’s theirs. Do you understand me Mr. Krebbs?”

  “Yes Sir, but I hope you understand that I had to bring this to your attention.”

  “I do, and thank you.”

  Krebbs sent a weak smile around the table and left the room.

  I looked at Felicia. “When Sophie needs to shop she can use your card, okay?”

  Felicia just stared at me and nodded.

  Sophie walked over to me. “Did you really mean what you said about the coat?”

  “Knock yourself out, Sophie.”

  Sophie started to tear up.

  “Oh John, after everything I’ve… you’re just so…”

  And then she hurried out of the room.

  Bill got up. “I think I’ll go see if she’s all right.”

  I turned to Ms. Lee. “Could you give Felicia and me a moment alone?”

  She smiled. “Of course John, I’ll be in my office.”

  When we were alone, I spoke.

  “When you slept with David years ago, I know that you didn’t do it to hurt me. When I brought it up in the kitchen, I was trying to hurt you. I’m sorry, and I promise you, I’ll never do it again.”

  She stared at me without speaking for so long that I began to wonder if she would ever speak to me again.

  Then, finally, “Johnny, I have to ask you a question and please, please don’t try and spare my feelings.”

  “All right, what is it?”

  “Do, do you still love me? You haven’t said it to me since you found out I was pregnant. Was that the final straw, carrying David’s baby? Has it killed any feelings that you ever had for me?”

  I stared at her for a moment. I then got up and walked around the table, to take a seat beside her.

  “Do you have any idea how much I loved Tori?”

  “Yes, I could see it in your eyes whenever you looked at her.”

  “She was my life Felicia. For years, she was the reason I got up in the morning, the reason I never quit on my dream to create my engine. I promised her the rest of my life and everything I had before God and man, and, and I was honored that she was carrying my child. I adored her to no end.”

  She hung her head. “I see.”

  I grabbed her face and stared into her eyes.

  “Yes you see, you breathe, you live, because when I had to choose between you and Tori, when fate or God or destiny forced me to make a choice, I chose you. Don’t ever again ask me if I love you. I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine.”

  She smiled through her tears. “Johnny?”

  “Yes baby?”

  “We’re going to make it someday, aren’t we?”

  “Baby, there’s only one thing I know about the future.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That I’m going to track down David Thorne, that I’m going to track him down and kill him for what he did to Tori.”

  “But what about love Johnny?”

  “Oh, I promise you, I’ll love every second of it.”

  58

  On Monday morning, I met Richard McCarthy.

  He was a large man, blond, perhaps an inch taller than me and very muscular. In his youth, he had been a star high school football player, and later, a top bodybuilder. With the money he made from bodybuilding, he opened his first sports bar.

  Within seven years, he had a chain of twelve, all in the Los Angeles area. And then he took his family on a trip to London and life changed forever. His son and two daughters were killed instantly in a bomb blast, while his wife lingered for hours under crushing debris. Rescue teams finally freed her, only for her to die in McCarthy’s arms.

  Over the last six years, he had eradicated the terrorists that murdered his family and also damaged other groups, and recently he had tracked down two fugitives on the F.B.I.’s most wanted list. His life used to be about sports, games, now it was deadly serious; however, he still played to win.

  We were in my study. Bill had just introduced us and then taken his leave. McCarthy looked like a guy who could own a chain of sports bars, that is, until you gazed into his eyes.

  He had the most intense eyes of anyone I’d ever met, and yet, at the same time you didn’t feel the need to break eye contact, rather, you kept looking, trusting that the fire that lit those eyes would never burn you, but would warm you instead.

  At our first meeting, Tori said I had kind eyes. McCarthy eyes were not kind; they were deadly serious. I found myself wondering if my eyes would look like McCarthy’s when I finally killed Thorne.

  I glanced about my study; most of the books on the walls had once belonged to my grandfather. For a moment, I wondered what the old man would think of me now, living in the Castle Estate, famous for building an engine that would change the world, and then I smiled inwardly. I knew what he would think of me, what he always thought of me, he would have been proud.

  “Mr. Faron, I understand you’re looking for David Michael Thorne.”

  “Yes, do you think you could find him?”

  “In time, yes, but understand, with Thorne’s financial resources he has options that the average fugitive doesn’t, it could take years.”

  “I understand it could be difficult, what I’m asking is will you do it? From all I’ve learned about you, you’re the best at tracking someone down.”

  McCarthy grinned across the desk at me.

  “I have good instincts.”

  “And what do your instincts tell you about Thorne?”

  “I believe he’s probably somewhere in Asia.”

  “Really? The F.B.I.’s best guess is that Thorne is in Europe.”

  McCarthy spread his hands. “My instincts say otherwise.”

  “I’ll trust you on that; your track record speaks for itself. Will you do it? Will you find Thorne?”

  “Let’s say I do, then what?”

  “Then I kill him.” I said.

  McCarthy bore into me with his intense eyes.

  “I think you could do it. But why not let me kill him when I find him? It would be much easier.”

  I stared back. “I need to kill him. I’m thinking you understand that.”

  He nodded. “Yes I do.”

  “Will you
do it Mr. McCarthy?”

  He stood and reached across the desk. “Yes, and call me Richard.”

  “And I’m John,” After we shook hands, I handed him a card. “That’s my cell phone. If you need anything just call, and please keep me up to date on the search. I don’t need daily reports or anything, just a general overview.”

  “There’s something you should know John. I don’t work alone. I’m no Superman. There are… others. Fellow victims of terrorism and other violent crimes, and we share information, resources, and also time. Finding Thorne will be my main objective, but if one of my friends needs help, I won’t hesitate to give it. But I promise you this; I will find Thorne. No matter how long it takes, no matter the cost.”

  I stared at him for long moments as I considered his words. I then grabbed a pen from atop my desk and wrote down a number for him.

  “That’s the cell phone number of my personal assistant, Ms. Lee. I’m going to instruct her to set-up a… well, let’s call it a resource fund, for you and your friends. You will be the only one granted access to the money and I’ll let you use it as you see fit, to help whoever you see fit to help. I’m well aware that Thorne is not the only scumbag out there, and if I can help remove some of them by simply writing a check, then I’ll write as many as you need.”

  McCarthy took the paper with Ms. Lee’s number and stared down at it. When he raised his head and looked at me, his intense eyes seemed a shade softer.

  “Thank you John, and know this, my friends are now your friends.”

  We discussed details and then I walked him to his car. Before he pulled away, he gave me a bit of advice.

  “I know your story John, that Thorne is responsible for your wife’s death. I also know that you and his ex-wife are close. Choose her! If it ever comes down to having to kill him, or having to love her, choose her. Thorne is vermin, dime a dozen vermin, and sooner or later vermin gets exterminated, but having someone to love who loves you back, that’s beyond priceless, but I guess you know that already too.”

  “Thorne’s ex-wife and I had a history before him and we’ll have a future after, for the present, Thorne is my main concern.”

  “I’ll find him John, and then you can get back to your life.”

  “What about you Richard? Do you have a life?”

  “My Life ended six years ago.” McCarthy said, and then he shoved his car into gear and drove off through the gates.

  59

  Months passed with no sign of Thorne, but McCarthy vowed to keep looking until he found him.

  Felicia was days away from her due date and looked ready to pop. Her doctor said she was doing well and that he expected no complications.

  It was Sunday, it was also the day the town held its annual picnic. The town council asked if they could use the land on the eastern side of the property as usual, and I agreed. Also, to Krebbs consternation, I volunteered to pay for the festivities.

  I may not have been born in this town, but I’d come to love it and called it home.

  * * *

  I was sitting at a picnic table, having a beer with Bill and Bobby Owens, when Janey walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Johnny, can I see you alone for a moment?”

  I smiled up at her. “Are you forgetting you’re a married woman?”

  “Ha ha, please, it’s kind of important.”

  I excused myself to Bill and Bobby and then Janey and I walked over to a group of trees.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “With me? No, it’s about Felicia.”

  “What about her?”

  “Did she ever tell you why she married David Thorne?”

  “She said it was because she thought she was pregnant and that she didn’t want the baby to be born illegitimate. Yes, I know. But Janey, Tori’s only been gone a few months. I’m not ready for a relationship, much less marriage.”

  “I know the baby is not yours Johnny, but everyone thinks it is, especially after that TV show on David the other night.”

  That, ‘TV show on David’ was a news special titled:

  David Michael Thorne—THE PLATINUM KILLER

  It was a particularly well researched piece. An interesting aspect of the show was the revelation that Thorne’s mother was alive. Sophie and Felicia had been told that she died while giving birth to Thorne. The truth was that Thorne’s father had her committed when David was only three. Apparently, Thorne found out about her when he was sixteen, after his father died of a heart attack.

  They showed a picture of Miriam Thorne. She was a blonde.

  The narrator of the program implied that Thorne’s mother might have warped him at a young age, due to her mental illness.

  The program also looked into David’s possible paternity of Felicia’s unborn child. Among those interviewed, were the two thugs David had sicced on me last year. The two confirmed that Thorne accused me of sleeping with his wife and that he had photographic evidence to back it up.

  There was also a desk clerk from the hotel where I met with Felicia, when I sought to warn her about Thorne. He confirmed that we had checked in under assumed names. The show concluded that I was most likely the baby’s father and that this was why Thorne had tried to kill me by planting a bomb at my wedding. Overall, it helped to insure that Felicia’s baby wouldn’t have to grow up with Thorne’s stigma attached.

  “Janey, Felicia and I may marry someday, but it’s too soon now.”

  “That baby will be born any day, how can it be too soon?”

  “Haven’t I done enough? I’ve claimed paternity, I’ve given her and her aunt a home, isn’t that enough?”

  “It’s just that I know what it would mean to her for the baby to have your name.”

  “That baby will want for nothing, I promise you.”

  “You’re talking about money, Felicia doesn’t care about money.”

  “She doesn’t? Are you certain about that?”

  Janey heaved a weary sigh. “I know. You think she stayed with David because he was rich. And you know what? You’re right.”

  “I’m right?”

  “Yes, partially, and that’s all I’ll say for now. Just know one thing, Felicia loves you, money or not, she always has and she always will.”

  I searched her face. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

  “No, I’m trying not to tell you something, because I promised I would never tell.”

  “Janey, spit it out.”

  She waved a hand in front of her. “I’m getting off track, all I wanted to say is that I hope you’ll consider marrying Felicia before the baby is born. Please Johnny?”

  I looked at her, wondering what she was dancing around, but I knew Janey. If she promised Felicia she’d keep something secret she would, still, whatever it was seemed to be eating at her.

  “I’ll think about it, okay?”

  She smiled. “Fair enough, and hey, I didn’t just cross a line, did I?”

  I put my arm around her and started walking back to the picnic table.

  “We don’t have lines Janey, we’re friends.”

  Janey gave my biceps a squeeze. “Best friends Muscleman,”

  “It’s funny, Mona used to call me that.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  * * *

  I spent the rest of the day thinking over what Janey said.

  As the picnic wound down and darkness fell, the fireworks show got under way. I walked back toward the house and found myself confronted by one of Bill’s security personnel, who shined a flashlight in my face, blinding me.

  “Mr. Faron! I’m sorry Sir; I didn’t know it was you.”

  As the light was turned off, my eyes cleared and I could see the man’s face. He was about forty, with a thin build and dark curly hair. On his belt hung a weapon, and his hand was resting on it lightly.

  “That’s all right; it’s good to see you’re doing your job. Any problems today?”

  “No Sir, I just had to shoo away a few nosy
people who got too close to the house, that’s all.”

  “Well, keep up the good work, Sam, isn’t it?”

  “Yes Sir, Sam Bowen,”

  I said, “Goodnight Sam,” and continued toward the house.

  On the patio, the staff seemed to be having their own party, Hip Hop music was playing and, to my surprise, Mr. Krebbs was dancing with one of the maids. The girl was about twenty years Krebbs junior, but he was keeping up with her, and the rest of the group was cheering them on. As the song ended, the girl grabbed Krebbs and kissed him passionately. I walked into the house while shaking my head and Ms. Lee greeted me.

  “Hello John, how was the picnic?”

  “I think it went well, is there anything I need to know?”

  “No, it’s been a quiet day, oh, I hope the staff’s party doesn’t bother you, but since most of them couldn’t get to the picnic I thought it would be all right if they had their own celebration.”

  “No, hell, let them have fun.”

  She smiled, “I thought you’d say that.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow Ms. Lee.”

  “Yes John, goodnight.”

  I went up to my bedroom, after closing the door I became aware of a faint sound, like someone singing. It was coming from the nursery.

  I quietly opened the connecting door and found Felicia sitting in a white wooden rocker beside the crib; she was caressing her belly with both hands and singing a lullaby. I laid a few gentle taps onto the door.

  She turned her head and smiled at me. “Johnny,”

  “Hello baby, singing Hannah a little song are we?”

  “She’s coming Johnny, any day now, I’m so excited.”

  I walked over and squatted beside the chair.

  “About that, what were you planning on naming her, I mean as a last name?”

  She looked surprised by my question.

  “Delgado, she’ll be Hannah Delgado,”

  I took her hand.

  “Maybe, maybe we should make that Faron, like my mom, Hannah Faron.”

  “I could, I guess, legally there’d be no problem unless you disputed it.”

  I kissed her hand. “No baby, I mean why don’t we do this right. Let’s get married before she’s born.”