by Tony Bertot
Waving back he started towards the house as she acknowledged and disappeared inside. "Emelia, what is it you want?" he shouted out as he entered through the double glass doors. As he came through the house and turned left into the dining area he stopped cold. "Holy mother of Christ," Jay said as he found himself staring at his old friend Theo Gresco standing next to his wife.
"Hi, Jay," Theo said.
"Theo. Is it really you?" he asked with his mouth still opened. Jay walked up to him and gave him a big hug. "Boy, I thought you were dead," he told him as a big grin appeared on his face.
"Not yet," was Theo's reply.
"Come in. Come in," Jay said repeatedly.
"I am already in," Theo said.
"Of course you are. Oh my God. I can't believe it. You look good for a man who should have drowned in the East River." Jay said laughing. "Where are my manners? Emelia this is a very good friend of mine. Theo Gresco, meet my wife, Emelia Messina," Jay said.
"We've already met," Theo said.
"What? Of course you have," Jay said laughing. "I got to get use to you all over again," Jay said. "Emelia please set up one of the spare bedrooms for my friend here. He will be staying for as long as he wants," Jay said to his wife.
Emelia smiled at Theo and said, "I have heard a lot about you Mr. Gresco. You are welcome in our home. May I get you something to eat or drink?" she asked him.
"No thank you, ma'am," Theo responded.
Theo, now tanned and dressed in a white shirt with brown khaki shorts, and wearing sandals, blended in with the locals very nicely.
"Come. Come let's go out and sit on the beach while we chat," Jay told Theo. They both exited the house through the double glass doors and headed down toward the beach where a few lounge chairs awaited them.
"I want you to know that I am very happy you are here Theo, but I need to know why you aren't with your wife. And what about your kid?" Jay asked.
Theo sat quietly for some time while Jay sat patiently waiting for his response. He remembered his old friend, remembered that he was never quick to answer.
"Sylvia is dead," Theo said. "As for my son, Tyler, I imagine he is currently enjoying the benefits of my hard work, so to speak," Theo responded.
"I am sorry about your wife. Wish I could change the way things turned out. I should have gone with you and Nick. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe they both would still be alive," Jay said now sitting over the side of the lounge chair staring at Theo.
Theo turned to Jay and smiled. "And maybe you too would be dead, and I would have no friend to turn to or call," Theo said in a calm voice.
Jay turned and sat back into the lounge chair as they both stared out at the water. Theo was exhausted, and in just a matter of minutes fell into a deep sleep. Jay watched him for a few minutes before retiring into the house.
The next morning Jay found Theo sitting on the same lounge chair, looking out into the sea.
Theo had been awakened by a small voice. "Good morning," he heard. It was a little girl about five or six years of age.
"What's your name?" she asked him.
Theo stared at the little girl for a few seconds, wondering where she came from. He looked about and saw no one. "Where'd you come from little girl?" he asked her.
"From my house," she said pointing to Jay Messina's house.
"That's your house?" Theo asked her.
"Yes. My mommy and daddy live there with me," she said.
"Your father is Jay Messina?" Theo asked her.
She stared at Theo for a few seconds and then said, “No, his name is Daddy Messina and I am Maria Messina," she replied.
"I see. Well then, I am a friend of your daddy's," Theo told her.
"Are you going to stay with us?" she asked him.
"Just for a while," Theo responded.
"Good. Then you can be my friend and you can play with me, OK?" Maria looked satisfied.
"Don't you have other kids your age that you can play with?"
"Sure I do, but you're brand new and you don't have friends, so I am going to be your first friend," she answered him.
"How do you know I don't have friends? Your daddy is my friend," Theo told her.
"Daddies don't count," Maria countered.
"Hey you two, come on into the house for breakfast," they both heard Emelia shout out. Theo turned to see Emelia waving at them.
As he got up to head towards the house, Maria reached up to take Theo's hand. For a moment he looked at her as if she had three heads. Then, smiling at her, he took her hand and they both walked toward the inviting aroma of a hot breakfast.
"Good morning, you two," Jay said to Theo and Maria as they entered the house.
"See you've met," Emelia said.
"Yes, Mommy. I told him who I was," Maria said.
"Young lady, go and wash your hands before sitting down," Emelia instructed.
"Yes, Mom," Maria said running off to the bathroom.
"Theo, just follow her if you wish to wash up. I left some towels and a change of clothes," Emelia told Theo.
"Yes, ma’am," Theo nodded as he went on to follow Maria.
A few minutes later, Maria came running back to the table reporting that the man went into the bathroom. In less than fifteen minutes Theo managed to shower, shave and get into the clothes Emelia had left him.
"Wow, you look better," Maria said.
"Hush," Jay scolded.
It was not till later that night, as they sat on the beach, that Theo opened up to Jay and told him what had happened since last they departed. Jay sat there quietly listening to Theo divulge the details of his life and the path he had chosen. It was well into the night before Theo was finished.
"God, you've been busy," Jay remarked. "So what are your plans now?" he asked.
"I don't have any right now," Theo answered honestly.
"So are you going to finally quit? Settle down and maybe find yourself a wife?" Jay bombarded him. "Theo, have you ever failed in any of your assignments?" he asked.
"What? Me? Never," Theo responded somewhat surprised by the question.
"Why don't you call it quits while you're ahead? Settle down here with us. You would be welcomed," Jay told Theo.
Theo stared out at the ocean, feeling the cool breeze of the night. It was as close to paradise as he could imagine. But the ebb and flow of the ocean made him realize he must move on and continue moving.
"You have a good life here, Jay," Theo said.
"But?"
"It's not for me," Theo responded.
They sat there quietly for a couple of hours before they got up and went back into the house.
While sitting on the couch, Theo was caught off guard when Maria came running up to him, threw her little arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Good night," she said to him.
"Um... Good night, kind lady," responded Theo. Maria smiled at him and ran off to bed.
Theo looked up at Jay and Emelia as they both shrugged their shoulders as if saying "We don't know where she gets these things from either."
Theo was given the spare bedroom adjacent to Maria’s. It was the second night in a row that he felt at peace.
The next morning was a repeat of the previous day as all four sat around the table having breakfast. Little Maria was telling Theo about one of her friends who she thought liked her and wanted to marry her.
"Really? And don't you think you are too young to get married?" Theo asked her.
"Of course, silly. It's not for now," Maria told him in a matter of fact way.
"Oh, sorry I misunderstood," Theo told her.
"His name is Robert. But I call him Bobby," Maria said.
"Who?" Theo asked her.
"My boyfriend. Aren't you listening to me?" Maria asked him.
"Oh...umm... I see. Yes, I'm listening," Theo responded feeling somewhat uneasy. Both Emelia and Jay stared at them as they were having their conversation, wondering what Theo must be th
inking.
After breakfast, Theo and Jay both enjoyed a walk to get his mail at the local post office about a mile down the road.
"She's a handful," Jay said of Maria. Theo smiled and nodded in agreement.
Twenty minutes later they were walking back with a pile of newspapers. "What the hell is all that," Theo asked Jay.
"I subscribe to several newspapers. It helps me keep tabs on what's going on back home," Jay responded.
"Why don't you simply buy a television," Theo asked him.
"Nah, I like reading stuff. Besides the television out here only reports on major international issues. Not things that might happen on the streets of New York or Chicago," Jay said.
When they got back, Jay took the papers, laid them on the sand next to the beach chairs and started to go through them. Every once in a while he mentioned something of interest to Theo, who was occupying the chair next to him. It was four newspapers later when Jay said, "Hey Theo, here's a bit of news that might interest you."
"Yeah, what's that?" Theo asked.
"It seems Felicia Giordano has come back from the dead," Jay said.
***
The news that Felicia Giordano was still alive caught Theo off guard. The incident replayed in his mind over and over again. "How could she have survived a direct hit to the head?" he asked himself.
It wasn't till almost three a.m. that he realized what he had to do. The job wasn't finished. Regardless of who hired him, he had not completed his end of the contract. In Theo's way of thinking it had to be resolved immediately; his unblemished reputation of never failing to complete a contract was now in jeopardy.
Though Jay had asked him to let it go, that it was an omen, he could not: he could not let her live. He knew she would stop at nothing, spare no expense, to track him down. Such was her nature. Such was his nature.
So at around 6:00 a.m. Theo was up. He took a quick shower and was ready to walk out the door when he was confronted by little Maria. "Where you going?" she asked him.
"It's time for me to go," Theo responded.
"But I don't want you to go," she told him.
Theo walked over to her, got down on his knees and looked her right in the eyes. "I have to go. I didn't finish a job and I have to go and finish it," Theo told her.
"Will you be back after you finish?" she asked him.
He looked into her eyes and smiled. "Yes, I'll try to come back once I am finished," he told her.
Maria gave Theo a tight hug. "Please, come back," she told him.
Theo picked her up, carried her to her bed and laid her down, brought the cover up to her neck and kissed her on the forehead. "Go to sleep," he whispered.
"I love you," responded Maria. This caught Theo completely off guard. He had not heard those words in many years. This little girl touched his heart and he was almost overwhelmed by it.
He stared down at her and smiled. "I love you too," he told her. Theo straightened up and walked out of the room and down the hall toward the living room where Jay stood with his back to him, looking out onto the beach.
"It's going to be another beautiful day," Jay said, still with his back to him.
Theo came alongside him and peered out towards the beach. "Yes, it is," he responded.
"Do you remember when we were in Nam and Nick asked you to let him take out the next mark?" Jay asked.
It took a few seconds before Theo responded. "Yes, I remember. I also remember telling him that it was a long shot and he hadn't ever taken a shot like that from that distance. But he insisted," Theo said.
"He shot four other men before he finally hit his mark. Lucky they were all looking in different directions, and the mark didn't even notice until the third guy went down," Jay said almost laughing hysterically.
"Yeah, I never seen two grown men laugh so hard while running for their lives," Theo said smiling as he recalled the incident. "We ended up jumping into the freaken river," Theo added.
Then there was a dead silence.
"Want me to go with you?" Jay asked him.
Theo turned to Jay and smiled. The two men embraced and Theo walked out without ever responding.
Jay watched as Theo disappeared into the night. "Good luck my friend," Jay said to himself as he fought back the tears that threatened to spill.
Discovery
Daly City, California
Once again Tyler found himself running down a city street in the middle of the night. His gun drawn, he was chasing a man dressed in a long black overcoat wearing a gray fedora. As Tyler was closing in, the stranger turned and fired. Tyler was thrown backwards into a pile of rubbish as the bullet ripped into his shoulder. He saw the stranger turn and come toward him. When he was less than ten feet away, Tyler saw him raise his weapon and fire at him point blank.
"Shit," Tyler said aloud as he jerked awake. Looking around he realized he was still in Daly City, California and today he would meet up with the lawyer, David Spencer. After a quick shower and breakfast he rolled out onto the patio overlooking a cliff that fell into the ocean. He could see people below going about their business; walking their dogs, or just strolling down the beach.
"Back home they're freezing their asses off, while I am here enjoying the warmth," he thought to himself.
Stepping back into the bedroom, he stopped in the middle and scanned the area. Jack Ferrari was obviously a very meticulous and cautious man. No one knew anything about him, other than he was a successful real estate agent. Yet, there were no pictures or magazines of houses, or any real estate information a serious and successful agent might possess. In other words, the pristine surroundings did not reveal who Jack Ferrari was; “Not from this point of view,” thought Tyler.
His eyes fell upon the nearby closet. Walking over to it he opened the door, turned on the closet light, and stepped back. There were a couple of suits and three shirts. Shoes and a pair of sneakers lined the bottom of the closet. There was a shelf above the suits with nothing on it.
Tyler examined the sneakers and found sand between the bottom grooves; obviously used for jogging, or running. He then turned to the suits and examined each one, checking to see if anything was left in the pockets, but found nothing.
As he moved each suit down the rack he discovered a combination safe. "Son of a bitch," he said to himself. He tried his hand at opening it by listening for the click as he turned the dial. "This ain’t going to happen. Only in the movies," he said to himself.
After some thought Tyler decided he was going to have to get the proper listening instruments to get this safe open, or pay a locksmith to do it. In any case he would get it opened, one way or another.
There was something tugging at Tyler since he entered this house, but he couldn't put his finger on it until now. There was no television anywhere in this pad. "Man this guy really liked solitude," he thought.
Tyler spent the rest of the day going through everything in the house. One by one he examined every piece of furniture, appliance, cupboard, and article of clothing. As a result he discovered a key hidden in the heel of one of the shoes. "Now what the hell is this for?" Tyler thought to himself while holding the key between his fingers.
Now his detective instincts were looking for where the answer to the key would be. He checked behind the few hanging pictures, in drawers, under the beds and almost every square inch of the house. "I wonder if it's in the safe," he thought to himself. "That's probably it."
Before he knew it, the day had passed and it was time for him to go meet up with David Spencer. He had checked the yellow pages and found the phone number to the restaurant, then called and got directions to the location. Arriving fifteen minutes early, he was able to scope out the area. The corner restaurant had booths along the right and left with six foot high windows where passing pedestrians could peer in. There were several tables in the middle and a sitting bar to the far left. Some of the booths and tables were already occupied, though the place was far from being full.
A waitress adv
ised Tyler that he could seat himself, as she handed him a menu. "Thank you," he responded as he made his way to the furthest booth with a view of the entryway, and sat down with his back to the wall.
Tyler did not have to wait too long before David Spencer arrived. He had advised the waitress that he was expecting a Mr. David Spencer and to point the gentleman in his direction. Both men shook hands as David slipped into the seat opposite Tyler, then placed a paper bag on the seat next to him.
"Mr. Tyler Santiago, can I trouble you to show me some identification?" David asked him. Tyler stared at the man for a second, smiled and reached into his wallet for his ID. After examining Tyler's driver's license, David handed it back to him.
As David was about to speak, the waitress approached them for their order. Tyler ordered a cheeseburger with fries on the side, and David stated that he would have the same; both ordered beer to wash it down with.
"It's funny that you picked this spot to sit," David Spencer said.
"Why is that?" Tyler asked.
"It's where Mr. Ferrari always sat," David responded. He reached into the bag, pulled out three sealed manila envelopes and handed them over to Tyler.
Tyler took the envelopes without examining the contents. All three were sealed with clear tape which covered a signature that crossed the flap. It was obvious it was meant to show that the envelopes had not been tampered with.
"Like I said on the phone, I don't know the contents of these envelopes, and I was instructed to hand them over to you. As well as this sealed shoebox," David said, now taking it out of the bag. He handed the bag to Tyler who, without looking inside any of the items, put them back in and placed the bag alongside him.
"Aren't you even curious as to what's in the envelopes?" David asked him.
"Not right now," Tyler responded. "Can you tell me anything about Jack Ferrari?" Tyler asked.
Over the next couple of hours David told Tyler everything he knew about Jack Ferrari; how they met and how they conducted business together. He also told him the house was paid for, and Mr. Ferrari had provided enough funds to pay the taxes for the next several years.