Return To Forever

by James Frishkey

  Joe was silent and reflected on what he had just heard. “So he and Mary have new identities and are living somewhere at some unknown location…is that about it?”

  Rick nodded yes, waiting for Joe’s next question. “Do you think Allison knows where they are living?”

  “Joe, the Federal Marshalls are experts at running these operations and are given information on a need-to-know basis. The team assigned to Mary is the only ones who know these details and they are religious in maintaining total security. Keep in mind that being in WITSEC is entirely voluntary and if the participants want to risk contacting a loved one they have to live with the consequences.”

  “Somehow, from what Allison was saying, I think she knows where Mary is living, otherwise why would she be avoiding me like this.” Joe was certain he was right.

  “Remember when I said there were options that might require some under the radar payoffs?” Rick went on. “I have a good friend and ex-Seal teammate that is a Federal Marshall here in Michigan. He has been battling his ex-wife for custody of his kids and is really strapped for money to pay his attorney. I doubt he would have any personal knowledge of Mary’s case but he might be willing to do a little digging for us if the price was right.”

  Joe was unsure how to answer. “How much would I need to pay and what kind of information do you think he can give us?”

  “Listen Joe,” Rick answered. “What I’ve done so far was no charge for an old friend. Going forward you will be on the clock and time is money. You can figure around $500 for my friend and at least $1,000 for my work going forward. The $500 has to be cash up front. The rest I can work on an easy payment plan. As to information, I have no idea what he can come up with but if he is a dry hole it won’t cost you anything. It’s your call.”

  Joe knew he could easily come up with the $500 but the real question was what he really hoped to accomplish by finding her. Was there even the slightest chance she still had feelings for him? He knew she was likely still married and embracing a new life she was forced to accept. His head was spinning. “I’ll have the $500 for you tomorrow. Let’s see what he comes up with.”

  CHAPTER 24

  True to his word, Rick reached out to his friend in the Marshall’s service. It seems his friend’s financial situation was a lot worse than he thought. Rick broad brushed what he was looking for and his friend’s reaction was predictable….no fucking way!

  “At least sleep on it, Bill.” Rick pleaded. “The guy’s not stupid and knows this kind of information won’t come free.”

  “I’ll need $1,000 up front and that is not refundable. Best I can do is find out what state they are in and even that might be impossible. When the money’s in my hand I will go to work.” Bill laid out the conditions and it was up to Rick and Joe to come to the party.

  Rick contacted Joe and outlined the money needed to move forward. “Fuck, man…that’s twice what you said it would cost!” Joe was shocked and said so. This might tilt the scales against continuing his search, he thought. “Man, I don’t know if it’s worth wiping out my savings to find someone who dumped me years ago.”

  “I understand”, Rick answered. “If we do find what state they are in, we still will be a long way from actually locating her…and it will take more money. My recommendation is to just let it go man. She was a great gal but you guys were young and life goes on.”

  “You’re right,” Joe answered. “Still, why did she just disappear on me with no explanation…not even a Dear John letter? Something inside me says I need to get this answer or I will never really be able to move on.”

  “OK,” Rick replied. “Get me the $1,000.00 and let me go to work.”

  The following week Joe hocked his Colt 1911 and pulled the rest from his savings account. He dropped off the envelope with the money at Rick’s office and waited for his report. In the meantime Wayne Cochrane and the CC Riders were coming in for three nights and the club was moving Joe’s band downstairs to the Jazz bar. This would open up a couple of dates for Joe to sit in at The Raven and earn some much needed extra cash.

  —

  Why was it that every time Joe played at The Raven the weather was shitty? This night it was raining like a motherfucker which you would think would thin out the crowd but it didn’t. By the end of the third set only the most loyal patrons were still left for last call. The final tune was most appropriate, “Stormy Monday” which Joe played with more passion than usual.

  By 2:30 Joe had packed up his gear and moved it towards the back door where he would pull his car up for loading. He said goodbye to Troy and the band and pulled is jacket over his head for the dash to his car in the heavy downpour. As he exited, he noticed someone standing in the shadows and getting soaked to the bone. As he got closer he saw that it was Allison.

  “Allison, what the hell are you doing out here at this hour?” Joe asked, truly concerned about his young friend. “You’re wet and freezing….follow me.” Joe covered Allison with his jacket and they ran to his parked car a block away. Once they entered the car Joe cranked up the heater and turned to Allison for some answers.

  “Joe I have been feeling like shit for the way I have treated you. I think you deserve to know some things about Mary that will help fill in some of the blanks. I should have been more trusting because of how much you loved each other.”

  Joe drove around to the alley and loaded up his gear while Allison dried out in the car. “Where are you parked?” he asked. “Why don’t you follow me to my apartment and we can warm up over some not too good coffee?”

  Allison shook her head. “No, let’s just go now. I can get my car tomorrow if you don’t mind driving me back.” Joe fired up the old Torino and headed to his apartment with Allison fast asleep and leaning her head on his shoulder as he drove. He looked down at her face and recognized for the first time how truly beautiful she was, even with running mascara and stringy wet hair. As he drove, he debated whether he should let her know what he found out through Phil and Rick. He decided to hold off until he heard what she had to tell him that was giving her such feelings of guilt.

  “Welcome to my humble bachelor pad.” Joe announced as Allison entered and sat at the small dinette table. “Let me get some coffee brewing.” Joe pulled out his trusty Mr. Coffee and prepared a pot of very strong brew. After pouring them both a cup Joe waited for Allison to tell him what was bothering her. “So, what brought you out in the rain tonight?”

  “Joe you need to know some things about Mary that will help you understand why she cut off contact with you so suddenly. You remember how strict my father was with us girls and how determined he was to make sure nothing got in the way of us attaining the goals he established for us…regardless of our feelings on the matter. Well you opened Mary’s eyes that there was another option for her life….having fun and loving someone who loved her back just for what she was, not for what she was supposed to become.”

  Joe listened intently, knowing Allison was spot on in her understanding of what he and Mary had shared. “I know how tough it must have been for Mary to hide her real feelings from your parents. It tore me up inside but I accepted seeing her when she could sneak away. I guess the breaking point for me was not taking her to the prom.”

  “She had to go Joe. I understand now that not going would have tipped her hand on still seeing you on the sly. At the time I thought she just liked another guy.” Allison was never totally aware that Joe was still in the picture but had her suspicions which Mary later confirmed.

  Allison continued. “Mary counted the weeks, days and hours until she would be on her own at State College and free from the pressure of our father. Once she moved in to her dorm room the real Mary emerged, a social butterfly eager to experience new things, meet new people and just enjoy life. Her roommate was pretty wild and talked Mary into going to quite a few frat parties with her. Mary was never much of a drinker and being such a small girl, it didn’t take much to get her lit up.”

  “You’re right.�
�� Joe said, remembering how tipsy Mary would get after just one or two beers.

  Allison went on. “Well one night Mary and her roommate were at a party at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house, one of the real party frats on the campus. Some guy named Bob had his eye on Mary and watched as she got out of control and finally just passed out on a couch.

  Well Bob moved in and had her pants off right in the middle of the party. People all around were laughing and drinking and never paid any attention to this girl getting screwed right in front of them.” Joe was speechless.

  “It didn’t take long for word to spread across campus and Mary was humiliated beyond belief. She stopped going to classes and wouldn’t leave her dorm room. When she missed her period her world totally came apart. She returned home to face the music and, just like that, everything our dad had planned for her went out the window.”

  Joe needed something stronger than coffee. “Want a beer?” he asked Allison who was also stone sober and in need of something as well. With beer in hand Allison continued her story.

  “By then Mary was almost three months pregnant and my dad wanted the father to accept his responsibility and marry her immediately. He took Mary back to campus to confront Bob, who as it turned out, came from a very wealthy Grand Rapids family who was equally shocked when they heard what happened. The wedding was arranged quickly and Bob’s family agreed to cover all of Mary’s living expenses including pre and post natal care.”

  “Did Mary and Bob quit school?” Joe asked.

  “Mary did but Bob only had one semester to go and continued taking classes. He graduated on time and avoided getting drafted with help from his family’s money and influential friends and went back home to work for some restaurant chain. He bought a small home and waited for Mary to give birth. Mary started spotting way before her due date and ended up losing the baby. The whole thing was such a tragedy; I cried my eyes out for weeks.”

  Joe’s eyes began to fill up with tears. He had been so wrong about everything. “Did she love this guy?” Joe asked.

  “Joe, she didn’t even know the bastard. She loved you but couldn’t get up the courage to face you with all the baggage she was carrying. She thought it best to just disappear from your life altogether.”

  “Are they still married and together?” Joe asked, already knowing the answer.

  Allison was done. “Sorry Joe but that is all I can share with you. There is more to the story but nothing I can say without truly jeopardizing Mary’s safety. Please try and understand. I’m sorry.”

  CHAPTER 25

  After dropping Allison off at her car, Joe called Rick to see what he was able to find out from his friend in the Marshalls Service. His gut was telling him that the final chapter on Mary was yet to be written.

  “Hey buddy, I was just getting ready to call you,” Rick said when he answered Joe’s call. “They are living in Arizona. Have no idea what city or what name they are using but this was a major accomplishment for someone in WITSEC.”

  Joe was very familiar with Arizona as he participated in several shooting competitions in the state while he was part of the Marine Corps Shooting Team. It was a beautiful state with the ability to travel from the desert to snow country in a few hours. It was a perfect environment to get lost in.

  Joe filled Rick in on the new information he had obtained from Allison. “That’s a really sad story.” Rick said. “Poor girl went from one bad situation to another and now she is in hiding for her life with a greedy son-of-a-bitch that she never loved. Makes you wonder if there really is a God. I assume you are more determined than ever to find her.”

  “I am” Joe responded. “Where do we go from here?”

  “You need to come to the office before we continue on this mission.” Rick answered. “I want you to know exactly what you may be facing and it can get real ugly real quick.”

  Joe was sitting in Rick’s office within the hour and Rick began to lay out what may lie ahead. “Joe, the next step we can take will involve pulling Allison’s phone records. I have contacts that can get me a copy of her phone bill which will show all incoming and outgoing calls. If she has had any telephone contact with Mary, an Arizona area code will be on the bill. This is another situation that would compromise my contact and he will want to be adequately compensated. My guess is we are talking a couple hundred bucks.”

  “Don’t worry about the money,” Joe answered. “I’ll come up with whatever we need.”

  Rick continued. “Understand this is not a slam dunk. We get once chance with one month’s activity. If we pick the wrong month we may learn nothing and you don’t get your money back. Also keep in mind the Torelli family can use the same tricks. Hopefully they have stopped looking by now but you can’t be sure. This whole thing could end up exposing Mary’s whereabouts to the wrong people and the mob family in Arizona would be happy to help out their friends from Detroit.”

  “How can we be sure what month to choose?” Joe asked. “We don’t even know if she had any contact with Mary at all.”

  Rick had an idea. “Do you think you could give Allison a reason to call Mary? That would give us a lock on what period to look at. Again, remember we get one shot at this.”

  Joe thought for a moment. “I can’t do that Rick. We’re back to being friends and I don’t have many. If I push her she will smell a rat and the whole house of cards will crumble. Let’s go with the month I first met her and went to her house high as a kite. If she was to alert Mary, that would have been the time.”

  Joe needed to get the money to Rick for the phone search and also owed Rick almost $1,000.00 for services provided up to this point. It was time to hock his 1958 Fender Stratocaster he had named “Brown Sugar”. Joe had a good relationship with the Pawn Shop owner and knew he would take good care of the guitar until Joe could buy it back.

  It took almost two weeks for Rick to get the phone records for the month Joe had chosen. Sure enough there was a call made to a 602 area code. The call lasted less than a minute. Rick traced the number to a phone booth in North Phoenix in front of a Circle K convenience store. “This looks like they had a pre-arranged time for this call. I doubt that Mary took the call. More than likely a third party took a message for Mary from Allison. There was no record of a call coming in to Allison from Arizona. My guess is Allison left another number for Mary to call…maybe her work number.”

  “Phoenix is a big city.” Joe said, thinking of what else they might try to zero in on Mary’s location.

  —

  “Put Silvio on the phone…it’s important!” The voice making the call expected immediate action…no bullshit!

  “Silvio’s tied up…whose calling?” No one got through to the Don so easily. In fact, no one was supposed to have the number to his direct line.

  “Listen you dumb mother fucker…you tell him it’s Jackie Torelli, capisce?” He heard the line put on hold while someone went to get the head of the Phoenix Mafia family on the phone.

  “Jackie, how are you my friend?” Silvio Tedesco was pleased and surprised to hear the voice of his Detroit counterpart and old soldier from days long past. “Is everything OK? Anything I can do for you?”

  “Yes, my old friend, I am in need of your help which is why I am calling. Do you remember that nasty business I had to deal with a few years ago when that little prick accountant testified against us?” Jackie asked.

  “Of course I remember. The fucking canary went into WITSEC I heard. I know he cost you a lot of money.” Silvio replied.

  “You have no fucking idea how much he cost me.” Jackie lamented. “I put a half a million dollar contract on the fat fuck and his wife and it looks like we may have finally found them…in your backyard.”

  Jackie went on to explain how they had decided to focus on the sister-in-law who was the only remaining living relative of De Laudanum’s wife. “We found a guy in the Marshall’s service who was up to his fucking eyeballs in gambling debts and guess who was holding the markers? He
got us a lock on where they were stashed….Arizona. He also told us someone else was digging around trying to find them. We figure it’s someone trying to cash in on the contract.”

  “So you found out they were placed in Arizona. Is that all you got?” Silvio didn’t think this was near enough information to locate them.

  “Let me finish for fucks sake!” Jackie ordered. “As I said, the wife has only one living relative…her sister. We’ve been watching her phone for the last three months. Everything has been local stuff until last month. She called a payphone in Phoenix. The call was very short. She probably gave whoever answered another number that couldn’t be traced.”

  Silvio could guess what was coming next. “So you want my guys to do what? Phoenix is a big city.”

  CHAPTER 26

  The pay-phone in the rehearsal hall was impossible to hear when the full orchestra was practicing. On other nights, usually a string quartet was going over new material or students from Wayne State dropped by for a free lesson. Allison had taken a strong interest in a young freshman protégé who had immense raw talent but not enough money to obtain the high level of instruction she deserved.

  This night Allison and her student pretty much had the rehearsal hall to themselves. It was the perfect time to take Mary’s call. As her student was packing up her instrument Allison heard the pay-phone begin to ring and quickly said goodbye and ran to the phone.

  “Mary?” she said, out of breath from her sprint to the phone.

  “Yes…hello Allison. It’s wonderful to hear your voice again.” Mary sounded so much older than Allison remembered. Their last conversation was when Allison told her of their parent’s tragic death. The sisters agreed to only reach out to each other under the direst conditions.