Liisa

by Sioux Dallas

  The phone rang again, and this time she checked. The ID said ‘unknown’ so she didn’t answer. The phone rang several times until eleven o’clock, but she never answered. It started ringing again at three in the morning. She finally unplugged it from of the wall and disconnected it.

  Liisa didn’t feel like eating breakfast so she just had juice and coffee. She told Bernie all about the evening before when he came to pick her up. They talked and looked around carefully as they were walking to the GALLERY. She asked Bernie to not tell Arnold because she didn’t want him to worry about something they could do nothing about.

  On Friday of that week, Arnold jauntily started out in his scooter to go to work. He rode along waving and smiling at everyone as he always did. Suddenly the scooter shot off the sidewalk and out into traffic. Fortunately there was little traffic at eight in the morning. The scooter crashed into a parked car and stopped. Arnold was hanging half out on the side near the parked car.

  A policewoman, riding slowly along the street as she checked stores and traffic, stopped. She quickly called for back-up and EMTs while she parked and walked to him. She gave a cry of alarm when she discovered a bullet hole in his head and that he was dead. Men and women had tears when they came by and found what had happened. Everyone liked the charismatic man and knew what he had just gone through.

  Police put tape across the street and directed traffic to go around the block. They measured carefully to find the trajectory of the bullet. Did the gun have a silencer since no one had heard the shot? The few people on the street tried desperately to help remember if they had seen or heard anything. Everyone was angry. Business people, arriving to open their stores, were shocked and angry. Several businessmen demanded that the police do a better job.

  Again two officers had the sad duty of informing Mrs. Warton, Arnold’s housekeeper. She told the officers, who came to tell her, to call Ben Johnson first. Ben immediately called Paul who called Cory and Bernie.

  Liisa wondered why Bernie was late picking her up. When he showed up fifteen minutes late, she was concerned when he came in and didn’t prepare to leave. He asked her to wait. It worried and upset her knowing that something else had happened. Paul soon came with Cory.

  “Please sit here by me, Liisa. I need to talk to you.”

  “Oh, dear. It can’t be good news. You’re acting strangely. Well. Hurry and tell me.”

  “I’m so sorry to tell you that - that” and Paul choked.

  “Cory, maybe you’d better tell me. The great attorney can’t seem to get his thoughts together. Oh, please don’t tell me someone else has been hurt. What? What?”

  Paul put his arm around her and Cory knelt at her feet. Taking her hand he told her.

  “There’s no easy way to say this. Arnold is dead.”

  Liisa gasped and fell against Paul. Tears poured down her cheeks. “Tell me how.”

  “We don’t know who, as usual. We only know that he was on his scooter riding to work when he was shot and fell sideways against a parked car.”

  “Please tell me he died instantly and didn’t suffer.”

  Paul hugged her. “That’s the way it looks. The bullet got him right through the head. This time they have a bullet that lodged in the parked car. Do you want mom to come stay with you?”

  “No. I need to go to the store.”

  “No.” Cory stood up. “Leave the store closed today and over the weekend. After the funeral will be time enough to open up. I’m sure Arnold would want you to keep it closed.”

  Arnold’s funeral was so well attended that the church was packed and people were standing on the sidewalk outside the church. The line, going to the cemetery, was so long that police on motorcycles parked across intersections and kept traffic from cutting across the line of vehicles in the funeral procession.

  Needless to say, the GALLERY was not opened for a few days. The funeral was on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, attorney Brian Miles visited Liisa and asked her to meet at his office the following morning with all those who had been mentioned in Arnold’s will. Ellen and Ben went with her for moral support.

  “I don’t know why I have to be present for the reading. Arnold might have left me a little money, but I don’t expect anything. I’ve never heard him mention relatives, so, I don’t know who will inherit. He did say once that he would leave his property to the City if they did something for the young people.” Liisa was so upset that she was babbling.

  Mr. Miles read the usual items and then read the bequests. Mrs. Warton was left one hundred thousand dollars and her choice of some items that she might want from the house. Arnold’s house and furniture were to be sold and the money divided between Juvenile Diabetes and The Paw Helpers Guide Dog Training. The store and everything in it with the store bank account was given to Liisa free and clear.

  Liisa was so touched by Arnold’s gift to her that she didn’t take it all in at first. The GALLERY was hers to operate or to sell and keep the money. She immediately decided to keep the store open and do her best to have the same great reputation that Arnold had for being trustworthy. She spent the next few days making sure insurance and taxes and property title were in her name.

  Bernie was still with her, but he had two other operatives that he left with her on some days. Liisa was afraid for Martha to continue to work with her for fear something evil would be done to this sweet young mother. She asked Paul, Cory and Bernie to help her find two good, strong, burly, trusted men to work with her.

  Liisa grinned with pleasure when a man about five-ten and about two hundred pounds walked into the store with a cocky grin. “I’m Ted Cooley. Bernie sent me to do your grunt work and to keep you company.” He rolled up a sleeve and flexed a bicep that would have caused the Hulk to cower.

  Liisa laughed delightedly at his antics. Ted had a keen sense of humor, but was taking his assignment seriously. He joked about being thirty years old. “I know women claim to be thirty for several years but it is my true age.” His coal black hair and black eyes with a copper skin gave his secret away.

  “Yes, I’m Native American, Chippewa. I’ve been in the Marines, in Special Forces. I had to come home when my father died and my mother needed help. She and dad owned a camp where people could either rent a cabin or pitch a tent. There was hiking, swimming, canoes and a beautiful area for pictures. Mom decided she missed dad too much and sold the camp. She’s in Oklahoma with relatives, and here I am. Tadah!” He did a quick dance step and bowed.

  About forty minutes later a young man ambled in looking as if he didn’t have enough energy to hold himself up. Ted took one look at him and jumped to give him a bear hug. “Sven, you old rascal. How have you been buddy? Where have you been for the last year?”

  “I’ve been in a military hospital recuperating. I left my leg in Afghanistan,” he sang off key to the tune of ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’.

  “Aw, don’t joke about lt. That’s rotten,” Ted commiserated. He then turned to Liisa. “Forgive us, Liisa. We’re old buddies, served in the same outfit and then I lost track of this galoot.” He gave Sven another hug.

  Liisa looked up at another tall man obviously of Scandinavian descent. He had a mop of blonde hair that looked as if he had been standing out in a gale. His bright blue eyes twinkled with the joy of living and his fair complexion was prone to blush. He was leaner and taller than Ted, but muscular. Although he was being ‘laid back’, his eyes showed that he was determined to do whatever was required of him.

  “Hi Liisa. Bernie sent me here to do whatever you need to be done. I’m Sven Jergenson and I’m all yours.”

  “All hers. Whatever happened to the luscious blonde that you had a picture showing around?” Ted teased.

  “She decided that she was tired of waiting and she married a fisherman from her hometown. It’s just as well, I guess,” Sven answered shrugging his shoulders.

  The phone rang and Liisa answered. “GALLERY. Liisa speaking. How can I help you?”

  “You can
tell me who the two bruisers are with you. Are they customers or are they there for your benefit?”

  Ted took one look at her frozen expression and grabbed the phone. “Can I help you?” He waited a moment. “He hung up. What did he say to you Liisa? Bernie has told me, and I assume he’s told Sven, about this thorn in the flesh. We’re here to pull it out and burn it.”

  Liisa just stood and stared at them.

  Sven walked over in front of her. “If you’re worried about my leg, I’m still able to kick like a mule.” He jumped in the air and did a side kick a little over waist high. “If you feel that you won’t be comfortable with me, I’ll understand. Bernie can find someone else.”

  “Oh, no, no,” she protested. “You’re fine. If Bernie told you what I’ve been experiencing, then you can understand how traumatic this has gotten. I don’t know what it is that the mystery caller is afraid I’ll tell. I can’t remember what happened for several weeks of my trip to Norway, and I sure don’t know who this might be.” She was so agitated that she was throwing her hands around and talking loudly.

  “Calm down,” Ted ordered firmly. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by allowing this sick-minded person to push you around even emotionally. Why don’t you tell us from the beginning, if you feel up to it. Maybe two new heads can think of something the others have missed. Or maybe while you’re talking, it will stir your memory,”

  She sighed deeply. “I don’t mind telling you. I’ve told it so many times that you’d think I would remember something just to get away from the situation. Come out here in the hall and let me show you a portrait.”

  The two men followed her to the hall to view the portrait of the man she couldn’t identify. Sven nodded. “Yah, he’s Scandinavian. You say Norwegian because that’s where you were.” He studied the painting and shook his head. “I don’t recognize the landscape. My folks came from Sweden, but I was born in Michigan. I’ve traveled over most of the Scandinavian countries though, but this doesn’t ring a bell.”

  The three of them went back into the office and sat so Liisa could tell them all that she had gone through. Sven and Ted were astonished that the police couldn’t trace the calls.

  “He never talks long enough to be traced,” she explained. Sven leaned forward. “Has anyone put a recorder on the phone so that we can hear his voice?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t think of it.”

  “Someone should have,” Ted blustered. “That’s what we’ll do on your home phone and here in the store.”

  After viewing her painting of the unknown man with the two men, Liisa started going out to look at the painting and trying desperately to remember anything about the painting or where she had been. She was as clueless as she had been.

  Three weeks after Arnold’s funeral, Liisa, with tears in her heart, uncovered the painting of Arnold that she had started. She sat down, stared at the easel for some time and decided to finish it. She was determined to hang the painting of Arnold next to the mystery man. She wanted everyone to remember him.

  The work on Arnold’s painting took almost a month because she couldn’t just sit and paint. Customers came in to be waited on and she felt too sad to look at it too long at any given time.

  It had been so long since the unknown caller had tormented her, that it was easy to forget him for short periods of time. Ted and Sven came every day and escorted her to and from work as well as staying throughout the day. She smiled to herself thinking of the camaraderie the two men shared. She smiled more broadly with a quick thought. I’ll paint the two of them and surprise them.

  Walking back into the store from the office with a lighter heart, she saw a messenger ride up on a bicycle. The young girl came into the store and gave Liisa a special message. She got a tip for the girl and turned to find Ted and Sven waiting behind her. “I don’t feel right about this for some reason. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not psychic, but I’ve had feelings like this before. Don’t laugh, but I had a dream last night that you, Liisa, were walking alone across a pasture and suddenly hundreds of birds attacked you,” Ted spoke solemnly.

  Liisa stood staring at him, not knowing what to say. Sven slapped Ted on the shoulder and said, “Are you trying to give us the heebie jeebies? I guess it’s your heritage that lets you think you can predict the future.”

  “I’m not claiming to predict anything. I’m just telling - aw, forget it. What’s in your message, Liisa.”

  Still staring at Ted, she slowly opened the envelope. She looked down at the message, gasped, threw it to the floor and began to wobble. Sven grabbed her while Ted picked up the message and read it aloud.

  “Hi darling girl. Did you think I had forgotten you? I’ll never forget you, but now that your buddies have notified the FBI, it’s too dangerous for me to call you. I’m there with you all the time.”

  Ted quickly called Bernie and told him of the development. Bernie came by in a few minutes and Paul followed him.

  “I didn’t think you’d mind if I called Paul,” Bernie explained.

  Paul took Liisa from Sven’s arms and hugged her dose. “Cory will be here as soon as he can get away from the office. Dad will be here soon.”

  Ted put the sign, ‘Sorry we’re closed. Please come again’ on the door and locked the door. They went back into the office to discuss what they should do.

  “Special Agent Marvin Silver, FBI will want to see this,” Paul stated. “I’ve already called the local police that are working on your case.”

  “My case. Oh, how I hate to hear that,” Liisa moaned.

  Cory and Sgt. Ben Gregory came at the same time. Ben was a few minutes behind them. Agent Silver was too busy to come, but told them to save the message and he would come by Liisa’s apartment that night to collect it.

  “I wonder why the creep’s been quiet so long?” Ben mused.

  “Who knows. He is either very brilliant or so struck on himself that he isn’t thinking well. We can trace this message and find which office it was sent from and who paid for it,” Sgt. Gregory said.

  In Liisa’s apartment that night, Ben was so disturbed that he was pacing and getting redder and redder in the face. Paul was alarmed that his dad might have an attack of some kind with high blood pressure or his heart.

  “Dad, please try to cut down on your pacing. You’re not helping the situation.”

  “Paul, if I don’t move, I’m going to explode. I’m so angry that this piece of slime has the nerve to harass Liisa and now is playing with her like a wild animal playing with its prey. Why did he wait so long between contacts? And how does he know so much about us? How did he know the FBI had been contacted?” Ben paced faster and threw his arms around.

  Special Agent Silver understood the frustration and the concern. He also recognized that Ben’s actions were not good for his health. Besides, he was making the rest of them nervous.

  “Mr. Johnson, why don’t we all sit around the dining table and share information and ideas? Nothing can be accomplished by flying off the handle. Tomorrow I’ll trace the origin of the message.”

  Sgt. Gregory resented the FBI being involved in what he considered his case. He had only wanted Agent Silver’s opinion when he had contacted him. He waited to speak and listened carefully to all that was said. “Tomorrow, I’ll tactfully ask nearby businesses if they have noticed anyone being around that doesn’t belong in that area. Customers come and go in all the stores, but if someone is around often, it gets the attention of the store managers and clerks. I’ll also check security cameras to see if the same person shows up often on them.”

  “Excellent, Sgt. Gregory,” Agent Silver was quick with praise. “It’s time we ask other business people. Miss Lofoten, I know you feel you’d be embarrassed for others to know what you’ve gone through. However, if we had asked them sooner, Mr. Watson might still be alive and ...”

  At that Liisa burst into body-shaking sobs. “I know. It’s all my fault,” she sobbed.

  Paul glared at Agent
Silver. “No! It isn’t your fault and that’s not what Agent Silver meant.”

  “No, I’m not blaming you for any of this,” he rushed to assure her. “But in this case, the more people know, the less chance he’ll have of keeping invisible. One would think he is invisible since he knows all and hears all and yet we don’t see him.”

  Sgt. Gregory and Cory started to speak at the same time. Cory smiled and nodded his head at the officer to go ahead. “Liisa, let’s go back and think. I want you to close your eyes and see the store. Can you see the faces of the people who come in, especially those who come in often?”

  “I’ll try.” She walked to a comfortable chair in the living room. Paul scooted a chair beside her. Ben, Cory and Agent Silver sat on the couch. Sgt. Gregory, Ted and Sven brought dining chairs into the living room. Ted and Sven had kept silent and listened to everything being said.

  Liisa looked around at all the large men in her living room and gave a weak smile. “After this I’ll have more understanding feelings for the animals in cages at the zoo. I feel as if I’m being viewed all day, every day and can’t do anything about it.”

  She leaned back and shut her eyes. She carefully named the customers who came on a regular basis. The names of other business people, in the same building, came to mind because they often stuck their head in the door to greet Liisa and Arnold. “That’s all I can think of now. Oh, wait, of course the mailman comes every day.”

  Ted jumped and leaned forward. “Yes, I saw him trying to get closer to us one day when we were talking about this. He looked entirely innocent, but I did wonder why he had to come closer. He kept looking down at papers in his hands as if he was not really listening.”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Sgt. Gregory jumped up. “He might well be innocent, but sometimes the culprits are often familiar people that we pay no attention to. I’ll check with the post office tomorrow and ask who has that route.”

  Ted and Sven looked at each other. “And we’ll watch more carefully to see how he behaves for a few days,” Sven looked excited. “We’ll soon know if there’s something about him that deserves a closer look.”