Wizard for Hire

by Obert Skye

  There were three Randalls listed.

  “Which one?”

  “Randall Mortley,” Rin said.

  “I got it. Do you want to call him or something?”

  “No, map his address. We’re going to pay him a visit.”

  Ozzy pressed ‘start navigation’ and held the phone so Rin could see it.

  “You didn’t tell me that you still knew someone in Albuquerque.”

  “It didn’t come up,” Rin answered, driving quickly.

  “You think he can help?”

  “I don’t know—the last time I saw him he was upset with me.”

  “For what?”

  “For being his son.”

  “You have a father and he lives here?” Ozzy said in disbelief.

  “Brian had a father. Rin? I’m not so sure.”

  Sigi was shocked. “I have a grandpa?”

  “You met him years ago. I think you were two.”

  Clark hopped up onto Ozzy’s right shoulder and whispered in his ear.

  “Wizards have dads?” the bird whispered.

  Ozzy shrugged.

  “I thought they were hatched,” Clark added.

  The car continued to move quickly through the streets of Albuquerque, making its way to the coordinates on the phone. The map on the screen showed where they were on the route; on the bottom it read:

  “Time till arrival: twelve minutes.”

  Rin’s father lived in a neighborhood on the west side of Albuquerque. His house was small and the front lawn was just rocks with a few weeds growing up through them. It was an average-looking neighborhood, but the windows of all the homes had bars over them.

  “Why?” Ozzy asked.

  “I think there’s a lot of crime here,” Rin replied.

  “I believe that,” Clark said. “We’ve not been here even a full day and already our car’s been broken into and some guys in a black SUV chased us.”

  Rin parked the car in the driveway and turned it off. He took a deep breath and then very slowly exhaled.

  “When was the last time you spoke to your dad?” Sigi asked.

  “It’s been a few years,” Rin said. “He’s one of those humans who refuses to believe in magic.”

  “Is that why I’ve never heard about him? I thought Mom said your dad was dead.”

  “Patti never liked him, so he drifted out of my life. When I went to Quarfelt, I learned to accept that my father is dead to me. I’d love to see him accept who I am.”

  “I’d love to just see my dad,” Ozzy said.

  “I don’t have a father,” Clark added.

  “My father barely knows me.”

  “Thanks, you guys,” Rin said sincerely. “Let’s do this,” he said, steeling himself. “We’ll go inside and I’ll call Charles to see what he has to say for himself. If we need to, we can use my dad’s computer as well.”

  “What about me?” Clark asked. “Should I show off a bit? Maybe give your dad a look at how magical I am?”

  “It might be best if you stay hidden until we get a reading on his mood.”

  “Fine.”

  The four of them got out of the car and Clark worked his way into Ozzy’s hoodie pocket.

  “Who am I?” Ozzy asked Rin as they walked to the door.

  “That’s a question that takes a lifetime of living to answer. You’re asking me to describe the sun on the first day I see it. The definition would be simple and lacking in any real perception. One must live first before being penciled into a dictionary.”

  “No . . . who am I for your dad? Are you going to give me a weird name again, or do we just tell him the truth?”

  “Let’s go with a short of version of the truth.”

  Rin rang the doorbell and then waited on the stoop with Ozzy and Sigi.

  The door eventually opened to reveal Rin’s father, Randall. He was a short, old man wearing overalls and a white T-shirt. He had big hands and ears and what hair he had on his head was white and sticking up. If Rin looked like a wizard, then his father looked like a troll. He wasn’t a million years old, but if one was rounding up, he was close.

  Randall blinked a couple of times and then glanced at the people on his porch like they were a foreign movie he didn’t understand.

  “Brian?” he finally said.

  “Dad,” Rin replied coolly.

  “My word, what on earth are you doing here?” Randall asked. He stuck his head out the door and looked around for any other surprises.

  “It’s just us,” Rin assured him. “I was in town and thought I’d stop by. Can we come in?”

  “That’s okay, I guess,” Randall said, sounding bothered. “But don’t turn on any lights.”

  “We won’t, but can we pull our car into the garage? I don’t want anyone stealing it.”

  Randall looked at the beat-up car and sighed. “Fine.”

  While he was inside opening the garage, Sigi asked, “Why does he like it dark?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s hidden his whole life from any sort of relationship or honesty. Some people have a difficult time existing.”

  Once they were inside the house there was only a tiny, single lamp with a low-watt bulb turned on at the far end of the family room. All the windows had blankets over them and no natural light was making its way in anywhere. Ozzy took a moment to wonder if this was where his life would end. A wizard had taken him to see a troll and the troll was hiding him away in a dark cave.

  “I’d apologize for the dark, but it’s my house and so I don’t have to,” Randall said. “The light bothers me. Come into the family room and have a seat.”

  There were no couches or love seats, just a puffy recliner and a TV with a coffee table in front of it. The family room butted up against an equally dark kitchen where there was a counter with two barstools. Ozzy and Sigi grabbed the barstools and sat on them. Rin took a seat on the edge of the coffee table.

  Randall the troll groaned as he settled into his recliner.

  “So,” he said, “I can see from your getup that you still think you’re a sorcerer.”

  “Technically a wizard, but sorcery is in my wheelhouse.”

  “What do you call yourself again?”

  “Labyrinth is my name, but most of the people I’m close to call me Rin.”

  “Your mother and I gave you a proper name and you traded it in for that?”

  “I didn’t trade it in—things change.”

  “Who are these two kids?” Randall asked, switching topics.

  “I’m Sigi, your granddaughter.”

  “Interesting. I saw you as a baby. I’d apologize for being such a lousy grandfather, but I’ve never been good with family. Now I’m too old to feel bad about it. How’s it been having a wizard for a father?”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “Are you a witch?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “And the boy . . . is he related?”

  “No, this is Ozzy. I’m out here helping him locate his family.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Ozzy said.

  “So is that what wizards do these days? Startle their parents with surprise visits and help kids find their families?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “And the boy’s not a wizard in training?”

  “No,” Rin anwered.

  Ozzy was actually a little disappointed to hear Rin say that.

  “You know, I never really went in for all that make-­believe and fantasy stuff,” Randall sniveled. “When you first told me about being a wizard, I thought at least what you’re doing might be interesting. But the last time I saw you, you were here and you made that smoothie for that woman in that big stone house who couldn’t sleep.”

  “It was a nightshade shake.”

  “Well,
it’s boring. Now you’re helping families find one another? Boring again.”

  “You sit all day in a dark house,” Rin pointed out. “I don’t think you’re one to talk.”

  “I sit here and claim only to be an old man who is easing into the last days of his life. I never claimed to be a wizard.”

  Clark slipped out of Ozzy’s pocket to get a better look at the arguing and to see the troll for himself.

  “Listen, I know this is a surprise,” Rin said. “And I’m aware that you don’t approve of my career choice, Dad. But do you think it would it be okay if we stayed the night?”

  “I’ve got four bedrooms and it’s just me, so fine. No skin off my back. Just don’t go turning on needless lights. House guests,” Randall mused. “I didn’t see this coming. How’s Patti?”

  “Good, but as you know, we’re not together anymore.”

  “She was a catch. Such a smart girl. And your sister?” Randall asked.

  “Doing well. She’s still a fact-checker at the same magazine. We just saw her a couple of days ago.”

  “At least I have one child with a normal job,” Randall jabbed. “Tell her that it wouldn’t hurt her to come visit me every once in a while.”

  “I’ll pass that along.”

  “What about . . . well, you know—”

  “Mom? She’s doing great.”

  “Are you going to mention that you saw me?”

  “It’ll probably come up.”

  “Good. Just leave out the part about me not liking lights. That comes off as weird for some reason.”

  “Right,” Rin agreed. “Well, this is great reconnecting, but we need to make an important call.”

  Randall made a passive-aggressive sniffing noise. “Go ahead.”

  “We’ll just move to another room so we don’t bother you.”

  “Really? I’m eighty-two years old and nobody has come by the house in weeks. The last person to drop by was a kid selling pest control. I must have talked to him for an hour before he finally just turned around and ran off. Don’t you think I might enjoy listening in on any phone calls you’re making?”

  “It’s the kind of call you might not want to overhear.”

  “What—are they out of wands at the wand shop?”

  “No, it’s a serious situation.”

  “Make your call right here. I want to hear what a wizard thinks is serious.”

  Rin looked at Ozzy and shrugged.

  “I guess it’s all right,” Ozzy said. “Just call Charles and you talk.”

  Rin straightened his hat and then got the card from his robe pocket. He dialed the number Lynette had given him and held the phone to his ear.

  “Hello?” Charles said gruffly.

  “Yes, Charles,” Rin said into the phone. “This is Sirius Knight. I must say that our afternoon didn’t go over quite as we planned. Do you mind telling me why there were men chasing us on the streets of Albuquerque? Or why they rifled through our vehicle?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Charles replied.

  “I think you do. We had planned to give you the tape, but now we’re not so sure we can trust you.”

  “Let’s cut to the chase,” Charles said. “I’ll stop pretending I didn’t have someone search your car and you stop pretending whatever it is you’re pretending.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rin said. “And I’m thinking about being offended by all of this.”

  “Feel any way you please,” Charles said. “I just want to check out that tape. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I don’t like having my name out there on things I can’t control.”

  “Well, we want to bring you the tape, but your men jumped the gun.”

  “Listen . . . I made a mistake. Just tell me where you are and I’ll send someone to get it.”

  “I don’t like that scenario. I believe we’ll take the evening to think about it. If we feel like it, we’ll drop by your office tomorrow and let you listen. If we don’t, then you will never see us again.”

  “I know about the diapers,” Charles said.

  “What?” Rin asked, embarrassed. “That was just for a couple of weeks after a minor surgery. Who told you?”

  “You did—you’re a diaper mogul, remember?”

  “Oh. Those diapers.”

  “I know you’re not who you say you are. And as a man who deals in secrets with the government at the highest levels, I can make your life very complicated. Why don’t you tell me where you are and I’ll send someone over to pick up the tape.”

  “Why don’t you cross your fingers and toes and hope we decide to stop by tomorrow. I need to go.”

  “Wait,” Charles said angrily. “Just so you know, I have far more information about Emmitt and Mia. If you don’t drop by, you’ll never know what it is.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Rin said cheerfully.

  The wizard hung up the phone and looked over at his father. It was dark, but for the first time in a long time, it looked as if Randall was impressed.

  “Now, that was all right,” Randall grumbled happily. “I never knew you had any of that in you.”

  “Well, if you had ever stuck around long enough anywhere you might have found that out long ago.”

  “Fair enough,” Randall said.

  “He prefers ‘More than fair,’” Clark said, having forgotten that he was supposed to be hiding.

  “Who said that?”

  Rin looked at Ozzy and then down at Clark, who was sitting on the bar.

  “Have I introduced you to Clark?” Rin asked his father.

  The bird flew through the air and landed near the lamp on the other end of the room. He put his back facing the bulb and chirped.

  “Ahh, that feels much better.”

  “You have a talking bird?” Randall asked in amazement.

  “Not just any bird,” Ozzy said. “Clark.”

  Clark charged up a bit and then flew over and landed in the old man’s lap.

  “Clark, at your service.”

  Randall stared at the mechanical bird and then looked up at Rin.

  “I may have misjudged your career,” he said.

  “Luckily there is no time limit on change.”

  Rin and Ozzy and Sigi told Randall everything, not leaving out a single car flip or breakfast burrito. By the time the sun began to go down, Rin’s father had a new appreciation for his son’s line of work.

  “Well, you should be safe here tonight,” Randall said. “But I’m not sure I’d trust that man. Maybe it would be best to not see him tomorrow. You could hang around here and I could get to know Sigi a bit.”

  “We can’t,” Rin said. “We have to find out if this is a dead end. If it is, I have to get Sigi back and make a few things right in Oregon.”

  “But first we’ve got to meet up with Charles again,” Ozzy argued. “He knows more about my parents. What if there’s a chance that they’re still alive?”

  Rin, Sigi, Clark, and Randall were suddenly quiet. Everyone knew how impossible that sounded, but nobody wanted to point it out again.

  They all sat there in the dark wondering what to say. Their dilemma was temporarily put aside when someone knocked three times on the front door.

  The dark family room made the knocking seem ominous and unsettling. Five pairs of eyes looked to the door in stunned silence.

  “Were you expecting anyone?” Rin whispered.

  “No, but I wasn’t expecting you. Maybe it’s your sister.”

  Ozzy stood up from the barstool he was sitting on and walked across the room to the door. He looked out the peephole. It was dark outside and there was no porch light.

  “Should I open it?”

  “Wait,” Rin said. He stood up and pulled something from the inside pocket of
his robe. “Go ahead.”

  “Is that your wand?” Ozzy said excitedly. “You actually have one?”

  “Of course I do. It’s an authentic Gruntvole and very expensive.”

  Ozzy stared at it as best as he could in the dark.

  “It has a steel core and is surrounded by alder wood,” Rin bragged. “I got it in Quarfelt. Now, open the door.”

  Ozzy took the doorknob and pulled.

  “Risindus milindus!” Rin yelled, waving his wand towards the open entry.

  The spell wasn’t necessary because there was no one there.

  Ozzy and Sigi looked out the door while Rin put his wand away. On the ground there was a large manila envelope. The boy bent down and picked it up.

  “There’s a letter for you here.”

  “Bring it in,” Randall insisted.

  Ozzy brought it in and closed the door. Rin took out his phone and, using the light of the screen, looked at what the front of the envelope said.

  “Nothing,” Ozzy told him.

  He handed the envelope to Randall. Rin’s dad took the envelope, opened the clasp, and pulled out a stack of papers about ten sheets deep. They were bound with a silver clip at the top and the front page had one word on it.

  Toffy

  There was a yellow note clipped to the front of the papers written in faint pencil. The poor lighting made it almost impossible to read.

  “Hit the switches, boys,” Randall ordered. “It’s time to shake this darkness.”

  Clark shot to a row of light switches and clawed them all on. The family room and kitchen lit up like magic. Looking around, it was clear to see why Randall liked the lights off—his home was in serious need of dusting.

  “Here,” Randall said, handing the papers to Ozzy. “That’s not my name on the front. You read it.”

  Ozzy took the papers and sat down on the coffee table. He looked at the yellow note and read it aloud as Sigi and Rin looked over his shoulder.

  I know who you are. Your eyes gave it all away. I have lived with the shame and horror of what I was a part of for too many years. I won’t pretend that this makes up for any of the pain you’ve suffered, but I believe there are answers here you deserve to know. Charles had me track your phone to find this location. I have not told him where you are. With this delivery, I now plan to never return to what I have been doing at Harken Corporation. I wish you safety and peace. Your parents were the kind of people this world needed. They would have been amazed with you. So sorry.