by Donald Wells
“Well good luck to you Jacob, and God bless.”
With a tip of his hat, Jake took off and headed east, as the newly risen sun painted shadows behind him.
He arrived in Dallas three days later. The trip should have only taken two, but his horse was not a young animal, and Jake didn’t want to wear the poor creature out, and so he took his time while pondering over what awaited him.
He and Eva Heimlich had lived for years as family, despite the fact that they weren’t related. Eva’s parents had taken Jake in when he was orphaned at twelve and gave him a home.
However, on Eva’s sixteenth birthday, Jake could no longer fight his feelings for her and, while alone in the barn, he took her in his arms. As Eva returned his affection, Jake was both thrilled and frightened, for even though he loved her, he knew he was not ready to settle down.
Three months later, while a week shy of his seventeenth birthday, Jake Caliber joined the army and rode away from Eva, in the intervening years they had written each other several times, but Jake had received no word from her in a long while and now feared that she had found someone.
For his part, he had sown enough wild oats for three men and wished only to settle down, and with the right woman beside him, he might even start a family of his own.
Jake left his horse at a livery stable and then went to see the barber, where he got a shave and a haircut. They also brushed three days of trail dust from his clothes and shined his boots. Afterward, he walked over to the National Hotel. In her last letter, Eva wrote that she had gotten a job there as a maid.
The desk clerk was a man with a handlebar mustache and a bald head. He looked up from reading the paper and smiled at Jake.
“Good day sir, and welcome to the National Hotel.”
“Howdy, I’d like a room.”
“Yes sir, and how long will you be staying with us?”
“For now, why don’t we just say one night.”
“Yes sir, and if you’ll just sign right here...”
As he signed the registry, Jake asked the man a question.
“Do you have a girl by the name of Eva workin’ here?”
“Sure, you know Eva? She’s a great girl, yes sir, Eva Grant is one of the best employees the National has ever had.”
“Grant? She must have married.”
“She sure did, she married Ray Grant; he’s a bricklayer and a hell of a nice guy.”
“I’m sure he is,” Jake whispered, as his heart sank into his stomach. Afterward, he trudged up the stairs, and as he opened the door to his room, the desk clerk yelled up to him.
“Hey mister, here comes Eva now, why don’t you come back down and say hi?”
After tossing his saddlebags inside the room, Jake took a deep breath and then walked down the stairs, as he reached the lobby, a young woman with curly black hair entered.
“Eva, a friend of yours is here looking for you.”
The young woman appeared perplexed as she stared at Jake.
“I don’t think I know him Rollie. Do I know you mister?”
“You’re Eva?” Jake said.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry ma’am, but the Eva I was lookin’ for is Eva Heimlich, at least I hope it’s still Heimlich.”
The woman broke out in a huge grin.
“You’re Jacob, aren’t you?”
“Why yes ma’am, but how’d you know that?”
The woman looked him over with an appreciative gaze.
“She talked about you, described you to a T; I thought she was putting me on, but no sir, you are a handsome devil and then some, aren’t you?”
“Where can I find her?”
“Bit of a hurry are we? Well I don’t blame you. She’s the cook over at Sullivan’s. It’s the big restaurant over by the jail.”
Jake nodded his head. “I know where it is; I passed the sheriff’s office on the way into town.”
As Jake rushed past her to leave, the woman grabbed his sleeve and stopped him. A moment later, she spoke to him in words little more than a whisper.
“That girl could have any man she wants and she waited for you. If you’re not here to stay, then keep riding.”
Jake slowly pulled away from her as he stared into her eyes.
“I’m hers if she’ll have me.”
The woman sent him a smirk.
“Lord, I hope you ain’t a scoundrel, now get out of here.”
***
Sullivan’s restaurant sat on a corner across from the sheriff’s office and had big plate glass windows.
Jake walked in and found the place nearly deserted at mid-morning, the only patrons appeared to be two old men sitting at a corner table, drinking coffee. If Eva was the cook, then she would be in the kitchen, and so Jake wandered toward the back and through a set of swinging doors.
Eva looked up as he walked in. She was blond with large blue eyes and her figure showed even though she wore an ankle-length dress with a white apron over it. She had been sweeping the floor when he entered, and her brow gleamed with perspiration, as errant blond curls fell down her cheek.
Jake smiled at her. “Hello Eva,”
She dropped the broom and rushed into his arms.
“Oh God, Jacob, I’d begun to think I’d never see you again.”
“I’m back; I’m back to stay,”
Eva searched his eyes. “Did you come alone?”
“I’m not married, girl, I came back here for you. I’ve had enough of wandering, enough of army life. I just want a normal life.”
“With me?”
“If you’ll have me. I know I got no right to ask, hell, I’m amazed you ain’t hitched.”
“I’ve had offers, but I always said no,”
“Why?”
“Because they weren’t you Jacob, and I’ve been in love with you since the day we met.”
“I love you too, Eva.” Jake said, and then he kissed her and felt at peace for the first time since he was a boy, blissfully unaware of the four men riding into town, four men who would change his life forever.
***
Central Park in New York City, Present Day
Christopher Caliber sat back on a bench along poets’ walk and watched the pigeons peck at the ground. Above his head, the elm trees swayed in a gentle breeze as dozens of people passed before him. He wore jeans, Nike sneakers, and despite the warm spring weather, he also wore a jacket with the hood pulled up.
Velma Channing walked over and sat beside him.
“Hi Chris,”
“Thanks for coming Velma,”
“You’re welcome,
Chris looked around. “I always liked this place when I was a kid. Have you seen the statues?”
“Why are we meeting here Chris?”
“I just need someone to talk to, face to face.”
Velma swiveled toward him. “I’m listening.”
Chris got up and began pacing in front of the bench.
“What happened yesterday, the shooting, I don’t know what to make of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I shot three men dead, and the way I shot them... I don’t know how I did that, where that came from. I wasn’t lying when I told you that I’ve never held a gun, never fired one, it’s true, and yet I killed three men in less than a second.”
“I have a theory about that.” Velma said.
Chris sat back down beside her. “What’s your theory?”
“I think it’s genetics; I think that somehow your family developed the sharpshooter gene, for lack of a better term, and that you inherited it from your grandfather.”
“Genetics? I don’t know, maybe it was just a fluke.”
Velma stood up. “Why don’t we find out?”
***
Twenty minutes later, they were walking into a rifle club in midtown Manhattan. Velma had planned to have Chris do a little target practice, but upon entering the club, she saw a sign.
No Walk-ins!
Five Days
Notice Required!
As they were about to turn and leave, the man behind the counter walked over and began shaking Chris’s hand enthusiastically.
“Mr. Caliber, welcome sir,”
Chris took a step back.
“You know me?”
Velma grinned. “You can hide beneath that hood all you want, but the video of you in the coffee shop is still playing on all the news channels; sooner or later you’re bound to be recognized.”
“I was, three times before I pulled the hood up. A woman even asked me to kiss her baby.”
Velma laughed. “Face it Chris, you’re a bona fide hero, just like your grandfather.”
***
Chris stood in the shooting range. On the stand before him sat a rifle; a .22 Ruger that held ten rounds of ammo.
The man who greeted them at the counter was also the owner. His name was Carl and he stood to the side with four other men, all of them eager to watch the city’s newest hero take his shots.
Velma handed Chris his eye and ear protection and then donned her own. As Chris picked up the rifle, she pulled back one of the protective muffs over his ear and whispered.
“Maybe this isn’t a good test. You’re unfamiliar with the rifle, there are people gawking at you and I think Carl sent that target as far back as it can go. Can you even see the bullseye from here?”
“I can see it, and I’m fine, thanks,”
“Okay then, whenever you’re ready.”
Chris pressed the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and sighted down the barrel. A moment later, he was sending off shots, one after another. When he finished, he sat the rifle down and took off the safety gear.
Carl reeled the target in and everyone gathered around to look at it. In the center of the bullseye was a single hole.
Velma shrugged. “One out of ten is still exceptional Chris, especially considering your inexperience.”
Carl cocked his head as he stared at it. “Hold on a second, Mr. Caliber; I need to check something.”
Carl opened the gate and walked back to the bullet trap on the back wall, the trap was composed of stacks of old phone books and Carl looked them over for nearly a minute. As he pulled a knife from his pocket, he called everyone over.
“I just loaded this trap up with phonebooks this morning, and look, there’s just one wide hole, in this one here, see it?”
Velma nodded. “Yes, so where did the other bullets go?”
Carl grinned and then began digging into the hole in the phonebook. A minute later, he held ten slugs in his hand.
“There was only one hole in the target because all ten shots went through the same hole, and mister, if I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes I’d have said it was impossible.”
***
Velma parked her rental in the garage near the Caliber building. As they walked toward the exit, a man approached them while talking into his cell phone.
As they came even with the man, he struck Velma with a vicious left on the chin that picked her up and sent her falling backwards, to land upon the concrete floor, unmoving. Next, the man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Chris.
“You’re Jake Caliber’s brother, right? The guy that shot those punks in the coffee shop?”
“Yeah, yes... who the hell are you?”
“It don’t matter, it’s just that I owe your brother a debt, and I’m gonna use you to repay it.”
The man raised the gun until it was pointed at Chris’s face, but before he could pull the trigger he was shot three times in the side, and fell to the floor, dead.
Chris looked to his left and saw Velma still lying on the floor, her right hand buried inside her pocketbook, a pocketbook with a curl of smoke escaping from the hole shot through the bottom of it.
After kicking the gun away from the fallen man, Chris rushed over and helped Velma to stand up.
“Are you all right?”
Velma worked her jaw back and forth, as she answered.
“Yes, other than a sore jaw and a ringing in my ears, what about you?”
“I’m alive, thanks to you,”
The garage attendant came running over and Chris told the man to call the police, then he took out his phone.
“Who are you calling?” Velma said.
“My brother,”
***
Jake entered the garage at a dead run and rushed over to Chris.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Chris said. “Where’s granddad?”
“He’s out of the office, he was meeting Uncle Bob for lunch, you know, Tom’s granddad, so what the hell went down here?”
“Velma saved me Jake, that man was about to blow my brains out when she shot him.”
Jake walked over and stared down at the dead man. “Son of a bitch, it’s Deke Stoddard,” Afterward, he walked back over and spoke to Velma. “Thanks for saving my kid brother.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“It’s funny though, you know? I thought my mother hired you to be my bodyguard, not his.”
Velma opened her mouth in shock, but before she could speak, two police cars entered the garage with sirens and lights.
Jake sent her a hard stare. “We’ll talk later,”
***
“All right, I admit it. I hired her to look out for Jake.” Gail Caliber said.
She sat in the old man’s office, on the sofa against the right wall. Seated beside her was Chris, and beside him, sat Velma.
The old man was behind his desk, while Jake paced in front of the sofa.
“I’m a grown man, mother, I don’t need looking after.”
Gail stared up at him with defiance in her eyes.
“I won’t apologize for my deception. You nearly died last month baby, I wasn’t about to let that happen again.”
“What? You mean when I got shot during the Tanner case? Mother that bullet barely creased my scalp.”
“Yes, but what if it had been an inch lower, one inch lower and you would have died. I knew that I could never talk you into quitting, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t look out for you, and so I hired Velma to come here and guard you.”
“Why her?”
“She’s good at what she does, which is to protect people, and she is Velma’s niece, I knew that meant that your grandfather would have a soft spot for her.”
“Velma’s niece or not, you had no damn right to send her here. Goddamn it I can take care of myself lady!”
The old man shot up out of his seat.
“Hey boy! You don’t talk to your mother that way. Do you hear me?”
Jake sighed, as he calmed down.
“I hear you, and mother I apologize; I know that you were only looking out for me.”
Gail stood and kissed him on the cheek.
“I love you and I couldn’t stand to lose you, not like I lost your father.”
“I understand mother, but I’m who I am, you know?”
“Yes dear, but at least I won’t have to worry about one of my boys, Christopher received word earlier that he got the job he wanted, sight unseen. They were so impressed by his heroism at the coffee shop that he doesn’t even have to pass an interview.”
“Um, about that,” Chris said. “I decided not to take the job.”
“What? Why not dear? They’re the best firm in the city.”
Chris stood and took his mother’s hands.
“I want to work here. I want to learn the family business, from granddad.”
Gail shook her head back and forth. “No, no absolutely not, not you, why do you think I moved us to California years ago? It was to get away from your grandfather and this culture of machismo that he exudes. I want you to live a normal life, a life without guns and danger.”
She rushed over to scream up into the old man’s face. “Damn you Jake you tell him no. Tell him that he can’t work here, that he has to be a lawyer; that he has to lead a safe life.”
“A safe life?” the old man said. “You mean l
ike the cook that died at the coffee shop? There’s no safe Gail, and Christopher is a grown man; you have to let him make his own choices.”
“Goddamn you!” Gail cried, as she began beating her fists against the old man’s chest.
He gathered her in against himself and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m not the enemy daughter, and I know you miss my son and worry over his, but these two boys are men now, and they have to live their own lives.”
Moments later, Gail straightened up and grabbed a tissue from a box on the coffee table, after blowing her nose; she spoke.
“If Chris is working here, then I’ll be moving back here too. I’ll simply have the woman I hired to run this place run the L.A. office instead.”
Velma rose from the sofa.
“I suppose that makes me odd man out, so to speak, and Mr. Caliber, I’m sorry for the deception.”
“The job is still yours doll, if you want it.”
“Really?”
“Not only are you Velma’s niece, but you saved my grandson’s life, as far as I’m concerned you got a job for life.”
Velma smiled. “Thank you,”
Jake tossed his grandfather his fedora and then grabbed his own.
“C’mon everybody, let’s go out to dinner; I’m starving.”
His mother pointed to a pile of brightly wrapped boxes.
“I thought Chris was going to open his gifts first, but I guess there’s no point since he’s not taking the job.”
Chris grabbed one of the boxes. “I’m still starting a new job, mother.” He tore the paper and opened the gift to reveal a briefcase. “Thank you mother, it’s beautiful.”
“I only hope that someday soon you decide to use it.”
When Chris opened the next box, he laughed. Afterward, he held up a new trench coat. He then smiled at his grandfather and brother.
“Thanks guys, I can’t be a real P.I. without one of these, can I?”
There was one box left, and Chris held it up.
“That’s from me.” Velma said. “I hope you like it.”
Chris tore open the gift and found a new fedora.
After he placed it on his head, Velma walked over and adjusted it, while standing near enough to kiss.
“Do you like it?” She asked.
“Yes, how does it look?”
Velma grinned. “It makes you look like a tough guy.”