Calling Card Capers

by Dan Kelly

  A few hours later the President calls me back with Brett’s reaction to his proposal. “Brett has no problem with it although he’s a bit concerned about the razzing he’s going to get from his comrades in arms. You two did good. Thanks Chet.”

  “How will Ericson fare when all of this comes out? He’s put in a lot of hard work into the Crusader investigation and his capture and up until now has received little credit for it since he didn’t get to put the cuffs on the man.”

  “He’ll come out okay. Don’t concern yourself.” Click.

  Whatever that means.

  I call Felicity, Don and Janet to let them know I’m back and manage to fend off their questions about where I went and what I had to do and then spend the rest of the day responding to voice mail and email messages, paying bills and going to the supermarket to bring my larder up to snuff. It was pretty pathetic as far as snacks and other bachelor necessities are concerned.

  Around nine-thirty in the evening my biological clock tells me to hit the sack and I obey.

  Chapter 46

  When I get up the next morning, I head for the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and turn the TV on along the way. The seven o’clock news has just come on and the Crusader killing is the lead item. The Andorran authorities have moved along a lot quicker than Brett and I thought they would.

  Surfing the local channels I learn that’s all everyone is talking about. All any of the newscasters know is Henry Aldrich aka the Crusader was found shot to death in a business park in the city of Andorra la Vella in Andorra, a tiny country in Europe. The anchors are relaying to their viewers everything their researchers can dig up about the country, but have nothing else to relate.

  At nine the President calls a spur of the moment news conference to be held in the press room at ten. At ten, the President dons his thespian hat and puts on quite a show. At ten-thirty, Janet calls and without so much as a good morning says, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do buster.”

  “Come on over and I’ll give you an exclusive on all the details.”

  “You sure are acting nonchalant about all of this. That doesn’t settle well with me. I thought we were partners where the Crusader was concerned and now I find out you’ve been doing things behind my back.” More softly she finishes with, “I’ve been worried about you too. Your voice mail message had me imagining all sorts of nasty things things that could have necessitated such secrecy.”

  “I’m sorry, Janet. I hope you’ll understand after we’ve had the chance to talk.”

  “I’m on my way. I hope it’s not a waste of time.”

  Oh boy. Thinking about what Janet said just now, I realize to continue to lie to her or tell her half-truths is no way to behave with someone you care about, not if you want the relationship to grow and without any doubt I want it to grow.

  Before I can rationalize my way out of what I’m thinking of doing, I do it. The phone rings several times before it’s answered. “Hi, Chet, did you catch my act this morning?”

  “I did and it was a three encore performance sir.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I’m calling to get your permission to renege on my promise to you, about letting anyone know about the true role you played in my going to Andorra.”

  “Why would you want to do that?”

  Taking a deep breath I let it all out. When I’m through making an ass of myself, there’s nothing but silence at the other end of the line and I’m soaking wet with nervous perspiration.

  After what was most likely less than thirty seconds but seemed like an hour the President says, “You’ve really fallen for this woman haven’t you?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Are your feelings for her being reciprocated?”

  “I believe so.”

  “You only believe so?”

  “Well, I haven’t asked her to marry me yet, so I don’t know for sure what her answer will be, but I’m planning to take the plunge when I think the time is right.”

  “Hmm.” Another drawn out silence follows and then he asks, “Do you trust her to keep her mouth shut about the things we don’t want to get out?”

  “Yes sir, her integrity and professionalism is above reproach.”

  Another drawn out silence follows and then he says, “You have my permission. I hope you grab the brass ring and she says yes. It’s about time you found a woman who can keep you in line and out of trouble.” Click.

  When he breaks the connection, I damn near pass out with relief. The relief doesn’t last long though as my personal cell rings again. It’s Ericson this time. He’s calling to let me know he caught the President’s news conference and that he thinks I was nuts to pull a stunt like that and then he asks when we can get together so he can get the complete lowdown on what happened in Andorra. I tell him I’ll call him tomorrow after I’ve had a chance to check my calendar to see what Felicity has set up for me while I’ve been away.

  I’m not expecting a call from Felicity as she’s used to me suddenly taking off to pursue something and has learned not to ask questions when I do. She knows she’ll be brought into the loop if she has a need to know.

  Forty-five minutes later Janet is knocking on my door. An hour after that I’ve spilled the entire pot of beans and have her assurance she’ll keep the facts I’ve emphasized to herself and not even record them anywhere.

  “I’m sorry I was such a bitch on the phone earlier.”

  “Not having all the facts, you had every right to be a bitch.”

  “Man oh man, I can’t wait to write this story. It’s going to be the topic of conversation wherever people gather for weeks to come. Can I write it here? That somehow seems appropriate.”

  “Be my guest. While you’re doing that I’ll take a run out to Katherine’s house to let her know personally how her husband died and what his last words were. She’s been a brick through all this and did what she knew was right even though it wreaked havoc with her emotions. We owe her that. Help yourself if you get hungry. There’s plenty to eat if you’re not fussy. I just made a trip to the supermarket.”

  “Okay.”

  By the time I round up my shoes, my coat and my car keys, she has opened her lap top and is tapping away on the keyboard completely absorbed in what she’s writing. I don’t think she’s even aware I’ve just left.

  I didn’t call ahead to let Katherine know I am coming. What I have to say is going to be tough enough without having to explain why I want to talk with her in person over the phone. When I get there and ring the bell, she answers the door and is not surprised to see me. “Please come in. I saw the latest on Hank on the news and also caught the President’s news conference. I figured someone would be contacting me in the near future about the disposition of Hank’s body and to provide some details about what happened in Andorra. I’m glad it’s someone I know.” I follow her into the living room and she says, “Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? A glass of water? I’ve made some oatmeal raisin cookies. Would you like some? They’re still hot from the oven.”

  “That’s very kind of you, but no thanks.”

  “Please have a seat and tell me why you’re here.”

  The ensuing conversation is the most difficult, the most heart wrenching, I’ve ever had with anybody. I tell her everything that happened in Andorra, not filtering anything. When it comes time to tell her what her husband’s last words were, I have trouble getting them out. Up to this point Katherine’s been listening closely to what I’ve been saying without displaying any emotion, but when I finally get the words out the damn bursts and she begins to cry uncontrollably.

  I’m always a lummox in situations like this and have no idea what would be appropriate to say or do, so I just sit there and say and do nothing. After several minutes go by, her weeping becomes sniffling and then she gets herself under control. “Mr. Dawson, this must have been very difficult for you. Thank you so much for sharing what happened in Andorra with me. It will help me close the
door on all of this and get on with my life. It’s nice to know that Hank’s last thoughts were of me.”

  Rising and handing her one of my cards I say, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’ll be going now. Take care.”

  When I get into my car I am emotionally drained. I would never cut it as an undertaker or a priest.

  When I get back to my apartment Janet is editing something she has written.

  “How did it go with Katherine?”

  “It was rough, but it went. How are you doing with the article?”

  “It’s coming, but it’s not here yet. Parts of it are still running around in my head.”

  “You know I was thinking on the drive back how ironic this Crusader vendetta turned out to be. It all started with a jammed rifle that led to a son getting killed in a foreign country and it ended with the vengeful father of the son dying because his gun jammed in a foreign country. Life doesn’t get any weirder than that.”

  “Hey, I like that. Do you mind if I use it in my article?”

  “Feel free, but only if when you input the last tweak to that article you take the rest of the day off and spend it with me.”

  “Oh, and what do you have in mind?”

  “I just would like to spend some time with you without having the Crusader in the background. I’d like to get to know you better.”

  “I think I could arrange that. What would you like to do?”

  “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

  She arranged it, we thought of something and we got to know each other a lot better.

  Chapter 47

  A couple months later Don, Janet and I are sitting in the Reardon Room at Morey’s checking out some new additions to the menu and trying to decide if we want to throw caution to the wind, be adventurous, and order one of the newbies. This is a night for celebration. Don just got promoted to Piedmont’s former position which I think the President had some say in, Janet’s promotion to Managing Editor was just made public knowledge and I’m celebrating getting the brass ring. I got a yes and Janet is now sporting a two carat diamond ring with some little guys escorting the big fella in the setting. Tonight’s the first night she’s worn it and Sadie hasn’t noticed it yet.

  When the waitress comes over we order drinks and we all chicken out and order appetizers and entrees we know something about. As we begin to munch on our appetizers, Sadie comes over I’m sure to toss out some more of her not so subtle hints that we should move our relationship to a higher level like getting hitched.

  Janet deliberately lifts her cocktail glass with her left hand, extending her pinky and ring finger slightly, and waits for Sadie to spot the ring and react. It only takes a few seconds for Sadie to zero in on it and when she does her eyes almost pop out of her head as she grabs Janet’s hand and exclaims loud enough for everyone in the entire restaurant to hear, “I knew it, I knew it, I told you I know all about these things. When did he pop the question? When’s the wedding? In what church will the wedding ceremony be performed? Where will the reception be held? How many kids are you planning to have and have you picked any names yet? Will I be invited? How about having your wedding reception here? I’ll give you a real good deal.”

  We let her go on like this for a good five minutes before we launch our prank on her. Taking turns we answer all her questions.

  “He didn’t ask me to marry him. He just took the ring out of his pocket and put it on my finger and apologized for it being so small because he couldn’t afford anything larger.”

  “We plan to get married in about five years after we’ve saved up a little money.”

  “We’re having a civil ceremony because we don’t go to church.”

  “We’re not going to have a reception because they cost too much money and we don’t know enough people we’d want to invite anyway.”

  “We’re going to honeymoon in the Mojave Desert and hunt for opals and pick cacti.”

  “We can’t have kids because Chet’s sterile and I’ve had a hysterectomy.”

  “We don’t want to adopt because we don’t want to have any curtain climbers and rug rats making a mess of the house.”

  The shocked look on her face had me wondering if she was going into cardiac arrest. I wish I had thought to have someone close by taking pictures. They’d have occupied prominent positions in our offices and in our home and would have generated a lot of laughter when the story behind them was told.

  We finally take pity on her and let her in on our little prank.

  She reacts by asking, “What have you got against eloping?”

  Shaking my head and looking at Don I say, “That’s our Sadie, she doesn’t miss a trick.”

  Then it’s our turn to have shocked looks on our faces because without missing a beat Sadie asks, “So, have you slept together yet?”

  Looking at our faces she says, “Payback is the nectar of those who have been made fun of and it’s very addictive. You might want to keep that in mind.”

  Having put us in our place, she triumphantly turns her back on us and struts off to another table with a big smile on her face.

  Don says, “I think you ruffled the lady’s feathers.”

  Janet says, “Don’t get the wrong impression, Don. We like Sadie a lot, but sometimes she can be real pushy and if you don’t push back the mother hen in her will overwhelm you. We decided to push back with a little humor, but maybe we pushed too hard. We’ll have a better idea of where we stand with her when we say good night later. Sadie doesn’t pull any punches when she has something on her mind.”

  Looking at Don I say, “I have something on my mind that I want to unload and share with Janet. I want to thank you for what you did for Timmy Ryder and his family.”

  Janet asks, “Who’s Timmy Ryder?”

  “A young boy who came to my office a while back to give me a tip on what Aldrich was driving to get around town unnoticed. He was hoping to get the quarter mil reward for providing information leading to the capture and conviction of the Crusader. His sister was in need of an operation, but the family coffers were sorely lacking. I passed the tip on to Don and he ran with it and it helped us zero in on Aldrich, but he got away that time.

  “Don went to bat for the kid and convinced the man offering the reward to bend his rules a little and give it to Timmy. Timmy’s tip didn’t lead directly to the Crusader’s downfall, but it definitely helped us to stay on his tail for a while. I got a letter this morning from Timmy’s parents thanking me for listening to Timmy and taking him seriously. They said that their daughter had the operation and it was a resounding success. If I hadn’t gotten that letter, Don’s good deed would never have seen the light of day. That was a class act, Don. I guess there’s hope for the FBI after all.”

  Don’s face was turning a crimson red and he wouldn’t look either one of us in the eye, so to get him off the hook I say, “Now that I’ve managed to embarrass our friend here I must confess. I had an ulterior motive. Since our glasses are empty, I was looking for an excuse to order another round of drinks so we can toast each other.”

  This gets some chuckles and as Janet with little subtlety changes the subject Don’s color begins to return to normal.

  “So, what do you guys think the Washington National chances are for winning the pennant this year?”

  This gets a round of laughter and sets the tone for the rest of the evening. When Reardon says good night to the crowd, Don excuses himself to go to the Men’s Room and I motion for the waitress to bring us our check. A few minutes later Don returns and the waitress soon after delivers our check in a fancy new silver tray. On top of our check is a business card turned face down. I’m thinking the tray and the business card are more of Sadie’s business development ideas, but when I turn the card over I damn near have a heart attack. It’s one of the Crusader’s.