An Unexpected Gift

by Brandon Carlisle

  "Don't let on about this. I want you to call the police and report this. When they come, I want you to send them to my office and let me know when they arrive. Let me deal with Sebastian. I will be in my office." Heading into my office I closed the door behind me and called Leland on his direct line, hoping he was still in.

  "Leland Carter speaking."

  "Leland, it's Isaac."

  "Isaac, what's wrong? I can tell in your voice."

  "Can you recommend a security service? We've received a threat since the magazine came out. We didn't take it seriously at first but he called twice. He threatened to burn down the office, and his second message also threatened my family."

  "I'll have the company we use send someone out to your office right away to arrange everything you need. They're excellent and discreet. They're the best in the city."

  "Thanks, Leland."

  Now only one issue remained: telling Sebastian.

  *****

  What do you mean someone threatened our family!"

  Sebastian, bordering on hysteria, was shouting at the top of his lungs as he paced his office.

  "Sebastian, everything will be all right. A security company is on their way over. They will watch the office and the house."

  "My God! Jessie! What about Andrew and Patrick! What about Abby! Abby will go nuts!"

  "Sebastian, we'll have everyone protected. It will be all right. The police will be here soon. We'll tell them what is going on."

  He was frantic, and now it was turning to anger. "What the hell can they do! A couple of messages! Maybe send a car around once in a while. Someone threatened our family! How can we find him? Can we hire people to find him? Private detectives? Can the security people do something?"

  This was getting out of hand. "Sebby, calm down. We can talk to them. They can have people keeping watch for anyone suspicious. We'll talk to them about protecting everyone. Please sit down and take a few deep breaths. You need to keep calm for when the police get here."

  There was a knock on the door and Elizabeth poked her head in. "The police are here. Do you want me to show them in here?"

  "Yes, Elizabeth. Thank you."

  Meeting with the police went as we expected. Extra patrols in the evening and we should report any unusual activity. When they left, Sebastian was even more angry, and I couldn't blame him. I was pissed and hoped the security company would be more helpful.

  Elizabeth buzzed Sebastian's office and said there was a very intimidating man that looked like he could take on that character in the new movie playing in theaters, "The Terminator". We went into the lobby and she was right. The guy had muscles on top of muscles. He introduced himself as Eric Hansen, a vice president of the security service company Leland recommended, and we led him to the conference room. He told us that since we would be working closely to please call him Eric. Once we explained our circumstances, he gave us his background and an overview of the company. He was an ex-Navy Seal, and they hired only the best ex-military for security, and updated their training and equipment on a regular basis.

  I stressed to Eric that there was little the police could do in catching the individual threatening us and the foundation. We wanted to know what they could do to protect the foundation, and our family. Eric explained they would provide personal security to those individuals we assigned, and surveillance of the foundation office and our home twenty-four hours a day.

  We asked when they could start and he said they could have people on site in two hours for both our home and office. If we wanted immediate protection for the family, that could be provided if we would call those individuals and inform them now. We gave Eric the names of those we wanted protected, and then set about calling everyone, explaining the situation and telling them we assigned them bodyguards.

  After informing Elizabeth and the staff of the threat, we advised them that we would have security on the premises twenty-four hours a day until we resolved the issue. We left for home, telling Eric that we would like him to meet us at the house in an hour.

  Needless to say, the results were mixed. Jessie thought the idea was cool until he realized the guy would be tagging along with him everywhere. Abby was upset with the idea. It took time, but we convinced her that they threatened the house and that she needed protection since she was potentially at risk due to her closeness with us. Once she saw the man that would guard her, she gave in and offered him a brownie.

  The intrusion irritated Andrew, but he agreed as long as the guard did not come into the studio. Patrick wanted to get his hands on the bastard and strangle him for daring to threaten his family.

  Three in the morning we received a call. It was from Eric at the security service. They caught someone trying to jimmy the side gate to the office building, and he was carrying a gas can. His people restrained the man and called the police. They wanted us to meet them at the station. Eric would have one of our security detail drive us to the local precinct. The rest would stay on duty until they knew no one else was involved.

  We walked into the precinct and were shown into a room where we looked through a glass partition. The detective asked if we recognized the individual sitting at the table. We were shocked. It was Old Man Porter. The man who lived down the street from us. He was a grumpy old bastard, but we never thought him capable of anything so vile. "Yes, we do. He's a neighbor. He lives down the street from us. Is he the one who left the messages?"

  "He freely admitted it when we questioned him. He said he was doing, 'God's will to help the plague cleanse the world'."

  Sebastian just shook his head. "Sick bastard."

  "Well, between the threats to your family and the attempted arson, he won't be going anywhere for a while. Especially with his confession." The detective opened the door for us. "Thank you for taking the time to come down. There is paperwork you will need to fill out at the desk."

  Once we left the station Eric drove us home where his crew was packing up to leave. As we all climbed out of the car, he turned to us. "Gentlemen, I'm glad this cleared up quickly. I wish they were all this easy. Mr. Carter wanted me to let him know when the issue was resolved. He also wanted me to inform you that the bill has been settled and to wish you a good night."

  All the lights were on in the flat and when we walked in everyone was seated in the living room and turned to us.

  Jessie turned off the TV. "Well? What happened?"

  Sebastian turned to me. "It was Old Man Porter."

  Abby threw her hands in the air. "You mean to tell me it was that cranky old bastard!"

  Andrew shook his head and grabbed Patrick's hand. "At least it's over. Let's go home." They headed for the door.

  Abby got up to follow. "Good idea. Night boys."

  I grabbed Sebastian's hand and turned to Jessie. "You heading to bed?"

  "Nah, I think I'll watch an old movie or something."

  "Sebastian?"

  "Bed, Isaac."

  *****

  It had been five months since the magazine hit the stands and still the publicity from the article continued to garner requests from around the country for advice on establishing assistance programs, along with continuous pledges of support. Our focus was now on opening the hospice center. The biggest surprise out of this was that no one from the family had contacted Sebastian. I guess after the last phone call they found it would be pointless to approach him.

  There were issues during the renovation of the building that delayed our opening. The delays were strictly our fault. After talking to our new administrator, Kathryn Bennett, it was decided we needed better access for bringing patients to the second floor. We had a ramp built adjacent to the driveway that led to a new second floor entrance. She also recommended we should install an intercom system installed for contact between floors for the caregivers, and an alarm system for them to use in case of emergencies. All suggestions that we followed.

  It was a cold January morning when Sebastian and I held a small ceremony to open the center. We h
ad limited press access, knowing it would benefit the hospice. There was still quite a large turnout. Sebastian said a few words, holding back his tears as best he could before introducing Ms. Bennett. Once she finished her speech, Sebastian brought Mrs. Sanchez up to the podium to cut the ribbon, introducing her as the mother of Diego Sanchez, whom the hospice was named after. I looked out at the group assembled and noticed one man off to the side wearing dark glasses, in a charcoal coat with a hood, wiping his eyes, then nudged Sebastian. "Look to the right. Is that who I think it is?"

  He looked and then grabbed my arm. "Don't let him leave. Go!" Turning back to the crowd Sebastian smiled and accepted the scissors back from Mrs. Sanchez. With the ceremony over, he invited everyone inside to take a tour of the facility. "The staff is available to answer any questions you may have, and there are refreshments available in the living room."

  After everyone drifted in to tour the center, Isaac led the last person in. "Guess who I found in the crowd."

  He had his hand on the back of the mystery person. As he removed the dark glasses, he looked older, weary. You could see he still carried the pain of his loss.

  "Hi, Sebastian."

  "Hello, Paul."

  "It's very nice what you guys did. How's Dolores?"

  "Mrs. Sanchez is doing fine. She was asking about you."

  Putting a hand on his shoulder I leaned in close. "Go talk to her. We'll be here. You should see her." I pointed him to the living room.

  Paul walked off to where Mrs. Sanchez was sitting. "He looks like shit."

  Sebastian walked outside to the porch where I followed. "He still isn't dealing with it well."

  "So Sebby, what shall we do after this?"

  "How about we take a vacation like you suggested during Easter break? See where Jessie would like to go?"

  I laughed. "Well that's easy. Either Hawaii or Disney World in Florida. He can never stop talking about the two."

  "Well then, one for Easter then the next for the summer. I've been thinking. Should we keep up with fostering? What about we change the extra room to a bedroom? We don't need it as a den. Jessie prefers using the kitchen or dining room to study, especially when he has his friends over."

  "Guys?"

  Paul was standing behind us with Mrs. Sanchez. He was wiping his eyes with a lacy handkerchief while Mrs. Sanchez was patting his back.

  I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Paul."

  "I'm sorry about the way I left and never kept in touch. I…, I didn't know how… how… to deal with everything. You know, Diego, and not knowing about me. I was scared."

  He started crying as Mrs. Sanchez was rubbing his shoulders. Sebastian reached out and Paul fell into his arms sobbing. "I miss him so much."

  "Paul, we're your friends. We've always been your friends. If Ryan and Leland could be here today, they would say the same thing." He stroked his hair trying to calm him.

  "Dolores says I can stay with her while I look for a job. I want to come back. I miss you guys."

  Whether the time was right or not, I needed to ask a sensitive question. "How is your health, Paul?"

  He looked at me, forcing a smile. "Other than drinking a bit too much I'm fine. I've been celibate since Diego, and no drugs."

  I patted him on the shoulder, "Glad to hear."

  Mrs. Sanchez tugged Paul's arm, then smiled at us. "I'm going to take him home now. He needs to rest. He can call you tomorrow. Thank you for today. It was very nice what you did for my son."

  "Thanks, guys." Paul nodded, giving us a weak smile as she guided him away.

  We went back inside, said our good byes to everyone, thanked Kathryn for handling the rest of the opening for us, and went to Betty. Climbing into the driver's seat, we took off as Sebastian rattled off what we needed to do for the rest of the day. We needed to call Ryan and let him know Paul was back in town and staying with Mrs. Sanchez. We also needed to talk to Jessie about our fostering another kid, the Easter holiday, and summer vacation. After that he was quiet for a moment and stared out the window as we watched the rows of Victorian homes pass by.

  "A penny, Sebby."

  "What?"

  "What are you thinking about?"

  "Paul. I think he is coming to grips with what happened. I'm glad he's back."

  "Yeah. It won't be the same. But I'm glad he's back too."

  "I'm also thinking that one hospice won't be enough. We should look at opening another."

  "Unfortunately, you're probably right. Do you want to call Arthur?"

  "I think this time I'd like to try to turn part of it over to the contractor we used for this one. He knows what we want and we can give him our guidelines. Let him do the leg work and check in with Arthur."

  "Very good, Sebby, anything else?"

  "Yeah. I think we need to keep a balance in our life. With all this stuff we are dealing with, it's nice to have the good that we have with the kids. I like our being able to do it on the small scale like we've done with Jessie and Andrew. The personal interaction, getting to know them, guide them, watch them develop and grow. There is a real joy in seeing them reach their potential. Only one thing frustrates me in their growing up."

  "What's that, Sebby?"

  "When is Jessie going to start dating?"

  I could hear the frustration in his voice and grinned. "How do you know he's not?"

  I hope you enjoyed reading my novel. Please take the time to leave a review where you purchased my book.