Chapter 3

Four hours later my alarm went off. I’m not sure if zoning out counts as rest or sleep, but it is the closest I can get since the accident. It took me a moment to stand as my joints get stiff when I don’t move for a while. Once up I snagged some leftover chicken wings and a beer.

I stopped and looked at the beer for a minute before drinking it. One of the things I loved about Colorado was all the small brews and different flavors of beer that I could get. I didn’t finish the beer and left it sitting open on the counter. Just another thing that damn accident took from me. I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself; I got work to do.

I worked my way through the residential area towards City Park. I had an appointment with a young lady there at dawn. When I last spoke to her, she had been scared and wanted to make sure meeting with me would be safe. We both figured dawn at City park on Sunday morning would be safe. All the junkies and gansters would be asleep and hopefully, so would everyone else. Once I arrived, I found some trees away from the road that would be strong enough for me to hide in them. One tree had a campaign poster asking people to show support and reelect Strickland for Governor.

After leaning against the tree for a minute and making sure no one was watching or looking in my direction, I leapt upwards. When I was younger, I played basketball like everyone in my neighborhood. When I stopped growing at 5’8; I kept trying to play. Spent years working on perfecting my jump shot and my vertical to make up for my stature. Even in my old age and condition, my jump vertical is still pretty good. I leapt up and caught a branch about ten feet off the ground, quickly pulling myself up, I got comfortable and removed Thumper from my jacket, wedging it between some branches. Getting here a few hours early allowed me time to get the feel of the park and watch the night life wind down. I’d been coming here for the past few days, sitting in different trees on the south side to get used to the rhythm. I knew who went jogging, which walked dogs, who got up early to goto work, and the police patrols.

I leaned back and watched as I replayed the events leading up to this meeting in my mind. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Before the accident, my mind wasn’t that sharp, but my memory was good. Now, my mind is a little slower, but the memory still works.

“Hey, Daxx, there’s some gal looking for you,” Charlie called down to me as I was finishing my fourth beer. It had been a tough day as I had spent most of it helping some friends transfer some goods from one trailer to another. Why one would move a truck load of goods from one working trailer to another? Well, I do not ask questions like that. I looked at Charlie to see if he was giving any indication as to where the lady was. Charlie was standing by the register in front of the notice board was completely covered with missing persons posters. He was pointing towards a table in back. I looked at the nervous looking young lady trying to sit elegantly at the table and gave Charlie a thumbs up indicating message received. Her light skin and blond hair made her look like a cheerleader from some 90’s film. I wondered if her dad dropped her off in the beamer.

I stood up and moved over to her table and stood next to an open chair. “My name is Daxx, mind if I sit?” I asked the lady sitting there. She was taking a sip of a glass of wine; it was after she finished she spoke.

“Have a seat please,” Her voice reminded me of a phone sex operator. Heavy and velvety, I wasn’t expecting that from her. “You must be Daxx,” she continued as I took a seat across from her.

“I am. Charlie said you asked about me?” I was worried she was after money. Usually, a collection agent doesn’t go searching for you at a bar. “Look, if you are after money I ain’t got any.” She laughed at this, the type of laugh that was a gift of pure joy wrapped in sex. Before the accident, it would have made my heart race and blood boil. I almost felt the same effects out of habit.

“Oh, no, I’m not looking for money. I have a problem, and a mutual friend said you helped her,” she replied flashing me a secretive smile.

“This friend of yours, what did I do for her?” I asked to give me time to think. If word was getting around about my abilities, I may start attracting attention. The wrong people asking some questions and suddenly my second chance at life becomes a long stint in prison or buried out in a cornfield.

“Oh, you found her ex husband’s new address and name so she could get child support payments,” She whispered, leaning in as if it was a secret. I remembered that job, tracking down some loser who had a million dollar home up in Estes Park but wasn’t paying his $600 a month child support. Relief must have showed on my face as she smiled that secretive smile and leaned back. “I take it you do not like to advertise.”

“I have some enemies who think I’m dead. I wish for them to continue that delusion,” I told her as I pulled out a little notepad and a pencil from an inner pocket. “Two hundred a day, minimum three days, if I have an expense I cannot recoup I’ll provide an itemized list at the end. For expenses that are more than fifty dollars I’ll get your approval beforehand.” I wasn’t sure how much a private eye charged but the last job for her friend I didn’t state an amount and thats about what she paid me. It wasn’t near what I used to make as a roughneck, but it was better than the current jobs around.

“Agreed, I can’t meet you here again though, and I can’t have you call my cell. My husband Sergei Tsepov is a good man but a little protective of me.” Her voice lowered as she said her husbands name. I almost missed it and was silent for a minute as my brain started processing the information. When the light finally powered back on, I started to stand up.

“I can’t work for your husband; I think he would probably kill me for even talking to you,” I told her as I stood up. She quickly put a hand on mine and gave me a look that should have broken my heart.

“Please, he has nothing to do with this. I would hire someone legitimately, but I do not want him to know about it,” She quickly said, and I glanced around the bar. No one was looking towards us, so I sat back down.

“Why not just tell him and have his guys do whatever is needed?” I asked, looking for an angle to get out of this.

“Because he would kill my brother.” She sighed and took a moment to compose herself. “My brother Takahiro and Sergei would kill each other on sight. I need to make sure he is safe and not in trouble.” What she said made some sense, Sergei was the type of guy to bury problems.

“I gotta up my rate then, three hundred a day. Also, you don’t look Japanese. Is he a half brother?” I said as I crossed out the $200/day on the notepad and wrote $300/day, then flipped to another page and wrote Takahiro at the top.

“No, he just really liked Anime when he was younger and legally changed his name once he turned 18.” She shook her head a little as she pulled out a small purse and set it on the table. From there she produced a couple of pictures of a clean cut young man. She pushed them towards me and opened a checkbook.

“No checks, sorry, I don’t have a bank account.” I started to say, but she kept on writing. Then once she finished, she handed me a cashiers check payable to cash for a local credit union.

“This will be accepted anywhere. It is payment for three days up front. I’ll give you a week’s worth when we meet next, and hopefully, you will find him.” I accepted her check looking over it, what she said was correct. I figured I would not do any actual work until it cleared just in case.

“As for the meeting place, I need you to start jogging each morning. Is City Park close to where you live?”

“Its a mile or two but ok, why jogging?”

“It’s good for your health, and if someone is tailing you, it makes it difficult. I’m hoping after a week of jogging they will stop tailing you and just wait for you to finish the jog.”

“All right, City Park, what time next Sunday?”

“Actually if you can do 5 am Sunday morning, I’ll be near some trees on the southeast side, and I’ll start jogging with you.”

“Five in the fucking morning!” she said loudly, if the bar wasn’t mostly empty I’m sure it would have gotten a few heads turned towards us.

“Yeah, 5 am on a Sunday morning. Usually, people are still drunk, sleeping, or too tired to give a damn.” I smiled as I said this, as the early meeting place would help protect my identity and will help ensure she was committed to this. I also informed her that if she needed to contact me she could leave a note and a twenty with Charlie and I’ll get the note.

“Just find my brother quickly and make sure he is safe, I fear he is or will be in trouble,” She said as she stood up to leave. I nodded, shook her hand, and then watched her glide towards the exit. Gods, if I had met her in my twenties, I’m certain I would have killed for her if she had asked. Even now, I’m not sure if I would refuse a request like that from her.