The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 25: The Mountain Ahead

Sooner or later my luck just had to change. Well, that's what I kept telling myself. It was all I could hope for, really. Dealing with a large criminal organization such as The Operation, had proven to be an impossible challenge for a lowly warehouse manager. They always seemed to be one step ahead.

I sat motionless for a few moments, trying to process the words my father had just shared. I knew something was off, and it wasn't until a split second before my father spoke, that I realized, my mother was nowhere to be seen.

I stood and faced my father. “This is all my fault.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Joe?” My father had an angry look about him.

“Dad...I think the same people that took mom, took Sue.”

His look softened, “What do mean? Sue was taken too?”

I lowered my eyes. Hearing it out loud made it all too real. “Yeah. This morning when I woke up, she was gone. There was no sign of her...then I got this note.” I pulled the wrinkled paper from my pocket and handed it to him.

He quickly opened the letter and his eyes skimmed the writing. “Who the hell are these people?”

“I don't know much about them...but the FBI calls them The Operation.”

My fathers eyes widened, “The FBI?”

I nodded, “Yeah...the leader of The Operation is a man named Jacob Scholtz.”

“Scholtz...Scholtz...why does that name sound familiar?” My father searched his memories for the answer.

“He's some rich asshole, owns all kinds of properties.” I shared what little I knew about him.

“Yes, that's it...he's a former client of mine. I designed several building for him, many years ago.”

That reminded me, “The men that took mom, I think they took one of your blue prints.”

My dad confirmed, “They did, but how did you know that?”

“Because I found it in the trunk of Sue's car.”

He just stared at me, and I knew I had some serious explaining to do. He sat and listened as I told him all about my experience with The Operation. I told him almost everything. Every detail of the day I gave Celia Davis fifty dollars, the busted windshield on Sues car, and my Chevy that was destroyed by fire. I told my father about Daniel Healy, the crooked cop. About my wild ride in the back of his police cruiser, and my visit to the dark gas station. As I shared the story, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with disbelief. All that I had gone through, the crazy events that had lead me to where I was; all those things are only supposed to happen in the movies.

He's a good listener, my father. Taking in all the words, depositing them into his memory banks. It wasn't until I told my father about my assignment at the hotel and that Mark had assisted me, that he finally spoke.

“Oh God. Mark is involved with this too?” Apparently he hadn't read the last line of the letter that stated, 'Your brother can't help you this time.'

“I-I didn't know who else to turn to...the police are corrupt, I-I'm sorry...I told Mark I didn't want him to get involved, but he insisted.”

My father pulled his phone out, and broke my mothers 'no cell phones in the house' rule. He dialed Marks number.

I tried to tell him, “I already tried to call him earlier. He didn't answer.”

Ever so confident, he looked at me, “He'll answer this time.”