Castaway Ch. 02

I sat, thinking about how clinical we were discussing the end of my marriage. I guess that is what it had become, a medical procedure. I would either choose to have the amputation surgery, or to let it try to heal.

"So at this point, James, you have mainly two options regarding this paperwork. There are four total copies, one for our office, one for you, one for your wife, and one for the court. You can hold onto them, and do nothing. You will stay married.

"Alternately, you could have one copy served to your wife, and one copy filed with the court. This begins the legal process to separate and ultimately bring an end to your marriage. You keep the final copy, and our office retains a copy for a certain amount of time, before eventually destroying it." She paused, and actually softened a bit. "James, this is not a thing to be taken lightly, but it's now in your hands. I don't envy you one bit, but you have to decide what to do. When you do, let me know and I will help you finish things, if that's what you decide to do."

She handed me the three packets, all nicely stapled and clipped together. She handed over three oversized manila envelopes, and told me to put them in them for safekeeping. As I did so, I kept one copy out to read later on.

"Thank you," I said quietly, "I really appreciate all the help you've given me. I will think hard about this, and let you know what I decide."

With that, we both stood, and she reached across her desk, to shake my hand. I nodded, and gave her a heartfelt, "Thank you, for everything."

"You're welcome, James. I really hope you can sort things out."

I left her office in a daze. This paper was the death of my marriage. Actually, what the fuck was I thinking? The paper was just my chance to put the final nail in it. My wife had gone along with Cyrus, who had plotted the killing. The problem was, I wasn't sure if I wanted to pound that final nail in, or not.

I drove right over Curt's office, and let myself in. He was waiting, and looked pissed that I showed up five minutes late. He came around his desk, and handed me an envelope.

"I found him last night, and tailed him from his condo down to a warehouse. Those photos should be descriptive enough of what I found. I have already taken the liberty to tip off the ATF, and they plan to raid him within the hour."

"Holy shit," I said, examining the photos closer. I saw several grainy pictures of Cyrus, with guns on tables around him. There were a few pallets nearby that were loaded with all manner of odd items, but stacked on top were what looked like clear bags of flower. I took a wild guess that it was drugs of some kind.

"I would have called you first, but this just couldn't wait. I usually get a few favors from the ATF guys, whenever I give them a good tip like this, sorry." His look said that he really wasn't.

Truthfully, I really didn't care. This sounded like it was the perfect way to get back at him, as well as move my desire to sell the business forward.

"Don't worry about it. I came to you for a reason, so thank you. Did you find anything out about why he would want to kill me, or con my wife into cheating on me?"

"Not much, but it does look like he is preparing for a major sale. My hunch is that he wanted you out of the way. You could have caused him a lot of problems, and he was going to need to move all that merchandise somehow. Your planes make perfect sense, but not if you are there to catch him. I will look into that further, once he is in custody. Perhaps they can get me in to question him."

That explanation gave me pause, and again had me wondering how I had never seen what a lying snake he was. I vowed to myself at that moment, to never be fooled like this again.

I thanked Curt, and gave Dani my credit card to pay him. After she ran it, and gave it back to me, I left the office. My stomach chose that moment to complain, so I went to a local Denny's to get an early lunch. While eating my burger, my phone rang. I set the burger down, wiped my hands, and answered it.

"Hello, this is James."

"James, this is Tony McGillian. You and I have a lot to talk about. Have you heard the news?"

"What news? I am eating, after just talking to Sandra about my possible divorce." For now, I figured it best to leave out the P.I. meeting.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The news is that the ATF and FBI just raided a warehouse near the airport, and found your buddy Cyrus there with a ton of cocaine, heroin, and also a ton of illegal assault weapons. It looks like he got involved with some shady people, or something, but anyhow he's locked up right now. This could be the opportunity you need to solve your problem of selling your business!" He sounded excited as he said all this.

At least someone could be excited right now. I was just glad that asshole was getting some sort of punishment. I knew that Curt's call to the feds is likely what helped engineer his downfall, but I had no idea the level of shit that Cyrus was involved with. I had a brief sense of grim satisfaction.

"Ok, so that means I can get rid of him, and sell it all off now?" For the first time in what seemed like eternity, I now had a small nugget of good news.

"Pretty much. I will put in the petition in the next hour or two, to have him removed as partner in your business. I really doubt the judge will deny it, seeing the severity of the crimes he is accused of now. There is a chance they will go with some sort of temporary arrangement, since he hasn't been convicted yet. Just warning you of the possibility."

"No problem, just getting it going. I will still sell my half, even if he still owns his half. Will I still need his approval under a temp arrangement?"

"No, not unless he submits his own petition in court, and he will not likely be in much of a position to do that."

I thanked him, and hung up. After putting my cell phone down, I paid the check and left. In my car, I sat at the exit to the parking lot. I saw a road before me. I had seen it many times before, but now, I saw it for what it could be... freedom. I could be free from a lot of shit, by just going down that road. I did something I rarely do and made an instant decision about what I was going to do. I felt liberated at having made a decision, any decision, which might make my life feel like it was my own again.

I hit the gas, and drove over to Shawn's place. Once inside, I sat down and called the travel agency. I briefly explained that we had missed our trip due to an illness, and was wondering if I could transfer any of it to a new reservation. The agent informed me that I could get some credit for the missed trip, but it couldn't be a complete refund. Also, there would be a fee for the transfer. I told the nice lady to do it, and set it up for one person instead of two, and changed the destination to Hawaii. I had always wanted to go there anyhow.

After that conversation, I started packing my things. Shawn came in, from whatever errand he had been running, and saw me packing. I looked up, nodded, and went back to putting my stuff back in the bags.

"Leaving buddy?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to take a break from everything. Not sure when I will be back, but I just have to get away from here. Kind of like a recharge of the batteries, or something like that. I need a fresh perspective on things, and I can't get that here, no offense man."

"None taken." He went to the fridge and got out two bottles of beer, handing one to me. "Any idea where you are going, or for how long?"

"I am going to Hawaii man. I figure that a good slice of paradise should help me get out of this funk some," I said.

He clapped his hand on my shoulder, "OK man, you just let me know if you need some company out there, or when you get back? Damn, if I had the cash, I might go with... heh"

"For sure man. Oh, not sure if you heard, but Cyrus was busted this morning for some pretty heavy shit. I talked with a lawyer, and he is filing to remove him as my partner. I intend to sell the business, so you may need to start looking for a new job after all. It all really depends on the new owners. I'm sorry about that part, but will make sure that all of you that have worked for me will be taken care of, as best I can."

"Thank you. You always were a good boss and friend." He gave me another one-arm hug, and with that, he left me to finish packing. I left the extra key to his place on the counter, and left without looking back. We had already said our goodbyes, so there was no point getting all mushy about it.

As I drove to the airport, I made two calls. First was my daughter, to let her know I was leaving town. I knew she would be unhappy, but I did my best to comfort her.

"WHAT? Daddy you can't leave."

"Honey, I am NOT leaving you. I am going to take a break, that's all. I will always take your call, and I won't be gone forever, ok?"

She was sniffling a little now, "Ok dad. Promise me you will come see me, soon?"

"I promise Maddy. You will never get rid of me," smiling as I said it. "Plus, it would give you an excuse to come see me too, ya know? Hawaii isn't the worst place in the world to take a vacation..."

"HAWAII?! You're going to Hawaii? Oh god daddy, I'm going to miss you so much." I could almost hear her smile return, "I love you daddy."

"I love you more... Bye," and hung up. My smile evaporated. That was horrible and touching at the same time. I loved her so much, and was still so pissed that she had to deal with this. Collateral damage, just as I had expected.

My second call, one which I had not really wanted to make, was to my estranged wife. How do I explain to her that she has ruined my view of our perfect life? Perhaps that was part of the problem. I would likely do a lot of self-examination while on this trip.

"Hello?" she picked up, after only one ring.

"Hi. I'm calling to let you know I will be out of town for a while. I need to get away from here, and will hopefully be able to figure some things out. I already called Madison, so she knows."

She hesitated, "Like what things?"

"Like whether or not to divorce you," I said with some menace, more than I had intended.

I heard her gasp, and then some light sobbing. After a bit she spoke, barely above a whisper, "I guess I deserve that, but I beg of you, please don't. I love you with all my heart, and am so completely ashamed of what I've done to us. You have to believe me! I will regret my actions until the day I die." She really broke down now.

"Caitlin, my love for you and what you did to me hurts a lot right now. That is part of my problem. I want to believe you, but don't really know what to believe right now. My ENTIRE life has been flipped upside down, in a matter of a few DAYS!!" I took a deep breath, and laid into her. "HOW COULD YOU?? YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO GIVE THE MAN YOU SAY YOU LOVE, A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN???!!"

I was red hot, and ready to explode again, so I paused to calm myself. Her crying had intensified to outright bawling, and I'm sure she was in a bit of shock as well. I never yelled at her like I just had, even during our worst fights.

Calmer, I went on, "I will be gone for a while, and will probably not be answering any calls from you during that time. If you feel the need to call someone, try calling your daughter. She is as much a victim in this as I am, and is feeling very hurt and abandoned right now. I have to go, but will probably call you later when I have come to some conclusions."

"James," she sniffled, "I'm scared. I love you so much, and don't want to lose you...MY GOD I AM SO SORRY!!" at this she broke down again.

I had no pity left for her. "Bye Caitlin."

And with that, I hung up on her. I turned my phone to vibrate, and put my Bluetooth headset in my pocket. All this completed just as I pulled up to the parking garage of the airport, so I quickly found a spot to park, and walked into the terminal. I checked my bag, got my tickets, and waited in a lounge to have a drink or two before my flight.

Surprisingly I didn't think about my life imploding. I sat in silence, nursing my drink, and just people watched. It has always been one of my favorite pastimes; just imagining what other people are doing, thinking, and what it was like in their lives.

I saw an older couple, standing at the gate counter, looking like they were having trouble with their flight arrangements. Were they going on some kind of retreat? Were they going home, and had just been here visiting their family? How long had they been together, and were they as in love as they had been all those years ago?

I looked around me at the bar. I saw a young blonde woman, dressed in airline uniform, nursing a coffee. Was she working on the next flight, or was she returning home after a long day of flying? Did she have a boyfriend or husband waiting to see his love at the other end of that flight? How hard would that life be on a relationship, to be gone so often?

There were two middle-aged men sitting, drinking beer and lightly arguing about the game that was on the big screen. Were they traveling on business? Did they have wives at home waiting for them, and they were leaving them behind for work? How did anyone else make traveling for a living work? Somehow people do it all the time, but I don't see how any relationship could truly last with constant travel. Had these two figured it out? I know it had put a huge strain on my marriage, and I would only spend a few days away from home, mostly. There were only two or three times that I had to stay away longer. Those times, Caitlin had joined me.

I finished off my second drink, set the glass down, and paid the tab. Right after getting down from my stool, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Now I was rethinking the wisdom of leaving it on, versus just shutting it off completely. I checked the caller ID, and didn't recognize the number. I thumbed the green answer button, and was connected.

"Hello, this is James." My tone said fuck off, not intentionally of course.

"Mr. Holmes, this is Tony McGillian. Sorry to bother you, but I just got off the phone with a prospective buyer, if you're interested."

Now I felt a little bad for giving him shit. "Sorry Tony, it's just been a very long day already. You have a buyer lined up already? It hasn't even been a full day yet."

"I know, but you pay me to work for you, so I do." His explanation pretty much spoke for itself. "Apparently you have a twin company, out on the west coast, and they are looking to expand to this coast. I barely had a chance to put out some feelers about the sale, and they were offering to fly out tonight."

"Ok, well I am going out of town for a while. I am actually at the airport right now, waiting for my flight."

"As long as you agree to the sale, all I need from you is a limited special power of attorney, and I could sign for you on the sale agreements. Would you be ok with that, assuming you all come to an agreement on a dollar amount?"

"Sure. Listen, email me the document you need signed, and I will sign it and fax it to you if it looks kosher. Also, make sure they understand that we have staff already, and I would prefer not to have them out of jobs unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Fair enough James. I will send you a copy of the document, but in order for it to be official I will need you to get your signature notarized and send me the hard copy back. I will include the office mailing address in the email."

"Alright, as long as the offer from them is enough, I will approve you to sell to them. Thanks for the help, and I will get it back to you as quickly as possible."

With that, I hung up and finally decided to turn off my phone. I really didn't want any more talking to people right now. Finally, my flight was being called for early boarding. Basically that almost always means either those people who are handicapped or ultra-rich and pay for the special privileges. I had gotten upgraded tickets to be on a window, but still in economy class, so I had to wait. Thankfully my section at the rear of the plane boarded next, so I didn't have to wait too long.

I handed the agent my ticket, and walked down the boarding ramp, onto the plane. I found my seat fairly quickly, and stuffed my carryon bag under the seat in front of me. I sat, looking out the window at the flurry of ground activity around the plane. I looked up, and saw some other planes taxiing around, some taking off in the distance, some landing.

It took a few more minutes for everyone to shuffle to their seats, and then the usual flight announcements were made. I zoned out, leaned my head against the window, and just closed my eyes. As terrible as my life had turned, in the last few days, I was finally doing something about it.

I barely registered the pilot speaking about our flight to Hawaii as I fell into a peaceful, nightmare free, sleep. Hopefully, it will continue...

*************

Part three is in the works, and I should hopefully have it off for editing in the next week or so. Real life always tends to get in the way of creativity, but we all do our best. Please vote and comment as you feel necessary. I look forward to hearing how bad I did.