Just a Matter of Time

"So what do you do now, Danny?" Jeanie asked.

"Troubleshooter, I travel a lot. All over the world. Say, who did you marry?" He asked, shifting the subject quickly.

"You remember Jerry?" She gave him a sidelong glance.

"Jerry? Well, I guess that is a surprise."

"He actually was a good man, and he was real good to Danielle and me. We had a happy marriage for nearly 35 years."

"That's good, I am sorry you lost him."

"I have something to tell you. I came tonight because Margie called and said you might be here."

She looked down at her drink, she was holding it in both hands. Dan just waited, puzzled.

"Danielle. She is..yours."

"What?"

"She is our daughter, Danny." Dan looked at the woman behind the bar, then back at Jeanie.

"That's impossible, we never....?"

"Yes, we did. That night you..we were necking and you...the Doctors told me it was the first virginal birth they had ever seen."

Dan sat there in shock. He had no idea what to do or say.

"But...you went into the Army?"

"Not for very long, I didn't even get all the way through boot camp."

"Does she know?" He looked again at the bartender, she was standing at the far end of the bar looking at them with a puzzled expression.

"She knows what happened, she just doesn't know who yet." Jeanie said.

"I think she just figured it out." Dan grinned, as Danielle headed down the bar towards them.

"Mom?" She said, her eyes big.

"Yes, honey. This is him, this is Danny I told you about."

"Oh my God! I thought I would never ever....!" She tore around the end of the bar and almost took Dan off of his bar stool. She was jumping up and down so excited that it took several moments for him to get her calmed down.

Dan looked around the room, every single face including the band members were staring at them.

"I think we need to get out of here." He said.

Danielle ran into the other room, came back in minutes with an older woman. She took over the bar, giving Dan an odd look. He was starting to get used to getting odd looks from these people.

"Let's take my car." Jeanie said. They got in, the drive was short, just a few miles. Danielle chattered the entire way, once at the simple farm house they settled in.

It was around 3 in the morning before Danielle finally needed to sleep, she hugged him and told him she would see him in the morning.

"Night, Mom." She said, giving her a knowing look.

"Night...Daddy." She grinned.

"I should be going, can you run me back to my car?" Dan asked.

"Can't you...stay? Please?"

Dan looked at her, she slid over and leaned in for a kiss.

"I always loved you, Danny." She said.

He had to ask.

"Why did you marry Jerry?"

"He..he asked me, when Danielle was 5. This is a small town, a woman with a baby doesn't get asked out much but Jerry did, and I know he loved me."

"Well, I always loved you, I must have thought of you a million times."

"Why didn't you ever come home? I waited and waited for so long." She told him, a sad look on her face.

"It just never came up, life and everything got in the way."

"Will you stay then? Be with me? I..want to."

"Yes."

+++

That was an amazing night, in the darkness her body felt almost like he remembered. Her breasts felt larger, softer, there is no way to avoid years piling up. He knew his own body was different, more solid from all of the hours spent lifting weights, working out.

He knew very well how to make love, there had been so many women, just people passing each other, nothing that had ever mattered at all.

Yet this was totally different, this was something that was supposed to be. Dan felt like that, anyway. He was overwhelmed with love for her, and he realized that he wanted to be right here, with her for all the rest of his life.

But there was a problem.

+++

Jeanie drove him back to the lodge parking lot to pick up his rental car the next day. Breakfast had been interesting, Danielle had grinned back and forth at them all morning. She had called her husband at just after seven, it seemed he was just getting home from his graveyard shift at the local mill and was going to be very surprised that she was not there.

They talked for a long time, after hanging up she told them that after her husband had slept they were all going out to dinner. Then Jeanie had dropped her off, Dan looked at their inexpensive mobile home.

He was thinking he needed to do something about that. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he had some very large amounts of capital put away in various places, enough that he had no need to ever worry. He also now had a grandson, he was off at camp someplace. Danielle had a half sister, married and living in Texas.

Dan now had a real family, it was something he had never known since he was a child.

He kissed Jeanie, told her he had some things to do.

"What kind of things?" She asked.

"Just business." He told her.

+++

Inside his motel room, he opened up his carry case, took out the envelope with the two names and photos.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, thinking.

Inside the case was the pistol, with the silencer attachment, he picked it up and looked at it. There was a long rod with a sanding ball on the end of it, he knew what that was for.

There had to be no mistakes, no evidence.

He looked again at the two photos. He had no idea at all the why of what the people wanted done, they just did.

It was just the job.

Always before, they gave him the information, he went and did his job and vanished into the night.

Dan was the very best there was, without fail he got the job done.

He put his head in his hands.

He could do the job, then try to join the life he now knew he wanted. But he also knew that sooner or later the next envelope would come.

He could just not do the job, but the problem there was obvious. He knew far too much, and they knew that he knew far too much.

They would come for him. He did not dare be anywhere near Jeanie or Danielle when they did.

+++

Damon Ringer went out and got into the simple beige rental car, drove the hundred miles to the inland city.

It took him nearly all day to get things figured out. By afternoon, he knew how to do it. He dropped off the rental car, picked up another at a different agency.

The next morning at 8 AM he just walked into the office, the man looked up and asked if he could help him. He didn't answer, he just took care of that. The woman walked out of the back, he took care of that, too.

Two rounds, moments apart, no sound at all. He saw no one outside.

He drove the rental 200 miles North and dropped it off. Then he was on a bus for another 200 miles farther.

He stopped at an electronics store and bought a prepaid phone, made the call.

"Done." Was all he said when the other end picked up, then pushed the button to disconnect. No need to wait for an answer, there never was one.

His next call was to the one man he knew he could trust. That one man he was completely sure of, since he was supposed to be dead. Damon had taken care of that years before, and been well paid to do it.

Then he had helped the man vanish. It was his personal insurance policy that made sure things were done that he needed done. The man was the only person in the world that knew the truth.

"Pick up tomorrow."

"OK." Was the simple answer. He broke the connection, then destroyed the phone.

Renting another car, he drove back to Seaport.

+++

Damon Ringer dropped off the rental car, walked out the door and vanished. Walking across the long bridge calmly, the very expensive fake week's growth of beard came off. So did the dark heavy framed glasses. The padding that added weight to his appearance was in a dumpster hundreds of miles away.

The heavy weight in his case was enough. The removable barrel of the pistol was discarded after he rammed the hone though it, then fired it several times to hide the hone marks. The screw on silencer was buried out in the woods.

His drop box in Chicago would be closed when the fee was not paid, he knew that. No one on the planet knew where he was, even the one man he knew he could trust. The money was in offshore numbered accounts, he knew there was no way to trace those. The tide was running out strongly, he had planned for that also.

Glancing around, he dropped the package over the side, he didn't wait to see the splash.

+++

Dan walked along slowly, enjoying the day, the ocean. It had been a long time, now he was home.

Jeanie was happy to see him, she gave him a hug and a kiss. The house smelled wonderful, she was baking some bread. He sat down at the kitchen table, reached for a piece of the fresh bread, wiped on some butter.

"So where have you been?" She asked.

"Just closing up loose ends, I decided to retire."

"Really? OK. I have a little bit of money, nearly $50,000 from Jerry's insurance policy, we will be all right. If you...want to live here with me, that is?"

"It's what I hoped for, honey. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have some savings, too." Dan managed to not laugh, he had several million in off shore accounts.

Jeannie hopped into his lap, kissed him.

"We will be fine, we don't need much." She told him. Dan grinned and kissed her back.

+++

Three months later Dan was at the post office, picking up the mail. It was all the usual junk. He turned to leave just as Margie came in.

There was the usual hug, that couldn't be avoided with Margie.

"I sure am glad you are back, Danny! I am glad I found you. You and Jeanie seem really happy."

That is when it hit him.

"How did you find me, Margie?" He asked.

"I work at the florist's shop, you sent flowers to your Mom's funeral. I figured it had to be you, so I started tracing the order back. It was easy after that. I spend a lot of time on the internet." She grinned.

Dan felt a cold chill pour through himself. There had been just one different phone call, from his friend telling him his mother had passed.

One different phone call.

"What's the matter, Danny?" Margie asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Margie went on up to the counter, Dan drove up to the electronics store, purchased a throw away phone.

Walking outside, he punched in the number of his friend, taking a risk but he had to know.

There was no answer.

Walking towards his car, he spotted the big black SUV. There were two men in it. He felt a trace of fear but they went right on by, not noticing him.

On the way home, he watched the small white car that was following him. Then it turned off into someone's driveway.

The next day, he watched out the window as a repairman driving a white van pulled up and stopped. He got out and crossed the street.

Dan went into the kitchen, sat down as Jeanie served him some pancakes and eggs. He sat and ate quietly, thinking. There was a sheen of sweat on his face.

"Are you OK, honey?" Jeanie asked.

"Yes, fine."

He knew he had made a mistake.

It was a matter of time.

Dan realized that he knew far too much. He knew what they would do.

Those people did not leave loose ends.

It was now just a matter of time.