Walking an Endless Path Pt. 01

"My friend's contacts provided statements that they had evidence that proved that the assassination of Renata's family was orchestrated by her uncle, Anton. As these statements indicate, if he was the one who killed them, then it is highly likely that he drew you away from the house that night. What better way to guarantee your loyalty than saddling you with the guilt of failing the family and also ensuring your support in hunting down the real killer. These contacts who had proof that Anton was the assassin were murdered when he went on his killing spree with you and your men." Joe paused as Iosif seemed to be vibrating with tension.

"I'm assuming Anton is responsible for paying for Renata's operations, building the house, and hiding her in it?" Iosif barely nodded as he read the statements, but it was enough.

Joe pulled up a photo in the folder of Renata and her family. She was a beautiful child in the picture, but she looked nothing like what she looked like now. "The surgeons had to rebuild her after the explosion, but instead of giving her back her face, Anton had the doctors change her face into a Barbie Doll. Beautiful, but not her. Did he explain this change was to protect her identity from future assassination attempts?" Joe didn't wait for an answer as he found the other pictures he'd sought. "I understand Anton has a taste for prostitutes and has killed several." Joe opened the photos of the dead women and saw what he expected to find. All three women bore some resemblance to what Renata looked like now.

"Now I think we know why Anton has kept Renata alive and hidden. She's no longer a child. Is Anton planning to visit any time soon? Or has he sent for her to visit him?"

Iosif's face was red. The veins in his forehead were throbbing, and his knuckles were white. Definite danger signs. He suddenly exited the car and began walking away on the sidewalk. Joe saw him lighting up a smoke. Joe left the car and sat on a park bench beside the parked car. Joe soaked in the afternoon sun. Twenty minutes later, Joe heard approaching footsteps. He opened his eyes and saw Iosif walking back. He had a paper cup of coffee in his hand, and his face looked much calmer.

He sat next to Joe on the bench, and two remained silent for a while.

"You took big chance today, my friend," he finally said.

"I think I took a number of them," Joe agreed.

"Da."

"It was the right thing to do. As painful as it was to hear, you needed to know."

"Da," Iosif sighed.

"What now?" Joe asked.

"Revenge."

After a moment, Joe said, "I've heard living well is the best revenge."

"No Russian said that," Iosif replied.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure it applies to Russians," Joe said.

"Still, he must die."

Joe sighed, a grim expression settling on his face. "Da."

Iosif looked over and smirked. "Definitely Russian."

A minute of silence passed as they enjoyed the weakening rays of the day's sunlight. "I need to get home, or my friends will worry. Please give me a call when Renata wakes up. Let me know how she is. I head home this weekend, but I'd like to see her again before I go if I could." He handed Iosif a piece of paper with his cell number on it.

Iosif simply nodded.

As he approached the front of the car, Iosif gestured to the front passenger door. Joe nodded and got inside. They rode back in silence. Before he left the limo, Joe unplugged the USB stick and handed it to Iosif. "Be careful," he said.

The driver tucked the stick into his jacket pocket and nodded.

Joe walked down the driveway as the limo pulled away. He saw his friends in the window of the Lancaster's living room. Rene's house was dark, and his parent's truck and trailer were gone. He entered the front door Philip had opened and walked into the living room. He went to sit on a chair when his legs gave out on him, and he crashed to the floor. Suddenly, Rene and Philip were kneeling at his side, helping him up. He was dazed and confused and was having trouble breathing.

"You've had a trying day, have you? Just relax. Take deep breaths," Philip said with a calm voice.

"Joe, what happened?" Rene asked.

"I kissed Iosif!" Joe blurted.

"What!?!" he heard from three mouths.

"Wait, wait, wait! Start at the beginning!" Rene exclaimed.

Joe concentrated on breathing in and out slowly until his nerves settled. He hadn't realized how tightly wound he'd been all day.

"Okay... sorry. I'm feeling better now. Uh, where to begin." He looked up at the three expectant faces. Some information he could share with them and some he would not, for their own safety.

"Renata wanted to do some anatomy drawings, so I posed nude for her. That was uncomfortable at first, but she truly was sketching... huh, I didn't get to see the finished drawing." Joe realized that in the afternoon's excitement, he never got to see the sketch.

"Then what?" Rene prompted.

"Oh, yeah, well, we talked, and I stupidly mentioned the surge, which she didn't believe. Then I was really stupid and argued with her to the point of mentioning how the surge might be dangerous because I discovered it altered damaged nerve cells. Did I mention she is confined to a wheelchair due to damaged nerve cells? Then Iosif came in and was really angry with me and wanted me to leave. He didn't believe me either, so I kissed him." Joe blinked a few times as he processed how incredibly risky that had been. Why couldn't he see the stupidity of his words and actions before he did them?

"And..." Rene pushed.

"You were right, Rene. It's my tongue. He went out like a light. He was seriously pissed when he woke up, though. Unfortunately, this just made Renata want me to try the surge on her to cure her legs. I warned her that it might not work and it might make things worse, but she and Iosif wanted me to try. So, I did. Full power. Knocked me out, too, for a bit. She's asleep now. Probably will be for hours. I don't know how it works."

"Then Iosif and I went for a drive and had a talk. I filled him in on what our lawyer told us and gave him the documentation to back it up. It was a very close call. Iosif was definitely in the mood to kill someone, and it was almost me. But I read him right, and we're good. Renata has a chance now."

Joe sagged back against the chair. Rene had a strangely frightened frown on her face. Suddenly she slapped Joe's shoulder hard! Then she did it again and again. Joe sat up and grabbed her arms to make her stop. He hugged her, and she roared at him, then burst into tears.

"Shhh, it's okay," Joe said as he held her.

When her tears stopped, she growled into his shoulder, "You gambled with your life!"

"Yes, but my heart said I had to, and my gut said I'd be okay," he said gently. He felt her relax.

His stomach grumbled loudly, and his three friends chuckled.

"I think your gut is now telling us you're a little hungry after your adventure," Grace said.

"Did I miss dinner?" Joe asked sheepishly.

-=-

The next morning the realtor from Minneapolis arrived and did a tour. Joe wasn't sure how Rene found the man, but he was so full of genuinely positive energy it was infectious. They couldn't help but follow him around the house with big silly grins as he regaled them with amusing anecdotes of his sales in the region. He'd brought along his daughter, who turned out to be a gifted photographer. She took some very flattering shots of the home, and Joe caught her taking a few candid pictures of him as well. Finally, he just offered to pose for one, which she eagerly accepted. Joe had to admit the photo she took of him leaning against the stone accent wall was very flattering though he was a little embarrassed by her enthusiasm. She wanted to use the image in her portfolio, so Joe signed a model release using an app on her smartphone. He caught Rene rolling her eyes when she saw Joe trapped by the young woman. Rene came to his rescue by dragging Joe with her after the realtor.

They talked on the new deck when they were finished in the house. The realtor said the listing would go up that night, and he really expected to start seeing activity within the following few days. He said the home's original list price was four-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars due to its location and lot size. With the renovations, he thought they should now list it for six-hundred and twenty-five-thousand dollars. Rene was thrilled. She signed the paperwork, and they left.

Rene and Joe looked around and realized there was nothing left to do but wait. They wanted to show their appreciation for Philip and Grace, so they drove into town and picked up all the ingredients to make Chicken Chorizo Paella, one of Rene's favorite recipes.

When they got back, they scooted the couple onto their deck to enjoy the heat of the late afternoon sun, and Joe made them some frosty drinks with slices of fresh fruit. Rene was busy preparing dinner, and Joe assisted when required, which wasn't a lot. Rene banished Joe from the kitchen when she caught him sampling the Chorizo. His stomach rumbled in protest.

They had a wonderful dinner on the deck under the glow of the lights and the setting sun. Grace insisted on getting the recipe from Rene so she could make the dish for her grandkids when they visited in a week's time.

Rene's phone buzzed, and it was the realtor. Rene put the phone on speaker and set it between the four of them. His normal enthusiasm was amped up as he explained that only minutes after the ad went up, he was contacted by three prospective buyers. He immediately recognized one of the bidders as a builder interested in the lot and would likely replace the home with one of the larger custom homes that had begun to pop up along the lake's edge. Rene frowned and saw the suppressed dismay on the faces of Philip and Grace. Rene told the realtor to ignore that buyer. That earned her guilty smiles of gratitude from the older couple.

The realtor's voice burst excitedly from the phone. "Oh! I've just received offers from the three... not surprisingly, the builder is low balling. Easy to ignore them. Buh bye! Hmmm... both of the other offers came in at the list price. Both bidders seem to be using legal representation. Must be celebrities or old money! Ooo! I have a law firm in Minneapolis and one in New York. I will let them know they are in a bidding war! So exciting! This is the easiest listing I've had, but I shouldn't be telling you this! Ahem, previous statements have no impact on my commission! I'll call you back when I have the final bids! When's the latest I can call you?"

"I'll be up until midnight, and I'm available after eight AM otherwise," Rene responded.

"Excellent! Talk to you soon!" and he hung up.

They all chuckled because the man's bubbly nature was delightful!

"Is that normal? Having lawyers buy homes for people?" Joe asked.

"I guess. I'd kind of like to know who is behind the bids before I accept the offer. As the seller, I can always insist and ignore the offer if I don't like the answer I get," Rene said.

Joe cleaned up and did the dishes so Philip and Grace could relax. Once he was done, he returned and tried to learn how to play Euchre. There wasn't much success in mastering the game, but there was a lot of laughter, so the evening was saved.

Rene's phone rang shortly after eleven PM when Philip and Grace were just preparing to retire for the night. She saw it was the realtor, so Rene set the phone on the table again, and they gathered around it.

"Rene! Oh my god! What an evening!" the man's voice burst from the phone. "We had two very determined buyers with deep pockets fighting over your home."

Rene looked at Joe with a big grin on her face.

"Minneapolis won the highest bid at, are you sitting down? Seven-hundred and eighty-five-thousand dollars! New York's final bid was seven-hundred and eighty-thousand! It was a frenzy!"

"That's amazing, but I need to know who is behind these bids!" Rene said.

"What? Did I mention seven-hundred and eighty-five-thousand?" the realtor stumbled slightly in his enthusiasm.

"That's an incredible price, and I am thrilled, but I have very good friends who live right next door, and I'm not going to jeopardize their happiness for money. I need to know who's behind the bid."

"Uh, that might not be so simple, Rene. People with this kind of money, people who use lawyers to buy things for them, typically prefer their anonymity. Law firms like Weingersh & Krunkhorn or Waechter, Bergström, & Volkov, they represe—"

"Wait! Did you say Waechter, Bergström, & Volkov?" Joe interrupted, his face frozen in shock.

"Yes, that's who's representing the New York buyer."

"Can we call you back?" Rene said to the realtor, keeping her eyes on Joe, who was quickly dialing a number on his phone.

"Uh. Okay. This is the most peculiar response I've ever received from such good news." The man sounded absolutely deflated. He probably imagined his large commission cheque disappearing. Rene hung up.

Joe listened to the phone ring a few times, then heard his father's sleepy voice. "Hello?"

"Hi, Dad, it's Joe. Sorry for waking you."

"Ah, that's okay. Is something wrong? It's Joe," Karl said, letting Clara know who the caller was.

"No, we're fine. I called to ask if you knew anything about a bid on Rene's house by Waechter, Bergström, & Volkov."

"Oh, that. I'm going to let your mother speak to you about that. I'll see you this weekend." Karl handed the phone to his wife.

"Joe? Everything alright, honey?" Clara asked.

"Yes, Mom, we're good. I'm calling about the bidding war on Rene's house."

"Oh! Did we win?" Clara chirped.

"I'm putting you on speaker phone Mom. Rene, Philip, and Grace are with me." Joe put the phone on the table.

Rene was the first to speak. "Clara, are you bidding on the house?"

"Hi Rene, give me a second to go into the next room. I'm keeping Karl awake."

Rene stared incredulously at Joe, who just shrugged.

They heard the click of a door closing, and Clara was back on the phone.

"Yes, I talked it over with Karl when we drove home. I just fell in love with the house, the property, and the lake! We've been talking about getting a vacation home, and Joe did such a wonderful job. We have such similar tastes in design. Did he mention we watch those home renovation shows together? And having Philip and Grace living next door is such a lovely bonus! Hello Philip and Grace!"

The older couple greeted Clara with smiles.

Rene was torn. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to bid on the house?"

"Rene, dear, if we'd told you, you might have felt obligated to give us a deal. It's a financial transaction; the only way you'd get a fair price for your house was to do it this way. Now don't keep me in suspense! Did my bid win?"

Joe was about to tell his mother that she'd lost when Rene put her hand over Joe's mouth.

"Yes, Clara. You won." She looked at Philip and Grace, who both looked delighted. Joe raised his eyebrows.

"That's wonderful! Woohoo! Oops! I woke your father. I guess I'll go celebrate with him. Goodnight all!" she said impishly.

"MOM!" Joe yelled at the phone, a look of horror and embarrassment on his face, but she'd already hung up.

Rene, Philip, and Grace had a good laugh at Joe's expression.

Rene dialed her realtor and let him know he was to accept the offer from the New York bidder. He started to question, then just shut up as he realized the commission on five thousand wasn't worth the loss of the positive feedback she'd potentially give others for his service. He agreed to make the arrangements, and they signed off, both feeling the glow of success.

"I guess your investment earned you a tidy sum, Joe!" Rene said, smiling at her friend. He returned her smile when he'd pushed the disturbing images from his mind.

Chapter 21

Joe was up at the crack of dawn the following morning. Again, he felt restless without access to his fitness equipment. His muscles were almost trembling with the need to work. He pulled on his shorts and runners and picked up a couple of large bricks to carry like dumbbells. He walked up the driveway and began to jog along the country lane again. Once his muscles warmed up, he picked up the pace until he was almost running. His arms were pumping with the bricks clenched in his fists. Joe felt his muscles smooth out and flow with the effort, and he slowly reduced his pace until he found the sweet spot where the energy going in balanced with the easy response of his muscles. Joe got into the zone and just ran.

He dimly became aware of a car horn honking, and his surroundings came back into focus. He looked over his shoulder and saw a big black limo driven by a man with blue tattoos and mirror shades keeping pace with him. Joe waved, and the car sped ahead, pulling over on the shoulder before him. Joe slowed down and finally came to a stop at Iosif's door. The window rolled down, and the man looked up at Joe.

"How do you not hear me? I honk for five kilometers!" Iosif exclaimed.

"Sorry, I was running, and I lost focus on everything else," Joe said, his voice still a little whispery from the experience.

"What's in your hands?" he asked.

"Oh! Bricks. I don't have any dumbbells, so I carried bricks... for extra load... for my muscles," Joe kept trying to explain, but Iosif was just not comprehending why someone would do what he was doing.

Finally, the driver just shook his head. "Hop in back."

"But I'm still exercising!"

"Please." Iosif's expression was unreadable behind the mirror sunglasses.

Joe saw a pattern beginning to form. Every time he went running, Iosif would interfere with it. Better not push the man he'd forced into a kiss. "Right."

Joe walked to the back door and opened it. He placed the bricks on the floor just inside the door and stepped inside.

Suddenly he felt a soft body launch into his arms, crushing him to the back seat.

"Joe! My darling Joe!" Renata cried as she kissed his flushed face and neck.

He was so stunned at first, he could only lean back against the soft leather seats and try to get a grip on the writhing young woman. Finally, he got his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back from his face.

"Renata! What are you doing?' he gasped. Then he looked down and saw her kneeling on the seat, straddling one of his legs. "Your legs! Are they better?"

"Are they better? Better??? I can feel them! They hurt in places, but I can feel them and move them where I want them to go. They are still very weak, but now I can move to exercise like you and get strong like you!" Renata was grinning like a fool.

"They hurt you? How bad is it?" Joe asked, concerned.

"Iosif! Joe hears only negative things! You are right. He is Russian!" Renata complained over her shoulder to the driver. Joe heard the man chuckle.

"Seatbelts, please," was all he said.

Joe lifted Renata over to her seat, and she buckled in. Joe sat down beside her and put his belt on, too. Iosif checked the traffic and swung the car around on the empty road. Joe realized he'd run almost up to the north edge of the lake!

Renata saw the surprise on his face when he saw where they were and smiled at him. "We were just coming to see you when you ran past the front gates. We turned to follow and tried to catch your attention, but you ran like a man possessed. We discussed ways to get you to notice us. I wanted Iosif to cut in front of you, but he decided to just keep honking," she said with a grin.

"Okay, seriously, tell me, what did you mean by your legs hurting?" Joe insisted.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "There are just a few spots that hurt. I think maybe the doctors did not remove the metal in those places. Remember, they abandoned me before they finished. I will find my own doctor to finish this." She turned to face Joe, and her face got very serious. "Joseph. Iosif told me what you did for us. The documents. I have read them. You took a very big chance speaking to Iosif as you did. I want you to know that we will not forget this."