Part Two

He Said

The door closed behind Brian with a soft swish. For a departure so final, so unwanted, his exit should not be so quiet. He felt as if this milestone should be marked by the clang of a heavy door, metal striking metal. If he had chosen to do so, he could have looked back and seen in through the transparent glass panels. He kept his back to the door until it was out of sight, unwilling to even glimpse the life he had planned for himself, but which had slipped from his grasp.

What will I do? he wondered. My whole life was based on the ideal of becoming a doctor. What am I without that?

His steps slowed as despair washed over him. This was the end – for the foreseeable future, at least – of his education. His boss had let him go only yesterday, after a number of warnings. Everything was ending and there were no new beginnings in sight. He felt useless and unwanted.

Other people were walking around as if all was right in the world. For Brian, nothing seemed to be right. He turned his steps towards the place he currently called home – though how long he could stay there remained to be seen. Even if the real door did not make that sound, Brian could hear the heavy slam in his mind. Everything was against him.

She Said

Returning from her lunch break, Trixie was disgusted to see that her filing tray was full – in spite of it having been empty when she left. Worse, the pile seemed to have come from her least favourite of the workers for whom she filed. She could tell this by the crumpled and messy state of the papers, including one or two that appeared to have had something spilled on them. Next to the filing tray was a small pile of what appeared to be sandwich filling and a scrap of bread. No doubt Trixie would be blamed for this if the man got a chance.

“You know you’re not supposed to have food in here,” her supervisor chided, having come up behind her again.

“I didn’t. I just got here and that’s what it looked like.”

The other woman, Maralin, looked disbelieving. “Just get it cleaned up. You’re getting behind again. You need to hurry up.”

Not trusting herself to speak, Trixie nodded and got started. Maralin slunk out once more. The culprit in the matter wandered in, but did not acknowledge Trixie. He began rummaging through the papers in the tray and the ones that Trixie had begun to sort, messing them up. She gritted her teeth. A moment later, a ringtone sounded from his pocket and he leaned against the table where Trixie was working, directly in her way, as he took the call.

“What is it, now?” he demanded of the caller.

Trixie noted, with disgust, that he had something stuck in his teeth and it looked suspiciously like the mess she had just cleared away. She gestured for him to move out of her way, but he ignored her.

“Well, I’m not going to help him,” he continued. “He can just go back to Kentucky. What about that guy in Corbin? Why don’t you call him?”

Corbin, Kentucky, was the same place where Lucius Englefield had lived. When he died, he had left property there to Trixie and she had used it to set up a charitable foundation. At the mention of this familiar place, Trixie’s curiosity was aroused. Even as she tried to keep doing her work, she paid careful attention to the man’s side of the conversation.

“So? He worked up here, while the man who employed him lived down there.” The infuriating man picked up a piece of paper, examined it and placed it back in a different pile. “No, I didn’t know he was dead. It doesn’t change things for me, though. I’m not helping him. He got himself into this trouble and he can get out of it himself.”

Trixie snatched at a pile of papers as the man brushed them off the table. She directed a glare at him, but he did not seem to notice.

“Well, it’s too bad. I’m through with him.” He pulled a face. “Half-brother. And we only have his mother’s word for that.” He listened for only a moment longer. “The answer’s no.”

As he disconnected the call and dropped the phone back into his pocket, he muttered “Loser.” He left Trixie’s work area without looking at her, carrying with him two or three of the papers she had been sorting. She began checking over the work she had done, in case he had disarranged anything else while he was there.

“Haven’t you done anything?” Maralin asked, making Trixie jump once more.

With an effort, she kept her composure. “Who is that man? He came in and started moving the papers around and he wouldn’t get out of the way.”

The other woman made a derisive noise. “Can’t you deal with any disruption?”

“It’s a little difficult when people are getting in your way on purpose,” she answered. “So, who is he?”

“What does it matter? He’s a competent member of staff. He gets his work done. Maybe you should try getting yours done.”

Biting down the rude reply that she wanted to make, Trixie got back to her filing, but for the rest of the afternoon her mind kept straying to the conversation she had overheard.

He Said

“Hello?” Jim greeted, picking up the phone.

“Oh! Great. I’m glad I got someone at last,” a female voice answered. “You’re Brian’s friend, right?”

At once, he felt wary. “How did you get this number?”

“My name’s Indira,” the woman continued, seeming oblivious to his reaction. “Brian’s one of the people I’m sharing an apartment with and… well, I’m worried about him, so I kind of snitched that little notebook of his when he wasn’t looking – you know the one, where he copies down all of his important information, just in case – and copied out a couple of numbers from it. I really wanted to talk to Dan, but he hasn’t been answering, so I thought I’d try you. You were the one he shared with before he moved here, right?”

Jim hesitated a moment before answering. “Yes, that’s right.”

“And you’re about as uptight as he is,” she grumbled. “I really wish I’d reached Dan.”

“Wait! What’s wrong with Brian?”

A short pause ensued. “He’s… grieving, I think. Withdrawn. Cold. Quiet – more than usual, I mean. And no one has been to see him lately. He hardly ever leaves his room and he hardly ever goes out.”

“Not to work?” Jim asked. He was now sharing her concern.

“No. I asked, but he snapped something about time off and went back to his room.” A moment later, she added, “I keep thinking that he’s lost and can’t find his way out.”

He frowned, not understanding. “Can’t find his way out of where?”

She sighed. “Your mind isn’t open to the possibilities that I’m exploring here, is it? You don’t see how a person can know where they are physically, but still be lost; to have built a prison for themselves in their own mind, with no way of escape.”

Jim’s breath caught in his throat. “I understand that, certainly. I’ve lived it.”

“Then maybe you are the right person to call.”

“What are you suggesting I do?”

She paused a moment. “I don’t actually know where you are… so I’m not sure whether I should suggest you come and see him.”

“I could come up. What would I do there?”

When she spoke, her voice was soft. “He needs… help, I guess, at working past whatever this is. He won’t talk to me, but maybe…”

“I don’t know that I’ll be any help,” Jim admitted. “He hasn’t really talked to me in… I don’t know how many years.”

“Maybe he’ll start now.” Her tone brightened. “So, when can I expect you? We have a spare bed, if you need it. You could stay a while.”

Jim considered for a moment. “Tomorrow. Maybe mid-afternoon. And I can stay for two or three days at most.”

“Great. I’ll see you then. You have the address, right?”

“I do. How will I get in?”

“I should be here,” she answered, “but if I’m not, then maybe Brian can stir himself to answer the door. I’ll tell him I’m expecting a repairman.”

“Aren’t you going to tell him I’m coming?”

She made a non-committal noise. “I think it would be better if it’s a surprise. That way, he won’t have a chance to say no.”

Jim was not sure that he agreed with that piece of optimism.

She Said

Honey could hear the phone ringing as she opened the front door and she fumbled in her rush to open it. She left it open in her dash to snatch it up before the caller gave up.

“Hello?” she greeted, breathlessly, even as she headed back to close the door.

“Hon! Finally! Don’t you ever answer your phone?”

“Oh, hi Trixie. What’s up?” She set her son down on the floor and started for the kitchen.

Her friend huffed. “What’s up is that I’ve been trying to call you for ages and you haven’t been answering. Where have you been all this time?”

Honey rolled her eyes. “If you mean in the last fifteen minutes, I’ve been picking up a bottle of milk. It’s the only time I’ve been out of reach of a phone all day.”

“And you didn’t think to take one with you?” Trixie demanded.

“I forgot to charge it.” She put the milk in the refrigerator and looked at her phone. “Oh, look – three missed calls and they’re all from you, Trixie. So, are you going to tell me why you were so desperate to talk? Or do I have to guess?”

“Something happened at work today and I really need to tell you about it,” Trixie explained. “See, there’s this guy – did I tell you about him already?”

“The slob? Or the dirty old man?”

“The slob.” Trixie’s voice held distaste. “He made a big mess in my area while I was out to lunch, then I got blamed for it, then he came in and started messing with the papers I was trying to file, moving them around and stuff, and then he got a phone call.”

“Was it his girlfriend?” Honey asked, sympathetically. “That would be awkward.”

Trixie squeaked in protest. “No! I don’t know who it was – though, I think maybe I know who his girlfriend might be and that is the most disgusting thought I’ve had in a long time.”

“Getting back to the phone call?”

“Oh! Yes. So, he stands so that he’s in the most inconvenient spot, so I can’t reach the filing tray without touching him – which I’m not prepared to do – and he’s in the way of where I was working. And he acts like I’m not even there.”

“That’s very rude,” Honey agreed, while wondering whether there was a point to the story, or if Trixie just needed to vent.

“So, it sounded like the person calling was asking for some kind of help, and this guy was refusing, and I was thinking that was pretty typical of him, but then he said something about Kentucky and the person who needed the help having worked for someone in Corbin.”

“That’s a coincidence,” Honey answered. “Small world.”

“But, then he said something about him having worked here while the man lived there, then he said something about the man he’d worked for being dead! It’s got to be that guy that Di keeps asking about!”

Honey hesitated a moment, wondering how to express her doubts. “But, Trixie, thousands of people live in Corbin and lots of them would have employed people and some of them are dead – wait! I mean, some people who used to live in Corbin and employ other people are now dead, not that dead people live in Corbin, which is a contradiction in terms. Whatever it is that I meant, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he was talking about Mr. Englefield.”

A long silence ensued, during which Honey cursed herself for her incoherence. At length, however, Trixie burst into laughter.

“I just had a mental image of the streets of Corbin filled with zombies.” Trixie’s words were interspersed with laughter and Honey began to join in. “Your Dad offered me a chance to go down there in a few weeks’ time, if there’s a spare seat on his plane. Maybe I shouldn’t take it!”

Honey sobered. “As much as I’d miss you, maybe you should take it as a one-way trip. You could work at the foundation. It would be so much better than the place you are. Maybe you should just quit.”

Down the line came a weary sigh. “I’ve kind of been thinking about it, but I can’t. Not yet. I need to prove that I can last the distance, somewhere where I’m not anyone special.”

“You? Not anyone special?”

“You know what I mean.” Her next words were in a brighter tone of voice. “But I’m so glad that you finally answered the phone so we could talk this through – even if you don’t believe me. I’ve got to stay where I am to see if I can get some clues on that guy.”

Some other thoughts occurred to Honey. “What if the person being spoken about did work for Mr. Englefield, but he wasn’t the guy Di’s asking about? And how do you suppose you can connect him to the man at your work anyway, even if he is the one?”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you that part,” Trixie answered, seeming to ignore the first question. “Right at the end of the conversation, he said something about the man they were talking about being his half-brother. And that they only had the other man’s mother’s word for it, which must mean that they share a father, which probably means that they share a surname.”

“Do you know the man’s surname? Your coworker, I mean.”

“No.” Trixie’s voice held a strange note. “I asked Cruella, but–”

“You asked who?”

“Cruella. It’s my new name for Maralin, since she came in with a dalmatian-spot handbag yesterday. You know, like Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians.”

“Right.” Honey drew out the word. “So you asked her?”

“Yeah, I asked his name and she wouldn’t tell me. Then she described him as competent! He’s always getting food on his papers – and sometimes down his front – and crumpling things up and coming in to rummage around after he’s sent things for filing that he shouldn’t have. Like the other day, when I found a print-out from a website that was definitely not work-related and I’m sure it was him.”

“Erm… maybe he’s competent in other areas.”

Trixie sniggered. “Yeah, maybe Cruella has a thing for him.”

“If you’re suggesting…”

“No!” Trixie interrupted. “I think I’ve suggested enough. The two of them, together, is a mental image I don’t need.”

“So, how are you going to find out his name?” Honey wondered.

“I don’t know.” Trixie’s reply was slower than was usual for her. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

He Said

A firm knock on the bedroom door disturbed Brian’s reverie. He had been sitting alone in his room day after day for perhaps a week, now. With a frown, he heaved himself to his feet and went to see who was bothering him. Upon opening it, he found Indira, smiling in an infuriating manner and, behind her, Jim. His friend looked apprehensive, which riled Brian even more.

“No. Whatever you want, the answer is no.”

He tried to close the door again, but Indira had a foot in the way. Glancing down, he saw that she was wearing sturdy Doc Martin boots and was unlikely to give way to any amount of pressure. His gaze travelled up red tights-clad legs, past the black, red and yellow vintage floral dress and masses of silver chains to her face. She was smiling and shaking her head.

“That’s no way to greet visitors,” she chided. “Here’s your old friend to see you. Aren’t you going to let him in?”

Brian stared at Jim for a long moment. Jim, for his part, was looking increasingly uncomfortable. He also looked as if he did not know what to make of Indira. There were times when Brian felt the same way, but now he had no room for sympathy. On the other hand, the less that Indira heard of this conversation, the less ammunition she had against him. With that end in mind, he allowed Jim into the room and closed the door to shut Indira out.

“I don’t really think we have anything to say to each other right now,” he snapped and was satisfied to see the surprise that showed on Jim’s face.

“Indira is worried about you and she’s shared enough to make me feel the same.” Jim delivered his answer in a calm, level voice.

Brian frowned. “It’s not really any of her business.”

Jim glanced away. “We’re friends, though, aren’t we? I think I’m allowed to be concerned about you.”

“You’ve expressed your concern. Is that all?”

At that, Jim’s outer calmness began to crack. “You’re not the only one to have problems, Brian. We’ve all had troubles and disappointments. You’re not the only one.”

“You can still have what you wanted,” Brian argued.

“No, I can’t.”

Brian made an angry noise. “I meant, in your career.”

Jim’s eyes dropped to the floor. “I don’t think so. There are… certain circumstances… that have caused me to decide that I will not pursue my old dream.”

“You mean, to do with Trixie?”

The other man winced. “No; to do with me and my past.”

Brian felt a tightening in his chest. “Your past? What could there possibly be in your past… .” A thought occurred to him. “From the time before you came to Sleepyside?”

Jim nodded, but did not elaborate. A silence ensued, broken finally by Brian.

“I’ve dropped out of college.” He tried not to wince as his friend stared at him in alarm. “I’ve been let go by my boss, as well. I just couldn’t keep up with either the study or the work. It’s all over and I’ve got nothing left. I’ve got enough money to stay here another week and then… I don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t think of anything to do.”

“Something will turn up,” Jim promised, all signs of anger gone. “And if it doesn’t, you have friends and family who will help. Please, let us help.”

Brian turned away. “I’ll think about it.” The words were insincere and it was obvious that his friend knew it. He hesitated a moment, then added, “I need some time alone right now.”

Jim did not answer, but left the room, closing the door behind him.

She Said

Diana frowned as she read the latest incomprehensible email from Honey. It was not as if being incomprehensible was unusual for her friend, she mused, but there was something about this email which bothered Di in a way that she could not define. She reached the end and scanned it through again, looking for the part that was ringing those alarm bells. At length, she settled on a particular passage. Honey had written:

I thought you should know, not that there’s anything much to it, only Trixie did say that she’d heard it and you know Trixie! She’s convinced that she’s right and that he – the slob, I mean – was talking about the same man, only I can’t see how it could be, since there are thousands of people who live there, but not dead people, which is what I managed to say – can you believe it? I don’t think I’ve been so embarrassed about not making sense in a long time, but she laughed and it was okay, only I was afraid that she’d be offended about my not really believing her and I suppose she could be right, but I don’t think she could be, do you?

After this, Honey had abruptly changed the subject to an amusing anecdote about her son. The part before that also gave no clues, having dealt with Mart’s work schedule. From the tangle of ideas, she could draw the conclusion that Trixie had overheard something somewhere that might relate to the blackmailer, but what that might be was a mystery.

Sighing in frustration, Di wrote a quick email to Trixie asking for information. She only hoped that her friend would remember to reply.

He Said

“So?” Indira demanded, almost the instant that Jim left Brian’s room. “How did it go?”

Jim shook his head. “Not much luck. He told me what the problem is, but he made it abundantly clear that he wants no help or input from anyone else. I think we’ll just have to wait for him to decide for himself what he wants to do.”

“That’s great progress,” she answered. “Maybe you were destined to come here and it wasn’t just bad luck that I couldn’t get Dan.”

Once more, Jim shook his head. “I don’t think so. I doubt that anyone can help right now.”

“You’ve helped already and you’re going to help more; I can tell. You can have this bed,” Indira offered, showing him to a bed tucked into an alcove. A curtain separated it from the rest of the room. “There’s a space under it to put your bag and the bathroom is right over here.”

Jim paused, considering. “Thank you, but I think I’ll just go home. There’s not really much more I can do.”

She gave him a quizzical look. “How do you figure that? You got him talking. He hasn’t talked at all since… well, whatever it was.”

“I didn’t get him talking. I got him yelling.” He shook his head ruefully. “I think I made things worse.”

“It’s not worse. He needs a little time to adjust and then you’ll help him. I know it.”

Jim did not feel at all hopeful, but he allowed her to sway him into staying. He did not have anything better to be doing, after all.

It was some hours later before he got another chance to talk to Brian. The evening was wearing on and he was considering retiring early for the night, when Brian’s door opened and he appeared in the doorway.

“You still here?” he asked, gesturing for Jim to join him.

He took the hint and went into the room.

“I should be annoyed with you,” Brian began. “I don’t really need anyone interfering in my life.”

“That wasn’t my intention,” Jim answered. “I just wanted… I don’t know what I wanted. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m not okay.” His friend looked sadder than Jim had ever seen him. “I’m about as far from okay as I can get and I can’t see any way out.”

“Maybe you should tell your family,” Jim suggested, in a soft voice. “I’ll drive you down there, if you want.”

Brian looked away, but nodded. “Okay. Let’s get it over with. First thing in the morning, if that’s okay.”

“Fine. Do you want to call ahead and say that you’re coming?”

His friend seemed to consider this. “I’ll see if Moms can get the immediate family together. That way I won’t have to tell it over and over again.”

“Good. In the morning, then.”

When Brian did not answer, Jim left him to his thoughts.

She Said

When her mother had called the night before, Trixie was suspicious, to say the least. It had taken some time for her to be convinced that there was nothing sinister about the meeting she was in Sleepyside to attend. Even when she arrived at the farm, Trixie had taken pains to make sure there was no one but her immediate family present. She had waited and watched outside until finally Honey had fetched her, looking exasperated. What she found on entering the house was even more puzzling.

Her mother, father and younger brother were seated on the sofa, while Mart sat on the floor with his little son. Honey took one of the arm chairs and waved Trixie to the other. Her eldest brother was seated on a wooden chair from the kitchen, separated from the rest as if he were the one about to speak.

“Well?” she asked, directing the question to Brian. “What’s going on?”

“I have something I need to tell you.” Brian’s voice was steady and his face devoid of emotion, like a mask. “I have come to the conclusion that I cannot continue my studies at the moment. I haven’t decided, yet, what I’m going to do instead.”

In the silence that ensued, Trixie glanced around and saw the reactions of those present. Honey’s face showed dismay, Mart was frowning, Bobby did not look all that interested in what was going on, her father appeared resigned and her mother was visibly upset.

Moms wiped away a tear. “But Brian – is it because of the car accident? Is your back as bad as that?”

Trixie watched her brother’s face and noted the slight hesitation before he nodded.

“They’ve done all they can for me; it may improve with time, but for the moment I can’t handle the work.”

“And you’ve made no plans?” their father asked.

Brian shook his head. “I have given it some thought, but at this moment… Dad, I’m just about at the end of my resources and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You’ll stay here tonight,” Moms urged.

“Thank you,” he answered.

“It will be okay, Brian, I’m sure it will,” she added.

He nodded, apparently finished with everything he had to say.

Trixie watched him carefully and resolved to have a word with him in private if it could possibly be arranged.

It was some time later before this could happen. Everyone seemed to want to hang around, which frustrated Trixie to no end, but her persistence paid off. At last, she managed to get her brother alone.

“Did you want to stay here?” she asked, in a low voice.

He shrugged, not looking at her. “Beggars can’t be choosers. I was telling the truth: I’m almost out of funds and am not really in a position to earn a lot at the moment.”

“But, if you could choose?”

He looked at her and she saw the pain in his eyes. “Well, no, I wouldn’t choose to live in Sleepyside. It’s not exactly fun watching Mart play happy families, and you… well, I guess you’re doing the opposite.”

She turned away, not liking the direction that the conversation had taken. “I don’t live here, so it’s not so much of an issue, is it?”

“I guess not,” he answered.

“What are you going to do, Brian?” she asked, suddenly. “How are you going to get out of this?”

His expression was bleak. “I have no idea. For the foreseeable future, I think I’m stuck.”

She reached over and squeezed his hand. There did not seem to be anything else she could do.

He Said

Mart was deep in thought when a soft voice addressed him.

“What are you thinking?”

He turned and saw Honey, a sympathetic look on her face. In reply, he gave a shrug.

“You couldn’t know; he didn’t let you,” she persisted.

“I can’t help thinking that he’s been dealing with this for a year and that in that time, I’ve yelled at him, told him off, ignored him and been generally unsupportive.” He sighed. “Maybe, if I’d spent less time blaming him for the mess that Jim and Trixie are in and more time listening to him, things might have ended differently.”

She shook her head. “You couldn’t help him because he wouldn’t let you. And we both know that he’s still not telling everything. They never explained why he and Jim were in Buffalo to even have the accident and Trixie always talks about Buffalo whenever she’s forced to talk about the break-up. They’re connected, somehow. And don’t think I didn’t notice the way he spoke about the accident. I’m not sure that that’s even what this is about. There are still too many secrets.”

With a guilty start, he recalled his decision the year before not to tell her the things he had deduced about Jim and Trixie. Not for the first time, he reconsidered the wisdom of that decision, but again chose to say nothing. Spreading the information helped no one and held the potential of making things worse.

“Sometimes, it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie,” he answered. “I can think of some things that happened in the past that would only cause hurt if they were brought to light.”

She frowned. “I guess that’s true, but it’s not what I’m talking about. I meant that Brian not trusting us with the full story is the thing that is causing some of the problems.”

“I’m glad he’s admitted that there’s a problem,” Mart answered, in a low voice. “I think it’s a step in the right direction, at least.”

Honey gave a small smile. “Yes, I think it is. I just hope that he can find a way to keep on the right track.”

Mart pulled her into a hug. He hoped so, too.

She Said

Di dropped the cordless phone onto the side table and let her head bump back against the sofa on which she sat. Her eyes squeezed shut and she held that position for a few minutes. The cushion next to her depressed and she felt Eric’s leg brush against hers.

“Bad news?” he asked, taking her hand.

Opening her eyes, she shrugged. “Kind of. I’m hoping this is the part where things get worse so that they can get better… but it’s kind of making me wish I was a lot nearer.”

He was silent for several moments. “You’re thinking of going back?”

She sat up from her slump and faced him. “No, I’m not. I knew it was going to be hard, and I made this choice anyway. I’m not going to change my mind now that it actually is hard.”

He nodded and pulled her against himself. “Selfishly, I’m glad. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you, either,” she answered, snuggling in. “I’m so glad that we’re here together – it would be unbearable to be here by myself with all this going on back home.” A moment later, she made a correction. “Not that there’s all that much I could do if I was there. In fact, I can’t think of anything I could do, other than offer moral support and the party in question – who happens to be Brian, by the way – doesn’t want that, I don’t think.”

“He always struck me as a bit of a loner,” Eric agreed. “At least, he has in the time since we got reacquainted. I don’t know that I noticed particularly the first time we met. So, what’s the problem?”

She sighed. “The whole time I’ve known him, he’s been almost defined by his ambition to be a doctor… and now he’s suffered an injury that’s stopping him from doing that. It’s like he’s lost his entire identity… and after a couple of years ago when he decided too late that he shouldn’t have dumped Honey… well, it’s like everything has gone wrong for him.”

“That’s tough.”

Once more, she sighed. “A lot of it’s his own fault, and I think that’s most of the trouble.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked, beginning to kiss her neck.

“Do?” She angled her head to give him better access. “I think the only thing I can do right now is forget about him and let the people who are there help him.”

“Maybe I can help you with the forgetting,” Eric suggested.

Di smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

He Said

After a call from his builder telling him that the project ahead of his had fallen through, Jim took a trip to Ten Acres to inspect the site. From what he had also heard from Matthew Wheeler, the cancellation of the large development on the other side of town had also left multiple builders and associated tradespeople looking for work to replace the jobs they had lined up. If he was ready to start, construction could begin almost at once.

With that end in mind, he walked over the grounds, checking for things that he had intended to finish before work started. He completed inspecting the site and nodded. Everything that he could do himself had been done. If his final approvals came through as expected, the building could soon begin.

With his mind on contracts and approvals, he strolled back to his car, not giving much attention to his surroundings. He paused as he got there, fishing around in his pocket for the keys.

“Guess what?” a voice asked, from right behind him. “I’m back.”

Jim turned and saw the man who had tried to blackmail him years before, a smug look on his face. Without another word, he turned and left.

“Great,” Jim muttered. “Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse.”

Continue to part three.