| General Fiction posted April 29, 2024 | Chapters: |
...40 41 -42- 43... 
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The hunt for Warren continues
A chapter in the book What We See
What We See - Chapter 38
by Jim Wile
| Background A high school teacher wrongly accused of sexual assault reinvents his life. |
Recap of Chapter 37: Alan gives the family the good news that Fraleigh will be rescinding their patent application, and they celebrate with a night out at Chico’s. The next day, Alan completes his final draft of the patent application and sends it off to Carmody to submit.
Alan still wants to get the hard drive back from Warren because of the other invention ideas on it; he doesn’t want Warren to capitalize on any of them either. He begins a search for Warren, which takes him to Fort Wayne, where Warren was previously employed, and he finds out from Warren’s mother that it’s possible he went to live with his brother in Arkansas.
Chapter 38
I got back to the store just past noon. There was a caller on the answering machine who said he was applying for the assistant’s job I’d been advertising in the want ads. We made arrangements for him to come in later for an interview. I had previously interviewed a few others for the job—none of whom were qualified—and I was hoping he would be the one, since I now had a rather large backlog of work.
I dove into it and worked steadily until 3:00, when the fellow showed up for the interview. He’s an older gentleman, probably mid-50s, named Andrew Olafsen. He’d been laid off from US Steel in Gary as part of their recent downsizing. He’d been both an electrician and mechanic there, but he said he’s been having a tough time lately finding work at his age. He doesn’t know that much about appliance repair, he told me, but has good practical knowledge of electricity and electrical systems.
I had a sewing machine that had just been brought in and was no longer working, so I asked him how he would go about diagnosing and fixing it. He asked if he could open it up and take a look inside. I watched him do this, and he was able to diagnose the problem correctly. He demonstrated a ready knowledge of the different electrical components and asked me if he could repair it. I watched him as he did so, discussing what he was doing at each step with him. He even took the initiative of cleaning it up after the repair was complete, wiping off all smudges and fingerprints from the casing. It was an impressive performance, and I told him I would check the references he provided me, and I would let him know very soon.
This evening, while Ginnie and I prepared dinner together, I told her about my investigative adventure this morning and how I now had a possible location for Warren.
“The problem is,” I told her, “if I find out Dennis Meyers’s number through information and call him, I can’t just ask if his brother is there. He would just lie and say he hasn’t seen him if he happens to be there. So, what could I do to trick him into revealing the truth if it happens that he’s there?”
Ginnie thought for a moment. “Knowing his propensity for gawking at good-looking women, like moi for example, I’ve got an idea. Would you recognize Warren’s voice if he were to answer?”
“Pretty sure I could.”
“Alright then, if it’s his brother, Dennis, who answers instead, hand me the phone and, in a sexy voice, I’ll say I’m responding to Warren’s 900 call in which he asked to buy a set of my pictures, and I was just calling to ask which particular set he wanted because he didn’t specify. Depending on his response, we should be able to tell whether or not he’s there. What do you think?”
“That’s brilliant! I knew you’d come up with something good. What’s your name going to be for this babe you'll be impersonating?”
“Umm… how about Desiree Love?”
“Perfect. When do you want to do this?”
“What’s wrong with right now?”
“What’ll you say if he puts him on the phone?”
“I don’t know. I’ll improvise. I’ll tell him it was a gift from someone. This will be fun.”
“Okay, then. Let's do it.” I called 411 then and got a phone number in Macon, Arkansas for Dennis Meyers, who lives at 22 Rucker St., which I jotted down. I dialed the number she gave me, and a deep voice answered. It wasn’t Warren. I quickly handed the phone to Ginnie, who said in a very sultry voice with a southern drawl, “Hello, Sugar. This is Desiree Love callin’. Is this Warren Meyers ah’m speakin’ with?”
“No.”
“Well, who are you, sweetie?”
“Ah’m his brother Dennis.”
“Well, is Warren there, Dennis honey? He called me recently for some pictures of me that ah think you’ll both enjoy, but ah need to know which set to send him because he didn’t specify. Ah’ve got five different sets with different prices dependin’ on how revealin’ they are. Would he happen to be there so ah could ask him?”
“Naw, he’s at work now. He won’t be home for ‘bout an hour. Can he call ya back, Desiree?”
“That’d be fine, sweetie. Ma number is (900) 555-2217. Did’ja write that down?”
“I got it. Ah’ll have ‘im call ya.”
“Alright, Darlin’. Hope you enjoy those pictures, and you take care now. Buh-bye.”
“Oh, that was great!” I said to Ginnie. “You're an impressive woman. Can I see some of those picture sets you’ve got?”
She punched me playfully in the arm as we both laughed. “Well, I think you’ve got your answer. Now what are you going to do with that information? Call the cops?”
“No. I think I’ve got to go down there to get my hard drive back.”
“Why? You’ve already got all the information on your backup copy.”
“There are a number of other valuable ideas on there that I don’t want him profiting from the way he did on the glasses. I don’t want to go through the hassles again.”
“But what if he’s armed, plus there’s two of them against only one of you? This could be very dangerous. I really wish you wouldn’t go.”
“I’m not going to do anything stupid. If I see that it’s going to be too risky, I’ll just turn around and come home. But I’ve got to try.”
“You’re really determined to do this, even though I ask you not to?”
“I am, but I promise you I’ll be careful, and at the first sign of danger, I’ll leave.”
“When were you thinking of going?”
“Today’s Thursday. I think I’ll leave real early Saturday morning. It’s got to be at least a 10-hour drive down there. If everything goes well, I should be home again by Sunday night.”
“Just please be careful. I’m going to worry about you the whole time.”
“Ah’ll be fahn, Darlin’. Don’tchu worry that pretty li’l head a yours.”
She smiled ruefully and gave me a hug.
(4 more chapters to go)
Book of the Month contest entry
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CHARACTERS
Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Mrs. Dunbar: Tommy's 7th grade English teacher.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Trent Lyons: Callie's father, who is a lawyer.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
Harold Carmody: A patent and infringement attorney.
Wilson Fraleigh: The owner and president of the company that bought the patent from Warren.
Samuel Dvorak: Warren's former employer.
Elizabeth Meyers: Warren's mother.
Dennis Meyers: Warren's brother.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Mrs. Dunbar: Tommy's 7th grade English teacher.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Trent Lyons: Callie's father, who is a lawyer.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
Harold Carmody: A patent and infringement attorney.
Wilson Fraleigh: The owner and president of the company that bought the patent from Warren.
Samuel Dvorak: Warren's former employer.
Elizabeth Meyers: Warren's mother.
Dennis Meyers: Warren's brother.
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