“You just got here!”
I was already on the elevator. “What am I looking for?” I asked Clark.
“Recent business deals,” he said. “Any property he was buying or investments he was making. We need anything and everything. I don’t know what we’re looking for. Send me anything you can find.”
“What timeframe am I looking for?” I asked. Our dad did a lot of business. It was a needle in a haystack. “Any certain country I should be looking for?”
“Everything,” Clark said. “I don’t know what we’re looking for. Just send me everything and I’ll sort through it. I’ll know it when I see it.”
“Okay,” I said. “You’re the expert. I’m on my way to his house right now.”
“Send it to my email. I’ll be back at my hotel in an hour.”
“Will do,” I said.
On my way to Dad’s house, I made the call I’d been planning to make when I got to the office. “Hello, is this Don?” I asked.
“This is,” the old man answered.
“Don, my name is Reese Bancroft,” I said.
“Reese! How are you? I wasn’t expecting a call from you.”
“Thea gave me your name and number,” I said. “I wanted to call and thank you for the other night. Without your intervention, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“We’re just glad we were in the right place at the right time,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” I answered. “Better. I wanted to repay you for your kindness.”
“Oh no,” he said. “Absolutely not. We were doing what anybody would have done.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the case,” I said. “You and your wife took a huge risk by stopping. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. I’d love to do something for you.”
“No, no,” he said. “I’m just glad we could do something. So much happens that is out of our control, but this was one thing we could do.”
“Again, thank you.”
We ended the call, but it wasn’t sitting right with me. I owed them my life. I remembered the wife putting a blanket on me while we waited for the ambulance. Her husband told her to turn off the car to avoid wasting gas. She had been worried it wouldn’t start again. That gave me an idea.
“Josh, I need you to do something for me,” I said.
“If you tell me to reschedule your day, I will murder you,” he growled. “I will give you a black eye on the other side.”
“Careful, I am your boss.”
“I’m still deciding whether you are or not,” he complained. “You’re being very difficult.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Something important came up. I need you to buy me a car.”
“Excuse me?” he questioned.
“Not me, but a couple. I need you to buy me something new. Something that is cheap on gas. Not anything fancy. Nothing that will attract thieves. Maybe a Toyota or Honda.”
“And what would you like me to do with this car?” he asked dryly.
“Have it delivered to the address I’m going to text you.”
“Anything else?” he asked.