Shoe Strings

If we do what he says, do you think
he’ll leave us alone?”
    “I hope so, Sophie, because I don’t know what else to do.”
    ***
    Jesse heard the door to Ty’s room slam and chuckled.   The kid had just gotten a call from a
girl and bolted to his room for privacy.   It felt good having him around, hearing noise in his impossibly quiet
house.   Funny how he’d always loved
the solitude.   Until he’d brought
Angelita home and seen her in his kitchen, his bed, his life.   Damn it, he had to stop thinking about
her every second of every day.   It
would help if he couldn’t still smell her on his sheets.
    Ty bounded down the stairs a moment later, red-faced and
acting as if nothing had happened.   “Everything okay?” Jesse asked.
    Ty shrugged, slumped over his math book at the kitchen
table.   “Yeah, just a homework
question.”   He chewed the end of his
pencil.   “No big deal.”
    Jesse decided to let it go, for now.   He had lots of time to wiggle
information out of Ty now that he’d be staying the week with him while Kerri
Ann and Bryce took some time to plan their wedding and enjoy their engagement.   “I’m going to make chili with some of
Cal’s venison.   That okay with you?”
    “Sure, whatever,” Ty said, already tuning him out.  
    Jesse had his head in the freezer when his cell rang.   When he didn’t recognize the number, he
stepped outside on the porch.   “Hello?”    He could hear
the sound of cars zooming past and the whistle of wind in the receiver.  
    “Jess, man, what the hell did you get me into?”
    “Mike?” he asked.   “Where are you?”
    “I’m at a pay phone—you wouldn’t believe how hard
those are to find these days.   I
swear to God, man, the next time you ask for a favor, I’m going to run in the
opposite direction.”  
    “What do you mean?”
    “That guy you asked me to check out, the Brazilian
consul?   Whatever you do, I suggest
you stay as far away from him as possible.”
    “What’d you find out?”
    “Nothing, other than the fact that he’s under investigation
by the Feds for brokering companies to smuggle drugs into the U.S.”
    “Are you serious?”   Jesse could feel the phone slipping in his sweaty palm and his heart
rate spike.  
    “I’m not sure who I’m more scared of at this point, the Feds
for investigating every facet of my life or him.   My apartment got trashed.”
    “Jesus, Mike.   I’m sorry, man.   I didn’t
know.”
    “I’m going to take you at your word and assume that’s true
because if you had any idea, I’d have to kill you.   This has seriously fucked with my life,
not to mention my career.”
    “Shit.”   Jesse’s
brain bounced in more directions than he could count.   “Is there anything I can do?”
    “Hold tight, my friend, because the Feds are about to crawl
up your ass.   I had to explain why I
was poking around the consulate when I’m supposed to be writing about the new
panda cub at the zoo.”
    “Be careful, Mike, and I owe you big time.”
    “That’s the understatement of the year.”   He cleared his throat.   “Watch your back, man, that guy’s bad
news.”
    ***
    Cal had just walked Betsy Callahan to her car and watched
the young woman drive away after she’d spent three hours cleaning the small
cabin and getting it ready to rent when the sound of tires on the drive made
him turn around.   He knew Jesse was
disappointed about Lita leaving without a word, but that was no excuse for
driving like a maniac up the slope.
    “I’m glad you’re here.”   Jesse hopped out of the car and pulled Ty’s duffle from the trunk.   “I need you to watch Ty for a few days.”
    “Where the hell are you going?”   The look on his son’s face and the
concern in Ty’s eyes had him worried.  
    “Atlanta.   I
don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I promised Kerri Ann I’d let Ty stay with
me for a few days and now I need him to stay with you.   Is that a problem?”
    He smiled at Ty.   “Of course that’s not a problem, but why are you going to Atlanta?”   Like he didn’t already know.   “Does this have something to do with
Lita?”
    Jesse tossed the duffle to Ty.   “Go unpack while I talk to your
granddad.”   He watched until Ty had
gone into Cal’s house and the screen door had slammed behind him.   “I’m going to find her.   I think I know why she left.   I think she’s in trouble.”
    “What kind of trouble?”
    “I can’t go