7 comments/ 22408 views/ 2 favorites Just a Matter of Time By: magmaman {There is some sex in this story, but it's not really erotic. Nothing else really fits.} Dan walked in to the big ballroom at the local Elk's club. Looking around at the roughly 30 or so people there, he realized he did not recognize a single soul. The chairs surrounding tables by the dance floor were filled with a sea of white hair, oversize people chatting away. Heads turned to look his way, he didn't see any sign of recognition at all. 40 years is a very long time. Dan had no idea at all how they had found him, but they did. The world of the internet, probably. The nosy one, her name was Marge. She was the self appointed person in charge of keeping track of everyone and everything, she always had been that way, even back in high school. Dan had stopped by the postal drop box he kept, there was the simple envelope with a printed invitation to his class reunion, along with a hand written scrawl at the bottom. "I hope you get this, we really would like to see you there, Danny!" Marge had written. He nearly instantly forgot about that, wading through the junk mail addressed to "occupant" he found the other envelope. The name of the town was just 100 miles inland from the seaside city he had grown up in. There was a key to the other drop box and two names, along with a photograph of each of them. He once again looked at the invitation. "Why not?" He thought. +++ That day back in 1964, he had climbed into his 1959 Impala, packed with everything he owned in the entire world, and drove away from the small coastal town he had grown up in, the only real world he had ever known up to that point. 40 long years. He would have told anyone who asked that he would never set foot in this town again. Of course no one ever asked, the identity he had carefully created was so complete he almost believed it himself. Damon Ringer, he was known as. He had no home, he lived nowhere except where he was at the moment. He had no credit cards, no checking account, no utility bills, nothing. He did not even own a vehicle. He had no Social Security number, and he had never filed a tax return. The few documents he did carry all checked out perfectly, the address was a private postal mail box. Once each month or so he checked his mail box, never spending a single night in that city. Damon Ringer was a ghost. +++ The moment he walked into that room, he somehow became Dan again. It only took an instant. Dan stood there not entirely sure of what to do or who to approach, one glance up the big banner hung over the main entrance told the story of why so many older people were in the room. "Seaport Class of 1960." It read. He wanted to just turn and leave, it was almost like he was back there, back in that time. He had been in this room many times before, it looked exactly like it did back then. He remembered those times, Friday nights he was up on the stage with Jerry as the drummer and Debbie, Jerry's girl friend singing. She was a tall and skinny flat chested blond barely eighteen at the time. She had a manner that appeared to be innocent, vulnerable. There was nothing innocent about her at all. The guitar in his hands made pretty good music, he found out very quickly that helped a lot with the females. Their little three piece band was beginning to get popular locally, they even got a few other bookings around the little mill town. Dan was having a lot of fun, housewives of the men that worked the graveyard shift often lined up at the bar, obvious in their hopes for a turn. More than a few of them slipped out of bed at around 5 AM to get home before the hubby arrived from work. Then Jerry had found out that he was also hosing Debbie on the side, there had been quite a scrap. That was a bad time, the entire damn town had found out and Dan was quickly a bit of an outcast. Besides, that wasn't all his fault, Debbie had simply climbed on him at the first opportunity, like she did with about every male she got close to as he found out later. Fucking memories! Most of them from this place weren't good. Dan wasn't sure he wanted to be here. He turned and walked to the bar, ordered a drink from the late 30's something woman behind the bar. Normally pretty bartenders try to take advantage of their looks, use some sex appeal, not this woman, not in this place. Just like it was way back then. The clothing had changed out in the world, no longer was it dowdy long dresses and modest bodices. Glancing around the room, he saw several mildly familiar but rather large women. They all appeared to be wearing dowdy long dresses with modest bodices. The bartender had on dark slacks, a simple white blouse, and a vest that matched the slacks. Normal attire for a place like this, not what Dan was used to though. He was more used to what he might see in France or Greece, perhaps Vegas or on the boardwalk. She did look mildly familiar, Dan couldn't place that though. Of course it couldn't be someone he knew, he had been gone from this place for forty long years. "Here for the reunion?" She asked, just making conversation. "Yea, but I see none of these people have been eating right, they sure do look old!" He wisecracked with a grin. She laughed right on cue, a twinkle in her eye. "$2.50." she said, setting down the drink. "Wow, people around here must be rich!" He told her, peeling off a hundred dollar bill. He was used to paying $6.00 for the same thing in the places he frequented. He did that without thinking, wanting some smaller bills so he could leave a tip. That was one tiny problem he did have, when he picked up cash transfers, he then always left the city he picked it up at instantly. Bars, large nightclubs and casinos made pretty good banks. Then he saw the blank look on her face as she looked at the bill in her hand. "Sorry, do you need something smaller?" He asked. "Yes, we don't...." Dan reached in his pocket and found a ten, handed it to her. She smiled, handing him back the larger bill. Then she glanced down, but Dan always kept his roll of cash down out of sight since the time years before that a man followed him out of a night club. That had turned out badly for the man, and Dan had barely managed to vanish as the sirens were already getting far too close. "Danny?" Someone touched his shoulder. He turned, a woman that was about 300 pounds stood there smiling. "Judy?" He asked. It took a moment for it to register on him who she was. "Yes, I am so glad to see you, it's been ages! How are you?" She smiled, sliding onto the stool next to him. Her blouse was low cut, far lower than anyone else in the room. Same old Judy, some things never change. "You look fantastic, I don't think you have gained a single pound!" She gushed, then she turned and ordered a drink from the bartender, reached for the bowl of snacks sitting there. She stuffed a handful into her mouth, reached for some more. Dan took a sip of his drink. Judy was right about that, he still weighed 180 pounds, exactly the same as he did the day he left this place. That was something he made sure of. He made sure he worked out regularly between assignments, sometimes it helped that he was fast, and in shape. "So what are you doing now?" Judy pressed. "I am a...uhh..troubleshooter, I spend a lot of time on the road." Dan told her, trying to sidestep the question. "What about you?" He asked, before she could come up with a response or ask any more questions. "My husband passed away last year, I am living out by Rock Creek, we still have the little farm out there." Dan nodded, taking another sip of his drink. "I am single now." She added, giving him an obvious sidelong glance which he ignored. Dan knew where that was, he had driven out to pick her up many times. The memory of being parked with her up behind the local hospital popped into his head. They had necked, he got to feel up her big over sized titties, even got his hand on her slender and solid feeling hip, but those white panties were bolted on. She was a big gal even back then, but muscular with no fat he could find. He had looked everywhere that she would let him. They had quite a few major wrestling matches, Judy absolutely refused to give in. But she also always agreed to go out with him again, knowing there would be more wrestling matches. Then one night parked up at the lake the mill used as a water source, Dan had his hands up her dress and actually made it to the damp crotch of her panties, she had sat up quickly at that. "No! Please, I can't." She had said, pushing his hands away. Then reaching over, she undid his pants and had his erection out in a flash, her hands went very busy on him. Dan really liked that, Judy sat there with her big bare titties jiggling as she pumped away, he could see them clearly in the moonlight shining in the window. He had blasted off so hard that some of it hit the roof of his car, he had used some baking soda and bleach to try and clean it up the next day. The lighter spot was still there on the headliner of his fancy Impala the day he loaded up and left town. They used a towel after that, Judy spent a lot of time jacking him off. But he never did get her panties off although she did let him rub her through the panties quite a lot. Then there was that time with Margie down by the gas plant. He did get her panties off, she was sloppy wet, and didn't feel at all like some of the other girls he had managed to get his fingers into. Margie's tits were almost non existent, and she had no idea at all what to do with an erection. She just wrapped her hand around it and held on. That was irritating as hell, she had her legs spread out letting him stick his fingers in there, but every time he tried to stick his dick in she twisted it away like it was a fucking broom handle or something. They only dated twice, both times with the same result. "Move your hand up and down." Dan had mumbled to her, his finger feeling her insides. Margie did, about three times, then she stopped and just held him in that death grip. Judy had met Bobby, that was the end of that and Margie was playing the field which he didn't care about. It was only about six months out of high school that he had started dating Jeanie. She was absolutely beautiful, even dressed in a manner that was designed to hide her figure, there was no way to hide that. Dan had never even asked her out in high school, as far as he could tell no one else really did either. He happened to be headed out down the bay road to catch a Salmon and there she was on her bike so he stopped to talk. The local lodge held a dance every week for anyone under 21, the idea was to keep them out of trouble. Of course that didn't work, that just got more young people together with the usual results. Jeanie actually appeared tickled when he asked her to go with him. Jeanie's Mom was a huge woman, that should have been a warning sign but it never crossed Dan's mind. Her Dad was a short and skinny little guy, nice and mellow. Her Mom was a bossy type, always loud, and if she didn't get her way she whacked the hell out of her hubby. In fact, she treated about everyone she met the same way, including Dan. For some reason she loved to be running things. She told Dan to have Jeanie home by midnight and he usually did, but one evening they got sidetracked while parked down in front of the docks. The lights from the city up above shined right inside the car and Dan had Jeanie's tits out. They were spectacular, her nipples inverted, and he was having a ball sucking on them, making them pop outwards. Then watching them, they rolled right back inwards. He tasted something when doing that, looked down and saw a drop of fluid. That was amazing, he had no idea at all that women could do that without being pregnant. It was a quarter to two when they pulled into the driveway. Her Mom met them on the porch mad as hell. She had on a monstrous housecoat, and she yelled at Dan. That pissed him off. "Hey, I am 19 and so is Jean, we don't have to listen to your shit!" He yelled right back at her, which got him slapped upside the face. Two beers helped some with his courage, they could always find someone down on the waterfront to buy them some for a couple bucks extra. The woman could swing, that was for sure. It made Dan's mind blur for a second, then he lashed out right back with a backhand and popped her right in the kisser. That dropped her right on her ass, her hands went back to catch herself and the robe flopped open. She was naked as a jaybird underneath it, her big tits flopped over on each side, her legs apart. Her belly hung down far enough to almost cover her hairy crotch and she sat there just like that for about 10 seconds, stunned. Then she managed to get up, pulled the robe closed. Giving him a hateful look, she went inside and slammed the door. Jeanie stood there in shock. Her Dad appeared in the doorway. "You better go on home now, Dan. I will talk to you tomorrow." He had a huge grin on his face. +++ Dan kept right on dating Jeanie, she wasn't really upset at all about him popping her Mom. It seemed that her Mom was also abusive to Jeanie, too. Her Mom never said a single word about any of that, not one word. They also came home when they wanted to from then on. The petting while parked became a regular event, but Jeanie would not allow him to actually fuck her, although they sure got close. When he did get close things became a wrestling match, the word no didn't mean no back in those days. Jeanie kept insisting that she wanted to be a virgin on her wedding night, and the fact that she was a devout Catholic apparently gave her the strength to resist. A few times he did manage to spray some seed in her direction during a heavy session of petting, then one day he actually did get it partway in but she managed to wiggle away. That was frustrating as hell, he felt himself spasm and wanted in there deep but suddenly his erection was back out in space. It was just a week later that the deal with Debbie happened, there was no denying it at all since the door had slammed open and there they were, both naked and right in the middle of an orgasm. Jerry was the one that caught them, of course. That was one hell of a fight, it ended up outside which wasn't good at all since all Dan had on was his socks. Jerry was smaller but he more than made up for that by being fast. There must have been a dozen people that saw that, Dan would have just run for it but Jerry was trying to kill him. He finally managed to knock Jerry down long enough to run for his car before he could get back up. He knew the asshole was probably going to get up, too, he had already knocked him down five or six times. Then began the car chase, that went on for a solid hour. Fucking Jerry's Ford was just as fast as Dan's Impala. But on the straight stretch up Donahue mountain out East of town he got a good quarter mile away, sailing right by a cop. The cop caught Jerry, but he didn't catch Dan. Not that night, anyway, they showed up at his house the next day. The fucking newspapers had a field day with all of that, news around their seaside city was usually how good the Crab festival was and crap like that. Sex? 100 MPH car chases, major fist fights while naked right out in the street in front of everyone? That was great fun, Dan figured they doubled their fucking circulation over that. Less than a month later he loaded up the Impala and was out of there. Part of it was someone shot out his living room window one night, plus Jeanie would have nothing to do with him. He had begged and cried, tried everything. Then he found out she had joined the Army, that was the end. Dan had been screwing everything that would hold still long enough, but none of that meant anything. Dan was miserable, he realized that he really did love Jeanie, but by the time it did register on him he had already fucked up the works. +++ "Danny!" Someone yelled, then she was hugging him from behind. Margie, of course. "Hi, Margie. Danny here is being the strong silent type." Judy said with a grin. He realized he had been sitting there, lost in thought and the whirlwind of memories. He nodded at the woman behind the bar for another drink, turned to Margie. She had white hair, of course. The same glasses, the same slender body. "I see you stayed in shape." He told her. She beamed at that. "You, too, you look good!" She grinned, looking him up and down. "Come on, join us!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her, Judy right behind. He found himself parked at a table with several of his former classmates, it took a little bit but one by one they all came back to him. No one mentioned the incident that caused him to leave town, a good thing. Margie filled him in on who was dead, it turned out quite a few of their classmates were. He was on his fourth drink when a three piece band took the stage, they were a sixties type group and pretty good. Walt, one of the classmates that was the jock type in school insisted that Dan get up and play. Dan resisted for awhile, then finally he found himself up there with an unfamiliar instrument in his hands. It took a bit but he ran off the lead to "Pipeline", then switched to "House of the Rising Sun" with quite a few missed notes. Everyone was getting nice and drunk by then so they didn't care, they were actually cheering. Starting to have fun, Dan picked it up with some rock numbers, he did some Creedence and Beatles stuff, then ended actually playing and singing "Peaceful, Easy feeling." Playing and singing was his hobby, although the only time he ever did that was when he was alone. That one brought down the house, they actually stood up to applaud. Grinning, Dan set the guitar down, he figured he might as well end that on a high note. He was half way across the dance floor when he looked over and saw Jeanie. He came to a dead stop. They stood there looking at each other, the entire room went stone silent, all of them staring since everyone there knew everything that had gone on in the past. They must have just stood there looking at each other for a solid minute. Mercifully, the band started to play a slow number as Dan and Jeanie still stood there, about ten feet apart. Finally he got his legs to move, he walked over to her. "Dance with me?" He asked. She stepped into his arms, without a word. No one else got up, they all just sat and watched. Jeanie felt the same in his arms, she still had her figure, her hair was even the same color, she smelled the same. Dan's head began to whirl, it was like 40 years had not even happened, they moved together exactly like they had so long ago. Even the tune the band was playing was one they had danced to before. "I have missed you." He told her, the very first words out of his mouth. "I missed you, too. I thought about you a lot." She said. The song ended, he stepped back, still holding both of her hands. "Let's go sit by ourselves, so we can talk." She said, finally. Looking around, Dan saw some seats at the bar were empty so he led her over there. "I will have a Vodka Collins, Danielle." She told the bartender. Dan nodded to the woman, she went to mix the drinks. "So, how are you? Are you married?" He asked her. "No, my husband passed away four years ago. Are you?" She asked. "No, I never did get married." "Really? Why not?" "I just never met anyone I wanted to be with, I guess." "Here you go Mom, I made it just the way you like, with some Orange." She set down the drinks, smiled at them and moved away. "Mom?" Dan asked, surprised. "Yes, Danielle is my daughter." "Oh. I thought she looked familiar." Dan took a second look at the woman, she did look a bit like Jeanie. Just a Matter of Time Ch. 02 Dan lay in bed unable to sleep. He was worried. He listened to the soft peaceful snores coming from Jeanie as she lay by his side. After 40 long years he had come home, and found himself walking nearly instantly into the life he had before. Nothing had changed, yet everything had changed. The woman he had loved but lost was now his again. Even forty long years had not killed that, the thought of her had always remained in the deepest recesses of his mind. He lay there with every single nerve ending alert, worried. If the class self proclaimed keeper of where everyone was, and what they were doing could find him so easily, he knew that they could also. From their point of view, they owned him. From their point of view, he was there to do a job when it was required of him. If he didn't do what he was supposed to do, there was only one possible alternative. Powerful people, the type that supported everything from Judges to politics, dealing in product flow that was below the radar did not like loose ends. Anything less than his doing exactly what was expected of him was considered a betrayal. Dan was now a loose end. +++ He remembered that day he drove into a lower rent section of Chicago. He had very little in the way of resources left, and had managed to land a job as a clerk at the flop house he rented. The job was easy, bleary eyed men with well worn women on their arms came in and paid the ten dollar fee to rent the rooms. Very few ever stayed for more than an hour or two. The beat cop came by for his envelope once each week, regular as clockwork. Dan had no idea at all what was in the envelope but he had his suspicions. One did not ask questions. Then one day he was asked to deliver a package, pick up a bag and return. Hell, they paid him fifty dollars to do it, not bad for a couple of hours. That developed into a regular thing, one day after a year or so he was asked to come in for a meeting. The old man in the back room filled with cigar smoke had spoken to him quietly. Dan had nodded, now his job was to handle all of the other men that delivered and picked up. Five hundred dollars each and every week was pretty amazing money, he no longer had to deal with the drunks and steady stream of hookers and bums. He soon found and rented a fairly nice apartment, his life became comfortable. It was over a year later when one of his couriers came up short, claiming the bag had been stolen. The old man just looked at him when he told him what had happened. "Your deal, you take care of it." He said flatly. Dan by then knew exactly what the old man meant. He had just two options, deal with the situation or be dealt with. He wasn't asked if he wanted to do it, they just told him to. That was something he was completely sure of. "Santos will come to see you." The old man said, waving his arm. There was no point in any response, Dan went back to his room and waited. He had dozed off, when he woke up the man sat there in a chair waiting. He sat up quickly. The Hispanic man was very young, he looked to be barely twenty. Dan knew he was older than that, the look was deceptive. Scruffy and unkempt, his build was slight, he did not look anything at all like the man Dan knew he was. There were very few words, Santos spoke quietly. Dan was shown how the pistol worked, how to destroy any evidence. He was looking at the pistol, when he looked up the man was gone. The old man looked up at him when Dan walked into the back room a few days later. "Done." He said. The old man never changed expression, he just waved his arm. Dan left, went back to handling his job. He didn't have any more troubles after that with any of his men. When he was given the entire South section a few years later, his pay jumped to two thousand each and every week. He changed his name to Damon, Damon Ringer. He really had no idea why, he just liked the sound of that. By then there was a solid string of females, Damon was always fussy and just took the very best. He never went back for seconds, after one of them early on got a little bit clingy. So clingy that to sort out that problem he sent her over to a guy he knew. She went because he told her to. The man put her right to work, Dan never saw her again. Some things were just the way they were. Then he was called in and given an address, a photo. The photo was of a woman, that surprised him. There were unwritten rules that just were not to be broken, it seemed, and she had broken one of them. Once again, he was not asked. "Done." He told the old man. That was the last time he saw the old man, he died the next day and his son now sat behind the desk in the back room. Dan didn't argue when he was told he now had a different job. The documents they obtained for him were all in the name of Damon Ringer. He flew out that evening. Dan no longer existed. +++ Forty years is a very long time, Damon never spent more than two nights in any one place at a time. He was always on the move. Once each month or so he flew in, rented a car and drove to the private mailbox he kept. Most of the time there was nothing, just envelopes addressed to "occupant." Once in a while there would be a plain brown envelope, just a name, location and a photo. Damon never knew why, and he never asked. It was just the job. Then came the invitation. He hesitated, then thought why not? +++ Dan woke up to find Jeanie sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at him. She was naked, she was always naked when in bed with him. He reached for her, just as she now knew he would. He knew he could live like this forever. If only he had stayed and weathered the storm of publicity, the snide looks he got from nearly everyone, his life would have been completely different. There is no way to take some things back. Dan actually began to relax when nearly two months went by after the brief conversation with Marge and nothing happened. He spent a long time looking with suspicion at any vehicles he saw that were not the usual dirty and beaten up older pickups the town was full of. He began to relax, enjoy his life and his new ready made family. He saw his daughter Danielle several times each week, met his grandson Tim, and his daughter's husband Ron. They seemed to be very happy. The day he told them he had bought a house and wanted them to live there and take care of his investment got him quite a few questions. He passed those off by explaining that he had sold some overseas investments, and wanted his capital closer to hand and working for him. He put the home in his daughter's name, the owner was quite happy with cash, and said nothing at all about the documents that showed the purchase price to be far less than he was handed. The home was fancy, he knew his daughter and son would be comfortable there. The old trailer home was rented out. When Danielle asked him about paying rent, he told her to forget it. By then she had figured out that he had assets somewhere, the new Ford pickup he handed them the keys to showed that fairly clearly. The dealership he had driven nearly 600 miles to, to purchase the vehicle was also quite happy with cash. A truck arrived one morning and unloaded and left, simple as that. Life was good, relaxed. He had Jeanie, their home together which was not fancy at all. Other than the things he did for his daughter, Dan kept a low profile. +++ Dan woke with a start, it was quiet. Too quiet. He listened carefully, heard nothing. Slipping out of bed, he looked over at Jeanie, she lay there sleeping. Dan stepped quietly down the hallway, just as he got to the living room he sensed something. He moved, felt the blade slash his side. Turning he managed to grab the arm that held the blade, then grasping the blade with his other hand he forced it away from himself. He went down onto his side, causing a loud crash as the coffee table collapsed. He hung onto the man's arm for dear life. The blade was held downwards, in the manner a pro would use. Dan lost his grip on the man's arm, he got a glimpse of his face in the glow from the night light. The man jerked the blade back slashing his hand in the process, raised it. It was Santos, he had seen the man just once before, but there was no doubt this was a much older version of him. Dan knew he was going to die. His hands came up to try and protect himself, when the man folded forward and fell on top of him. Jeanie stood there naked holding the remains of a heavy lamp. There was a look of terror on her face. Dan shoved Santos off of him, reached down and took the blade. He cut the cord off of the lamp, used it to tie his hands, not being the least bit gentle. "Danny, what is going on?" Jeanie said, finally able to speak. She looked down at his hand, blood was pouring from it. "I will tell you later, go pack." He told her as he headed for the kitchen to find a towel. "What?" "Go PACK!" He ordered. She looked at him in shock, but turned and went into the other room. Dan dragged Santos out to the car, opened the trunk and rolled his slight body in. Then he stood there for a moment panting. Luck. Just plain luck, Santos was one of those that never failed. Just like Damon never failed. Dan got into the car, drove down by the river. He opened the trunk, dragged Santos out, letting him flop onto the ground. Santos was awake. "You tried to kill me." Dan said. "It's the job." Santos said flatly. He was pulling at the cords holding his hands, having no effect. "Jeanie too?" He asked. Santos didn't answer. Then he looked up at Dan and knew. Dan nodded, took the blade and cut his throat. He slid the body into the river, pushing it as far out as he could. The tide was slack, he knew it would turn and begin to run out soon. He could only hope, he had no time. Back at the house, he grabbed the bags that Jeanie had packed, threw them into the car. "Get in." He told her. "What in the hell is going on, Danny?" She demanded. Her face was as white as a sheet. "Get in!" She got in. He drove silently for nearly a hundred miles, Jeanie sat there and cried softly. Finding a wayside, he pulled in and parked. It took him nearly an hour to explain. She sat there in complete shock as he told her all of it. "Oh, God! What are we going to do?" "They will kill you too now. I am sorry, I never should have gotten you into this, but now there is just one way out." "I want to go home." "You can't go home, I am sorry, honey. It's my fault. You...we..can never go home again." Jeanie just stared at him. He picked up the cell phone, dialed the number from memory. He knew this day would probably come. "FBI. How may I direct your call?" A woman's voice answered. +++ The men arrived in less than 24 hours. No one in the little town ever found out. One day Dan, Jeanie, Danielle and her family were there, the next day they were all gone. There were a lot of stories, no one knew anything at all. The family that moved into the fancy new home were very happy, having purchased the place at auction for back taxes. There were some brief stories of some big time arrests in the newspapers, most not even noticed by the folks in Seaport since they were worlds away. There was a long investigation into the blood found in the modest home, with no results at all. They did find the small rental car, but it was burned beyond any recognition. All of the other vehicles were just there. One local story was about a body found down by the docks. They published a sketch of what the man looked like, but he was never identified. That created another buzz because the local police found the broken lamp, realized the cord that held the body's hands came from that. Finally everything came to a dead end. "Bunch of goddamn drug dealers!" The Sheriff muttered to himself, closing the file and putting it away. Life goes on, things get forgotten. +++ Darin Long stood on the deck of the seaside home with his wife Jennifer. The retired mechanical engineer and his wife seemed to be fairly well off. Members of the local church group, they donated time for little league, but other than that they kept pretty much to themselves. They were often seen walking along the beach early in the mornings, holding hands like newlyweds, nice to see something like that for a couple that had obviously been married for decades. "I love it here, Jen." Darin leaned down to kiss his wife as they walked down the steps and out onto the beach. "Yes, it is nice, honey." She leaned in closer to him. "Watching the Sun come up over the ocean, it's like everything begins again this way." He said, thinking of the many times he had watched the Sun set back home. She nodded, it was like something that had happened to someone else. They turned to walk back towards the house, the old man stepping carefully, the limp he had obvious. The older lady reached out to support his arm. +++ The man that lay up on the hillside watched as the silver haired older man leaned down to kiss the woman. The rising Sunlight reflected from his hair. It was perfect. It had only taken him a few days to sort out their habits. He had briefly wondered why, but then forgot about that. It was just the job. The dot of the scope settled on the reflection, he squeezed off the shot. There was almost no sound. The woman began screaming, the man squeezed off the second shot. He got up and took the rifle apart quickly, placed it in the case. Then he walked calmly to his little white rental car. He sighed, he really didn't like this much. But it was just the job. Just a Matter of Time "So what do you do now, Danny?" Jeanie asked. "Troubleshooter, I travel a lot. All over the world. Say, who did you marry?" He asked, shifting the subject quickly. "You remember Jerry?" She gave him a sidelong glance. "Jerry? Well, I guess that is a surprise." "He actually was a good man, and he was real good to Danielle and me. We had a happy marriage for nearly 35 years." "That's good, I am sorry you lost him." "I have something to tell you. I came tonight because Margie called and said you might be here." She looked down at her drink, she was holding it in both hands. Dan just waited, puzzled. "Danielle. She is..yours." "What?" "She is our daughter, Danny." Dan looked at the woman behind the bar, then back at Jeanie. "That's impossible, we never....?" "Yes, we did. That night you..we were necking and you...the Doctors told me it was the first virginal birth they had ever seen." Dan sat there in shock. He had no idea what to do or say. "But...you went into the Army?" "Not for very long, I didn't even get all the way through boot camp." "Does she know?" He looked again at the bartender, she was standing at the far end of the bar looking at them with a puzzled expression. "She knows what happened, she just doesn't know who yet." Jeanie said. "I think she just figured it out." Dan grinned, as Danielle headed down the bar towards them. "Mom?" She said, her eyes big. "Yes, honey. This is him, this is Danny I told you about." "Oh my God! I thought I would never ever....!" She tore around the end of the bar and almost took Dan off of his bar stool. She was jumping up and down so excited that it took several moments for him to get her calmed down. Dan looked around the room, every single face including the band members were staring at them. "I think we need to get out of here." He said. Danielle ran into the other room, came back in minutes with an older woman. She took over the bar, giving Dan an odd look. He was starting to get used to getting odd looks from these people. "Let's take my car." Jeanie said. They got in, the drive was short, just a few miles. Danielle chattered the entire way, once at the simple farm house they settled in. It was around 3 in the morning before Danielle finally needed to sleep, she hugged him and told him she would see him in the morning. "Night, Mom." She said, giving her a knowing look. "Night...Daddy." She grinned. "I should be going, can you run me back to my car?" Dan asked. "Can't you...stay? Please?" Dan looked at her, she slid over and leaned in for a kiss. "I always loved you, Danny." She said. He had to ask. "Why did you marry Jerry?" "He..he asked me, when Danielle was 5. This is a small town, a woman with a baby doesn't get asked out much but Jerry did, and I know he loved me." "Well, I always loved you, I must have thought of you a million times." "Why didn't you ever come home? I waited and waited for so long." She told him, a sad look on her face. "It just never came up, life and everything got in the way." "Will you stay then? Be with me? I..want to." "Yes." +++ That was an amazing night, in the darkness her body felt almost like he remembered. Her breasts felt larger, softer, there is no way to avoid years piling up. He knew his own body was different, more solid from all of the hours spent lifting weights, working out. He knew very well how to make love, there had been so many women, just people passing each other, nothing that had ever mattered at all. Yet this was totally different, this was something that was supposed to be. Dan felt like that, anyway. He was overwhelmed with love for her, and he realized that he wanted to be right here, with her for all the rest of his life. But there was a problem. +++ Jeanie drove him back to the lodge parking lot to pick up his rental car the next day. Breakfast had been interesting, Danielle had grinned back and forth at them all morning. She had called her husband at just after seven, it seemed he was just getting home from his graveyard shift at the local mill and was going to be very surprised that she was not there. They talked for a long time, after hanging up she told them that after her husband had slept they were all going out to dinner. Then Jeanie had dropped her off, Dan looked at their inexpensive mobile home. He was thinking he needed to do something about that. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he had some very large amounts of capital put away in various places, enough that he had no need to ever worry. He also now had a grandson, he was off at camp someplace. Danielle had a half sister, married and living in Texas. Dan now had a real family, it was something he had never known since he was a child. He kissed Jeanie, told her he had some things to do. "What kind of things?" She asked. "Just business." He told her. +++ Inside his motel room, he opened up his carry case, took out the envelope with the two names and photos. He sat down on the edge of the bed, thinking. Inside the case was the pistol, with the silencer attachment, he picked it up and looked at it. There was a long rod with a sanding ball on the end of it, he knew what that was for. There had to be no mistakes, no evidence. He looked again at the two photos. He had no idea at all the why of what the people wanted done, they just did. It was just the job. Always before, they gave him the information, he went and did his job and vanished into the night. Dan was the very best there was, without fail he got the job done. He put his head in his hands. He could do the job, then try to join the life he now knew he wanted. But he also knew that sooner or later the next envelope would come. He could just not do the job, but the problem there was obvious. He knew far too much, and they knew that he knew far too much. They would come for him. He did not dare be anywhere near Jeanie or Danielle when they did. +++ Damon Ringer went out and got into the simple beige rental car, drove the hundred miles to the inland city. It took him nearly all day to get things figured out. By afternoon, he knew how to do it. He dropped off the rental car, picked up another at a different agency. The next morning at 8 AM he just walked into the office, the man looked up and asked if he could help him. He didn't answer, he just took care of that. The woman walked out of the back, he took care of that, too. Two rounds, moments apart, no sound at all. He saw no one outside. He drove the rental 200 miles North and dropped it off. Then he was on a bus for another 200 miles farther. He stopped at an electronics store and bought a prepaid phone, made the call. "Done." Was all he said when the other end picked up, then pushed the button to disconnect. No need to wait for an answer, there never was one. His next call was to the one man he knew he could trust. That one man he was completely sure of, since he was supposed to be dead. Damon had taken care of that years before, and been well paid to do it. Then he had helped the man vanish. It was his personal insurance policy that made sure things were done that he needed done. The man was the only person in the world that knew the truth. "Pick up tomorrow." "OK." Was the simple answer. He broke the connection, then destroyed the phone. Renting another car, he drove back to Seaport. +++ Damon Ringer dropped off the rental car, walked out the door and vanished. Walking across the long bridge calmly, the very expensive fake week's growth of beard came off. So did the dark heavy framed glasses. The padding that added weight to his appearance was in a dumpster hundreds of miles away. The heavy weight in his case was enough. The removable barrel of the pistol was discarded after he rammed the hone though it, then fired it several times to hide the hone marks. The screw on silencer was buried out in the woods. His drop box in Chicago would be closed when the fee was not paid, he knew that. No one on the planet knew where he was, even the one man he knew he could trust. The money was in offshore numbered accounts, he knew there was no way to trace those. The tide was running out strongly, he had planned for that also. Glancing around, he dropped the package over the side, he didn't wait to see the splash. +++ Dan walked along slowly, enjoying the day, the ocean. It had been a long time, now he was home. Jeanie was happy to see him, she gave him a hug and a kiss. The house smelled wonderful, she was baking some bread. He sat down at the kitchen table, reached for a piece of the fresh bread, wiped on some butter. "So where have you been?" She asked. "Just closing up loose ends, I decided to retire." "Really? OK. I have a little bit of money, nearly $50,000 from Jerry's insurance policy, we will be all right. If you...want to live here with me, that is?" "It's what I hoped for, honey. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have some savings, too." Dan managed to not laugh, he had several million in off shore accounts. Jeannie hopped into his lap, kissed him. "We will be fine, we don't need much." She told him. Dan grinned and kissed her back. +++ Three months later Dan was at the post office, picking up the mail. It was all the usual junk. He turned to leave just as Margie came in. There was the usual hug, that couldn't be avoided with Margie. "I sure am glad you are back, Danny! I am glad I found you. You and Jeanie seem really happy." That is when it hit him. "How did you find me, Margie?" He asked. "I work at the florist's shop, you sent flowers to your Mom's funeral. I figured it had to be you, so I started tracing the order back. It was easy after that. I spend a lot of time on the internet." She grinned. Dan felt a cold chill pour through himself. There had been just one different phone call, from his friend telling him his mother had passed. One different phone call. "What's the matter, Danny?" Margie asked. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Margie went on up to the counter, Dan drove up to the electronics store, purchased a throw away phone. Walking outside, he punched in the number of his friend, taking a risk but he had to know. There was no answer. Walking towards his car, he spotted the big black SUV. There were two men in it. He felt a trace of fear but they went right on by, not noticing him. On the way home, he watched the small white car that was following him. Then it turned off into someone's driveway. The next day, he watched out the window as a repairman driving a white van pulled up and stopped. He got out and crossed the street. Dan went into the kitchen, sat down as Jeanie served him some pancakes and eggs. He sat and ate quietly, thinking. There was a sheen of sweat on his face. "Are you OK, honey?" Jeanie asked. "Yes, fine." He knew he had made a mistake. It was a matter of time. Dan realized that he knew far too much. He knew what they would do. Those people did not leave loose ends. It was now just a matter of time.