The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 22: Change of Plans

December 10th 2005, 10:27am

My  phone call with Trae, didn’t go exactly as I had planned, but I think, I at least got my point across, about the urgency of the situation.  I could only speculate on what Trae could have been thinking after our call.  It had been over a year since we had last spoken, and now I was prying into his business about his current money situation.  He was a nicer guy than me…had someone called me, after a year, and started nosing into my personal business, I would have told them to ‘Go to Hell’.

We had decided to meet at my house at 11:00 am.  I had no clue how I would begin the conversation.  I couldn’t just blurt out, ‘Oh, by the way, the guy you borrowed the money from wants you dead.’  I needed to ease into it, somehow.

I cleaned up the evidence of the latest package, pocketing Sue’s diamond ring, and placing the note and Trae’s picture in a kitchen drawer.  I sat close to the window, watching.   The anticipation of seeing Trae, with the fact that I was supposed to kill him, was making me sweat.  As I stared out the window, I thought, ‘What’s taking him so long?  Did he forget already?’  Looking at the clock, I realized, time was only creeping by, it was 10:34 am.  It had only been seven minutes since we gotten off the phone. 

Finally at three minutes until eleven, Trae pulled up in the driveway behind Sue’s car.  A shiny black BMW, glistened in the suns rays.  He stepped out, nearly unrecognizable to me.  Dark sunglasses, a gray business suit and a short hair cut, this was not the Trae I remembered.  As long as I had known him, he always had long hair, and never wore clothes like this. 

‘Ding-dong’

I opened the door, and forced my lips to form a smile, “Trae, it’s good to see you!”  It sounded genuine.

“Hey Joe, it’s been a long time!”  He reached out, and I took his hand.

I couldn’t help but picture him dead, as our hands locked.  Visions of him in a casket flashed in my mind.  I knew it was wrong, but, it was him or Sue…right?

“C’mon in.”  I closed and locked the deadbolt as he entered.

He sat on the sofa, looking at me, with an expectant look about him.  He had questions, but he waited for me to start the conversation.

“So, Trae!  Sorry, about earlier on the phone, it’s just…”  I wasn’t sure what to say.

“What Joe?  What’s so important?”

“Look, I…”  I was hoping not to just blurt it out, but I couldn’t find any other way, “…Trae, you’re in trouble, with some pretty bad people.”

“Trouble?  Bad people?  Joe, what the hell are you talking about?”  He looked offended.

I sighed, “Look, I don’t know who Harvey Dunn is, but he, or someone, wants you dead.”

He smirked and gave a fake chuckle, in disbelief, he said, “What?  C’mon Joe…stop messin around.”