| Subject: Priority Mail 345 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Saturday, November 26, 11:28:24pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 338+" on Wednesday, November 16, 08:38:27pm
Todd Hunter took the receipt and nodded a goodbye to the clerk who was working at the community hardware store. He needed some caulking for the windows as he knew that he had to work on that part of his house before the weather turned, and in Salt Lake City, you were never quite sure.
He wasn’t sure what had made him come here, but he was glad to be part of this community. He hadn’t settled in the actual city part of Salt Lake City. He was technically closer to the city of Layton, but he often would take a trip into Salt Lake City, especially when it concerned any of the three children that he had relocated into Salt Lake City. Lately, it has only been the one that has caused him to travel into the city – April.
She wasn’t a handful. She was just too smart. But that led to a lot of confusion on foster parents who didn’t have the time to invest in one child, when they often were keeping care of multiple children. He had tried April in more of an institutional setting, but it was even worse then. He was always trying to find the perfect foster family that would take April in and not take in any other children so she could finally get the testing that would prove that she was smarter than she allowed people to know that she was.
He was just down there last week as everyone had charted that she hadn’t spoken in over ten days. As soon as Todd entered the room, she started to talk a mile a minute. He had to shake his head as everyone was stunned and April just smiled at him. It was like she knew they would call him down and that was what she wanted, although she had told him often that she didn’t want to live with him.
She wanted to live with her real mother and father.
Todd wished that he had the means to figure it out, because he had to find out more about these parents. There was no way that they weren’t intelligent. He just got the chills whenever he thought about them. He could never answer April’s questions either. They weren’t questions that a kindergartener should be asking. Then a teacher pointed out that they weren’t questions that a first or second grade student would ask about either.
And April’s insistence that she would never live with him was good. That had been proposed by many people in the past, but he couldn’t due to the job that he was doing right now. However, weeks like this, after he drove down to Salt Lake City to have April act like nothing was wrong with her, Todd wondered if he should try to find a way to break the rules.
It would be easier for everyone.
He got into his car and turned the keys, but the vehicle didn’t start. He leaned his head back and groaned. There were reports that he had to complete and he had to check things out on the other two children that were based in Salt Lake City. He didn’t have time for this.
“Sounds like you are having car problems,” a man spoke from outside the vehicle. Todd rolled down the window to his car and blinked his eyes at the man. He rubbed the finished and sighed. “This is a 1982 AMC Eagle, right?”
“Yeah,” Todd nodded his head up and down. Most people didn’t look at his car with such awe like he was seeing right now. The man tapped the side of the window and whistled. “It looks to be in great shape… except it doesn’t start.”
“Which is odd,” Todd stammered as he tried the key again.
“It probably won’t start without this piece?” a female chuckled from the backseat. Todd whirled around and stared at her. “Who are you?”
“My name is Laura,” she spoke and the passenger side door opened and Joshua Ferguson got in. “Give Tom the part… we have to talk.”
Todd fumed silently as he took the part out of Laura’s hand and handed it to the man that Joshua had called Tom. He hated to admit it, but this trio had completely blind-sided him. He was normally paranoid about his surroundings and hated to realize that his thoughts were more focused on April. Todd blinked his eyes and looked back to Laura and then looked at Joshua. Joshua nodded his head up and down. “My daughter… so you know that this isn’t bad… Todd. I just know how skittish you tend to be.”
Todd watched as Tom pulled the hood up and put the part back in. Tom walked to the back and got in behind Todd. “You can start the car up now.”
“We’ll talk at your house,” Joshua indicated as Todd started the car. They were driving down the street as Todd cleared his throat. “You could have called.”
“Yeah,” Joshua drawled out. “Of course, I would have had to guess what number since you use burners all the time. And you don’t exactly share Christmas cards either.”
“Someone tell you that I was staying outside of Salt Lake City?” Todd inquired as he glanced in the mirror to the woman who was Joshua’s daughter and an unknown man who was not related to Joshua or Laura.
“We’ll get to that,” Joshua replied as he leaned back and watched the window. H e sighed about two miles later. “Glad you didn’t try to take us to your fake house.”
“I don’t know what game you are playing here, Joshua. But you never burned me… except for the one girl you stuck me with,” Todd shook his head from side to side. He then felt the car seem to get tenser.
“I stuck you with a girl? We traded…” Joshua chuckled and Todd rolled his eyes. “April is why I’m here in Salt Lake City… trying to find a better situation for her… you had to know that she needed more attention when she was put into the deal at the last minute… you first said that you were going to keep her, because she was a sweetheart.”
That was when Todd caught the look that Laura gave Tom. He slammed on the brakes and turned to look at Joshua. “You are here about her.”
“I didn’t know this was all going to happen when we made the deal,” Joshua whispered as he rolled his shoulders backwards. “We should talk at your house.”
“You are the only person that I have to be scared of any longer for those children… so I don’t think it matters were we talk,” Todd fired back.
Tom cleared his throat. “It isn’t a short story Mr. Hunter… and this isn’t truly about you.”
Todd didn’t care where he was right now. He turned to look at Tom. “I don’t know you.”
“You should listen to him,” Joshua rasped from the front seat. “It will all make sense shortly.”
“I don’t know you,” Todd spoke again and Tom nodded his head. “Thomas Negley.”
And then everyone in the car found out that Todd Hunter knew more than any of them had anticipated.
“Also known as Everett D’Octavi,” Todd turned and started to drive the car. “I still don’t know how you got away with never making contact with the VIP you were to be the handler for.”
Tom smiled slightly as he knew that Todd didn’t know enough to be too dangerous. “Who knows what I have and haven’t done? It’s all rumor, right?”
“Rumor?” Todd chuckled. “You are a legend… for reasons I don’t know. But I didn’t expect you to be so young. Maybe the VIP couldn’t trust you.”
Tom looked at Laura as she squeezed his thigh and he looked up to the mirror. “You don’t know me, Todd.”
Todd almost stopped again as he felt a chill go thru his body as he caught the stare that Tom was giving him. “And will I get to know you?”
“You should hope that you don’t really have too.”
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