Bourbon on the Rocks

It was a hot July night at around eight PM. The phone rang and I debated on whether I should answer it. The day had been long, and I just wanted to relax with my bourbon on the rocks. If it hadn't of been for all the past-due bills that had been piling up, I would have not taken the call.

I answered with my usual " Jacksons private investigation agency".

On the other end of the line was an older sounding woman that sounded like she was in a pretty bad mood and had been since the day she was born. I asked how I could help her knowing that this is one of those types of people that no one should ever work for.

The lady asked if she could set up a meeting with me tomorrow morning, she had some suspicion that her son was involved in some kind of criminal activity. I agreed that we could meet at ten AM, this would give me time to have some coffee and re-cooperate from the amount of bourbon I was about to drink. After hanging up I told myself that I was going to regret whatever I was about to get myself into.

The next morning, I awoke on the office sofa as I have many times before. It was a little after nine in the morning and I needed to get some hot coffee in me. I wet my hair and combed it straight back and put on my hat. I went to the corner cafe and bought a double shot of espresso; I wanted to be on my toes while meeting with Mrs. grumpy.

The lady arrived promptly on time, right at ten AM as discussed, the night before.

I introduced myself as Kaleb Jackson and asked for her information so I could start a file. The lady said in a strict manner that her name was MRS. Preston and that she did not have time for shenanigans, her son was in some pretty serious trouble.

I asked the usual questions that I learned to ask all new clients. First thing first was my hourly rate. MRS. Preston said in a hastily tone that money was no object to her, and she was willing to pay for forty hours upfront, since that was my minimum.

I asked what kind of trouble her son was involved in, and she answered with confusion, saying that she was not exactly sure. It was then I knew this was going to get complicated and quick.

How am I supposed to help you ma'am if you don't know what you want me to find out? The older lady said that is what she was paying me for. I was confused but agreed I would look into what kind of life her son was living. I asked for a recent picture, and she said that she did not have one. I then asked what he looked like, and she replied that she was not exactly for sure. By this time, I was completely confused and decided that I was dealing with an old senile woman that was more confused than I was.

I started getting cold feet and was about to tell the woman that I couldn't take this case due to the lack of information, but before I got any words out, she went on to explain that she and her son had not spoken in forty-four years.

I ask the lady if they had not spoken it that many years, how did she know that he was in trouble. Mrs. Preston said that she did not want to go into details and only wanted me to find out what she needed to do to help her son.

Being completely honest with the crazy woman I told her that taking this case was against my better judgment, but I needed the money and would do what I could to help.

After getting her sons name (Jeffery Eldridge) along with his birthday and social-security number, I got her contact info I needed to contact her. We parted ways, and I began to call around to a few of my old cop friends that where still on the force. I needed to run this guy's information and try to find his location.

It did not take long to find him; He was in Texas. That was a long way from Chicago Ill. I would have to fly out to Texas and try to untangle this mystery on what was going on. Jeffery's criminal file had a long list of history, it looked like this guy bounced from jail to jail his whole life. Burglary, Robbery, fraud, kidnapping, and shoplifting filled his file. Why was this lady trying to find him? there was defiantly something fishy about her intentions.

I booked a six PM flight to Dallas, I wanted to get started right away on this case, I had a feeling that this was going to get weirder and Weider as I investigated.

After I arrived, I rented a small grey compact car, this I learned early on in my Career was harder to recognize while trialing someone, it blended in and looked like some divorced man that hated his job and just wanted to get from point A to point B. Next thing would be to find a cheap motel to blend in with the local small time criminal Croud, an all too familiar and boring investigation lay-out.

I started hanging around at the local bars that held the less-than-ideal population. I found that after a few drinks, people where more apt to loosen up and tell things that they did not know they were telling.

It was the third bar I entered at around seven-thirty that evening. I sat down and ordered a bourbon on the rocks and began scanning the room for a thin man with black hair down to his shoulders. All I had to identify him was a photo from a driver's license from three years ago. Judging by his on file demeaner, he most likely would have not changed much. I was about to give up and head back to the motel when I heard the bar tender, a scruffily looking heavy set guy behind the bar yell out loudly "Hey, Jeffery, good to see you". I was dead on; this guy did not change one bit from his photo. He looked like he was even wearing the same clothes he had on in the photo.

The bar tender reached under the counter and pulled a Budweiser long neck out and opened it. As Jeffry approached the bar, the bar tender held out the cold beer and told Jeffery it was on the house. This situation was working out for me pretty well, as long as I acted like I was not paying attention, the two guys would talk, and I might learn something useful.

I ordered another bourbon and stared at the tv up in the corner as if I was really into the football game that was on. Strangely enough, Jeffery told the bartender that he didn't want the beer. He had only come in to pay his tab that had been hanging in the balance for the past six weeks. The bar tender looked confused as he set the beer down on the counter. What is wrong mate? asked the bar tender. Jeffery told the scruffily looking bar tender who at this point looked baffled, that he had things that he was working on and that he could not stay very long.

I quickly paid my tab and walked out of the bar before Jeffery left. I had to get in my car and get ready to tail my client's son.

Jeffery had gotten into an older ford pick-up truck and headed west down Belmont Avenue. I let two cars get Infront of me to block me from his view. It wasn't hard to see where Jeffery was going due to his driver side taillight being out. After several blocks he turned south on pioneer's boulevard. The town was getting rougher looking as we headed south. I pulled my thirty-eight revolver out of the glove box and suck it in my holster under my jacket, I wanted to be prepared for the worst, and in this neighborhood, the worst was most likely going to happen. it was about five minutes later that Jeffery took a right and pulled into a dark alley and cut off his lights. I drove by as if I where someone on their way home. I pulled over four blocks down from the alley and began to walk back to Jeffery's truck. Something was about to go down and I wanted to be there to see what it was.

I reached the alley staying in the shadows and made my way behind a dumpster. Quietly I sat and listened. It hadn't been very long, and another set of headlights came down the alley from the opposite end. The car pulled right in front of Jefferys truck and killed its lights. There was a short stocky man with a deep voice telling Jeffery to get out of his truck. Jeffery looked like he wasn't worried and got out to meet the man. As Jeffery approached the stocky man a flash of light followed by a loud bang rang out. Jeffery had been shot point blank. I thought to myself that I could not just let this man murder Jeffery and me not do anything. I pulled out my thirty-eight and let a shot go in the air. The stocky man quickly ran back to his car and got the hell out of there. I got Jeffery to his truck and headed back towards Belmont Avenue, I remembered seeing a hospital sign while tailing Jeffery. Jeffery did not say much, he was in agony and wailing in pain.

By the time we reached the hospital, Jeffery was in shock. I brought him in through the emergency room and explained that he had just been shot. The next few hours were spent talking to the local authorities about what had happened. They checked my ID and ran my name and found out that I was a licensed private detective. They took my information and said if they needed to, they would contact me. I was of no use to them, it was too dark to get a description of not just the car, but of the man's face.

I got back to the hotel at around three in the morning. I decided to call MRS. Preston and fill in the details. MRS. Preston didn't sound shocked when I told her that her son had been shot, she only said that she would be on the next flight available and for me not to mention her at all. After hanging up I sat there thinking what a strange relationship a mother and son had. The phone rang and startled me. It was the local police calling me to see if I had heard or seen Jeffery Eldridge and said that he had left the hospital without anyone knowing. I hung up the phone after telling the police that I haven't heard from or seen Jeffery since I left him at the hospital. This case just took another turn that I did not want to take.

Knowing that MRS. Preston was on her way, I had to find her son again before she would arrive. I did not waste any time, When I woke up the next morning, i got dressed and started hitting all the cafes and bars in the area, I asked if anyone had seen the man in the photo I was carrying. To no avail I started to think that this was useless. It was getting late in the evening, and I still had not found out anything, I went back to my motel and poured me a bourbon. I hadn't been there for five minutes when the phone rang. Thinking it would be MRS. Preston; I got my guard up for the worst. To my Suprise it was Jeffery Eldridge. He asked me why I was trying to find him; he also thanked me for getting him to the hospital. I told him that I was trying to find him for his mother, but his mother had told me not to mention her. Jeffery said that he did not have a mother anymore, she had died when he was only three. Jeffery explained that the woman was part of a crime family that was looking for him. He went on to explain that he was trying to right all the wrongs in his life, he tried to pay MRS. Preston back the money he borrowed but she wanted more. She wanted him to keep doing jobs for her crime family. Jeffery said that he only had around six months to live due to cancer that was slowly killing him, and he was in a hurry to try and right as many wrongs as he could. Jeffery wanted to finally live a life without crime.

I told Jeffery that MRS. Preston still thinks that he was in the hospital, and she was on her way right now. Jeffery asked if I could help with one of the most important wrongs that he was trying to fix before MRS. Preston and her crime syndicates could find him, I didn't really want to get more involved in this case more than I already was but reluctantly I asked what that would be.

This was going to be tricky if I was going to juggle MRS. Preston and helping Jeffery at the same time.

Jeffery met me at a local cafe the nest morning, we would come up with a plan that would get him free from the Preston crime family. I brought my camcorder and videoed Jeffery admitting every crime he had done for the Preston's. He provided the amount of money he was paid for each task involved. He gave locations of bodies of people they had killed. Jeffery said he never got involved with murder, he could not stomach it. After finishing, the plan was to set up a virtual meeting with Mrs. Preston. I would go back to my hotel and wait to hear from her.

There was a knock on my door, I had a feeling it would be Mrs. Preston. I was right, Mrs. Preston walked right past me when I opened up the door. She got right to the point and asked where the hell was Jeffery at. I quickly explained all of the evidence that Jeffery was willing to give the federal authorities. It was quiet for a while before MRS. Preston told me that I would be her next victim if I did not bring her to Jeffery. I told her that it was already in the works, if she did not leave me and Jeffery alone for good, the evidence was already in the hands of several different people's hands, they all were prepared to present them to the proper authorities.

I told MRS. Preston that Jeffery did not want any trouble, He just wanted to live out the rest of his life as a contributing member of society, something he had never done before. I also reminded her that she still did owe me for my expenses for this case, and that she would never have to worry about me or any authorities just as long as she paid me what she owed me and to leave Jeffery and I alone for good. She agreed.

Six months had passed, and all seemed to be going well. I had been in contact with Jeffery, and he had a job and was doing good, He even started going back to school and try to beat his odds at out living his disease. I was happy for Jeffery; this man changed his life around and finally became a contributor to society.

The evening had finally arrived and not a moment too soon. I poured myself a bourbon on the rocks and turned on the TV. The phone rang, I just sat there debating if I should answer, and then I thought of the bills, they would not pay themselves...