The flight back to Johannesburg is uneventful and everyone sleeps most of the way. For the next two days, the women and Teddy go touring around the city while dad and I attend my negotiation meetings. I was rather surprised when he suggested he come along, strictly as an observer. I was even more surprised when I told him that I thought it was a good idea. He's never seemed to take more than a passing interest in my businesses and I've never sought more than the occasional bit of advice from him.
As it turns out, I'm glad I have him with me. I've always prided myself on being an astute observer of people but several times these past couple days he's called me out in the hallway and shared things he noticed that I missed; he's also given me advice in the way of suggestions. I must admit, the first time he asked me to step out of the room I was really annoyed but what he said turned out to be spot on when we went back in. After that, I listened carefully when he had something to say.
Evidently I made an impression on him, too. At our final dinner in South Africa on Friday evening he told everyone at the table how impressed he was with my negotiation skills. I returned the compliment and praised him for his advice. Who knows? Maybe he and I are entering some sort of era of détente. We all toasted the successful conclusion of the deal. There's more paperwork to come but the main contracts were signed this afternoon.
Saturday is a busy day for all of us. Mom and dad are going back to Seattle via Hong Kong and Hawaii; they should be home by Labor Day weekend. Ana and I will go straight back to Seattle with only a brief stop for refueling in Rio.
As hectic as the past week has been, I haven't had any opportunity to get together with Taylor. The time difference has made anything more than emails virtually impossible. He's apparently working on a lead that he found but he hasn't said any more than that. Once we get to altitude I'll go over everything he's sent and then set up a Skype session with him. I'll also go over the papers my dad brought.
As we drive away from the house that's been our home for two weeks I'm struck with a strange kind of melancholy. It's been a successful business trip and on a personal level, so many positive things have happened while we were here. I'm looking forward to getting home but I wish I could capture the past couple weeks and relive them again and again. It reminds me of the old Jim Croce song, Time in a Bottle.
Looking at Ana, she's gazing out the window with a pensive look on her face; I wonder if she's thinking the same things. Teddy's in her lap and she's absentmindedly stroking his hair. I reach along the seatback and grab her shoulder.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I ask.
"Just thinking of what a wonderful trip it's been. Thank you for insisting we come along," she replies, turning towards me.
"I wouldn't have had it any other way," I tell her. I tousle Teddy's hair and say to him, "Hey, big guy, maybe we got you a little brother or sister here, huh?"
"Grlglrlbr," he replies, pointing at me and smiling.
"See?" I say to Ana, "He thinks that's great!" She just smiles and shakes her head.
Later, when we're at altitude I pull out my laptop and start to read Taylor's emails; the last one has me the most concerned. I get Ana's attention and show her the email. She looks at me with shock on her face and I tell her to come with me to the bedroom. She hands Teddy off to Carmela and follows me back there.
I connect my laptop to the tv screen and start a Skype session. Taylor answers after the first ring.
"Hello, Sir, Ma'am, how are you?"
"We're fine, Taylor. I just read your email. What do you mean you think Gary Lesourd worked for my brother?" Ana's giving me a look of annoyance but I believe in getting right down to business on something as important as this. Niceties can wait until later.
"I'm not totally sure about it, Sir, but just for grins and giggles I've been going through the list of workers your brother gave me when he renovated your house. Remember you asked me to run security checks on all of them?"
"Yes, go on."
"Well, as I was going down the roster, one of the names caught my eye. Now bear with me for a moment, Sir. What do the words 'le sourd' mean in French?"
I think for a moment and then tell him, "The deaf man, deaf person, someone deaf."
"Right," he answers. "Well, one of the payroll lists had everyone's name as first initial, last name. There was a worker whose name was 'L. Sordo.' 'Sordo in Spanish means deaf, so el sordo becomes 'the deaf man, or deaf one, just like you said, Sir."
"How do you know Spanish and French, Taylor?" Ana asks.
"I studied Spanish in high school, ma'am, and I took a few French courses when I was in the Marines, hoping to get an embassy guard detail."
"So what have you found out about this L. Sordo?" I cut in impatiently.
"Looking up the employment records, the guy's full name is Larry Sordo, which I thought was quite close to Gary Lesourd. His work history is sketchy but it traces back to Detroit. There was no criminal activity which is why it didn't raise any flags when we did our security checks."
"How did my brother hire this Larry Sordo?"
"Sir, your brother parceled out the various projects to different sub-contractors, some for electrical, some for plumbing, etc. Larry Sordo was part of a crew that didn't have any special skills, they were mainly used for things like hauling waste or ripping out walls or floors, stuff like that."
"So maybe this sub-contractor went to a Home Depot parking lot and just picked up a bunch of illegals and this Larry Sordo was one of them."
"It's possible, Sir, but I doubt it. Illegals don't usually have any work history and aren't on any payroll files because they're usually paid in cash. These guys were paid with weekly checks and had deductions taken out."
"So then finding him should be easy – he must have given an address and a bank, right?"
"Yes, Sir, he did give an address but I looked it up and it's an empty apartment; no one around there remembers anything. As for banking, most likely he used a currency exchange to cash his checks since I couldn't find any banking records."
"Do we know what he worked on at the house?"
"Sir, that would be difficult to say. It was a huge project and he could have worked on any number of things."
"So he might have worked on the overhaul of the music room or the area outside it, right?"
"It's possible. Do you want me to get in touch with your brother to see if he remembers anything?"
"No, that's all right. I'll find a way to bring it up to Elliot. Keep working on as many angles of this as you can. We'll talk more when we're back home."
"Yes, Sir. Have a safe flight."
We end the Skype session. I turn to Ana. "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" I pound my fist on the bed to make my point. "Somehow he's rigged something in the music room and everything was an illusion."
"You really think so, Christian?"
"Don't you? Don't you see? Whoever this is had access to the building and opportunity to install any kind of gimmick that would create special effects that made me think I was hallucinating. He could still be controlling it."
"I don't know, Christian, somehow I doubt it. I think your birth mother really contacted you and warned you about him."
"And I'm doubting that that ever happened." She opens her mouth to start to say something and I stop her. "Remember, Ana, you never saw her. No one else besides me saw her."
"Teddy saw her," she reminds me.
"No, Teddy saw something but it could have been his own imagination." I lie back on the bed to think about this a little. I'm more convinced than ever that now there's a rational explanation for all this.
"Well," she says as she crawls beside me, "It just doesn't make sense to me. The work on the house was done over a year and a half ago. Why would he wait this long to start messing with your head? And why go about it in such a roundabout fashion?"
"Perhaps it's taken this long to make sure all his technical apparatus works. I don't know," I sit up and turn towards her. "All I know is that this provides a much better explanation than some spooky visitor from beyond the grave." I put my hands up by my head, claw-style, and make a monster face at her. She giggles and I fall on top of her and start tickling her.
"Christian! Stop!" she screams as she laughs and gasps for breath, all at the same time.
"Stop what?" I ask, continuing to tickle her.
"Stop tickling me!"
"Oh? What do you want me to do instead?" Tickle, tickle, tickle.
She manages to grab my wrists; I could easily overpower her but I let her stop me. "How about a massage?" she asks.
"A massage?" I repeat. Hmmm, this has possibilities. "I don't think I've given you a massage since you were pregnant."
"I don't think so, either. Come on, Grey, give your wife a massage. Pretty please?" she bats her eyes at me.
"Oh, Mrs. Grey, how could I refuse such a persuasive entreaty?" I make a circle with my finger. "Turn around and take off your top and bra."
An hour later we go back to the main cabin, relaxed and refreshed. We're just in time - the plane's just about to start its approach into Rio. Even though we won't be going into the city, this gives us a chance to step outside to stretch our legs and get some fresh air.
The rest of the flight is uneventful. I've read the papers my dad sent me and they really don't add that much to the story. They confirm some names and relationships but since none of them wanted me, there isn't that much detail. I make a note to give the names to Taylor for some more research.
I'm giving some more thought to Taylor's discoveries. If indeed my sperm donor worked on our house during the reconstruction I may have an opportunity to smoke him out. Ana wants a theme room like the garden of Eden at the club in Johannesburg. I'll talk to Elliot about building one and see if we can use the project as a way of luring this Larry Sordo, or whatever the fuck his name is, into taking the bait of more access to the property. It's worth a try.
Our approach into Sea-Tac is delayed due to the heavy traffic but other than that it's a routine arrival. We're both so glad to be back home. Gail is ecstatic over seeing Teddy again. Taylor is his usual reserved self but I can tell he's relieved to have us back home, too. I sense an air of concern about him but I chalk it up to worry over this whole business with the sperm donor.
After a short nap, we spend some time in our respective home offices, catching up on things and planning the busy week ahead. Even though we're both dog tired, we force ourselves back into Pacific time; I've shown Ana the advantages of doing this after an overseas trip and she's on board with it now.
The three of us have a late dinner on the terrace and then put Teddy to bed. It's late enough to go to bed ourselves, even though I think we'll probably be awake for a while. Surprisingly, though, we both fall right asleep, which is good. We'll need our rest to deal with all the shit at the office tomorrow.