One Man's Treasure- Installments 3, 4 & 5

3 more installments from my daily blog-

Chapter Three

Ocotillo pressed the phone into his ear.  “Cancer?  Haley has- is it treatable?”

“It’s not good.  They’ve tried to treat her.  They couldn’t do surgery.  The doctors don’t think that her treatments will- they give her a year.  They say regardless, she will have ‘cognitive problems’ is what they said.”

“When did you find out?”

“I don’t know.  Three months.”

Ocotillo leaned forward rapidly in his seat.  “Three months!  Why didn’t you call me before?”

Nora let out what sounded like a restrained sob.  “Hell, ‘Tillo, you accuse me of only calling because I want something, now you’re asking me why I didn’t call sooner.  I let you in.  I’m telling you now.  You should be glad-”  

“For the record, I am still accusing you of only calling me because you want something.  I know your game.  Don’t tell me you had some epiphany, a sudden change of heart, like you got up and said ‘you know, I really owe it to ol’ Ocotillo.  I’ve been avoiding him for years, moving like a bedouin, leaving town, and now I’m going to reach out to him.’  I don’t buy it.  So stop pretending that you’re trying to be a decent person and tell me what I need to do to help our daughter.”

Silence.

“I need a hundred thousand dollars.” 

Chapter Four

Ocotillo wasn’t the type to gloat when he had the upper hand in an argument.  “Go on.  I’m listening” he said.

“All the doctors said they can’t do anything for Haley.  She didn’t qualify for any... ‘investigational programs’ is what they call it, either.  I found a doctor though, who says he can do something similar to a treatment they’ve had success with here.”

“Here?  You mean he’s out of the country.”

“Yes.  I know it sounds bad, but he’s our only option.  He’s in Mexico.”

“You’re sure you’ve exhausted all possible options?”

“I can’t make the rounds again.  Haley needs help now.”

Ocotillo thought for a minute.  “If I get the money, I need to go with you and Haley and see this doctor in Mexico.”

“Yes, fine, but can you get the money?  Have you been working?”

Ocotillo looked down at his leg briefly, then back at the road.  “No, not since the accident.  But I’ve been getting a lot of calls.  Got one last week from someone from Bill Stane’s office.”

“THE Bill Stane!  The billionaire!”

“Don’t get too excited.  He may have hired someone else.  Just pray the job is still open.”  

Chapter Five

When Ocotillo got home, he called Bill Stane’s office.

A professional, British female voice said, “StaneCorp Southern California, how may I direct your call?”

“Yeah, hi.  I got a call about a week ago from someone at this number about a security job.”

“A security job?  ...Oh, yes.  Mr. Wells!  We had almost given up on you.”

“Please, call me Ocotillo, everyone does,” Ocotillo said while smiling, glad to hear the job was still open.  Then he became puzzled.  “How did you know it was me?  StaneCorp didn’t contact anyone else for the job?”

“I’m sorry.  I’m not really privy to that information.  Mr. Stane’s personal assistant Mr. Edwards told me to contact him when you called.  Do you mind holding?”

“Not at all.”

Classical music played over the line and Ocotillo paced the floor.  The British voice came back abruptly, saying,  “Still there.  Sorry for the wait.  Mr. Edwards wants you to come out to Mr. Stane’s beach house tonight for an interview.”  

“Tonight? At his house?  Could you tell me what the job is about?”

“I haven’t been given those details.  I know it sounds unorthodox, but Mr. Stane always works quickly when he wants something.”

“Yeah, but why does he want me?”  Ocotillo didn’t let her respond. “So, what do I need to bring with me?  Does he need a copy of my resume?”

“No, he already has what he needs.  He just said that the job requires that you have good, reliable transportation.  He emphasized that it was crucial for the job.  Of course, I’m sure you have reliable transportation.”

Ocotillo looked out the window at his microbus.  It was a grayish rust-color, probably because of the rust.

“Yeah, I have transportation,” he replied. 

Author's Note

If you care to read more, you can read the ongoing story at http://www.fiveaweekfiction.blogspot.com