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<\/p>\nRichard visits his daughter to celebrate his eightieth birthday with her, but she answers the door in tears and sends him away. Richard suspects trouble and realizes he\u2019s right after peeking through her front windows.
\nRichard tapped his fingers nervously against the steering wheel as he drove. Deidre used to drive down every Thanksgiving, but that stopped after his wife\u2019s funeral four years ago. Now, there were only weekly calls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Richard spread his arms wide as Deidre appeared in the doorway. \u201cSurprise!\u201d he yelled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad? What are you doing here?\u201d she asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to celebrate my birthday with you\u2026it\u2019s the big eight-o!\u201d Richard replied, but the joy in his voice trailed off quickly. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, honey? Why are you crying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing; everything\u2019s fine,\u201d Deidre quickly wiped her tears and smiled a little. \u201cI just\u2026I wasn\u2019t expecting you, and this isn\u2019t really a good time. Sorry, Dad, but I, uh, need to focus. On my work. Look, I\u2019ll call you. We\u2019ll have dinner later, okay? Sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deidre shut the door, leaving Richard hurt and confused. Something was terribly wrong. Was Deidre in trouble?<\/p>\n
Richard stepped back from the front door but didn\u2019t leave. He stepped over the short, flowering shrubs lining the path and snuck up to peek through the windows.<\/p>\n
Two rough-looking men were in the sitting room with Deidre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was that?\u201d One of them asked in a rough voice.\u201cNobody,\u201d Deidre lied in a shaky voice. \u201cJust a neighbor\u2019s kid\u2026pulling a doorbell prank and running away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack to business then,\u201d the second man said. \u201cYou\u2019re now six months behind on your loan repayments, Deidre. Mr. Marco\u2019s getting impatient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need more time. Business is sure to pick up again in the winter,\u201d she pleaded.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime is one thing you haven\u2019t got, sweetie,\u201d the man replied, pulling out his gun. \u201cPeople who owe Mr. Marco money don\u2019t have a great life expectancy and end up feeding the fishes in the lake\u2026\u201d He pointed the weapon at her.<\/p>\n
Terror froze Richard in place. But soon, the man stepped back with a look of disgust and tucked the gun away in the waistband of his trousers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook around this dump and see if there\u2019s anything valuable we can take to Mr. Marco, Danny,\u201d he ordered. \u201cShe\u2019s a businesswoman, so there must be a computer or some kind of equipment around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dBut I need those things!\u201d she cried. \u201cI can\u2019t make money without my equipment!\u201d<\/p>\n
The man patted the butt of his gun. \u201dBoo-Hoo. I can still change my mind, you know. Don\u2019t be ungrateful, now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men ransacked her home before they stormed out, leaving Deidre curled up sobbing on the floor.<\/p>\n
Nothing made sense to Richard because Deidre\u2019s business was doing well. At least that\u2019s what she had told him. But now, Richard could sense something was amiss. Deidre needed his help.<\/p>\n
The men loaded several appliances from Deidre\u2019s home in their vehicle.<\/p>\n
When they finally drove away, Richard followed them.<\/p>\n
The men stopped at a two-storeyed brick building downtown that looked like a bar. While it was closed, the door was unlocked. No one on the staff stopped Richard as he entered the building.<\/p>\n
The men had joined a large table where several other rough-looking men were seated. One of them stood and swaggered toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club\u2019s closed,\u201d he growled. \u201cCome back later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to discuss Deidre\u2019s debt,\u201d Richard announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh?\u201d The man seated at the head of the table rose and stared at Richard. He looked like a gentleman except for a nasty scar above his left eye. Richard guessed he was Mr. Marco.<\/p>\n
\u201dHow much does she owe you?\u201d Richard asked.<\/p>\n
Mr. Marco smirked. \u201cA good samaritan, huh? Deidre took out a business loan of $80,000 from me. She was supposed to pay me back from her monthly profits, only she never made any.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dI have around $20,000 in my savings,\u201d Richard gulped fearfully, shaken Deidre had borrowed such a big sum.<\/p>\n
\u201dThat\u2019s only a quarter of what she owes us.\u201d Mr. Marco sighed. \u201cBut there\u2019s something you can do to make up the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard didn\u2019t like the sound of that, but he had to do whatever it took to save his daughter from the mess she\u2019d gotten herself into.<\/p>\n
\u201dWhat do you want me to do?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Mr. Marco grinned at Richard and beckoned him closer to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201dMy partner and I recently started a small business importing cars to Canada, but some of the paperwork has been delayed, so we\u2019re having difficulties getting the\u2026\u2019merchandise\u2019\u2026across the border. A kind, innocent-looking Grandpa like you should have no trouble crossing the border in one of our cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard had no choice but to agree. Later that night, he pulled into a gas station near the border town to use the bathroom and parked beside a patrol.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus!\u201d he gasped as the German Shepherd in the back of the police cruiser began barking at him and pawing at the window.<\/p>\n
Service dogs were trained not to bark at random people unless\u2026Oh, man.<\/p>\n
He quickly climbed back in the car, a Valiant, and started reversing as the police dog went crazy.<\/p>\n
Two cops hurried out of the gas station store and yelled at him to stop as they glanced at him. The GPS app voiced directions, but Richard shoved it in his pocket to silence the darn thing.<\/p>\n
He pushed the Valiant to its limits as he wove through traffic, leaving a trail of outraged drivers and narrowly avoided collisions in his wake. The sirens blared behind him.<\/p>\n
Richard soon spotted a narrow, unmarked dirt road veering into the forest ahead. He sharply turned, leaving the road behind him as he raced into the forest. The muddy trails were awful to navigate, but Richard pushed on.<\/p>\n
He turned down a narrow track leading downhill. Then, he turned up a slight rise and instantly regretted it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Richard visits his daughter to celebrate his eightieth birthday with her, but she answers the door in tears and sends him away. Richard suspects trouble and realizes… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":false,"total_views":0,"today_views":0},"yoast_head":"\n