An Unforeseen Turn of Events

Chapter Sixty-One

Ozzy, Ozzy. . ,do I know that name? Buddy thought.

His throat parched, Buddy reached for the coffee cup with his unsteady hand.

As his hand touched the cup, his phone buzzed. Jumping in his seat, nearly knocking over the coffee.

"Mr. Catalano, Mr. Monti is here to see you now." Shana sounded uncomfortable. Buddy imagined Ryan ripping mad—he probably wanted to break his office door down.

"OK Shana, let him in," Buddy struggled getting words out. He tried to rise and walk over to the door, but his legs refused to move. He attempted to get up several more times but couldn't, so he remained locked in his chair. A chill traveled through his body while he felt himself perspiring anew.

When Ryan knocked and walked in, he didn't look mad—instead his eyes were pleading, desperate, as if Buddy were the only one who could save the day.

A light bulb went on in his head that moment. Buddy remembered Ozzy. His eyes lit up like candles.

"Buddy, if you can help me get rid of this piece of filth blackmailing me, I'll forever be in your debt," Ryan said as he sank into the chair.

Buddy blinked and his ruminations of the past few hours disappeared. "You mean this Ozzy guy?"

"Yes!" Ryan lifted his eyebrows and leaned forward. "You know him?"

Buddy sat back straighter, his sunken shoulders rising. In a turnabout to his flagging fortunes, Buddy recalled the day he met the strange little man with a few orange strands of hair sprouting up on various uneven parts of his scalp. He resisted the urge to go down on his hands and knees and thank the good Lord shouting "Hallelujah" then and there. His eyes popped open.

"Two years ago, he came here for a job interview," he thundered, hitting his desk with his fist. "He popped in two hours too early! He didn't wanna gimme the chance to take my coat off! That joker was chasing a story down here and he gave me a half-assed resume to apply for the open investigator job!" Buddy was so excited he felt like jumping up and dancing. "I didn't wanna waste my time with him but my ex- brother-in-law Sammy persuaded me to give 'im an interview. Ha! It turned out that guy was pestering Sammy about doing a story on his business and mentioned he wanted to be a private investigator. Sammy wanted to get rid of 'im so he sent im to me. I ended up throwing that loser outta my office!" He shook his head. "And it's a good thing my sister left Sammy! Turns out that weasel Ozzy was trying to sniff out a story on him stealing money from his own company to buy gifts for his girlfriend. Linda found out and tossed 'im out!"

"Did Ozzy actually uncover the story?" a puzzled Ryan asked.

"Nah! He wasn't sharp enough to do that! I helped Linda to get the goods on 'im! My investigator saw Ozzy spyin' on Sammy with his girlfriend!"

But what good does that do me?" Ryan asked with a hangdog expression. "We can't use that to stop him now."

Buddy's triumphant smile crumbled. "No, no it doesn't. But" he scratched his head and faced Ryan with victory once again shinig in his eyes. "But, but, something else happened that day in the office." He jutted out his forefinger as he dug into the recesses of his memory. At first the images were fuzzy until he remembered Shana uncharacteristically storming into his office after Ozzy left, looking like she wanted to kill someone. "Shana!" he announced. "Shana would remember! She was furious with him! I don't remember why but she's got the memory of an elephant."

Without further ado Buddy buzzed Shana into his office.

***

Shana pranced into the office as if she were coming off a movie set. She had small hips and long shapely legs. Her green dress flowed around her knees; Shana had always wore pants or long skirts until Ryan became a client.

"Have a seat, dear," Buddy said in his most solicitous voice he normally only used for clients and to soothe his wife whenever she was angry with him.

Shana batted her heavy mascaraed eyelashes and slunk into the empty seat next to Ryan, propping her hands over her knees.

"Shana, dear, I am counting on your exceptional memory for this one," Buddy cooed. "Do you remember about two years ago, when that strange little man with orange hair spouting in the weirdest spots all over his head came in for an interview?"

Shana's smile turned into a scowl. "Do I remember him? How could I forget him!"

"Ah! I knew I could count on you, Shana! What did he do?"

Shana's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She glanced at Ryan and moved her head while staring at her boss, "Mr. Catalano, do you really want to go into it here?"

Buddy took her cue, cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "Mr. Monti, it seems this is of a very personal nature. Would you mind going into the waiting room while we chat?"

Ryan's eyes grew wider and he remained planted in his seat. Seeing the conversation was taking a more permanent pause, he answered, "Of course," and forced himself to rise.

"Feel free to take coffee, whatever you like." Buddy told him as he departed.

When the door closed and Buddy focused his attention on his secretary, her coquettish manners vanished. "Just bringing up that incident makes me ready for a drink, Mr. Catalano."

Buddy rose and asked, "What's your pleasure, dear?"

"A scotch on the rocks."

She took a sip and made a face; it was obvious she wasn't a drinker and this was all to heighten the drama. "He's my ex-husband's friend. We lived in Boston. After we got divorced, I moved here and started working for you. Ozzy found out and wouldn't stop pestering me to get him an interview with you. I nearly bowled over when I saw him come into this office. I thought it was my ex-husband who arranged the interview just to spite me! He even told Ozzy that I sabotaged his chances of getting hired. Ozzy blamed me and sent me a message that he would get revenge but as time went on, I never heard from him and thought it was an empty threat."

Buddy's eyebrows went up. His legs were wobbling. He looked at his secretary of seven years as though she were a stranger. He stumbled into his seat as if he needed a walker. "Forgive me, Shana, but I didn't know you were once married."

"If you can call it a marriage," Shana spat out, a side of her Buddy had never witnessed until now.

Buddy waited for her to continue but Shana only stared at the carpet looking as if she had tasted something rotten. Finally, she said, "My ex-husband was cheating on me soon after we married. I divorced him and moved to Los Angeles to make a fresh start and not to have to see him again.

Just then Buddy's phone rang.