Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Is there a reason for this visit?"  Aaron faced his dad.  The last time he laid eyes on the older Dozier man, it had been around last Christmas...almost ten months ago. 

"Actually, there is," Richard said, picking up a photo frame off Aaron's desk.  That particular photo portrayed the day Aaron passed his Captain's exam and earned his current rank.  Seeing that memory in his father's fingers sullied the thought of that day.

"Well?  I don't have all day."

Richard beamed a bright grin at his son, looking more like George Hamilton than anyone should have the right to.  "You remember that little real estate venture I started last spring?"

Considering he had not spoken to or seen his father in a good long while, Aaron had no idea what he was talking about.  But instead of answering and getting an earful on that subject, Aaron rested a hip on the side of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest...waiting for the point to all this.

"Anyway, when the market started bottoming out a few years ago, I looked into acquiring a few properties.  And I discovered a gem of a side-business in rent houses."

Richard wandered around the small office as he spoke, lightly touching the collection of awards and merits on Aaron's shelf and studying the assortment of hanging photographs along the back wall.  His father didn't seem to be in hurry on explaining his visit, however Aaron felt no need to express any curiosity.  That would only prompt him to extend his small stay.

Small stays were all Richard was capable of.  After Aaron's mother died when he was a child, his dad picked up and moved every few years.  Until the age of ten, they lived near the Missouri border.  When Mary Dozier finally allowed the breast cancer to claim her life, he and his dad moved to the Memphis area.  They lived there for three years.  After that, Aaron entered ninth grade in a little town called Mayflower, and by the end of his junior year, they were living in Little Rock. 

Graduation came as a ticket to freedom and stability, and in the thirteen years since Aaron left the roof of Richard Dozier, they had made contact about as many times.  Mostly, the reason was that Aaron despised his father, but a small -- not as important -- reason was that his dad still continued to move from place to place. . . woman to woman . . . job to new opportunity.

"And," his dad continued, breaking into Aaron's thoughts, "I've acquired a few homes in this area."

He turned then, to look at Aaron, and the gleam of mischief in the older man's eye was never a good sign.  Aaron tilted his head up to better assess the person before him.  An achy, funny feeling settled in his gut, not a very pleasant sensation, like the hairs on his neck standing on end just as he hears the screams coming out of a second floor window of a burning building.

"And?"

Richard smiled pleasantly.  "And I've discovered that the land is worth more than the homes.  Two of my properties are set to be vacated at the end of the month, but the other...well, the tenant just moved in, and she signed a six month lease."  He sighed remorsefully and raised his hands, palms up.  "I can't kick her out, so unless I can convince her to move on her accord..."

Aaron leveled his gaze on his father.  The bastard.  He knew exactly which home he was talking about.  "Lainie signed a lease with Joseph Longstern.  How is it you've acquired the property so fast?"

Richard hitched an innocent shoulder.  "I haven't as yet.  Joseph sold me the property last week, but my interest is in the land, not the house.  We finalize the sale next week."