Free Flight of Aquavit by Anthony Bidulka

on.
    “Why is he doing this, Russell? He must know I
    got the blackmail note. It’s only the eleventh today.
    He didn’t demand the money until the fifteenth.
    Why is he hounding me? Does he want to show me
    he’s serious? Well I got it, man, you’re serious!
    Leave me alone! For chrissakes man, what do I do?”
    “Tell me what else happened, Daniel,” I said,
    keeping my voice low and steady. “He followed
    you, then what?”
    Anthony Bidulka — 73
    “I drove in circles. I went everywhere but
    home.” Daniel ran a still-gloved hand through
    already mussed-up hair. “I eventually parked in
    front of the police station downtown. And I just
    sat there. For half an hour I waited. When I start-
    ed out again he was gone. So I went home. Keeee-
    rist! WhadamIgonnado?”
    “Daniel, first you need to sit down.”
    His eyes grew to saucer-size and his face con-
    torted. He yelled at me, spittle flying from his lips,
    “I don’t want to sit down! I want…I want…I want
    this to be over with! I want this nightmare to be
    over with!”
    I frankly wasn’t surprised at this outburst.
    Daniel had been too controlled the day before. He
    was treating the whole thing—at least with me—
    as if it were a meddlesome business problem that
    needed a tidy solution. His anger was honest.
    Now, I thought to myself, we can work together.
    “Daniel, if indeed this was Loverboy…”
    Again he railed at me, “What the hell do you
    mean ‘if’?”
    “It’s unpleasant, yes, Daniel, but nothing new
    has happened here, nothing more threatening.”
    “Are you crazy?” he shouted at me, a crazed
    look on his face, his glasses slightly askew. “He
    could have followed me home! Once he knows
    where I live he could walk right up to my front
    door and tell my wife everything! He could tell
    my neighbours, staff, clients! Do you have any
    idea what this could do to my business?”
    I raised my voice just a bit, only to ensure I had
    his attention. “Daniel! First of all, if Jo is Loverboy,
    74 — F l i g h t o f A q u av i t
    he already knows where you live!”
    He gazed at me with a gradual dawning of
    understanding, then said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,
    that’s right.”
    “And second of all, Loverboy would never
    dare tell your wife—or anyone else—anything at
    this point in the game. To do so would cost him
    fifty grand!”
    There was a bit of settling-down silence. Even
    with lights on, the room appeared cast in a
    depressing dimness. Outside the windows,
    despite the morning hour, it was still the dark of
    night. It was too early for any neighbours to have
    commenced their business day and we seemed
    very isolated in our lone tower on this winter
    morning in the north end of Saskatoon.
    “So why then? Why is he following me?”
    Daniel finally asked, having sufficiently calmed
    himself.
    “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe he’s just
    keeping an eye on you, or seeking some thrill by
    watching you squirm now that the cat is out of the
    bag. I don’t know, Daniel, but I think this is good
    news.”
    He shot me an incredulous look. “What are
    you talking about?”
    “Until yesterday all we had was a piece of
    paper. Now we’ve got a real live person. He’s
    shown himself. And if he shows himself
    again…well, we just might be there to catch him.”
    “How? How are we going to do that?”
    “Leave that up to me for now. Tell me, was the
    car a green Intrepid?” I bit my lip waiting for the
    Anthony Bidulka — 75
    answer I was sure would be yes.
    “No.” My heart sank. “It was blue I think. I’m
    not sure of the make. Why do you ask?”
    Bugger. Oh well, Hugh had a buddy with him
    the other night; perhaps the buddy was driving a
    blue car. I gave Daniel a quick rundown of my
    South Corman Park Landfill escapade. He doubt-
    ed it had anything to do with his case. I wasn’t so
    sure.
    With the immediacy of Daniel’s situation dealt
    with, we each took off our coats and Daniel
    offered me a seat while he went