Vega met her father at their favorite Mexican restaurant right after work. The letter was definitely an astonishing development and just holding it in her hands was spellbinding.
“You said you went to a client’s office and checked the handwriting using one of their computers?”
“That’s right,” said Lucas, “if my computer is being monitored, then using it for that would have compromised the whole thing. I’m no expert and, like everybody else’s, his handwriting evolves through the years, but this letter looks like it was written by the same person who wrote these other notes.”
Vega looked at the printouts of about a dozen different handwritten notes and nodded in agreement.
“So what’re you going to do?”
“My first reaction is to go,” said Lucas, “but I wanted to know what your gut tells you after reading the letter.”
“My mind tells me to be very careful,” said Vega, “but, oddly, my gut feels the man’s legit. It’s hard to explain, it’s like the letter itself has some kind of positive energy.”
“I know, I felt it too. So, it’s settled then, I’m going to Cincinnati.”
“We… are going to Cincinnati,” said Vega emphasizing the word we. “I’m not gonna let you go alone. My mind is still telling me to be careful.”
“Ok, so we are going… Shit I’m nervous. You know pregame jitters. I mean we’re gonna meet a historical figure. What if I screw it up?”
“Dad, you know more about the subject you’ll be discussing with him than the average person. Besides, he wouldn’t have invited you if he hadn’t noticed something special about you in the conversations. Plus I’m sure that after more than 40 years he must be used to people stuttering or going gaga when meeting him. Just do your homework and prepare well for the meeting. As for your current jitters, your lawyer advises a large Margarita.”
“Whatever you say counselor,” said Lucas while signaling for the waiter.
Two hours later at Lucas place…
Ok, showtime, thought Lucas as he sat on his computer.
He signed into the fantasy league chat room and wrote a message to the manager of the Kitty Hawks.
“Hey Ed, hope you’re well. I’ve been out for a few days and haven’t been checking my messages here. Listen, regarding the job you talked to me about, something has come up that will make it impossible for me to travel. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. Anyway, Godspeed in your venture.”
He had discussed the content of this message with Vega over Swiss enchiladas and they agreed that using the can’t travel excuse would help mask their real intentions later on when they did buy air tickets.
Over in Ohio, the old man read the message and smiled. He still had to wait a couple of days to get a confirmation by regular mail, but he was confident that the electronic message was part of the ruse he had proposed. He answered promptly:
“Don’t worry about it. Maybe some other time. By the way, it looks like we are leading our league. Would you be interested in a trade?” And just like that their conversations turned to pure baseball.
Please help keep the stories flowing…