Chase of a Lifetime Read Free Page A

any
emotion one way or the other. One older guy who worked at his father’s law firm
grabbed his arm and said, “I couldn’t miss that peppy little car out there. Hot
damn.”
    Jim’s father, Radcliff Darling, stepped up
behind the man and said, “It was a graduation gift.”
    Jim refrained from rolling his eyes. Who
used the word “peppy” anymore? He took a quick glance around. At least the
people he’d feared would be there weren’t in sight. There were no younger
people. This looked more like a party for adults…all of his mother and father’s
friends.
    The older guy patted Jim’s back and said,
“I’ll bet that car’s going to be a chick magnet. You’ll have the girls chasing
you down the street in that little baby.”
    Jim smiled. His mother and father had given
him a brand new silver BMW 650i convertible as a graduation gift. He’d been
wondering how many hot young guys would be chasing him down the street.
    Radcliff glanced at Jim and beamed with pride.
His face illuminated and he smiled so wide Jim saw the fillings in his back
teeth. “Jim’s a good kid and he’s worked hard in school. Helen and I wanted to
do something special for him for graduation.”
    Someone else patted Jim on the back and
congratulated him. He started to feel light-headed and his heart began to race
for no apparent reason. His first instinct was to get out of there as fast as
he could, so he smiled and said, “I’m going out to check the car to make sure I
closed the windows. I heard it might rain. I’ll be back.”
    They were all drinking and laughing so much
they hardly noticed him leave. It was one of those parties where most people
congratulate the guest of honor to be polite and then continue having fun
without really caring one way or the other about the guest of honor. As he
crossed to the front door and opened it, he found another one of his father’s
friends standing in the doorway.
    “Well, there you are,” the man said. He wore
a pale blue seersucker suit with a white shirt and pale yellow bowtie. He had
three chins and his stomach rounded as if he’d stuffed his shirt with a throw
pillow.
    “Ah well, here I am,” Jim said in a deadpan
voice. The man’s name was Bill Harper and he’d been a friend and client of Jim’s
father for years. He was President of some bank in Dallas , but Jim couldn’t recall which one. He
also had a single daughter, Bitsy, who was almost the same age as Jim. This
could be trouble. Jim looked over his shoulder to see if Bitsy was behind him.
    Bill Harper put his arm around Jim and
dragged him back into the main hall, before Jim had a chance to resist. “I’m
going to get a drink. You wait right here and we’ll catch up. Wait until I tell
you about what good old Bitsy has been up to since you last saw her. You’ll
love it. She’s a real go-getter , that girl of mine.”
    As Bill Harper headed to a bar in the living
room, Jim made his way back to the staircase. Bitsy Harper was a rotund young
woman with frizzy hair and small eyes. They’d been in student government in
high school and he’d always thought of her as one of those passive aggressive
types who get what they want in subtle ways. She’d once said, “I’m not sure I’m
going to run for President of student government. I don’t think I have what it
takes. I’m way too shy for that. I’m a simple girl.” She ran; she won; she
ruled the school with an iron fist. Bill had been trying to fix Jim up with her
since they’d been in high school.
    Jim figured if he could sneak back up to his
bedroom no one would notice him missing. But someone else grabbed his shoulder
and congratulated him. A man Jim didn’t even know passed by, patted the top of
his head, and messed up his hair. A woman with big red hair grabbed his face
and kissed him on the cheek. “We’re all proud of you. What are you going to do
now?”
    Jim shrugged and said, “I was going to check
on something upstairs in my bedroom.” He wondered