Ghost Shadows (24 page)

Keeping the gun trained on Stephen, the robber slowly approached the large paper sack and quickly peeked inside, turning his attention immediately back to Stephen. Then he did a double-take; looked back into the bag and momentarily froze with amazement, his eyes growing wide with disbelief. The hand holding the gun began to tremble slightly and for a moment, Stephen worried it might accidently go off. Then realizing the absurdity of his worry he brushed the thought aside.

“What the hell!” The man shouted. “What is all this? Some kind of joke? The bag is full of money. There must be several thousand bucks in cash in here.”

“Yeah. I know,” Stephen replied. “Based on past experience, I would say maybe twenty or thirty grand give or take a few.”   

The burglar, whose real name was Thomas Stewart, stared at Stephen for a moment with an expression of perplexity, then a light of recognition appeared on his face. He thought to himself, Oh yeah . . . now I think I get what's going on here. This guy isn't just some rich a-hole who inherited a ton of money. He's a thief; a crook just like me. Then just as quickly Thomas realized that if his would-be victim was a robber he was obviously much more successful at the trade than Thomas had been so far. The house was incredible so there must be more to the man than he originally assumed.

Keeping his gun trained on Stephen Thomas asked, “So what did you do, rob a bank or what?”

Stephen realized the intruder had misunderstood him and apparently had mistaken him for a fellow criminal.  He laughed, “I didn't rob anyone. I just found the bag out along the highway, just as you see it there.”

Thomas was not going to fall for such a preposterous lie, “Yeah. Right. You mean to try to tell me that you were walking down the street and found a grocery bag full of cash? Just like that?” Thomas snapped his fingers to accentuate his statement. “What do you take me for, some kind of idiot? Nobody has that kind of good luck.”

“I do,” Stephen replied matter-of-factly. “I have that sort of amazing financial luck all the time. In fact, do you see that lottery ticket I found?”

Thomas looked down at the crumpled ticket. “Yeah, I see it. What about it?”

Stephen replied, “Well, I also found that while I was out walking. And although you interrupted me before I had time to check the website, I'd be willing to bet it is a winner; and not just a winner but a really big winner.”

“Uh huh!” Thomas replied with disbelief. “You must take me for a real chump, expecting me to believe this load of crap you're shoveling. Do you have any idea what the odds are of anyone winning big on the lottery, let alone winning with some wrinkled up old discarded ticket you found along the road?”

“The odds are probably astronomical,” Stephen admitted. “But nonetheless, I guarantee the ticket will be a major winner. That's just the way things work for me.

Look. I don't know exactly what your story is, my friend, but you said you were a desperate man,” Stephen continued. “Once I, too, was an equally desperate man. Now I have all of this. But I'm going to venture a guess at your current situation. I am thinking that once you were a fairly successful upper middle class professional earning a good living. Then the economy went bad, you lost your job and you either lost your home or are about to lose it. How am I doing so far?”

Thomas looked at Stephen with shocked surprise, wondering how this stranger could have possibly gotten his story so correct. He had never met the man before but somehow he knew about his job loss and the fact that the bank was about to foreclose on his home. Thomas was unable to reply so he just stood staring, slack-jawed at Stephen and slowly nodded his head in agreement.
 

“I would also speculate that you have a wife and family and although your wife has stood by you so far, things are getting rough on the home front,” Stephen said. “And you're afraid if you do actually lose your home then your wife will leave you and most likely take the kids with her.”

This was all so bizarre. Thomas had no idea how this man with his oddly confident manner could know so much about his life.  

Stephen continued. “Yep. I think I nailed your situation down perfectly. And although I know you may find this hard to believe, just a few years ago I was in the same boat as you were, or perhaps sinking ship might be a better description, then everything changed for me, overnight.”

Finally Thomas found his voice and asked, “Overnight? Not possible! What do you expect me to believe? That you found a magic lamp with a genie who granted you three wishes? What sort of fool do you take me for?”

“Well. It was not exactly like that but something along those lines,” Stephen said. “I was like you. I had a wife and daughter but I had lost my job and could not find another. The bill collectors were banging on my door and ringing my phone off the hook. The bank was about to take my home.”

“All right,” Thomas said. “Suppose I buy into your cockamamie story. Where did all of this come from?” Thomas waved his arm to indicate the opulent surroundings of Stephen's home.

Stephen replied, “Someone offered me the opportunity to change my financial luck and I took it. This was the result. And if you think you'd like to have what I have and more I can arrange that for you as well.”

“And why in the hell would you want to do that for someone like me who came here to rob you?” Thomas asked suspiciously. “What is this, some kind of con? Is it some ridiculous get rich pyramid scheme? Look, buddy, I've been approached by all these types before and I'm not about to fall for such crap and head down that particular road to ruin.”

“I assure you,” Stephen said. “It's not a scheme or business. And although it may seem like I'm doing you a favor, I guarantee you my reasons are purely selfish; I am doing this only for myself. You probably won't believe me, but the truth is that I am tired of all of this. When I was in trouble like you are, I thought money would bring me happiness, but it has not. All it has brought me is sorrow,” Stephen said. “You and everyone else might think I should be the happiest man alive but I'm far from it. So the only way for me to truly change my life is to get someone else, such as yourself, to voluntarily take my place.”

Thomas asked, “Take your place? What is that supposed to mean?”

Stephen explained, “All this amazing good fortune can only belong to one person at a time. Before me it belonged to another man and before him, someone else. I have no idea how far back in time it goes, but I suspect centuries. The important thing is that I have it now and am offering it to you.”

Thomas once again looked perplexed and said, “This is insane. But just assume for a minute that I'm desperate enough to be willing to play along with you. How in the hell do you propose to make this supposed transfer of good luck happen?”

“It's quite simple really.” Stephen said, “All you have to do is ask me. If you just tell me you wish you could have all the luck I currently possess and all the money you could ever need and I agree, then it will be yours. What will happen is the good fortune will leave my body and go into yours. And from that moment on you will never want for money again. But you have to be sure this is really what you want. And I have to warn you to be very careful what you wish for, because you just might get it; as I did.”

Thomas was sure this stranger was out of his mind; some kind of rich eccentric wacko. And what was that last cryptic statement supposed to mean? “Be careful what you wish for?” What was that all about? The guy was obviously some kind of nut job, Thomas was certain. But as he, himself, had said earlier that he was a desperate man and desperate men tend to do things they normally would never previously have considered. So he decided to play along with the lunatic. The worst case scenario was he might get some cash out of the deal. “Not that it really matters to me, but what is supposed to happen to you if I make this wish and take away all of your good fortune? What will become of you?”
 

Stephen said, “That's a good question. Here's how it works. When you make your wish, all of my luck will become yours. When the transfer is complete, this house and everything in it will be yours. I'll simply leave and you will never see me again.”

“Wait a minute! Hold your horses! I get this now.” Thomas said distrustfully. “You're trying to con me into letting you go. Then as soon as you walk out that door you'll go around the corner and call the cops. A few minutes later they'll bust in here and haul my sorry butt off the jail. Well, fat chance, buddy! If you honestly think I'm going to let you walk out the front door like that, then you're crazier than I thought.” Thomas raised the gun and pointed it straight at Stephen's chest.

Stephen never flinched or showed the slightest sign of fear. Instead he said, “Then I suppose I have to prove it to you. I have to convince you that what I am saying is true. What do you suppose the odds are of a bullet missing me from your current distance?”

“What?” Thomas asked once again caught off guard, “What the hell are you saying? From this distance, a blind man wouldn't miss. Are you telling me you want me to shoot you from this point blank range? Are you suicidal or what?”

“No, not really,” Stephen said. “I have to admit at one time I was but no longer. I also believe even at this close proximity if you shot at me you wouldn't hit me. You have no idea how powerful all of this is. Look, I realize you don't consider yourself the murdering kind, but I assure you if you pull that trigger you won't harm me.”

Thomas said, “OK. Wait a minute here. Maybe you're just out of your friggin' mind or something. I don't know. But I have no intention on killing you unless I have no other choice. So I'm not about to pull this trigger just because you say so, OK? How's about this . . . why don't I just take this bag of money and leave?” Things were getting way too weird for Thomas and his gut was telling him to leave immediately.  
 

Stephen retorted, “If you think that will satisfy you then please just take the bag and go. And feel free to take the lottery ticket as well. But I don't think that will be enough for you; I suspect you want more. And if you do really want more, so much more, then I have a better idea. All you have to do is tell me that you wish you had all of my luck and I was left with none of it. If you do than then all the riches you ever imagined will be yours. But the key is, you can't just say the words, you really have to mean them.”

For a moment Thomas stood silently staring at Stephen as if studying his expression for signs of deception. There were none. Thomas thought, this guy really believes everything he is saying. In his mind, he thinks he's telling me the truth. Then Thomas suddenly realized that it didn't really matter whether he believed in wishes or good luck himself, because the man standing in front of him most certainly did. And what that meant to Thomas was, if he could convince this strange man he really did believe what he was saying and that he would accept Steven's proposition, then the madman really might be crazy enough to actually sign over his house and all of his money to him. Thomas decided to do his best to gain the man's confidence.

“What is your name?” Thomas asked Stephen, figuring that was as good of a place as any to start.

“Stephen,” he replied. “Stephen Albright is my name. And yours? If I may ask.”

Thomas hesitated for a moment then decided to be honest with Stephen. If he was going to pull this off he had to be truthful. He said, “My name is Thomas Stewart.”

Stephen said, “Very well, Thomas Stewart. May I assume you are considering taking me up on my offer? Are you ready to assume my place and claim you own financial fortune?”

“I am,” Thomas replied, but still somewhat warily. He   had never dealt with a crazy person before and he had no idea what might happen next. There was also something so very odd about the way this Stephen character was in such a hurry to give away his fortune that for the first time Thomas actually began to feel apprehensive about everything. Although he was not prone to superstition, something felt not quite right about all of this. He thought of something his father had once told him: “Tommy, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
 

But Thomas needed to believe Stephen was nothing more than an eccentric crackpot. And since Thomas still held the gun and had it pointed directly at Stephen, there was little the man could do to harm him. Yet he felt something was still a bit wrong with the entire situation. All sorts of internal alarms went off at once, as if warning Thomas to grab the bag of money and flee. But Thomas was convinced that these feelings were unfounded and he decided, Why should he settle for a bag of money when he could have it all? This crazy man was offering him a whole new lease on life.

“OK,” Thomas acknowledged. Then he asked, “What should I do? I mean . . . how do I make all of this happen?” He didn't want to screw up what could be a very sweet deal.

Stephen explained, “Just say aloud that you wish you had all of the luck I currently have and that I would no longer have any of it. It's as simple as that. But once again, I have to warn you to make sure you really mean what you are saying and that deep down in the very pit of your soul this is really what you want.”

Thomas realized such a declaration would not be a problem for him because he and his family had been struggling just to stay afloat for so many years. Things had gotten about as bad as he felt they could ever get; so bad that he had stooped so low as to try to rob Stephen's home. He even realized that if it had become necessary he really could have murdered the man; shot him in cold blood. That was exactly how bad things had become. Thomas loved his wife and family, and as such would do anything in his power to help them. He would have done anything I if it meant helping his family. So as unbelievable as it might be, what Stephen was offering could be his last chance he had to save his family.