The Premise

by Andy Crossfield

  "Who are you working for?" Colleen asked as she spun the restrained maid around, confronting her.

  "No hablo ingles."

  "Who told you to steal my briefcase?"

  "No hablo ingles"

  "She’s shut down, ma’am…no use trying to get her to talk now. We’ll get it out of her downstairs or turn her over to ICE to deport her, …one or the other."

  "Vamanos!" Jason said as he urged the maid toward the door.

  "Wait!" Colleen said blocking their path, "Don’t I get to press charges? She tried to take my life’s work!" Colleen protested, now suddenly getting panicked trying to remember where Mark’s briefcase was.

  "Ma’am, calm down, is anything missing?"

  "I’m not sure, maybe that guy took my briefcase… what in the hell is going on around here? I’m trying to remember where it was…" Colleen’s words fell off as she went to the closet and checked the shelf where she hid it last night, but it was gone.

  "I can tell you he didn’t have it when he ran out of here, that’s for sure," Jason said, raising his voice so Colleen could hear him over the noise of her search.

  Just then a man appeared at the open doorway and knocked politely, "Hello? Anybody here?"

  Jason walked to the door, which then gave Colleen the courage to come over and investigate the newest player in this game with no rules.

  "Yes?" Who is it?" Colleen asked as she stepped in front of Jason.

  "Hi, I’m Tom Melvin, sorry to bother you, I heard voices from out in the hall and thought maybe you could help me. I work with Jack Colder… his room is just across the hall from yours. I’m not able to locate him and I was wondering if you had seen him recently?"

  "Oh, hi… I’m Colleen Baker, er, Dr. Colleen Baker. I saw him earlier this morning…" Colleen said as she blushed brightly. She realized Jack could have mentioned her and Tom was probably putting two and two together as they spoke.

  "I see, well, if you see him again, tell him I’ll be in my room. I hope nothing has happened to him, he has never disappeared after a show before, never. I’ve called his cell but it keeps going to the machine. We have a kind of post show routine you see and… Well never mind. I’m sure I’m worried for nothing. Good to meet you… Dr. Baker."

  Willis Santiago arrived at his office just as several officers were leading Colleen’s attacker to the hotel holding cell.

  "Any idea who this guy is?" said one of Willis’ men.

  "Looks like the guy we were looking for yesterday… the guy who broke in to Dr. Baker’s room? Isn’t that the same tat on his wrist?"

  Willis dropped the report he was reading and checked out the tattoo for himself. "Sure looks like it.

  "Did he talk?"

  "No, sir, he’s been quiet. No ID, no phone or weapon He had this though." The guard said as he flipped a vintage $100 Sahara casino chip to Willis.

  "Where is Dr. Baker now?" he said, scrutinizing their newest lead.

  "In her room, Jason’s up there with her. He ran into some problems with this one here sir," said the guard nodding toward the prisoner. "Seems he’s stun proof. Colin’s headed up there now to help out. Oh, and it sounds like Jason has a broken hand."

  "Yeah," said the other guard, "this guy needs a warning label on his head somewhere: "Don’t Stun Me, It’ll Just Make Me Mad!"

  Willis took a photo of the tattoo to add to the mug shots taken when he arrived.

  "Put this out to see if any other hotel has an interest in Mr. Doe will you? I’m going up to apologize for the third time." Willis said shaking his head. "I’m getting pretty good at it, sorry to say. Oh, and see if we can get her some show tickets or something. I’m trying real hard to keep her from owning this place!"

  Willis Santiago had always liked his job. Mostly his days were filled with small time headaches. Domestic squabbles, drunks, vandalism, petty theft, that sort of thing. Nobody got too hurt and certainly not killed, and that’s what he liked most about it.

  This one though had conspiracy written all over it. Not a crime of opportunity, but calculation. Repeatedly targeting the same individual got his curiosity going like nothing else, and he knew he would need more information from the target before he’d ever have a decent chance to catch the brains behind it.

  What he needed was motive. His task was complicated of course by the ineptness shown already by his security force. It was never a good plan to appear incompetent to the victim, especially when you relied on their cooperation and trust to solve the case.

  When he got to Colleen’s suite, she was on her cell and Jason was talking to Colin, grimacing and holding his injured hand dunked in an ice bucket. When Willis entered the suite, they both came over to fill him in on what they knew.

  "How’s the hand, son?" Willis asked.

  "I think it's broken, sir. The taser had no effect on the guy, none at all."

  "You think he’s working with the maid?

  "Maybe. He was at the closet trying to free her when I got here. It looked like he’d already searched the rest of the place though. The guest was out cold over there on the floor. He could have just been trying to search the closet too, I guess."

  "Any idea what he was looking for?"

  "Not really. Whatever it was he didn’t find it. He left here empty handed…."

  "The guest, er, Dr. Baker, keeps talking about a briefcase." Jason added. "Supposed to have her life’s work in it, she thinks now she left it across the hall in a friend’s room. Funny thing, some guy came by soon after this all happened looking for the guy across the hall too… says he’s missing!"

  "Come again?" Willis said as he stopped trying to eavesdrop on Colleen’s conversation.

  "Yeah, this guy shows up, says he’s the guest across the hall’s partner. Asked if she’d seen him, said it wasn’t like him to go missing after they did their show."

  Willis walked to the room phone and called the front desk. "Hi, let me speak to Carmen, please"

  "Hi Carmen, Willis. Say who’s in room 1416? Colder? …Like it sounds? …Uh huh,…Any idea why he’s in town? …Ok, Thanks, Carmen"

  Willis jotted the information in a small pad and looked in Colleen’s direction but he couldn’t catch her attention. She was listening intently and not even aware he had come into the room.

  "The guys name is Jack Colder. Some author who put on a seminar today on writing held in the hotel. It ended at about noon though… nobody remembers anything unusual."

  Willis tried to get Colleen’s attention again, this time by making a clicking noise with his tongue against the roof of his mouth. It worked for his cat, and his cat was a lot more jaded than Colleen Baker, even with all the ineptness on display by his department.

  At the unfamiliar sound, Colleen did turn toward Willis, but instead of noticing Willis, she looked right through him, past Jason and Colin, to the figure now standing in the doorway.

  "Jack!" Colleen yelled as she rushed to him, arms outstretched.

  ___________________

  Sheriff Glover was used to superiors that micromanaged him and he'd even dealt with political interference of his office. Over the years he had grown to accept their inevitability, like friction or gravity… they got in the way but he had learned ways to work around them. Somebody was always calling wanting a traffic ticket fixed or somebody’s bail reduced… the trick was to exact as many favors as he could and then call them in quickly before they were forgotten.

  That may run counter to the public’s impression of morality, but he learned long ago the value of keeping the job while not rubbing too many highly placed people the wrong way. Dan Glover had himself been the beneficiary of a predecessor that learned that lesson too late, and Dan vowed if, or when, he got canned, it wouldn’t be because he didn’t still have friends in high places.

  That’s why he was so galled by the direction this case was turning… forced to go underground just to do his sworn duty. Somebody was protected enough from on high to kill fourteen people, attempt a massive cover u
p involving heavy equipment on a public highway, and then have enough sway with the governor to have local law enforcement pulled off the case. Dan wondered what the favor would have to be in order to have something like that salted away in the payback bank. Maybe it wasn’t a favor after all, but a video of some extra curricular activity. Whatever it was, it was obviously not in his league. Some things about this job he hadn’t yet reconciled, and this one was definitely at the top of the list.

  He steered his cruiser into the medical examiner’s lot and pulled into the law enforcement space… a small but coveted perk of his job.

  "Hi Phillip," Sheriff Glover called out halfway across the morgue.

  "Hi Sheriff, what brings you over here?" he said looking nervously around the room.

  "Oh, just getting bored as hell with the living, I s’pose" the sheriff responded causally.

  "Well you just missed the excitement… this place was swarming with dudes from Randall, taking everything related and tagged from the Crimson Desert case. Everything in sight that is." Phillip gave the sheriff a fast wink as he put emphasis on the word sight and went back to his work.

  "Sorry to put you through that Phillip, I kinda figured they'd pay you a visit. What have you learned from the stuff out of sight… anything yet?"

  "You didn’t drive all the way over here just to ask me that did you?" asked Phillip, finishing up logging in some evidence.

  "Well, yeah, truth be known, I didn’t want to call…guess I’m getting paranoid, but then again, its not paranoia if they’re really out to get me." Dan smiled briefly then turned serious.

  "Well, I am glad you came by, I did find something curious… there was a residue I collected from those body bags you salvaged. Saving them was pretty smart actually."

  "What kind of residue?"

  "Explosive" …I’m trying to type it now, but that sort of thing really needs access to the DHS database, but since this is on the downlow, I thought you may have a problem with me telling the guys from Homeland Security your business…"

  Explosives, huh? Any idea which kind?

  "I'm pretty sure it's PBXN-12.

  "Are you saying military grade?"

  "Yep, unless they're selling Hellfire missiles to hunters these days."

  Chapter 19 Flight of Discovery

  Jack was leaning against the door frame trying to make sense of all the new players in the room when Colleen swept over him like a wave. Still a bit unsteady from his time in the trunk, he lost his balance in Colleen’s embrace and the two slammed hard against the back wall in the hallway.

  "Jack! Where have you been?" Colleen blurted out before Jack could recover the wind knocked from him, "I thought I’d never see you again! Those guys were back, Jack, they knocked me out and then you disappeared, …I thought they had you!"

  She could see he wasn’t processing his surroundings too well, "Jack, are you all right? Jack?"

  Colleen helped him into her room and steered him to the couch, where he sat disoriented, holding the back of his head.

  "Colleen?" Jack said, looking up and right through her as she stood in front of him.

  "Yes? What is it Jack? I’m right here!"

  "I … uh, ..I just…."

  "What is it Jack? Are you all right?" Colleen’s expression turned from relief to concern.

  "I… just… hope…" Jack said, swallowing hard and showing signs of having trouble focusing his eyes.

  "You just hope… what, Jack?"

  "I… just… hope… what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas, 'cause we’re getting the hell out of here!" Jack said as he smiled broadly and pulled Colleen onto his lap.

  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

  Willis Santiago, who had been watching the scene from across the room, moved closer and extended his hand, causing Jack to break off the passionate welcome and try awkwardly to shake Willis’ hand behind Colleen’s back.

  "I think you just may be the luckiest guy I’ve met this year. Dr. Colder I suppose?"

  "Yes?" Jack said, reading his nametag, "And you must be one very busy constable! I’ve never heard of a hotel crime wave before! Mr. …Santiago?"

  "Call me Willis, and no, neither have I. The truth is, I ran a pretty tight little ship until Ms. Baker showed up." Willis said with an apologetic smile. "I hate to break up the reunion, but would you two be so kind as to accompany me across the hall to your room? I’d like to make sure Dr. Baker’s briefcase is safe."

  "Well now Willis," Jack replied, "I’d like to comply, but you see, the welcoming party arranged for me at your fine establishment took my phone, wallet, keys and everything else I had in my pockets! And then they had a cozy car trunk reserved for me to get a bit of rest…"

  Willis endured the sarcasm with the same unwavering look of concern. "Let me apologize for your experiences here at the hotel Dr. Colder, Dr. Baker. I assure you your treatment is in no way acceptable to the management of the hotel. If you would be so kind," Willis said as he motioned toward the door with his outstretched hand, "I have a pass key…"

  Colleen and Jack shrugged at each other and followed Willis across the hall. Jack’s room was untouched, as was Colleen’s breakfast, now cold. Colleen’s briefcase was just where she put it after wrestling it from the maid.

  Jack pushed past Willis to his closet and came out clutching his own briefcase with a huge look of relief on his face.

  "Well looks like you’re safe Willis," Jack said caressing his briefcase, "I’d have had to kill you if something had happened to this case!"

  Willis couldn’t read Jack’s expression, but it didn’t look like Jack was kidding any longer.

  "Now," Jack said putting his arm around Colleen, "just what steps are you taking to catch those responsible for our treatment?"

  While Willis outlined the work already done to obtain video stills of the suspects in the casino, Jack picked up the phone and dialed Tom Melvin’s room. When Tom answered, Jack held up his hand, causing Willis to stop in mid syllable.

  "Hi Tom! Ja’ miss me? …Yeah, …scary stuff all right, I’ve already got a spot for it in my next book! Check it out… I’ve now got real world experience on how to bust out of a trunk!" Jack chuckled at Tom’s inaudible comeback. "Yeah, come on down, I’ll tell you all about it! …Ok, see you in five."

  "Sorry," Jack said to Willis as he replaced the receiver, "he’s a worrier. You were saying?"

  "Well, we’re holding one of the guys downstairs, but he’s not talking and has no ID. We’ve got a plate on the guy’s van, but it turned out to be stolen, we’ve circulated their photos to other hotels in Vegas, nothing’s hit yet, …what we can’t figure out is why they came back.

  "Let me ask you Dr. Baker, is this the tattoo you saw on the man in the hall yesterday?" Willis held out his phone with an image of a chess piece, for Colleen to see.

  "Yes! That's it! Where did you get this?"

  "I took it down in our holding cell. It’s from the guy we detained trying to get away just now."

  "Let me see that, Willis," Jack said as he took the phone from Colleen. "This is the same tattoo the guys had that attended my seminar today! The guys that stuffed me in the trunk!"

  "I hope I'm not too personal sir, ma’am," Willis asked, "but do either of you carry lots of cash or other valuables with you?"

  "No," said Jack, "just the usual clothes and computer, some notes from my presentation and an outline of my next book… not valuable to anyone but me… how about you Colleen?" Jack said as he turned to gauge her reaction to the question.

  "Oh, you know, just the basics, my speech, some clothes, …oh and my formula for the cure for cancer…" Colleen said with a smile.

  Willis smiled, then his expression went serious. "I appreciate your taking this so well folks, I really do, but I want to stress to you that these men are no common wise guys. From viewing the tape, Dr. Baker was targeted, specifically and repeatedly. And you," Willis said turning to Jack, "were abducted from a lobby full
of people in broad daylight."

  "That is nothing to joke about. Whatever their motivation, they took extreme risk in the past few days. Now, before giving me another flippant reply, I want you to think carefully about the answer to my next question. Do either of you know why someone would target you relentlessly?"

  The word relentlessly seemed to take the air out of the room. Up until that point, Jack and Colleen had been so relieved that they were each okay; okay and safe with security now shadowing their every move, they had become giddy with relief.

  Willis had reset their mood with a single word.

  "It doesn’t make sense," said Colleen finally. "I don’t live an exciting life, I work all the time. This is the first trip I’ve taken all year."