Bad Beat

by Robin Mahle

  Alex obliged because there was no other choice. He sat down and wrapped his arms around the back of the chair. His muscles still ached. “Do what you gotta do, bro.” He waited while the man secured the ropes and tape to his hands and feet. At least they hadn’t gagged him—yet. “Can I ask you something?”

  “What?”

  “Does my wife know?”

  “I assume she knows you’re missing.”

  “That’s not what I mean. Has anyone called her, you know, asking for money or anything? Cause I told you people I don’t have any money.”

  “That’s not what this is about. I told you that you didn’t know who the hell you were dealing with. The man running the show doesn’t need your money.”

  “Then what? What the hell am I doing here?”

  The man peered around to ensure their solitude. “Look, they don’t pay me enough to know the whole plan. But I can tell you that you’re here at least until the day after tomorrow. I don’t know what’s going to happen after that.” A final tug on the ropes and he started to leave.

  “Wait. Why the day after tomorrow?” Alex shouted as the man left. “Shit.” He searched his mind and tried to recall what day it was now. Time had passed almost in slow motion since he’d been here. He thought it had been a day, maybe two. And if that was the case, then tomorrow was Thursday. “What the hell’s going on Thursday?”

  Then it dawned on him. “The game. They want me to stay away from Silas’s game.” He considered the reason for this, but he just didn’t have enough details to put all the pieces together. “Jacob.” Was he going to be there? Surely he’d alerted the cops. Well, his wife would’ve for certain. But not showing up at work? Yeah, they all had to know. How could they not?

  Another man Alex had not seen before navigated through the steel beams in the open area and approached him.

  “Mr. Laughlin.” Standing at least six feet tall with a medium build and brown hair, he continued to meander toward Alex. “I thought it was time we should meet.” When he offered his hand, he smiled. “How insensitive of me. Your hands are literally tied. I’m Dennis Ackerman.”

  Alex appeared defiant. “Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”

  Ackerman smiled again. “Oh good. You still have your sense of humor.” The well-dressed man with tanned skin and a heavily lined face squatted to meet Alex eye to eye. “Mr. Laughlin, you’re here because you were helping an old friend of mine play a game he and I used to play a long time ago. When I heard he resurfaced in that little town of yours, I thought I should see what he was up to. Turns out, he’s up to his same old tricks. Tricks I had to pay for.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Ackerman laughed through his nose, keeping his lips pressed tightly together. “Oh, you think you’re protecting him?”

  “I promise you, I’m not trying to protect anyone.”

  “Your family, maybe? Friends?”

  At this, Alex turned deadpan.

  “That got your attention. Good.” Ackerman stood upright again. “Here’s the deal, Mr. Laughlin. I need to send a message to my old friend, Silas Levin, and your being here is going to accomplish just that. See, the thing is, I already paid the price for his misdeeds. He owes me. It took me sending in a couple of my guys to figure it out, but we got there in the end. I know what he’s playing and why. He has some very serious people breathing down his neck. I don’t know what he did to make that happen, but I assume that was the reason he’s reverted to his old tricks.”

  “If I’m here, what am I supposed to do to help you?”

  “You’re being incredibly helpful just by staying put. Now I get that there are probably people out there looking for you, but I had to play the odds. And the odds those four cops in your tiny town are good enough to track me down are slim and none.”

  Alex considered the one cop whom he had heard about and revealed a sly grin.

  “Is there something I should know, Mr. Laughlin?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  “So here’s what’s going to happen. We derail Silas’s plans, which will in turn send his not-so-friendly associates his way and they’ll be the ones to solve my problem. Silas won’t have the means to get out of his predicament.”

  “And you’ll be the one to bail him out?” Alex asked.

  “Oh, no. Not a chance in hell. I’ll be there to watch him burn. That’s why you’re here. And you’ll stay here until his world starts to crumble around him.” Ackerman started to leave but stopped and turned on his heel. “I hear you’re one hell of a good poker player.”

  “That’s what they tell me.”

  “Well, maybe we’ll see what happens when all of this is said and done. Enjoy your stay, Mr. Laughlin. Please trust that it will be temporary, providing you continue to cooperate.”

  17

  HVM Builders was a solemn place in the wake of Alex’s disappearance. Jacob tried to work, as did the rest, but his thoughts strayed to the whereabouts of a man he considered only a colleague, but now perhaps considered more as a friend. A friend who was in danger and who Jacob was the last one to see.

  A woman whose eyes were reddened appeared in the corridor and was being escorted by Jacob’s boss, Ty Henry. It was Alex’s wife, Zoe. Jacob wanted to say something to her, offer words of comfort, but there were no words. And of course, it was likely she was aware that Jacob had been with her husband on the night of his disappearance. He feared blame would be launched in his direction. So he peered into the hall, feeling like a coward. His boss caught his eye, but he didn’t move away from Zoe’s side. Instead, he continued to escort her, his arm around her shoulders, and guided her through the doors.

  Jacob’s heart sank in regret. He should’ve said something to her and now he felt small, lower than a coward. “I’ll find him,” he whispered. “I’ll bring him home.”

  He swiped his keys and marched through the building, ignoring the stares of his colleagues because he knew they blamed him too. He could feel it. Jacob had to make this right. Somehow. Alex had dragged him into this, but now he was compelled to clear his name of any wrong-doing and find his friend.

  Since he’d returned to Owensville, misfortune seemed to shadow him. This time, he was going to stop it dead in its tracks.

  The sight of Jacob’s car pulling into the parking lot of the station caught Riley’s attention as she peered through the window. “What are you doing here?” she said to no one in particular.

  “What’s that?” Ethan piped up as he pulled his attention from his work.

  “Jacob’s here,” she replied. “He shouldn’t be. I need him to keep playing his part.”

  “The part of the dutiful worker bee?” Ethan pressed on.

  “Yes. If Levin or anyone associated with him is watching Jacob, we need him to keep up his routine. We can’t afford for him to veer from the norm.”

  “And did you convey that to him?” Ethan asked.

  “No.” Riley turned her sights to him. “I didn’t think I had to.”

  “He’s not a cop, Riley. He’s doing what anyone would do under these circumstances.”

  “You’re defending him,” she replied.

  “I guess I am. Look, Jacob didn’t deserve to get pulled into this and I’ll be the first one to admit that. He’s not my favorite person in the world, but I won’t hold what happened to Laughlin against him.”

  “Good. Because he looks determined about something.” She watched as Jacob pushed through the doors.

  “Hey.” Jacob headed straight into the bullpen. “We need to talk. All of us.”

  “About?” Riley asked.

  “I just shied away from Alex’s wife, who came into the office this morning to see my boss. I couldn’t even look her in the eye, Riley. I was the last one to see Alex. She knows it. Everyone knows it. I have to do something to help find him. Please, tell me there’s something I can do. Now.”

  Riley peered knowingly at Ethan before turning back to Jacob. �
��We’re still working on a plan. The men who approached you two, we have their names and are working on getting background information on each of them.”

  “That’s great. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because all we have are names right now. We still don’t know for sure if those men are responsible for taking Alex.”

  “Who else could it be, Riley?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

  “Tell him,” Ethan said.

  “Tell me what?” Jacob regarded Riley. “What else don’t I know?”

  Riley shot a perturbed glance to Ethan. “If we don’t make enough progress today, we’re going to need you to show up at Levin’s poker game tomorrow night, like you and I initially discussed. I’m still hopeful it won’t come to that. We believe the people who have Alex, and yes, we believe Alex is still alive, are keeping him as a means to back Levin into a corner. Again, we don’t have enough to go by yet, but we’re working on it.”

  “Fine. I’m in. I have to do something to help bring him home. You didn’t see the look on his wife’s face. And he has kids. No, if this is what I have to do, then so be it. I’m tired of running scared, Riley. I feel like that’s all I’ve done since I came home.”

  “That’s not true. You had no idea about the people running the plant,” she replied. “You can’t blame yourself for that. I don’t.” She glanced to Ethan again.

  “Right. Neither do I, man. It wasn’t your fault, and this isn’t either.”

  “Yeah, well, there’s a whole lot of bad things going down in Owensville and I don’t know if you two have noticed, but I seem to be the common thread.”

  “Well, you do have a point,” Ethan muttered.

  “Ethan!” Riley said.

  “He said it.”

  “Ethan’s right.” Jacob sat down in the chair opposite Riley’s desk. “Tell me what I need to do for the game tomorrow. I’m not nearly as good a player as Alex. What if I screw it up?”

  She returned to her chair. “Okay, here’s the deal. Right now, we don’t know that you’re going to have to participate. Our goal is to find out who these men are connected to and look for ties to Silas Levin. If we can establish that, we might find our motive and Alex.”

  “That said.” Ethan walked toward them and leaned against the lateral filing cabinet behind Riley’s desk. “We don’t have much time. The guys at IPD are helping us out with background checks, thanks to the captain, but we don’t have anything back yet.”

  “Nothing more on Levin himself?” Jacob asked.

  “He’s clean,” Riley said. “We did, however, discover that the men who last saw Alex and you are associated with a man who served time for swindling some heavy hitters out of cash. And, he was expelled by the World Series of Poker operators for cheating in a final round game six years ago.”

  “These guys have to be connected,” Jacob added.

  “That’s what we think too,” Ethan replied. “Which brings us to Levin’s game tomorrow night. Jacob, he can’t know that Alex is missing.”

  “You don’t think he already knows it?”

  “If he does, he’s playing dumb. I think he would’ve called off the game and he hasn’t, right? You’d probably be in the know on that one,” Riley said. “If tomorrow night comes and still no Alex, Silas is going to get real nervous. It’s going to be up to you, who he clearly believes is on his team, to smooth things over. Tell him Alex had a family thing or whatever. I don’t care what you make up, but he has to believe you’ll be there to fill in for him and do whatever Silas wants you to do.”

  “Okay. I can handle that,” Jacob replied. “But this isn’t going down until tomorrow night. What can I do now to help?”

  Riley considered an idea. “The other people in the game. Obviously, we know Sims was there at an earlier game last week, before you got pulled in.”

  “And that Abrams and Decker are meeting with him now,” Ethan added.

  “Right. And the men who approached you both, Meisner and Vaughan. But who else was there with you and Alex? Were you introduced to any of them?”

  Jacob cast his gaze toward the ceiling as if thinking hard on the question. “No one in there was interested in giving names. I can tell you that much. But I do recall conversations afterward. A couple of the guys were talking. Not Meisner or Vaughan, but two others.” He paused again and furrowed his brow. “I’m trying to recall their names. I’m sure they greeted each other.”

  “Anything you can remember, Jacob. It would be extremely helpful.” Ethan appeared to try to prompt him. “What did they look like?”

  “Like the rest. They all sort of had that—I don’t know—that criminal element to them. Whatever that is. Shady, you know?”

  “Stands to reason,” Riley said. “They’re in with shady people. Look, it’s okay if you can’t remember…”

  “No, wait.” He raised his hands. “Jeff, maybe. I think that was one of the guy’s names. Kind of skinny, well-dressed. Super tan. Older, though. Maybe in his forties.” He continued to ponder. “The one he was speaking to, I want to say…no it escapes me. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay. Jeff is a good start and we have a description,” Riley said. “Don’t suppose you saw their vehicles?”

  “As a matter of fact, I saw Jeff’s. It was a newer model, maybe only a couple years old, Mercedes coupe. I couldn’t say the model. It was dark. But it stood out to me because well, this is Owensville. Don’t see a lot of luxury cars here and it was sleek, black. I saw him step into it.”

  “Okay.” Riley wrote down the details. “This is good. This will help.” She laid down her pen. “Look, you need to go back to the office. Go back to work, just like it was a normal day. If you’re being watched, you shouldn’t be here.”

  “Well, it’s easy to play off, though,” Ethan began. “Everyone knows you’re his girlfriend. I’d say, to make things look normal, Riley, you should walk him out, kiss him goodbye. Make nice for the cameras, if there are any.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Let’s get you out of here.”

  Ethan pushed off the chair and returned to his desk as he watched the two of them leave. But he didn’t sit down. Instead, he gazed through the window as Riley embraced Jacob. Their kiss appeared loving and passionate. He looked away, his face masked in grim defeat.

  Riley returned inside. “If anyone’s watching, I think we put on a good show.” She returned to her desk. “I hate that this involves him. It scares me. The idea anyone is watching him; I’m starting to feel like we’ll never catch a break.”

  “We will,” Ethan began. “I don’t think the two of you are destined to be entangled in criminal agendas. We’ll get through this, Riley. We always do.”

  For Gage Parker, the drive from Chicago to Owensville was anything but boring. Despite his line of work, he fancied himself an enthusiast of literature. In his spare time, he was known to devour a book inside of a day. And while his free time was scarce, he utilized it most effectively. Hence, the drive found Gage engrossed in an audiobook from one of his favorites in the spy thriller genre. Not exactly the great American novel but entertaining as hell.

  He passed a sign for the small town in Indiana with a population of around 4,000. Chicago, it was not. But Gage was here to check in on his boss’s client, a man who had owed Eli Foster a substantial sum of money. And whom Eli had been disenchanted with because he’d been paying back that sum at an increasingly alarming rate. Something was up and Gage had been tasked to find out exactly what that something was.

  A row of boutique shops and a diner appeared ahead. It seemed Gage had reached the downtown area of Owensville. He pulled into a spot in front of the diner and stepped out of his black Camaro wearing pointed dress shoes, slim-fitted trousers, and a blue dress shirt. He’d underestimated both the heat and the casual attire of those around him.

  From the moment he entered the joint, the folks inside eyed him with a hint of derision. “Afternoon, ladies and gent
lemen.” Gage tipped his head in response to the overwhelming attention.

  “You can take a seat anywhere.” Ellen was on staff this afternoon and brushed past him on her way to pick up an order.

  “Thank you.” Gage slipped into a booth that overlooked the parking lot. Perhaps he should’ve considered checking into his hotel room prior to venturing out into the town. He might’ve opted for a change of attire.

  “What can I get for you?” Ellen stood at the end of the booth, pen and pad at the ready.

  “Iced coffee and I’ll take your BLT.”

  “You want fries with that?”

  “Are they fat or skinny fries?” he asked.

  “Fat.”

  “Then no. Just the sandwich and coffee. Thanks.” He returned the menu to the holder on the table and retrieved his cell phone. “I’m here. Will keep you posted.” The text message was sent to Eli Foster.

  Within a few minutes, Ellen returned with his meal. “Here you go. Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?”

  “No, thank you. This will do just fine.” He unveiled a toothy smile while Ellen walked away. He lowered his tone. “She’s a friendly one.” With both hands, he picked up the healthy-sized sandwich and took off a large corner. “Oh, oh, this is delicious,” he said aloud with a full mouth. “Wow.” He turned his head toward the counter where Ellen stood. “Give my regards to the chef. Delicious sandwich. Perfectly cooked bacon.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll let him know.” She appeared slightly taken aback by his forward nature and it seemed she wasn’t alone.

  Heads turned and a few whispers sounded as Gage continued to eat his lunch, the occasional moan of delight sounding from his lips.

  Ellen walked back into the kitchen and stood next to the cook. “You ever seen that man before?”

  “No, ma’am, I have not. Don’t mind saying he’s a little odd, that one.”

  “I don’t mind you saying because I completely agree.” Ellen stepped into the hall that led to the restaurant manager’s office. She picked up the old rotary-style phone mounted on the wall and dialed. The line rang twice before it was picked up.