Baker's Luck

by D D Loomis

  Marty started to comment until a hard fist to his stomach choked it off. “Leave him be,” Alice said, watching him disappear upstairs. Her eyes softened. “Did you see the look on his face? I never seen him look like that. I think he’s been bitten with love at first sight.”

  The rest of us wisely kept silent for several seconds, before Nate bounced to his feet. “Well, gotta get going. I told Jack I’d go out on his next repo with him. See you.” He trotted up the tunnel towards the garage.

  I turned to Marty, who was still rubbing his gut. “Why don’t you and Alice work on a schedule for listening to the phone conversations from the two places in question. Make sure and have Wilbur provide you with a way to record everything said on the phones, too. Oh, and include Wilbur and me in your scheduling to listen in.”

  Wilbur looked pleased. “Hey, thanks. I really enjoy doin’ this spy stuff. Gets my juices going.” He hurried back to his little kingdom of electronic hardware in the corner.

  Marty watched him go, a bemused look on his face. “If I understood half of the gadgets he has over there - and knew how to work ‘em - I’d probably be a dangerous man.”

  I snorted. “You think he isn’t? I’d hate to have him get mad at me. Don’t think my life would be worth much if he decided he wanted to do me in using his electronic toys.” I stood, heading for the stairs. “For now, though, think I’ll turn in.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “I got it—oh, wow, I gotitgotitgotit!”

  Wilbur’s excited shout had me scrambling from my cubicle, eyes casting about for trouble. I drew up when I spotted him waving his arms in the air. Crap. Just Wilbur getting excited again. “What is it this time?” I strode towards him while he continued pushing fist pumps into the air, grinning like an idiot.

  “The code, man. I finally cracked the code.” He stood up and waved me into his seat. “Look at that! It was there all the time. I just needed to look in a different direction.”

  I sat, looking at incomprehensible symbols scrawling across the screen. “What’m I looking at?”

  “Oh. Sorry.” He reached out and clicked a key. Within seconds the screen cleared.

  I hurriedly stood and waved him back down. “Hey, you’d better take care of it. I’ll probably erase something accidentally if I sat there too long.”

  He slid back into his chair with a chuckle. “Yeah, I believe it. The number of times I’ve had to fix your computer after you screw it up…”

  “Let’s not get personal here,” I said, looking over his shoulder at the monitor. “Now what do you have?”

  He flicked through several screens, settling in on a page of text. “Looks like someone hid something, and is sending someone else information about the location.” He hit a key, displaying a map. “Kind of vague information, except for the location of the money.” His eyes sharpened. “Hey, that’s right. This is where the confederate money is located.”

  There were hoots of laughter from me and others in the office. “That’s counterfeit, man,” Marty said.

  I walked back towards my cubicle. “Why don’t you send all of us a copy of what you came up with?”

  By the time I was settled in front of my computer, an email from Wilbur was waiting with the information. I spent several minutes going through it before sitting back with a shake of my head. Time for a meeting.

  Within minutes five of us were at the conference table, minus Nate who’d taken off with one of his repo men.

  “I think confederate is a much better name than counterfeit for that shit,” Alice said with a smile. “So don’t you listen to these jerks. They just don’t appreciate a different viewpoint on the world, like you have.”

  Tony shook his head. “Appropriate name, since the bills are hidden in Charlotte rather than somewhere in the north.”

  “Why hasn’t this abandoned church it’s in been knocked down an’ rebuilt? That’s what they usually do, isn’t it?” asked Marty.

  “It’s on the list of historical buildings,” Tony said. “Can’t tear it down, can’t modernize it. Has to stay the same as it was originally far as structure goes.” He shrugged. “Our decision is whether to go after the stuff or not.”

  I swiped hair off my forehead. Time to get the mop cut again. “What would we do with it? Although it’d be nice to have a couple hundred million bucks, it wouldn’t do us any good since we’re not in the business of peddling that kind of crud on the streets.”

  “How about turning it in?” Wilbur asked. “Could we get some kind of reward?”

  Heads nodded around the table, including mine. “Good idea, Wilbur. Should’ve been our first thought. Howsabout I call our pet cop and see if he can get us a deal?”

  Again everyone’s heads were nodding. “Good. That took care of that problem. Didn’t want to take an unnecessary risk anyway, since we wouldn’t have been able to keep it.”

  “I’ll call him,” Alice said as she stood. “I been known to talk a man out of his money quicker than any of you.”

  “Amen to that,” Marty said. “Leastways she seems to get mine.”

  Tony patted his stomach. “I know it’s a little early, but I’m for picking up some lunch. Didn’t go to breakfast this morning. Anyone interested?”

  By the time we trooped back from lunch, Alice had our answer. “Al says the Secret Service will spring for a hundred grand. I emailed him the information already.” She turned towards Wilbur, still busily typing away in his corner. “Wilbur, lunch is here. Take a break, will you? I’m getting tired just watching you.”

  He looked up with a guilty expression. “Yes’m.”

  Marty cut loose with a belly laugh. “Damn, it’s good to see I’m not the only one she picks on!”

  Alice threw a wad of paper at him. “You hush! Wilbur’s a sweetie pie compared to the rest of you. He just knows who’s the boss around here.”

  I slid into my chair and turned on the computer, smiling at the good-natured kidding. Nice to see everyone so cheerful under the circumstances. Still having to go places with at least one person along wasn’t the way I wanted to live. Not for much longer, hopefully. Good incentive to locate that piece of shit Franks.

  My desk phone rang. “This is Francis, may I help you?”

  “Hey, Francis, it’s Nate. We got picked up by the Auburn cops.”

  I stood. “What happened?”

  “To make a long story short, we thought the two men in a car outside our building were bad guys. Turned out they were cops.”

  “You all right?”

  “Yeh, just embarrassed. Got some pissed off cops here that want to stick us in the slammer and throw away the keys. Think you could come down to the station and vouch for us?”

  * * *

  I wheeled out of the police department’s parking lot, Marty sitting next to me trying to control his mirth. Nate and his buddy Jonas were in the rear. “I got some of the story from the shift supervisor,” I said. “At least their side of it. What’d you two do to get the entire department in an uproar that way?”

  Nate gave a long sigh. “Not much, really. Just carjacked two cops and rousted ‘em a little. Till Jonas, here, thought to check their I.D.”

  Marty swung around, a disbelieving look on his face. “Carjacked? You mean you actually ambushed ‘em?”

  “Yup,” Jonas said, a proud smile on his face. “Had ‘em out and on the ground before y’could say oopsie. The dumb shits had their windows down and doors unlocked.” He shook his head. “Deserved what they got, y’ask me.”

  I suppressed a smile. “According to their supervisor, you stuck their own guns in their face and demanded to know who they were working for. Once you saw the badges, positions were reversed.”

  “Damn fools,” grumbled Nate. “We said we were sorry. Wouldn’t give us a chance to say anything more, ‘specially when the car we were driving turned
up on their stolen list.”

  “What were you doin’ driving the repo car around? You know it’s supposed to be taken to the repossession lot first thing,” Marty said.

  “Hey, it was a great ride,” Jonas said. “We were only gonna drive it here and show everybody, then take it back. We never picked up a car worth a hunnert grand before.”

  Marty shook his head. “I bet the FBI doesn’t get the Auburn cops to do them a favor like watchin’ our place for bad guys again.”

  I sighed in resignation. Another call to Al, this time to apologize. “Not entirely your fault. We have to know when the good guys are watching us, and what their car looks like at least.”

  Minutes later we neared our office. “That’s the car there, on the right,” Nate said.

  I pulled behind the plush-looking Mercedes. “Think you two can make it back to the repo shop without pulling over any more cops?” I asked when they got out.

  Once I steered into our garage, I breathed a sigh of relief. What a nightmare that could have been.

  “Those two are lucky they didn’t get shot,” Marty said, shaking his head.

  “Amen, brother. I’d better call Al and have a little talk about making sure we can I.D. who the good guys are that’re watching our place.”

  Alice was on the phone when we entered, and gave me the high sign. “They just walked in, Al. I’ll let you talk to him.”

  Once in my cubicle, I picked up the phone. “Hey, Al. Seems we have a problem.”

  “That we do, my friend. I apologize for not letting you know we had a security watch on your place. And I accept your apology for how your men scared the shit outta the town cops. Now that we got that out of the way, I just as well give you an update. The Secret Service checked out the back room in the basement of that church you alerted us to in Charlotte. No joy, I’m afraid. There were signs someone had recently been there, but that was all.”

  “Ah, well. Easy come, easy go. A reward would’ve been nice, but maybe next time,” I said.

  “At least the Secret Service has more of an appreciation of your group. They probably would’ve made rude noises about sending ‘em on a wild goose chase, but they found a couple torn bills on the floor of the place.”

  “Any hint about Willie’s whereabouts? We’re getting cabin fever waiting for that sonofabitch to show up.”

  “Sorry, not a word. I really expected some kinda movement before now. Maybe his moving the counterfeit money is a beginning of his takeover of Crosby’s old territory.”

  “Seattle’s a plum for him,” I said. “It’d mean a significant increase in his power base. Maybe he’s going to use that two hundred mil to grease the skids for taking over.”

  “Could be.” Al cleared his throat. “By the way, I heard you’re callin’ Lenora almost daily. Next time you talk to her, send my love, would you? I just heard about her being medically retired. Damn shame, if you ask me.”

  “Thanks, Al. I’ll do that.”

  Soon as I hung up, I punched in Lenny’s number. Almost forgot about calling her today. After several rings, I gave up. Have to remember to try again in a little while. I busied myself sending everyone a message about the latest information Al had passed along.

  It was mid-morning the next day before we caught a break. I’d reclined my chair and was just drifting off when a hand slapped my desk, bringing me upright with a jerk. “What the hell?”

  “Up and at ‘em, lazybones,” Tony said with a smile. “While you were catching your much-needed beauty sleep Alice heard something interesting on one of the places we’ve got tapped.”

  I hurried over to Alice’s desk. “What’s up?”

  “While all of you lazy asses were doing nothing, I listened in on an interesting phone call from the warehouse place you guys wired. Seems a guy named Lance Cromarty wants to visit with their boss. Something about them becoming part of the team when they move back in the neighborhood.”

  My forehead crinkled. I’d heard that name. But where? “Anyone recognize that name?”

  A chorus of negatives had me shaking my head while I wandered back to my cubicle. I turned back for a second. “Good job, Alice. I know the name means something—just not sure what, yet.” I sat, still chewing over the name. Did I want to ask the cops? I shook my head. Not yet, didn’t want them getting in the way if it was something we wanted to handle.

  I straightened at a thought. Yes, Phil might know. I quickly typed up an email to him: “Lance Cromarty; why’s name familiar? ($500)”

  Twenty impatient minutes later I had the answer: “Works for Franks (#2 man).”

  I stood and surveyed the office. Yeah, looked like everyone was here. “Hey everyone, it’s almost lunchtime. Let’s take a break. I’m buying lunch at the diner.”

  There was a slow stampede towards the exit, led by Nate. “Hurry up, guys, before he changes his mind.”

  Once outside, we commenced a slow stroll towards the diner two blocks away. “Okay, what’s up?” Marty asked. “Y’never invite all of us to lunch, without a special occasion to celebrate.”

  “You’re right. We just got our first good lead on Willie, and I wasn’t too sure about who might be listening.” I turned towards Wilbur. “Do we have an airtight system in our place, far as anyone listening in?”

  His reply was prompt. “No. If you want to ensure no one can eavesdrop, you have to do more than just check the phone and computer systems.”

  “Can we do that?”

  “Yep. Cost about ten thousand, but it can be done. In fact, I could get it put in this afternoon, if you want.”

  “Do it. During lunch, let’s plan on what we’re going to do with the new information we just had dropped in our laps.”

  “You still buying?” Alice asked, a suspicious look on her face.

  “Nope. It’s Marty’s turn, if memory serves me right.”

  * * *

  Once again my chin sunk towards my chest, jerking up as I pulled my brain out of its sleeping bag. Ate too much at lunch again. Have to watch it, or I’d gain back the five pounds I’d lost over the past two months. I’d been studying the picture of Lance Cromarty that Wilbur had gotten off the national database, along with Willie’s. This had been the first priority for us once back from lunch. Needed to identify who our enemy was.

  “Okay, I’ve got a roster drawn up,” Alice announced loudly. “Want me to let you see it before sending it to everyone, Francis?”

  I walked to her desk. “No need to holler. I was awake.”

  “Just barely,” she said with a smirk. “Tony and Nate, then you and Marty. What hours you want the shifts to work?”

  I thought a second. “Hm. How about four to eight, and eight to midnight. That should cover it until I can get back inside and plant more bugs. To include cameras, this time.”

  “When you going back?”

  “I should have enough information by tomorrow, hopefully.” I looked towards Wilbur’s desk. “I’ll check with our computer wizard to see what he’s come up with concerning floor plans for the place.”

  “I’ll get it to you soon as I finish the last couple of tweaks I’m doing to our new security system,” he said, not taking his eyes from his monitor. “Just a couple more minutes, okay?”

  I wandered back to my cubicle, wishing this whole mess was over so we could start putting in walls. Really missed having my own office, without everyone able to listen in all the time. I smiled and shook my head. Hell, everyone else felt the same way.

  Another half-hour passed. Our computers died and came back on, the same time all the lights flickered. “Okay, everyone,” sang out Wilbur. “We now have true security for this place. Francis, your floor plans’ll be in your hopper momentarily.”

  I strode to his desk, curiosity nibbling at my heels. “True security? You mean that program you got was that good?”

 
He looked up and stretched, back popping. “Naw, it had several gaps in it. But I’ve been working on a couple similar ones, and just plugged in stuff I’d come up with to bolster it. Now, I’d call it better than what the feds have in their so-called secure rooms.”

  Tony had wandered over while Wilbur was explaining. “Jeez, man, if it’s that good why don’t you market it?”

  Wilbur shrugged. “Mainly ‘cause what I’ve created is a composite from three top of the line security programs. Stole from each of ‘em to customize what would work best for our situation and physical layout.”

  Tony looked at me, a gleam in his eye. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Money,” I said. “Lots of money. Once we work out the legal aspects so there aren’t any legal issues with the system, we could contract out to a bunch of companies. Maybe even some government contracts…”

  By this time, Wilbur’s nervousness was verging on panic. “Hold it, guys. Like I said, this program is mainly a consolidation of several security programs…”

  “How much of what you used isn’t covered by their patents? Or do they even have a patent, if their stuff is made up of commonly used material?”

  Wilbur relaxed back in his chair, looking thoughtful. “Yeah, didn’t think of it like that. Let me do some digging, and I’ll let you know.”

  I walked to my cubicle, shaking my head. Jeez, wonder how many other ideas had gone through his head that had the potential for big bucks like this one? Charlie, may he rest in peace, had been brilliant. This guy was a couple steps above that. I shivered, trying to imagine the nightmare of managing two or three people like Wilbur. Exhilarating, but exhausting at the same time.

  By the time I was in my chair, the floor plans of the furniture warehouse were on my screen. Looked as if the only offices in the building were the ones we’d visited, so that was good. Same for computer and phone outlets. I continued looking over the floor plans, concentrating on all the ways in and out, other than normal doors.

  It was mid-morning the next day before I’d finished a rough draft of what I had in mind. A couple taps of my fingers sent the material to Tony and Marty. I’d always gotten their input on jobs we’d planned, whether they were involved or not. Over the years, it had saved me a ton of grief.