Letting You Down (An Allie Down Mystery Thriller Book 4)

by PJ Fernor

  “You?”

  “Sure. I was a decent card player. Thought I could take my luck from the back of the garage to somewhere else. Ended up in a few shady games. You could lose your life there. I remember one game… it was in a warehouse. Looked like a casino almost. Very tense. Heard rumors about the guy running it too. They said he would kill people. He was called… something… One…”

  My heart started to race.

  Ben’s father looked at the floor.

  “Mr. Welloski?” I asked. “Benny?”

  He looked at me. He stood up. He pointed to me.

  “Now let me tell you this once,” he said. “You want to sneak around the house to see my son? Not on my watch. You two are too young for this.”

  I swallowed hard. “Mr. Welloski…”

  “Don’t give me that,” he said. “I can’t be responsible here for two teenagers fooling around in my house. You better get going before I change my tone.”

  Ben’s father was gone again. Pointing at the door for me to leave.

  A nurse showed up and stepped into the situation.

  She guided him out of the room and shut the door.

  I glanced back at the whiteboard.

  Maybe Ben’s father had helped more than he ever realized.

  I went back to the whiteboard and circled the word GAMBLING.

  Three times.

  Maybe that was the key.

  I was never going to catch The One through the girls.

  But if he was dipping his toes into other illegal activities…

  This was possibly the break I had been waiting for all along.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  He’s got information.

  That’s the most powerful commodity in the world.

  Information.

  Better than money and weapons.

  Although the other two are fun.

  With information… it comes down to the quality and the purpose.

  Everyone has secrets. Everyone has vulnerabilities in their life.

  It’s really that simple.

  He steps out of the makeshift office and grips the cool, steel railing and looks down.

  Seven card tables.

  All full.

  Money shuffling around faster than everyone’s minds at the tables.

  Some are men looking for adventure. Tired and bored with their lives. Sick of their normal jobs. Knowing that money can’t buy everything.

  Which isn’t true at all.

  Money can buy everything. You just need enough of it.

  Those men looking for an adventure will leave broke, some beat up, and all knowing they came close to something dangerous.

  Some others at the tables are there for show. To prove their patience. Because the real business is conducted later.

  Then of course there’s the usual fool who thinks they can count cards or come up with some system to rig the game.

  Tap your foot. Snap your fingers. Say a certain word.

  He’s seen it all.

  And he pays others a lot to spot issues.

  Take the guy at Table Four. Wearing a baseball cap turned around. Trying to look young, cool, and rich.

  This guy isn’t worth a few nickels smashed together as an attempt to make a dime.

  But the guy is also smart.

  Yet so dumb.

  He knows everything about this guy.

  He knows that the guy has been working games like this here and there, making money. All because of the dumb college boy act.

  He waits for the excitement to begin…

  Two large men approach the guy.

  They stand him up and the guy knows it’s over.

  The guy takes a swing but something is said.

  The guy looks up.

  He waves to the guy. Then he puts his thumb to his throat, telling the hired security what to do next.

  The guy screams for his life.

  One accurate punch knocks the guy out.

  He turned and went back into the makeshift office.

  The guy will have his throat slit. The body will be dumped somewhere far from here. The entire thing will be set up to look like a drug deal gone wrong. The guy will be forgotten in a week.

  He scoops up the information off the desk and looks to two more security members that are paid very well.

  “You know what’s next, right?”

  “Of course,” the man on the left says. “May I drive, sir?”

  “Sure,” he says. He points to the other. “You’re going to drive me to see.”

  “Yes, sir,” the other man says.

  They exit the warehouse through a secret backdoor where two black SUVs are waiting.

  Once they arrive a short while later, it’s a waiting game.

  His SUV is hidden.

  The other is in position.

  As they wait, he reviews the information again.

  Things are lining up. Slowly.

  Going slow is his only option. It’s a friend.

  Slow won’t be forever though.

  He looks out the open window and takes a breath.

  The air is crisp. It burns his lungs. In a good way.

  He can breathe freely.

  He thinks about the guy with the hat turned around at the poker table.

  The guy won’t be breathing for much longer.

  A knife gash to the throat… the pain… the blood…

  He smiles.

  Things are working out, and will continue to do so.

  “Slow,” he whispers. “Like a slow death. Sometimes it’s necessary.”

  He looks down again and studies the information one more time.

  It’s actually good to be out here like this.

  So he can think.

  He can plan.

  They’re waiting for a car to arrive.

  That car will stop at the stop sign and wait.

  As that happens, the other SUV will be driving fast.

  Very fast.

  Information controls everything in the world.

  Good and bad.

  And sometimes sharing information comes with punishment.

  Sometimes it’s something much worse.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Leighland won’t stop talking.

  He stares at his boss.

  He hears no words.

  His mind is elsewhere.

  I’ve fallen in love and nobody knows it but me. Nobody cares but me.

  The last thing he needs right now is love in his life.

  Love is messy. Like a slime that grows. It just keeps coming and coming…

  Love will screw up everything he’s worked for.

  He knows it.

  But he can’t stop thinking about her.

  Shoulder length blonde hair. Green eyes. A chin that kind of comes to a point. High cheek bones. A nose that’s round. A button nose!

  He sighs.

  “Are you sighing at me?” Leighland growls.

  “No,” he says.

  “You realize how bad this is, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re going to fix it all? On your own?”

  “Yes,” he says again.

  Just like that, Leighland is calm.

  Leighland crashes down into an expensive, high-back leather chair.

  “You’re the only one who gets me, Tim.”

  Timothy. My name is Timothy.

  He hates when people call him Tim. Tim.

  “I appreciate the work,” he says.

  “It’s a lot of work. I don’t trust anyone but you. I’m sorry for yelling. I just can’t believe this happened. All that data lost. I swear on my life I feel like… sometimes I feel like throwing someone out of a window.”

  You should try cutting off one of their hands first.

  He nods at Leighland. “I understand. You won’t need to throw me out of a window.”

  Leighland barks with a laugh. “You’re so dry and funny, Tim. I love it. You’re a lifesaver around here. Hey, t
ell you what, why don’t you get out of here. Okay? Take everything home. You’re better off there than here. That office next to me… it’s yours. Soon. Got it?”

  He nods.

  He gets to leave early.

  That’s perfect.

  He rushes to his desk and collects his work and work laptop.

  Without a word to anyone else, he slips out of the office and out of the building.

  He gets into his car and feels his heart slamming inside of his chest.

  The first time he saw her was two days ago.

  By accident.

  They passed each other on the sidewalk.

  He looked at her. She looked back.

  He followed her to her car.

  Yesterday he waited at her car and then followed her home.

  From there, he waited and couldn’t believe his luck when she exited her house in very provocative workout clothing. Everything about her was made to be seen.

  “I love her,” he says to his reflection.

  That’s the problem.

  Again.

  Love.

  Love can’t exist.

  He has to get rid of love.

  Love must… die.

  Killing her brings him sadness.

  But killing her won’t be a waste.

  He’ll take her hand. Put it with the others.

  She’ll have a greater purpose.

  He drives his car to the park where she went to walk.

  And he waits.

  It’s hours to go… but worth it.

  During that time, he works.

  All the data Leighland is worried about losing isn’t that big of a deal.

  That’s just how Leighland is.

  He gets so lost in his work, he almost forgets about the woman he loves.

  Something in his heart tells him to look…

  He looks to his left and there she is.

  Walking the paved path.

  In another very provocative outfit.

  Her workout clothes are so tight.

  This is why he loves her.

  She’s wild.

  But she’s the deadly one.

  She’s got him distracted.

  He hurries to clean up his work stuff and gets out of his car.

  After crossing the street, he follows her.

  He takes a deep breath, aching to smell her.

  He wants to know what her skin smells like.

  Strawberry? Honeysuckle? Sweet pea?

  He moves faster.

  He gets closer.

  But he must be careful.

  He’s wearing his work clothes.

  He knows he sticks out like a swollen thumb on a hand.

  So he backs off a little.

  He reaches for his phone and turns and puts his phone to his ear.

  To pretend as though he’s making a call.

  After counting to ten, he stops.

  He follows her again.

  For a little while longer.

  When she stops, he stops.

  When she turns, he turns, pretending to take another phone call.

  The process repeats two more times.

  Then out of nowhere, she begins to run.

  He stops for good and swallows hard.

  She’s not a runner.

  She’s a walker.

  Slowly, anger fills his body.

  She’s betrayed him.

  The woman he loves is nothing but fake.

  Which means killing her and cutting off her hand just got that much easier to do.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  It took me a long while to fall asleep.

  I ended up moving from my bed to the chair in the living room.

  I sat in the chair and looked out between the slits in the blinds.

  The soft streetlight glow helped to calm my racing thoughts.

  Two cases at once in my head battling each other for attention.

  Sleep took hold and I woke to my alarm yelling at me.

  My phone had fallen to the floor.

  As I turned the alarm off, I saw a text message from Ben saying he was on his way.

  I checked the time and-

  I heard the knock at the door and stood up.

  “One second,” I yelled as I ran to the bathroom to check on how bad my bed head was.

  There had been worse mornings in my life.

  I hurried to the door and opened it to find Ben standing with a coffee in each hand and a bag dangling from between his teeth.

  I grabbed the bag. “Morning.”

  “Morning, Allie Down,” he said as he stepped into the apartment. “Do I get a good morning kiss?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  I lifted to my toes and he met me for a quick kiss.

  I shut my eyes and took a slow breath.

  Ben had an effect on me. That was for sure.

  “What did you bring?” I asked.

  “Cinnamon rolls,” he said. “They’re fresh from-”

  “Oh, this isn’t going to work,” I said.

  “What?”

  “You can’t bring outside cinnamon rolls here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Miss Kesslier…”

  As though saying her name made her appear, Miss Kesslier did appear.

  She was suddenly in the doorway, smiling, her eyes already looking to Ben.

  “I sure hope one of those coffees is for me,” she said.

  “Of course it is,” Ben said. “You didn’t think I got coffee for Allie, did you?”

  Miss Kesslier had a circular pan in one hand and grabbed a coffee from Ben.

  She put the pan down and I smelled the cinnamon right away.

  Miss Kesslier winked at me, which made me blush.

  To make the situation even more awkward, Lo came out of her bedroom. “I smell cinnamon and coffee.”

  “I brought you a coffee,” Ben said to her.

  He held his other hand out.

  “Ben, you’re the best,” Lo said. She trotted to him and took the coffee. “This is the good stuff, too. It’s expensive.”

  Ben looked at his empty hands and then at me.

  I started to smile and then heard Lo let out a gasp.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  She had opened the bag Ben brought.

  “Are these different cinnamon rolls?” Lo asked.

  “Excuse me?” Miss Kesslier asked.

  “I brought them,” Ben said.

  “You did what?” Miss Kesslier asked.

  “I brought them… to throw out,” he said. “Because yours are the best, Miss Kesslier.”

  “He brought in outside cinnamon rolls,” Miss Kesslier said. “My heart is broken now.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ben said. “It’s Allie’s fault. She makes me flustered.”

  “Aw,” Lo said. “Allie, you’re blushing.”

  I covered my face. “I’m not a fan of any of you here right now.”

  “Hey, Allie, your phone is going off like crazy over there,” Ben said.

  That was my escape.

  I went to the living room and picked my phone up off the floor.

  Johnny Barby was calling me.

  Behind me I heard Lo and Miss Kesslier teasing Ben for liking me.

  “Johnny,” I said, almost relieved that he had called me.

  “Are you sitting down?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Our good friend… Preens. Remember him?”

  “Yeah. I just talked to him yesterday.”

  “Yeah, well, he was in a car accident last night.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  I looked over my shoulder and saw Ben looking at me.

  My face must have been white as a ghost because he started to move toward me.

  I put my hand out to stop him.

  I didn’t need an audience around me at the moment.

  “A car accident?” I asked. “I mean, is he…”

  “Is he dead?” Jo
hnny asked.

  “Well, yeah. Is he?”

  “He survived,” Johnny said. “Barely. Broken jaw. Broken clavicle. Broken… well, everything on his left side is broken. He was at a stop sign and when he started to drive again, someone came at him, full speed. Big vehicle too. SUV size.”

  “The other vehicle and person… or people…”

  “Yeah, that’s the interesting part here, Allie,” Johnny said as he cleared his throat. “The other vehicle took off. Nowhere to be found as of right now.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Johnny.”

  “I wish I was.”

  “That means this was done on purpose. You know that, right?”

  “I’m not jumping to any conclusions just yet,” Johnny said. “Let us dig around a little and figure out what happened. The intersection is notorious for those kinds of accidents. People come down that hill… Bridgewood. You know that spot, right?”

  “Yeah, I know where it is.”

  “They come flying down and sometimes just forget about the stop sign. Or if someone was drinking, you know?”

  “Johnny, I understand. You don’t want me to jump to any conclusions. Like you said.”

  “But you already are,” he said.

  “I just talked to him yesterday. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation, Johnny. There’s something about him that doesn’t add up.”

  “Allie, I just wanted to tell you what was going on,” he said. “Try to keep that mind of yours calm until I get some more answers.”

  “Thanks.”

  Johnny hung up and I turned and Ben still had his eyes on me.

  Sure, there was a possibility it was just an accident.

  Someone ran a stop sign and hit Preens’s car. Or someone was drunk and didn’t realize another car was there. A big SUV compared to Preens’s undercover car meant it was no match. But if the SUV hit at the speed Johnny suggested… to do that much damage to Preens’s car and Preens himself…

  I took a deep breath.

  I watched as Miss Kesslier lifted a cinnamon roll out of the bag Ben had brought.

  She wrinkled her nose at it and Lo laughed.

  Ben moved toward me and I nodded.

  My career was built of risks… and trusting my gut.

  And my gut told me there was no way Preens’s accident was actually an accident.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  “If I don’t say this, I’m going to be mad at myself all day,” Ben said as he followed me into my office.

  I went around to the back of my desk and stared right at him. “I know what you’re going to say.”