Grady looked back at Handler, despair in his eyes, and nodded in agreement.
“All right, William, it was good to see you. I’ll keep in touch,” Handler began as he stood up and extended his hand to Grady. “You are a shadow…,” he uttered.
“You are a face in the crowd,” Grady answered back.
***
“How much money did he bury in those safes?!” Anthony asked in disbelief as they drove through the desert, heading back to the airport to fly to Vegas.
“Martin said about five million dollars,” Toma replied as he took another drag from his cigarette. He looked over at Anthony “The Leopard” Lazzero, who sat in the driver seat of their car. A vein began protruding out of his head and the grip on his steering wheel tightened.
“That stupid old farmer left only twelve thousand dollars in that blasted safe he buried,” he yelled as he pounded his hand in frustration.
“I believe that's less than one percent of the 5 million Lion left behind in that safe,” Tiger reminded him, as he found glee in his obvious dissatisfaction.
“You don’t think I know that?!”
Toma watched as Anthony drove with a smug look on his face. His greasy, streaked-back brown hair was the only thing that held its form on his face. Leopard was a man ruled by emotion. It helped when you were the muscle in the group. But, when you were running an organization in place of your incarcerated uncle, it was a detriment in Toma's eyes.
“Keep laughing,” the current underboss sneered through gritted teeth. “Remember, both of your safes are still out there and someone, maybe even Carmine, might find them.”
“Well, when we get back to town, let’s get Mr. Griggs and whoever is available out and searching for the remaining three safes,” Toma replied, his demeanor and tone becoming more serious after Carmine’s name was brought up. “Martin was able to provide us coordinates of the areas that the safes could be in but was not able to give us specific locations. Having their help might shorten the time in finding those safes.”
“No. We are finding our safes. I don’t want to take the chance of someone walking away with our money,” Anthony grimaced.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Anthony, but for us to search for these safes is a tall task for just the three of us. For all we know, hundreds, maybe even thousands of people could be searching for them right now. Especially since this whole Mr. Brown story has hit the entire nation.”
“Well, unlike the hundreds or thousands out there, we have something they don't have,” the hot-tempered underboss replied. He grabbed the paper Martin gave them with the coordinates of the safes written on it and tapped it on the top of his head while smirking at Tiger.
Daichi sat in the back of Anthony's black Chevy Nova and watched his boss Anthony and his mentor Toma bicker back and forth. Toma's soft-spoken, stoic bodyguard compared it to two brothers throwing verbal jabs at one another to anger the other. The lumbering giant rarely spoke. Only when he needed to did he speak, and the only person he opened up to share his thoughts and opinions with was Tiger. The bond that Tiger and Jaguar shared was a unique one. Toma viewed Martin as a father figure. Martin had saved his life and taken him under his wing. Daichi viewed Toma in the same light.
“Our stories are alike,” he could still remember Toma telling him years earlier. “You are an orphan, as was I. But, that all changes starting today.”
Daichi vaguely remembered his past life. He could remember living along the Colorado River with his mother and father. As time passed though, his memories of their faces had become progressively blurrier. The only memory vivid in his mind was the day he and Toma met which was -the day his old life died and his new life was born.
The start of that day was like any other day. His mother was down at the river gathering water while his dad prepared to go out and hunt for their meal for the rest of the week. Daichi was at the age in which he began venturing out with his father to gather food. He was still young, but it was time he learned how to live off the land and become one with nature. He could remember both his parents being loving and caring people. He remembered them preaching the importance of respecting the land and the rest of its inhabitants.
It was midmorning and already the day was a hot; animals would be all along the river. He could remember walking with his father along the riverbank, bow in hand. He recalled looking up and seeing a hawk flying high above them as it flew down the river. He felt the cool, refreshing water splash against his feet. That's when it happened.
He remembered hearing a sound he had never heard before coming from behind a bend in the river. He and his father crouched down behind a boulder for cover. His father raised his hand up to his mouth, signaling him to be quiet. Daichi, afraid, tucked further behind the boulder and sat quietly. He could hear and feel his heart beating in his chest as his dad left him to go and investigate the strange noise. Everything became silent in that moment. He could no longer hear the water running along the river or the birds flying overhead. Minutes passed, but still, his father had not returned.
Daichi slowly exited from behind the boulder and walked toward the bend. He walked up against the wall and peeked around the corner. That was all he remembered. The next thing he recalled was waking up on the side of the riverbank and a tall, thin-faced man with beady black eyes that felt like they pierced right through his soul stood above him. The man wore a white long-sleeve shirt that was rolled up, exposing a bright orange and black tiger tattoo that ran up his inner forearm. The man extended his arm out to Daichi, “Come with me, child. You’re safe now,” the man said to him. Daichi remembered reaching up and grabbing the man’s arm, a moment that changed his life forever.
Toma gave his pupil his name because from a young age he was huge. He was tall with broad shoulders and a wide back. He was as strong as most of the men that worked in Toma’s casino, The Crimson Tiger, even though he was half their age when he first started working there. Tiger saw the potential in Daichi and soon took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew. Soon, a father/son relationship spawned between the two outcasts. Jaguar had stood by Tiger’s side ever since. In an imperfect world, where the blood flowing through one’s veins determines his stature in the organization over the merits of an unfortunate few, Daichi and Toma found one another. Lion used to call it luck. They called it fate.
The stoic bodyguard came to from his daydream and realized that Anthony and Toma were still babbling on about the safe. He leaned back in his seat and smiled. This was his family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. For family, first and foremost, he thought.
Chapter 6
Dusk had fallen in the quiet town of Goodsprings, and although most of the inhabitants of the small town had gone home for the night, one man still had business to attend. Agent Grady sat in the parking lot waiting, watching. The last storeowner in the Goodsprings Shopping Center, where Juan’s was located, had finally closed for the night and left the parking lot. The FBI agent grabbed his notebook, opened it, and wrote his next entry.
“July 15, 1977
19:40 hours:
Last storeowner closes shop. Inspection of Juan and Sons Gun Shop in progress”
Agent Grady exited his vehicle and walked to the front door of Juan’s. He gave one final look around to make sure no one was present, and upon confirmation, he quickly dropped to one knee, reached into his jacket, and pulled out his lock-picking device. It’s been a while since I did this. Hopefully it won’t take me too long. I might have to shake off a bit of rust, though. Grady pulled out a shaved-down Allen wrench, his lock-picking tool, and began working away at the lock. Within a minute he heard a click. Hey, I guess I didn’t lose the touch after all.
He placed his Allen wrench back in his pocket, pushed up the metal gate that blocked the front door, and pulled out a small flashlight. Please lead me to some answers, he thought as he entered the floor of the gun shop. He shined his light around the store floor and viewed the array of weapons an
d tools the store carried. This store and the owner never came up on our profile when we were briefed on Carmine. Nor has this store or owner’s name ever come up since. Could this store have been a safe house for Carmine back in the day, also? How do they know one another? Due to his reaction earlier this morning, I’m going to guess he knows Carmine Lazzero, not Albert Davis.
Grady reached the back of the store and entered Francisco’s office. The cramped workspace made him feel claustrophobic initially. What’s your connection with Carmine? he thought as he scurried around the cramped desk, looking for anything that might link the two together. Under some loose papers in the corner of the desk, he found his break: a manila folder appeared with “Carmine” written on top.
“Bingo.” He reached down and opened the folder. Inside he found a purchase order for a small portable safe to be delivered by the beginning of next week to Mr. Francisco Lopez. Also, Grady found a facsimile for a small plane to be brought to a home on the outskirts of Goodsprings for “Goods transportation. Location of transport to be determined.”
“I’ve got you, Carmine. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.” The exuberant agent quickly brought out his notebook and started scribbling all the information he had found. A smile slowly spread across his face with each sentence he wrote.
Grady reached into his shirt and brought out his golden locket. “I’ll be home soon, son,” he said to the picture as he walked through the store floor. While looking down at the picture, his foot got caught, causing him to stumble. Luckily, he raised his hand and caught himself on the display counter before he fell. He turned back around to find that his foot had gotten snagged on an exposed throw rug behind the counter. A dull hollow sound came from below his feet after he had placed the rug back down.
Oh, what do we have here? he thought as he reached down and pulled off the throw rug. Under the rug was a small access panel, built into the floor. Grady bent down and pulled the small handle open, exposing what hid beneath the door. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a light, shining it down the hole. This isn’t a deep hole. I think if I jump in, it’ll only get chest high. What are you hiding, Mr. Lopez? What skeletons do you have in your closet?
Grady hopped into the small access panel and crouched down, illuminating the hidden room below the store. The room was small and cramped. At most, two people could stay under there and hide. There were two mattresses that lay on the floor and two lights above the mattresses. To the back of the room was a vent that appeared to let fresh air into the subterranean room.
“Bingo. I was right. This must have been your old safe house in the past, Carmine. I was right about your friend, Mr. Francisco, too. He knows everything about you. He is the missing link.”
***
John lay in his bed, trying to comprehend what he had witnessed earlier that morning. He knew what he had seen: the hole with the hatch that led to a huge metal storage container that held two wooden pallets with dollars stacked on them as high as him standing up. What did it all mean? Where did it come from? The whole day, questions bounced around in his mind. It bothered him that he didn’t have an answer to his quandary. Nor did he know where he could go to find his answer.
“How did Mom know about the safe?” he asked out loud. Above all other questions floating in his mind, that one stood out the most. “She’s no longer here, so how could she know?” He opened his drawer for his nightstand and grabbed his necklace. He gripped the gem and began speaking to it.
“Mom, if you’re there, I need help understanding what the meaning of all this is.” He kissed the gem and placed it on his nightstand.
Sleeplessness had finally caught up with him after staying up for the past day and a half. He began to feel tired and his eyes began to get heavy. He lay down on his bed and kept thinking about the safe and his mom as he dozed off into his dreams. His final conscious thought was maybe Mommy has an answer for me in my dreams.
***
Officer John Davis opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a place he had never seen before. He was sitting on a silver stainless steel chair in a bright white room. There was nothing else in the featureless room. There was no light source, though the entire room was illuminated. There were no walls or ceilings. No doors or cracks in the ground. It was emptiness, shadowless.
“Hello, is anyone there?” he called out as he looked around, perplexed on where he was. His voice echoed throughout the room. Uneasiness began to set in as there was no response to his question. He began looking around the room for a door or window, something to get him out of the there. His heart rate started to pick up, and he began to panic as he looked around frantically. Out in the distance a small, bright red light could be seen.
John began walking toward the light. He moved from a walk to a jog, then a run as he drew closer and closer to the light. He finally reached the source of the mysterious light that hung high above him. It was a neon sign that read “Home.” This was the same sign that hung above the Home Motel at the bank robbery and the Home Jewelry Store, he thought. He continued staring at the sign, trying to figure out the meaning behind it.
Below the sign a piece of the wall moved open, revealing total blackness behind the wall. Should I go through there? John thought as he peered into the blackness hesitantly. He looked up at the Home sign; all of my answers must be through that door. He took a step toward the door and realized it slowly moved away from him. With each step, it receded farther and farther back.
Soon he began sprinting to try and catch up to the door. Slowly the door came closer and closer to him. When he finally reached it, he gave one last lunge at the black hole. He stepped through the door to nothing. His first step through the door led to a straight drop that upended him. He plummeted. There were no walls, no floor, no lights; it was complete darkness. John screamed as he fell, presumably to his death.
When he finally hit the floor, he felt no pain. He was alive and unharmed. A single light lit over him as he pushed himself up. “Sit,” an omnipotent voice commanded as a wooden chair slid into the light that encompassed him.
“Why should I? Who are you?”
“Sit,” the voice repeated itself, booming louder this time.
John patted himself down, walked over to the chair, and sat down, waiting for the voice to give him his next command. Another wooden chair slid across the floor and entered the lit halo that he resided in.
He could hear footsteps in the distance coming from behind the chair. He grew anxious with each step. It cannot be, he thought as he stared in astonishment at the individual who stood before him. She wore a white silk dress that flowed down to her ankles. Her wavy brown hair looked perfect, like a river flowing through a stream. Her bright, baby blue eyes were mesmerizing. John couldn’t take his eyes off hers. He was finally able to muster up a word in astonishment. “Mom?”
“Hello, Johnny,” Katherine replied in her sweet, angelic voice. She stood at the base of the chair and rested her arm on top of it.
“Mom,” John yelled as he jumped out of his chair and ran to his mother, embracing her. “What are we doing here? What is this place?”
Katherine pulled away from John and gave him that warm smile that he always found comfort in. “Do you remember the last time we spoke, John? You were in the jewelry store, and I spoke to you over the phone. You asked me for answers the last time we spoke. Well, now it’s time I answer those questions for you, son.” She extended her arm out to him, like a mother extending her hand to a child as they cross the street. “Come, John. All will be made clear, shortly.”
He reached out and grabbed her hand. All the turmoil and doubt he had felt since discovering the safe had subsided once he felt the warm, comforting touch of her hand. This was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. A state of tranquility. “Mom, where are we going?” John asked as they began walking out of the darkness and into the light.
She stopped and turned around, looking him in the eyes. “Son, your answer is n
ot in this realm. You need to return and look in your father’s room. The answer you seek will be in there.”
“But I don’t want to go, Mom,” John replied as he dropped to his knees and clutched his mother’s hand. “I don’t want to leave you, Mommy.”
She knelt down to him and lifted his sunken head up, so their eyes would meet once more. She placed both her hands on his hands, clenching them together to make a fist. “As long as you’re holding onto this, John, I will never leave you.”
John opened his hands to find the necklace Katherine gave him. The dark red gem hypnotized him as he stared at it. When his eyes finally broke off the gem and he looked up, she was gone. John looked back down at the gem and squeezed it in his hand. “Mom, I’m no longer afraid.” He closed his eyes one last time and when he opened them, he woke up in his bed.
***
Morning had risen in the Davis household, and John jumped out of bed to look out his bedroom window. Please be gone already, he thought as he peered out the window. He could see his father entering his station wagon, again. Yes, now I can explore my dad’s room without interruption. He watched intently as his father pulled out of their dirt driveway, turned to town, and drove off.
I need to move quickly, he thought. I may not have a lot of time, and the last time this happened, Dad almost caught me. It’s not too bad, though, because in Dad’s room there’s a window overlooking the road; I can see if he’s coming. I’ve never been in Dad’s room before. He inched up close to the door. He slowly twisted the round doorknob, causing the hinges to make a distinct creaking noise that reverberated through the hallway.
He pushed the door open and stood in the doorway, gazing into his father’s room. A twin bed rested near the back of the room. To the left and right of the bed were two nightstands. One had a lamp resting on top of it, the other an alarm clock. Both nightstands had papers and rubbish littered all over them. To his left was his dad’s dresser, and a mound of clothes was piled on top of it. Toward the back of the room, to the left of the bed, was his dad’s closet.
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