by Karly Violet
I nod my head. “Yeah, I’ll bet you have.” Sighing, I ask, “So, do you still enjoy working here even with the rushes during mealtimes?”
Monica raises an eyebrow. “I’ve been here for a couple of years, so I must enjoy it enough.” She giggles as she shakes her head. “What’s eating at you today?” Even she can see that I’m a little preoccupied.
“Nothing to worry about,” I tell her with a smile. “I’m fine.”
“But the other day you weren’t feeling all that great. You’re not still sick, are you?” The sweet young server has a huge heart for others and often directs her kindness toward me. If I weren’t married, I wouldn’t hesitate to try to get to know her much better.
“I’m fine. I promise. Sometimes life just throws you a curveball or two. It’s something that I just have to deal with.” The thought of Victor coming to see me here later today bothers me, but I am beginning to build some resolve at the thought of it. If I’m going to deal with this problem effectively, I need to pull myself together. And I will.
“Let me know if you need anything, Layden. Don’t let things tear you down without someone to talk to. I can be a good listener.” Monica smiles at me again and pats the side of my arm before walking past me. The light aroma of her perfume causes my head to spin a little as I get a semi-hardon.
“You’re married,” I remind myself quietly as I walk toward the kitchen. Though I would like to make a move on Monica, I won’t. I love Terri dearly and would never cheat on her. We have a remarkable marriage and I can’t imagine doing anything like that behind her back. I worry, though, that she will soon find out about the money that was in our bank account and the man who wants it back. What I will tell her, I have no idea. I first need to prepare for Victor’s visit this afternoon at the restaurant. Hopefully he will be reasonable enough when I explain to him where the money has all gone.
Chapter Six: No Deal
“He’s here,” Elaine tells me as she walks through the office door. I have dreaded this moment all day.
“Where?” I ask.
She points out toward the dining room. “He’s seated in G-5. I’ve gotten him some water and he’s ordering a meal. It seems Victor plans to stick around for a little while.” Elaine purses her lips together as she looks down at where I am sitting. “Play it cool and just try to reassure him that you’ll be getting that money back to him. Don’t tell him that it’s gone.”
Shaking my head, I reply, “Honesty would probably be the best thing right now, Elaine. If I lie to him to begin with, he’ll figure it out and be angry later. If I tell him the truth, maybe I can find a way to make him happy without coughing up the cash immediately.”
The assistant manager bends down and looks into my eyes. “This guy is serious. He’s wearing a thousand-dollar business suit and shoes made of alligator skin. Don’t fuck around with him, Layden.” Her eyes are sharp as she continues to stare into mine. I get the feeling that although it was her uncle who went into hiding from organized criminals, she probably has had some of her own experiences with them as well.
“I’m going to take it seriously,” I tell her. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him and work something out.”
“Just don’t tell him that it’s gone. Give yourself some time first, okay? Tell him you can get it in a few days.”
“But how?” I ask. “And what’s the use? I can’t get it.”
“Lie and then give yourself more time to think,” Elaine replies. She straightens up and turns to walk out the door. I stand to my feet and follow her out, to the table where a tall, dark man is sitting.
My heart races as I say to him. “Victor?”
He smiles, his lips stretching as he does. “Yes, I’m Victor. Are you Layden?” I nod my head and take a seat opposite him at the table. Elaine was correct, he is very well dressed and in some respects a handsome man of around fifty years of age. His dark brown hair is intermingled with wisps of grey and parted to the left very neatly.
“I’m sorry if I kept you waiting. I was finishing something up in the office.”
“Not a problem at all,” he replies. “I’m glad to finally meet you. How is your wife, Terri, doing?” His dark eyes look into mine as he continues to smile softly. Why does he mention her? How does he know who she is?
“She’s fine,” I say after swallowing hard. “The money,” I begin as I try to move on from personal things.
“Ah, yes, the money. I’m terribly sorry about the mistake. My associates were none too happy with the individual responsible for depositing the cash into the wrong account. It was an error that shall not be repeated.” I get the feeling that whoever put the money into my bank account has paid a great price for what they have done. That price is something I don’t want my mind to focus on at this moment.
“It’s no problem,” I say as I muster a smile of my own. “It was a bit of a surprise, though.”
“I would assume so,” Victor answers with a chuckle. “As it is, you were right to not get the police involved. They can be such sticklers for things like that. You know how government bureaucracy can be, right?” He lifts his glass of water and takes a sip as Monica approaches with a plate of food.
“Here you are, sir,” she says with a smile as she puts it in front of Victor. “Steak, rare, with a side of fries.”
“Thank you, my dear,” Victor replies.
“Can I get you anything else?”
The well-dressed man thinks for a moment. “A glass of port wine? Do you have any?”
“Graham’s,” Monica replies.
“That will do nicely. Thank you.” He looks at me. “Would you like anything, Layden?”
I shake my head as I look nervously at Monica. “No, I’m fine. Thank you.” She nods her head and leaves the table. Victor picks up his knife and begins to cut into the steak, causing blood to slowly ooze from the cool piece of beef.
After taking a bite and savoring it for a moment, the other man says to me, “I enjoy steak rather too much. My doctor says I should stick to chicken, but it just doesn’t compare.” He smiles as he puts his fork and knife down on the plate. “So, the money. My associates have given me permission to grant to you ten percent of the amount mistakenly placed into your account for your troubles.” Victor folds his hands together after placing his elbows on the table. “All we need to do is have you transfer the other ninety thousand into the correct account.”
I attempt to keep from showing Victor that I’m concerned about anything. There is no money to transfer, and I should probably tell him that. However, Elaine said that it would be much better to tell him a lie for now. She thinks that I should convince him that I still have the money but will have to wait for a few days to get it back to him and his associates. Though it goes against my gut feeling, I decide to do as she recommended.
“The money can be transferred,” I tell Victor, eliciting a smile and nod from him. “However, it might take a couple of days.”
His expression suddenly dours. “A couple of days? Why?” He unclasps his hands and lays them on the table on each side of his plate. For a moment, it appears that he might be getting himself into position to reach over the table and take hold of me.
My mind races as I make up a story. “Well, when I saw the money in the account, I called the bank and asked them about it. They said it looked legitimate, but then I pressed them about the chance there was a mistake. So, they put a hold on the money that will continue for another two or three days. They told me it was a security thing.” I study his face and wonder if Victor believes anything I am telling him. Being completely untruthful isn’t the sort of thing that I’m really good at. It’s why Monica and Elaine can both see when something bothers me.
The well-dressed man shifts around in his seat and looks out the window for a moment as he considers what I have told him. Goosebumps form on the back of my neck when he eventually looks back at me. “Three days. I can understand that. I’ll let my associates know.” He smiles before picking back
up his fork and knife and cutting off another piece of meat.
“I’m sorry you had to wait,” Monica says as she puts a glass of port wine down on the table in front of him. “I got caught up with another diner on the way to get it for you.”
Victor smiles. “It’s alright, my dear. I am known for my patience.” He smiles at the server and then looks at me. “I tend to be very patient.”
“Anything else?” she asks.
“No, I’m fine.”
“I’ll check back on you later.” Monica nods and smiles as she looks from Victor to me. She can see that I’m stressed at the moment. Thankfully, she says nothing before going back to the kitchen.
“Three days,” he says again while cutting on the meat once again, blood slowly flowing from the edges of it. “My associates will understand.” He places the piece of meat into his mouth and chews it before swallowing the morsel. Victor then picks up the glass of port wine, swirls it a little, and then sniffs it before taking a sip. “That will do.”
“Three days. I’ll get it to you by then.” My chest hurts as my heart races out of control. I’m not certain whether I am having a panic attack or a heart attack. Either one is a real possibility at this point.
Victor reaches into his jacket pocket and removes a small slip of paper. He lays it on the table and slides it over to me. “The account number is on here. It’s in the same bank, just a different account. All it took was one digit to be entered incorrectly for all of this to happen.” He smiles as he tells me, “We look forward to seeing the money returned in three days. At least, ninety percent of it. You can keep the rest, just as I promised in the letter.”
“I understand.” I put the small slip into my pocket after picking it up off the table. “Anything else?”
Victor takes another bite of his steak. I'm the sort of man who likes my meat well done or at least medium-well. The thought of putting bloody meat into my mouth bothers me. This is apparently not much of a problem for the man sent by his associates to collect the money they’ve lost.
“Once the money has been returned, all will be well,” he tells me with another smile. “Thank you for the meal.” Victor cuts another bite off.
“Um, sure. You’re welcome.” I get the feeling that he doesn’t intend to pay for the nearly raw steak he is consuming in front of me. Nor the glass of port wine. No, it is very clear now who Victor is and who he represents. Elaine was right when she said that Victor is a part of something outside of the law. Though well dressed and well mannered, he’s definitely not someone who is to be challenged or screwed around with.
I get up and nod my head at the man one last time before leaving the table and going back to my office. Elaine sees me and follows before closing the door. “Well?” she asks. “Do you have more time?”
Nervously, I reply, “Three days. He wants it in three days.”
“You didn’t tell him that it’s gone, did you?”
“No. I lied and said the bank is holding it a couple more days. He seemed to believe that story.” My body shakes as I cross my arms. “There’s no way that I can get that much money in three days and transfer it to his account, Elaine. I don’t know what to do.”
“How much money? A hundred thousand?”
“Ninety,” I reply. “He says the other is mine. Victor might as well have told me that I had to give him all hundred thousand, because I can’t even come up with ninety. I’m screwed.” I sit down in my chair and stare straight ahead. “He knows my wife’s name. He even asked about her.”
“Oh, fuck.” Elaine sits down in another chair nearby. “That’s not good. You and Terri will need to think about moving out of that house for a while. They’re probably watching you both.”
“I think Victor would still find me,” I reply. “He seems pretty resourceful.” There is likely no way that I will be able to find so much money to return to the associates Victor mentioned in the letter and in our conversation. My salary is around eighty thousand dollars per year and with that my wife and I still struggle at times. No, there’s just not a way for me to be able to find the money in three days. Not unless I suddenly decide to become a criminal of sorts in my own right.
“I’m sorry, Layden. I wish there was something that I could do to help you out. I’m pretty tapped in my own account right now. Maybe you could go to a bank and get a loan?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, that’s not happening. I don’t have the credit or the collateral to do that.” Sitting back in my office chair, I tell Elaine, “I have three days to figure things out, so that’s just what I had better do.”
“It’s time to tell Terri. You know you have to.” The assistant manager sighs. “You don’t have a choice now. She needs to know that she’s possibly in as much danger as you. Go home and get this straightened out with her.”
“Not yet. Not until I have to.”
“You have to now,” Elaine replies. “For her sake and for yours. The two of you together might be able to figure things out. Layden, don’t just ignore Vincent’s warning for the next two or three days. Tell your wife and work with her to find the money. Borrow at least part of it and offer it to him as a down payment. Maybe then he’ll allow you to pay it out over time.”
She has a point. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to see how much money I can raise in the next three days. If I could find at least half of it, maybe Vincent will understand what has happened and give me a little more time to get the rest. At any rate, I’m sure the so-called finder’s fee will no longer be on the table. I’ll need the entire hundred thousand to be able to settle things with Vincent and his mysterious associates.
“I’ll figure it out.”
“And tell Terri.”
“Soon,” I promise. “When I have to.” Elaine frowns at me as I tell her this. She has known my wife for a while and they occasionally talk on the phone. It’s not as if they’re besties or anything close to that, but they do seem to have a very real understanding of each other. It’s as if they’re next door neighbors who occasionally get together to have coffee.
“Don’t drag this out, Layden. Victor and his friends are not from the local PTA. They mean business.” Elaine turns and leaves the office as I continue to contemplate my next move. There’s a lot to do to see that things with Victor don’t escalate. Though he seemed calm and rational today, he also said some things that made it clear to me that he wanted that money back sooner rather than later. His tone, though cordial, also held an air of threat to it. Three days is all the time I have to make good on what I owe them. I had better make the most of it.
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Chapter Seven: No Doubts Remain
No one is willing to help me out with my financial issue. Not one single person or bank. I’ve even taken the drastic step of emailing a wealthy cousin of mine by the name of Renee Bucksheer. She’s a multimillionaire now, but I grew up with her and we were thick as thieves until I was about fourteen years old. Since then, I’ve kept up with her and occasionally contacted her on Facebook. It seems that now that I need help, she’s not willing to respond to me at all.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I go into the dining room in our apartment and sit down at the table. Opening my laptop, I begin to weed through dozens of emails in the hopes that someone...anyone...will have offered some kind of financial aid. Unfortunately, there’s not much of anything there that is helpful. However, there is an email from Victor.
“Hello, Layden. I trust all is well,” his email begins. “I haven’t seen the money yet. Is there a problem that I can help with? Does the account number I have given you work? Please respond as soon as you can. Thank you.”
“Dammit, I have to tell him,” I say nervously as I click the reply button in the email. Though I have avoided contacting Victor for the last three days, he has apparently found my email address. The fact of the
matter is that he and his associates know a lot more about me and my wife than is at all comfortable. Something has to be done to satisfy their desire for the money, but I don’t know what that something is.