by Ian Jones
‘I suppose you just heard right?’ Reed asked her.
‘I know how it looks. But yeah, sometimes people talk to us. Look, we aren’t saying anything we’ve been asked not to. I’m just interested in John.’
Sammy stepped closer.
John sighed.
‘Listen Miss King. Samantha. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I’m just a tourist. Yes, I was in the subway and yes, I do remember saying something to a camera when I came out but thankfully that was the end of it, so now I’m just hanging out in LA with a friend of mine. Happy to be here. Enjoying the sunshine.’
John had spent many years of his working life lying and believed he had it down to a fine art but now, sitting next to Tom Reed who knew exactly what was going on his words sounded flat, unbelievable.
But Sammy nodded.
‘It’s just Sammy. Or Sam. Well, ok, maybe you and I could just talk about what happened? It must have been terrifying.’
‘Listen Sammy, I’m not interested in being in the public eye. It doesn’t suit me, I’d rather fade into the background, just be anonymous. I’m sure you do a great job, I will check out your show but that’s just not me.’
Sammy smiled, a winning, heart melting smile. John could feel himself being pulled in.
She looked at him carefully. She liked what she saw, she had been desperate to find him and here he was, and he was interesting. Suddenly what Moran thought seemed even less important. She glanced at Reed.
‘Wow, he’s big. He your bodyguard?’ she asked.
Reed raised his eyebrows.
‘Round the other way, miss. It ain’t me doing the protecting. People don’t wanna mess with John, trust me.’
Her mind was whirring. Now she didn’t need Jimmy Frost any more, which was a relief. She moved closer still.
‘Alright. Maybe we can go for a drink then?’
John looked at her carefully. He knew what he wanted to say for an answer. She was a ten, easy, and she seemed lovely.
‘Maybe. But no interviews, no microphones?’
She smiled wider.
‘Of course. Look, I’m new in LA, just trying to make a name for myself. The whole Metro thing, it’s a big deal, massive. Nothing like that happened here before. Yeah, ok, so I want your story. But it can wait. Truthfully, I needed something to make an impact and I’ve been spending every waking second hoping I can find you and guess what? Now I have and of course you’re just a guy, same as all of us. Right now I’m way the hell out the office and down by the ocean, and for the first time in too long I feel free.’
John nodded, and smiled in return. He would love to go out with her. But this wasn’t a good idea. Unfortunately.
‘I’m sorry. It’s great to be asked, and any other time it would be yes. But I can’t, right now. Maybe another time.’
Sammy stepped back, she wasn’t used to hearing no from men. But she was a professional.
‘Ok, I understand.’
She dug in her bag and passed over a business card.
‘I would really appreciate a call before you leave, just to hear your side. My editor is kind of a pain in the ass, and this has been such huge news.’
John took the card and slid it in his pocket. Now he felt bad. He had been asked on a date by this crazily cute woman and turned her down. All he had to do was not say anything.
‘Well, I better go. I’ve been told about a rooftop bar, just along from here, close to Venice Beach. I’ll be there later, around seven I guess, if you change your mind,’ Sammy said.
‘Ok, thanks. Nice to meet you, take care.’
Sammy went to the cashier and paid, then John watched her fill her car and drive away.
Reed looked at him and shook his head.
‘Man, you are crazy. She is hot.’
‘Yeah, I know, but what with everything going on right now it can’t be a good idea. Whatever I think or want doesn’t matter. You know what I mean. I don’t need my name in the papers.’
‘It doesn’t have to be that way John, and we can’t do any more than we are doing anyhow. It won’t hurt to take a couple of hours off you know.’
John sipped some awful coffee and gazed out the window.
‘Maybe, I suppose,’ he said finally. ‘Yeah, ok, why the hell not? It’s just a drink, it’s not like anything’s going to happen, worse luck. But you’re coming too, right? Make sure I don’t blunder into something.’
‘Yeah, why the hell not. I’ll ask Cindy.’
‘Who’s Cindy?’ John asked, wondering if Reed knew the area. He’d never mentioned it.
‘Chick from the hotel.’
‘Ah, you did notice. I wondered.’
‘I notice everything John. Always.
Chapter Thirty-One
After a couple of hours of walking round and round the yard with his mobile phone glued to his ear Pinsky came back in and demanded gate keys.
Rico handed his set over without a word.
‘You off out then?’ Voorhees asked.
Pinsky stood still and stared at him. All the men were together in the main room and every one of them apart from Pinsky wished they were somewhere else. The tension was getting worse and worse.
Unsure of himself and desperately regretting saying anything, Voorhees blinked and looked away. Pinsky was clearly annoyed about something, it had to be down to the phone calls. Something must have gone wrong, but what was it? It couldn’t be Voorhees or his team, they hadn’t done anything. And nothing had been said about what they were supposed to be doing next ever since Pinsky set foot in the yard.
‘I am needing to ask your permission fat man?’ Pinsky sneered.
‘No, of course not,’ Voorhees replied hurriedly. ‘It’s just that, I’ve heard nothing. Nobody is telling me nothing. I don’t know what’s going on. Yesterday I was told that there would be a new plan, action would be starting, and …’
‘And? You? Ready for action?’ Pinsky interrupted, still staring.
‘Look Leo, me, Sal and Rico, we been together a long time, we’ve done …’
‘You have done nothing!!’ Pinsky snarled. ‘Nothing. And I had to come here to get it done. I am the client I think. I am the customer. You work for me. All we see is mistakes, you waste money and time. It was simple. Easy. A child could do it.’
Voorhees said nothing, just stood there uselessly. Pinsky wheeled round and stalked out, stomping down the stairs. Rico walked over and looked out the window, watching the Russian move fast across the yard.
‘He didn’t take a car,’ he commented mildly.
Voorhees breathed out slowly and sat down. He chose the old office chair which was pushed against the glass partition wall and it made a loud groan, looking as if it would topple over under the weight but just about managed to stay upright.
‘I tried,’ Sal said, speaking to everyone. ‘I asked him, you know, if he was running things now. I said I just wanted to know, I told him that me and Rico had been here for months.’
‘And what did he say?’ Voorhees asked.
‘It was fucking scary tell the truth. He laughed. Asked me if I wanted the job. He told me it wasn’t just us fucking up, some shit went wrong yesterday that wasn’t down to us. For once, he told me. Something about Vegas, I don’t know what he was talking about. He asked me if that was all we were worried about, who was the boss. He said I was lucky that was all that was on my mind and that I wasn’t dead like all the others, he said we were useless, he was amazed we were still here.’
‘I kinda know about Vegas. But it must have got worse. And he blamed me for that, I suppose?’
‘No. He didn’t. He didn’t say nothing about you. He said none of us knew what we were doing. That’s why he came. He told me everyone was very disappointed, there are a lot of angry people. He said we had pissed off everyone. But not only us. Others had fucked up too.’
Voorhees sighed. That explained why nobody was talking to him. Whatever was said now, Pinsky would be blaming him. He was sup
posed to be in charge.
‘I have called. But they tell me they are waiting for their contact on the inside, they need some information, they should have had it by now. So there is a problem, but they wouldn’t say what. Not to me anyways. They say to wait for their call, don’t contact them,’ Voorhees told them almost apologetically, looking around the room as he spoke.
‘He said something else,’ Sal said quietly. ‘Just before he came in.’
‘Oh yeah? What now? Don’t tell me, I’m a fat turd and it’s all my fucking fault.’
‘No. He said if we don’t get it done in two days none of us will get paid. Or more likely, we’ll all be dead.’
***
They found the rooftop bar easy enough. Cindy knew exactly where it was. When they had returned to the hotel Reed had casually asked her if she fancied going for a drink with him that evening and she had practically fainted with excitement, John was genuinely concerned for her.
‘I get off at seven,’ she managed to say eventually.
At a quarter to eight they set off, Cindy leading the way. She had really made an effort, she looked gorgeous, putting everyone around in the shade. Reed definitely noticed.
The bar was on a corner, four storeys up, above some shops and apartments, next door to a trendy boutique hotel. There were a couple of doormen around a street entrance with a lift inside, they took one look at Reed and stepped out of the way.
Once they reached the roof level, the lift opened out into a fabric covered square lobby area with a greeter desk opposite. There were two pretty young girls in matching violet minidresses who fixed on beaming smiles and asked if they had made a reservation.
‘Er, no,’ John replied.
Both women looked doubtful.
‘We’re very busy,’ one said, but by now they could see out onto the roof itself which was covered in chairs and tables. It was pretty crowded, but they could see Sammy sitting in a corner close to the edge right above the street. She looked up, spotted them and waved.
‘It’s ok, we’re with her,’ John replied and they walked across. The managed to salvage enough chairs so they could all join her at the table, and Reed ordered for everyone from a waitress.
‘I know you, I love your show, and you’re so beautiful,’ gushed Cindy to Sammy, who smiled and looked suitably embarrassed.
‘You staying near here?’ she asked John, rapidly changing the subject.
‘Yeah, just down the street,’ he replied, cagey as ever.
‘Thanks to Google I’m booked in a place somewhere around here, I guess I’m gonna need to find it at some point, but it can wait,’ she replied.
They all made small talk, and Cindy successfully commandeered Reed’s attention so John and Sammy were left to chat about pretty much nothing, which suited them both.
‘I wasn’t at all sure you’d show up,’ Sammy told him.
John shrugged.
‘Well, it’s not like I had a better offer! And I need a night off, truth be told. It’s been a bit crazy, if I’m honest.’
Sammy looked at the still bright red slowly healing scar on his head.
‘Well, at least you got something to remember LA by.’
John laughed ruefully.
‘It’s not that bad, but it has been full on, so I’m taking a break for the evening. We both need to.’ He nodded at Reed who was leaned over, listening to Cindy who was talking excitedly to him.
Sammy glanced over.
‘Now that is a big guy,’ she commented.
‘Yep. But he’s a hundred percent. I like him a lot.’
‘So you just met?’
John looked at Sammy carefully. She was a journalist, and he really hoped he wouldn’t have to spend the evening dodging questions or even avoiding talking to her.
‘Why did you ask that?’
Sammy blushed.
‘Jeez, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like, well you know. I just wondered.’
John held up a hand.
‘Ok, ok. Yeah, we met recently. It’s nothing interesting.’
‘I suppose asking your line of business is not allowed?’
‘I could tell you, but …’
‘You’d have to kill me,’ Sammy finished for him. They both laughed.
‘Not quite. It’s complicated, and we just met. But what about you, you’re a reporter right?’
‘Yeah, actually I’ve been in TV forever. But new here in LA. And it hasn’t been a great start. I kind of banked everything on finding you, and I can’t believe I just bumped into you. I’d given up. Christ knows what I was thinking.’
She smiled, and John smiled back.
They relaxed, and Sammy told him about herself. John was happy sitting there, on the roof in the warm evening with a beautiful woman, a cold beer and the sounds of the sea. They sat there for a while, just chatting, no awkward questions then went for dinner, paying way too much for not nearly enough food in a bistro, ending up in another bar right on the seafront, then back to the hotel, where keeping his distance didn’t seem so important anymore for John.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rico was woken by Sal shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes slowly, there was very little daylight coming in through the windows so he can’t have overslept.
‘What? What is it?’ he mumbled.
‘Shhhhhh … shut the fuck up man, listen!’ Sal replied urgently.
Rico sat up. He could see Greg and Rolf were also awake, and watching Sal.
Rico listened, then heard voices. Yann and Leo. Arguing.
‘What time is it?’ he asked.
‘Nearly half-six,’ Greg replied.
So that was weird straight away. Yann was never awake before ten or often eleven. Which was why they always ate breakfast so late.
Rico climbed out his sleeping bag and made his way cautiously over to the stairs, but he still couldn’t hear very clearly. The other two men were two floors below and all he could really make out was Leo cursing. It was obvious Yann was being accused of something but it was impossible to tell what.
Rico pulled on some trousers and barefoot made his way silently down the stairs, with the others following. He walked across until he was immediately above the stairway down to the next floor and stopped again. Leo’s voice was much clearer now.
‘This is why you fail. This is why. Because you do not act. We give money, lot of money, and for what? You do nothing. Just sit around on your fat ass waiting for someone else to do it. I said all along you were useless. I was right. I should just shoot you like a broken horse.’
Rico turned and looked at the others. What did this mean? Suddenly he felt like a weight was lifted. Surely all this was over now. They wouldn’t be carrying on. Leo was ending it, and if that meant Yann was out the picture then so what? Nothing had worked out so far for Rico; he had very little money and no place to live but he would sort that out. He always did. He needed to get away. The four men grouped at the top of the stairs and as they talked in whispers about what they should do suddenly there was a noise and there was Leo, standing just below them, watching, strange smile on his face.
‘Come,’ he told them, and turned walking back down the stairs.
They all looked at each other and then slowly followed.
Yann was sitting in the office chair which had been pulled into the main room. The big metal trunks were lined up on the floor, all open. They were full of guns and ammo, but both Rico and Sal knew that. Next to them was a small suitcase, standing open, empty apart from a couple of stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
Leo took position behind them.
‘You see?’ he asked.
Everybody moved closer. Neither Rico or Sal knew about the cash, but they had no idea what they were supposed to be looking at. Rico looked over at Rolf and Greg who had never seen inside the trunks either so they would be even more confused. Rico turned to watch Yann who was sitting very still, paler than ever and sweating.
In the end Rico turned to Leo.
Leo shook his head.
‘No. Is not the point. For weeks, we wait. I hear “They are not ready, they need more money, they do not have the weapons.” This is what I hear when I ask what is happening. Because is a deadline, no? We have to get this done, you are being paid to deliver. And all the time, is this. It does not change. But we fight in Chechnya with lot less I promise you. So what have you been doing?’
Rico didn’t know what to say, and he knew Sal wouldn’t either. All they had ever done was what they were told. Yann was still just sitting silently.
Leo picked up an AK-47 from the trunk, and then bending down at the other one snapped a clip into place.
‘I should just kill you all I think. But especially this fat piece of shit,’ he sneered.
Rico held his hands up.
‘Look Leo, we’re as much in the dark as you are here ok? We didn’t know anything. We were told nothing. We were cooped up in this shitty tiny apartment for months, and now here. But I got no idea what is going on.’
Leo turned to Yann.
‘So, is you, which I knew anyway.’
‘Leo, I just follow orders, I don’t get to make the decisions. Yeah, ok, so things don’t go to plan. But I was told to wait and I waited,’ Yann spoke fast, bright eyes staring out.
‘Bullshit. I said from the start the fat man is useless.’
‘Leo, I’ve been doing this a long time, and I …’
Leo stepped forward and shot Yann in the head. The big man jerked back in the chair, and then seemed to hang, motionless, before sliding slowly backward making the office chair squeak on its wheels, the front set up into the air. The men all stood watching. Eventually it stopped and then toppled backwards, sending Yann slumping to the floor with a loud thud.
Leo tore down the temporary curtain and tossed it over the dead body.