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Corridor Man Volumes 1, 2, 3,4 5

Page 67

by Nick James


  Bobby stared at her for a long moment and shook his head, then went out to the living room and dumped the contents of her purse onto the coffee table. The cash envelope was in there, still fairly thick and folded in half. It must have been in the bottom of her purse because it landed on the top of the pile. One end of the envelope had been torn open as if she’d immediately realized someone had been in there and she’d ripped it open to determine the damage. Bobby counted out another grand, ten hundred-dollar bills and stuffed them in his pocket. “My tip, for giving very good service,” he said, then tossed everything scattered across the coffee table back into her purse, chained the door and went back to the bedroom.

  Emily was on her back, breathing deeply, but thankfully not snoring. She mumbled something unintelligible again as he climbed into bed next to her, then gave a long sigh and rolled over with her back to him.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  He woke early the following morning, just a little after five. The bedroom reeked of gin and someone in need of a shower. Emily was in exactly the same position she’d been in when he climbed into bed last night, only now her breathing was a little softer. He quickly dressed and tiptoed out of the room then took the elevator down to his car. The sun was only partially over the horizon as he drove along largely empty streets. He pulled up and parked at the curb two doors down from Denton’s then quickly walked up the driveway with this morning’s delivery. Today’s bow was a bright yellow and the quantity of product contained in the Saran wrap was so small that if Addison wasn’t careful opening it up there was the distinct possibility she’d lose it all. He could only hope.

  Her pickup truck was there, parked at an odd angle across the driveway. If there was any new damage to the vehicle he was unable to spot it although the windows were completely fogged up. As he approached he became aware of something in the front seat and his first thought was a dog, until upon closer examination it turned out to be a figure, Addison as a matter of fact. Her head rested against the foggy window and with her hair spread across the glass at a quick glance it was an honest mistake.

  He stood still and just watched for a number of minutes. She didn’t move and he figured she was either dead or sound asleep. He cautiously approached the vehicle then slid the yellow bow with the Saran wrap beneath the windshield wiper on the passenger side. He could just barely make her out through the foggy windshield. A sky-blue bow was attached to her hair. It looked like the same bow that had come with his first pharmaceutical delivery and he took it as sort of a measure of success.

  He hurried back to his car, giving a polite nod to the woman across the street walking her dog. She carried a blue plastic bag filled with the dog’s morning deposit, ignored him and continued on her way.

  He drove toward home, lowering the sun visor in the car as he headed east with a blinding rising sun at just the wrong level. He stopped at a bakery, picked out two, frosted cinnamon pull-a-parts then hurried home.

  Once home he checked on Emily. She was still asleep, but on her stomach now, with the pillow pulled over her head. He walked back to the kitchen, put the coffee on and fired up his computer. An hour and a half later he phoned the office and told Marci he was at City View visiting Noah Denton and would be in once he’d had a chance to speak with his doctors.

  He heard a groan from his bedroom about an hour later. The bathroom door closed a few minutes after that and he heard the shower running. She was in there for close to a half hour and when she finally appeared in the kitchen doorway she was dressed and looked reasonably put together.

  He had a glass of orange juice with two aspirin sitting on the counter next to it. He was just in the process of pulling her cinnamon pull-a-part out of the microwave.

  “Mmm-mmm, no thanks,” she said and gulped half the orange juice to chase down the aspirin. “I’d better not.”

  He set the plate with the pull-a-part on the counter next to her. She sort of wrinkled her nose, and sniffed, then tore a small piece off, stuffed it in her mouth and said, “I really shouldn’t.” Then she pulled a stool out, sat down and tore off another piece.

  “How’s the head?”

  She didn’t answer, but gave a look that suggested the answer might be obvious.

  “Well, like I say, plenty of sugar and…”

  “Yeah I know, I got the aspirin down, I’m working on the sugar part now,” she said tearing off another piece, then licking her fingers once she’d stuffed it in her mouth.

  “Do you remember our conversation last night?”

  “We talked?” she said then smiled. “Parts of it, but refresh my memory.”

  “You should get your locks changed. You can look at the ones I just had put in. And, if you have a cash situation,” he let that last word just hang out there for a moment. “You should look at getting a safe, the kind that attaches to the floor or a wall. Like in a hotel,” he said before she could offer that line up.

  “God, I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “I happen to know a guy, he just did my work. He’s honest, discrete, and I’d be happy to call him for you?”

  “Would you mind?” she asked then tossed the last bit of the pull-a-part into her mouth and slid off her stool. “I should probably let you get to work.”

  “I’ll call him and keep you posted, we’ll get this sorted out for you.”

  “Thanks, sorry to be a pain. I suppose last night we didn’t…”

  “Relax, I’ll call you later.”

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Bobby phoned Earl from his office.

  “Security House,” the receptionist answered, then took down Bobby’s information and said Earl would phone him back just as soon as possible.

  Earl called about an hour later and said, “Earl here, what’s the problem, sir?” right after Bobby said hello.

  “No problem, Earl. I’ve got a referral, but I’d like you to handle it personally.”

  “Okay,” he said, drawing out the word, suggesting a further explanation was in order.

  Bobby explained Emily’s robbery, at least as Emily understood it. He told Earl she wanted new locks installed, and that she wanted a safe to keep her ‘valuables’.

  “Same locks as your place?”

  “I think that would be best,” Bobby said.

  “I’ve got just the thing for her on the safe. She’s got closets in this place?”

  “Yeah, I think one in just about every room.”

  “Perfect, unit runs about four and half, but no one is getting into it without the combination, It’s an electronic lock, but if, for whatever reason the power goes off you can bypass and enter manually.”

  “How soon can you install?”

  “I can get there late this afternoon. I’ll have to move some appointments around, might cost a little additional,” he said.

  “Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ll pay you whatever the extra charge is.” Bobby gave him Emily’s phone number and address then said, “I’d like one more thing.”

  “Name it my friend.”

  “I’d like a copy of her keys and it would probably be a good idea if you could get that combination to the safe for me, too. She can get a little spacey at times and I’m thinking it would just be a good idea to have a back up. You know, just in case, for the next time when she can’t remember or she just screws up and loses her keys.”

  “That’s gonna run you a little bit extra.”

  “You’ll keep it under your hat, you won’t mention it to her.”

  “Not unless you want me to.”

  “God no, don’t do that.”

  “Then like I said, a little bit extra, some consideration we like to say.”

  “Just let me know.”

  “Be calling you just as soon as the job is done, Mr. Custer.”

  Bobby phoned Emily next.

  “Now what did I do?” she answered.

  “Nothing I’m aware of?”

  “You referring to last night?”

  “No,
relax and quit beating yourself up.”

  “Well, I’m here to tell you those aspirin and that pastry haven’t been doing their job. My head is killing me.”

  “Maybe you should just go back to bed.”

  “Where do you think I am right now?”

  “I just got off the line with Earl, he…”

  “Earl?”

  “The lock guy. He’ll call you and be over later this afternoon to install new locks for you and he’ll also have a safe to keep your valuables in. I suggest you put the safe in a closet, probably not the one in your bedroom. That’s where any thief worth his salt would look first. He’s a sharp guy so ask him, he’ll probably have some ideas.”

  “Oh, you are so sweet, I can’t thank you enough.”

  “Glad I could help, now get some rest and lose that headache.”

  “Bye, bye, bye,” she said and hung up.

  He phoned Camila next, but got dumped into her voicemail and had to leave a message.

  He phoned Dorsey to come and pick up the files from his office so he could go home. Dorsey walked into his office a couple of minutes later. “You hear the news?” he asked as he rolled a cart loaded with files through the door.

  “I’m the last guy to know the latest news, Mike. What’s up?”

  “Jerry Downs and Chuck Larson are coming back. Part of the acquisition team that left. Sounds like the whole thing has fallen apart.”

  “Really?”

  Dorsey nodded, then placed the stack of files on the cart and wheeled it around. “Yeah, I guess Angie ran off with Nate Anderson and everything just went to hell in a hand basket from there?”

  “Good Lord, you gotta be kidding. She’s not going to want her old job back is she?”

  “You know, I’m kinda liking this gig. She wants it, she’s gonna have to fight me for it,” he said then headed for the door. “Have a nice night, man.”

  On his way home, Bobby placed another call to Camila and left another message. He swung by a Thai place and picked up something to go, then grabbed a bottle of wine at Solo Vino before he headed home.

  He cruised through the parking area twice as was his habit then took the elevator up to his floor making sure the coast was clear in the hallway before he stepped off and hurried down the hall to his unit. Even with the new locks and his monitoring system he still put the length of tape on the base of his door every day. The tape had remained secure since the day he changed the locks.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  He settled into Angie’s corner of the couch and caught a portion of the evening news, eating out of the styrofoam takeout food tray and sipping wine. He watched the news just long enough to become disgusted and turned it off. Another one of those stupid drug related murders in Frogtown and a little boy eleven shot right downtown on Kellogg Boulevard. What the hell was the world coming to?

  His security buzzer rang a half hour later.

  “Mr. Custer, sir, it’s Earl. I’ve got those items and the information you requested.”

  Bobby buzzed him in the lobby door then hurried out to the kitchen with the glass of wine and his takeout tray. He watched through the peephole as Earl stepped off the elevator a minute or two later and waited a few brief moments after Earl knocked before he opened the door.

  “Howdy, Mr. Custer, hope I’m not interrupting.”

  “No, not at all, I was just watching the news. Damn news reports were so bad tonight I just shut it off.”

  “You saw the piece about that little kid?”

  “Yeah, what the hell was that about? A child shot, in the middle of downtown? What’s the world coming to?”

  “If it’s who I think it was, there might be a little more to it.”

  “What? You knew the kid?”

  “Only by sight. He’s innocent more or less. I’d see him back and forth down there throughout the day. Always on a skateboard, fast little bastard. But he wasn’t just skateboarding.”

  Bobby had a blank look on his face.

  “Drugs, I’m guessing. I’ve see him with your unsavory types on a couple of occasions. You’re a kid and you get caught with that shit all they do is throw you in Juvenile Detention and give you three squares and a clean place to sleep. You or me, we’d probably end up doing five years.”

  Bobby immediately thought of the kid on the skateboard the other day and wondered if it could have been him?

  “You okay, Mr. Custer? You all of a sudden look like you’re somewhere else.”

  “What? Oh, no just all of a sudden remembered something I forgot to do, have to get on it tomorrow. Your installation went all right?”

  “No problem, that Saunders lady seemed like a very nice woman.”

  “Yeah, she is. Unfortunately she just lost a sister, hit and run overseas.”

  “The woman in Paris? I didn’t put that together.”

  “Yeah, that coupled with the robbery we just figured it was time to maybe take some additional precautions. Ever since her sister’s death she’s had some difficulty concentrating and, well after that robbery, she’ll just be a lot safer. Now, what do I owe you?”

  “I’m thinking one large should just about cover me,” Earl said then held out a small wire ring in the palm of his hand with two similar looking silver keys attached.

  “Very reasonable,” Bobby said and reached into his pocket for a hundred dollar bill. He fished one off the stack he’d taken from Emily’s purse last night, pulled it out and slid it under the keys in Earl’s hand. Earl’s hand closed into a fist before he could take the keys. “What?”

  “One large,” Earl chuckled. That’s actually a grand, a thousand dollars, not a hundred. I’ll need nine more of these before I can hand over the keys to you.”

  “A grand? You gotta be kidding?”

  “Do I look like I’m kidding, sir?”

  “Now Earl, I’m not sure where you’re coming from here, but a thousand dollars? For a spare set of keys? Something ain’t right.”

  “Yeah, I’d say that’s a fairly accurate assessment, something definitely ain’t right. I suppose we could start with whatever you and your little lady friend got lined up in the way of a business. Apparently there’s lot of cash coming through and she strikes me as a woman who knows her way around pretty well. Course you’re getting the combination to the safe I just installed in the deal, too.”

  “Hold on here, I’m not sure what you’re thinking…”

  “Hey, Mr. Custer, don’t take the laid back attitude for granted. You try and jack me around and it’s gonna come back and bite you in the ass. I know you were disbarred, did some time and got out early. I really don’t give a damn, I been around long enough to guess that you ain’t stupid and a fella’s gotta make a buck. You and sweet cheeks are into making movies, thats fine. Yeah, I saw the recording device up above the door in her bedroom and I saw the one in her den, too. Nice job by the way, you’d really have to be looking for ‘em before you’d spot them up there. But like I said, I’ll need nine more of these before I can hand over the keys and that combination to you.”

  Bobby figured he might get one swing in, if he was lucky, before Earl tore him apart. His pistol was waiting safely back in the bedroom tucked into a dresser drawer where at the moment, it was doing him absolutely no good. What the hell? He’d stolen the cash from Emily almost twenty-four hours ago and with the combination to her safe he would always have access to more.

  “The price of doing business,” he said then pulled the roll of bills out of his pocket, and counted off all nine bills, placing them in Earl’s outstretched hand. “One large as you say,” he said then smiled..

  Earl pocketed the money then handed the keys over. “Their duplicates, same key for the front and back lock. Combination to her safe is four digits, zero, nine, one, four.”

  “I better write that down,” Bobby said and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper off the book shelf. “Zero, nine, one, four?” he repeated then looked at the numbers and it suddenly dawned on him, 0914, Septe
mber fourteenth, the date Emily had been left at the alter.

  “You need anything else, feel free to call anytime,” Earl said and headed for the door.

  “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Bobby’s phone rang after the noon hour. Now that at least some of the acquisition team was in the process of returning to the firm he’d had to wait all morning to talk to Bennett. Bennett had been in meetings with the returnee’s every time he checked, until the most recent time, when he was simply gone.

  “Bobby Custer,” he answered figuring it would be Emily on the other end of the line.

  “Hi Bobby, sorry to bother you in the middle of your work day.”

  “Not a bother,” he said trying to place the woman’s voice. It definitely wasn’t Emily.

  “I was hoping Addison was going to pick me up, but she hasn’t appeared and she’s not answering her phone.”

  Cori Denton. “You’re back from Corpus Christi?”

  “Yes. My daughter was supposed to pick me up, but well…”

  “Not to worry, I can be there in about fifteen minutes. Did you check your bags?”

  “No, just the one, carry on. I’m so sorry, you’re sure this isn’t too much trouble?”

  It is, but I’m not going to tell you that. “Not at all, I’d be happy to pick you up and you can tell me all about the trip. Terminal two, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll see you right outside the main entrance, about fifteen minutes, I’m leaving now.”

  “Thank you,” she said and hung up.

  He more or less grumbled to himself halfway out to the airport about having to pick her up, then he grumbled the rest of the way about her worthless daughter, Addison.

 

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