by Nick James
“When did you see her last?”
“The day I first met you. After those shootings next door. Until then, I just thought I had a wealthy fruitcake on my hands. After that, I started to really question who was in the place. I became more uncomfortable with each passing day, although to tell you the truth I can’t explain why. It was just sort of a gut feeling that I had.”
“You do drugs, Mr. Custer?”
“No, never have, never will. I like a good strong drink now and again. I’ve certainly enjoyed a bottle of wine from time to time, but drugs no, never. If you like, I’ll gladly take a test now or any other time you chose.”
“Mind if I hang onto these?” Carrick said ignoring the statement and holding up the documents.
“By all means, it’s why I printed them off.”
“Thanks for your time, Mr. Custer. I’m sure we’ll be in touch,” Carrick said then stood, flashed a quick smile and left.
Chapter Four
Bobby watched Carrick as he walked back out to the lobby and wondered if creating the documents had been such a good idea. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and stepped back into his office. Bennett Hinz phoned before he had a chance to sit down.
“Oh, glad to see you’re free, Custer. Was that a client?”
“Of sorts,” Bobby said. “Actually a guy with the state tax division. I had a couple of questions on some partnership deals Mr. Montcreff is involved with and just wanted to be sure things were on the up and up.”
“And?”
“No problem, we’re good,” Bobby said, then changed the subject. “I had phoned earlier, you mentioned yesterday you wanted to start going through Mr. Denton’s office and packing things up.”
“Yes, we should start this morning if that suits.” Bennett used the royal we, although Bobby knew he would be working solo, Bennett wouldn’t so much as open a drawer. Not that it was a problem. He planned to go over everything in the office thoroughly and looked forward to the freedom of working alone.
“I’ll have one of the paras join you,” Bennett said. “The two of you working together should be able to get everything sorted in no time at all.”
Damnit. “I wonder if that’s such a good idea. You know, I’ll be sorting through things, certainly some private things. What with the Saunders situation out there hanging fire. If we came across anything and were asked to testify, and I’m not suggesting there’s anything in there we’ll find of that nature, but there is the potential, sir.” He could literally hear Bennett thinking on the other end of the phone and pictured him drumming his fingers on the desk.
“Yes, I suppose I can see your point. Very well, the sooner you get started, the better. I’ve unlocked the door.”
“I’ll start immediately,” Bobby said. “And I was planning to work the weekend as well, calling as little attention to the project as possible.”
“That’s the spirit. Well done.”
A couple of minutes later, Bobby skirted round the paralegal cubicles, entered Denton’s office, locked the door behind him, closed the blinds completely and started to work. He began with the file cabinets, there were four, meticulously paging through every file. Most were duplicates of things he’d already reviewed and for just a moment he toyed with the idea of sneaking them home before the reality of just what an impossible task that would be set in.
At half past one he ordered a sandwich and a strawberry shake to be delivered, then ate at Denton’s desk while he paged through more files. By six that evening he’d made decent progress, paging through more than half of the files. He locked Denton’s office door on the way out then walked back to his office to check messages. There were two.
“Oh, ahh hello, Mr. Custer, this is Addison Denton. Sorry I’ve been such a bitch lately, it’s just that my mom has been riding my ass and well of course you know about the old man. Anyway, got the flat fixed and wondered maybe if you wanted to, you know, like meet for a drink or whatever you felt like doing. I was thinking of the ribbon, you know, that bow you mentioned. You can call me at,” and she left her number.
The second message was from Addison as well. “Oh hey, sorry to be a pain, just checking to see if you got my message. I was hoping to get together, we can do whatever you want,” she said then left her number again and hung up.
He turned on his computer, logged into the monitor site and scanned his condo. It appeared to be completely empty.
Chapter Five
He was tempted to drive past what was left of Camila’s, but quickly decided that would be one of the more stupid things he could do and so he went home. He drove through the underground parking area twice, then backed into his parking place and sat in the Mercedes for close to five minutes just waiting and watching to see if anything looked out of place.
A woman he recognized but didn’t know pulled in and then walked over to the elevator. Just as the doors opened, he hopped out of his car then called, “Hold that elevator, please.” He ran and stepped on to the elevator saying, “Thanks,” then thanked her again when she got off on the third floor. Mercifully, his hallway was empty, so he hurried to his unit, quickly stepped inside, then locked and chained the door behind him.
He thought again about phoning that brat, Addison Denton, but decided another twenty-four hours would just make her that much more desperate so he turned on his computer and phoned Emily instead.
“Well, I was beginning to wonder what happened to you,” she said when she answered.
“Sorry, got involved with work and time sort of got away from me.”
“Yeah, tell me about it, seems I’m just beginning to understand what makes your clock tick.”
“I know it’s short notice, but wondered if you’d be interested in getting together tonight? I could bring over…”
“Oh thanks, I’d love to, but actually my mother is due any moment. We’ll be spending the entire evening going over in very minute detail everything that we did and said in San Diego. You’re welcome to join us,” she laughed.
“You know that sounds kind of fun.”
He immediately heard the panic in her voice. “Don’t kid yourself. You’d be praying for the clock to tick. I wouldn’t dream of doing that to you, but’s it’s sweet of you to offer. Rain check for tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, absolutely. I’d like that,” he said.
“I’ll call you tomorrow with a time. Bye, bye, bye,” she said, then quickly got off the line.
He logged onto the devices he’d set up at her place, turned them on, opened a bottle of wine, then sat back to enjoy the show.
It was almost nine before the opening act began. He’d been jumping back and forth between a number of different sites and then checking the live show at Emily’s to see if anything was happening. He must have checked at least a half-dozen times, tuning into an empty room before he finally had some action.
They were sitting on the couch, the two of them, Emily and Gregory Lindgren. For a change Lindgren wasn’t on his cell phone, but then he apparently had other things on his mind.
“You sure you don’t want some wine?” Lindgren said, refilling his glass from the bottle on the coffee table.
“I told you, I just don’t feel like drinking tonight.”
“Okay, not a problem. I just thought you…”
“You just thought you’d get me drunk.”
“Hey look, don’t take it personal. But you gotta admit you like your beverages,” he said.
“So, that’s all I am to you, just someone who drinks too much and ends up in bed, is that it?”
“Well, or in the back seat of my car, on the kitchen counter, on my boat, in my place in Aspen, on the beach. From what I recall, you seemed to enjoy yourself. We both did. Come on, Emily what’s going on?”
“I’d like to think I was bringing a little bit more to our relationship than just sex. I happen…”
“Whoa, hold on.” Lindgren set his wine glass on the coffee table. “First of all, we both agreed, our rela
tionship as you call it, involved nothing more than mutual pleasure. That was your term, as a matter of fact. You told me you just wanted a man with no strings attached. In fact, you said a relationship with a married man was a hot button for you.”
“Well, maybe I’ve changed my mind. Maybe I would like a little bit more than just being a convenient piece of ass.”
“Hey, what’s this about, Emily? This isn’t like you. We’ve both enjoyed one another’s company. You’ve known I was married from the very beginning; I’ve never hidden that fact from you. I…”
Lindgren’s cellphone suddenly rang. After the third ring, Emily said, “Don’t you think you’d better answer that?”
“Hello. Yes. Yes. No, I won’t be able to make that, something’s come up. I’m in a meeting just now, let me give you a call first thing in the morning. Yeah. Okay perfect, thanks, Louie, yeah.”
“Oh, so now I’m just another meeting?”
“What? No, listen. Emily what’s going on here? This isn’t like you. What’s happened?”
“What’s happened? I don’t know, you tell me.”
“You had a nice time in San Diego, didn’t you? You seemed to enjoy yourself. You told me you wanted to get away, again, just the two of us. We did that, we…”
“You know, you’re right. You should probably just go home to Sharon: she obviously understands your needs far better than I do. After all, I’m just being a bitch, aren’t I?”
“Yes. I mean, no, no of course not. I just, well, maybe if we got into bed and talked this over we…”
“Yeah, why not? Let’s just get Emily drunk and naked, then screw her ass and go home. How’s that sound, Greg? Screw me and then you can just head home to your wife. Spend Christmas with Sharon, the fourth of July with Sharon, hide Easter eggs with Sharon. Then, whenever you’re thinking with the wrong head, you can just snap your fingers and little old Emily will drop whatever she’s doing and spread her legs. That about right?”
“Hey, I don’t know where your getting this or what’s going on, but I’m not going to battle with you. Something’s up, and you’re apparently not interested in letting me in on the secret,” he said standing up and grabbing his suit coat off the back of a chair. “When you come to your senses, please call me. Let’s talk like reasonable, rational adults. I hope you’re feeling better in the morning,” he said pulling his coat on. He stood and looked down at her curled up in the corner of her couch. He appeared more like a disapproving father than some guy who’d just been cut off.
“Oh, spare me.” Emily scoffed. “Is this where I’m supposed to get down on my knees and beg forgiveness?”
“I’ve seen you beg for a number of things on your knees.”
“It’s time for you to leave.”
“I go out that door, Emily, and it’s the last you’ll see of me.”
“Oh believe me, you’ll be back,” she said and smiled.
He shook his head, then said, “Really too bad, I genuinely enjoyed your company.”
“You enjoyed getting laid.”
“That, too. I’m warning you for the last time, I leave and that’s the end.”
“Please, close the door on your way out.”
“Emily,” he said, holding an index finger up in the air, then apparently thought whatever was on the tip of his tongue was perhaps better left unsaid. He turned and walked out of the den. You could hear his footsteps fade as he made his way down the stairs. Emily had a smile on her face and waved her middle finger toward the door before she reached for his wineglass. She raised the glass in a pseudo-toast, then took a large swallow and chuckled.
“I meant what I said,” a distant voice called. “I leave and that’s it, the end. I won’t be back, Emily. Emily?” What sounded like a door slamming followed a moment later.
She smiled, raised the glass in another toast and sipped. “Not the end, Gregory, just time to initiate the next phase. Your payment plan,” she said then stood and left the room. Bobby heard her footsteps fade away as she walked down the stairs. He waited a good five minutes, but she never returned. He logged onto the monitor in her bedroom, but she wasn’t there either. He checked back and forth between the rooms for the next twenty minutes, but she never appeared. He was in the process of logging off when his phone rang.
It’s about time, he thought. He let the phone ring a few more times, let Emily think he was busy. No doubt she wanted a little support after setting up Lindgren on her payment plan. He wondered how much she was going to charge him, wondered what Lindgren’s reaction would be. He would have given anything to be a fly on the wall when she blackmailed the pretentious little prick.
“Bobby,” he answered, trying to sound busy and wondering what her story would be this time.
“Mr. Custer.” The voice was deep, with a slight accent.
“Yes?”
“My name is Luis Morales, I’m Camila’s brother. I believe you have something that belongs to me.”
Chapter Six
He’d hung up the phone and immediately hurried into the kitchen where he’d hidden the brick of cocaine. He pulled the cardboard container of Quaker Oats out of the kitchen cabinet, tore off the lid, then fished the brick out from beneath the oats. It appeared to have been shrink-wrapped, then completely covered with duct tape.
He pulled out a length of Saran Wrap, laid it on the kitchen counter, then carefully slit the corner of the brick and began to shake the white powder out onto the Saran Wrap. When he felt the pile was large enough for his purposes, he stopped. He’d taken close to fifteen percent of the brick.
He grabbed a hot pad and a kitchen knife, held the knife over the flame from the stove until it was sufficiently hot, then pressed the heated blade against the corner of the brick, melting the shrink wrap and burning the tape until the edges appeared singed and melted. He took some packaging tape from a shelf in the pantry, taped a number of lengths along the damaged end of the brick, placed the brick back in the Quaker Oats container, and dumped the cereal back in to cover the brick.
He twisted the ends of the Saran Wrap holding the mound of cocaine then placed it in a plastic bag closing it with a little blue twist tie. He poured himself a glass of wine, sat down in front of the television and waited. He was midway through the ten o’clock news when the intercom rang.
“Yes,” he said into the intercom, knowing who it would be, then pressed the entry buzzer once Luis identified himself.
He watched through the peephole in the door. After a minute or two, a muscular looking guy stepped off the elevator and scanned the hallway. He was dressed in jeans and an untucked black t-shirt, cowboy boots, with black hair combed straight back, a prominent nose and swarthy skin. He looked nothing like Camila.
He waited a moment before waving someone forward. A smaller man now appeared, soft featured, definitely Camila’s brother, neatly trimmed dark hair with a sharp part and slightly grey along the temple. Bobby focused on the dark eyes that were just like Camila’s with an intensity that despite the slight figure would give one pause. He was dressed in grey trousers, a blue buttoned-down shirt and a dark blue sport coat that would have allowed him to blend into just about any professional crowd.
Bobby watched as they approached, then opened the door while they were still only halfway down the hall. The large figure immediately stepped in front of Luis and reached behind his back. “Luis?”
“Mr. Custer,” the smaller man said, then stepped past his towering bodyguard and approached with a smile and an outstretched hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Camila has told me about you.”
“You mustn’t believe everything she says,” Luis said, still grasping Bobby’s hand.
“But it was all good,” Bobby said. “Please, please come in, I’m sorry I don’t have a dinner prepared, but I could offer you a glass of wine or perhaps something a bit stronger if you would prefer. How is Camila? Is she all right?”
“She’s recovering,” Luis said, puffing his cheeks and
then blowing out the air. “Thanks to you she and Valentina are safe. If not for you, well, I would prefer not to dwell on that…”
“I’m just glad they’re safe. It was frightening for all of us, I’m sure it was especially so for your daughter. But she didn’t flinch, she was a little soldier.”
Luis cleared his throat although the watery eyes belied the emotion. He turned and held his hand out toward the bodyguard who placed a small black box in his hand, then turned to check the hallway behind them.
“Please, I’m sorry, forgive me. Please come in,” Bobby said then stepped back into his unit and held the door. “Wine, or something?”
Luis glanced at the wineglass resting on the coffee table and nodded. “Perhaps a glass of whatever you’re having. But first, a token of my, of our, undying thanks for your efforts. Without you, I would not have my sister or my daughter,” he said then handed the small black box to Bobby.
“Really, it’s not necessary, I…”
“It hardly begins to settle my debt, but if you would accept it, please, as a first payment along with my sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude.”
“I’m not sure what to say. Words fail me, which is quite unusual,” Bobby half laughed as he popped open the lid on the small box. The ring was silver, or more accurately white gold with a large, square, pale blue stone. Six smaller stones that looked an awful lot like diamonds ran along either side of the blue stone. “Jesus Christ.”
“I’m sure Christ would have liked it, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have one like this,” Luis laughed. “I wasn’t sure of the size. If it’s not correct I’ll have it adjusted to fit you perfectly.”
“May I?” Bobby asked.
“Please, by all means. It’s now yours after all.”
Bobby pulled the ring out of the box then slipped it on the ring finger of his right hand. It was a bit snug sliding over the knuckle before it rested comfortably on his finger. He held his hand out at arm’s length, fingers spread like a recently engaged girl. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never had anything quite like this. I, well, thank you, I’m just…”