“Hello, sir. How may I help you today?” he asked.
“Hi. I need to speak to your security officer.” said John, showing his detective license badge.
“Just one moment, sir.” said the receptionist. He picked up the phone and then spoke to someone. It took a few seconds to get a reply. He then returned the receiver back to the box and turned to face the detective.
“Mr. Russo, I would like you to go straight and then take a left. I could ask one of the bell boys to escort you to the room.” said the receptionist.
“I will find my way. Thank you.” said John, heading in the direction indicated by the receptionist. He went straight and then took a left, and saw a door which read ‘Security Manager’. Just as John was about to knock on the door, an older man in his late fifties opened the door with a smile. John noticed a scar above his left eye, and the posture suggested that the man was probably in the Navy. John smiled back and walked towards the guy. The security manager kept the door open for John to enter. Once they were both inside, John was offered a seat.
“I am Alec Carter. How can I help you?” asked the security manager.
“Hello, sir. Thank you for taking the time out to meet with me. I was wondering if you could provide me with access to the security tapes of the lobby. I am investigating a case and one of the people who is probably involved in the case is sitting right here in the lobby. Here is my license card. That should help you verify that it’s for real.” said John, handing over his license to the security manager.
The security manager got up and went into the office marked ‘Staff Only’ and disappeared. John kept looking around the office to see what was going on. The office was simple and everything was organized. It was clean. The desk was located at the center of the room. There was one chair on the one side, and two on the other side. John was sitting on one of them. He noticed that both the chairs were made of wood, and it appeared as if nobody sat there. John figured that the security manager did not get many visitors.
On the desk, there was the usual assortment of trays filled with documents, and there was one portrait. The portrait had a photo of a couple - the security manager was standing next to a good looking woman, who was probably his wife. John reached out his hand to pick up the portrait, but the door to his left, the one marked ‘Staff Only’, opened. The security manager came out and returned to his chair. John returned the portrait back to where it was.
“You have a lovely woman for a wife, Mr. Carter.” said John, justifying his meddling with the contents of the table.
“Thank you, Mr. Russo. God, in His wisdom, did not think it would be fair to give us any children. She has always been unhappy about that.” said Alec Carter, taking back his seat and passing along a tablet which had a video on it. John took the tablet, and played the video. It was footage of the lobby, ten minutes earlier. John waited patiently for the video to play out and then, the woman walked into the view. She still had that distinct red lipstick on her. The video was a little fuzzy, and it prevented John from making out her features. A few seconds later, John came into view in the video. The video stopped playing.
“Do you mind if I transfer a copy of this video to my phone?” asked John.
“Not at all, detective. I have already verified your credentials and have made a copy of the identification card you provided for me. That should be enough for me, if anyone should come asking about what you are doing.” said the security manager. John sent a copy of the video to his phone, thanked him, and left the room. Then, John walked up to the elevator, got in, and pressed the button for his client’s floor. As he got out of the elevator to reach her room, John’s phone rang again. It was Drake.
“Drake, what do you have for me?”
“She is clean. Nothing like her brother. Before you ask, yes, he is indeed her brother. I have confirmed information from the hospital records where she was born and related legal documents which prove that he is, in fact, her brother. There is only one thing which does not add up.” said Drake, over the phone.
“What is that?” asked John.
“Her finances. She does not even have a job. She works at a local charity organization which does not pay much. The last time she held an actual job that paid her was over six years ago. She does not have any criminal records against her, either. You also told me about the bill she is footing for your services. These things do not add up.” said Drake.
“I hear you. What about this missing guy’s employers? Did you dig up any dirt on them?” asked John.
“Still working on that. As with anything else that has to do with this guy, his employers also have fishy business dealings. Their balance sheets are convoluted, just like him. They all seem to be in the money, although they don’t have any products or services to sell. It’s kind of crazy. I will continue working on that. I will call you when I have something.” said Drake.
“Sounds good. There is one more thing you need to do for me, Drake. I am sending you a video. It is a little fuzzy, but I am sure you will be able to do some of your techno magic and get it clear. There is a woman with red lipstick in the video. I need a clear image of her. Once you have got that, your next job would be to find out any information you can about her. Do this first and then give me a call. Later, you can return to working on that guy.” said John.
“Got it, John. Anything else?” asked Drake.
“That is all for now.” said John, hanging up.
John was now in front of Rita Luck’s hotel room. He rapped twice on the door, there was some movement inside, and his only client in the last six months opened the door. Her eyes were red, and so was her skin, as if she had been crying all day and night, and she had just wiped some fresh tears before opening the door.
“Please come in, detective. Do you have some news for me?” she asked, letting him in. She seated herself on the bed, while the detective relaxed on a chair next to the television. The room was well lit, and the windows were open. There was a pleasant breeze that was refreshing.
“I have nothing new to share about your brother. I do have some questions for you.” said John, his voice trying its best to remain neutral.
“What questions, detective?” she asked.
“I found out in the course of this investigation that you have not held a job in almost six years. Yet, here you are, staying in a nice hotel, and paying me well for the services I am rendering. How exactly are you making this kind of money?” asked Russo.
“All this money was given to me by my brother. My parents died when we were kids, and we grew up in a government sponsored facility. I decided to drop out of school and take up work. I wanted my brother to have a good life. Six years ago, he finished school and landed in a nice job. He insisted that he would take care of me and forced me to leave my job. Ever since that day, he has been giving me money.” said Luck, her voice weak with periodic crying over the last few days.
“Oh! I am sorry if I came across a little rude, Ms. Luck. It is just that, we are having a tough time figuring out his past life, I thought you may have been lying to us. I am sorry about that.” said Russo, in a tone that implied a generous apology.
“What do you mean, hard time, detective? Is my brother in trouble? Has something happened to him?” said Luck, getting a little agitated.
“He is...” began Russo, when his phone rang. He held his right hand up, asking her to hold, and answered the phone with his left. It was Drake again.
“John, I have found out something about his past employers. They paid him handsomely for almost no work, because each and every company he worked for was a front company. Another curious thing I found out. Remember how I told you that he was paid handsomely. Well, it turns out he never spent a single cent of it. His account is set to auto remit his total earnings to his sister’s account. If you were wondering how she got all that money, now you know.” said Drake.
“Thanks, D
rake. I will let you know if I need any more help. Bye.” said John, hanging up the phone.
Drake’s information confirms what Luck had just told him. She was indeed his sister, and she had no history of criminal activity. Her money situation was also explained for and confirmed from two sources. So far, some things were becoming clearer, while others were getting murkier.
“Ms. Luck, I am sorry for not trusting you completely. I think my search should continue elsewhere. Thank you for your time. Goodbye for now.” said John, getting up and walking to the door.
“Is my brother dead, detective?” asked Luck, her voice barely a whisper now.
“No, Ms. Luck, he is not dead. All I can say is this. He might be in some kind of trouble. I don’t know what kind. If he is in trouble, I will save him and get him to you. Take care.” said John, closing the door as he left the room. He reached the car park, got into his car, and headed to his office. On the way, he called up Sheila, told her not to leave for home. Not until he had discussed what had happened so far.
Sheila was waiting for him at the office, with two hot cups of coffee. John collapsed on the couch, his usual seat of thinking, weary after the day’s hectic travelling. It was almost dinner time. He looked at the two cups of coffee, and then picked up one of them.
“You worried that coffee might kill you, Boss?” said Sheila.
“Something like that. On the plus side, at least we have something to look forward to in terms of actual work, Sheila.” said John.
“I have more coffee in the pot if you want me to get it. Where are we with finding the missing brother of our client, Ms. Luck?” asked Sheila.
“We are no better off than we were two days ago. Although, now I do know what is going on with this case. Based on all the information that our client has given us, and combining that with what Drake has unearthed, I have come to the only logical explanation I can think of.” said John, almost finishing his cup of coffee.
“What is that, Boss?” asked Sheila. She was always curious about how the process of detection worked. It was one of the many reasons why she liked her job and also, to some extent, admired her boss.
“I think that this brother character is some kind of a guy who is working above the law.” said John Russo.
“You mean like a criminal?” wondered Sheila.
“Could be. I cannot be sure, because there is something about his sister and the companies he has worked for. It is too organized. A criminal would not leave so many bread crumbs to follow. There is something else, and until I am sure, I cannot just conclude that he is a criminal. I need one more level of confirmation to come to a final conclusion.” said John, putting down his empty cup of coffee.
“You want one more cup of coffee?” asked Sheila, ever observant of everything that John did.
“Not really. If you could order some dinner, we could have dinner and leave for the day.” said John, happy with the day’s work.
Sheila got up from her seat, picked up the two empty coffee mugs, and returned to the kitchen. She ordered for food delivery, while John continued to think of ways to confirm his last suspicion. Is this missing person a criminal, or something else entirely? He could not be sure. He wanted to know what kind of a guy this person was. He could ask his sister, but the response was going to be biased. He could not be drawing his conclusions based on biased information. That was not the way it worked. As he kept thinking, dinner had arrived. Sheila laid out the table, they had a good dinner, and they both left for their respective homes.
---
John found himself in a brightly lit room. The room was similar to the dungeon he would find himself in during the other nightmares he had in the past. The difference was the bright light that filled the entire room. Previously, when he had that nightmare with Harriet, this same room was dimly lit. This time, it was so well lit, it was like walking into an electronics retail shop. The only thing the room was missing were tables filled with glittering mobile phones and tablets, and perhaps some salespeople walking around offering the customers the latest and greatest gadgets.
John continued to look around the room, observing the many furniture types that were located in the room. The room had no windows or identifiable light sources. Bright light seemed to be originating from all the walls. John did not bother too much about it since he had seen such walls and rooms before. However, there were two unusual features of this room that he hadn’t come across previously.
There was a door, and then there was a locker. They were both on different sides of the room. There was something unusual about them. The door did not have a handle, although it did have a light above it. It was like a door that one would see in an operating theatre or control room. The light source was emitting a minor hue of blue. The locker was unusual because it had a wooden door. It was odd, for the locker itself was made of solid iron.
John was still thinking about the two unusual features of the room when there was a knock on the door. This had never happened before in any of his dreams. John looked around to see if there was a weapon or something. He checked his clothes. There was nothing in his pants, in the jacket he was wearing, or his shirt. His shirt did not have any pockets either. He looked under the bed that was behind him and he found an axe. Frankly, John was hoping for a box of batteries and a torch. If it was the crawlies that had learnt to knock on the door, then he was already in trouble. Instead, all there was under the bed was an axe.
John had no clue if the axe was going to be of any use against the crawlies. Something was better than nothing he thought to himself, and picked up the axe. He crawled out from under the bed, with the axe in his hand. John walked up to the door and stood in front of it. He was wondering what was going on since he heard the knock on the door only once. Did he imagine the knocking? He wasn’t sure. He was planning on opening the door if there was another knock. He decided to sit on the bed and wait for a while. He was just about to walk away from the door when there was another knock.
As if by magic, John could now see a lock on the door, and it was locked. John pressed the handle and the door unlocked. The door swung back. John grabbed the door and pulled it open. Standing on the other side of the door was Harriet. John was not entirely surprised that she was there. He was expecting her to show up.
“Harriet. I am so happy to see you here.” said John.
“John, who is Harriet? Have you forgotten my name already? We only met yesterday.” asked the girl on the other side of the door.
“Sorry. I meant Rita. I am so happy to see you, Rita.” said John, correcting himself.
“Okay. You remember my real name. Sometimes you act very strange, John. I don’t really understand you at all. Even after all of these years of fighting crawlies.” said Rita.
“Well, you know I am weird. So what is the plan now?” asked John.
“The plan is the same as every day, John. The city has been overrun by crawlies. Our job is a simple one. Travel to the tower at the top of the hill. Place the light bomb. Blow it up. It is just that simple.” said Rita.
“It does sound like a simple plan. I will let you take the lead, Rita.” said John, hoping that she will tell him what to do next.
“Okay. I see you already found the axe. That locker door can be easily broken with that axe. Once you have broken the door, you should find the light bomb. You will also find the usual collection of battery packs and two torches. One for me, and another for you. I will wait while you get all these items.” said Rita, walking into the room and sitting on the bed.
John walked up to the locker with the wooden door. He lifted the axe high over his head with both hands, and brought it down heavily to strike the wooden door. The strike resulted in a small crack, but nothing more than that. John repeated the process for a few minutes until the door finally gave way, and he could access all the items they needed for their mission. The locker contained a metal box with a ti
mer on the top shelf. On the middle shelf there were two torches, and the bottom shelf had two dozen batteries.
John picked up the two torches. Surprisingly enough, the torches had engravings on them. One of them bore his name, and the other had Rita’s name on it. John threw the torch that had her name to Rita. She caught it with impressive agility. She got up from the bed and collected a dozen batteries from him. With everything set, she walked out of the room. John followed her. Once out of the room, they found themselves on a staircase that went down. Rita kept walking, faster and faster with each step. John tried his best to keep up with her.
They went down about a thousand steps when they finally reached a door. Rita pulled out a key from her shirt pocket and opened the door. The door was on springs. She held it open for John, and John stepped outside. Rita followed him and the door closed behind them. They were back in the forest.
“This is finally starting to look very familiar. The forest with the moon shining brightly, and the street lights that won’t turn on.” said John, recollecting previous episodes of the nightmare.
“Have you ever wondered why it is always a forest with a bright moon light? You would think it would be something else for a change.” Rita chuckled as they continued on.
“I don’t think about it too much, Rita. It gives me nightmares, honestly. I am guessing you have your two wheeler lying around to take us?” asked John, thinking about the last time when they rode on a bike to their destination.
“Not really, John. We have something much better this time. I hope you are not too afraid of flying, John. We need to get to that tower quickly.” said Rita, smiling.
“What do you mean, fear of flying?” asked John, looking at her with an expression of surprise.
Rita did not answer him. She simply turned and started walking towards something that was behind one of the giant trees. The object that was behind the tree was pretty large. He could not see it clearly. He kept walking with her, and when they finally reached the, John knew what she was talking about. It was a helicopter. He watched in complete awe as Rita opened the door and climbed into the pilot’s seat. John followed suit and climbed into the seat next to her. Less than a minute later, they were flying above the forest.
UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck Page 18