Mel took a cab ride to midtown and then walked about ten blocks, going in a roundabout way, the same way that Max had driven them to the motel. Just in case, she thought. She arrived at an old building, and circled around to the back. There was a basement entrance that Janey had told her she used to go find a private place to be alone. Mel entered after looking around to see if anyone was watching. As she went down the stairs she could see a light at the bottom.
“Janey? Hey Janey are you there?” She called.
“Mel? Is that you?” It was Janey’s voice.
“It’s me. I’m alone, don’t worry,” she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. There was an open door, and Janey appeared looking disheveled and scared. She ran forward and hugged Mel.
“Oh thank you Mel for coming. Is it over now? Can I go home? Is Mike safe?” she asked in a panicked voice.
“Not yet. I got your call, but the guys have me nervous about being on the phone too long so I couldn’t call you. I left messages with them and came to find you. If you want, you can come back to my motel. No one knows where it is.”
Janey almost collapsed in relief. “Oh thank you Mel. I am so scared. I didn’t know who to trust. After talking to that fireman Max the other night I knew that whatever is happening is dangerous. Then this happened and Mike’s in the hospital and I didn’t know where to go,” she said dissolving into sobs. Mel held her as she cried, letting her get it out. Mel cried a little herself.
“I’m sorry Janey. They came after you to find me, I am so sorry. It’s all my fault, but I am going to fix it, one way or another. Max and Dave are working on it and I have a safe place. How is Mike?”
“He got hit pretty hard and the doctors are keeping him for observation. He figured he would be safe there for now, because he doesn’t know you. That is why he told me I was the one in danger so I panicked,” said Janey.
Mel soothed her friend. “Don’t worry. I would have panicked too if I were in your position. Let’s get you back to the motel. We can be safe there until this is over,” she told her. Janey agreed, wiping her eyes. Mel was not sure where she had got her confidence from, but was glad she had found it. She led Janey outside and around the corner and hailed a cab that drove up just a minute after they got to the street. Perfect, she thought. She gave him the address a few blocks down from the motel as a precaution, and sat back with Janey for the ride. Neither said much because the driver could hear them.
Once they got to the destination they got out and began walking around the block heading to the motel. Mel was proud of herself. Janey’s rescue had worked to perfection and her friend was safe.
“Can I ask a question Mel?” Janey asked as they walked.
“Uh huh,” she said.
“How come you came to find me?” she said. Mel looked at her and shrugged.
“I…uhm…well I have never really had a friend before. When you left your message I just thought, friends are supposed to support each other and so I wanted to help. Especially since the trouble stated with me. And I remembered you telling me about your little abandoned room there, too.”
“I am glad you remembered that. Thank you, I don’t know what I’d have done without you,” Janey said. She hugged Mel, as they walked into the motel. They stopped at the vending machines and stocked up on soda and snacks. To hell with their diets, Janey said. Laughing they got to her room and were safe. Easy as pie she thought, suddenly wishing they had pie.
Mel and Janey finished a couple bags of Cheetos and two Doritos bags when she heard the lock click in her door. She turned her head quickly as it flew opened and strange men stormed into the room. Both ladies jumped up. Janey stumbled on her purse that was next to her on the floor. She fell against Mel, causing her to stumble back and trip over the table leg. They both ended up falling onto the floor with the lamp crashing to the floor as well.
“Don’t move ladies, we are not playing this time,” said a big man. He held a gun and had a black eye and a bruised jaw. The other two looked like they had lost a fight as well. She realized they were the same ones who had come to her apartment the other night.
“How the hell did you find me, or get in here?” Mel snarled, trying to be tough. She realized sitting on the floor with Janey half on top of her did not look too tough.
“We just waited for you to show us where you were. Gave the motel desk clerk a few bucks to let us up here. They don’t get paid that much,” he said to Mel, laughing at her. The other two men chuckled also. They were plain-looking men dressed in ordinary clothes. She remembered Dave telling her the surveillance cameras had taken pictures of these men, but that they were having a hard time getting identifications on them.
“You hid yourself pretty good here. We followed this one from the hospital though and just waited,” he said, pointing at Janey with an evil grin. “My boss thought it was a long shot, but I knew it would it pay off. Nice people are so easy to predict. You had to help your friend.”
Mel picked up a half empty Orange Crush bottle and threw it at him. He sidestepped it and laughed at her.
“Be good girly or I will shoot you here,” he told her. The other two smiled.
“Look you got me, let her go! She is not involved in this and you know it,” Mel tried, furious with herself and them. She had screwed up and they had taken the advantage.
“She is now. She got a look at us this morning and that makes her a witness. Her boyfriend is a wimp and we are not worried about him. Just her, and you,” he said. Gesturing them to their feet with his gun.
“What, you are not worried about the other fires or have you killed everyone there already?” Mel couldn’t help saying to them.
“Those are all taken care of. Once we kill you two we get to disappear as rich men,” he said.
“That is stupid. The cops have half of it figured out already. Even if you leave the country they will find you,” Janey told them. Joining Mel in keeping the men talking and distracted. Trying to prolong whatever they had planned.
“They’ll get the owners, sure. Us though, we get to disappear and let them take the fall. Those guys are idiots but I figured what the hell. Pull off the job, let them get busted. The lower level guys are never searched for that hard anyway. Let those idiots get busted, we will be gone. Right after you are. So are you going to come quietly or are we going to have to just shoot you here. I have a silencer,” he told them helpfully. Mel did not know why but all she could think about was, stall, girl, stall! So she tried that.
“Dead bodies in a room that you talked to the desk guy about. You are calling your bosses idiots, come on,” Mel said.
“Yeah jeez, I am not a criminal, but I would now better than that. Come on, do you guys let him call the shots?” Janey said to the other two men who were just standing by silently. They looked at each other and then the leader who laughed.
“Nice try ladies, but these two came up with half of the plans,” he said.
“That explains it then,” Mel said looking at Janey with her hands raised as if giving up on the men’s intelligence. She could see the fear in her friend’s eyes, but Janey stayed strong with her.
“Yeah it does. This is going to be embarrassing, being killed by such dumbasses,” she said sarcastically.
“Silencers it is,” said the leader reaching into his pocket. Both ladies stiffened in fright. Mel was just deciding whether she should rush them when the door clicked and flew open behind the bad guys. Mel’s saviors stormed in with a fury, as well as a bunch of armed cops right behind them! Mel and Janey jumped backward, trying to stay out of the way. Two shots were fired and Mel felt her arm burst with white-hot pain. She cried out and fell; as she did she saw Janey falling to the floor too. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. Lying next to her, Janey looked pale. There was shouting around her and she could hear her Max and Dave’s voices as she faded out in shock.
*****
All’s Well That Ends Interesting
Mel was just glad it was over. It
all seemed a little surreal while at the same time exhilarating. She had learned a lot from the ordeal and gained a few friends. She also felt she had gained some courage. She had always spent her life with her head down, doing her job. She did not want to live her life like that anymore. Janey was feeling the same way. What the crime had been about was still confusing.
“So the whole thing was built on revenge against the government?” she asked Max. She was sitting with Max, Dave and Janey in Darrel’s Deli, finishing a wonderful lunch.
“Yep, the government wanted the buildings for government offices and the owners felt they were not getting a good enough offer. Due to the laws around government usage they had to take what was offered. So when they were given a year to get ready for the buyout, the three companies got together and decided on a plan,” Max told them, popping the last bit of his corned beef sandwich into his mouth.
“The plan was to strip their companies of all the assets and then burn the buildings down, so the government would not get to use them as planned. Amongst the many problems with the plan, they hired some low level thugs to do the dirty work. I have heard the mob wouldn’t even hire these guys. Which explains the stupidity of their actions,” Max told them.
“The owners are on the defensive now and claim they had no idea that the thugs would kill anyone. The problem with that is the leader that shot you Mel, has a message from one of the owners to do just that. Like you said Janey, idiots,” Dave said.
Mel looked over at her friend. Janey was sitting sideways to the table due to the brace around her injured leg. She had been shot in the leg while Mel had been hit in the shoulder.
“Do you want to know the funny thing?” Max asked with a grin.
“Sure go ahead,” Mel said.
“They had cashed everything out, not trusting wire transfers due to traceability, and all that cash was in the getaway van, with the driver. Once everything went down at the motel the driver panicked and took off. He has over five hundred million in the back of the van and no one can find him,” he said. Everyone laughed.
“I guess the smartest guy got the money. Part of me hopes he doesn’t get caught,” Janey said. They laughed again. They had been laughing a lot at this meal. Partially, she was sure, in relief. Mel had been trading little glances with her two boyfriends and knew that soon they would be getting together. Janey was a little jealous of her relationship and asked if Max or Dave could set her up. Her boyfriend Mike had decided Janey was dangerous to hang around with and left her. She wasn’t too upset by that.
“So one more thing, just to be sure,” Janey asked suddenly.
“Go ahead,” Dave said.
“I was shot by the bad guy, but Mel was shot by one of the cops?” she asked.
Mel sighed. Janey had been teasing her about that.
“The big guy shot you and one of the cops returned fire and missed. Hitting Mel, yes,” Max answered. He wasn’t quite as amused by it as Janey was. The compassionate look he gave her warmed her. She couldn’t help smiling though.
“Fortunately the three companies had enough left in their assets that reparations are going to be made,” Mel said. She was glad about that, for the sake of the janitor’s family at Super Shoes and the deaths at the other companies. They deserved something for their suffering. They all agreed on that and then they went up to her apartment. Janey was going to be staying with her for a few days. The previous day she had been informed her apartment needed fumigation. She had no place else to stay.
Dave grinned at her. “We were wondering if you ladies would want to go out to dinner. You just got out of the hospital and deserve something. A bunch of our co-workers will be getting together for a weekly beer and burger fest and we would be glad if you joined us,” Dave said. Janey’s eyes lit up and Mel felt herself pep up even more. She had a feeling Janey surrounded by handsome firemen would be fun to watch. They both agreed with gusto. Mel had no idea what direction her life was going in, but she knew it would be interesting to find out. Fun too.
THE END
Bonus Story 32 of 40
The Date
Enrico
“No dad,” I answered firmly, determined to stick to my guns with this one. My father might be the powerful sort of man that can boss the rest of the world around, but I’m not having it. I flatly refuse to. “I won’t do it.”
“Son, don’t be so ridiculous. It’s just one date – a few hours. If you do this right, it will secure things between me and Mr. Bellingham.” Then he landed the final shot. “This is your future we’re talking about here, your inheritance. Don’t you want to work towards that now, to make it great before you even get it?”
This was what it always came down to – the business that my father ran, the one that he wanted to pass onto me. The one that I wasn’t even sure that I wanted.
I knew that my father’s company was a well-established front for something more – he was pretty open about that with me, but I’d made it clear for a very long time that I wasn’t even slightly interested in anything he did that involved breaking the law.
He kept telling me that I needed to grow up, that I couldn’t escape it forever, but I wasn’t certain that I actually wanted to follow in his footsteps. I was secretly harboring a secret desire to make a better life for myself. One as an artist, but of course I couldn’t tell him that.
If only my mother hadn’t died in childbirth. I often found myself wondering how different my life would have been had she been around.
“But dad I don’t even know Bella…” I protested a little further.
“Don’t give me that.” He gave me a wry smile. “You’ve been on plenty of dates in your life young man, you know how to treat a lady.”
He was right of course. Girls seemed to go wild for my dark skin, my hazelnut eyes and my tall muscular figure. It was safe to say that I was a bit of a stud in high school – but that was just something else that I’d been changing as I’d grown older, and of course dad hadn’t noticed. He only saw what he wanted to see.
“But…”
“There are no buts,” he finally commanded, ending the conversation. “I need you to take her out, and I need you to show her the time of her life. I don’t know what is holding her father back from this merger, but I need you to either find out, or give such a damn good impression that she goes home talking you up to him.”
“Do you really think that this will work?” I asked doubtfully.
“Of course it will,” he replied, waving his hand dismissively at me. “I trust you.”
And there it was. Those words sending daggers through my heart once more. How could he trust me, when he didn’t even damn well know me?
“Here’s her number, text her now.”
As he handed me the slip of paper, I noticed a little something in his eyes. Something that showed that maybe, just maybe he didn’t quite trust me after all.
“Okay, okay.” I muttered, feeling more and more like a petulant teenager the more I spoke.
I quickly wrote, feeling stupid the entire time, and hit send before I could talk myself out of it.
Hi Bella,
It’s Enrico Abattelli. We briefly met around Christmas time when our fathers were meeting, I’m not sure if you remember?
Anyway I just wanted to know if you’d like to go out for a drink sometime?
E
I felt like an idiot as I re-read my words, but then I forced myself not to care. I wasn’t actually trying to impress this chick – in fact, it would get me out of it if she said no! It would save us both a big hassle.
I mean, it wasn’t like she wasn’t very good looking with her long auburn hair, her violet colored eyes and her rocking body – but I wasn’t interested. I wanted my next date to be serious, to be with someone I actually wanted to be with. I felt like I was done fooling around with everyone that walks. I felt like I’d moved on from that version of me – and that this dumb date would push me backwards.
Plus, Bella was a prissy b
itch.
When I met her, she seemed to stick her nose up at me, almost as if she knew that I was beneath her. Sure, she came from old money, whereas my dad earned his money recently… in his own unique way, but that was no reason for her to pass judgment on me!
I would just have to hope that she refused, because the more that I thought about it, the more a night in her presence seemed like a bad idea.
One that would not end well.
*****
Bella
“Urgh, daddy no,” I whined, praying for him to look at me. “He’s dreadful. I don’t want to go on a date with him. I only told you because I thought you’d instantly see how inappropriate it is, and that you’d finally realize that the Abattelli family is not one that you should be going into business with.”
I wasn’t even sure why my father was giving these vulgar people the time of day. They were crass, rude, and had a terrible reputation in the community. Sure, we’d been losing money recently, and I knew that he was worried about what the future held for us, but there had to be another solution, surely?
“Bella, I just want you to spend an hour with the guy, find out more about him and his family. I’m not asking for the world. You’re very perceptive, and I know you think that they are bad news – if you can prove that to me, then I’ll halt what we’re doing.”
Even as he said that he was hesitant, like he really didn’t want to give up this merger – it was the only thing that would keep his business afloat in his eyes.
“Why can’t Pru go?” I whined. “She loves going on dates,” I finished cruelly. My sister was famous for her… open behavior, but of course daddy didn’t want to see that side of her. He wanted to believe that she was sweet and innocent, his little princess.
“Your sister is engaged,” he snapped back, causing me to roll my eyes. Engaged for the third time in as many years wasn’t something to celebrate as far as I was concerned. “Enrico obviously wants to go out with you. Come on Bella,” he pleaded. “Just do this for me?”
Two Wolves For Lizette Page 109