by Christina OW
Melody wasn’t sure if she should completely believe her. Jackie’s had a tendency of being a little over dramatic at times, but that didn’t mean Melody should completely dismiss her. She made it her business to watch Antonio’s movement because to Jackie he wasn’t all that he seemed to be. ‘There is evil in that boy’s eyes’ she would say with a full body shiver whenever their paths crossed.
Melody went back to looking under the bed. She pushed her body half way under it before she was able to reach it. “Got it!” she announced dragging herself and the case from under the bed. Once on her feet she set it on the bed and looked it over. “It looks locked.”
Jackie snorted. “Like I said, drug dealer.”
Melody chuckled. “Locked briefcase equals drug dealer, got it. It’s a lock combination. You think he has the code written down somewhere?”
Jackie shook her head. “He wouldn’t be that careless.”
They heard the beeping of the main door, signaling a keycard had been swiped and access granted. They stared at each other in terror for a moment before they dashed into the open closet, slowly and quietly pulling the doors closed.
“What if he comes in here?” Melody whispered frantically.
“Shh!”
Melody held her hand over her mouth with one hand the other tightly clutching the briefcase to her chest as they watched Antonio move around the room through the holes in the wood web design of the doors. First he threw his jacket onto the bed before he fell onto it himself onto his back. He lay there for what felt like forever to Melody before his phone rang. He sat up, pulling it out of his pants pocket then flipped it open and held it to his ear.
“Tell me you have it,” he demanded passing his tongue over his lower lip twice before he curled his mouth into a sneer, “Merde! Are you completely useless! How hard is it to seduce one man and get him to give you the information I need?” He punched the mattress repeatedly as he spoke.
What man? Melody thought, her hackles going up. What was Antonio up to? He better not be talking about Ruiz! And the whore on the phone, was it Cheri?
“Si, I understand. I understand that you’ve lost your touch, that you’ve lost your touch even in the one thing you are competent at.” He jeered. “Get it done tonight. I want that file!”
He made to throw the phone against the wall but seemed to think better of it and dropped it on the bed, pushing himself off the bed and onto his feet. He stomped into the bathroom and banged the door shut, the lock clicking in place.
Melody let out the breath she was holding since he came in. She went to push open the doors but Jackie held her still. Just then the door opened and a fully naked Antonio walked out. Melody’s eyes bulged out as she watched him strut around in his birthday suit. He was small and pale except for his face, neck and forearms that had seen some sun. His back and torso was covered in long black curled hair. Melody made the mistake of letting her eyes fall below his waist. There from a dark patch of curls between his legs limply bounced his small penis. It resembled a pig in a blanket. She found it shocking. It was the second penis she’d ever seen and compared to Ruiz’s it…would be cruel trying to measure them against each other.
Jackie snorted a laugh, her hands leaping to cover her mouth when Antonio stopped, looking around the room suspiciously. They held themselves completely still waiting to be discovered. After a few seconds he shook his head and stomped back into the bathroom muttering words that suspiciously didn’t sound French. Come to think of it, the French accent that always seemed forced was gone when he ranted on the phone earlier. Once the door was closed and the lock in place, they silently stepped out of the closet and rushed for the door. Melody stopped, pulling Jackie’s hand away from the handle before she turned it. If they used the main door, the beeping sound would echo throughout the room, including the bathroom alerting Antonio of their presence. But the connecting doors between the rooms wouldn’t. She walked to the other side of the little living area and pulled out two keys. She didn’t know what made her swipe them too when she took the keycard, but she was glad. She quickly opened the first door then the second door that belonged to the next room. Once they were through, Melody locked them both then collapsed against the wall with relief.
“That was fun! We must do it again.” Jackie clapped excitedly. “Now to open this briefcase, copy all the papers and put it back where we found it.”
Melody groaned. She had forgotten that part, but it would be easier and quicker returning it than retrieving it. She just hoped they would have been able to open it in two days before Friday came.
Melody shook her head at the excitement burning in the old woman’s eyes. It made her look ten years younger.
“Next time, let’s try not to break anything else, Sherlock.”
She held her thumb and index finger out to mimic a gun. “It’s Bond. Jackie Bond.”
* * * *
Ruiz looked at his watch for the hundredth time as their last interviewee walked out. Melody hadn’t joined them that day and he would like to think he had something to do with that. He smiled to himself, his mind flooding with the pleasures of the night before. As he had hoped, everything had gone well and stretched into the night in magical pleasure. Whatever she used to make her abandon him at night had taken a back seat last night and he was glad. Though he was worried because she’d always made it seem very important that she left to tend to whatever it was. He didn’t let himself dwell on that long. Soon she would tell him what it was that reserved her night and if it was nothing that threatened their future together he might just help look after it.
A future…God they were finally getting a chance to have a future together.
“This went a lot faster than when Melody was with us,” Jon Luc commented pulling Ruiz out of his reverie.
“Yes it did, but don’t tell her that. I’d like her to be involved with restoring this hotel to what it used to be and make it even better.”
“So you are not done punishing her?” Jon Luc asked with a raised brow.
Ruiz sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “It might have started that way, but it’s not like that anymore. I want us to rebuild it together.”
“Like you are doing with your relationship? How did she like the surprise?”
Ruiz patted his new friend on the back with a large grin on his face. “She loved it. Thanks, I owe you one.”
Jon Luc nodded. “Well I’m glad, but…have you taken a look at the flash drive?”
Ruiz groaned. “I forgot about it. Why don’t you just tell me what’s in it?”
After a beat of silence Jon Luc said, “Proof that Antonio is using the hotel to launder money.”
“What!” Ruiz exclaimed jumping to his feet.
Jon Luc stood up, pushing his hands into his pants pockets. “Oui. He puts a large sum—though nothing that will be flagged—in on Monday, then withdraws on Friday. He’s been doing this since he took over as manager ten months ago.”
Ruiz paced, his temper rising with each step. “How do you know it’s not money for the hotel?”
Sadly Jon Luc shook his head. “That’s what the banks believe too, but you’ve seen the state of this place. That money isn’t being used here.”
“Damn it!” Ruiz punched the desk when he stopped to face Jon Luc. “And Melody has no idea this has been going on under her nose?”
“I doubt it.” Ruiz cursed again, going back to his pacing.
“But Cheri the former concierge does and I’m sure she knows something more about Antonio and his illegal operation if not all of it.”
Ruiz stopped midstride and turned back to Jon Luc. “What do you mean?”
Jon Luc’s lips split in a wolfish grin. “She found me at my favorite bar last night, and put all her moves on me. First, I thought it was because she wanted her job back, but as the night went on and the closer her breasts got to my face, I realized she was trying to pump me for information.”
“What kind of information?” he gnashed
out.
“The kind that’s in the flash drive.”
“Then what?” Ruiz demanded impatiently. Why couldn’t Jon Luc talk without prompting?
“I asked her how she knew about the flash drive.”
Ruiz growled. “What is this? Story time! Spit it all out already!”
Jon Luc chuckled. “She offered herself for the night in exchange for the information. I took her offer, made great use of one of your rooms here then I gave her some helpful information: to never try something as stupid as that again or I’d have her arrested.”
Ruiz sighed feeling a tad bit relaxed. “How could they have known?”
“You think Melody would have told Antonio? She was present when I gave you the drive?”
Ruiz shook his head vehemently. “She wouldn’t do that. I can’t believe she didn’t notice what that rat was doing!” he half yelled slapping his hands flat on the top of the desk.
“From what I hear she spent her time isolated in the manager’s house. She was rarely seen until—”
Jon Luc stopped and quickly averted his eyes when Ruiz looked at him. Straightening himself slowly like cat ready to pounce he approached at an unhurried gait until he stood before Jon Luc and his temper was now flaring red hot.
“Until what?” he gnashed out, sounding out each word.
Jon Luc looked at him dead in the eye and said, “Until she left for the hospital and came back with a nanny and a baby in her arms.”
Ruiz felt the floor fall right from under him. He stumbled backwards and fell against the desk his ears buzzing, his eyes clouding over. He felt sick to his stomach and his entire body shook like he was suffering from a fever.
“Your wife had a baby with Antonio Otorin.”
* * * *
Melody was moments away from throwing the case out the widow. They were back in the manager’s house and had been locked in her room for hours trying different combinations to open the briefcase to no avail.
“Are you sure we can’t pry it open with a knife?” she whined.
“Of course we can. Then we can take it back with a broken lock and hope he never notices,” Jackie replied sarcastically and Melody glared at her. “If we do that there would be no way of taking it back because he would know it was you.”
She was right, but. . . “We could always buy a new one and replace it.”
A condescending brow went up. “Of course, let’s do that. He’ll be less suspicious when he finds it open or when he tries to open it and his combination doesn’t work. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Melody groaned tossing herself on the bed. “What could that toad possibly have as a code, we’ve tried everything?”
“If you knew more about him before you illegally married him maybe we would have more to go on.”
Melody pushed herself up on her elbows and glared at Jackie as she walked around the room rocking Esme to sleep.
“Ha ha. We already know that joke isn’t funny.” She groaned again falling onto the bed, “The only numbers that seem significant to him was the date he had circled on the calendar a few months back. He went on a drinking binj then…” Melody shot up excitedly. “Nanny, you don’t think it could be that obvious?”
She shrugged. “We won’t know till you try it.”
Melody was at the door in seconds. She unlocked it and ran into the living room. She hadn’t bothered to change the calendar in a while and hoped it was still there and Antonio hadn’t torn that leaf out. It was still there. She ran to the wall where it hung and the first thing she checked was the year just in case someone had change it.
“Yes!” It was last year’s calendar. She pulled it down in the process ripping the leaves out of the spiral, some falling to the floor. She followed them to the ground and began pushing the leaves apart until she spotted the one with the large red markings. She held it up like a trophy and cheered. “Jackie! I found it! August twentieth!”
She ran back into the room and tried the numbers but the code was two digits short.
“Go back from this year till it opens,” Jackie offered, quickly placing Esme in her crib before she joined Melody on the bed.
They went back four years before it popped open.
“Yes!” they cheered as they excitedly pulled the papers out. Something caught Melody’s eye. She picked it up and was about to read t when Jackie pulled it out of her hand.
“Non, You’ll read it later. Make copies first, put the briefcase back where you found it then we’ll go through what we found. I’m just as excited we are finally going to reveal that man for what he is, but we can’t get careless especially if he’s as dangerous as I think he is.”
“Fine,” Melody relented. She gathered up the papers and went to the room next to hers that was the home office for the manager with all the necessary equipment. She made all the copies careful to set them apart and not mix the originals and the copies. When she was done, she replaced the originals in the briefcase and locked it.
“Here,” Jackie handed her one of Esme’s baby bags. “Put the case in here, you don’t want to be spotted with it. My niece is gone so I can’t come with you.”
Melody chuckled remembering how Jackie had stuffed it under her sweater on their way down. Melody had to walk in front of her the entire way to hide the rectangular bulge.
“Alright.” She stuffed it into the bag and walked to the door. She was a little nervous. Going back up alone with no backup frightened her. She just hoped Antonio was already out of his room. “Wish me luck.” She said as she walked out.
“Good luck.” Jackie called after her.
* * * *
Ruiz pushed himself away from the desk, forcing his legs to remain steady under him as he walked to the door.
“Ruiz, where are you going?” Jon Luc called after him.
He swallowed to clear his throat of the growing lump of emotion. “I need to see. I need to see the betrayal for myself,” he yelled in a shaky voice.
Jon Luc grabbed his arm and Ruiz roughly pulled it out of his hold. “She’s a little baby Ruiz, not a betrayal,” he said the words slowly like he was hoping it would sink in faster that way. And it did making Ruiz even madder.
“Melody is mine, she belongs to me! She is mine! She’s supposed to have my babies, mine!” he bellowed banging his fist on his chest.
Jon Luc lifted his hands as if he was trying to calm an agitated horse. “Ruiz, mon ami you need to calm down.”
The last thing he wanted was to calm down. He wanted answers. “No! I don’t want to calm down. I want to know why she lied to me, why she said she hadn’t fucked him. They don’t even share a bed!”
“Did she tell you that or did you assume so?”
“What?”
“She may have told you they don’t share a bed, but has she ever said she never slept with him?”
The blood in Ruiz’s body chilled. Jon Luc was right. He was the one who said that, misconstrued what she meant when she said she hadn’t had sex in a while. He was the one who spoke the entire times she never said a thing about that subject.
Ruiz felt his heart shatter, the back of his throat burned like he’d just swallowed hot coal.
“I need to see.” The words barely made it out of his coarse throat. His wife, his woman had bore another man a child. “I need to see,” he declared racing out the door.
It wasn’t that far to the manager’s house from where he was. At a dead run he was there in a matter of seconds. He burst through the door and found the little living room empty until a woman who looked to be in her late sixties stepped out of a room yelling in French. She froze when she saw him, recognition filling her eyes. She knew who he was.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“M—Melody isn’t here, monsieur.”
“Not her. The baby, where is she,” he pushed through clenched teeth. It hurt just saying the word and that angered him even more.
She threw her shoulders back ad tilted her chin up. “Je suis désol�
�, but I can’t allow that without Melody’s permission. If you would take a sit and wait…”
“Do I look like I want to take a fucking seat and wait!” Ruiz growled.
“Ruiz!” Jon Luc admonished. “Excusez-nous madame. We did not mean to barge in and—”
“You, may not have, but I certainly did. Is she in there?” he demanded pointing to the room she’d just emerged from.
Her eyes fearfully darted between him and the open door. “Ruiz, wait a minute,” she began but he didn’t wait to hear the rest.
He moved past her and into the room. Everything was pink, even the bed covers on the big bed. And right against the wall opposite the bed was a crib. He marched to it stopping dead when her face came into view. She had a head full of dark hair that curled at the ends. Her one visible cheek was chubby with a blotch of pink blush. The blotch stretched and shrunk and he could guess that she was suckling her tongue. He moved a step closer and grinned at her pink fish lips. She was beautiful a perfect angel. Her fist clenched and unclenched and she began to move her head around like she was about to wake up.
“Angelita preciosa,” he whispered in complete awe. Instinct told him to pick her up, to hold her to his chest and rock her back to sleep—but first he had to feed her. He reached into the crib, ready to pick her up when the sound of his name made him stop.
“Ruiz, I can explain.”
The rage slammed back into him. His hands that a second ago were open and itching to cradle the precious baby, slowly clenched into tight fist. He straightened slowly and turned to face Melody. She was crying, tears flowing like floods down her cheeks as she nervously knitted her fingers together. “Ruiz,” she cried on a hiccup.
That’s all it took. The sound of his name on her lying lips. He charged at her grabbed her arms, lifted her up until they were eye to eye and pinned her to the wall. “Why?” he demanded, his heart breaking a little more. Seeing that beautiful angel and know she wasn’t his killed him. He could barely breathe past the pain crushing his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”