by Andrew Price
When they stepped off the elevator, Corbin scouted their hallway. It was clear. He waved Beckett through. “Go to the end, down by Theresa. I’ll lure Molly out of her office. When you hear her, come around the corner like you’ve been up at the front office. Take this,” Corbin whispered, as he handed Beckett a file. Beckett took the file and walked silently to the end of the hallway. No one saw him. After he ducked around the corner, Corbin knocked on Molly’s door.
“Come in,” she called out. Her mood soured when Corbin stuck his head through the door. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Go ahead.” She folded her arms and stared at him with cold eyes.
“Sorry.”
She squinted at him and furrowed her brow. “That’s it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Keep tryin’,” Molly said with great annoyance.
“I’m really sorry?”
“If that’s all you’ve got—”
“I could build a temple in your honor?”
Molly involuntarily cracked a smile, but quickly regained her grim expression. “That’s a start,” she said, trying to sound “not convinced.”
“Seriously, I am sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” Corbin said genuinely.
Molly’s grim facade softened and her lips surrendered their frown.
“I’ve got an extra cookie in my desk,” Corbin continued. “Would you accept an offering instead of a temple?”
“Maybe. . . let me see the cookie.”
Corbin stepped into his office next door. Molly followed him as predicted. When she entered the hallway, Beckett turned the corner. Molly saw him a millisecond later.
“O-M-G! It’s the invisible man!”
“What?” Beckett asked.
“Where have you been?!”
“Front office.” He walked past Molly to his desk and sat down.
“I mean all day.”
Beckett looked confused. “I don’t follow you?”
“Where have you been all day.”
“I don’t understand? I’ve been here all day.”
“I can most definitely say you have not been in this building all day.”
Beckett at Corbin. “Did I miss something?”
Molly’s expression changed to anger. “Fine! Be that way! But I know the truth. I’ll figure it out, and you’ll be sorry.” Molly backed out the door, slamming it on her way out.
Corbin signaled Beckett that Molly could be listening at the door. Beckett nodded. “What was that about?” he asked loudly, toward the door.
“Insanity. Sad when it happens to someone you know. Cookie?”
After reading his e-mails, Beckett set about visiting everyone who had been promised a visit. He found this extremely tiring, but knew it was necessary to solidify his alibi. Interestingly, not one person, other than Molly, suspected he had been gone. Some even believed they saw him during the day. Once again, Corbin accurately predicted human nature.
Toward the end of the day, the front office arranged to serve cake in one of the conference rooms in Beckett’s honor. This was an ancient office tradition which Beckett knew was coming. He liked the idea of the free cake, but knew the price of admission would include a goodbye speech. He also would have to endure one of Wilson’s infamous “tribute” speeches. Wilson never set out to offend anyone, but his stream-of-consciousness speaking style combined with his general lack of judgment to create what some in the office maliciously termed “verbal diarrhea.”
“You ready?” Corbin asked Beckett.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Any idea what you’re gonna say?”
“I wrote something last week I thought I’d read.” Beckett pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “When I came here a year ago, I had a very negative opinion of this office and particularly the management. It is now a year later. Thank you all for your best wishes, goodbye.”
Corbin laughed. “I’ll give you five bucks, cold hard cash, if you say that!”
“Don’t think I haven’t given it serious consideration.”
“What are you really going to say?”
“I don’t know. Something will come to me.”
Beckett entered the conference room to the sound of applause. Everyone from the office was present, with the notable exception of Kak. As Beckett acknowledged the applause, Corbin whispered in his ear: “Think they’ll clap when they see their credit reports?” Beckett ignored the comment.
Kak’s secretary called Beckett over to the cake. There were two nearly-identical cakes with white frosting and little sugar flowers. She cut a piece from the corner of the closest cake and handed it to Beckett. “We didn’t know what kind of cake you like, so we got one of each. This one’s chocolate.”
“Thanks, Pat. I’m sure they’re both fine.”
“Mr. Kak wanted to be here, but he was called away.”
“I’m sure.”
No sooner did Beckett put fork to cake, than Wilson came over and tried to shake his hand. “Everett, it’s been good having you here.” Wilson held his hands up to quiet the crowd. “People, people, quiet. I’d like to thank each of you for coming to help us give Everett a warm send off, though I suspect many of you just came for the free cake.” Everyone laughed uncomfortably.
“‘Everett’?” Molly whispered into Beckett’s ear. “Bet he doesn’t know your last name either!”
Wilson continued. “Still, now that we have you, I’d like to say a few words about Everett. Everett was the kind of employee I’ve always felt we needed more of around here. He was hard-working, dedicated and prompt.”
“Unlike the rest of you,” Corbin whispered to Molly.
“I keep telling George that we should hire more married men like Everett. They’re more responsible. I guess they learn to follow orders from their wives!” Wilson smiled, but the audience remained silent. “One thing I have to say, though, is I am disappointed you’re leaving us so soon. We like our employees to stay at least two years. That way we know they have plenty of time to learn about what we do. Of course, we don’t want employees staying too long either, do we? Ellen, where are you? There you are. How many years have you been with us?”
“Six,” an icy voice responded from the crowd.
“That’s a lot more than Everett. Still, we enjoyed having you here and getting to know you, Everett. Let me propose a toast.” Wilson lifted his glass of punch. He was one of only five people in the room to get punch before he began speaking. “To Everett Beckett, good luck with the new job.”
Everyone clapped.
Beckett set down his cake. “Thank you Mr. Wilson, thank you everyone. There are probably many things I could say at a time like this to reflect upon my time here. Today, however, I’m thinking of the future. So let me just say that I profited greatly from my time here and that each of you enriched me more than you will ever know. Thank you all.”
The clapping began again.
Corbin scanned the crowd for any reactions. No one seemed to grasp Beckett’s double meaning, except Molly, who had a strange look on her face. Corbin felt uneasy.
Corbin returned to the office while Beckett remained in the conference room wishing people well. Molly soon appeared at his door.
“‘Profit greatly’? That’s subtle. I would love to have been there when he returned to the office this afternoon. I can see it now. ‘Gee, Becks, good to see ya. How’d it go?’” She pointed at Corbin. “That’s you, in case you haven’t guessed.”
“I figured.”
“Then he says to you. ‘Hey, Corb,’ or whatever he calls you, ‘guess what you’re an accessory to?’ Then you said something like. ‘Doh! I wish I’d listened to Molly when she warned me about you.’” She smacked her forehead with her palm. “How’m I doing so far?” she asked with a big grin.
“Very vivid imagination.”
Just then Beckett appeared at the door. “Still think I’m not here, Molly?”
�
�Oh, you’re here now, but that’s not the issue. Where were you all day? That’s the question.”
“Are you here to quiz me or say goodbye?”
Molly shrugged her shoulders. “No need to quiz you; I’ll get what I need out of Corbin. As for goodbyes, I don’t like them. I prefer ‘get the hell outs.’ See ya round, Beckers.” She left.
Now it was Beckett’s turn to laugh.
“You got all your stuff?” Corbin asked, scanning the office.
Beckett looked over the few personal items remaining on his desk. “I think so.”
Corbin closed the door before handing Beckett a cell phone. “Keep this. It’s a prepaid phone. It’s untraceable. There’s one number in memory; it belongs to this phone.” Corbin held up a second phone. “If you need to reach me, call that number. When you call, the caller ID will light up and I’ll see you called. Don’t leave a message. I’ll call you back that evening after 10:00 pm, got it?”
Beckett nodded.
“Same thing if I need to reach you. I’ll call, but won’t leave a message. I set your phone to flash red when you miss a call. When you see that, plan on calling me that night after ten.”
Beckett nodded again.
“Never use that phone except to call this phone. Understand? Never.”
“Got it.”
“When we talk, don’t say anything incriminating or I’ll hang up right away.”
“Understood.”
“When we get the stuff, I’ll give you a call and tell you where to meet.”
“Check.”
“Any questions?” Corbin asked.
“Nope. You’ve covered it all.”
“Good work today.”
“Thanks. I still don’t feel right about it, but I’ll get over it. And I have to give you credit, you’re one heck of a criminal. It’s a good thing for the rest of us that few criminals can scheme like you can.”
“I think I’m flattered.”
“I meant it in a good way.” Beckett put the last of his belongings into a duffel bag. He looked around the office. His phone rang. “Hello.”
“Small conference,” came Kak’s voice. The line disconnected.
“What do you think? Should I see Kak or should I skip out the door?”
“And pass up your last chance at enlightenment?”
Beckett laughed. He picked up his bag. “You know how to reach me,” Beckett said, tapping the prepaid phone.
“I do.”
“It’s been interesting. Make us rich.”
The two friends shook hands, then Beckett headed home.
Chapter 13
Corbin sat on his ivory carpet. He had moved his coffee table near the balcony door and now leaned his back against the couch. To his right, beyond the island countertop, was his kitchen. The Philadelphia packets were spread out before him. He counted again, but still came up short.
“Son of a bitch!” Corbin picked up the phone and called Alvarez.
“Yo.”
“Vez, we’re one wallet short.”
“What?! Holy shit!”
“Check your pockets. Check your car. Check everywhere you might have been,” Corbin commanded.
“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Alvarez protested. “I couldn’t have lost one. I never opened the bag after I took it from him.”
“When was that?”
“The train station in Philly.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, one hundred percent. We walked to the train station. He sat down. I took the duffel bag. It never left my sight after that until I gave it to you, and I never opened it.”
“Think back carefully. . . did you lose a wallet anywhere along the way?”
“No. Your system was perfect. He took the wallets from the bags and handed them to me. I did my thing. I handed them back to him, and he stuck them back into the plastic bags as I watched. We would have known right away if we lost a wallet.”
“Did you see him put the plastic bags into the duffel bag? Is it possible he dropped one somewhere along the way?”
“No. He put every one into the bag. Everything was always closed before we moved on from the spot.” Alvarez waited for Corbin to speak. The silence was oppressive.
“Shit!” Corbin exclaimed.
“What are you thinking?” Alvarez asked.
“I’m thinking he kept one. If you didn’t lose it, and he couldn’t have lost it, then the disappearance has to be intentional.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He wants to keep one to hold over us,” Corbin said angrily.
“For what?”
“I’m guessing he thinks we might stiff him. Keep in mind, he needs this money. He rearranged his entire life in anticipation of getting it. If we stiff him, he’s in real trouble.”
“I wasn’t planning on stiffing him, were you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“So what does he do with the wallet if we do stiff him?”
“Presumably, he threatens to take it to the cops.”
“Can he do that? I mean, if he goes to the cops, what’s our exposure?”
Corbin closed his eyes and considered the possibilities. “I think we’d be fine,” he finally said. “They can’t find you, except through me, because Beckett doesn’t even know your name. They can’t get to me because of the alibi. I’m not telling them about you, because that would only implicate me. I would just deny everything.”
“But if he gives them the wallet?”
“Nothing in the wallet points to me in any way. In fact, having the wallet doesn’t give the cops anything they couldn’t already have gotten from the banks.”
“What about fingerprints?”
“I made sure not to leave any prints on the wallets or papers.”
“My fingerprints might be on the wallet!” Alvarez blurted out.
“Calm down. Nobody has your prints on file. Your prints are a dead end.”
Alvarez loudly exhaled. “Yeah, good point.”
“Since they can’t break my alibi, and they can’t find you, giving the cops the wallet only gives them Beckett. Sounds like a bluff to me.”
“So. . . we’re ok?” Alvarez asked cautiously.
“As far as I can tell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fucking pissed! And I’m not comfortable waiting to see whatever he has planned, but I don’t think he can touch us.”
More silence.
“What do we do now?”
Corbin massaged his temples. “We do what we were planning. We give him his share and we walk away, and the wallet becomes a non-issue.”
“Are you sure?”
“What else are we going to do? Are we supposed to walk away because of what he might do? Forget that!”
“There’s something else we could consider,” Alvarez said. He again spoke cautiously.
“What?”
There was another long silence.
“You know where he lives. . . let’s go get the wallet back one night.”
“No, we don’t know where he keeps it,” Corbin said. His tone was considerably calmer than Alvarez had expected. “It could be in a safe deposit box for all we know. And if he found out we broke into his house, where his family lives, he’d lose his mind. It would be vendetta time. There’s no reason to risk that, especially since we can’t be sure we’d find it. Our best bet is to finish the job, give him his money, and walk away.”
“I’d like to shoot the fucker,” Alvarez growled.
“Don’t be an asshole. I’ve never killed anyone, you’ve never killed anyone, and neither one of us is going to start now. . . especially over money,” Corbin said dismissively. “Plus, that doesn’t get us the wallet back,” he added as an afterthought. “What if he’s got a note with it? We would only be adding murder to our charge sheet.”
“What if we give him the money and he still decides to turn us in?”
“There’s no reason for him to take the money and then turn us in because there’s no way he could ke
ep the money. That would be like calling the cops in the middle of a bank robbery to turn in your fellow robbers. And don’t forget, he needs this money way more than we do.”
“What if he demands all the money?”
Corbin scratched his chin. “We’ll deal with that if it happens. There are too many unknowns for us to start speculating wildly. Let’s just focus on the task at hand for now.”
“Are we at least going to demand the wallet back?”
Corbin considered this idea for a moment. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“What?! Why not?”
“Right now, he doesn’t know that we know. That allows him to maintain the illusion he has insurance. When he gets his money, he’ll no longer need insurance. He may toss it to me at the handover point, saying he kept it by accident. He may throw it away himself—”
“How do you know he won’t keep it?” Alvarez interrupted.
“Because it’s evidence implicating him in a crime, a crime which explains where he got all the money that’s supporting his family. He’ll want to get rid of it as soon as possible after it’s outlived its usefulness. Once he thinks he no longer needs insurance, he has no reason to keep it anymore.”
“Then why not demand it when we hand over the cash.”
“Because the moment we tell him we know what he did, we’re raising the stakes. He’ll sense danger, which means he’ll take whatever steps he thinks are necessary to protect himself. That means keeping his insurance. Let’s not push him into doing anything rash when we don’t need to.”
“But we’d never know what he did with it?”
“I know one thing for sure, he’ll never hand us evidence that implicates him in the crime right after we accuse him of trying to blackmail us.”
“Yeah,” Alvarez agreed reluctantly, “and I guess we would never know if he gave us the real one or not. He could just hand us a fake wallet at that point.”
“Our best course is to let him calm down, thinking we never figured it out.”
“So we’re not going to do anything?”
“Not at this point. If an opportunity presents itself, we will, but not right now.” Corbin ran his fingers through his hair. “One thought though, let’s lower the value of what he’s got. He took the wallet containing Helcher’s documents. Let’s drop Helcher from our active list. If we don’t apply for any cards in his name, all they’ll find on Helcher is an unexplained new bank account with $100 in it.”