DEAD MAN'S JUSTICE - A Place of Evil (Stone & McLeish Thriller Series of Stories Book 2) (15 page)

Chapter 35

Rachel had her limousine waiting outside the apartment and was scurrying around getting ready to leave when Rebecca came out of her bedroom and asked where she was going. She explained that she had to tend to some business across town and that she would be back late afternoon. Rachel had told her about her relationship with Maloof and that he wasn’t likely to show up unannounced. She told her said he was busy with a special deal he was putting together. Rebecca said she would be okay and watched her leave from the living room window.

Rebecca was pleased that she had some time alone, she went into Rachel’s bedroom and opened her closet and stood back to admire her clothes. Her sister had done well for herself, she thought, she had all the latest fashions and she remembered that she had said she could borrow
‘whatever she liked’
, so she started to try on some of them.

In the institution Rebecca had lost all interest in herself, she had regressed into a downward spiral of self-denial and depression. Seeing Rachel appear out of the blue the day before had awakened something in her that had been dormant for years. She knew that with her help she could start afresh and felt positive about the future. Maybe she would even visit Mark and try to repair their relationship.

First though, she had some business to take care of and she selected a few typically ‘Rachel’ type outfits for the job. She stood back to admire herself in the mirror, she really was identical to her sister, she thought, but there was something not quite right, it was her hair.

She took a brush from Rachel’s dressing table and loosened her hair - which she always had tied back in a ponytail - and brushed it, letting it fall naturally to her shoulders. She was pleased with the result.

She now looked exactly like Rachel.

She took the outfits into her own bedroom and hung them in her closet and sat at her dressing table putting the final plans together in her mind. She had all she needed, an address, and a look, just like her sister.

Across town the workmen were packing away their materials and tools and the cleaning crew were vacuuming carpets, and women were making up the beds and hanging the drapes. The furniture had arrived in the morning and everything was falling into place. There was a king-size bed, a counter with a flat screen TV on top and a mini bar below, and a modern glass topped desk complete with a swivel chair. The bathroom had a shower, a wash basin and a WC, all with gold-plated fittings and the most luxurious toweling and toiletries.

Rachel was handed the last set of keys from the fifth suite and she was confident that Maloof would be pleased with the results. The rooms would do justice to any five star hotel, she thought, and they even had a view onto the river and a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline.

She decided to call Maloof up to tell him that they were ready.

‘Good,’ was all he said about the rooms, he was more concerned with the other arrangements. ‘You know what to do next, the guests are here already and they need the ‘goods’ by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.’

This was the part Rachel dreaded, though she knew there was no backing out now, ‘I’ll need a driver, someone to do the pick up business with me,’ said Rachel.

‘Khaled will be with you in the morning, he’s done this stuff before. You just tell him where and when.’

She said ‘Fine’ and Maloof ended the call.

Rachel had done her homework. She’d identified the targets and locations and figured out the precise timing for each of the collections. Maloof had provided intravenous drugs that were necessary to pull off such a risky and delicate operation.

It was time to execute the operation.

Chapter 36

Stone called ahead and spoke to Alfredo who told him to take the back street behind the delicatessen where there were parking spaces and a rear entrance to the property.

Alfredo Zavatonni had a permanent smile on his round and friendly face and welcomed Stone and Mac as they reached the kitchen door of the delicatessen. With a bulging apron and meaty forearms it looked like Alfredo ate just as much food as he cooked.

He showed them around the first floor apartment and introduced Stone and Mac to his wife, Estelle, who he had met and married in the
US. The apartment was clean and comfortable and Mac was happy knowing that he was going to live above a restaurant. He would probably spend more time downstairs than upstairs. Alfrdo let them to settle in and no sooner had they moved in their suitcases it was time to leave to meet up with Bloom at the bank.

At four p.m. precisely Stone and Mac were waiting for Anthony Bloom outside the main doors of the Chase Bank on Jackson Avenue. Punctuality was something they both respected from their time in the military. They also ran their businesses the same way, keeping in mind that
‘time is money’
. It was something that fancy Lawyers had yet to master; they preferred the maxim,
‘your time means my money’
.

It was late afternoon and night was falling fast, in the short time that they stood waiting for Bloom the avenue traffic was now a sea of red and white car lights streaming past as the rush hour got under way.

After fifteen minutes Bloom sauntered around the corner carrying an attaché case and walked right past them and entered the bank. There was no smile, no pleasantries, no ‘Hi guys,’ in fact no expression at all, it was as if the whole business was a boring drain on his time and energy. He obviously wanted to get it over as quickly as possible.

Sitting on a leather chair in the waiting area in the bank holding a newspaper just below his eye level was a Chinese man who neither had an account at the bank nor could he read the newspaper. Chang Lau had a discreet earpiece and miniature microphone clipped inside his coat, through which he was in constant contact with Chad Loman, his boss. Loman, a.k.a. Shadow, was keeping the Lincoln’s engine running half a block down from the bank, ready for the signal to drive up when Chang gave the word.

Chang saw Bloom enter the doors and walk across to the Personal Banking counter. He then did a double take when he saw who had followed Bloom into the hall.

‘Boss?’ he talked into his cuff without moving his head.

‘Yeah Chang, shoot?’

‘He got company.’

Shadow sat upright in his seat and spat his cigar out of the side window.

‘Who? He’s supposed to be alone.’

‘Stoney and Macs,’ Chang’s English and recall of names and details still needed a lot more work.

‘Shit. What the...watch them Chang, tell me what happens.’

‘Yes Boss. Sure Boss.’

Bloom seemed to know his way around the bank; he jumped a queue at the Personal Banking counter and leaned in to tell the official that he was Mrs. Randall’s lawyer. The smiling young woman who was smartly dressed with her blond hair tied into a ponytail was given no time to say anything, she opened her mouth and closed it again when Bloom added that he was authorized by his client to access Guy Randall’s Safety Deposit Box.

‘I’m afraid we’ll need to see some kind of...’

Bloom was not accustomed to being cross examined by a lowly bank official and he tried to bounce the young woman into allowing him through.

‘I’ve been the family lawyer for five years. I set up this facility and...’

Stone and Mac watched in amusement as the courtroom bully grew frustrated at not being able to get his way. The people in the queue were getting restless wondering why this sharp suited city slicker was holding them up. He was sure that Bloom was only seconds away from saying
‘Do you know who I am?’
so he decided to assist.

‘That may very well be the case Mr. Bloom but until we have either a written directive or we speak to an account holder personally, we cannot allow you access.’

Whilst the melee ensued Stone called Mrs. Randall on his cell phone and whispered quietly to her that Bloom was getting hot under the collar with an official and that they needed personal authorization. Mrs. Randall asked Stone to pass the phone to the young woman saying she’d sort the problem out. He thrust the cell phone under the security window and told her his name and that Mrs. Randall would like to talk to her. The young woman took the phone.

‘Hello Mrs. Ra..., yes he is he’s...I’m very well thank you,’ as she was talking she turned to look at her computer and brought up some details, ‘I need to ask you some security questions Mrs. Randall, I hope that’s..., Yes?’ Sarah asked two personal pieces of information that sounded like a password and a date of some kind, she nodded twice and smiled into the phone, ‘thank you Mrs. Randall...no problem I’ll pass you back.’

The call ended and Sarah signaled to a security officer to open the door to allow Stone, Mac and Bloom into the rear of the chambers. They heard a click and a door sprang open but only let them into a controlled lobby. The first door closed automatically behind them and the officer spoke through an overlapping double glazed hatch, which was no doubt bullet proof. Bloom was asked to open up the attaché case for inspection and they were all asked to empty their pockets of all items, wallets, cell phones and especially any metal objects into trays similar to those at airport security. They were given back the items after they emerged from the x-ray machine. They were told to walk through an arched metal detector. There were no beeps so they walked forward.  When he was satisfied the officer ushered them to follow him and tapped a four figure code into the security keypad by a door labeled DEPOSIT BOXES. The four-inch steel lined door opened slowly and made no noise.

Bloom was still angry; he had almost foamed at the mouth with embarrassment. Stone and Mac couldn't get excited over such a procedural measure; they had far more important things to worry about.

The security guard reached inside and switched on the lights which flickered on and off and back on again to reveal a long room with a high ceiling and a metal topped table down the middle of the space. The guard escorted them inside and asked them to sign a form recording their names, signatures and the time of access.

The room was at least twelve foot wide and must have been thirty feet long. The walls were faced with what looked like solid steel but then they saw that there were dozens of individual deposit boxes on either side of the room. The letter box shaped storage drawers were of two different sizes and numbered from A001 on one side and B001 on the other. The officer withdrew from the room and told them to use the telephone on the wall by the door to let him know when they were ready to leave.

Bloom went immediately to box B1318, it was on row eighteen and it was the thirteenth box down from the top. Stone had a key that was given to him by Guy Randall as he lay dying in his arms by his pool. Bloom was given another identical key for box B1318 by the guard. The box was one of the larger types and was about twelve inches wide and six inches deep. Stone and Bloom inserted their keys and Stone unlocked the box. He pulled the box out horizontally and placed his hand underneath to steady it as he lowered it onto the table, it must have been twenty four inches long and weighed several pounds.

The shiny steel box sat on the table gleaming under the bright lights above. ‘This is it,’ said Stone. He lifted up the lid on top of the box and staring back at them, neatly packed into three rows, was one million U.S. Dollars in crisp new $100 bills.

‘I’ll take it,’ said Bloom, and without waiting for an answer he began to load the bills into his attaché case, pack by pack, his hands working furiously until the box was empty.

‘Are you sure that’s what Mrs. Randall wants?’ asked Mac.

‘She did ask me to collect the money personally,’ added Stone.

‘Look, I’m her lawyer, I take full responsibility, she entrusts me with all of her business, financially and otherwise, you two are strangers quite frankly. I know what she wants.’

When he’d finished placing the bills neatly into rows that filled up the attaché case Bloom closed the lid and spun the combination wheels on both sides to lock it. Without a further word he buttoned up his overcoat readying himself to leave. He didn’t even stop to retrieve any of the keys. Stone took them for safekeeping.

‘I’ll call Mrs. Randall as soon as we get out of here and tell her you have the money, you’d better know what you're doing,’ said Stone.

Bloom picked up the internal phone and told the security officer that they were done.

Almost immediately the steel door clicked and opened. Bloom strode smartly up to the guard and signed against the time out column. He had no intention to wait for Stone and Mac. They duly signed out and as they entered the banking hall they caught sight of Bloom as he disappeared through the main doors.

‘Boss, he leave, he got case with him.’ said Chang. Chang started to make a move, then saw Stone and Mac and turned away slightly so they wouldn't make him out.

‘Bloom left?’ said Shadow.

‘Yes Boss. Stoney is still here he talking on his cell.’

‘Chang, slip past them, don't lose Bloom, I’ll be right there okay. Follow Bloom and keep talking to me.’

Stone made a call to Mrs. Randall who was livid at the news that Bloom had run off with the money. ‘I told you there was something creepy about him, if he doesn’t show up soon I’ll call the police,’ she said. She thanked them for going along and asked Stone to keep in touch. Stone had his back to the doors and didn’t see a certain Chinese guy walk out.

‘What now?’ said Mac.

‘Dunno. I’m thinking.’

‘We could muscle him and get the money back to Mrs. R.’

‘Nah. A rat like that would have the feds on us in minutes. We’d be in even more trouble. There’s nothing we can do right now, let’s get back to the deli and start thinking about Shadow. He’s next on the list.’

In the short time that they had been in the bank, which couldn't have been more than twenty minutes, dusk had turned to darkness and the air was getting colder by the second now that the sun had gone down.

Bloom was long gone by the time Stone and Mac reached the street, they looked up and down, office workers were pouring out onto the sidewalk at the end of their day, weaving and jostling to get ahead of each other on the way to the subway.

They headed back to the deli.