Deception (15 page)

I spend the evening
alone in the empty room with the leaky ceiling. The pillow and blanket are gone from the corner, so I have nothing but the cold cement to keep me company. I can hear someone sitting by and guarding outside the door the whole night. At one point I hear some snoring, which actually gave me some comfort and allows me to relax for a while. I don’t sleep much as I’m on high alert, but I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the sound of Billy’s voice wakes me.

“We can go now,” he says.

Once I compose myself, I drag my stiff body from the cement floor and wobble to the door, trying to gather myself after a rough night. Billy seems to be in a better mood already, well-rested and with clear eyes.

“They’re waiting for us in the van,” he continues.

I follow Billy down the long corridor for the last time, knowing my life will never be the same again. Frank and Alicia are waiting in the van as expected when we arrive. I hop in the back and sit next to Alicia on the bench while Billy jumps in the front. Frank is sitting opposite us on the other bench. Alicia doesn’t look up when I sit next to her, but does when I place my hand on her naked forearm. She offers a simple smile. Something is bothering her, but I can’t tell what it is. She’s probably just exhausted. I realize now that I don’t really even know her that well, and this new life together is going to be challenging. Challenging but rewarding I hope. I think about this and our unborn child as we ride in silence, my hand resting on her forearm the entire time.

After a few right turns and stops and restarts, the van comes to a complete stop and the parking brake engages. The front door opens and I can hear Billy walking around the side of the van. The back door slides open and the morning sun shines in, forcing me to shield my eyes from the brightness.

“You can go,” Billy says to me from outside the van.

Surprised it’s this easy, I stand from the bench and head for the door. I catch a glance of Frank, who is sitting with his head down, looking a little sad. He doesn’t look up so I don’t say anything. I reach back, expecting Alicia to grab my hand, then leap onto the pavement next to Billy.

My Civic rests in the same parking spot I left it a few days prior, just before all of this happened. A yellow piece of paper is wedged between the windshield and the wiper, a parking ticket I assume. I can’t tell for certain from here, but there might be a boot on the passenger’s side wheel too. I see these things and they would have bothered me in the past and completely ruined my day. But now, it all seems so trivial. Nothing else I can experience in my life from this point forward can be as difficult as what I’ve gone through and survived in the last three days. Even the thought of having to try to figure out how to be a dad on the fly seems to be no big deal. That, in combination with trying to build a relationship and co-parent with Alicia, this woman that I barely know, at the same time seems like a minute task at this point.

I turn back into the van to help Alicia step down, but she’s still sitting on the bench across from Frank.

“Come on, let’s go,” I say to her, but she stays sitting. I look to Billy, who stares back at me, emotionless. Frank still has his head down. “What are you doing?”

Tears fill her eyes as she starts to speak, “George, I-”

A few loud bangs interrupt her thoughts, one right after the next. Billy’s head spins around and he scans the parking lot. He throws himself to the ground and shields his head as the echoes continue to fill the sky. He pulls me down so I’m crouched next to him.

“What the hell’s going on?” I ask.

“We’ve got to get out of here!”

“What’s going on?”

“They’re shooting at us!”

“What? Who is?”

“Snake’s men, they must have found us.”

Billy waits for the next shot then hops in the back of the van, where Frank and Alicia are now on high alert.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Alicia asks frantically.

“We’ve got to go.” Billy slides his way to the front and stays low as he puts the van in drive. “Get in the van!”

I’m still crouched down, torn between making a run for my car or listening to the voice inside the van.

“Get in the van,” he repeats. “We’re leaving in two seconds.”

Frank offers his hand out to me. “Come on, Georgie!”

I see Alicia inside the van, and she has a panicked look on her face, and I make up my mind. I can’t leave her, not like this.

“Now!” Billy yells from the front.

I reach up and grab Frank’s extended hand. With one smooth yank, he pulls me into the van and releases my hand. I fall to my knees. He slams the back doors using the handles on the inside and the sunlight disappears between the cracks. The van peels away from the parking lot, the tires squealing and the engine revving, as Frank reaches into one of the two duffel bags on the floor and fetches out a gun. He places it in the passenger’s seat as Billy swerves into oncoming traffic. The recurring gun shots in the background are masked by the bellowing car horns and screeching brakes from the street.

Alicia screams as she fights to keep herself on the bench, and Frank is fumbling through the same bag on the floor. I’m still on the floor of the van and I’m tossed around from side-to-side with each hard steer.

After what I expect is a few miles of sharp turns and high speeds, the van finally slows down and comes to a stop. Billy climbs into the back and starts tossing the contents of one of the bags, the one with the supplies, across the van.

“Where is it?” he demands. He tosses items in every which direction, determined to find whatever he’s looking for.

“Where’s what, boss?”

I try my best to dodge the flying objects, but something soft hits me square in the face. Billy grabs the bag from its base and pours the remainder of the contents on the floor.

“Where’s my badge?” Billy looks up and stares right at Frank.

“Uh-”

“Where’s my fucking badge?”

“Uh, I dunno, boss. It should be in the bag. I grabbed everything like you told me to and put it in the bag.”

“Well guess what? It’s not here. How’d that happen?”

It’s a rhetorical question.

Billy continues before Frank has the chance to respond, “Because you, you fucking idiot,” Billy stands over Frank, who is trying to pull himself off the ground after falling during the ride, “left it on the fucking ground, you fucking moron!”

Frank starts to open his mouth to speak, but Billy won’t allow it.

“The one fucking thing that can track us to this whole thing you left behind. Are you a fucking retard?”

It’s another rhetorical question.

Billy closes his fists and begins to clobber Frank repeatedly across the head. Frank tries to cover his head with his arms, but Billy grabs one of them and pulls it away, allowing a small gap for Billy to keep hitting him. Frank doesn’t try to fight back as he just does his best to protect himself.

He cries out to Billy, “Stop! Stop! Please stop!” Frank’s pleads are ineffective and just enrage Billy further. Billy grabs a handful of Frank’s hair and pulls him to his feet. Frank puts his hands on top of his head, trying to free himself from Billy’s grasp, which exposes his face. Billy uses his other hand to throw more short-armed, forceful blows into Frank’s face. Frank’s eyes roll back in his head and he falls to the floor. Alicia screams in the corner and covers her eyes.

I do nothing as I watch Billy kick the consciousness out of Frank.

George is toying with
one of the masks in his hands as he tries to process what’s going on. It’s getting late, and everyone is hungry and exhausted. I walk around the desk and reach inside the box from the storage unit. I toss a couple strips of weather stripping foam on the table. I leave the containers of thermite powder and magnesium strips in the box for now. Frank and George look between the foam and the masks and try to put the pieces together.

“Here’s the deal,” I begin, “there are five exhaust vents around the perimeter of Snake’s house. Each one is less than a foot wide and is barely noticeable if you weren’t looking for it. There’s no chimney, so the toxins need to escape the house somewhere, which is why there are vents.” I take a breath and pick up one of the pieces of foam. I use the foam to demonstrate what I mean in the air. “These pieces are cut perfectly to fit inside the arms of the vents. Once you push them in, slide the vent closed and the excess material will jam up the vent holes.”

George nods. I think he’s following me so far. Frank, not so much.

I continue, “No air will be able to get in, and no air can get out. Snake won’t even realize something is wrong, and he’ll simply fall asleep and never wake up.” I grin. I’m admittedly proud of myself for coming up with the idea, and I’m fully convinced it’ll work to perfection.

“And that’s where the gas masks come in,” George says, still nodding.

“That’s right. Once Snake is out, dead, we just go in, open the safe, and walk out the front door. The fumes won’t affect us since we’ll be wearing the masks.”

“What fumes?” Franks asks, confused.

“Lots of things produce carbon monoxide, Frank. If he runs the gas on the stove or washes his clothes, that will do it. Using the heat would be perfect, but he won’t need that this time of year,” I say.

“It does get pretty cold at night sometimes,” Frank says.

“Not that cold.”

“How long is this going to take?” George asks.

“Why, going somewhere?” I stare at him, and he stares back. “It depends, a day or two maybe.”

“What about the safe?” George asks.

“What about it?”

“How are you going to crack it?”

“Let me worry about that.”

I could mention the thermite, but some things are better off left unsaid. The last thing I need is to give him any ideas.

“What makes you so sure it’s behind that painting?”

“Trust me, it fits. Even if it’s not there, although it is, we’ll find it. Do you worry about that.” I pause. “You guys got all that?”

George nods, Frank doesn’t. I was really only asking the question to George.

“What do we do now?” George asks.

“We sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” I turn to Frank. “Take him back into the room.”

Frank reacts quickly and walks over to George. He leads him out of the room without tying his hands and without any resistance. When I hear the big steel door from the holding area open and close, I make my way into the hallway and head toward the interrogation room where Alicia is being held. I quickly whip the door open in an effort to catch her doing something mischievous, but she’s just sitting in the chair, watching George through the two-way mirror when I enter.

“You wanted to see me?” I say.

Alicia stands from the chair and walks over to me. I’m defensive, preparing myself to be attacked again. Instead, she loosely wraps her arms around me and lays her head on my chest. The affection is infrequent, so I enjoy it for a moment and soak in her warmth.

She whispers to me, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

I pull away from the embrace and take a step back so I can look into her eyes. They’re beginning to pool with tears.

“What happened to you earlier? I thought we were on the same page?”

“We are, I’m sorry. It just all hit me at once and seeing George again made me feel sorry for him. He’s a nice person and he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Listen, I get it, but we have to stay focused. In a few days we’ll be sailing to freedom, rich as hell, and we’ll be laughing about this. You’ll forget all about him then.”

She smiles and nods in agreement. “You’re right, I’m sorry, baby,” she says. It’s unconvincing, but I’ll take it.

I’m pleased she hasn’t asked me about threatening her again, because I don’t regret it. I had to do what was necessary to keep everything on the right track, and I’ll do it again if it’s needed. I’m in charge of this operation, and it’s going to go according to plan. I’ll make sure of that.

Alicia bends her neck back slightly so her face points up at me. I place my hand on her cheekbone and plant my lips on hers. My entire body tingles as her thick lips suffocate me. We separate and I smile at her, placing my arm around her shoulder as she turns. We spin ourselves and slide out the door sideways so we can stay embraced. We leave the room together and head toward the garage. We’ll sleep in the front seats of the van tonight, and Frank will sleep in the back. I’m willing to bet he’s already sound asleep and filling the van with snores.

“Do you think he believes what I said?” she says.

“Who?”

“George, about the baby.”

“Oh yeah, he believes you. Trust me on that. I could practically see the thought bubbles floating above his head when I was talking to him. You did it, you hooked him. Now I just have to reel him in so we can collect our reward.”

“Poor guy.”