Deception (18 page)

This is rock bottom
for me, no doubt. I don’t know what has gotten into me, as I honestly considered killing him. It’s not his fault I suspect, none of this, but he’s not innocent either. I think the combination of everything that has happened is just too much for me now. At least before I found out the truth I had something to believe in and something to work toward, a metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I had dreams of walking away from this whole thing clean and with Alicia and our baby by my side, but now that’s all gone. A dream may be not even be strong enough; I envisioned it as a near certainty. I’ve been played, lied to, scammed, and used and I feel like a fool. I was so blinded by this whole situation that I failed to see what was right in front of me.

I’m downstairs tidying up in an effort to calm myself and clear my mind after my outburst. It’s been over an hour since that happened, and the downstairs is pretty much spotless now. I move the full garbage bag of earth, half-empty bag of grout powder, and the rest of the supplies Billy used to hide the cash under the floor just outside the back door. I leave the toolbox under the stairs so I can remember to bring it back upstairs when this is all over. It’s a long shot, but it gives me some hope that my life will one day resume with some sense of normalcy. The new grout around the tile is beginning to dry and it looks almost normal.

Billy was right, I don’t think anyone would notice the difference if they weren’t looking for it.

With my grandmother’s bowl in hand, I make my way up the stairs and into the hallway. It’s silent. I peek in the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, then make my way into the living room. There is no sign of Billy or Alicia and Frank is gone from the couch. I move toward the front window and pinch the blinds open. The van is gone from the driveway. I don’t know where they went, but I’m sure they’ll be back soon. They probably just left me alone to let me cool down.

This could be really my chance to finally get away. Now that I know what’s really going on and that they are just using me so they can lead the Zved’s on my trail instead of theirs, I have no reason to stay. There is no baby and no Alicia on the other side of this.

It’s just me. Alone, as always.

I just remembered that my car is still in the parking lot with the boot on it, so I’m not going to get very far on foot. Plus, Billy will undoubtedly find me and will probably kill me when he does. Either way I’m dead, so does it really matter? If I stay, at least I won’t be alone when I die. The thought of this is comforting, the not being alone part, so I decide to stay and take my chances and hope things turn around in my favor somehow.

The sun has nearly set and the street lights have started to turn on. A vehicle approaches from over the hill in the distance. As it gets closer, I can see that it’s a van; a van, not
the
van. It’s the same style as Billy’s, at least in terms of cosmetics, but it’s darker. It’s tough to tell since the light is low, but it could be either dark blue or a shade of gray or black. The van slows up and stops as it approaches the house. Two unrecognizable men look my way and stare. My eyes meet with the driver’s as he gazes at me through the window. Something about the way he watches me sends terror through me. I’ve never seen him before, but I wonder if these are the guys that Billy was talking about: Snake’s men, the Zved’s, the guys who’ve been looking for us.

I flick the blinds closed and try to not panic. My heart is racing.

I’ve been doing exactly what Billy has told me to do for the past few days and I suddenly feel almost lost without his guidance. If this is them, I don’t know what to do. Is this where it ends? Are they going to kill me right here, right now? A thought crosses my mind and I can’t actually believe it, but I wish Billy was here right now. He’d know what to do.

Slowly, I pinch open the blinds again and peek out through the glass. The street is empty. I quickly scan the street and look up over the hill. The van is gone. Whoever it was has left, so maybe it wasn’t them after all. I think I’m starting to get paranoid. The knot of tension releases from my chest and I take a deep breath. The feeling is short lived though, as a car door slams from the driveway.

My gut reaction is to hide. As soon as I hear the door, I run from the window and go into the kitchen. I retrieve a knife from the counter, the same butcher’s knife as before, and sneak into the bathroom. From inside the shower, I can hear the front door creak open.

My heart is pounding even faster and I’m sweating profusely. My anxiety has transitioned to legitimate terror and my chest is again tight. The tightness is squeezing my lungs and breathing is becoming difficult. I try to breathe in deeply through my nose and into the pit of my stomach, but the tension won’t allow it. I can only take short breaths that are sharp, painful, and very loud. My cover has certainly been blown as I can hear footsteps approaching from the hallway.

Is it worse to die from a heart attack or from bleeding out from a bullet wound or two? The pain is equivalent I would guess, but there is something to be said about not having to suffer. I hope he just shoots me through the head so I go instantly.

The footsteps approach the bathroom and enter the room. I squeeze the handle of the knife with all I have. Someone’s fingers curl around the edge of the shower curtain that I hide behind and whips it to the side. I shriek like I’ve seen a ghost in a haunted house as I fall to the floor of the bathtub. I close my eyes as a man leans over me and holds something in my direction. I grind my teeth and wait for it, but nothing happens. Slowly, I open my eyes and look up at the intruder. His hand is extended to me.

It’s Billy.

“What the hell are you doing in there? And why do you have a knife?” Billy says.

I release my grip on the handle of the knife and let it fall onto the floor in front of him. I’m beyond relieved. I look down and notice that my hand is soaked with blood. The pressure from squeezing the handle so hard must have split open the calluses that had begun to scab over on my wrist. I wipe the blood on my shirt. I can feel the tension fully release from my body and I nearly start to cry as I’m overwhelmed with emotion. I reach for Billy’s hand with my clean one and pull myself up and out of the tub.

“What the hell happened?” he asks.

“I thought that was it. I thought I was dead for sure,” I speak quickly as I struggle to catch my breath.

“Calm down. What happened?”

“I think I saw them.”

“Saw who?”

“The guys that have been following us.”

“Why do you think that?”

“There was a van that drove by with two guys inside. They were staring at the house.”

“Did they see you?”

“I think so.”

Billy puts his hands on his head and paces in circles. “Shit. Okay. Are you sure it was them?”

“I don’t know who they are, so no, I’m not sure! All I know is that these two guys were staring at me and that they looked like they wanted to kill me.”

“What were they driving?”

“I already told you, a van. A van like yours. It was dark, maybe blue or black. It was like five minutes ago, maybe less.”

Billy nods and peeks at his watch. “And you’re sure they saw you?”

My breathing has slowed and I’m able to feel my chest deflating. I nod my head. “He was staring right at me.”

“Okay, come with me. I have a plan to get us out of here.” Billy starts toward the door and waits for me to follow.

I’m a bit reluctant, so I pause. That’s how I play it off anyhow. I realize I have no better alternative than to follow his lead again, but I want to make him think I’m actually contemplating my options. I connect with Billy’s eyes and hold for a moment as I try my best to maintain the suspense in regards to what I’ll do next. It’s all an act though, as deep inside I know that is exactly what I was hoping he’d say.

After the dust settles
and my mind clears, I start compiling a new plan. The next logical thing to do here is figure out what the hell that seven digit number is all about. The number will lead us to the purpose of the key, I’m almost certain about that. I’m deep in thought, so I don’t bother responding to Frank’s question from the back in regards to where I’m taking us. I wish I had a notepad so I could jot down all of the things I want to look up, but I don’t. Staying quiet will help me keep the information organized in my mind until we arrive, so I drive in silence.

I pull up in front of the new police station in the center of town and get out of the van. Frank panics as he doesn’t have a clue on why I would bring us here, but he relaxes a bit when I tell him to stay in the van. George follows me inside to help me brainstorm while I do some research in the database.

After waiting a few minutes for the computer to turn on in my cubicle and shoeing away officer Dave with some unenthusiastic small talk, I’m ready to do some research. I had left my machine on when I left the office a couple of days ago, so it’s peculiar that it’s has been turned off, but I try to ignore the conspiracy theories that scroll through my brain.

The first search I do in the county database is for license plates. All non-vanity issued license plates have seven digits, so it’s a logical place to start. There are no exact matches, so I scramble the digits and search again. I repeat the process until each of the digit combinations have been entered, and no exact matches occur. With no success, I go back and revisit the partial hits, which don’t provide much in terms of useful information either.   

A 1989 Ford F-250 matches six of the seven digits, albeit not in the same order, and the vehicle is registered to an elderly man. The second hit is more interesting as it matches all seven digits, not in order again, but the Volkswagen Beetle is registered to a young woman, so that doesn’t help me either. I can tell by the clean records of these two individuals that they have no association with Snake or the Zved’s. It would be clever for Snake to use someone like them to throw the police off track a bit, but Snake isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. He has managed to get away many times over, but he wasn’t able to get past me. Not this time. Without the restrictions put on the effort to capture him by the city, he would have been caught a long time ago, and I wouldn’t even be in this situation.

I had been hopeful to find some sort of lead while scanning through the police database, but it turns out to be a colossal failure. The second scan I do includes searching for partial VINs for vehicle types known to be associated with the Zved’s, plus those registered to known associates. After that search also yields nothing, George and I scan through some of Snake’s files for less obvious ideas.

It hasn’t been long since we arrived, and hour maybe, but I decide it’s best if we go somewhere else to do this. I can sense people gossiping around the office, and the longer we stay here the worse it’s going to get. The last thing I need right now is for Sheriff Jack Hearns to find out about this. With George’s help, I gather up all the material into a single box and carry it out the back door when no one is watching.

---

Frank and George have
both fallen asleep in the back of the van, so I leave them there while I bring the box of files inside through the garage. Alicia is curled up in a chair, also sleeping, when I walk by, so I find the office with the biggest table and get started.

As I read through Snake’s files, I realize there isn’t much that I don’t already know. Despite having no felonies on his record, he’s been arrested over twenty times for numerous misdemeanors. He had the charges dropped in over half of those cases, and he’s only spent a total of one year and twelve days in jail combined for all of his other offenses. Either he had the best defense lawyer money can buy, or he bribed some judges for their leniency with a cut of his dirty money.

I assume the latter.

As I continue to browse through the files, there are no obvious connections that jump off the page at me. I scroll through the records and look through past cellmates and those of other Zved members, jail inmate numbers and cell blocks, important dates, addresses, and even subliminal references made in his many tattoos.

I find nothing that even comes remotely close to referencing 282w53s.

There are stacks of manila folders and individual papers piled across the top of the table, and I’ve hit a dead end. After hours of searching, I’m exhausted and frustrated, and I really need some relief. I’m about to rise from my chair and pace around the room when Alicia shows up in the doorway.

“Hey, what are you doing?” her voice is raspy and she clears her throat.

I sigh.

She can tell something’s not right, as I would have woken her up if I had the money. She senses my frustration. “Did something go wrong?” she asks.

“There was no money.”

“What do you mean? What about the ten million?” She’s suddenly awake and wide-eyed, and is fully engaged in the conversation.

“It’s wasn’t in the safe.”

“If not the money, what was inside?”

I remove the key and note from my pocket and hand them to her. She studies them for a moment.

“I don’t know what it means yet,” I say. “I’ve looked through all these records and searched in the police database for some reference, anything. But I’ve got nothing.”

Alicia is suddenly pacing the room rapidly, and she seems quite nervous.

I continue, “Don’t worry, we’ll find it.”

She shakes her head as she continues to pace. I can see the sweat forming on her neck. “We don’t have much time,” she says frantically.

I rise from the chair and walk over to her. I lightly grab her shoulders with my hands to stop her from pacing. “Relax, I’ll find the money. I’ll come up with something and we’ll get out of here. I promise.”

“No, you don’t understand. I think they’re on to us.”

“What are you talking about? Who’s on to us?”

“Everyone!” Tears are beginning to fill her eyes, and she’s close to losing it. I guide her over to a chair and force her to sit.

“Calm down and talk to me. No one is on to us. Did something happen?”

She gazes into my eyes through the tears and nods at me. “I saw someone snooping around outside the building yesterday.”

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought you were going to get the money tonight, so we’d be gone by the time they came back.”

My heart is pounding, and she now has me worried. “Okay, alright. Who was it? Do you know who it was?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. There were two guys. They were looking in the windows and they tried to break in through the back.”

I back away from Alicia and start pacing in the same pattern she was before. The situation is getting urgent and there is no telling how much longer it will take for the Zved’s to find out what’s happening.

This is not going the way I had planned.

We need to find that money, and fast, before they find it and it’s gone forever. I need to come up with a plan of attack, and I need to do it now.

“Okay,” I say, “go to the garage and wake up the guys and meet me down the hall. We’ve got to figure out what the hell we’re going to do.”

In the small office near the garage door, I push the empty plastic bags and paperback that Alicia was reading earlier onto the floor. I spread a tabletop map of the county across the table and starting scanning it while I wait for Alicia to return with our friends. Moments later, she enters the room with Frank and George following behind her.

“Sit,” I say, “both of you. No one sleeps until we figure out what the hell this means.” I slam the key and note on the corner of the table and cross my arms as the groggy men flop into chairs.

Alicia stands in the doorway and blocks the exit.