Deception (4 page)

I’m covered in sweat
and I have a dreadful headache. I try to lift my hands to rub my temples, but they’re restrained. I try to pull my legs forward, but they’re stuck too. I can’t see anything but blackness. I start to panic. I try to jump in place, but the strain is too much on my torso.

“Help!” my scream echoes. “Somebody please help me!” My pleads go unanswered, and I begin to cry. In the distance, I can hear faint footsteps approaching. As they get closer, my heart begins to pound. The footsteps are heavy and sound like they’re coming from a pair of boots. The steps are right on top of me now, but then all of a sudden, they stop.

Complete silence.

I wait and listen with anxiety. “Hello?” I try.

No answer.

“Somebody help me!”

A loud pop of the electrical system fills the room. Instantly, bright fluorescent lights illuminate overhead, and I instinctually close my eyes until I can adjust to the glow. In only a few moments, I’m able to open my eyes and focus on my surroundings. I immediately look down. My wrists are tied to the arms of a wooden chair, my ankles to the legs. The chair is bolted to the floor.

I’m in a large industrial room, empty it appears, except for me. It might be a warehouse. The walls are made of gray cement, the floors the same. There is a drop ceiling high above my head with cracked pipes and broken wires hanging lower than they should. There are numerous spots of water damage all around. Cobwebs fill the crevices. At first, I hardly even notice the two-way mirror that’s on the wall directly in front of me. Behind me, I hear a door open, then close again. The thud of heavy boots approach me. Two hands rest on my shoulders, and I tense up.

A man behind me breaks the silence, “Georgie, how you doin’?”

I’m too terrified to respond.

“I’ll forgive you for not being in a chatty mood. Although it is rude! Naw, I just kiddin’.” The man laughs to himself and massages my shoulders. “Relax Georgie, I ain’t gunna hurt you.”

The door opens again and a new man’s voice appears, “Leave him alone.”

“Aww, come on. We was just talkin’, right Georgie?”

“Goodbye, Frank. Go wait in the van.”

The first man lets go of my shoulders. The door closes and I can feel the second man approach me from behind. He comes around to the front of the chair and looks at me. Our eyes meet as I look back at him. He’s not a large man, rather small in stature actually, but he bleeds confidence. He’s vibrant with power, like he’s done this before, whatever this is. Although I didn’t see the other guy, this one’s clearly the brains of the operation. Just his presence alone tells me that.

The man continues, “I’m sorry about all of this, George.” He points, referring to the chair. “You were out pretty good when we got here, and I didn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.” He offers a friendly smile. “You understand that, right?”

“What’s going on here?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, George, I’m being rude. You can call me Billy. My partner is Frank.”

“Partner? Partner in what?”

“Partner in what?” Billy smiles as he repeats the phrase. “Partner in all of this.” He spreads out his arms and looks around the room as if he’s proud of himself.

I nod in understanding, although I don’t. “What do you want with me?”

“You’ve got a lot of questions.” Billy walks past me and out of sight.

My thigh almost spasms from the tension and I can’t help but wonder what’s about to happen to me. He returns seconds later with a chair and sits in front of me.

“We need your help.”

I pause a beat before responding, not sure what to make of it. “With what?”

“We need you to help us get some money. Ten million big ones to be exact.”

“Um, what?” I speed up, “Listen, I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not who you think I am. I’m just a banker, I can’t just get you, I don’t just have…” I pause and have a realization. “Woah, wait a minute! I can’t just-”

Billy raises his hand to stop me. “Slow down, take a breath. I’m not asking you to take money from the bank.”

“Oh. You’re not?”

“Of course not. That would be too obvious. Much too obvious.”

I exhale. “Okay, what then?”

“George, are you familiar with the Zved’s?”

“Who?”

“I didn’t think so. The Zved’s are a gang here in Topeka.”

“What kind of gang?”

“A hit gang,” Billy pauses and waits for a reaction. I give him nothing. “They’re hit men. They kill people for money.”

My throat falls into my stomach, and I gulp. “What about them?”

“You’re going to take ten million bucks from them.”

My eyes widen with fear. “I could get killed!”

“Maybe,” he says, coldly staring at me.

“What if I say no?”

“What if you say no?” Billy laughs. “No is not an option. Or it won’t be that you might get killed, you will get killed. I can promise you that.”

“And what makes you think I won’t just keep the money for myself? Assuming I do actually make it out alive.”

Billy gets out of the chair and begins to pace in front of the two-way mirror. His mood changes, and he becomes gentle and less intimidating. “You’re a family man, wouldn’t you say?”

“I guess.”

Billy nods. “I thought so.”

“I mean I’d like to be, but my parents died in a tornado a couple years ago. I’m an only child. I don’t really have any family.”

“Is that so?”

Billy continues to pace as if in deep thought. He moves to the far corner of the empty room and flips a light switch. The once dark two-way mirror in front of me lights up, and a room behind the glass is visible, although I can’t quite see inside from my seated position. Billy makes his way back toward me and pulls a switchblade knife from his pocket. He snaps the blade out and shows it to me. He bends down and exposes a gun that’s attached to his calf.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” he says, then he puts his pants back over his leg, covering the gun. Using the knife, he carefully saws the ropes from my wrists and ankles, freeing me.

I’m a little woozy as I try to stand up too quickly from the chair, and I’m forced to sit. I grab my head.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” Billy says, pointing to my head. “I had to make sure you’d be out for a while.” He makes his hand into the shape of a gun and re-enacts hitting me in the head with it.

He helps me from the chair and leads me to the two-way mirror on the wall. A woman, tied in the same position that I was, rests in a similar chair with her head leaning forward as if sleeping. Billy taps on the glass with his knuckle. Startled, the girl looks up. She flings her head back, ridding the dark hair from covering her face.

My heart falls to the floor. It’s her.

“Alicia?”

Almost instantly, I drop to the floor and reach for Billy’s gun. He slides out of my reach, then returns and kicks the back of my head so my face hits the floor. Blood pours out of my nose and onto the cement. Billy grabs me by the collar and pulls me to my feet. He leads me out of the room and into the hallway.

“I told you not to try anything stupid,” Billy says, the gun now pointed at my head. He stares at me with fury, but slowly calms himself down. He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket with his other hand and hands it to me. The gun is still pointed at my head. “Here.”

I look at him, confused, with blood dripping on my collar, and take the handkerchief.

“Now walk.” He leads me a few steps down the hall to another door. He opens it and pushes me inside then slams it behind me.

This room is just like the one I was just in, just smaller. A lot smaller. It may have been a closet at one time. I find a light hanging from the ceiling and I pull the cord, lighting up the room. The handkerchief soaks up the blood as I apply pressure to my nose to stop the bleeding. A few moments later, before I’m even able to comprehend what’s going on, the door reopens and someone else is pushed inside. I jump back at first to protect myself, but I soon relax once I see who it is.

It’s Alicia.

“Two minutes,” Billy says, then he slams the door again.

Alicia picks herself up from the floor and wipes the tears from her face. She looks horrible. Her makeup is running down her face and onto her neck. Her blouse is torn and her pants are filthy. She looks at me with fright.

“George?”

“Alicia?” She embraces me and sobs. “What happened to you?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” Between the sobs, she talks a thousand miles an hour. “I never meant to…I wanted to…oh, George, I’m so sorry!”

I try to calm her down, and eventually she does. “What happened?” I ask. “Are you okay? I got this call asking if I knew you, and I was told to go to a pub, then there was this van, and these two guys, and now they want me to steal ten million bucks. What’s going on?”

Alicia is suddenly cool. “George, listen to me, please. There isn’t much time to explain. I need you to do what they say, okay?”

“But-”

“No! Please, whatever they want. If you get what they want, they’ll let us go.”

“How do you know that? How do you know they just won’t kill us both no matter what? How long have you been here?”

Footsteps are approaching from the hallway.

“Listen to me. Please,” Alicia insists. “I know these guys, okay? Trust me. If you get what they want, they’ll let us go. I promise, okay? I’m depending on you. Both of us are depending on you.”

I have no choice but to agree, even though I don’t comprehend a word she’s saying. The door swings open, and Billy grabs Alicia’s arm.

“But, Alicia-”

Billy pulls Alicia into the hallway and slams the door. I can hear her yelling as he drags her away.

“George, I’m pregnant!”

I’m nervous. Maybe that’s
too strong a word, maybe anxious is more appropriate. I’ve been on dates, lots of them, but this girl is special. She doesn’t think it’s a date, but it is. It’s also a business meeting, but she doesn’t know that yet either. From the second I saw her I could tell she has something that most other women do not. I can’t pinpoint it quite yet, but I will figure it out before long. I think she has what I’m looking for. I think she has what I need.

I’m torn between wearing a tie or not. I don’t want to be too aggressive and intimidate her or push her away somehow, but I want to show her that I mean business too. My tie rack spins automatically, so I grab a couple as it rotates from its stationary spot in the closet. The black looks sharp under the blazer, and the purple fits well with the dark khakis, so it’s a toss-up. With one in each hand, I rotate them back and forth to my collar as I look at my reflection in the mirror. A combination of both would be perfect, maybe a solid black with purple pinstripes, but that I don’t have. That helps make my decision. I wait for the open slots to swivel around on the tie rack, then I hang both ties back in place. I’ll go without tonight.

I can hear the TV blaring as I make my way down the hallway and into the open living area. The house is compact, but it was perfect for when it was just me. The space has become tight since Frank moved in, but I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. I couldn’t have just left him somewhere on his own. I don’t think the state would have even allowed it. Frank pulls his feet off the table just as I enter the room.

“Get your feet off the table,” I say.

“My feet aren’t on the table.”

“I saw you.”

He looks away, just as a guilty dog would.

“I’m going out. Will you be okay by yourself? There are some leftovers in the fridge, you can eat that for dinner.”

Frank nods and I storm out the front door before he can say anything. I don’t need his distraction right now.

---

It’s 5:02 P.M. and
I’m waiting outside Josie’s Bar and Pub just down the block from City Hall. The parking lot is filling up quickly as happy hour has officially begun, but I don’t see Alicia yet. I didn’t ask what kind of vehicle she’s driving, and I guess I probably should have. As I glance down the busy sidewalk, someone catches my attention.

I watch her as she struts confidently down the sidewalk and toward the pub. She’s a lot taller than I expected. A form-fitting coffee-colored dress hugs her hips as she glides along in her matching heels. The dress is a shade lighter than her skin, and it’s a stunning combination.

What I wouldn’t do to get with her.

I get out of the van, stand beside it, and wait. Alicia waves to me as she approaches.

“Hey, Billy,” she says as she makes her way toward me.

“Did you walk all the way here?”

“Yeah, I walked.”

“No car?”

“No, not yet. It’s on the to-do list.” She’s a little embarrassed.

“You should have told me, I would have picked you up.”

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.”

There is a brief silence as we stand around, unsure what’s appropriate to say next.

“Shall we?” I say, motioning to the door.

“Lets, I’m starving.”

Inside, the pub is jammed. The bar is nearly full and the bartenders are already running around like crazy. We wait a few minutes in the lobby before being escorted to an empty table with two wire chairs. Other similar arrangements surround us.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Alicia says as we wait for the young waitress to bring us our drinks. “I’ve heard this is the spot around here.”

“It is a pretty common place for lots of the locals. Thanks for joining me.”

“It’s hard to say no to a police officer.” She smiles at me, teasing.

“Yeah, well, I’ll take it. It’s not everyday someone like you agrees to come out with me.”

She blushes.

I continue, “I’m just glad that I can help you get comfortable in a new place. Where are you from anyway?”

“Florida. I moved into town a few weeks ago.”

“Why Kansas?”

“It’s a long story.”

I glance at my watch. “I’m in no rush.” I lean back in the chair, and it presses uncomfortably into my lower back.

“Okay. Where to start?”

The waitress swings by the table and leaves a dark beer for me and a light beer for Alicia, both tall. The hops tickle the back of my nose as I sip mine.

“I’m actually from Cuba,” Alicia continues. “I moved to Florida some years back to go to FSU. I’ve had a few jobs since college, and I’ve been in the states on a work visa.”

“You’re not a citizen yet?”

“No, not yet. You’re not going to arrest me are you?” She pokes her tongue out slightly, and I smile at her. “I probably won’t even bother at this point.”

“What do you mean? Why not?”

Uneasiness takes over her face and she looks a little bit uncomfortable. She sighs before proceeding, “I’ve got some…family issues back in Cuba. My mother has been sick for a while, so I’m thinking about going back to help out.”

“What about your father?”

“He’s around and he tries to help, but he works so much to pay for the medical bills, so it’s tough.”

I nod, offering my sympathy.

“He’s been ready to retire for a couple of years now, but they just don’t have the money.”

“That’s tough. What does he do for work?”

“It’s kind of ironic actually, he works for the Cuban government. The Department of Justice.”

She has my attention, but I try to hide my excitement. That might work out perfectly. “Were you able to get into the states okay? The relationship between the United States and the Cuban governments’ isn’t exactly...robust. I’m sorry if I’m being too blunt, I don’t mean to interrogate you. I’m just curious.”

She shrugs. “It’s okay. My dad took care of the paperwork for me at the time. He handles visas and deportation and stuff at work, so he must have figured it out.”

I nod, satisfied with the answer.

She continues, “So I might go back to help out with my mother. I just need to save up some more money first.”

“Wow, that’s really nice, putting someone else’s needs before your own. It’s really selfless of you. I’m not sure I could do that.” I play with the rim of the glass and try to change the subject before it gets sappy and awkward. “What about the new job though? You said you haven’t been in town very long.”

“Yeah, I know. I feel bad. It wasn’t the plan, but things have gotten worse with mom’s health in the past couple of weeks, right after I moved here basically.”

“How did you end up in Kansas then? We never did get there. Florida, FSU, then what?” I take another sip of my beer.

“I did some work with the city of Tallahassee right after school for a while, then I saw this job opening here. It was a better job that paid more, so I applied and they flew me in for an interview, and here we are.”

“Speaking of that, what are you doing for the city? I wasn’t even aware there was an opening.”

“I’m the City Clerk.”

“What happened to Helga?”

“Who?”

“Helga. She was the City Clerk for as long as I can remember.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Retired maybe.”

I grunt. “Good for her. She was a nice lady, always liked her. I guess I’ve been out of the loop lately. I’ve been a bit preoccupied.”

“Why’s that?”

I motion to her full glass and chuckle. “You may want to drink that up. You might need it.”

She grabs the glass from the table and leans back in her chair. “I’m listening.”

I tell her my story. I tell her everything about what’s going on at work, the Zved’s, Frank, and what happened to my father. I tell her too much information probably, but it’s nice to have someone to talk to. Plus, I’m here for a reason, so I need to gauge her reaction to see if she’s going to work. She eats most of her plate by the time I finish talking, but she listens politely. When finished, I exhale and guzzle the rest of my beer. Just talking about it has gotten my blood boiling.

Alicia takes the opportunity to chime in. “That’s quite a story,” she says.

I slam the empty glass on the table harder than I expected, and the clunk of the glass surprises me. It’s time to talk business. “So I know we just met and all, and this may seem a bit sudden and out of nowhere, but I’m thinking we may be able to help each other out…if you’re interested.”

She contemplates while intently studying me, and I can tell I have her attention. She leans forward in her chair and rests her elbows on the table. “What did you have in mind?”

“What would you say if I told you I may be able to help you with your money troubles?