Surrept (5 page)

"Most people are good in their hearts and sometimes they just need to be lead like goats for their own safety. Do you have the money for today's deliveries?"

Ahmed reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an envelope, "Yeah, there is three hundred and twenty-one in cash and four hundred forty-seven in checks. You have the prepaid credit card charges, and I put a balance sheet in there as well with invoices of all the orders."

"You are good with the details. How did you do on gratuities today?"

"About sixty dollars, I guess."

"Not bad. They do not give me any when I deliver; they think I am already rich because of the store."

"Are you going to have dinner with us tonight?"

Ahmed declines as he touches the cell phone in his pocket.

"I have to go to the book store and get some books for my studies. I'll get something while I'm out thank you."

Omar smiles at him. "You do not have to thank me Ahmed, you are family, and you have done well here. I am proud of you, Ahmed. Drive carefully."

Ahmed leaves out the back door to the alley and looks both ways as he unlocks the van. He gets in quickly to escape the cold air already dropping quickly; he starts the van and turns on the heater.

He drives down the alley and sees a hose attached to a faucet behind another store that he made a note of weeks before. He stops and disconnects the hose and jumps back in the van. He heads for the phone store he visited earlier.

As Ahmed approaches the phone store, he circles the block to make sure that no authorities or bystanders are around, and then pulls to the back of the store and gets out of the truck.

Ahmed opens the rear door and pulls out the hose and a hand pump that Omar keeps for emergencies. He quickly connects the pump to the hose on one side. He cuts a piece of the hose near the end and attaches the threaded side of the pump. He opens the gas cap to the tank, which is full, and places the hose deep into the tank.

Ahmed slides the other end of the hose under the door and feeds the hose in as far as it will go and begins cranking the pump. He remembers how common the pump was in his country.

Fuel was scarce and the black marketers used the manual pumps all the time to sell and transfer fuel.

He cranked furiously and pulled the hose out a few feet at a time to ensure that the gas spread throughout the inside of the store.

He finally hears the sound of air getting into the hose, stops pumping, and pulls the hose out of the van's gas tank. He replaces the cap, and pushes the hose under the door.

He pulls his cell phone that he used to make the earlier call to Josef out of his pocket. He pulls it apart, removes the SIM card, battery, and slides them under the door into a puddle of fuel.

He reaches in the van and starts the engine as he looks around to make sure he has been undetected. He pulls out a disposable lighter, sets the puddle outside the door on fire, and jumps into the van. He slowly pulls away and around the corner onto a residential street and disappears into the Denver night as the store erupts into flames.

Ahmed looks at his watch. It is only, seven forty-five. He has time to head to Barnes and Noble to get some books to solidify his cover and an alibi if needed. He will get gas in the morning during rush hour before his meeting at the university.

Chapter Five

Across town in the Denver tech center, the parking lot at the popular steak house is full with upscale cars. David is glad he had left his car at the office the day before; he would never have made it if he had had to call a cab.

As he pulls in, he looks for a valet knowing he is late to dinner with Dana and his future father-in-law. The valet comes back to his post where two other cars are waiting.

Inside, Dana is sitting in a corner booth alone, sipping a martini with two olives, as she watches the crowd. She smiles as she realizes that she will be seeing a lot more of this lifestyle—if she just keeps doing what she has been working on for the past two years and keeps closing bigger deals like the one today.

Two men sitting at an adjacent table keep looking her way, and as usual, she dreads what the attention could bring.

In perfect timing, David arrives and stands at the table and frames her with his thumbs like a film director. "Ladies and gentleman, Miss Dana Underwood, Denver real estate's rising star." David sits down and kisses his girl as she pushes at him for clowning. He tries to take the edge off. "What do we have we here, a very gorgeous lady in waiting?"

Dana looks at him with her coldest blue-eyed stare, not letting on that she loved his cute approach.

"Yeah, go figure that the only thing you and my father have in common is that you are never on time."

David continues, "I beg to differ with you young lady."

She holds the cold stare. "About what David?"

"I think it would be fair to say that your father and I both love you madly, and you are our most favorite person on the planet."

Dana raises her hand. "No, wait. I have to admit I was wrong in my former statement."

David asks, "About what?"

Dana keeps up the cold disposition as she answers, "That the only thing you both have in common is that you both are always late."

"So you agree then?"

"I was just reminded that you and Daddy are both full of shit when you are in trouble."

Richard Underwood arrives at the table hearing Dana's comment. "I guess that's my queue for apologies?"

Dana smiles at her father. "Hi Daddy. No apologies are necessary. I am used to it. Besides, I get to bitch and be right."

Richard Underwood sits down across from David in the booth and leans over to kiss Dana. She scrunches her shoulders as if to draw his attention all in. She loves her dad.

"So how does it feel to close your first big deal?"

"It feels fabulous, but it is kind of like a roller coaster. Now I just want to do it again and again. I hope I have not been bitten by the greed bug."

He looks at her trying not to put on the father's face. "Honey, success is measured by your deeds before and after you have made accomplishments and how you treat others that cross your various paths in life. It is about your integrity and policy. Not just the monetary gains."

"Daddy, you always know the right things to say at just the right moment." She pauses in reflection for a moment. "Mom was right about what she said."

David looks concerned when Dana brings her mother up, and her father is caught completely off guard by her statement.

He looks into Dana's eyes. "What did she say, honey?"

Dana looks down as if to control herself. "One night at the hospital after you left, I was upset because you had to go early. She told me that I should not be upset with you, that you had to get up early and be on the property site to keep everyone motivated by your example of having a responsible work ethic. Then she said that even though you were holding the project together by a shoestring. She said that those in doubt, who were sure that you were as shady as an elm tree, would learn that the shade from the sun and cool breeze under that 'tree' was the most secure they all would feel due to your confidence and conviction for success on that project. She told me that she lived in that shade and cool breeze every day of her life."

The waiter brings cocktails, interrupting her as he places the drinks in front of her father and David.

"The lady said to bring these when you gentleman arrived. Are we ready for appetizers?"

Richard Underwood reacts emotionally by his daughter's comments. He dismisses the waiter abruptly, not taking his eyes of his daughter. "Give us a few minutes, please. We are in no rush."

The waiter silently excuses himself, realizing his bad timing.

"Why have I never heard this before, honey?"

Dana frowns at her dad. "Jesus, Daddy, a girl doesn't share every intimate detail with her father."

David interrupts to change the atmosphere. "Thank God for that. Let's have a toast to your success." He raises his glass as they all laugh. "To Dana's triumph."

After dinner, Dana and David watch her father pull away from the valet and wave as he drives off in his Chevy Suburban.

David pulls Dana to him as the valets retrieve their cars. "Thanks for dinner, I feel like a kept man."

Dana looks at him sensuously as she puts her arms around his neck. "I do believe that you, sir, are a keeper." She kisses him softly

David stares at his beautiful girl. "You are gorgeous, I was thinking the moment I saw you tonight and all through dinner that you should be on the menu. You look good enough to eat."

Dana smiles seductively. "I'll hold you to that when we get home. Remember, I'm the dessert."

The valet pulls up with their cars, and Dana breaks away from him and moves quickly to her car. "Race you."

David tips the valets and jumps into his car to give chase.

***

The next morning, Ahmed has just finished his shower after morning prayers and is staring into the mirror remembering his deed the night before. He is thinking of the Iraqi proprietor at the phone store, wondering if he had fire insurance.

He brushes his hair and begins to feel sick with guilt, thinking of the photo of the man's family he was so proud of on the wall behind his counter at the store.

Ahmed finishes dressing, throws on his jacket, and gathers his books and places them in his backpack. He straightens his bed in the basement and makes his way upstairs into the kitchen where Kari is preparing something fresh for the deli counter.

Kari smiles as he looks at the concoction she is preparing. "Good morning, Ahmed. Are you going to school today?"

"Yes, I have to see my counselor and get my final classes straightened out before the semester starts. Where's Omar?"

"He had to get produce and rice. We are running low. He told me to schedule the deliveries for late this afternoon. Is that all right?"

Ahmed wondered why she had stopped covering her head. "I should be back before twelve-thirty."

Kari hands him a plastic bag used for customers. "I made you breakfast. I will see you this afternoon. Good luck on your classes, Ahmed."

Ahmed thanks her as he leaves with his food and backpack.

He exits the rear door and the morning cold bites through him as he unlocks the van, jumps in and starts the engine. He looks at the gas gauge while rubbing his hands together to warm them. It is just above empty, and he pulls away.

***

Matt is in his office sitting at his desk drinking hot chocolate while reading local news on his computer. The article is about an arson fire near Federal and Alameda last night at a retail store, which caused two other stores to burn down as well.

The buzzer sounds on his desk phone, and the receptionist's voice comes over his speaker. "Matt, David Bloomfield on line two."

Matt responds as he hits the speaker button. "Thanks, Nancy."

David's voice barrels out of the phone. "How is the joker doing today?"

Matt smiles. "That's Private Joker to you, Private Pyle."

"Okay, Private Joker. I got something for you."

"What's that, your sister's phone number or a jelly doughnut?"

David laughs at his best friend's remark, "No, not a jelly doughnut. I just got four VIP box seats to Denver's one-and-only football team for the last Sunday of this month as a perk from one of the media reps I buy from."

Matt never misses a home game. "Great, so that means I have to find a date?"

"First of all, Cohen, you don't find dates, you buy them. And second of all, these tickets are all yours, Private Joker. I can't go; I'll be in Seoul, Korea that week on a major presentation."

Matt responds loudly, "Out fucking standing, Private Pyle. You handle the Korean crisis, and I'll be at the game eating shrimp and brats, while you are enhancing the profitability of South Korea's economy and securing our foreign policy. I wonder if I can get a deal on three escorts."

"Private Joker, you are a section eight, I'm sending the tickets over. I have to go." Matt smiles. "Thanks, David."

David laughs. "No worries, Matt. I hope it keeps you out of trouble. Have fun at the game." Matt hangs up thinking of the great friendship he has with David Bloomfield.

***

Ahmed arrives at the university lot and parks as close to the building he will be going into.

He reaches down for his backpack and empties it on the floor next to his seat. Ahmed puts just one book back in, he zips it up and leaves the van, sliding the pack over his shoulder as he locks the door. He walks into the building. He surveys the grounds and glances behind him as he enters. He needs to be careful now more than ever.

He walks past an administration office to the end of the hall at the rear of the building and makes his way up the stairs. He looks back verifying no one is following and that all is clear.

As he reaches the second floor, Ahmed listens to the quiet of the hallway. Most students are out on spring break. He walks halfway down the hall to an unmarked door and enters quickly.