Seven Come Eleven

Chapter Seven

Alan was standing in front of the casino enjoying the fresh night air when the man passed him. Alan instantly recognized that he was here for the money. “Excuse me! Stop right there.”

The well-dressed man turned to Alan with a dark scowl, not used to being ordered about. “May I help you?”

“No, I’m good. You’re here to meet my boss about a briefcase.” Alan walked closer, hoping to keep this at least somewhat civil. He was a little taken aback by the man’s black eyes. “Come with me.”

“How do you know who I am?” The man followed Alan to the back of the casino past the machines and into an elevator.

“We have cameras, buddy, I know everything. Jake, your friend has arrived.” Alan announced, leading the annoyed man into the office, where Jake had been brooding his laptop for the past hour while waiting.

“Oh ,” Jake stood from his desk, laying his book aside. He picked up the case from the floor beside his foot. He was eager to have this done and over with as soon as possible. “I think it is all there.”

“I came to collect this from Dan’s wife. Who the hell are you?”

“I should ask you the same thing.” Jake placed the case on the desk and crossed his arms. “She is no longer Dan’s wife. She is my girlfriend. In the future, I will handle anything pertaining to Dan’s affairs. Dan was an old associate of mine.”

“Ah, I see. f*****g his wife as soon as he was out of the way, eh? Honorable man.” The man narrowed his eyes at Jake.

“Who I have relations with does not concern you. Nadia’s safety does. My honor has nothing to do with this exchange. Not that you have room to preach to me about honor when you’re here harassing widows for money they had nothing to do with. Now take the money and get out. Do not come back.” Jake’s face remained unreadable.

“What will you do if I do?” The stranger grinned and opened the case to see the money. As Jake suspected, he immediately picked out a bill to test for counterfeit. This is where the casino and everyone in it would be in danger.

“I haven’t run this casino for twenty-odd years without making some friends. You know, I thought Dan was in debt to the mafia. You aren’t even a loan shark. I’ve never seen you before.” Jake smirked much to the man’s chagrin. “If you’d left Dan alive-”

“I didn’t kill Dan. I didn’t have to. He actually just bumbled into a bus running in terror from what he perceived a hell hound.” The other man tossed the bills into the briefcase and closed it. “I hear you’ve had some strange happenings around here.”

Jake’s jaw worked as he ground his back teeth in frustration, an old habit. He wondered if it had actually been a hound, or it Dan was spooked by one of the strays that roamed the alleys and fled into the intersection where he was hit. The next part of the question made his brows furrow slightly. “Yes, and so does every casino around here. Stay away from Nadia and that’s your last warning.”

The other man turned and walked straight back out the way he came. Alan watched him cross the lobby and vanish out into night on the small screen.

“I hope that’s that,” Alan ran through all the screens one more.

“Should be.” Jake stood staring out the window. “But that leaves the question of what or who was he working for, and did Dan actually kill himself running away or-”

Nadia didn’t knock when she walked in,cutting Jake off. “I thought I would find you here.”

“I’m glad you did. Dan’s friend came to get the money.” Jake tossed a foot up on the desk. He hoped she hadn’t heard the last of what he was saying.

“So is it over?” She moved behind him to massage his shoulders. Nadia knew he had a lot of stress on his shoulders right now.

“For now. I doubt we will have anymore issues with him. But my issues aren’t even close to solved.” Jake lamented.

“Maybe they will be soon.” She placed a warm kiss on top of his head and nuzzled his hair. Jake patted the petite hand that rested on his shoulder.

It was exactly three in the morning when a cold blast of air and the stench of sulfur woke Jake. He froze in fear, had the hell hounds found him and gotten in? He couldn’t see in the darkness. Beside him, Nadia stirred awake too. Their eyes met and then turned to the door of the bedroom. There was a man there in the doorway. Jake relaxed, somehow a man seemed less terrifying than one of those hell beasts.

“I hate to wake you but I am afraid my i***t associate brought me the wrong briefcase.” The figure came closer. We was well dressed, every hair in place, but his eyes seemed to glow orange.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” Jake sat up, not even caring he was naked. “What the hell do you mean wrong briefcase? That’s the only one there was.”

“That was not the right briefcase. That isn’t what I am looking for. I am looking for the other one.” The dark man scowled, raising a brow. “Which is lucky for you, since you tried to rip me off with counterfeit bills.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. There isn’t another one.” Nadia sat up as well, scowling right back at the intruder. Her chest rose and fell nervously under the aqua night gown, the lace jerked with each heartbeat. “I cleaned out our home. That was the only case I saw.”

“Stop playing games with me and tell me where Dan hid it.” The man’s voice rose higher.

His sleepy mind began to work suddenly, “What’s in this case? The last one had money.”

The man’s form began to waver, he was struggling to hold the human form with such strong feelings clouding his mind. “I’ll be back. Have my case or else.”

“Or else what?” Jake snapped, but the man vanished in a thick mist before replying. Stunned Jake and Nadia watched the mist evaporate. Looking at Nadia, Jake spoke quickly. “Does Dan have anything else like a briefcase?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “That is the only case I have ever seen him with. The bigger question is why is a ghost, demon, or whatever he was, looking for a briefcase? What is going on? I’m dreaming, right?”

“I wish to God we were.” Jake rolled his eyes and fell back against the pillow, fixing his gaze on the ceiling.

Nadia scoffed, “What do we do now?”

Jake saw the tears threatening to spill from her eyes when she looked at him, and his heart melted. He pulled her close to lie beside him. “We will figure this out. I don’t know how but we will.”

Nadia rested against him. His scent was soothing, warm and masculine. It made her feel safe and loved. “There is nothing in those boxes but his clothes and some pictures.”

Jake sighed. “Whatever this thing is that the demon is looking for, I doubt Dan would have told you about it. He must have stashed it somewhere. Maybe we should check the townhouse tomorrow.”

Nadia had never planned on going back there but Jake had a point. She had packed in a hurry, it was likely she had missed something along the way. Her heart was still beating fast, though it had all happened so fast she had not had time to become truly scared. “You’re right. We should, just to make sure.”

Jake didn’t sleep at all after that. He lay awake and listened to the sounds of the hotel, pinpointing what each noise was. He was half expecting the demon to return or a large black hound to bash through the door. The sound of the elevator creeping up the shaft, returning guests to their rooms was usually comforting in the night, but tonight it set him on edge. Their floor was only accessible if one had the key card for the elevator. This prevented anyone but the residents of this corridor from wandering into it.

The incessant flow of traffic and ever present emergency vehicle sirens were normally white noise to him, but not tonight. Jake was aware of each new sound. He could even pick up the sound of laughter and loud talking near the casino door. But things were slowing down as dawn approached.

He was still awake when the rays of light burst across the sky and lit the room dimly. Yawning, he sat up and made his way into the kitchen. He hoped Nadia had some coffee. He found it easily and started the coffee pot. But as he sipped the warm liquid on her balcony, an idea dawned on him as bright as the sun was dawning over Vegas. The receipt for the storage unit in Arizona flashed through his mind. He had not looked into it too much, but now it seemed to stand out in his mind like a beacon.

As if his thinking had awakened her, Nadia joined him on the balcony. Her long hair was down and flowed across her shoulders in messy waves she had not tamed yet. Her face seemed softer without make up on, and her eyes were still sleepy. “You’re up early.”

“I was thinking.” He took another swallow. “About this demon and this mess and how to fix it and lo-and-behold I have an idea.”

Nadia pulled the cup away from her mouth and swiped her tongue across her pink lips. “Do you now? What is it?”

“Dan’s bank records showed he was keeping a storage unit in Arizona. Is that right?” Jake looked at her curiously. He was still in a tee shirt and shorts from the night before. His hair wasn’t brushed yet, the roughness of him made Nadia’s heart jump a bit with excitement.

“Yes, that’s what it said. Do you think that's where whatever they want is?”

“That’s exactly what I think. We need to contact the place and see about retrieving the contents of that storage unit.” Jake turned to watch some birds fly across the sky over the brightening blue sky.

“Good luck, there wasn’t any information about the place. No address, no real name, nothing,” she said dubiously. Though the idea was a good one, she was unsure how to make it reality.

“The bank may be able to find that for us. Call them when they open.” He didn’t turn to look at her as he spoke, his eyes were focused on the horizon. “If they can we will drive down and get the thing.”

“What if they can’t?”

“Then we drive to Arizona and check every damn storage place until we find it. We cannot drop the ball on this one.” Jake finished his coffee and turned to go inside. He really wanted a shower.

Normally she would have been appalled at such a reckless idea, but when Jake said it, it sounded more like an adventure.

The bank, as expected, wasn’t any help. Jake was standing behind Nadia as she sifted through papers on the table. He was as frustrated as she with the lack of help from the bank or any of the credit card companies she’d called. H mad an irritated sound behind her, “I guess we’re headed to Arizona then. We’ll drive down and stop just across state lines to search for storage units. Bring that statement with the charges on it. He probably didn’t go too far across the line. That wouldn’t make sense.”

“Should I get packed? How long do you think we will be gone?” Nadia looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. “Is this going to take longer than a day?”

“Who knows?” Jake shrugged as he headed for the door. “I hope we can do it in a day’s time. We’ll take my car, it’s small and fast.”

“Also because it has the convertible top?” Nadia looked at him, amused.

“You got it, toots.” Jake gave her a wink before shutting the bathroom door between them.

“Did you just call me toots?” She said, blinking at the closed bathroom door. She heard the water start and smiled. “Hey, wait for me! It will save time if we shower together!”

She heard his hearty laugh behind the door just before she shoved it open. Already the room was steamy and warm. He was already behind the curtain but he could see her figure undressing through it. “Yes, save time and water, very efficient.”