Seven Come Eleven

Chapter Four

Alan admired the work of the security company that had just finished installing new cameras and a wall of monitors in the main office that he shared with Jake. The new cameras could be controlled with a mouse and they were placed to watch every corridor in the building and every door. Each camera had it’s on screen and the quality was much better than the old CCTV cameras that Jake had left in for far too long. They were in a box by Alan’s feet now, ready to be taken to the dumpster.

Alan was working on the new camera’s, getting a feel for how to maneuver and zoom them in on people, when Jake poked his head in the door. The sudden appearance was enough to make him look up with a jerk.

“Good, you’re here. Come and see the new system.” Alan held his hands up at the set up. “Those demons don’t stand a chance.”

“I wouldn’t say all that but at least we can see them coming.” Jake looked at each of the cameras. “These are great quality. I admit I should have updated sooner, but the old ones worked fine until now.”

“I doubt these would have stopped the murder,” Alan said. He clicked the mouse to zoom in on the roulette wheel on the main floor. The new operator, was testing the wheel out before the people crowded around it later. “I suspect that he has some sort of scam going already and I will figure it out.”

Jake laughed. “Well, I have some research to do. I‘ll be in my office. I’ll yell if I need help.”

“I’m sure you will,” Alan replied, not looking away from the screen. After ten years he was well accustomed to being security as well as IT.

Only a small reading light, that illuminated the spot above Nadia’s book as she sat in bed reading, broke the darkness of the bedroom. Nadia was focused on the novel in her left hand and the warm tea in the other. She’d been unable to sleep even after several drinks at the bar. Jake had been holed up in his own penthouse all day reading about demons and how to avoid them and the infamous story of the devil at the crossroad. Nadia wasn’t offended by his absence but the distraction would be nice, she thought.

A hollow knock on the door drew her attention. Half expecting Jake or Alan, she stood, pulling her silk kimono robe tighter around her body. The man on the other side was tall, intimidatingly so. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing an immaculate suit.

He inclined his head slightly at Nadia, playing with his shiny wrist cuffs. “I am here about your husband- Dan?”

Nadia raised an eyebrow. “Dan is dead and has been for a while.”

“Dan has something of mine and I would like it back.” The man replied with no readable expression.

“What would that be?” Nadia replied with hint of sourness detectable in her voice.

“A briefcase. It’s about so big--” the man spread his hands apart a little over a foot. His lips pulled back into a sneer, he was being sarcastic. “It’s brown. Has a little handle.”

“So like every briefcase ever made?” Nadia replied tartly. She knew instantly which briefcase he meant. It was in her closet. She’d shoved it in that box in her closet when she moved in.

The man gave a gruff laugh, “I’d like it now.”

“It isn’t here. I will have to fetch it from storage.” Nadia lied, hoping her facial features didn’t give her away.

They had not, they remained stoic, and annoyed. The man nodded. “I will return tomorrow night and collect it.”

Nadia said nothing, she instead glared at the man as he turned sharply and stalked to the elevator door, which opened in his face as if by magic without him touching any buttons. Nadia watched him step through the doors and vanish before she turned and went back inside her penthouse. She took care to lock the door and put the chain on as well.

“Dammit, Dan, “ she muttered as she went into the bedroom and threw open the closet door with a bang. She tore open the box and found the briefcase on top of the contents. “What the hell have you got in here that is so important?”

Nadia tossed the suitcase on the bed, flipping it over to get at the locks. The latches were locked by a code. She turned the dials, trying her birth year, his birth year, the year they met, and on the fourth attempt- with the code being their anniversary year, the small clasps gave way and popped up.

“Ha!” Nadia opened the case. The case was filled with carefully wrapped stacks of cash. One hundred-dollar bills to be exact. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting. Maybe documents, cocaine, pictures of some crime- but not crisp, new, wrapped stacks of money. The thought struck her that this could be what he died for. There was no way in Hell she was giving back to them. Her robe swishing about her ankles, she rushed into the kitchen, found her tiny cellphone and dialed Jake’s number quickly.

Jake looked up from the screen of his desktop computer and reached for his phone. Seeing it was Nadia he answered with a smile. “Hello, beautiful.”

“Get your ass over here now.” She snapped. “Hurry!”

Before he could answer she hung up. He was under the wrong impression of what this was about. He shut down the computer and closed the notebook he had scribbled a few notes in before he walked across the hall to Nadia’s. Jake paused for a moment before he knocked on the penthouse door.

Nadia opened the door quickly, her eyes wide and bright with a hysteria he’d never seen. Her appearance confused him, before he could inquire about what had happened, she grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.

“What is this about?” Jake watched her lock the door and pull the chain into place once more.

“Someone just came here looking for a briefcase that Dan supposedly had.” She explained, her bright blue eyes were wide with excitement.

“Okay— and do you have any idea where this thing is?” Jake rubbed his chin as he did when he was thinking.

“Come in here.” Nadia headed into the bedroom.

Jake’s eyes were drawn immediately to the bed when he walked into the room. The case was opened, revealing stacks of cash neatly wrapped in paper bands. Some of them had been tossed out onto the bed by Nadia. Jake slowly picked up a stack and flipped through it. It was real or a very good fake, he thought.

“There must a million dollars here, Nadia.” Jake thumbed through the stack again, his eyes raking over the cases contents. “Where did it come from?”

“Dan had this hidden under our bed when he died. I found it when I cleaned up to move here,” she explained, dragging her red painted nails over the cash. “I didn’t realize it was money until tonight. I had tossed this along with the rest of his belongings into the closet and I had no intention of opening it.”

“My God,” Jake picked up another stack. “You said someone was looking for it?”

“Yes, and he said he would be back tomorrow night about this time to collect it. Jake, this is probably what they killed Dan for. I can’t just hand it over. I refuse.” Nadia looked at Jake, her expression very serious.

Jake tossed the bills back in the case and went to look out the window out onto the bright twinkling city lights below. “I have so many questions. Starting with why they waited a year to come collect. They should have shown up before now. Second, how do you propose we hide this amount of money from them? They clearly know you have it.”

“I won’t f*****g do it.” Nadia began throwing the money back into the case and slammed it shut. “Dan gave his life for this and--”

Jake turned and pointed at the case, “This—this is probably not what they killed him for. Gangsters would have gotten their money before they killed him or right afterwards. They wouldn’t have waited a year. You’ve lived in that townhouse since he died. Believe me, for this amount of money they’d have torn the house apart with you in it to get it. At the very least, they would have approached you about it far before this. There is something else going on here.”

“What is it?” Nadia turned to him before jerking the case from the bed and sliding it back into the closet.

“Hell if I know. I am as confused as you are.” Jake rubbed his face. He was much too sober for this.

“You said you knew Dan before he died. Don’t you know anything?” Nadia was yelling now. Her frustration was bubbling over like the beginning of a volcano eruption.

“I did. You want the truth? He thought he was slick. He wasn’t. He made mistakes that could have easily been avoided.”

“Yes, yes, I know all that. But we can do this, right? You’re smarter than Dan, aren’t you? You made a deal with the devil and you’re still alive.” Nadia jabbed her finger at Jake. “I’m not giving them this money. They will have to kill me first.”

“I’m alive for now, yes. I understand your feelings, Nadia, but I hardly think this piddling amount is worth it. You know?” Jake rolled his eyes.

“A million dollars is piddling to you?”

“I own a damned casino, that goes through here in a good weekend. Come on. But if you are so dead set, then fine. Don’t give it back. We can call a friend of mine, and maybe just maybe we can get enough counterfeit bills to fill the case up. Then we can hope and pray that they think Dan was hoarding fake bills and they’ll go away. If they don’t they’ll probably shoot up my casino but, at least we will have tried.” Jake muttered, the last part he mumbled mostly to himself as he pulled out his cell phone and made the call. Before there was an answer he started out the door, “I’ll be back.”

Alan had gone up to his suite an hour before to rest when the casino slowed for the night. He had not fallen asleep yet, rather he was watching a crime show on television. He flinched when Jake knocked, but opened the door.

“Jake? Is everything okay?” Alan asked, pulling the door wider so his boss could come in.

“Did anyone suspicious come in tonight?” Jake stepped in and made his way into the main part of the room where the bed was.

“Quite a few. I mean-- what is this about?” Alan said with a shrug. “I didn’t see anyone that appeared to want to start trouble.”

“A man went up to Nadia’s penthouse a little while ago looking for something her husband had.” Jake explained. “Do you think you could pull up the video for me? I hate to ask since you’re already off shift-”

“Yes, no problem.” Alan grabbed his shoes. He was wearing only his tee shirt and shorts because he had planned to hit up the gym when if couldn’t sleep.

“I feel so bad that you’re caught up in this mess. This is far and beyond what I hired you for, and I will make sure I take you care of on your next check.” Jake followed the shorter man out into the elevator.

“If it weren’t for you I would still be on the street.” Alan grinned. “I owe you everything. You’re the only person who was ever willing to take a chance on me.” Alan had a criminal record stemming from an incident he’d gotten caught up in a few years before. Once out of prison, no one would hire him to do more than sweep up and he’d been unable to afford a real place to live. Jake had hired him to clean up the pool and then offered him a full time security position and a suite. Alan had been at the Rock Star for nearly ten years now.

“Eh, I did what any decent human should have done.” He chuckled. “You’ve been invaluable to me, Alan.”

In the security room, Alan took a seat and started looking for the file from the hallway they lived on. Easily enough he found the footage, fast forwarding until he found the man walking from the room and to the elevator.

“There he is.” Alan zoomed in then glanced up at Jake standing behind him. “He was down at the bar earlier, I think. I noticed his watch; it looked like it was all diamonds. Mafia type, you know? I always watch’em. But I thought he left a little before I headed up for the night.”

Jake committed the man’s face to memory. “Yeah, he is one to watch. He is supposed to be back tomorrow night around midnight to collect the briefcase he was looking for. I may need your help if the hand off goes wrong. If you can stop him in the lobby and call me that would be great.”

“I will see what I can do. As requested I have three more guards coming on board tomorrow and I will make sure they get a look at this dude.” Alan clicked an icon on the screen and printed the picture out for himself and the others.

“I better get back to Nadia,” Jake said, stretching tiredly. “Get some rest, tomorrow promises to be eventful.”