Poisoned Fortune

Death is Knocking

The previous night, by 7p.m., two police officers had arrived to keep an eye on Eric. The next morning, Danny returned his car.

“What took so long?” he asked when Danny handed him the keys. He inspected the car.

“I had to have it sprayed, dude,” he said. “I think something scratched it.”

Eric frowned. “I parked it there without a scratch. What did the scratch look like?”

“Like a rat’s paw was dragged across the side? I don’t know but it wasn’t looking nice.”

He nodded and patted Danny on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. What about the other car?”

“Oh,” Danny said and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Eric. “I towed it to the garage and it’ll take a few days to get it in good shape. Whoever drove that must have been high.”

Eric smiled as he remembered the young lady with eyes that sparkled like fire. She’d slammed him into the hood of the car and demanded for her car to be fixed. “She was definitely on something. What is this?” he opened the envelope.

“I retrieved those from the car and thought I should hand it to you.”

Eric looked through the envelope’s content. There were just a few notes, an ID and a small booklet. The ID belonged to Diane and her number was on the card in there too. ‘Great. I can reach her if I need to.’

The note wasn’t of much interest. It was blank all through except for the first two pages although the book seemed to be used a lot. There were oil stains and sweat prints on most of the pages even up to the middle. Odd.

The first page had a bunch of numbers on it. Then, her name was scribbled at the bottom. The second page had an incomplete sketch of a man’s face.

“Thanks for these.”

Danny nodded, wiped his nose and asked, “what did the police find?”

“The bullet and a dead end,” Eric sighed. “Whoever shot at me is still out there.”

“Do you think you should move out of Manhattan? We could get you to D.C?”

He thought about it, and nodded. “I think so too. But if someone is after me, then I’m sure they’ll be monitoring me so nowhere is really safe.”

Danny nodded. “Should I cancel your appointments for today? You have a meeting by lunch time today and another one by 3.”

Eric thought about it and then shook his head. He couldn’t let this deter him from his business or make him run into hiding. He was terrified but he was also an extreme sportsman. He had to take on his business…cautiously.

….

At home, Diane Briggs was frantically searching her room for something. she flung the bedsheets, threw down everything on the table, upturned her boxes but she still couldn’t find what she was looking for.

Her friend, Amy, came in to find her throwing things around like that. She gasped. “What are you doing?”

Diane grunted. “I’m looking for my notebook. It’s small and has brown covers and is mostly blank.”

“That…er, book you always go out with? The ghost book?”

She nodded. “I’m sure I brought it back home last night. It was—”

She paused and Amy peered into her face. “What is it?”

Diane cursed and sat on the bed in resignation. “I left it in the car yesterday!”

Diane’s mind was running wild. That book was of extreme importance to her. she couldn’t let just anyone have it because if they knew the content…

“The car was towed, right?”

Diane nodded. “I forgot to take my things out after the Eric Casper incidence.”

Amy came over and wrapped an arm around her. “Relax. You’ll get it back. I’m sure they won’t tamper with anything that’s yours.”

Diane felt relaxed a little bit. Amy was her closest friend and confidante. She was like family to her. since her father died two years ago, she and Amy had had each other for comfort and support. She was an orphan by choice because her parents had tried to traffic her to raise money to pay off the loan sharks they’d owed at the time.

During her grieving period, it was Amy who’d been her rock. It took months before Diane had come to terms with her father’s brutal death. It was murder even though the police ruled it as a heart attack.

Diane exhaled. “I guess I still have a lot to work out. I should take my mind off the note book.”

“Aren’t you worried that someone is out to kill Eric Casper from what you said?” Amy asked. “This might not go well with your plans.”

She shrugged. “Nothing has ever gone well with my plans. Eric is just one key to me…I hope.”

Amy nodded and stood up. “It’s almost 8. I have to get to work so I’ll see you later.”

Diane nodded and bid her friend well. She had a job to get to. She worked for an online delivery service and usually used her car to make those deliveries. Now that her car wasn’t available, she’d have to use one of the bikes to make the deliveries.

She took a shower, dressed and went to her drawer to take her wrist watch. When she pulled it open, the top of the drawer that hid the compart she didn’t want even Amy to find, slid open and a pistol fell to the cupboard.

She eyed the gun for a moment before shoving back in and sliding the top compartment shut. She locked the drawer and left the house. She had three appointments today. First, she’d meet with Carlos Yen, the son of her father’s friend, who’d served in the marines together with her father.

The next appointment was with Eric Casper. She was going to drop by for a visit. If not for anything but to get her note book back.

….

By 9a.m., she was at Carlos’ place in downtown Manhattan. Carlos was a radiant young man in his late twenties. He had a clean-shaven face and arcing eyebrows that gave him a unique look. He was lean but by no means weak. The few times Diane had sparred with him, she’d struggled to gain the upper hand. Carlos always joked that what he lacked in skills, he made up for in his masculine strength.

At the ring of the doorbell, Carlos opened the door and Diane stepped in. “I thought you wouldn’t come by.”

She smiled. “I told you I would. There’s something I needed.”

“I got it for you but I have to ask, what are you up to, Diane?” Carlos asked, leading her to his kitchen.

She sighed. “Ever since my father died, I’ve been obsessed with finding the truth behind his murder. I feel that I’m close. I just need a few more bits of evidence to tie everything together.”

Carlos exhaled and stood by his pot of sizzling stew. “Look, I get that you want closure, but don’t go down this rabid hole and lose yourself. Don’t take matters into your hand if you find…who killed him.”

She nodded. “Do I look like such a person, Carlos?”

Carlos chuckled and pulled open a cabinet, pulled out a few boxes of cereals and then retrieved a gun from the depths of the cabinet. He c****d it. “You don’t look like it, but when my good-natured friend asks me to pull strings to get her weapons, I know what’s coming next.”

Diane took the gun and admired the lustre. “This will do. It’s just for protection. Will you help me out?”

Carlos stirred his stew and served it on the rice he’d served on the counter. “What do you want me to do?”

“It’s a bit delicate, but I want to get close to one of the Caspers.”

Carlos raised and eyebrow. “Anyone in particular? The issue of the successor is still causing a strife with them. What do you think?”

Diane drummed her finger against the hard wood of the kitchen counter, thoughtful. “I ran into Eric Casper yesterday through a series of surprising events. I think I can find some things from him. but, the person of interest who will help us get to the truth is the eldest son, Chris Casper.”

“Chris? What has he got to do with this?” Carlos asked.

Diane herself had no idea what he had to do with any of this. Sometimes, she felt like she was mad, just completely out of her mind. But, she was committed to this. She had to dig out the dirty truth the Caspers were hiding.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t get involved in the mess that was going on.

“I will but you’ll do one thing for me,” Carlos said.

She frowned. “What is it?”

“There’s a new restaurant opening in town in a couple of days. I want you to go out on a date with me.”

Diane exhaled. This wasn’t the first time Carlos was asking her out and it always made things awkward between them. “Carlos, I’ve told you how I feel about this and—”

“—just one date, Diane.” He said. “I think I deserve that much.”

After a while of inner debate, she finally nodded. “Just one date.”