Must Come Down

by Brett Baker

  When the elevator doors opened, she stepped out, and expected someone to shoot at her. Everything seemed quiet though, so she tiptoed down the hallway and stopped in front of 1408. She put her ear to the door and heard nothing.

  She reached in her pocket and grabbed the keycard that she’d taken with her when she left earlier. She inserted the card, waited for the familiar green light, and then opened the door.

  “Fabrice?” she said. No answer. She took a deep breath, then one step into the room, and saw Fabrice. He hugged the center leg of the table just as Mia left him, his hands tied, unable to move. He looked just like she left him, with the lone exception of the enormous bullet wound in the back of his head, and the river of blood that stained his clothes.

  48

  Chapter 48

  Since Driscoll made good on his promise to kill Fabrice, and tried to kill Buster, Mia knew that he had no intention of abandoning his plan, regardless of the havoc it would create. Although she had Randy on standby in New York and she thought him capable of handling Driscoll, she wanted to do it herself. When pursuing someone she always provided them with some space to reverse course until they showed that they had no intention of doing so, and even then she often gave them the benefit of the doubt. Although she’d made up her mind about Driscoll, she wanted to talk to him before acting, just in case he had a last minute change of heart.

  The plane landed at JFK just after seven o’clock, and although she didn’t expect him to be there, Mia wanted to go to Driscoll’s office just in case he’d decided to work late. She suspected that he would have expected to hear from his hit man by that point, so she figured he’d be on edge due to the man’s silence.

  She tried to enter through the open door in the back of the building as she had done days before, but it was closed. Instead she walked to the front of the building and walked through the main entrance. A security guard stopped her, asked if he could help, and she stopped, smiled, and looked around.

  “I’m here to surprise Neil Driscoll,” she said. “He’s not expecting me, but he’ll be happy to see me.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, I have to call about any visitors after hours. Just give me a minute and I’ll phone him.”

  “No, no. You don’t understand. The whole reason I’m here is to surprise him.” Mia looked at the man and winked. “You know…surprise him. It’s after hours, he’s up there alone, we haven’t seen each other for days. Trust me, he’ll be happy to see me.”

  “I believe you, ma’am, but we have a protocol here, and if I don’t follow it I’ll be in trouble.”

  “I certainly don’t want to cause any trouble for you. But I hope you understand. He’s had a tough week, and I think this would be good for him. It’ll make his day. And come on, look at me. Do I look like I’m here to cause havoc, or steal some computers or something? You can search me when I leave, how about that? Make sure I’m not taking anything. And I’ll have Neil call down when I get up there. He’s not going to cause problems at all. Believe me, I’ve got him wrapped around my finger.”

  “This is a bad idea,” the man said, sounding like every person who ever did something that they knew they shouldn’t do.

  “It’s a good idea. I promise you won’t get in trouble. In fact, I suspect Neil will have very good things to say about you because this is really going to make his day. Or night.” Mia winked again, and when the man said nothing, she asked, “So I’ll go up and I’ll check with you on my way back down, okay?”

  “I didn’t see you. I guess you got upstairs when I ran to the restroom. I don’t know how you got through the gate. So if I get in trouble you better have an answer for that.”

  “Deal,” Mia said, extending her hand. “Thank you. I appreciate it. And Neil will really appreciate it.” Mia winked at him again as she passed, and sashayed as she walked away.

  When the elevator opened on the forty-sixth floor, the lights surprised Mia. Although some sunlight filtered in from the windows, she didn’t expect to see the whole floor lit up after the darkness she encountered a few nights before. With the closed door at the back of the building, the lights not off on Driscoll’s floor, Mia wished that she had arrived later. The business day had ended, but like many other buildings around the city, work continued long after five o’clock.

  Mia made a quick trip around the floor with light footfalls in order to avoid attention from anyone present, but after peering into offices, and checking bathrooms and storage rooms, she seemed to have the place to herself.

  She walked back in the other direction, to the end of the floor, near the large reception desk and Driscoll’s office. The door to his office was closed, but since the rest of the lights on the floor were on, she guessed that he might be inside. She assumed that he shutoff the lights on his way out. She stood outside his door for a minute, trying to decide whether to knock or walk in.

  Instead she decided to call him. She walked around the back of the reception desk. Taped to the phone a small piece of paper had a list of names, with a number next to them. At the top of the list, “Neil – 45”. A button on the phone’s display screen read “Office” with “42” next to it. Mia picked up the receiver, pressed the button next to “Office” and dialed 45. After ringing twice, a man’s voice said, “Hello?”

  “Mr. Driscoll, this is Mia. I’m just outside of your office. Do you have a minute?”

  “Who is this?”

  “I just need a minute, Mr. Driscoll.”

  The phone hung up without another word. Mia hung up her receiver, stood, and walked toward Driscoll’s office. He opened the door, and said, “How did you get in here?”

  “No one at the desk. I just hopped the gate. They need to work on security in this place.”

  “I’m going to call security right now,” Driscoll said, turning around and walking back into his office. Mia followed him and closed the door behind her.

  “That’s not necessary, Neil. Security has no place in this.”

  “They’re going to come up and take you away. This isn’t a public building. You can’t just come barging in here.”

  “Neil, if you just give me a minute,” Mia said.

  Driscoll interrupted her when the person on the other end at the security desk answered the phone. “I need someone up here to remove this woman, right away please.”

  “Are you going to remove me the way you removed Fabrice and Buster?” Mia asked.

  Driscoll had been looking at her, but a look of panic fell over him, and he said into the phone, “Never mind. I don’t need anyone up here. It’s just a misunderstanding. Forget that I called. Everything’s fine.” He hung up the phone, sat in the chair behind his desk, and looked at Mia with a scowl. “Who are you?”

  “I already introduced myself. Weren’t you listening?”

  “Yes, Mia, I was listening. But the name Mia means nothing to me, and I suspect you already know that. So let’s stop playing games. Who are you?”

  “My name is Mia Mathis. I’m here to talk to you about Fabrice, Buster, and gold.”

  At the mention of gold, panic returned to Driscoll’s face. He tried to play cool, but Mia could tell he was flustered. She sat down in the chair in front of his desk, and waited for him to respond.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know how all of those things are connected,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me what you know and I can fill in the gaps?”

  “Before we go any further, Driscoll, there’s something you need to know. I’m not an idiot. I’m not one of your foot soldiers from the mob who do your dirty work. I’ve crushed people far more witty, intimidating, and lethal than you. So unless you want to be sure that you won’t like how this turns out, I suggest you stop assuming that you’re going to come out of this better than me. You’re not.”

  Driscoll stood up, walked around the desk, leaned over, and spoke inches from Mia’s face. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, or what you think you’re doing, but you can’t come in here and talk to me like that. T
his is my company, this is my office, and you’re trespassing.”

  “Are you insinuating that I should be worried? And if so, are you insinuating that I should be worried because you’re going to have me arrested for trespassing, rather than because you have a history of having people murdered?”

  “Mia, you’re a lunatic. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you certain you don’t have me confused with someone else?”

  “Quite certain. I’ve been here before, you know.”

  “You’ve been where before?” Driscoll asked.

  “Right here. In your office. I was here the other day. In the middle of the night. I came in through a back door in the alley, and came right up. No security at all. I just took the elevator up, let myself into your office, and placed a bug in here. So any communication that you’ve had over the past few days has been recorded. And I’ve listened to much of it. That’s how I knew about Fabrice and Buster. That’s how I knew that I should arrange for my colleague in Beijing to fly to Quanzhou and protect them. And although I haven’t listened to all of the recordings, I’m sure that’s how I’ll discover that you’ve been losing your mind at not hearing whether Buster and Fabrice have been eliminated. I’m sure it’s driving you crazy. They should be dead by now, shouldn’t they? Why hasn’t your guy called to confirm it? Getting nervous, Driscoll?”

  “You’re bluffing,” Driscoll said.

  “I’m bluffing?” Mia asked. “That’s the route you’re going to go? That I don’t have this evidence? That I haven’t heard your conversations? I’ve got recordings. Everything’s recorded.”

  “If everything’s recorded then why do you need me?” Driscoll asked. “Shouldn’t you be able to put it all together by yourself? I’d say so. And the fact that you’re asking me to help you tells me that you’re bluffing. You’re hoping I’ll confirm things that you suspect, but don’t know. And if that’s your thought then you can forget about it. I don’t have to tell you anything. You haven’t even identified yourself yet.”

  “Are you listening to me, Driscoll? Three damn times I’ve told you that my name is Mia. I don’t know what else you want to know. Actually, I do. I’m sure you want to know what I know. Well, let me be honest, I think I know just about everything. I don’t need your help. I wanted to offer you the chance to come clean, but if you’re not going to take it, then there’s nothing I can do for you.”

  Driscoll walked away from Mia, passed behind her, walked to the other side of his desk, paced back and forth a few times, stopped, and crossed his arms. “You haven’t told me why you’re here. What do you want? Why do you want to know what happened? What’s your intention?”

  “You need to know that this plan you’ve devised, with the gold and the currency and buying and selling and whatever else, it can’t happen.”

  “Of course it can’t happen,” Driscoll said. “My team is falling apart. They’re all getting cold feet or trying to sell me out. But fuck them. I’ll get another team. I don’t need them.”

  “You don’t understand. It’s not that you can’t make it happen, it’s that I won’t let it happen. And that’s why I’m here.”

  “You’re here to make sure I don’t make it happen?” Driscoll asked.

  “You’re creating a problem. I’m here to solve a problem. It’s up to you how that problem is solved, but it doesn’t seem promising at the moment.”

  “Promising for you?”

  “No, promising for you. Nothing but bad news for you so far.”

  “Look, I don’t know why you think this is your business, or why I should listen to you, but why don’t you save us both some time, and fuck off? I’ve got business to take care of, so unless you want identify yourself and tell me why I should care about anything you have to say, then you can get the fuck out.”

  “Fair enough,” Mia said. “I’ll be back with the FBI and Secret Service within the hour.” Mia walked to the door, and just as she opened the door Driscoll interrupted her.

  “You think I’m scared of the FBI? Think again. The Secret Service? I’ve got five of those guys on payroll. They can’t wait to jump in to help me on this. Everyone’s making money, Mia. So if you want to crumble this thing, I’m not the only one you’re going to piss off.”

  “You have Secret Service on your payroll?” Mia asked.

  “Ah, now I’ve got your attention? All of a sudden you’re not the one in charge, eh? I’ve got some info that you want. Well too bad.”

  Mia closed the door, and locked it. She stepped toward Driscoll and spoke in a calm, even voice.

  “You’re not leaving here until you tell me everything you know about this plan. And I mean everything. Who’s involved, how it happened, who I’m missing. Everything.”

  “Get the fuck out of here!” Driscoll screamed. Mia walked back to the chair in front of Driscoll’s desk and sat down. “Fine. Have it your way. I’ll have you removed.” Driscoll picked up the phone from the desk and began dialing, but Mia grabbed the cord, pulled it from his hands, and then picked up the phone, yanked the cords free, and threw it across the room. “Jesus Christ, now who’s the lunatic?”

  “Still you, Driscoll. You’re still the lunatic. The only difference is that now you’re the lunatic that’s going to tell me what I want to know.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “We’ll never know, will we, because you’re going to start talking right now.”

  Driscoll came back around the desk, and tried to grab Mia by the arms. She picked both feet off the ground and kicked Driscoll in the chest, sending him flying backward. He fell the floor, and he looked at Mia with the familiar look of a man who just got handled by a woman. He yelled, stood up, and charged at her. Mia stepped out of the way, and threw Driscoll into the chair as he passed. He flipped over the chair and landed flat on his back on the floor. Mia stomped on his chest, which knocked the wind out of him, and then kicked him once in the side.

  “Get to your feet, sit over there, and start talking.”

  Driscoll stood up, and as he passed, Mia delivered a punch to his abdomen, just to remind him what had just happened. He sat in the chair behind his desk, and Mia said, “This is what I know.” She went on to recount everything that Fabrice had told her. From the accumulation of gold, to the plans in China, to his betrayal of Buster.

  “That’s it. That’s the whole thing.”

  “It’s not the whole thing,” Mia said. “All of that gold beneath Elizabeth Street, is that all there is?”

  Driscoll’s face turned pale, and he looked more worried than Mia had seen him. He didn’t expect her to mention the gold in the Under.

  “The truth comes out,” Driscoll said. “That’s why you’re here. You’re going to try to steal my gold. You’re not law enforcement. You’re just a thief.”

  “I’m not stealing anything,” Mia said.

  “I’ve heard that before. Watch yourself, Mia. The last group of guys who tried to get my gold are wandering the Pacific right now, looking for a shipment that doesn’t exist. A bunch of fucking fools.”

  “The Secret Service guys?” Mia asked, a shot in the dark.

  “Indeed,” Driscoll said. “They were on to us, too. We stored all of the gold we collected from the west coast in a warehouse near LAX. They came snooping around on some counterfeit currency investigation, and found all of the gold. The guy leading the operation ignored the gold because it wasn’t what he was looking for, but he knew what he had. He didn’t know particulars, but no one stores that much gold in a warehouse if they’re on the up and up. And like every other federal fucking agent, he’s corrupt, and tries to shake me down. Wants part of the action. At first I declined, but then he threatened to tighten the screws, so I told him I could bring him in, but I couldn’t tell the other partners. He didn’t believe me. He thought I’d try to screw him over.”

  “Seems like he had you pegged just right,” Mia said. “That’s a hobby of yours, is it not?”

  Driscoll glared at
Mia, but said nothing. “We agreed to a setup where he’d intercept the first shipment, and he’d be home free with millions of dollars. He assumed we were shipping it on the water because of the amount we had transfer, but we never considered the water. Too much piracy, too much risk. But I sent him out there anyway.” Driscoll laughed, a maniacal cackle that Mia thought sounded almost cartoonish. “So I’m sure he and his guys are out there searching for this ship, and not finding anything.”

  Mia thought about Graham, Fitz, and Randy, and the pirates who overtook their ship. Randy said that it seemed like Graham knew one of the pirates, but didn’t put the pieces together before he died.

  “What kind of ship did they have?” Mia asked.

  “How the fuck do I know? I didn’t plan the fucking thing. I gave them dates, routes, and some other information, and they ran with it. I hope they get eaten by sea monsters and I’ll never have to deal with them again.”

  “And if they come back?”

  “They won’t be back,” Driscoll said.

  “What if they get the shipment?” Mia asked.

  “And how would they do that?”

  “Maybe they’ll salvage it from the bottom of the sea.”

  “Good luck finding it there when it’s tucked away in a warehouse in China.”

  “Wishful thinking,” Mia said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that if you were a better manager, you’d know that fucking plane crashed and the gold’s at the bottom of the sea and not in China.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do know it. I was on the plane.”

  “What do you mean you were on the plane?” Driscoll asked, standing up. “It wasn’t a commercial flight, goddamnit.”

  “You don’t operate in a vacuum, Neil. There are other people in the world. People who are paying attention. You can’t accumulate billions of dollars in gold without setting off a few alarms. I rode with some of your gold on a truck to New York, and then I boarded a plane with it. We flew to Honolulu, refueled, and then about an hour later we crashed into the pacific.”