by Nick James
He quickly sat down on the floor with his back against the far wall. He began to rub his eyes aggressively until there was a soft knock on the office door. A moment later the door opened no more than an inch and a voice gently called, “Mr. Hinz? Bennett, are you okay?”
Bobby didn’t answer.
“Bennett, just want to check and see if you’re all right. Can you let me know? Are you okay?”
Bobby kept aggressively rubbing his eyes, they were burning now, hurting like hell.
“Bennett, I’m going to open the door, just want to make sure you’re safe.” The voice said and then the door slowly began to open. “Bennett, Bennett, just want to make sure you’re all right.
Bobby wrapped his arms around his legs and placed his head against his knees and continued to apply pressure to his eyes.
Chapter Five
The door slowly swung open and a soft voice said, “Bennett, Bennett are you alright?”
Bobby squeezed his eyes closed as tightly as possible, then pressed his head against his knees as hard as he could.
“Bennett, Bennett, it’s all right. Everything is going to be fine.”
Bobby looked up and stared at a guy he’d never seen before. He wore a navy-blue sport coat, open collar white shirt, grey slacks and rimless eyeglasses. “Bennett, it’s okay, it’s okay.”
“I, I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn’t listen,” Bobby said then pretended to sob a little bit. “He wouldn’t listen to me, he just said it was too late and then he jumped.” He turned his head toward the window and stared then counted to himself quietly, thinking ‘Come on, move you idiot.’
“Are you Bennett Hinz?” the man asked, apparently not catching on yet.
Bobby wanted to scream, but this wasn’t the time to go off-script. In a soft voice said, “I tried to stop him, but he jumped. Told me it was too late and then he just jumped out the window.”
Three cops in uniforms rushed past the guy in the sport coat. They had guns drawn, hurried past him, more or less pushing him out of the way and headed for the shattered window. Small pieces of glass were still scattered across the carpet and crunched as they drew closer to the window.
“What the fuck?” one of them said half-under his breath.
“You gotta be kidding me,” another said leaning halfway out the open window. His hair suddenly started to blow in the breeze. From outside you could still hear the car horn blaring non-stop.
“How the hell did he manage that?”
“He shot the window. Shot the, the window a number of times and shattered the glass. I tried to stop him, told him not to, but he pushed me away, pointed the gun at me, told me to step back, and then he just jumped.”
“Jesus Christ,” the cop with the windblown hair said.
The guy in the blue sport coat had recovered enough to kneel down next to Bobby. “You did the best you could. What’s your name?”
“I’m Bobby. God, I tried my best to stop him. Why didn’t he listen to me?”
“My name is Dan, Bobby. Come on, let’s get you out of here. Let me help you up.”
“We got some questions for him,” one of the cops at the window shouted.
“They’ll have to wait,” Dan said then helped Bobby to his feet and led him out of Bennett’s office.
There were a number of people in the outer office. None of whom Bobby recognized. A couple of paramedics stood off to the side with a gurney and a medical kit sitting on top of it. Maybe a half-dozen uniformed officers were standing around talking in hushed tones. All conversation stopped as Dan led Bobby past. He had his right arm wrapped around Bobby’s shoulder and was sort of holding Bobby by the wrist with his left hand, steering them toward the break room.
Two cops were in the break room standing in front of the open refrigerator. “Fellas, if you could give us some space, please. Maybe keep everyone out of here for the time being,” Dan said. Then he turned toward Bobby and said, “How about a coffee?”
Bobby just nodded, and didn’t say anything. He waited quietly, planning his next move while Dan poured coffee into a white mug with the Capitol City Club logo on the side. Ironic, Bennett’s private club, Bennett’s coffee mug. On a normal day, Bennett would be wrapped in a towel and sitting in the sauna right about now.
“Cream or sugar?” Dan asked.
“Hmmm? Oh, no, thanks, just black is fine.”
Dan handed the Capitol City mug to Bobby and filled a Disney World mug for himself. “Why don’t we grab a quiet seat in the corner,” Dan said, then gently directed Bobby back to a table in the far corner of the room. He pushed the refrigerator door closed on his way.
“How you doing?” Dan asked once they were seated.
“I just don’t know. I tried to stop him. Really, I did. But he pointed that gun at me and then he…” he let his voice trail off and seemed to just stare into space although he kept Dan in the periphery of his vision.
“Sometimes, Bobby, no matter how hard we try, no matter what we do, it just doesn’t work. It’s important that you know you didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, it sounds like you may have done everything right. You were there to help Bennett. To make sure he didn’t hurt himself or anyone else for that matter. He just was in a bad place and he couldn’t listen. I think he did know that you cared. He knew that you were there for him. He knew you wanted to help. In the end that must have been a comfort.”
“Do you think so?” Bobby asked thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, he had no more than five long seconds to think about me before he hit the deck. I doubt I was much of a comfort to the bastard.’
“I’m sure he was glad you were there. Do you know, had he been experiencing problems? Maybe a case he was working on?”
“I’m not aware of any problems. I guess he was arguing with the other partners Mr. Sawyer and Mr. Allen over the last couple of days, but I don’t know what that was about. You’d have to ask them.”
Dan nodded as he took a small note book from his shirt pocket and wrote just a word or two. “How are you feeling, Bobby? Think you might need something?”
“Need something?”
“Feeling a little anxious, maybe not sure, confused? I’ve got the paramedics just outside they could give you something that would help.”
“No, no, thank you. I’ll be all right, I guess.”
Dan nodded, “I think it might be best if you maybe packed up and went home. The police have a job to do, they’re going to be working, documenting. They’re required by law to do it. I’m guessing the office will be closed tomorrow as well. You could go home and get some rest. It’s not uncommon in these situations to become stressed sometime after the fact. And if you’d like I can…”
“I’ll be fine, thanks all the same.”
Chapter Six
He found out later that afternoon that Bennett had screamed all the way down. He’d landed on the hood of a parked car, pretty much head first, which was what had caused the car horn to blare for the better part of forty minutes. It just kept going on and on, and after a while, you were able to sort of tune it out.
Bennett’s knees had taken out the windshield and a good portion of the dashboard, at least according to the woman in the elevator. Bobby had ridden down with six other people in the elevator. The staff had been allowed to return to the office in small groups, but only to retrieve personal items, purses, car keys, coats, that sort of thing. Then they were escorted back onto the elevator and out of the building.
When Bobby left, Sawyer and Allen were still in their respective offices talking with detectives. Two people, cops Bobby figured, were in Bennett’s office taking photographs and videos. Dan had been right. The office was going to be closed tomorrow which nobody seemed too upset about.
Bobby stood quietly in a corner of the elevator with his head bowed, hoping he looked upset. One of the paralegals rambled on as the elevator descended for sixteen floors, barely stopping to take a breath. Bobby didn’t know her name but he’d nodded hello to her a few times
in the hall.
“God, the guy’s head was like totally gone. We could hear him screaming all the way down. Looked like he was sort of running in place or trying to grab onto something, course there was nothing to grab on to, and then all of a sudden…”
“Janice, come on, maybe you could wait a couple of minutes, you know…” A woman in front of her said, then sort of indicated Bobby with a slight movement of her head.
“Well, what do you want me to say? I mean the man landed on that car, and like his head just sort of disappeared. Reminded me of a water balloon or something exploding. I posted a video on Snapchat. Someone said he still had the gun in his hand. Can you imagine? God, we’re lucky he didn’t shoot us on the way down with all of us standing out there. Crazy loon probably thought he could fly or…”
“Janice,” another woman in front of her turned around. “Pay attention, for God’s sake, this has been tough on all of us and well, especially….” raised her eyebrows and indicated Bobby.
“Oh, whatever,” Janice said just as a bell sounded and the elevator doors opened up. Everyone hurried off the elevator, anxious to get away from Bobby as fast as possible, which served his purposes perfectly. He gave a deep sigh as he exited the elevator, worked to sort of droop his shoulders and hoped he looked downcast as he passed the security desk.
He took his time heading toward the front door of the building, letting the group of women get a good distance ahead of him. Their kids were probably still in daycare for another two hours and they were all headed for the nearest bistro and a glass of wine. He got nods from two of the three guards at the security desk, aware the two who nodded quickly turned to whisper an update to their uninformed colleague. Two police officers were leaning against the security desk with their backs to Bobby, one moved his fingers indicating someone running as he lowered his arm then clapped his hands to indicate a landing.
Once out of the building, he glanced off to the corner where sixteen stories above a maintenance crew was temporarily sealing the window from inside Bennett’s office. Down here at street level the car horn had finally been silenced. A small, white tent had been erected over the car where Bennett had landed and Bobby suspected that Bennett’s body, or what was left of it, was still imbedded in the vehicle, but he didn’t feel the need to check. A uniformed cop was directing pedestrian traffic to keep moving although a small crowd continued to linger and stare. Three individuals in white hazmat suits could be seen inside the tented area. An ambulance had parked in the courtyard in front of the building and the driver was leaning against the rear door, talking to a woman.
Miguel was on the sidewalk leaning against the side of the car watching all the activity. He gave a friendly wave as Bobby slowly approached and opened the rear passenger door for him. Bobby nodded, said a quick, “Thanks”, and climbed in the back seat. Once in the back seat he buried his head in his hands and pretended to cry.
Miguel climbed in behind the wheel, buckling up and not commenting on the half-dozen squad cars, the tent erected over Bennett’s body or the small crowd partially blocking the sidewalk. He stared at Bobby in the rearview mirror for a moment then asked, “Are you gonna be okay? You wanna go home or maybe somewhere’s else?”
Bobby kept his head in his hands and said, “Just get me the hell out of here, I want these fools to think I’m all broken up.”
“Looks like a busy day. Some guy jumped?”
“Something like that,” Bobby said then straightened up once Miguel turned around the corner. “Let’s just say step one complete.”
You want to go home.”
“Yeah, but first I think a short detour might be in order, Miguel. A little something I’m going to enjoy.”
“Oh,” Miguel stared back in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, Emily’s. I should only be there for a minute or two. So I’d like you to wait for me.”
Miguel nodded, then accelerated up a small hill and stopped at the traffic light. Two blocks away and no one had the slightest idea that Bennet Hinz’s lifetime journey had come to an end.
“You want to stop and get a bottle of wine or flowers or something,” Miguel asked. He waited for a car to pass then made a right hand turn onto Grand Avenue.”
“No, just have to deliver a message, shouldn’t take more than a minute or two and then home.”
No further words were spoken until they pulled to the curb in front of Emily’s. Miguel turned round in the front seat and looked about to say something.
“I’ll only be a minute,” Bobby said then slid out of the back seat before Miguel could respond. He hurried up the front steps and rang the doorbell two or three times. Then looked back at Miguel waiting at the curb. He heard a noise from somewhere in the house and rang to doorbell again.
Chapter Seven
She answered the door a minute later. “Oh, ahhh, Bobby, God I wish you would have called. I’m just about to head out. So unexpected. Do you want to come in for just a minute?” she asked looking over his shoulder at Miguel waiting in the car.
“Actually, no, I can’t. I’m on my way to a meeting. I wanted you to hear this from me, personally. You know…”
“Hear what?” she said, suddenly sounding guarded. A cold look quickly washed across her face. The sparkle in her eyes disappeared, replaced with a hardened glare. She seemed to set her chin, daring him to proceed with whatever the accusation was going to be as she took a half step back and crossed her arms.
“Bennett Hinz.”
“What about him?” she replied in an icy tone.
“He’s dead,” Bobby delivered the words slowly, then smiled inwardly as she proceeded to fall apart.
“What? Oh, my God. What? How? Where? Oh, my God, can you come in for a minute, please. I’m sorry, this is just really catching me off guard. My God, what in the hell happened? Heart attack?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Apparently, he was arguing with his partners, Sawyer and Allen all day yesterday, to the point where they were literally shouting at one another. Storming into each other’s office and shouting some more. That continued on today.”
“Argued? What about?” she asked, but saying it in a way that suggested she may have had more knowledge than she was letting on.
“No one seems to know. I came in the office this morning and everyone had their nose to the grindstone, keeping a low profile while at the same time they were whispering about the arguments the day before.”
“And you don’t have any idea what they were arguing about?”
“Well, money, but nothing beyond that. Bennett was yelling about there being no alternative. Sawyer saying it would sink them if they did it. Bennett saying they’d sink if they didn’t do it, whatever ‘it’ was.”
“So, what happened? Did Bennett have a heart attack or…”
“No, he took his life. Committed suicide.”
Emily visibly recoiled with her hand over her mouth. She stepped away from Bobby as if distancing herself would somehow make her immune from the news. She continued to back up until she was against the far wall. “Oh, my God.”
“Yeah, you know what he did, he…”
“No, I don’t want to know…”
“He had this gun see, big shiny chrome thing.”
“No, no,” she said then slowly began to slide down the wall as Bobby continued.
“Oh, yeah, really big. He fired it to scare Sawyer and Allen out of his office. You should have seen it, the two of them took off like a couple of bats out of hell. Screaming at everyone to run for their lives as they went. God, the entire office emptied out in a couple of minutes. I went into Bennett’s office to see if I could help. Ask him what the problem was.”
“Don’t tell me what he…”
“That’s just it, Emily. He didn’t really tell me anything. Well, other than to say he was screwed either way and he was going to sign and pay…”
“He did? He actually said that? Said he’d sign and pay?” There was a sudden spark in her eyes, and
she sat up on the floor, looking like there might be a chance, something positive.
“Yeah, then he shot at his reflection in the window a couple of times and the next thing you know the crazy bastard jumped out of the window.”
“What? No, no, no, he didn’t…”
“Oh, yeah, he did. I was right there to see it.”
“No, no….” She curled onto the floor, lay almost in a fetal position shaking her head.
“Oh, yeah, I mean he just dove right through the shattered window and landed sixteen stories below. Landed head first on a car, actually. They had a tent sort of thing still over him when I left about twenty minutes ago, but yeah. I’m pretty sure he was still there.”
Emily remained curled on the floor, silently sobbing.
“Hey, Emily you okay?”
“It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”
“Your fault, how could it be? You weren’t even there.”
“No, what they were fighting about, my family’s lawsuit?”
“Yeah, your sister’s death? No offense, but what does that have to do with Bennett Hinz becoming a nut case, waving a gun around and shooting it before jumping out of a sixteen-story window?” He emphasized the word sixteen for added effect.
“I, I gave him a deadline, to settle our case.”
“All cases have deadlines, that’s part of the business.”
“No, but I put on some added pressure. You don’t understand,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “God, I’m such a bitch.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I put some added pressure on him, wanted him to settle, quickly, but I never thought it would end up like this. I never hated him….”
“Okay, I’m going to let you think this through. When you get to a logical point give me a call. And for the record, you’re not a bitch.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you gonna be okay? Look, I gotta get to this meeting.”
