by Dan Lawton
“What’s the matter, is everything okay?”
“I’m fine, just a little uncomfortable.” Her clothes are loose and baggy, to cover her belly I guess.
I nod. “Sorry, I guess I’m not too sure how this all works.”
“How all what works?”
“You know, this baby stuff.”
She just looks at me and I can see in her eyes that this upsets her, but I don’t know why. I’m not sure what to say, so I say nothing. After a few moments, I come up with something to break the awkward silence.
“How did you get here? How do you know these guys?”
She opens her mouth to speak but is cutoff by the door thrusting open. Billy and Frank walk in, with Billy leading the way. Frank approaches Alicia from behind and grabs her arm, turning her toward him. He leads her out of the room. Billy stares at me silently for a few moments before speaking.
“Come with me.” Billy motions for me follow, so I do. He leads me down the hall to another room, this one much smaller than the one I was just in. It’s an old office maybe. Frank is sitting behind a table, playing with something in his lap. “Frank, let me have it.”
Frank hands it to Billy, who puts it on the table.
“What is that?” I ask.
“That is for step two,” Billy says.
“Okay, but what it is?”
“Take a look.”
I raise my hands, showing the knot keeping them together. Frank stands and comes around the table, then cuts me free, much like he did in the van. The blisters on my wrists are worsening and calluses are beginning to form. I reach for the table and grab the item. It’s a black hooded headpiece with two vents, one on each side, and a large square windshield of acrylic in the front. A few adjustable leather straps drape off the back. I think it’s a gas mask.
“What are you going to do, gas him out?” I ask.
“No, we’re not doing anything. You’re going to do it. And it’s not what you think it is.”
“It’s not a gas mask?”
“Well, kind of. It is technically a gas mask, but it only works for a certain type of gas.”
“And what would that be?”
“Carbon monoxide.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BILLY
It’s close to midnight and Alicia, Frank, and I are exhausted from long hours of discussion. An empty pizza box rests on the edge of the table, surely leaving a grease stain on the wood beneath. The remains of a now empty six pack are piled inside. Frank’s head hangs off the back of his chair and his mouth open, snoring. Alicia has her head in her hands as she tries to put all of the pieces together. I’m mentally exhausted and could really use some sleep. I’m sure Alicia feels the same way.
“What do you think? Do you think it’ll work?” I ask.
We’ve spent the entire night discussing our options and planning out the best path forward. But I don’t feel like she’s completely on board yet, especially with the last part. It’s a little scary that Frank knows the plan in its entirety, but who’s he going to tell? I just need to watch him carefully going forward.
“It’s a lot to take in. I’m exhausted,” Alicia admits.
“You can take my bed tonight if you want. I’ll sleep in the guest room.”
She smiles at me. “Thanks, that sounds nice. What about Frank?”
“He sleeps on the couch.” Alicia raises her eyebrows at me. “By choice.”
She nods. She seems to be putting off the question, so I press again.
“You never did answer the question. Are you in or out?”
Alicia stands and stretches before responding, “I can’t make a decision right now. Can we talk about it in the morning? I need to sleep on it.” She stands behind her chair, looking at me. I catch her hint and rise to my feet.
“Okay, well, I’ll show you where you can crash.” I make my way down the short hallway and lead Alicia into the bedroom. The bed is made and the floor is free of clutter, which seems to satisfy her. “Here you go. There is a bathroom down the hall and I’ll be in the next room over if you need anything.”
She looks at me and smiles. “Thanks, Billy. This is really sweet of you.”
“It’s no problem. Partners, right?”
She smiles again, but doesn’t acknowledge the question. “Goodnight, Billy.”
I nod to her and exit the room. She pushes the door closed, but it doesn’t fully engage. I hesitate, but decide to peek into the crack in the door. Alicia’s back is to me as she unzips her skirt from the rear, her backside protruding from underneath the lace as it loosens. She drops her skirt to the carpet and pulls her blouse over her head. My heart is racing from the thrill of the voyeur and I want to see more. I need to see more. She turns around and faces the door. In a panic, I scurry away and slide into the guest bedroom and quietly close the door. I can hear her close the door fully from across the hall.
I don’t think she saw me, but part of me wishes she did. There is nothing wrong with looking at a beautiful woman, and I’m not ashamed for her to know that I’m attracted to her. I remove my clothes and hop into the bed, which hasn’t been slept in for quite a while. The sheets are cool and crisp and fit snuggly on the pillow top mattress. I pleasure myself to the thought of Alicia being half-naked in my bed before falling asleep.
---
The familiar aroma of grounded dark roast coffee beans wakes me. I pull on some pants and follow my nose into the kitchen. Alicia is wearing one of my t-shirts and some workout pants, both of which she must have found in my closet. The coffee pot is nearly full and she’s washing something in the sink. Frank is surprisingly awake already, and he’s sipping from a steaming cup. He notices me immediately as I enter the room.
“Mornin’, Billy,” he says.
“Morning,” I respond.
Alicia stops the water and places something in the dish strainer that rests next to the sink before turning to face me.
“Hi,” she says, smiling, “want some coffee?”
“Please.”
She fumbles around in some of the cabinet drawers above her head until she finds the cups. She fills a mug and walks over to me, handing it to me with two hands. I flash her a quick smile in thanks.
“I found some clothes in your closet, I hope you don’t mind,” she says.
“I don’t mind.”
She smiles at me again and walks back to the sink. I grab a pinch of sugar from the glass jar on the counter and add it to my cup. I take a small sip before placing the cup on the counter. It’s time to get down to business.
“So we’ve all had a night to sleep on it,” I continue. “What are we thinking?”
“I’m in,” Frank says.
Of course he is, the question was really directed to Alicia. Frank and I both look to her. She catches us staring and realizes she can’t avoid the question any longer.
“I guess you’re waiting on me, huh?” she says, trying to lighten the mood. It doesn’t work. “I think it’s a good plan that should work for the most part. I’m just not sure about the whole-”
“Mexico?” I interrupt.
“Yeah,” she says, “we barely even know each other.”
I nod in agreement. I hesitate before proceeding, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll leave it up to you. We can go forward with the plan as is, and if you really don’t want to do it when the time comes, we don’t have to. Okay?”
Alicia smiles widely and breathes a sigh of relief. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. We’ll figure something out.”
She walks over to me and pulls me into an embrace. She squeezes me with a heavy heart and I can tell she really means it. I’m not concerned about her apprehension. I’ll convince her to go forward with it when the time comes. One way or another, it’s going to happen, whether she wants it to or not.
“Thank you,” she whispers in my ear before releasing me. She backs up a couple of steps so she can look into my eyes.
“Does that mean you’re in?” I say.
“When do we start?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
GEORGE
Back in the van outside Snake’s place, we wait in silence. The warm afternoon sun beats on the van as Billy, Frank, and I rest in the stationary spot behind the tower. I sit in the back across from Frank as usual. Billy sits alone in the front with his left arm hanging out the window, smoking a cigarette. He peers at his watch and mumbles something to himself in which I can’t make out. He takes one big drag and flicks the cigarette out the window. He fetches some gum from the center console with his right hand while cranking the window closed with his left. He turns to us and tosses the wrapper at my feet.
“It’s time,” Billy says.
Frank perks up like a well-trained dog and cuts my hands free. The callus on my left wrist has split open by the thumb, so I apply pressure to stop the flow of blood. The back door opens and Billy motions for me to follow. Frank starts toward the door too, but is stopped by Billy.
“Not you,” Billy says. “Stay here and be the lookout. Can you do that?”
Frank’s face drops, but he nods and sits back on the bench. Billy leads me around the van, bag in hand. Frank is suddenly in the driver’s seat as we pass by the window. Billy raises his arms, as if to question Frank’s new position. The window rolls down a crack, and Frank pushes his face up to the hole.
“I can’t be the lookout in the back, there ain’t any windows,” Frank says, smirking with pride like he’s just won a bet.
Billy shakes his head. “Honk the horn if you see anything.”
“Okay, boss.”
---
As we approach Snake’s house, Billy breaks the long silence between us, “I’ll go around the back and you take care of the front. Work your way to the right, and we’ll meet in the middle.”
He debriefed me on the plan earlier, so I have clear instructions on what to do. Snake is gone for a while, but we still have to move quickly. Billy stops and drops the bag in the sand. He pulls out thick strips of foam and hands them to me, piling one on top of the other. He scoops up the bag and disappears around the back. I look to either side of me, and there’s not a thing in site. The van rests in the distance next to the cell tower, but that’s it. Could I out run him? Maybe, but where would I run to? I can’t outrun a van, I know that much, so what choice do I have? I scan the house and locate the first vent on the corner near the foundation.
The strips of foam are cut to size. The metal vent casing houses two horizontal bars that are separated by a few inches of airspace above and below each, with the two bars sharing the middle space. I slide the first piece of foam in the middle slot, pinching it slightly to ensure it fits, leaving a slight bow in the center. Each piece of foam is about six inches too tall, which is by design. I slide the other two pieces into the remaining slots: Bottom first, followed by the top. As explained to me earlier by Billy, I’m able to manually close each horizontal vent bar a bit so that they tightly pinch the foam pieces, ensuring no air can get in or out; that’s why the pieces of foam are a little big, to ensure that all of the gaps are covered.
I make my way along the right side of the house and do the same for the next two vents. I walk around the back expecting to find Billy, but don’t. I peer around the left side corner, but he’s not there either. He’s nowhere to be found.
“All done?” Billy’s voice behind me is startling.
“Where did you go?” I ask.
He’s surprised by my questioning. He points to the ground next him at a bulkhead. “It was unlocked, so I figured I would speed up the process.”
“What do you mean?”
“I made some puncture holes in the pipes.”
“Which pipes?”
“All of them. What does it matter?”
“You’re going to blow the whole place down.” I chuckle to myself. “No money then.”
Billy reaches behind his back and pulls a gun from his belt. He walks toward me and jams it into my forehead, shutting me up. “Fuck off. I know what I’m doing.”
I put my hands up in surrender, but not in a panic like I would have just hours earlier. He’s not going to kill me, he won’t do this alone.
“Fine,” I say.
Billy puts the gun back in his belt. Then, suddenly, a horn bellows in the distance. Billy’s eyes open wide, almost stunned. He turns back to me. “Be cool.” He reaches for his gun again and motions for me to follow him around the front. We creep around the house and I spot some flashing lights near the van.
“Fuck!” Billy says, then he turns to me. “Don’t say a fucking word.”
“Put down your weapon and put your hands up!” a weak voice shouts from the front.
I immediately throw my hands in the air, but Billy rips them back down and grabs a hold of my left wrist. I wince in pain as he strangles my open callus. Billy raises his weapon above his head in a non-threatening manner and hollers out to the voice.
“Don’t shoot, I’m a cop.”
A young uniformed officer crawls out into the open, looking relieved, though still pointing his weapon in our direction.
Billy continues, “I’ll show you. I’m going to reach for my badge. Don’t shoot, okay?”
The officer doesn’t say anything and I can see the gun shaking in his hand as he tries to steady it. He’s really young, right out of the academy I assume. His shirt collar is soaked with perspiration and his uniform is a crisp black with a newly ironed crease on the pants. I wonder if it’s ever been washed. Billy releases my wrist and slowly retrieves his wallet from his back pocket. He flips open the vertical leather cover and flashes a badge.
“I’m officer William Lewis, Topeka Police Department.”
The young officer leans in for a closer look with his gun still pointed. Satisfied with what he sees, he drops the gun to his side and lets out a sigh. Billy flips his badge closed and puts it back in his pocket.
“Boy, am I glad to hear that,” the young officer says. “I’m officer Jimmy Jones, Jefferson PD.”
“Jefferson? What are you doing in Topeka?”
Jimmy is embarrassed. “Quite honestly, today is my first day, and I’m actually a little lost. I’m not from here, I moved in from Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago for the job. I thought I knew a shortcut, but I must be going the wrong direction.”
“Where you headed?”
“I’m trying to go back to the station. My shift is over. Today is, was my first day.”
“Where’s your partner?”
Jimmy shrugs. “No partner today, he’ll be back tomorrow I’m told.”
Billy nods. “Don’t you have GPS in your car?”
“Budget cuts.”
“Typical.”
There is a brief silence. Jimmy looks at me suspiciously and catches my eye. I look away.
“Is he a cop too?”
Billy nods, then looks at me.
“Where are your uniforms?” Jimmy’s hand starts to tense up on the handle of his gun, and I think Billy notices too.
“We’re undercover, staking this place out.” Billy motions to the house next to us. “But listen, we can’t really stay and fiddly-fuck around here, especially not with you in uniform. If he comes home we’re all dead.”
This lights up Jimmy’s eyes and the tension is released from his hand.
“You gotta go, newbie. This is our jurisdiction anyway.” Jimmy tries to put his gun in his holster, but struggles. “Take a right when you get out of here. The main drag will lead you right into Jefferson.”
“Thanks,” Jimmy says, head down, fidgeting with the holster. Finally secured, he looks back up at us and gives us a nod. “Good day, officers.”
Billy nods back and we stand in silence watching Jimmy scamper back to his car. Jimmy peeks in the window of the van before he gets in his car, flicks off the lights, and peels out of site.
As Jimmy pulls away, Frank makes his way from the back of the van and into the front and honks the horn. Even from this distance, I can tell t
hat he has a big grin on his face while he offers a childish wave. Billy waves back, more so of a confirmation that he sees him and less so that he’s willing to admit he actually did something right. We start back toward the van.
“Are you really a cop?” I ask.
He doesn’t look at me, but I can see him grin. “Game changer, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BILLY
Alicia, Frank, and I take rotating showers, throw some clothes on, and pile into the van. I agree to stop by Alicia’s apartment downtown so she can gather up some clothes and various other feminine needs. Frank and I wait in the van for nearly twenty minutes before she reemerges, wearing a fresh outfit and carrying a leather bag filled with whatever it is she thinks she needs. She hops in the passenger’s side and tosses the bag in the back, nearly hitting Frank with it. I wait for the apology for the time it takes, but it doesn’t come.
“Are we going?” she asks.
I start the engine without responding. I pull into the busy street from the on-street parking spot in front of the apartment complex and head east toward the public library.
It’s midday on a Saturday afternoon and the library is relatively quiet, just as I expected it would be. I’m looking for a specific type of person for the job at hand. We need someone who is intellectual enough to keep up, but not more intelligent than I am. He needs to be easy to manipulate and control, but strong enough to handle himself. Finally and perhaps most importantly, we need someone lonely who would do just about anything for the companionship of a woman.
That’s where Alicia comes in.
She needs to seduce and hook the unsuspecting victim, then I’ll reel him in. I have no doubt in her ability to hook someone, even if it’s just on physical attraction alone. As for me and my role, well, that’s really the least of my worries. The difficult part will be finding the right guy.
The three of us sit at a round table near the perimeter of the library and scan the room. The library is grand and the shelves are stocked full of books of all sizes, shapes, and genres. There are high ceilings and large windows, which brings heaps of natural light into the center of the room and disperses it throughout the isles. I grab a stack of books from the shelf behind me and spread them across the table.
