by Finian Blake
“Thank you for your kindness father.”
Saint Romans was across the city. Rich hopped in the Nova and waded into rush hour traffic arriving at the church a half hour early driving around until he found a phone booth. Rich managed to catch Wanda on the first try making an appointment for eight o’clock. Rich was still fifteen minutes early. He took a seat in the last pew on the opposite side of the church. The confessional was arranged like three closets. The priest sat in the center and there was a booth on either side for those seeking absolution for their sins. At seven o’clock Rich entered the booth on the left. The panel in the wall slid back.
“Bless me father for I am about to sin.”
“God will forgive you my son. What do you require?”
“I need one M available for Mooney.”
“That is a lot of green, but Mooney instructed me to provide whatever you ask for. How do you want it to be delivered?”
“I have four accounts at the First National. Split it evenly between the four accounts.”
“Let me have the numbers.” Rich poked a slip of paper through the grillwork of the panel. There was a moment of silence and father Cash responded, “It shall be there on the morning of the second day. I do have a message for you.”
“What is the Message?”
Father cash’s voice took on an ominous tone, “If you screw this up, look to God for forgiveness because there will be none from Mooney.”
“That is written in stone.” Rich said without emotion.
“When you leave don’t stop, or look back if you do the deal is dead.” Father Cash said blandly.
Rich left the confessional departing the area without hesitation. He climbed in his Nova driving off quickly. He drove to the hot dog stand that Wanda wanted to meet him at. The place was crowded and there were no seats. All of the service was stand up at counters around the windows. Rich was dressed in wash pants and a dark green, collared dress shirt. It was clear that he was a stranger there. A woman in her forties walked up to him.
“I bet your looking for me.”
“I am if your name begins with a W.”
“You must be ‘Hermes’”
“Call me Rich. You do business here?”
“No, I meet special clients here. Go take a piss. When you get to the men’s room just walk straight ahead instead of turning, go through the door and down the stairs.” Rich did as he was told with Wanda leaving a minute behind him. He studied her as she walked down the stairs toward him. Wanda was a good looking woman about five foot six. Her hair color was somewhere in between blond and brown. Her clothes were clean and well maintained but not overly stylish. Wanda looked like any other woman on the street. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, she took the lead. Wanda went through a door on the right taking a passageway into the next building. They went up two flights of stairs to the second floor.
Rich started in, “I have met you before, but I do not recognize you.”
“Tony tells me that you require a new identity.”
“I need a name that I can work under, something that will stand up to scrutiny. I cannot keep using this name since these cheap papers are shaky at best.”
“Who are you to need something that advanced?”
“I’m a nobody, just another face in the crowd.” Wanda looked him over there was nothing remarkable about Rich. He had hair that was more brown than red. He was six feet tall, medium build, and with no extreme features, there was absolutely nothing remarkable about him.
“Can I pick the name?”
“Yes, you can, within reason. Do you have one in mind?”
“You just gave it to me. I think I shall call you Noah Body, because you claim to be nobody and you look like four hundred men out of a thousand.”
“Thank you for the compliment.” Rich introduced himself several times in his imagination. The name had a comfortable sound to it. “I like the sound of the name.” Wanda warmed to Rich. Not being plagued by indecision he possessed a natural ease.
“Noah Body it is,” Wanda smiled warmly. “I will do a full workup for you. I do forgeries for the witness protection agency. When I am finished, these papers will stand up to any government security check and you will have a complete history to go with them which will be based in Chicago. Father Cash has access to records at several schools and several rental properties.”
Wanda continued, “Of course these little services carry a price. These things do not come cheap. The price tag will read ten K for a full identity that will pass any check. I am giving you Mooney’s price.”
“Done, can I pay you when I pick it up?”
“You are under Mooney’s name. Pay me when you pick up the papers. Will you need a passport?”
“Yes, I will require a passport.”
“I will need another two thousand dollars for that”
“That sounds kind of stiff.”
“I am talking about a passport from the State department, not a forgery. The extra two thousand covers the bribe that I must pay. Your driver’s license comes from the Illinois Secretary of State, and you will have school records with all of the documentation, a real Social Security number with an earnings record, a verifiable employment record and a history of addresses.”
“How…?”
“We have an insider in the witness protection program. As long as we are creating an ID, people are bribable. If we are seeking information on witnesses, the cooperation stops. When they need forgeries, I provide them with what they need.”
“Can you do this with papers from other countries?”
“I have friends that I can exchange favors with.” Wanda said wondering what Rich had in mind
“Is there a country at the top of your list of favorites?”
Wanda said thoughtfully, “I have some positive contacts in Spain and Italy and a rock solid history could be possible.”
Wanda went to the closet and took a well-worn men’s pullover sweater off the shelf tossing it at Noah. She pulled the tails of her blouse out of her skirt and buttoned the top two buttons of her blouse. Wanda went to the bathroom, washed the makeup off her face, and rolled her hair into a severe looking bun pulling out a few strands of hair to make it look like she was at the end of her day. She looked like a much older frumpy lady with a few simple moves Wanda added ten years to her appearance. She slipped the sweater over Noah’s head pulling half of his shirt tail partially out of his pants and pulled one side of his collar outside of the sweater passing a comb through his hair ninety degrees to the grain just once. Wanda went for the front door and they walked out on the street. They looked like a worn out couple on their way home after a long day. Noah held the car door for her and they drove off slowly.
“Noah, you might as well get use to your new name. You need to learn how to change your appearance quickly. You don’t need props just rearrange your clothing and recomb your hair. Your hair color will change several shades by getting it wet.” Wanda handed ‘Hermes’ a bottle of water.
“The other thing that you need to do is handle paper without leaving finger prints.”
“That is easy, you just need gloves.”
“Gloves are obvious. There are other ways of not leaving finger prints.” Wanda cut the corner off of an envelope, and slipped it over the corner of a piece of paper. She handed the paper to Noah palming the corner. Noah caught on right away. Wanda taught him to receive papers between the knuckles of his first two fingers without using the pads of his fingers.
“Practice this until you have it down and it looks natural. You want to receive all your papers like this even if fingerprints do not matter and stay away from the obvious. If you use gloves it will attract unwanted attention.” Wanda smiled at Noah. “Right, now the thing my attention is my stomach growling. I skipped dinner in order to make this meeting. You need to feed me.” Noah pointed to the hot dog stand next door. Wanda shook her head no. You don’t think that you can get away with that. I know this nice little place off of Michigan Avenue spec
ializing in steak that serves a full menu until midnight. Didn’t Tony tell you that I am a meat eater?” Wanda rearranged their clothing until they both looked like a pair of unmade beds. When they walked out of the building they looked like a couple worn out from a long day. Noah held the door of the Nova open for Wanda.
After they drove off, Wanda rearranged her clothing. Inside of two minutes she was looking fresh and extremely attractive. At a stop light they switched seats and Noah combed his hair, rearranging his clothing. They both looked presentable before they reached the restaurant. They parked down the street from the restaurant, and walked down the street with their arms around each other. The pair looked like a couple on a date. Wanda started the conversation.
“Tony told me to check out your skill level. I am glad to see that you can follow directions. I do have some pointers if you are willing to accept them.”
“I will listen to anything that you have to tell me.” Wanda went into her lecture mode. She only stopped talking when the server delivered the food. When they were walking back to the car, an idea went through Noah’s head.
“See how good your contacts in Spain are. I think that I am going to need two sets of Spanish papers for this contract.”
“I can tell you right now, that my contact is excellent. He has schooled me on several issues. He is more expensive than I am, but I can guarantee his work. What, do you have in mind?”
“If the hair on my head knew what I had in mind I would cut it off. It is still a raw idea.” Noah paid the check and dropped her by the hot dog stand.
‘Hermes’ made another appointment with Tony. They met at a motel bar on River Road. It was a rundown motel that rented rooms by the hour in west suburban Chicago. Asshole one and two were at a table between Tony and the other customers. Tony had the table swept for bugs before he sat down and his boys made sure that nobody came within six feet of it. The bar tender turned up the jukebox so that it was playing loudly. A man in a suit kept edging up to Tony’s table. ‘Asshole one’ walked over to the bar and bumped into him. No doubt about it he was carrying. Asshole one walked up to the bartender, having a word with him. The bartender immediately walked up to the intruder.
“I am sorry sir, but you will have to leave. We do not allow guns in the bar.” The man flashed his ID.
“It’s ok I am FBI.” He was trying to be quiet. The bartender hollered across the room.
“I have an FBI agent here that wants to place a bug at your table.”
“Buy him a drink, but before you do piss in his glass.” Tony’s voice had an edge to it. The agent left, without ordering. Rich strolled in and sat down at Tony’s table.
“Hey, asshole, what are you doing down here?”
“I am looking for somebody working for the county.”
“Well, you are at the wrong place for that. Where does he work?”
“The Coroner’s office,” Rich smiled.
“Who died,” Tony asked.
“Nobody died, yet. I owe him some tall bucks.”
“How tall are we talking about?”
“The Irish sweeps stakes,” Rich smiled.
“Well, if I find him, some asshole will let you know. Now get the fuck away from my table. I am expecting someone.” Rich went over to the bar sitting down at the far end of the bar and ordered a scotch. Tony, called asshole one over handing him a slip of paper.
“Tell that asshole to get out of here.” The asshole walked over to Rich grabbing him by the shirt slipping the paper in his pocket. He pulled Rich to the door shoving him out. Rich stood by the railing cursing at the glass doors as they closed. The FBI man engaged him in conversation.
He could smell the booze on Rich’s breath, “They are not too friendly in there?”
“I am going back and kick his ass!” The FBI agent grabbed him by the arm.
“That would be a bad idea. This is a syndicate bar. You could get yourself in deep trouble. What were you looking for?”
“I was supposed to meet a friend here for a few drinks.” Rich spun around and started for the door. “I want some ass. Nobody pushes me around.”
“The cops will just bust you. Go home and sleep it off.” Rich wobbled a little getting out of the parking lot. Drunks the agent thought to himself as he watched the drunken driver head down River Road wondering if he should have broken protocol and stopped him from driving, but that meant that the drunk would remain in the area spoiling for a fight.
Rich memorized the name and number on the slip of paper and burned it in the car ashtray. A plan was coming together. It would not be cheap, but it should produce results. There was one word on the slip of paper other than the name and number, ‘PONIES’. Rich took it to mean that this individual had a betting problem. He called the number and arranged a meeting. They agreed to meet at a beer and burger joint on Lake Street in Oak Park. He saw a man rubbernecking around the restaurant and took a wild guess that this was who he was looking for.
“Bob, I wanted to thank you for meeting me tonight.”
The man was instantly defensive, “If this is about…”
Rich held up his hand. “Why don’t we order first? I love the burgers here. They ordered a pitcher and ordered their food. After the beer arrived, Bob started out the conversation.
“If this is about the tab, for Sam I don’t have it. If you bust me up I won’t be able to work. I can have half of the eight grand by the end of the month. I have a hot tip at fifteen to one.”
“If I were collecting, I would not be buying you dinner.” Bob nodded since there was certain logic to this. “How would you like to be even and have some bucks in the bank?”
“What do you want?” The alarm bells went off in Bob’s head.
“I want you to place some information in a file. It will take you less than a minute. Sixty seconds and you are on the good side of Sam plus a little. In the meantime, I will get Sam off your back.” Bob took a long pull on his beer. The offer was too good to be true.
“You don’t want anything else.”
“When you’re done, we want you to forget everything. It never happened. Just place some information. Let’s say your debt plus two?” The burgers arrived, and the two men settled down to eat. Bob’s mind was racing. Things have been a little touchy for months. Sam would call, and push hard. It would be nice if he could walk up to his door without having to check for surprises.
“How about my debt, plus four,” Bob, was starting to feel brave.
“I like you. If the nut was not eight, I would kick in some extra, but ten is my limit.”
“What if I turn you down?”
“I won’t do anything. You know what Sam is like. You can deal with him on your own terms.” Bob knew that the next step with Sam was body parts.
“All I have to do is place some information?”
“Just slip a few pieces of paper in the file.”
“Done,” Bob knew that he didn’t have a choice. Rich picked up the check, leaving a healthy tip. He palmed two hundred and shook Bob’s hand.
“I tell you what I will give Sam half and he will call you to confirm your four. I will be in touch with you in a few weeks.” Rich smiled at Bob. “Stay away from those nags.” That was not a difficult request since no bookie in town would take his action even if he bet cash.
Bob watched Rich start to walk away, “What if I fail?”
“You won’t, its simple.” Rich never resorted to threats they always produced more problems than results.
Rich dealt with Sam periodically and had the number. He dialed the number from a pay phone and got Sam’s clerk. After some name dropping, he was put through to Sam.
“I am calling about the marker for Bob. I have eight for his marker.”
“The whole thing,” Sam asked.
Rich thought for a few seconds, “The whole thing will be paid tomorrow. I will stop by at your convenience with cash.”
“Good, I hate to bust customers up. I will meet you for breakfast, at the Whit
e Spot restaurant, at ten.” Sam was glad to get the news because busting Bob up would cost him more money, because Bob was a looser and would never be able to come up with that much.
“One thing, tell him I only paid half and that I will clear the rest later. Don’t take any bets from him for thirty days. If you could call him tonight I would appreciate it.”
“Consider it done, and don’t worry about the bets, nobody in town will take anything he wants to place. I’ll see you at breakfast.”
Bob heard the phone ringing when he walked in the door. “I have a message from Sam.” Bob was about to explain about his arrangement. “You are off the hook. Someone paid half of your marker. Do not try to place any more bets.” The connection was broken without the formalities. Bob knew that he would not disappoint Rich, since this was a man that played at a serious level. Rich made his breakfast appointment with Sam taking care of business. Rich had half a plan, now. He ran some domestic errands hanging out for a few days until Wanda was done with his ID. Noah Body would be his working name. He made arrangements to fly back to Mexico City heading home to do some of the chores that his house required.
When Rich arrived in Mexico City, he checked into the hotel and made arrangements to see the Minister of the Interior. When he arrived at the Ministers office, Rich was admitted immediately.
Minister Rodriguez greeted Rich warmly, “‘Hermes’, I was told that you were back in my country. What may I do for you?”
“Thank you for seeing me. Our mutual friend tells me that you are under pressure from our FBI to send him back to the States.”
“Yes, there is a lot of pressure.”
“He bribes you and the FBI bribes you.” The minister choked with that comment. “Come, I’m aware of the way things work, neither one of us are naive. You can only take so much grief and that is why I have a proposition for you.”
“What would that be?”
“Take a huge bribe from the FBI and let them kidnap him. You cannot deport him, but you will turn a blind eye to them kidnaping him.” The Ministers jaw dropped to his chest as ‘Hermes’ continued. “Be sure that your people have nothing to do with helping them. I want you to allow them to do this.”
