Corridor Man Volumes 1, 2, 3,4 5

by Nick James

  “No!” Bobby screamed and pulled the trigger. The sound from the revolver exploded into the quiet night. Vince’s feet went up in the air and he flew back against the storm door through a cloud of bloody mist. Bobby fired a second time just as Vince began to slide down the door. The second round caught him in the forehead and took the top of his skull off, shattering the window in the storm door and spraying blood, bits of bone and brain matter across the door and the dingy stucco. A bloody streak ran all the way down the length of the storm door to Vince’s body on the ground. The screen door remained wedged open against his legs.

  A moment later the second floor light came on in the house over on the far side of the yard. From somewhere down the block a dog began to bark, then another. Bobby got to his feet and headed for the side gate next to the house. He cautiously opened the gate then quietly pulled it closed and walked out front to the street. By the time he was on the front sidewalk a first floor light was on next door and he thought he might have heard someone call “Hello” from behind the house. He didn’t wait to find out. He stuffed the revolver in his belt and began walking in the opposite direction.

  It seemed like hours, but it was really only a matter of minutes before he was back in his car. He slowly pulled away from the curb and took the shortest route out of the neighborhood. He listened for the sound of a siren, but never heard one. He drove down to the River Boulevard, then took a left and followed the road along the Mississippi bluffs until it merged into Shepherd Road and headed due east along the river.

  He waited at a traffic light then took a left and wound his way through the Irvine Park neighborhood and over to the High Bridge heading across the river. Halfway across the bridge, with no cars approaching from either direction he lowered the passenger window, took his foot off the accelerator and tossed Noah Denton’s revolver out of the car, over the bridge railing, down into the Mississippi River one hundred and sixty feet below.

  He drove down to Plato Boulevard and across the Wabasha Bridge heading back into downtown. He dropped one of his latex gloves out the window while he waited at a stoplight. He stuffed the other glove into a city trash container next to a bus stop, then drove home.

  Once back in his unit he took a hot shower, poured himself a bourbon and slept soundly until six the following morning when the chime from his phone woke him; Emily, responding to his text message from the night before.

  ‘Would love to get together you name the time and place, my treat’

  Bobby sent a reply, ‘Even better, Kincaid’s at 7?’

  ‘Yes’ was the reply that came back less than a minute later.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  He heard the radio report on his way into the office. “A man was shot and killed in the Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul last night, sometime after midnight. Police are not releasing the name of the individual pending notification of family. No further details are available at this time.”

  Bobby glanced at the time on his dashboard. If she hadn’t gotten the call yet, Angie would be hearing from the cops within the next hour. He half chuckled to himself and wished he could be a little fly on the wall when that call came through.

  * * *

  He was grinding his way through a particularly boring file later that morning when Bennett Hinz knocked on the door.

  “Spare a minute?”

  “Yes sir, certainly.”

  “Suppose you already heard,” Bennett said settling into the chair opposite Bobby’s desk and then wiggling himself into a more comfortable position. The leather of the chair creaked with his movements.

  Bobby had rehearsed his lines in front of the bathroom mirror, practicing a shocked look while mumbling the words, Angie’s brother? I heard a little bit on the news, but, oh my God, how tragic.

  “Not sure what you’re referring to, sir. I’ve been sort of in my own little cocoon of Morris Montcreff files since about seven this morning,” Bobby said indicating the stack of files with a nod of his chin. He got ready to place the shocked look on his face and had the rehearsed line on the tip of his tongue.

  Bennett shook his head back and forth, audibly rubbing his chins across his starched collar and said, “It seems Noah Denton had some difficulties last night, in the process of attempting to calm him down he apparently fell and broke his hip.”

  Not at all what Bobby had expected to hear.

  “Well, I can tell by the look on your face you’re just as shocked as the rest of us,” Bennett said shaking his head.

  “What happened? Calm him down?”

  “He apparently had another episode, attacked or at the very least became somewhat aggressive with one of the nurses. In the process of calming him down he fell and broke his hip.”

  “My God, that’s terrible,” Bobby said all the while thinking too bad it wasn’t his neck.

  “I don’t know, just in case we hadn’t already made a decision, this pretty much seals it.”

  “How did you learn about this, Mrs. Denton?”

  Bennett looked up with a surprised look on his face. “Cori Denton? Believe me we’re just about the last people on earth she’d contact. No, we got a call from the City View representative first thing this morning. They’d like to meet.”

  “Meet?”

  “Our insurance is covering Noah’s stay there. They weren’t specific, but I’m guessing after a situation like this, the aggressive behavior, they’ve no choice but to discharge him, send him somewhere else.”

  “He’s still there now, City View?”

  Bennett shook his head as he stared down at the floor. “No, he’s back in Regions, I’d think for at least a week. They apparently performed surgery last night.”

  “A replacement?”

  “No, it’s my understanding just screws and pins. Still, they had to go in there, Mickey Mouse around. You get to be Noah’s age, something like this could easily lead to a decline. I’m not sure what the odds are, but an injury like this, it’s not uncommon for it to result in the beginning of the end as it were, maybe twelve to eighteen months.”

  “He’ll go home or back to City View from the hospital?”

  “Once he’s able to be moved my guess would be Regions will send him back into their mental health facility only this time onto one of those floors with a lot heavier security. God, Noah Denton, absolutely unbelievable,” he said shaking his head.

  “Mr. Montcreff is going to want to know about this, if he doesn’t already.”

  Bennett gave a long sigh. “Hold off on that for the time being. I’ve got to meet with City View later this afternoon. I suppose she’ll be there, Noah’s wife.”

  “Would you like me to go there with you?”

  “Humpf,” Bennett said and looked up at Bobby. “That’s very kind of you. I would like that, but in the end I think it’s probably for the best if I handle this myself.”

  “Consider me available if you need some support.”

  “Tell you what,” Bennett said standing and heading for the door. “You just keep getting up close and personal with those files. We’re going to depend on you now more than ever. The last thing this firm needs right now is Morris Montcreff looking to land somewhere else.”

  “I’m still technically just ‘Of counsel’,” Bobby said.

  “One disaster at a time,” Bennett replied then closed the door behind him.

  Bobby leaned back in his desk chair, smiled and thought, first Angie’s brother, now Denton breaking a hip, if his luck continued this just might be the day to buy a lottery ticket.

  It was toward the middle of the afternoon when he saw the Breaking News line while scanning the internet and clicked on the story.

  “St. Paul Police have today identified St. Paul resident Vincent Amato, age 46, as the victim of a shooting early this morning between the hours of 2 and 3 AM. The incident occurred at Mr. Amato’s residence. No further information is available at this time.”

  Bobby made a mental note of the last name, Amato apparently bei
ng Angie’s maiden name. She was still out there with at least one other brother, Tommy. Anything Bobby did now would have to look like an accident.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Bobby sipped a glass of wine while he watched the front entrance of Kincaid’s waiting for Emily to make her appearance. She was stylishly late, not that he really cared. He was sitting just two tables away from where he’d first run into his ex-wife Fran and her idiot husband Jonathan. He quietly toasted himself on a very successful day and fantasized about how he was going to deal with Angie and her remaining brother. For that matter would they pass his name on during any conversations with the police?

  Whatever he did to them, it would have to look like an accident. If only he knew something about cars, he could maybe cut a brake line or place a bomb under the hood. The two of them in a plane crash, in an elevator when the cable snapped, maybe a natural gas leak in the home. Or, maybe they simply disappeared.

  He saw her as she came through the door, looking delightfully slutty in a short black dress and plenty of décolletage. She stood there for a moment in her stiletto heels, getting the lay of the place before she strutted toward the dining area. More than one head turned as she passed, and he noticed two men at the bar staring as she walked by, one of the two turned to his pal, stuck his tongue out and pretended to pant like a dog.

  Bobby figured she had to be aware although she carried the oblivious act off perfectly. She approached the Maitre d’ standing behind his reservation book and said something to him.

  He nodded then made an elegant sweep of his hand indicating she should enter the dining area before him. She saw Bobby, smiled and made a beeline towards his table, as more heads turned. The Maitre d’ glanced at her tattoo then focused on her rear.

  “Hi Bobby, sorry I’m a little late” she said, then kissed him on the cheek as he stood.

  The Maitre d’ pulled out her chair, smiled and said, “Madame.”

  Emily smiled back, sat down then seemed to spread her legs toward Bobby for the briefest of moments before she slid forward in her chair.

  “Nice to see you,” Bobby smiled. “I appreciate you being able to join me on such short notice. How have you been?”

  “Madame?’ The Maitre d’ stood gazing down the top of her dress while he held the bottle of wine.

  “Oh, yeah please.”

  He smiled, leaned over ever so slightly for a better look as he filled her glass.

  “Oh, yikes that’s enough,” she giggled as the glass approached the two-thirds full mark.

  “Thank you,” he smiled, set the bottle at the end of the table and returned to his station.

  Bobby raised his glass in a toast, “To an enjoyable evening,” he said.

  “Yes, thank you for inviting me,” Emily said then took a healthy sip of wine and set her glass down. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night, but I was out with friends and never heard your text come through.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Not a problem at all,” Bobby said, thinking if the police ever checked his phone it would look like he’d just spent a quiet evening at home. “So how are things going?”

  “Well, as good as can be expected. I’m out this weekend with my mother,” she rolled her eyes. “She wants to go to our cabin up north. It’s always been a big thing in my family, it belonged to my grandparents, my mom’s folks. Then she and my dad updated the place, made it year round. It’s more of a second home than just a cabin. I think she just needs to be there, maybe get away from all the well-meaning folks who are driving her crazy after Lizzy’s death.”

  “And you?”

  “Well, to tell you the truth, I could use a little break, too. No reflection on you, Bobby. There’s suddenly just so much to do, insurance, Lizzy’s mortgage, her will, Jesus, who knew?” she said and sipped some wine.

  Bobby nodded like he understood.

  “Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. I know, boring. How about you, what’s new?”

  “Well it’s nothing new, but I think I’ve officially captured the title as the dullest guy in town. The firm has a major client and I’m working to get up to speed with his work. Seems like the more I review files the more there are to review. I just keep reading and the firm just keeps piling on more.”

  “Guaranteed employment is what it sounds like to me.”

  “Yeah, be nice to have a break once in a while.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “There is one thing I could share with you, if you wouldn’t mind talking business for a half a minute.”

  “What’s that?” she said and suddenly looked concerned.

  “It’s not bad, at least for either one of us. I thought you might find it interesting that Noah Denton…”

  “That bastard.”

  “…Apparently had an episode yesterday evening.”

  “An episode?”

  “He was released maybe a week ago from Regions, but his wife wanted him in a transitional care facility rather than have him come home.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I’d say there are probably lots of reasons, not the least being she can’t stand the guy, but above and beyond that he apparently assaulted her.”

  “What?” she said loud enough that the woman at the next table glanced over.

  “Yeah, she ended up calling the cops. One of the firm’s partners ran over to their home and talked the police into taking him to the Regions Mental Health Facility rather than throwing him in jail.”

  “Would have served that bastard right.”

  “They ran tests at Regions, couldn’t find anything definitive like a tumor or dementia and so he was placed in City View Transitional Care Facility.”

  “Oh?”

  “Where,” Bobby said nodding, “he apparently acted aggressively with one of the nurses last night and while they were attempting to calm him down he fell and broke his hip.”

  “God, too bad it wasn’t his neck,” Emily said and gulped down more wine.

  Great minds think alike, Bobby said to himself. “The reason I bring this up is you had suggested at one point that your family might pursue a lawsuit. This latest incident could be important in laying the groundwork for an ongoing disorder that may have been ignored by the firm and which created an unsafe work environment for not only your sister, but all the other employees as well.”

  “Why are you telling me all this? You work there, too.”

  “I would like to see justice done, should you want to pursue that course. I believe there’s some culpability on the part of Denton, Allan, Sawyer and Hinz. That said, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention my name to anyone, including your mother, as far as where you heard all this.”

  “Is that the reason you sent me the text last night?”

  “What? No, as a matter of fact I just learned about Denton’s broken hip today, late this morning. No, I sent you the text last night because I wanted to see you.”

  Emily leaned forward and Bobby suddenly felt her hand under the table rubbing his thigh. “You are very sweet, thank you.”

  Bobby smiled and hoped she’d keep her hand there for another half hour. Instead she sat back and reached for her wineglass.

  “There is one more thing you should know. With the tests on Denton coming up inconclusive and now this latest incident, the mere filing of a lawsuit could well send the firm partners into some sort of meltdown where they would do just about anything to settle out of court and keep the whole thing more or less under wraps. I don’t know how long that sort of window might remain.”

  “I see,” Emily said and Bobby got the distinct impression that she really did.

  “Madame,” a waiter was suddenly at Emily’s side handing a black bound menu to her. He handed a menu to Bobby then told them about the evening’s specials. Bobby was suddenly thinking they could just order something to go, then hurry back to his place and eat it in bed.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Bobby stared at Emily lying next t
o him sound asleep. Her left wrist was still loosely tied to the bed post with a red silk tie. She’d apparently undone her right wrist sometime in the middle of the night. It had been her idea, tying her up and he had been only too willing to comply. He stared for a long time at her perfect breasts rising and falling as she breathed deeply.

  He quietly slipped out of bed and made his way from the bathroom to the kitchen. He put the coffee on, warmed four blueberry muffins in the microwave and thought about the past night’s events, which led him to think about the last woman who had spent the night, Angie.

  That led him to consider what his next move might be. It was too soon for an obituary for Angie’s brother to be in the paper and he didn’t want to do an online search of Vince Amato in the off-chance the police got Bobby’s name from Angie and checked his computer.

  He needed something that would look like an accident, an accident for the two of them, Angie and her brother, Tommy. Something involving a car seemed the most likely scenario, a crash, a hit and run, maybe driving off a bridge. All the options were easy enough to just think about but a hell of a lot harder to accomplish. Then he thought the two of them just disappearing might be a better idea. The question was where?

  He heard some movement from down the hall and a moment later heard the bathroom door close. Emily appeared in the kitchen doorway five minutes after that. She was wearing her black thong. His red silk tie was draped across her shoulders and she tugged on either end running it back and forth with an evil smile on her face.

  “Didn’t know if you wanted to wear this today,” she said then leaned back against the doorframe and held the ends of the tie out toward him.

  “You kidding, I intend to have that framed.”

  “So, you liked?”

  “Very much.”

  “I think you just might have a lot to learn, Mr. Bobby,” she said then stepped toward him and placed her hands on his hips. “I’d love to stay, mister, but I do have to get dressed then go home and get ready for work.”