Arbitrage

by Thomas Ransom

  “What happened Aria? How did you end up getting in the middle of this?” asked Diaz, leaning closer.

  Aria took a deep breath. She was experiencing too many emotions at once - fear, relief, anger, sad - it was too overwhelming. Diaz sensed it. “It’s okay. Take your time. I am here to help. I will give you a few moments to collect your thought. How about some more water, huh?”

  Aria nodded and watched Diaz getting out the door. She closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths to calm down her mind. She didn’t know how or where to start. She didn’t even know when it all started. It wasn’t until she was arrested that she realized that someone had planned all of this. Why was she the target? What the hell did she do? There was someone powerful behind all of this.

  The door opened once again, and in came Diaz and another officer. He started uncuffing her hands while Diaz placed a water bottle, some orange juice, and a pack of crackers on the table. The officer took the cuffs and nodded at Diaz. He went outside, and Aria heard the door being locked from outside.

  “I figured you would be more comfortable this way. Eat up and start when you are ready,” Diaz sat down on her seat.

  “Oh God! I can’t thank you enough,” Aria sighed. She indeed felt slightly better after the cuffs were taken off. She tried her best to hold back her tears and sipped the water. She cleared her throat and started to narrate what had happened in the past few months.

  “So, Coons asked you to come outside?” Diaz asked, looking at her notepad, where she was taking down some notes. “What do you think he wanted to talk about?”

  Aria shrugged, “I am guessing he already had an idea that someone was after him. I don’t think he knew who he can really trust. That’s probably the reason he sent those secret emails to me.”

  Diaz looked up from her notepad, “What! He sent you secret emails?”

  “Well, honestly, I had no idea he was sending me those emails until recently. Over the past few months, before he was murdered, he sent me two emails for every client project. One was sent to me, and the other to the entire team. I noticed that he had attached extra documents to the one he had sent to me. I never noticed them before honestly, I thought he had mistakenly sent them,” Aria explained.

  “Tell me about those attachments. Did you see them?”

  “I only saw a few. There were some bank details and emails between Coons and someone else. All I could figure out from them was that Coons was being threatened into sending money to some offshore account…”

  Diaz raised an eyebrow, “I remember that scandal a while back that the department head was stealing money and probably funding some drug mafia or something like that.”

  Aria nodded. “I didn’t believe he would ever do such a thing, but it turns out that was true, but he was only doing it because of the threats he was receiving.”

  Diaz shook her head, “This case is too messed up.” She massaged her head with her fingers and looked at Aria, “What about the rest of the emails? How can I access them? We can get you out of here by showing those attachments.”

  Aria closed her eyes in frustration.

  “Uggh! What happened? I know I am not going to like what you are about to tell me.”

  Aria sighed, “I went out for lunch with Tanya, my friend. I told her what I had found, and we decided to return to the office to check the rest of them. When we reached work, I found out that my computer had crashed. I got the IT guy immediately, but when he got my computer running, my inbox was wiped clean. There was nothing.”

  Diaz scrunched up her face, “Of course! I knew things wouldn’t be that easy.”

  “I honestly don’t know what to do!” Aria cried.

  “If we had a few of those emails, we could have at least gotten a bail,” Diaz fumed, “But don’t worry. There is a guy I know; he might be able to retrieve the lost emails. Or else, I will think of something… what?” Diaz stopped seeing the look on Aria’s face.

  Aria looked at Diaz, “There is something,”

  “What?”

  “I downloaded the attachments from the first two emails I opened on my phone.”

  Diaz’s eyes widened, “And…”

  “They were still on my phone’s gallery after they wiped my mailbox clean. I have no idea where my phone is, but my laptop syncs the photos so you might be able to get them… unless someone else got to them first.”

  “Excellent!” Diaz perked up instantly. “Well. I will be honest with you. It’s still not strong enough evidence, but I am still going to work with it.”

  Aria smiled for the first time in days. “God! I am so glad Clark found you.”

  “You told no one about those pictures, right?” Diaz asked.

  Aria thought for a moment, “No, I don’t think so. I was about to, but then I got a bit distracted by other things.” She pointedly looked around the room.

  Diaz smiled. “Okay. Now listen closely. You cannot, in any circumstances, tell anyone about this. Not a single soul. Assume that everyone is after you. I am the only one who you can and will share each and every single detail with, and I mean even the most minute ones.”

  Aria nodded.

  “Not even Clark,” warned Diaz.

  “But…” Aria started but stopped when she saw the look on Diaz’s face.

  “Listen, Aria. I am not saying Clark is your enemy. The people who are behind all of this are way too powerful and smart. They might use him. Bug him or something like that to get information. He should know nothing about our moves.”

  Aria sighed, “Okay. Yeah, you are right. That makes sense. I won’t tell him or anyone else anything.”

  Diaz stood up, “Okay. I am going to your house to collect the laptop. I don’t want anyone to get a hold of it first. Stay strong, okay? I will come to another session tomorrow, and we will see what our next step will be.”

  They shook hands, and Diaz knocked on the door a few times. Aria watched as an officer unlocked the door and let Diaz out. She sighed again and hoped against hope that her laptop was still in her house.

  “Who's there?”

  Diaz turned around, startled. She was outside Aria’s door, trying to find the hidden key. Aria told her that she hides her emergency key under one of the big potted plants outside her backdoor. After lifting four to five heavy plants, she was out of breath but had not found the keys yet.

  “Come out, or I will call the police.”

  It was too dark to tell where the voice was coming from. Diaz figured it must be one of Aria’s neighbors. She held her hand up to calm down the person.

  “It’s okay. I am Aria’s friend,” she called out.

  “Aria’s friend?”

  She saw the silhouette of a man emerging from behind a tree and walking towards her. “Nicole Diaz? Is that you?”

  Diaz raised an eyebrow as the man stood near the staircase leading to the backdoor. She remained quiet, waiting for the man to introduce himself.

  “Sorry. I am Clark. We spoke on the phone,” he extended his hand towards Diaz.

  “Oh. Okay. Hello,” Diaz replied, shaking his hand, “What are you doing here?”

  “I live across the street, and I thought I saw someone, well you, walking behind the house. I came here to check,” he replied with a shrug. “So, does this mean you are taking the case?”

  “Yes, I am. I need to check a few things to get the story straight, which is why I am here,” Diaz explained as she continued looking for the key.

  “Umm… what are you doing?” asked Clark.

  “Looking for the key. Aria told me there is a key underneath one of the pots here,” Diaz was about to pick a large planter when Clark stopped her.

  “Oh, that key. Yeah, I have it here,” Clark placed his hand inside the pocket of his jacket and tossed Diaz a key.

  Diaz caught it and looked questioningly at Clark. “Why do you have this with you?”

  He shrugged, “Aria told me about it months ago. I figured it would be safer if I kept it with me since someon
e was clearly targeting her. I don’t want things to get worse for her in any way.”

  She stared at Clark for a while, unsure what to make of this situation. However, she had more pressing matters to attend to so she let it go. “Well, thank you for this. I just wish you had gotten here sooner before I lifted so many of these heavy pots.”

  Clark chuckled.

  She opened the door and started to go in when she realized Clark was following her inside. Diaz blocked his path. He looked surprised.

  “I rather do this alone. I am not sure if Aria would want you here.”

  Clark bit his bottom lip, staring at Diaz. “But I can help with whatever you are looking for. I know for a fact that Aria won’t mind.”

  Diaz stood firmly in the way, “Listen, Clark. I know you want to help your girlfriend, but it would be much quicker if I did this on my own.”

  “But I know…” he started, but Diaz held up her hand.

  “Let me make this clear. I work alone. I know you hired me for Aria’s case, but if you want me to continue, you have to trust me. Let me do my job.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she shut the door.

  She moved towards the window to peer outside, Clark was still standing near the stairs, clearly shocked, but then he turned around and walked away. Diaz breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to face the room and did a quick survey.

  The entire living room was a mess. It was clear that the police had been here, or maybe even someone else. The magazines were scattered on the floor, and a broken mug was on the carpet near the couch with a dried coffee stain on the carpet. The kitchen cabinets were wide open, with half of the things on the counter. Diaz closed a few cabinets as she looked around some more.

  “Did the police take her laptop too?” she wondered. “They didn’t have any reason to since they already have a solid case. There were looking for the murder weapon,” she pondered out loud. She made her way to Aria’s bedroom. It was even messier than the living area. However, they had clearly gone straight to her closet and found what they were looking for. The rest of the things seemed untouched.

  The bed was unmade and was scattered with clothes from Aria’s closet. She started clearing the bed by throwing the clothes on the floor. There was nothing here. She was about to head towards the dresser when she noticed something peeking out of the comforter.

  “Yes!” Diaz exclaimed as she removed the comforter from the bed and found Aria’s laptop. She was probably using it before falling asleep the night before. It went unnoticed by the police as it was under the comforter, and they were focused on the closet.

  She sat on the bed and opened the laptop, but it was out of battery. She noticed the charger was plugged into a switch near the bed. She connected the laptop to the charger and waited for a few minutes before switching it on.

  “Finally!”

  She was able to locate the screenshots that Aria told her about, after a few minutes. However, before she could have a proper look at them, she heard a sound downstairs. “Is someone inside the house?” she wondered. Diaz quickly opened up a browser and signed into her email account. She attached those pictures in an email and sent it to herself. After signing out, she closed the laptop and unplugged it. Someone was walking up the stairs. “Is it Clark again?”

  Diaz stuffed the laptop in her backpack and looked around for something to use as a weapon, just in case. She picked up the lamp from the side table and moved towards the doorway. She tried to sneak a peek. It wasn’t Clark. It was a woman, but Diaz couldn’t see the face. The woman first stopped at the clearing and looked inside the bathroom. She started making her way towards the bedroom.

  “Stop right there. I have a weapon!” Diaz called out.

  The woman exclaimed loudly in surprise, “What the hell!!”

  Diaz flicked on the lights of the corridor to see the woman better. The woman had dark skin, tight curls circling her oval face, and had a terrified look on her face. Diaz had clearly got the woman by surprise.

  “Who are you?” Diaz asked her.

  “Who the hell are YOU?” replied the woman.

  “I am a friend of Aria’s,” responded Diaz.

  “No, you are not.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Aria has a very small circle of friends, and I know all of them. You ain’t one of them,” the woman’s eyes flashed. “So, who are you, and what are you doing in Aria’s house? I swear I am going to scream bloody murder, and the neighbors are definitely going to hear it!”

  Diaz rolled her eyes. “Fine. I am her lawyer, Nicole Diaz. She sent me here for something.”

  The woman’s face transformed, “Damn! Why didn’t you say so!”

  “Who are YOU?” asked Diaz.

  “I am Tanya, Aria’s best friend. We work together,” responded Tanya.

  Both women stared at one another for a while, before Tanya broke the silence, “How is she doing? Can you help her get out?”

  Diaz sighed. “It’s too early to tell. I am going to try my best.” After a pause, she asked, “What are you doing here Tanya?”

  “I wanted to talk to Aria, but apparently no one is allowed to talk to her, aside from her lawyer. There are things… we had to discuss a few things. But since I couldn’t reach her and no one is telling me anything, I decided to help her out myself. That’s why I came here,” Tanya explained.

  “How did you come inside?”

  Tanya looked confused, “What do you mean? We are best friends. We both have a set of keys to one another’s house for emergencies.” She looked at Diaz as if it was the most obvious thing.

  Diaz was trying hard not to roll her eyes. She turned towards the room, “Well, everything is a mess here.”

  Tanya looked dismayed when she saw Aria’s room. “And I thought it couldn’t get worse after seeing the mess downstairs.”

  “What are you looking for?” Diaz asked, looking at Tanya.

  “Umm… well… I just figured I would have a look around and see what I found,” stammered Tanya, avoiding eye contact.

  Diaz sighed, “You know what’s the best thing about being a lawyer?”

  “What?”

  “I can always detect when someone is hiding something or lying. Tell me why you are here, Tanya.”

  Tanya looked sheepish. “Well, I guess I should tell you since you are her lawyer. It might help you fight for her.”

  “I am listening,” Diaz said as she sat on the bed again.

  Tanya walked towards the other side of the bed and sat down. She took a deep breath, “Not everyone knows this, but a few days ago, Aria discovered Coons sent her a few emails with some evidence. She started telling Diaz about the screenshots that Aria had told her about during their meeting.

  “Well, at least the story checks out,” Diaz thought to herself as she listened patiently to Tanya’s version of events. She decided not to tell Tanya she had already found the evidence.

  “Her inbox was totally empty. But it hit me a few hours ago that Aria always backs up her accounts. She did show me those pictures on the phone when we were having lunch. She probably downloaded them, and they might have synced to her laptop,” Tanya was explaining.

  Diaz’s ears perked up at the mention of the laptop. She wasn’t the only one after it.

  “I wanted to find it so I could take the evidence to detective Sanjay. He was always helpful throughout the investigation of Coons’ murder,” Tanya looked at Diaz.

  Diaz nodded.

  “The laptop isn’t here,” informed Diaz.

  “You are looking for it, too?” asked Tanya.

  “Aria told me about the evidence. That’s why I am here to get the laptop. It’s not in the room,” Diaz lied through her teeth. She wasn’t planning on telling Tanya that she had the laptop. She wasn’t taking any chances. She seemed genuinely concerned about her friend, but Diaz had learned early on in her career not to trust anyone when it comes to a murder case. Even the most harmless-looking people turned out to be monsters in di
sguise.

  She always took her time to place trust in anyone. Tanya might prove helpful later on, but for now, Diaz was keeping everyone out of this case.

  “We should check again,” insisted Tanya.

  Diaz nodded and made her way towards the chest of drawers. Tanya looked on the side tables as Diaz opened the second drawer and shuffled through the underwear. Her hand went over a tiny object. She moved the underwear aside and saw a USB. She turned her face back. Tanya was still going through the things in the drawers of the bedside table.

  She quickly picked up the USB and stuffed it in her pocket and continued to look inside all the drawers. She went towards the closet and saw a few of the four drawers were still closed. She went through the first one and found nothing. The second one revealed another USB hidden inside an envelope. She put it in her pocket as well. It could be nothing, but there might be a reason why Aria kept these USBs hidden in the drawer. It might contain some information about the case. She would have a look at it later.

  “Did you find anything?” she asked. Tanya shook her head.

  “Maybe it’s downstairs. I will help you find it,” Tanya stood up and led the way back to the living room.

  “God! This is such a mess! Why don’t they clean up after themselves?” Tanya whined. “Not their job,” replied Diaz as she pretended to look into a set of drawers.

  Diaz noticed Tanya was actually now busy cleaning up the things. She decided to take this as a cue to head out. “Listen, it’s getting late. I have to meet Aria in the morning. The laptop might be with the police. I am going to inquire about it when I reach the police station. Okay?”

  “Yeah. That makes sense,” Tanya looked around with her hands on her hips, “They must have taken it.” She moved towards Diaz, her face full of concern. “Can you please let Aria know that I miss her and that I am going to do everything I can to get her out of there? Please also let her know that I am sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?” asked Diaz.

  “We fought. It was stupid. I was concerned about her and asked her to be careful. She took it the wrong way,” Tanya’s voice choked slightly.