Authors: Keith Domingue
“Who is she? What did he tell her?”
“I don’t know. We gotta ask him what her story is.”
• • •
Chris and Alex drove in silence.
There was tension in the car originating from Chris, and Alex felt it. He knew that Chris came from a well-to-do family, one that he wanted nothing to do with, and he didn’t wish to share that information with anyone. And he sensed that Chris now knew that he knew it.
“You know, I’m not a mind reader.” He finally stated.
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
“You wanted to ride with me, because something’s on your mind. Just say it.”
Chris turned onto the entry ramp of the 10 Freeway East, and checked the rearview to make sure that the van was close behind. He waited a few minutes longer before finally putting it out there.
“If you can tell someone’s future by seeing the patterns of their past, that means you know people’s secrets.” He said.
“They’re one and the same. The past and the future.” Alex responded.
“So what do you know about me?”
“I’m not going to do this again. There’s a reason people can’t see their own end.”
“And what reason is that?”
Alex looked at Chris.
“It tends to destroy them.”
Alex looked back out the window.
“That’s why I can’t see my own.” He added. “At least that’s what I think.”
“So, you can destroy other people’s lives, but not yours. Is that what you’re saying?”
Alex didn’t answer.
They drove in silence a while longer.
Chris carefully merged the Prelude into traffic.
“Look, there’s some shit about me that nobody needs to know.” He finally stated.
Alex looked to the floor.
“And it needs to stay that way. Are you cool with that? Because I gotta know.” Chris asked, his tone masking the slightest hint of threat.
Alex continued to gaze out the window as they zipped past the gang tagged stucco homes close to the freeway, the angular horizon of the Los Angeles city-structure as their backdrop.
This is how it starts, he thought to himself. With fear. He began to feel something he had forgotten about, something that always had haunted him, but hadn’t felt since he began his training with Master Winn two years ago. He began to feel alone.
“Yeah. We’re cool.” He finally replied, as he continued to stare out the passenger window.
WATCHED
T
he cab pulled up in front of the hospital entrance as Nikki searched in her purse for her wallet. She found the small Louis Vatton billfold, pulled fifty dollars from it, and handed it to the cab driver before exiting the car and stepping onto the sidewalk.
Dressed in sneakers and sweats, she stood on the sidewalk a moment in an attempt to pull herself together before going inside to see her brother. It was a bright and sunny Southern California day, and despite the circumstance, it felt good to be out in the sunshine. She was about to step towards the Hospital entrance when something caught her eye.
She noticed a car on the northeast corner of the street, parked at a meter, with no cars parked in front of it. It provided a clear view both for and of the driver, who appeared to be staring straight at her.
The vehicle was a dark blue Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, an easily recognizable vehicle frequently commissioned for use by both law enforcement and Federal Agencies. The man behind the wheel was neither Detective Miller nor Castillo, and looked official spook, even wearing standard issue aviator sunglasses, the black lenses keeping his eyes hidden. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was watching Nikki, a clear attempt to make it known that she was under surveillance. Miller had informed her that they would keep an eye out for her, but this seemed more like an intimidation tactic to her.
This must have to do with Luthecker, she thought. Who was this man? She had one brief contact with him, and now all of a sudden she was being watched. She wondered what else about her life they were digging into. She felt that she had nothing to hide, and had done nothing wrong. It was a pure violation of her privacy, to be spied on like this, and she made a mental note to encrypt all of her passwords, along with being a bit more observant of her surroundings, at least for the time being.
Unable to resist, she gave a brief wave to the man in the Crown Vic, acknowledging that she knew she was being watched, before making her way towards the electronic double glass doors of the hospital entrance.
Ben had been moved to the third floor, out of ICU and into a private recovery room. Nikki made her way through the entrance lobby and to the elevators, exited onto the third floor, and approached the nurse’s station.
“Ben Ellis.” She said to the attending nurse, who punched a few keys on her keyboard to pull up an answer.
“Room three-forty-five. Take a left and go straight to the end of the hall.” She instructed.
Nikki followed the directions, walking silently past random gurneys and wheel chairs before finally arriving at the end of the hall. His room was the second to the last one on her left, and as she approached the door, she became apprehensive, and slowed her pace. She peeked in the rectangular wire mesh laced window just above the doorknob before entering.
She saw that Doctor Ardisher was at her brother’s bedside, and gently knocked on the door to get his attention. He looked up and saw her, smiled a brief smile for politeness, and waved her in.
• • •
“He’s been improving, responding to stimuli.” Ardisher told her. That’s a very good sign.”
“Thank God.” Nikki replied, before she leaned over and gently kissed her brother’s cheek.
“Hey Bro,” She said softly, before sitting down next to him and taking hold of his hand.
“It’s good to talk to him.” Ardisher added, knowing that that bit of advice was just as much meant for Nikki as it was her brother.
“Thank you for everything, Doctor.” Nikki replied, as she looked at her brother’s face. She noticed the black around his eyes was already beginning to fade a lighter purple and yellow.
“He’s by no means out of the woods yet, but I am very hopeful.” Ardisher added, as he wrote a few final notes in Ben’s file before closing the manila folder, and putting it under his arm.
“I’ll leave you two be. If you have any questions, just let the nurse know, and I’ll get back to you.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
The doctor nodded, and quietly left the room.
Nikki sat with her brother a moment, forcing a smile, as if he could see her, and tried to think of what to say, hoping that her voice wouldn’t crack. She wanted to be strong for him.
“You are going to be all right. Don’t you worry. I’m going to take care of everything.” Was what she came up with. It was all she could think of.
She jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing, the chime muffled slightly by her purse. She carefully let go of her brother’s hand, and rummaged through the bag to find it. She pulled it free and checked the caller ID: It was Michael. She let it ring once more, before deciding that this time she would take the call.
She looked at her brother.
“I’ll be right back. I think you’d agree, it’s time I deal with this.” She said to him, before she got up from the chair and exited the room.
“Hi.” She spoke softly into the phone as she paced in the hallway.
“Hi.” Michael replied.
There was a moment of awkward silence
“I heard about your brother.” He finally continued.
Nikki stopped pacing.
“The accident was on the news. Baby, I am so sorry.”
She didn’t respond, unable to as the effort to fight back tears kept her from speaking.
“If there is anything you need.” He added, knowing what was going on at the other end of the phone.
“Thank you.” Was all she could manage to whisper. “We’re going to be okay.” She added. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you back.”
“It’s okay. I understand. And just so you know, I’m covering all of the medical expenses.”
His statement froze her emotions.
“What?”
“I’ve already spoken with the hospital. And they are sending all of the bills to me.”
“Michael, you had no right.”
“I know I should have asked first, but your brother didn’t exactly have the best insurance, and I wanted to make sure he gets the best medical attention.”
“It’s not your problem. I can handle it.”
“Sweetheart, I know you can, but now you don’t have to. Now you can focus on making sure your brother gets better. I only want to help.”
“I’m not in your life anymore, Michael.” She replied, barely able to contain her anger.
“Nikki, I know you’re mad right now, and you can pay back the money if you want to. But I need you to know, a lot has changed. I’ve changed. I was wrong to fire you, wrong to blame you for what happened, and I’m sorry. Kittner-Kusch is no longer, but I’ve recently been put in charge of a new hedge fund, one specializing in energy, and I want you to consider coming on and being my full partner in running it.”
Nikki’s jaw dropped in disbelief.
“You’re offering me a job right now? Are you serious? You haven’t changed a bit.” She replied through clenched teeth.
“I know this isn’t the time for this, but I’m only telling you this so you know that you have a place to come home to, no strings attached, when he gets better. And I promise you, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that he will.”
“Michael- “
“You don’t have to say a thing right now. Just focus on your brother. And know that I still love you no matter what you decide. You can yell at me all you want tomorrow, because I’ll be on the first flight out in the morning to see you.”
He hung up before she could respond.
She held her phone against her chest, furious. This is vintage Michael, she thought, taking control and putting her on the defensive in the process. She wondered what the hell she was thinking when she thought of her relationship with him. He wouldn’t put her on her heels ever again, she decided. When he came to Los Angeles, she would be ready for him. She turned back towards her brother’s room, and quietly went back inside.
• • •
Michael Kittner put his phone down on the table, and looked across at Richard Brown.
“How did it go?” Brown asked.
“She’s still too upset to discuss it at the moment, but I know her, and I’m certain she’ll come back.” He told the President of Coalition Properties. “Futures trading is in her blood and she knows it.”
“I have no doubt you will do whatever you have to, to help her.” Brown replied. “And Phoebe?” He added.
“Well, she owns it. But once she’s back on board, we’ll have full access.”
“Of course. But first, her brother’s health.”
“Of course. Mr. Brown, I want you to know that you will not regret giving me this chance. Giving Nicole and I this chance. We are going to make you an enormous amount of money.”
“Your reputation speaks for itself.”
Brown looked at his watch.
“I have to go, I’m late for a conference call. But I’ll be in contact. Hopefully Ms. Ellis’ brother will return to health soon, and she will be back working with you.”
The men stood up from the table, and shook hands.
“We can only pray.” Kittner replied.
“Indeed.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Colonel Brown. Thank you for lunch. I look forward to working with you and Coalition Properties.”
“Likewise. And please, call me Richard.”
• • •
Brown exited Daniel’s Restaurant and climbed into his waiting limousine. His impression of Kittner was that of a team player, easily molded, desperate to get back in the trading game. He anticipated no problems from him. Brown had given him four billion dollars to run through his energy trading schemes, a small amount, simply to see exactly how much of a team player he would be. The fact of the matter was that Kittner was actually very good at what he did, and with a little guidance from Coalition Properties fund managers, Brown was confident the trader could double that figure in short order. The money wasn’t the issue, as the true test Brown put in play wasn’t for Kittner. It was for Nicole Ellis.
Brown had made it very clear to Kittner that he wanted the young woman back on board and on the money side. Although the intelligence reports stated that she denied any relationship with Luthecker, Brown was unaware exactly what her level of exposure to him was, so he was hedging his bets. If she went back to her old life, he could assume that she was being truthful about her minimal interaction with Luthecker, and nothing about her life path had changed. She would be plugged back into the system and could easily be monitored from there.
If she refused, however, that would be a clear indication of a more serious level of exposure, and she would have to be dealt with appropriately. On her own she had the potential to be a nuisance, but under the influence of Luthecker, she was a danger.
He checked his watch yet again. His Learjet 31A was waiting to take him to Los Angeles, in anticipation of Luthecker being brought in. He would be debriefed at their West Coast facilities, and Brown definitely wanted to be there when he arrived. He had arranged a conference call with the two agents who had stumbled upon Luthecker in Los Angeles as quickly as possible, in order to make sure that the men were truly up to the job. He intended the conversation to be brief and to the point, and decided that he would make it from the car.
• • •
Wolfe and Stern sat at the conference table across from Stephens, waiting.
Stern was looking forward to the conversation with Brown, and establishing a working relationship with the head of the company. The top guys at Coalition made an enormous amount of scratch, he thought to himself, and he definitely wanted on that gravy train. He figured being the agent who found Luthecker would be his sure ticket. He was willing to admit he had screwed up that evening, and he was more than willing to take responsibility for it. He hadn’t taken the mission seriously. That would never happen again. He planned to get in front of his errors, and if Mr. Brown was as smart as they say, Stern was confident that the man would see his potential. He took it as a good sign that they were waiting on a call from him in the West Coast Offices. If he wanted to fire them, he’d have done so already, they wouldn’t need the formality of a conference call.