Angola LaGrange: Lucky Day Part 2

Looking for the Beginning of this story? Find it and the rest Here.

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I didn’t have any particular destination in mind as my car tore out of the parking garage, I was just trying to lose the crazy biker behind me.

“All right, spill. What’s really going on here, Lucky?”

He shrugged. “I told you, I owe money to a loan shark. I tried to pay him off, but I can’t find him.”

“And now you’ve got Rusty back there shooting up my car. I think you’ve left out a few details.”

“Shouldn’t we wait until we get to your office?”

“You’re sitting in it. Deflect again, and I’ll toss you out. Then your smart remarks can take their chances with whatever other thugs are out there.”

“Message recieved.” He sighed. “It started about a year ago. I was hooked up with this late-night poker game.”

“Illegal?”

“Sure, but the guys seemed friendly enough.”

“Until you couldn’t pay.”

He smirked. “How’d you know? Anyway, they were pretty serious about getting their money, like right away. So I went to Bob Silver for a loan.”

Bob Silver? Probably an alias.

“That let me pay off the other players, but then I was in deep with him. For a while I was able to keep up with the interest, but I never made much progress on the debt itself.”

I gestured to the envelope he’d shown me before. “What changed?”

“I skipped a couple payments to save up enough money to get back into that poker game. Long story short, I managed to get all my money back and then some—enough to pay off the whole debt.

But when I tried, Bob wasn’t in any of his usual haunts. And then goons started showing up looking for me.”

“Like one might expect to happen after not paying a loan shark his money.”

“Yeah, kinda like that.”

I sighed. “So it’s a missing persons case—a complicated one. I’m assuming you haven’t gone to the police?”

“What part of that story do you think I could tell them without ending up in more trouble?”

If this Bob Silver is a fixture in the city’s underworld, probably none of it.

“All right, let’s talk about my fee.”

He agreed to my terms wholesale—which worried me a bit. He hadn’t presented himself as a reliable client. But the kid was also clearly in over his head. Turning him down might have been the same as handing him over to whatever knee-breakers this Bob Silver had on retainer.

“What we need now is a place to lay low for a few hours. Let your trail grow a little colder. I doubt my apartment meets the bill anymore.”

“And mine is obviously out. I know of a few cheap motels around town, we could go there.”

I shook my head. “That’s just the kind of place they’d think to look for you. Better to go somewhere they won’t expect.” I turned down a side road, heading for a small gas station.

“What, are we just supposed to sit at the local stop n’ rob?”

“No, I just need to use their payphone.” I pulled the car to a shuddering stop, but didn’t turn off the engine. Who knew if it would start again.

“Payphone? Who uses those anymore? Don’t you have a cell?”

“I don’t want my number recognized. Wait here.” I left him in the car while I went to make the call.

It did feel a bit silly looking up the number on my cell before punching it into the old payphone.

It barely rang once before the other end picked up. “Lorenz Luxury Suites, how may I help you this evening?”

I pitched my voice to a high squeak to sound younger than I was. “Hello, yes I’m calling on behalf of…a certain eccentric businessman. He’s considering a trip to your fair city, and would, of course, only be willing to stay at your premier establishment.”

“Thank you for your patronage, can I have the guest’s name?”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m sorry, but my employer values his privacy a great deal. He also has certain…other requests.”

“Ma’am, I can’t create a reservation without a name.”

Ma’am? I covered the receiver and cleared my throat before adding a little more squeak to my voice.

“I understand that, but first I have to know if his other conditions will be met.”

“Such as?” Suspicion had crept into the receptionist’s voice.

“He insists on staying in room 317. If it isn’t available, he will postpone his trip until it is.

“Hold on.” A brief pause. “Yes, we can accommodate that.”

That’s all I needed.

“Also, he demands that fresh caviar be brought to the room every morning at seven precisely.” I turned my head away and giggled.

“What was that?”

“Hush, you’re ruining it.” I whispered to no one before turning back to the phone. “Yes, and my employer insists on a big bowl of apricots being in the room when he arrives.” I giggled again.

“Who is this? Is this some kind of prank?”

I squealed and slammed the phone down. That should be enough to make them forget about my other question.

Lucky was still waiting in the running car when I returned.

“What was that all about?”

“Finding us a safe place to stay.” I drove us the long way around to the Lorenz Luxury Suites.

“Here? This place costs more a night than I’m paying you.”

“Not the kind of spot you’d look for a guy who owes money to a loan shark, is it?”

He grinned. “No, I suppose not. Should we check in?”

“Not exactly.” I parked the car in the back of the lot and let the struggling engine finally rest. “Follow me.”

I led him around the front and quickly through the lobby to the elevators. It seemed to take forever for the doors to open, but no one stopped us. Eventually the elevator arrived and carried us up to the third floor. Room 317 was closer to the stairs than the elevator bay—just as well for our purposes.

“Keep an eye out.” I knelt in front of the door. The lock was one of those fancy new electronic card scanners. I’d been—perhaps too optimistically—hoping for something a little more old-school, but with a little luck it wouldn’t matter.

“You sure nobody’s in there?” Lucky asked from behind me.

“I called ahead.” I answered through gritted teeth as the lock flashed angrily at me.

Fortunately, it was the off season, and the whole floor seemed mostly deserted. Nobody came by while I fumbled with the stupid high-tech lock. As long as the staff didn’t have a reason to check the cameras, we’d be fine.

After several failed attempts, Lucky put a hand on my shoulder. “Mind if I give it a try?”

“Knock yourself out.” I stood up and stretched the kinks out of my back. “But its not like in the movies. Locks don’t just pop—”

“Got it.” He pushed the door open with a grin. “Beginner’s luck.”

I highly doubt that.

I didn’t say anything about it as we went in. I did slide the “Do Not Disturb” sign onto the handle before letting the door swing closed.

Lucky whistled. “This is a nice place you’ve brought me to. I’ll have to remember it.”

“Yeah, don’t get used to it. We’re pushing our luck to stay here more than a few hours.”

“Best live it up then.” He pulled a small bottle from the mini fridge.

“Whatever.” I sank into the couch. The adrenaline had worn off and I was once again at the ragged end of another long day.

And I’m not done yet.

“Hey,” Lucky called from the other room. “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but there’s only one bed in here.”

“Take it. I’ve still got work to do.”

To Be Continued…HERE