Double Down - 3. Chapter 3

I stretched the next morning when I woke up, feeling better than I could remember in recent months. For the first time in what seemed a very long time I had a sense of hope. It was as if my entire body had been filled with a breath of freedom, I just felt lighter. I rolled out of bed and decided to take a shower. Cranking up the heat, I enjoyed the feel of the water cascading over my head and down my body. My skin had felt tight before, as if drawn across my bones, shrinking tighter as my world became smaller and my mind sank into depression. Now it felt as if the water was soaking in everywhere it touched, easing that tightness, so that my outside was as relaxed as my inside.

I got dressed in some of my nicest things, not that they were that great, but I felt good so I wanted to look good. The pants were tight in all the right places and my shirt didn't hang on me like so many of my other ones did since I had lost weight. Opening the door to the living room I tried to be quiet until I saw Nat sitting up on the edge of the futon rubbing his face. He was in just his boxers, but I kept my eyes strictly on his face. 'Keep it cool,' I reminded myself.

“Good morning!” I said brightly as I moved into the kitchen.

“What side of the bed did you roll out of? This is quite the shift in mood,” Nat said incredulously.

“I don't know, I guess I just had a really great night’s sleep. I'm in a good mood this morning.”

“Glad one of us did,” he groaned.

“I told you to take the bed,” I reminded him.

“Yeah and if you don't get the call today, I'll be taking you up on that.” He stood, stretching his back and groaning as it popped audibly.

“Why don't you go get a shower while I start some coffee? You'll feel better for it and it will loosen up some of those muscles.”

“I think I will.” Nat gathered up his bag and made his way into my room while I busied myself at the coffee pot. That set, I turned to putting the futon up, bundling the blanket and pillow into a ball and putting them on my bed for now. I heard the shower still running so I went back to the kitchen. I wasn't sure if Nat was big on breakfast, but he ate yesterday so I decided to put something together.

“Oh man, that coffee smells great! It might just finish making me feel human again,” Nat said as he came out of the bedroom about ten minutes later. I was just finishing up the cut fruit and toast. He came to the counter where the steaming cups were sitting.

“Why don't you take those? I'll get the food.” I picked up the bowls of fruit and the plate of toast, leading the way into the living room.

“Wow, you made breakfast too?”

“Nothing special, just some cut fruit and toast. I have some strawberry jam if you want some.”

“No, no,” he assured me, “this looks great!”

We sat on the couch as we ate and sipped our coffee. I enjoyed the good food and company, neither of which I had much of in recent times. “So, have you thought of anything you would like to do today? We've got all the work bit out of the way, right?”

“Well, not quite. I brought a few dummy computers that I am working on so you could practice installing the chip in a desktop and a laptop. After you've tried that we could get out for a bit. It's pretty early; maybe we could go downtown and then get some lunch? You just have to stay by an area with a phone, right?”

I sighed at the thought of the technical crap, but getting out and just poking around the city did sound fun. “Yeah, I always keep a bit of change on me for a pay phone just in case. I've never really looked around the city, so that sounds like a good time, as long as you don't expect a tour guide.”

“Oh no, that'll just make it more fun. It will be totally new discoveries for both of us.”

Nat went out to his car and brought in his dummy computers. He handed me a small round keychain ring, grinning as I looked at him puzzled.

“Pull on it,” he said mysteriously.

I put my thumbs in the ring and pulled them apart, watching as the seemingly solid ring straightened out. One end was flat and fit almost seamlessly into the hollow end on the other side. “It's a screwdriver!” Nat said proudly. “They won't know you have it and you can use it to open up any computer.”

“Very clever,” I marveled. “So, are you going to show me how to do this?”

“Nope.”

“No?! Why not?”

“You're going to do it, but I will walk you through the process. Then a time or two on your own and you should be good.”

“Uh huh... Tough taskmaster, aren't you?” I joked.

“If it keeps you out of harm’s way by making sure you can get in and get this done as fast as possible, hell yeah I am,” Nat said seriously.

I sobered at that thought, taking the lesson more seriously. I followed all his directions to do the install the first time, and then he had me reverse the whole process and start over. The next few times he watched silently, only offering tips or correcting me if I did something wrong. It took about two hours before he was satisfied, more than the few times he had originally mentioned, but I could understand perfectionism in this case. By the time we were done I could do the install with my eyes shut.

“Okay,” Nat said, rubbing his hands together. “Now it's time for some fun!”

The wind still made the spring weather a bit chilly so we grabbed our jackets and headed out the door. Instead of driving we walked a few blocks over to the closest bus line and hopped aboard the first one headed downtown. We wandered around looking in shops and exploring the small parks that cropped up every few blocks. One even had a small pond with reeds around the edge and the sound of frogs croaking among the city noises, a small oasis of nature in the otherwise concrete jungle.

We kept it simple and got hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch. I got mine plain with ketchup but Nat smothered his in sauerkraut. I wrinkled my nose. “Gross, you are going to have the sourest breath!”

“You mean you won't be kissing me, then? Damn.” Nat winked as he took a big bite. My mouth dropped open in astonishment at his joke, showing him my mouthful of partially chewed hot dog.

“Eww, now that's gross. Guess I won't be kissing you either!” Nat pounded me on the back while I coughed and choked, laughing uproariously at the look on my face. I just shook my head and took a drink of my water. I wasn't going there.

After lunch we wandered around a bit more, ending up in a bookstore. Nat and I both headed back to the science fiction aisles. We browsed looking at the new and used books. I was thrilled to find a cheap used copy of the latest book in the series I was reading. We both made our purchases and decided to head home. We were sitting close to each other on the bus, side by side in one of those little two seat sections when the beeper at my waist went off, startling us both. I took a deep breath, fear making my heart pound as I checked the message. The game was tonight at 10 pm, I just had to call and get the location. We got off the bus by my place, stopping at the store to use the bank of payphones in the entry.

The phone rang twice. “Yeah?” said a gravelly voice, sounding bored.

“It's Demarcus. I got the page. Where am I headed?”

“Fifth and Freemont. Tell them Marty sent you.” At that the line went dead. I’d got what I needed, the address and the door code. We walked back to my apartment, waiting to call Anna until we got into the privacy of my living room.

Nat called her on his cell phone and then handed it to me. I talked with Anna about the plans; she wanted to make sure I was still prepared to do what it took to take Mestrick out. I was more than ready; I wanted to be free of all of this once and for all. She let me know they planned to be by at nine p.m. to get me wired for sound and video. Meanwhile they would scout out the location and make entry plans for when I was ready for the distraction to get Mestrick out of his office so I could plant the bug.

I was jittery while we waited. Normally I had a sort of fatalistic acceptance before a game, but this time I was keyed up, nervous and scared. I couldn't eat dinner, just sat drinking coffee or paced the room imagining all the ways this could go wrong. Mestrick was ruthless and had a lot of guys working for him that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in me or my brother.

All too soon and yet not soon enough there was a knock on the door. I was sitting on the futon gulping my fifth cup of coffee at this point so Nat opened the door. He had tried multiple times to soothe my nerves but it was hopeless. It wasn't just me; I was worried about Ry too. I had to make sure he would be safe.

“Hi Marc, are you ready?”

It was Anna and one of the FBI suits. The suit was carrying a black nylon bag filled with equipment, a mic and a small camera that looked like a button. I wasn't too thrilled about shucking my shirt for the microphone to be attached, but at least my hairless chest meant I didn't need to have any weird patches shaved on it. The camera had a bit of a spike on it and took the place of the top button on my semi-formal shirt I had pulled on over my black slacks. I had to blend in with the crowd at this warehouse; it wasn't going to be one of the dives I had to dress down to.

The suit used his cell phone to call the tech operator in the waiting van, performing sound and video checks. All the equipment was green lighted; now I just had to head down to the club on Fifth and Freemont. I grabbed my buy in cash and headed out to the car. Nat came along in the FBI van in case I had any questions about the chip instillation on the way to Mestrick's compound after the game.

I drove carefully to the warehouse district, not bothering to lock my car when I parked it on a dark curb. It matched the surroundings; there wasn’t a real risk that it would be stolen. I squared my shoulders, firm resolution stiffening my spine as I walked to the side entrance, same as every other time. Giving the password I was allowed in by a stocky guy in a tight t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Definitely had goon written all across his forehead.

I made my way over to the cage cashier to get my chips, making sure I took a roundabout path through the room. I wanted my camera to pick up all the illegal activities going on in the dark corners. I could clearly see drugs and money furtively changing hands in many of the dim alcoves created by the scaffolding and hanging curtains.

Those flimsy walls also failed to conceal writhing and bobbing that was discreetly or even not so discreetly going on. In one instance, I managed to capture a prostitute being offered money by a client as she started to go down on her knees, his pants already open. She tucked the bills into her bra than proceeded to begin blowing him with professional dispatch. I tried to make sure the camera caught the transaction but had to turn away, my stomach faintly ill from the sight. I hadn’t realized all this was going on, I guess I had never really paid much attention before, zeroing in on the card tables and getting out just as single-mindedly.

I finished my circuit, got my chips, and headed over to a table, glancing at all the players and the dealer. I had become pretty adept at reading people who were playing by now. The men and women were all a bit nervous, which meant they didn't come to play often. Good, that was the type of table I typically joined. I sat down and placed my first bet, getting lost in the cards, focusing on my job but not forgetting my act.

I played enough to win a good chunk of change then left the table under the pretense of finding the restrooms. Sure enough, they were another hotbed of criminal activity; one stall actually had a line of customers for the drug dealer inside. He had a small table set up with all sorts of drugs, like a little pharmacy, something for whatever kind of trip you craved.

I used the urinal, keeping my eyes strictly straight ahead, not wanting to encourage anyone to bother me for anything, or show the government my goods on that itty bitty camera. I didn’t bend at all to zip up my pants; I hoped it didn't have a wide lens. The audio was bad enough. You could hear the drug deals taking place and even one man propositioning another one for a quickie in one of the remaining stalls. How people could behave like this was beyond me. I wanted nothing more than to be shut of this type of world forever.

With that in mind I hurried back out to the tables, playing Texas hold 'em this time now that I had the two thousand buy in. I tripled my money in the next hour, getting dirty looks from some of my table mates but the dealer ignored it all. This warehouse was one owned by Mestrick. I had played here before. Obviously he had warned his staff to ignore certain big winners. I took my winnings to the teller, turning in my chips in exchange for six crisp one thousand dollar bills. I'm sure it was freshly 'laundered' money. Man, I had been blind before the FBI had filled me in on what was really going on all around me.

Folding the cash into a money clip coated in an invisible ink, another gift from the FBI, I left by the same side door I came in at just two and a half hours earlier. The streets were quiet in this district though it was Saturday night after midnight. It wasn’t really late but the whole goal was to keep these locations discreet. I just wanted to get the rest of the night over with, so I quickly got in my car and headed off toward Mestrick's compound. A few miles later I pulled over into a deserted shopping complex, pulling around back where a van waited for me in the pitch black night.

“Did you have to make this so complicated?” I complained as I climbed inside the cramped van. It wasn't glamorously appointed or full of slick electronics like some of the movies portrayed, there were no flashing lights or large computer screens. I wrinkled my nose; it smelled like stale coffee and sweat too.

Nat laughed at the look on my face. “Yeah, not so luxurious, huh? Try sitting in here watching you play cards, yawn!” I gave him a bit of a smile, understanding his attempt at levity to make me feel better. Anna and two suits were in the van as well, one in the driver’s seat and one guy hovering over the small computer that was controlling the bank of recording equipment.

“Let's go,” Anna ordered the driver. She turned to me, “Let’s get that equipment off of you and you back in your car. Who knows if Mestrick has someone alerting him to the time you left the warehouse.” Anna was lifting my shirt as she spoke, ripping off the tape with brutal efficiency. I winced as the tape stuck a bit to the skin the last time she pulled.

“Jeez, Anna. Leave the guy a little bit of skin!” Nat joked, still trying to raise my spirits.

“Oh, pooh! You guys are a bunch of babies; it's a little bit of tape. Let's get that button camera off you too.” Anna said. I twisted the pin camera and it came free of the fabric of the button down shirt I was wearing.

“Did you guys get what you needed?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, those drug deals you caught and the prostitution? If we can get the records and stuff off of Mestrick's computer that ties him into all of this we'll be golden. You probably won't even have to testify.”

“Testify? No one said anything about having to testify!” I panicked, deathly afraid of having to face these guys after they found out it was me who turned them in.

“It'll be okay. We'll make sure you are protected until the trial and when they are convicted you will be perfectly safe. I promise.”

“Is Ryland safe? He'll be protected too, right?”

“Well, the department resources are stretched pretty thin,” she hesitated. I was instantly suspicious.

“Is he even being protected right now? I want to talk to him; you promised agents would be with him when this whole thing went down!” I felt bad that I hadn't thought to check on my brother before now, but I was overwhelmed by everything that was going on.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Here's a phone, go ahead and call him. He's with two of the agents at his apartment. I would never lie to you about something this serious.” The suit handed me his phone after he dialed one of the agents directly.

“Hey Ry, it's me.”

“Oh, thank gods, you're safe. I've been so afraid.” Ry sounded anxious and almost in tears on the phone.

“Not quite yet, but I will make us safe soon, I promise. Look, the agents just told me I might have to testify and they can keep me safe, but after this happens I won't be able to move around very freely. Do you think I could move in with you for a while once I’m all done with this tonight? Since I don't have a job and all.” I tried to hide the real reason I wanted to move in, so that the FBI could keep him safe as well. As an added bonus, Nat was a neighbor. I know I was trying to keep it simple, but who could blame me for wanting to be around him? All in all, he was a pretty cool guy anyhow.

“You mean it? Really? We could be together again?” Ry sounded excited now. “I'll be there tomorrow to pick your stuff up.”

“Whoa, hold on little brother. Let's talk again in the morning, when we know what is happening, okay?”

Ry sighed. “Alright. I'll wait till I hear from you again. Stay safe, okay?”

“I will, you too! And Ry, I love you,” I said, a bit choked up but afraid if something went wrong I'd never be able to say it again. I needed to let my brother know how I felt, how grateful I was that he still loved me after all this.

“I love you too Demarcus. And I mean it, be careful! Promise me?”

“I will,” I promised. “I gotta go now.”

“Bye,” said Ry, the tears making his voice thick. I could hear him trying to hide them, and it broke my heart. He was trying so hard to be strong, but he was only an 18 year old kid. I had to protect him; we were all each other had left in the world.

I handed the phone, taking a deep breath. “So, where's your baby, Nat?”

Nat held up the slim black case.

“And how am I smuggling that in?”

“You're not. I've created a little cover for it too.” Nat grinned. “Guess what you get to do?”

I sighed, “Open my shirt again? You guys are cruel.” I complained, but I unbuttoned my shirt watching Nat brandish a tiny flesh colored band aid. “It's got a small water resistant lining built in, can't have you sweating all over the chip because we are going to ... tuck it ... up ... under your armpit. Just there!” I giggled at the light touch of the fingers tickling as well as smoothing the edges of the Band-Aid in such a sensitive area, but Nat was very gentle as he smiled at my silly reaction. He seemed to be really happy that he got me to lighten up a bit.

“Now, you remember what you need to do right?” Anna asked me.

“Yes, get in, go to Mestrick's office, wait for the distraction and then plant the bug. I've got my screwdriver key ring in case I need it.”

“You're certain you'll be in his office when the raid goes down?”

“Yeah, they always escort me to him right after they frisk me, so I can stand around waiting and be reminded of my place as a peon. Normally one guard stays in the room and Mestrick is at his desk.”

“Perfect!” Anna said with a gleam in her eye. Spearheading a takedown of this magnitude, with interdepartmental cooperation and a major name being taken down? She would be on the fast track for a major promotion, that's for sure. I was mostly sure that meant she would protect me despite the cost, since I was such a big part of the plan.

By then we were within a few miles of Mestrick's compound so they pulled the van over and I got out. Nat gave me a squeeze on the shoulder, an encouraging look in his eye. “Good luck,” he said. I passed the agent who had been driving my car and climbed inside.