Boosted (In The Fast Lane) (12 page)

SEVENTEEN

The Search For Sergei

The next day Brody stuck around and spent the morning with
Hannah. It had been so long since he had been part of a civilized couple that
it took him a few hours to adjust. When she took a shower Brody was oblivious
to the fact that she had wanted him to join her. It was only after she had got
out and dried off that he realized what her intention had been. Oh well.
Hopefully there would be plenty of other chances in the future to rectify the
mistake.

They went to brunch together, one of those places with
outdoor seating and a menu full of “creative” options. Brody couldn’t help but
look over his shoulder at times while they were eating. He was confident that
the colonel hadn’t gotten a good look at him. There should have been nothing to
fear. Still, there was the lingering thought in the back of his mind that all
had not gone as well as he thought the previous day.

That wasn’t all that was worrying him. Sergei had said he
would call that morning. It was now closing in on noon and he had yet to hear
his raspy accented voice. He didn’t think Sergei was trying to dick him over.
He’d had too many better opportunities to do so in the past. All the same, he
would feel much better about the whole thing once he’d been paid in full. He
even thought about leaving town, leaving the life behind, getting a real job
somewhere. He wondered what Hannah would think of that. She’d probably be happy
that he was getting out of his life of crime but probably wouldn’t be willing
to uproot herself the same way that he was.

He also had to get his car back at some point. It was the
lowest priority but, like the money, he’d feel better once he had it. He nearly
asked Hannah to drop him but thought better for it. Safer to just go ahead and
call a cab. When he left that afternoon he told Hannah that he would see her
soon. She didn’t want him to go, of course. But he had told her he needed the
weekend to finish up everything and it was still only Sunday.

On the way back to The Canyons he tried calling Sergei.
There was no answer. It went straight to his voicemail. Not a good sign. He was
usually a very easy man to get a hold of. Brody had no idea when he slept, if
ever. Even when he was stinking drunk he was still able to conduct business as
well as any CEO. He decided to go look for him after he’d retrieved the Impala.

He got the car with no problem. It hadn’t been touched in
the day since it had been there. He drove over to the bar first since it was on
the way. There was no sign of Sergei. He decided to order a drink and try to get
something out of the bartender.

“You’ve seen me in here before, right?”

The bartender nodded.

“There’s a guy who I’m usually with when I’m here. Have you
seen him?”

“We don’t like questions here.”

“I know. I don’t like questions either. But I need to know
if he came in here last night.”

“I’m not going to tell you again.”

“Fine. But if he comes in here tell him I’m looking for him.
He’ll know who you mean.”

He noticed as he was leaving that the rest of the Russians
staring at him, taking mental notes on his appearance. Fine. Let them. It
didn’t much matter to Brody. He figured he wouldn’t be welcome back at this
particular establishment. Whatever. He hated fucking vodka anyway.

He made his way over the garage. He tried calling Sergei
once again with the same result. This wasn’t funny anymore. For the first time
he really began to think that Sergei might have skipped town. If what he said
about the Iranian clients was true, he’d been paid handsomely to come up with
the BMW. Perhaps it was handsomely enough for him to retire. An extra twenty
grand would surely come in handy if that was the case.

He rolled up to the garage and sensed that something was
wrong right away. There was no guard outside, something that Brody had never
seen before. Then again, he’d only ever been there on a so-called “scheduled
work day.” It wasn’t likely to be guarded around the clock, especially when a
big shipment had just left the day before. Maybe it was everybody’s day off. He
decided that he had come all the way here and he might as well give a knock on
the door. There was no answer. He knocked again and waited. Still nothing.

“Sergei! You in there?” Shouting wasn’t likely to be much
more effective. Better than just turning around and leaving though. “Come on, I
just want to talk. I’m sure we can work this out.”

He pounded on the door again, more out of frustration than
any hope that it would be effective. “At least have the decency not to stab me
in the back here.”

Son of a bitch. He wondered how hard it would be to break
the door down. He tested it with his shoulder. It seemed solid but had a little
bit of give. Why not. He put his hand on the doorknob only to be shocked to
find that it turned. The fucking place was unlocked. This seemed like the most
unlikely thing to happen all week. Sergei and his boys never would have left
the door unlocked like that, not even right after a shipment. Somebody had to
be inside. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

It was completely dark inside. Unsurprisingly this illegal,
secret garage didn’t feature any windows as part of its amenities. Brody had no
idea where the light switch might be located. He felt around on the walls but
had no luck. He went back to the car and got a flashlight out of the trunk. He
went back inside and lit his way with the thin beam. Everything seemed as
normal. The only difference was that there wasn’t the usual collection of cars.
He continued to move through toward Sergei’s desk. Maybe he had mistakenly left
something in there.

It was then that Brody saw the pair of legs on the floor.
They were on the other side of the desk and they weren’t moving. Holy shit.
Brody stepped closer and closer until he reached the corner of the desk. What
he saw beyond it horrified him. A pile of bodies lay stacked haphazardly on top
of each other. The legs belonged to Sergei, shot through the head after
enduring what looked like a severe beating. On the pile with him was Sergei’s
goon, who normally guarded the outside of the garage, the painter, the
mechanic, and a dock worker. The last was an unlucky bastard who was probably
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They all showed signs of torture: deep bruises, cuts both
small and large, broken fingers. It had not been a quick death for any of them.
They had begun to bloat and had probably been there since the night before.
Brody felt sick to his stomach. It had been a long time since he’d seen a dead
body and never anything as gruesome as this. This could only have been done by
one person: the colonel.

He hadn’t followed him. Brody was sure of that. Even when he
thought he was in the clear he kept his eye on the rearview mirror to make sure
no one was on his tail. The car must have had a tracking chip of some kind. Of
course it did. No one that attached to their most prized possession would be
without one. They usually checked for that kind of thing as part of the routine
at the garage. They must not have done it quickly enough. A fatal mistake as it
turned out. It had probably happened just after the shipment left too. Maybe if
the car was still there things could have gone down a little differently.

Brody’s thoughts now turned to his own fate. What had Sergei
told them? Brody couldn’t assume that he had held out. He had to play things as
if the colonel knew everything that Sergei did. That meant that he couldn’t go
home. He should go ahead and throw his phone into the harbor. He must assume
that they knew what he looked like, knew what kind of car he drove, and knew
the places where he spent most of his time. He had probably placed himself in
danger by even coming to the garage.

He ran out of the garage and back to the car. He had already
turned on the engine when he remembered something. He got out of the car and
wiped off the doorknob to the garage. Best not to have the police looking for
him too.

EIGHTEEN

The Decision

Hannah had enjoyed her morning with Brody. It was the first
time that they had felt like a real couple. She was disappointed in him when he
left. She thought, falsely it turned out, that when he appeared the night
before he was all done with his previous life. It appeared that this was not
quite the case. Perhaps it never would be. Maybe the idea of Brody someday
getting out of the thieving “profession” was nothing but a pipedream. She would
only have him for a few fleeting hours at a time. Was enduring the separation
really better than nothing?

She spent most of that afternoon thinking about him. It
wasn’t the near-obsessive thinking that she had done the week prior. It was a
measured debate between the side of her brain that wanted to hang onto Brody
and the side of her brain that told her that the whole thing would was doomed
to failure. As hard as she tried she couldn’t get the two to reconcile. No
decision miraculously appeared before her.

Eventually she decided to go out and get some air. She took
her books with her and did a little midday studying at the coffee shop.
Ironically enough today’s chapter had to do with individual property rights.
She managed to concentrate for an hour and felt fairly well prepared for class
the next day when she was finished. She picked up a few groceries from the
market and made her way home.

When she arrived back at her apartment she found that she
wasn’t alone. Waiting for her was a group of strange Middle Eastern men. As soon
as she opened her door one of them grabbed her and pulled her inside.

“Please do not scream,” one of them said. He was older and
better dressed than the others. Hannah assumed that he was their leader. She
was too shocked to scream anyway. The man had grabbed her sat her down so that
she was facing the leader. Who were these people?

“I am looking for a man,” the leader said. “I believe he is
an acquaintance of yours.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But she knew
exactly who he was talking about. Brody.

Her face must have betrayed this thought as the leader
pressed on. “Come now,” he said. “This man, Brody. We know that you have seen
him. We want to know where he is now.”

“I don’t know.” This time she was telling the truth. She
never knew where Brody was when he left.

“Call him,” the leader ordered. “Call him and tell him to
come here.”

Hannah’s eyes were beginning to well up with tears. She
shook her head.

“We are not going to hurt him. We would only like to have a
discussion about some misplaced property of mine.”

Hannah didn’t believe him. It didn’t seem like he expected
her to believe him anyway.

“You must believe that we will find him on our own. It is
better for everyone if you call.”

Still, she silently refused. The leader nodded to one of his
men. The thug grabbed hold of her purse and emptied it out. He picked up her
phone and searched through the contacts.

“No!” Hannah tried to get up but she was forcibly pushed
back down.

“It would not be wise to do that again,” the leader warned.

She heard the faint sound of a dial tone. The goon put her
phone to his ear. “No answer,” he finally said.

“Doesn’t pick up your calls. What kind of boyfriend is
that?” The thugs laughed along with their leader. It was a threatening,
lascivious chorus of laughter that sent a chill through Hannah’s being. She had
no idea what they planned to do with her.

“I don’t know what he did. But I swear, I don’t know where
he is. I don’t even know where he lives.”

The leader looked around the room. “Do we believe her?”
Another laugh. “I don’t know if we believe her.”

Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Whatever was going
to happen, it was going to happen soon. She could feel them staring at her, all
four of them. They looked like the type of men who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt
her. Or worse.

“You will come with us.”

“No!” She shouted without realizing it. She knew if she went
with them there may never be any coming back.

“You will. And he will come looking for you. But he will not
find you. We have a secret place where we handle the people who do wrong to
us.”

“But I haven’t--”

“Sometimes we pay for crimes that are not our own,” he said
as if he were suddenly some kind of philosopher. “We must be leaving now.”

The leader stood up. A thug grabbed her on each arm and yanked
her roughly up out of her chair. They dragged her over to the door. The third
goon opened the door for the leader. But when the leader took a step out of the
door he stopped immediately. He took a step back into the room. As he backed
up, a pistol crossed the door frame followed by the arm that held the pistol.
The leader backed up further. Then Hannah lost her breath. Brody walked through
the door.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Brody said. “You’re looking for
me, huh? Well I’m looking for you too.”

“You took something that belonged to me.”

“That’s right.”

“I want it back.”

“And I’d like to give it back. Unfortunately, that ain’t
gonna happen.”

“Give it back and I will show mercy.”

“I can’t do that. I don’t know what our friends in the
garage told you last night but your car is probably floating in the middle of
the fucking Pacific right now.”

“Then call the ship back,” the leader said, practically
spitting out his words.

“Look, chief. That’s not my department. There was one guy
who could have helped you with that and you put a bullet through his brain.”

“Get it back!” The leader’s voice was filled with impotent
fury now. He was like a petulant child demanding one of his favorite toys that
sat upon a shelf far out of his reach.

“Not gonna happen,” Brody said simply. The gun in his hand
never wavered.

“I demand justice!”

“Something more than an apology, I suppose.”

“You took my prized possession. Now I take yours.” It took
Hannah a second to realize that he was referring to her.

“She’s not my possession,” Brody said. “And she’s not
leaving this apartment.”

“I supposed you’re going to stop us? There are four of us
and one of you.”

Brody smiled at him. “Yeah. But I’m guessing if I blow you
away these other three aren’t going to care too much about what happened to
your car.”

“My men are loyal. They will avenge my death.”

“You really want to find out how loyal they are?”

The leader faltered then. Perhaps it was beginning to dawn
on him that the only one in the room who was certain to die was himself. He
decided to change tack. “This will not be the end.”

“Yes it will,” Brody said. “I have a proposal for you. We
leave here together. Me, you, and your three boys there. You leave her alone.
Forever. She had nothing to do with any of this. You can do whatever you want
to me.”

This was too much for Hannah to bear. “Brody!” She didn’t
want to believe his words. She wasn’t thankful that he was saving her. She was
devastated that he was about to leave her once again. Forever this time. She
couldn’t let him sacrifice himself like this. “Don’t do it.”

“It’s the only way. He’ll come after me for as long as one
of use is still breathing.”

“That’s right,” the leader confirmed.

“And if I kill him now his boys might prove to be loyal
after all. Besides, at that point the police would have to be involved. And
nobody wants that.”

“We don’t like the police.” Hannah was beginning to think
that Brody and this man might have gotten along quite well had they met under
different circumstances. They held themselves with a similar level of
professionalism. They shared a belief in whatever unspoken code existed among
people whose lives were lived on this side of the law. It was only by a twist
of fate that they found themselves enemies.

“So how about it, colonel?”

“You can never replace what you have taken from me.”

“This is the only offer on the table. It’s me or a bullet.
And even if your guys get me on the back end, if you do something to her I
won’t be able to live anyway.”

Hannah felt tears welling up in her eyes. She stared at
Brody, studying his face. She tried to record every detail. After this moment
she may never see it again. She didn’t even have a photograph to remember him
by. She would never again be able to feel his touch, never again kiss him,
never again wake up in his arms. She knew that he had come here with the
intention of sacrificing himself for her. He could have left town. He could
have disappeared anywhere he liked when he sense that there was trouble. But he
had come here to save her instead. She now knew how much she meant to him. And
it only made her heart ache more.

“You are in love,” the colonel said. “It is clouding your
judgment.”

“No,” Brody snapped. “I’m seeing clearly for the first time.
What’s it gonna be?”

“I agree to your terms. You will come with us. The girl
stays.”

Hannah almost fainted. She lost all feeling in her legs. If
the thugs hadn’t have been holding her up she would have dropped down to the
floor. She was openly weeping now.

“I’m sorry, Hannah.”

“Let her go,” the colonel said. Hannah sank to her knees as
the tears flowed freely down her face.

“Okay,” Brody said. “Here’s how it’s all going to happen.
The colonel and I walk through the door first. Then the other three. Hannah.”
He waited for her to acknowledge him. “Hannah, as soon as they leave you lock
the door and you call the police.”

“Wait a moment,” the colonel said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll hustle out before they arrive. I just
want to make sure she has protection.”

“You won’t take me on my word?”

“No offense, colonel, but I don’t think either of us know
each other well enough to be taking each other on our word.”

“She must promise not to say anything about us.”

“That’s up to her. You put a pretty unnecessary scare into
her.” Brody opened the door. “Let’s go.”

One by one they filed out of the room with Brody and the
colonel exiting last. As the door closed, Hannah felt as if her life was
ending.