Unobtainable (32 page)

I looked at him confused, why was he dragging this out? All I wanted to do was race for the door and be on my way. It was this close to being over and he was holding me back.

She stared at him, their eyes glaring in a silent battle. “Who the hell are you anyway?”

“Me? I’m your son-in-law,” Dyson put out his hand with a brilliant smile. “Should I call you mom?”

Mommy dearest’s mouth dropped open, she started to stand. Then three familiar faces came to the table, caging her from going anywhere. The indignant look on her face was priceless.

I knew those faces and turned to Dyson, he squeezed my leg sending me a silent message. The man that Dyson was hugging dipped his hand into his breast pocket and drew out a leather wallet, he let it flap open revealing a gold badge. Holy shit, Dyson’s friend was a cop. The other two did the same, revealing shiny gold badges and identification cards.

“Mrs. Helmsley-Cooper, I’m agent Mathews FBI, I believe we should talk,” he leaned in, lifting the knapsack from her lap and setting it on the table. “What do we have here?”

Mathews opened the zipper a few inches, dipping in two fingers and raising several small plastic baggies containing some kind of white powder into view with a few loose one hundred dollar bills. Mommy dearest’s eyes lit up as she gasped, turning her glare towards me. Those little baggies were not there when I filled the backpack this morning and there were no loose bills. I had carefully stacked the money, still bundled without removing the institution bands, what was going on? I looked up at this agent Mathews guy and then to Dyson, who again squeezed my thigh under the table, giving me a silent notification.

“You set me up you little fucker,” she tried to jump across the table, stopped by one of the other two gentlemen in dark suits.

Mathews carefully opened one of the tiny baggies. He dipped his pinkie into the white powder and touched it to the tip of his tongue and sealed up the baggie, placing it back in the knapsack. He grinned, reaching back for a chair, seating himself as close to mommy dearest as he could without sitting directly on her knee. He draped his arm along the back of her seat.

“You may want to lower your voice ma’am,” Mathews said. “We wouldn’t want to draw undue attention your way.”

If the three of them, dressed like something out of
Dragnet,
didn’t draw curious eyes our way, I wasn’t sure what would. Just the way the other two stood with one hand clamped over their wrists, a stern stare and erect stance like a statue, said FBI agent.

“I was set up, this is not mine it’s his,” she pointed at me. “Harley Cooper, I’m your mother how could you do this to me?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, he doesn’t have a mother, you must be mistaken,” Dyson said, holding his side.

Dyson looked like he was in pain. His brows were knit together and tiny beads of perspiration glittered on his forehead and upper lip.

“You okay?” I leaned into his side, he was sweating like a pig, his shirt collar was drenched.

“I’m fine.”

Mommy dearest was begging them to look the other way, she rattled on a mile a minute. She sunk so low as to offer them a bribe. She was a disgusting mess as her eyes darted across the room, scanning the crowd who were watching her squirm in her seat. It was wonderful to see her losing her shit. I wanted to laugh but thought better of it.

“Do you know who I am?” she directed her question to Mathews. “I can see to it that you lose your job. I know people in very high places, I can make it happen.”

“Are you threatening me ma’am? Would you like to add that to the list of charges?” he asked, his voice regimented and calm.

“Charges, what charges?” she asked, blotting away perspiration from her upper lip with her cocktail napkin.

“Possession of an illegal substance, drug trafficking, bribing a federal agent, threatening a federal agent, resisting arrest,”

“Are you arresting me?” she asked, panic stricken. “What do you mean resisting, you haven’t arrested anyone, who is being arrested?”

“You and your friend here,” Mathews said, looking over at Bruno huddled into the corner trying to look inconspicuous. “I’m sure Mr. De Palma has a few outstanding warrants, isn’t that right Mr. De Palma?”

Bruno shrugged. “I ain’t looking for no trouble. I was just doing my job and escorting the lady. She hired me as her body guard. I was just doing my job. I don’t know nothing about drugs. I barely know the woman at all. I was just doing my job.”

Man Bruno was anxious, if he squirmed around much more his seat would burst into flames from the friction. His face was pale and I delighted in seeing real fear in his dark cold eyes. It was invigorating to see him in an unpleasant situation with no way out. I would have given my right arm for a length of rope and a long stick to bury up his ass.

“Perhaps we could bargain,” Mathews advocated, mommy dearest’s eyes widening with hope.

“I’m not opposed to bargaining,” Mommy dearest smiled at Mathews. “I’m listening.”

“See that man over there with the baseball hat on the table?” Mathews asked.

We all turned in the direction Mathews nodded to. Sure enough there was a man sitting with a baseball cap on the table. The man nodded his head to Mathews and lifted the hat, revealing a small camera. He placed the hat on his head and lifted the camera, tilting the screen so he was concentrating it on our table.

“He is also an agent,” he revealed. “From the moment you sat down, he has been recording you. Every word you have said, every move you have made has been recorded.”

“You can’t record me without my permission.”

“Ma’am, you may be right, but I don’t remember asking in the first place,” Mathews said, without so much as a blink. He was smooth as freshly churned butter. I could barely hide my smile.

“Well if you’re arresting us, you have to arrest them too,” Bruno griped.

“That’s where you are wrong, Mr. De Palma,” Mathews said. “For some reason our camera man couldn’t quite get everyone into the shot, sadly we cannot identify the person and or persons from whom you purchased the drugs. It’s a crying shame in this day and age of advanced technology that this kind of thing happens, just a crying shame.” Mathews shook his head, feigning regret.

“Every newspaper and TV station in the State will receive a copy of that recording if you choose not to cooperate, with explicate instructions to televise it every hour on the hour. There will be nowhere you can hide, you will be finished. Mrs. Helmsley-Cooper, you won’t be able to get a job as a washroom attendant at a gas station. And Mr. De Palma you are going to be a guest of the state once more.”

“You will pay for this Harley Cooper, and your wifey too,” she snorted.

“I don’t think so ma’am,” Mathews said. “I advise you to keep those threats to yourself and take the bargain.”

“What do I have to do?” mommy dearest asked, as she shot daggers through Dyson and me.

“You are going to go far, far away. I think the word
disappear
would describe it best, both you and Mr. De Palma. We will give you fifty thousand reasons to do as you are told.”

“Fifty thousand dollars? But it’s my money, there’s hundreds of thousands in there.”

“Oh I haven’t gotten to the best part yet,” Mathews looked at Dyson and me before staring into her face. “As a last ditch effort to save face in the eyes of the public, you are going to donate the remainder of the cash to Lakeview Hospital AIDS research and Healthcare Centre.”

“You’re out of your fucking tree,” Bruno barked, thumping his fist on the table. “The bitch owes me half of that money, no way am I donating my half to some fucking AIDS research bullshit!”

“You think you have a choice?” Mathews asked. “Mr. De Palma, you are simply a pawn in Mrs. Helmsley-Cooper’s little adventure. You have no rights, you have no cash and you have no say. You will surrender or we take a trip to the local lock up where you will stay until your trial.”

“Fuck you,” Bruno barked.

“Shut up, Bruno,” mommy dearest, snarled. “I will take the bargain. Give me my money and I’ll go.”

“After the donation is made, with the news channels present to record it for posterity, then you will get your fifty grand, not a moment before,” Mathews assured her. “Gentlemen, why don’t you see Mrs. Helmsley-Cooper and Mr. De Palma to their new accommodations?”

“New accommodations?” mommy dearest asked, terror written all over her face.

“You will be guests at a very nice motel just outside the city limits until arrangements can be made for the donation service, then and only then, you will be escorted to the airport where a flight will be waiting for you. Don’t worry, agents Brady and Merck will be keeping you company.”

Mommy dearest tried to leap across the table at me again, but was quickly snatched away. She surrendered quietly in the end and was escorted out the front door by agent Merck. Bruno on the other hand wrestled Mathews and Brady, kicking and screaming. The cloud of verbal diarrhea he spewed was the icing on the cake as they dragged him out the back door.

I think the sigh of relief I expelled had been locked in my lungs for many years, it felt good to finally be free.

~Dyson~

Either it was my nerves, completely frazzled after the altercation, or I really was sick. My heart was thumping so hard and rapid in my chest, my entire body was pulsing. I felt hot but cold and my head was whirling, the room was spinning.

Sam came over with two shot glasses and a worried look on his face. I slugged my offered shot back and felt the burn trail down the back of my throat, threatening to come back up again. It took several deep breaths and a few sips from my soda to calm my gut.

“What in the fuck was that all about?” Sam sat in the seat where the demonic duo had been sitting just a few minutes ago.

“I honestly don’t know,” Harley said, pivoting his head in my direction, the pair of them waiting for an answer.

“It’s called a setup, gentlemen,” I took a napkin from the dispenser on the table and wiped my brow.

“Well, it was a first for me,” Sam tittered. “Real FBI agents in my humble establishment, that was exciting.”

“They weren’t real FBI agents, they were the farthest thing from real. They are buddies of mine, actors. They put on shows at that little dinner theatre on Owen Street. I explained the situation to Rob and we conjured up the whole thing.”

“Rob, which one was Rob?” Harley asked.

“Agent Mathews, Rob Welland is his real name,” I told Harley and Sam, who were enthralled. “I’ve known him for years, I dated his sister once, well I took her to her prom. It’s a long story and I don’t come out of it smelling like a rose. We’ve done stuff like this before, mainly for shits and giggles.”

“So none of this was real?” Harley asked. “That means…they will be back.”

“No,” I placed my hand over the back of Harley’s. “Everything is going to go off as planned. Rob and the boys are keeping them at the old Crest Motel until Monday. I made all the arrangements for the donation to take place at ten am, the newspapers and TV stations have the itinerary and should she decide to be foolish, the recording from today will be delivered as planned. She’d be a very stupid woman not to cooperate.”

“You did all this for me?” Harley asked.

“I owe you,” I told him, with a smile. “I also love you, and that makes it my place to protect you. You watch out for the ones you love the most.”

“That’s really beautiful man,” Sam said, rising from his seat. “The next round is on me.”

“I’m good, if you’ll excuse me I need to visit the little boy’s room,” I said, getting to my feet.

I held the edge of the table until the dizzying fog lifted. Harley placed him hand over mine, he smiled opening his mouth to speak, then closed it, looking away.

“I’ll be back in five,” I said. “Maybe by then you’ll know what it is that you want to say.”

I knew what he wanted to say, he knew, he just needed a bit of encouragement was all.

As I stood splashing water on my face, I stopped and stared at the reflection looking back at me, thinking maybe Harley was right, I should see a doctor. Maybe we could go to the clinic on the way to the cabin, it would ease his mind and I could get some meds into me.

I reached over to pull a piece of paper towel from the dispenser and everything started to swirl in all directions. My feet became unstable, my knees grew weak and I collapsed onto my hands and knees. My stomach cramped like a knife being plunged through me and I started to heave as I crawled into a stall and emptied my guts. I tasted a nasty burning from the booze on my tongue as I fought for air.

Once I got myself back to the table, I was met with the look of concern on Harley’s face.

“You look terrible,” Harley said, as he put his hand against my cheek. “A little green around the gills, and you’re warm.”

“Would you be okay with popping by the clinic before we head out of town?” I asked as I sat across the table from Harley. “I’d like to take a quick shower first though.”

“Uh, sure,” Harley narrowed his eyes. “Maybe we should just stay home.”

“I don’t want to ruin your weekend,” I faked a quick smile. “The doctor can give me something and I’ll be feeling better in the morning.”