Copyright © 2018 by Cole Steele
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced
into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.
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Eight
It was almost nine o’clock as I sat reading through emails.
The serenity I had enjoyed for the previous fifteen minutes abruptly came to a
screeching halt. Willow had arrived like a photo finish at the Kentucky Derby
in dramatic fashion. She glanced at the clock on the wall before saying
anything.
“Sorry, the bus forgot her this morning. I had to drop her off at school.”
“You want some...?”
I quickly realized the mention of tea from yesterday.
“No thanks.”
Willow’s desk phone rang. She stared at it for a second.
“You going to answer it?”
“Of course, it’s just that the caller ID is..?”
“What?”
“The Acropolis hotel with all zeros for a number.”
“Answer it.”
Willow Darby quickly took the receiver off the hook placing
it next to her right ear shrugging the same side shoulder keeping it in place
as she sought out a notepad and paper.
“Detective Willow Darby. Yes, he’s right here.”
Looking across the desk she mouthed the words stating it was
for me.
“Who?”
She tapped the mute button.
“Alex Razin, says he’s been trying to call you.”
Taking out My cellphone it showed 3 missed calls and a few
texts. The dam thing never rang.
“Put him on hold and I’ll pick it up.”
“Ok.”
Willow pushed a button the light only blinking once before I
answered.
“Detective Lee”
“Roman, it’s Alex. We need you to come to the Acropolis
immediately. No sirens or lights.
“Alex, where’s my brother.”
“It’s not Micah, he’s actually the one... I’ll explain
further when you arrive, please hurry.
He had been vague and careful with his words. Whatever it was he wanted
discretion and confidentiality.
My brother and the Razin family had been thick has thieves
ever since his parole from the state pen. He had done a few years for opioid
possession. His demise had been more or less driven by his addiction. Micah had
started in the Razin’s grocery store working as a stock clerk. Soon after he
was employed by the boys for security in their club on the river then promoted
as director. Micah had picked up boxing again since parole working his way
through club fights to a contender in his weight class. The Razin brothers
immediately recognized his talent and backed his training.
The Acropolis was directly across the river from the Parthenon which was the other
casino and hotel owned by the Razin brothers just outside the city limits of
Kirkwood. It rivaled any casino hotel combination in Vegas. Large Greek statues
dominated the first floor including the lobby and gaming areas.
A valet came out to meet us as we stopped under the canopy a few feet from the
main entrance lined with revolving glass doors.
Quickly flashing our ID’s the valet promised to keep an eye on the Chevelle.
There was a flash of lights approaching us as a caravan of
dark window tinted Chevrolet Suburbans pulled up to the entrance. Like a swarm of hornets on a piece of rotten
fruit the paparrazi materialized out of thin air waiting for the doors to be
opened on one of the vehicles. The
hotels security detail quickly kept them confined to a roped off area although
a few of them tried to get closer for a better view. Willow walked around to the front of the
Chevelle and stood next to me for a second.
“Wonder who that is?”
“No idea.”
My cellphone went off.
It was my brother Micah. I
quickly answered.
“What’s going on?”
“Are you here?”
“Just pulled up, why?”
“Get in the elevator, tenth floor. I don’t think she’s going
to wait much longer, hurry.”
“What in the hell is going on, Micah?”
“Goddammit, hurry.”
We made our way to the bank of elevators in the lobby taking
the first available one to the tenth floor.
As the doors opened the entire hallway was quiet as a church
congregation before an opening prayer on a Sunday morning. Two tall muscular males wearing white polo
shirts with the hotels logo on them motioned us to a suite directly across from
the elevators entrance. The door read
number 1013 and it slowly cracked opened as my brother stood there. My brother was a just a tad shorter than me at
approximately six foot. Micah Lee had on
a tailored designer suit with a neatly pressed white dress shirt and gold
tie. His shoes were polished to
perfection. He whispered quietly.
“She’s on the ledge.”
“Who?”
“Someone who’s thinking about checking out.”
“Obviously not in the traditional sense.”
“Think she’s high as fuck.
Her eyes are red as the devil.
She’s not making any sense either and keeps babbling.”
“How long has she been out there?”
“No idea.”
“How did you know she was out there?”
“Someone called the front desk anonymously from a cell phone.”
“She a prostitute?”
“How the hell should I know.”
“We have a specialist downtown for this sort of thing.”
“Did you see who pulled up?”
“No, we walked in before they opened a door.”
“The hotel booked the biggest country music name out there
for a concert this weekend. This was the last thing they needed to fuck it
up. You know how they are when it comes
to their reputation.”
“Yeah, all too well.”
“Can you make sure she doesn’t hit the concrete?”
“Why isn’t Alex up here?
This is his fucking hotel, am I right?”
Willow took a few steps toward the window then turned.
“Jesus, she’s going to jump if we don’t do something. Which direction out the window? Right or
left?”
Micah looked toward the curtains that were waving in the
strong morning breeze.”
“Left.”
Willow set her purse down on a nearby table.
“I need a few things.
But you need to move your ass now and get them, understand.”
Micah whispered out into the hallway to his security detail.
“Boys.”
My partner wasted little time with instructions.
“I need a pot of coffee with two cups, a pack of cigarettes
and a lighter.”
Micah returned looking at his phone.
“Be a few minutes but it’ll be here.”
I looked over at her.
“What’s your plan?”
“Let me try and talk to her.”
“Coax her close to the window and grab her?”
“No. That’s the last thing we want to do. The hero thing doesn’t work well in these
situations.”
“How do you know?”
“I watched Carl Reese, our crisis intervention specialist a
couple of times.”
“That’s why he needs to be here right now instead of us.”
“But he’s not, so we need to do something.”
“Alright, your show.”
Willow Darby walked over to the window taking the curtains
and draping them over a chair. She
carefully approached the opening, glancing to her left almost as if she were
expecting an armed suspect to shoot at her.
It was similar to the instruction we received when clearing a room while
training with our tactical unit on occasion.
There were only two corners, right and left and you divided the
potential open space into small finite slices, as you would a pie. You moved slowly and deliberately.
She turned back toward us after spotting the woman out on
the ledge. Willow shook her head and
walked back. I didn’t like her
expression.
“What?”
“Whoever she is, has moved far from the window now.”
“How far?”
“Almost over to the next room.”
“Micah, anyone home next door?”
“Let me try my pass card, but I think it’s occupied.”
“They’re getting a fucking courtesy wake up call then.”
The small green indicator light flashed as my brother opened
the door a little to look inside the suite.
He motioned for us to follow.
There was a set of luggage on the bed but no visible owner, anywhere.
“Must be downstairs in the casino.”
“Or out on the ledge introducing themselves.”
“Bro, really?”
“Your boss is the one that called us out here right?”
Micah looked at me then Willow for a moment.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this every day.”
The items Willow had requested were brought into the room
and placed on a small table before I could respond. Pouring two cups of coffee she took them over
to the window placing one outside casually on the ledge. The woman looked strung out, disheveled and
as though life had beaten her into submission.
Her brown eyes were glazed over and dominated by a bloodshot
appearance. Taking a sip Willow looked
over at her noticing that all of the toes on the woman’s bare feet were flexing
and trying to grip the concrete ledge.
“Sure is a beautiful morning.”
Turning her head towards Willow she looked over then down.
“I’m Willow Darby, nice to meet you. Would you like some coffee or a smoke?”
She didn’t reply aloud but rather mumbled incoherently.
“There’s some nice furniture inside here where we can sit
and talk if you’d like. You know, girl
talk. Just you and I. Probably a lot more comfortable too, although
the breeze is refreshing I must admit.
The woman in her early thirties slid her feet in the
direction of the open window closest to Willow.
An indication of potential reconsideration. She spoke with an accent
which sounded Russian.
“Dah, smoke.”
Willow pulled her head back inside asking for a cigarette
and the lighter. With the cigarette dangling from her mouth she
lit it then climbed up into the window, bracing herself on both sides of the
frame. Trying not to be too loud I had to say something.
“Darby, easy will ya.”
Of course my brother couldn’t resist from putting in his two
cents.
“The new partner has got balls bro, I’ll give her that. Temple would have never done anything…”
Willow stuck her head back inside again.
“Jesus you two, can you cut it out for like two minutes?”
She took the cigarette from the end of her mouth but first took a long draw
from it blowing the smoke off to the side before leaning out and handing it to
the woman.
Sorry, haven’t did that since my senior year in high school. Wow, that was a
long time ago. Anyways
there unfiltered and I....
“Cigarette is fine.”
The woman spoke coherently for the first time.
She took long deep hits off a Marlboro, eventually letting the smoke
escape her nostrils after what seemed like an eternity. Her head rested against the wall as she
closed her eyes. Willow noticed the woman’s
body seemed to relax a little from the nicotine infusion.
“How about that coffee now?”
A bright red glow burned at one end of the cigarette as a final
drag filled the woman’s lungs just before she let the butt plummet to the
ground far below. The tiny ember disappeared
from view after being tossed around in the breeze.
“Coffee?”
Willow studied the woman for a moment as she leaned back
against the wall closing her eyes.
“I didn’t get your name.”
“Sasha.”
“How long have you been out here? I’m sure someone has to be worried.”
“There is no one. I’m what you call expendable, I think you
say it.”
She casually looked at the woman’s exposed arms looking for
obvious signs of drug abuse. A few
tattoos but no track marks were the only things that had altered the skin’s
surface.
“Every human being on this earth has value, Sasha.”
“So you say.”
“I do, and I believe it.”
“Tell that to bitch who did not pay, and then calling me
cheap Russian hoar.”
“Did she harm you?”
“Said would have me deported after slapping me in face if I
complained about payment.”
“I suppose your talent agent is gonna be upset about getting
stiffed, no pun intended.”
Sasha cracked a slight smile, then continued in her thick
accent.
“You have sense of humor, Willow.”
“The offer on the coffee still stands, you want to come
inside?”
“What about men in other room? I hear them talking.”
“Like I said before, girl talk. Let me get rid of the boys.”
Willow jumped down back inside landing on the floor with
relative ease. There were some tense
whispering in the hallway as the registered guest had now shown up wanting to
get in his room and go to sleep off his night of drinking and gambling.
“Can you guys clear out for a little?”
Micah signaled to his security detail to escort the guest
back to the elevator but he wasn’t having any of it. He shouted.
“How long is this going to take? Let the slut jump
already. There’s plenty of em
around. I’ll even pay to watch her
bounce off the pavement. The meter is
running on my room there and I’ve got an important meeting this afternoon.”
He pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills that would have
choked a fucking rhino. My new partner
Willow Darby, went flying by me in the air like some trained MMA fighter and
landed a fist into the man’s cheekbone sending him stumbling back into the
elevator door across from the room. If
anyone appreciated the display it was my brother, Micah Lee.
“Oh my god, bro.
Where did you find her? She
definitely has big cajonas. Someone needs
to line up a fight and I want front row.”
Willow cuffed him easily, then grabbed him by the collar
pulling him up onto unsteady feet.
“To answer your question asshole, as long as it takes. Now you can get your beauty sleep down at the
county lockup for obstruction.”
Our guest nearly fell as I took him from her and pressed the
elevator’s button to go down. Looking
over I could see a dribble of blood leaking out the side of his mouth.
“See you in the car.”
“Thanks.”
Willow went back inside the suite to find Sasha sitting at
the table. She had found the cigarettes
and a plume of smoke now hung in the room.
Picking up the white carafe, she poured a cup of coffee for the both of
them and then sat down across from her.
Micah rode in the elevator alongside us. He was texting on his phone, smiling to
himself.
“She’s full of surprises, that one.”
“Married?”
“Divorced, don’t get any ideas.”
“I’m not, simply asked a status question that’s all.”
“That’s just great.
Not even a week on the job. She
likes Saul’s greasy cooking and you’re making eyes now. Not to mention the mixed martial arts demonstration
on our friend here. Someone truly hates
me.”
“She is cute.”
“Enough already.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Depends.”
“Take our cheerleader friend here to the loading dock so a
patrol car can pick him up.”
“That’s it?”
“I also need the key for the top floor.”
“He’s in a meeting still, I think.”
“I’ll wait.”
“One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The woman from the ledge, it didn’t take her long to come
inside. You knew didn’t you?”
“Alex didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Who is she?”
“Some crazy bitch that’s always hanging out in the
hotel. I think she has some sort of
personality disorder.”
“No shit.”
“A few months ago she claimed her cover had been blown and
some rogue Mossad agent from Israel was trying to kill her.”
“Quite the imagination.
I think we’re going to take her to Memorial so she can get some
professional help.”
“Not a bad idea but I’m thinking that they may have seen her
before over there.”
“She on meds?”
“Don’t think she’s taking them if there’s an existing
prescription.”
“Our mental health system is so fucked anymore.”
We reached the first floor where Micah could relocate our
detainee to a service elevator out of sight of other registered guests. He took a few steps out before I got his
attention.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Key.”
Reaching into his jacket he pulled it out and walked back
handing it to me.
“Make sure I get it back.”
“Give it to you on the way out.”
“See you later.”
“Take care of our friend there.”
“I got him.”
The doors closed after I pressed a button. Micah’s access key gave me the override code
to reach the top floor which housed the offices of the Razin brothers. Rising higher and higher the elevator car
seemed to gain speed before slowing down until it settled at its final
stop. There were no interruptions on the
way given the keys ownership privileges.
Alex Razin’s secretary greeted me before my shoe touched a
fiber of the plush carpet that covered the top floor of the Acropolis. Rose Burchmeier sat behind her desk as the
light from her computer monitor reflected off the reading glasses perched near
the end of a slightly pointed nose. A
light sweater covered her shoulders to keep the chill from the office air at
bay. She was in her mid-fifties, well
organized and an absolute workaholic.
Gone were the days of trying to conceal age with hair color as her
natural dark was almost naturally engulfed in gray.
“Roman, so nice to see you.
I’m going to guess that you borrowed your brother’s key. Alex will be out momentarily. Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?”
“Now you and I both know I won’t get a sip of it and that
door will open.”
The sounds of a handle turning directed our attention to
Alex Razin’s office entrance. Rose
looked at me then back to her computer’s monitor, smiling.
“That’s one of the reasons you’re a good detective, Roman.”
Alex Razin was dressed in an expensive designer suit
standing in the doorway.
“Hopefully it’s not the only one. Roman, how are you?”
I motioned for him to go back into his office that took up
nearly one half of the floor which included a master suite fit for royalty. The heavy wooden door shut behind us.
“You have a minute?”
“Always, what’s on your mind, Roman?”
Alex Razin had put on some noticeable weight in the last few
months since I had seen him last. The
comforts and spoils of a multi-millionaire had started to manifest themselves
around his waistline.
“Looking a little fluffy there.”
He adjusted his suit coat examining a button. Looking back up at me he sighed.
“Too dam busy anymore for exercise. What the fuck, we’re guys. We just buy bigger clothes, right?”
“Some spend a little more than others following that
philosophy.”
I pointed to his expensive taste in clothing at a nearby
rack of freshly ironed shirts.
“I’ll get back in the gym soon. You’re the only honest son of a bitch around
here besides your brother. Everyone else
I think is too scared to piss off the boss, well maybe Rose.”
We both laughed for a minute.
“I’m just busting your balls.”
“I know, but Jesus I am looking pregnant for fuck’s sake.”
He adjusted his coat once more before finally taking it off
and placing it on the back of a chair.
“I’ll be quick.”
“Yeah, you were going to say something before we got
sidetracked.”
“The woman who got our attention earlier this morning. You knew of her, prior to calling us out?”
“Complete psycho.”
“Why didn’t you simply have her banned from the property?”
“I think we’ve tried on several occasions. She just keeps coming back like some venereal
disease that you can’t shake. Micah
thinks she’s meeting guests online and getting in that way. Have you arrested her?”
“She’s talking to my new partner right now in one of the
rooms. We’re going to take her to
Memorial, maybe a psychiatrist can authorize an extended stay somewhere. Keep her out of your hair for a few days.”
“So Temple retired?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he do what most seniors do when they hit the golden
age?”
“What’s that?”
“Move somewhere warm and fish all day.”
“Good guess.”
“He seemed like a simple straightforward guy.”
“I learned a lot from him.”
“What about this new one?”
“Jury’s still out.”
“Sounds like it will shake things up a bit.”
“Maybe, but she adapts quickly.”
“She? What’s her
name?”
“Willow Darby.”
“Different.”
“I think my brother has a thing for her already.”
Alex Razin chuckled.
“Like I said, it’ll shake things up for you.”
“You really have no idea.”
“I appreciate you taking care of this little matter for us,
Roman.”
“Protect and serve.”
“Cut the shit. You
know what I mean.”
“How was your meeting?”
“They booked two future dates for next year, including
playing here for the weekend.”
“Sounds good.”
“There’s so much bullshit that goes on behind the scenes to
make it all happen.”
“Probably the same stuff that goes on with late night talk shows
and their guests.”
“Times ten.”
“I bet they whine like spoiled brats.”
“Musicians are easy, it’s the fucking comedians.”
“Really.”
“Green M&M’s only, certain types of flowers in their
dressing rooms and they better be fresh, Jesus Christ it never ends.”
“Success is a bitch isn’t it.”
“It’s not easy, especially protecting your reputation. Just like sports teams. America likes winners for only so long. The ones that cheered you on in the beginning
are often delighted when you get taken out.”
“True statement.”
My phone vibrated with an alert. Willow was waiting in the car with Sasha or
whatever name she had decided on for the moment.
“We’ll talk again soon.
Text me or something, Roman.”
“Think you can get us a couple of tickets for the concert?”
“Sure. Just let me
know which night.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
Rose was busy typing on her keyboard at breakneck pace. Never pausing to look up she spoke as I
walked by her desk on the way to the elevator.
“Not going to say goodbye?”
“Didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I’m certainly capable of doing two things at once
detective.”
“Goodbye Rose.”
“Nice seeing you again, Roman.”
The elevator ride down to the lobby was fluid with no stops
in between thanks to Micah’s key. He was
waiting by the front desk as I handed it to him.
“Thanks.”
“They’re out in the car.”
“I know.”
“See ya, Micah.”
“You think maybe…”
“What’d I say earlier?
Don’t start.”
“Alright. You taking
psycho out there down to county?”
“Memorial actually, see if we can get her some help and a
path back to reality.”
“Good luck.”
