Chapter five
It was a tight fit, but I was able to situate the canister and set the timer to go off at exactly 5:00 AM. It was a unique design and one that favored an immediate release of the gas. There was even of redundancy where I could use my phone to set it off if anything technical was to go wrong.
It was 4:00 AM with only 1-hour remaining. Graham had set up a camera in the room using a key from the maid’s cart. We had the perfect vantage point by watching them from our room. I came out in a janitor’s closet and lowered myself without making any noise. I opened the door and casually strolled down the hallway until I was going back inside to find Graham staring at the screen.
“I’m glad you were able to compromise. It does make me feel naked to have a gun without any bullets in it.” I went into the bathroom and turned on the water loud enough to prevent him from hearing me dry heaving. I suddenly got this image of him on top of me with that contorted face of release.
I was standing with my hands on the white marble counter. It all came back from him saying he felt naked with a gun with no bullets in it. He had used the same phrase for an entirely different purpose. Different phrasing, but familiar enough to jog my memory.
“This is one gun locked and loaded with many bullets.” I felt this shiver like somebody was walking over my grave. He didn’t recognize me. How could he when we were both drunk. That was one night he didn’t pass out.
The bun in my oven was put there by Graham. The blackout of that night had given me more than a one night stand. I was with child, two months along. I was foolish to get involved with anybody in that bar. Marbles was known to cater to those elements better left in the shadows.
“We have to get ready.” I couldn’t tell him and risk his impending fatherhood getting in the way. The whole evening was nothing but fragments of distorted images with our limbs tangled together.
“Give me a few minutes to get my game face on.” I was pale not that it was a big deal considering my moniker of being the ghost.
I could see it vividly playing out like a movie in my head. How we were giggling and he was pulling at my clothes upstairs in a vacant room. The bed was a single cot and the sound of it breaking while he was fucking me was jarring, to say the least. It was precisely at that moment he grunted and gave me something to change my outlook forever.
I threw cold water on my face to snap me out of the long and forgotten memory of that night. It was no wonder I had these feelings of pent-up frustration when I was around him. My body knew what my mind was trying to catch up with. It was that craving for his form which had us all over each other in the elevator the first night.
I came out disheveled and sat down to look at the haggard expressions on the players’ faces on the screen in the room. We waited with the clock ticking slowly. It was almost like Chinese torture.
“These last couple of days getting to know you made me see you differently. In my eyes, the ghost has always been a legend and it’s nice to put a name to the reputation. I do wish we could have done more than work together.” That night was still a blank slate to him.
“It was probably for the best. We don't want to make things more complicated than it already is.” He had no idea and was oblivious to the major change about to smack him in the face.
“I don’t know why, but I think we would have been good together. I’m not ruling out something in the future happening between us. This partnership is a one time deal, but it doesn’t mean we can’t spend time together. I would enjoy getting to know your body and taking my time to figure out where your erogenous zones are.” It was after 5:00 AM and the gas was making them drop like flies.
Timothy must have realized something was wrong and tried to get out of the room. Graham had already tampered with the lock.
Timothy was desperate and wildly looking around until he stared right at the camera in the ceiling. He was barely able to stand on top of the chair, shaking his head and trying to keep his equilibrium.
“We should have been in there a couple of minutes ago. His high tolerance for the gas is ruining everything.” I could have reiterated what Graham was already saying, but there didn’t seem to be a need.
We ran into the elevator and refrained from putting on the gas mask until we were on the top floor. We knew exactly where the cameras were and made sure to keep our heads down low to avoid detection. The guards were preoccupied trying to get into the room to notice the threat right behind them. They went down like a sack of potatoes using a Billy Club to the back of their neck.
He used an electronic device to disengage the lock. He showed me the small piece of metal which had gone unnoticed making everybody in the room a virtual prisoner.
We went inside and closed the door using the same piece of metal to keep anybody from entering. We gathered the money on the table into two black bags.
I was reasonably certain there was over $65,000,000. The hamster was looking at a lump sum of 6.5 million. Most of mine was going to charity with the rest to live on for the rest of my life. I had a feeling the lure of danger wasn’t going to be a stranger for long. The baby on the way was making it necessary to secure its future. The unconditional love was something I had never experienced before and probably never would again.
We weren’t going to go out the same way we came in. Graham produced a black cord and went over the side of the balcony down to a room we knew to be vacant.
“I fucking knew…it was you.” The words were like a teacher raking their nails down a blackboard to get the students’ attention.
“I hope there are no hard feelings. I left you something as a consolation prize.” The money earmarked for the charities was down one million dollars.
“This doesn’t…make us even.” He was barely awake and fighting the influence of the gas. His tolerance was amazing, but even he had his limits. The door to the balcony being open had kept him from succumbing to the gas to the point of being unconscious.
“I know it doesn’t and I’m sure you have some interesting ways to torture me when you get your hands on me. If I have my way, then this will be the last time we ever lay eyes on one another.” I put my leg over the railing and looked down to see that Graham was waiting for me.
“This was supposed to be mine and you took it away from me. I won’t forget this.” He was sounding like a broken record, but at least this time he was left with something for his troubles. The one million dollars would hopefully take the sting out of losing $64,000,000 on top of that.
“I have to know how you got away from the cops. The only way out was in a pine box or body bag.” My curiosity had gotten the best of me.
“You just said a mouthful. We all went down in a hail of bullets like in the old west. I had gotten my hands on some medication to slow our heart. Most of us woke up when we were processed at the coroner’s office. Jessie wasn’t so lucky. One of the bullets was a dead shot between the eyes. You have his death on your conscience. He will be avenged one day. By the way, Gideon says hello.” He slumped onto the table, leaving me to ponder the last thing on his lips. I never wanted to hear that name again.
I repelled down the rope into Graham’s waiting arms.
I wasn’t expecting the gun in my face.