Andrew Price - Without A Hitch

Corbin uncovered his eyes and stared at Evan’s chest. “It’s water under the bridge, let’s not revisit it,” Corbin said through gritted teeth. “Just get me a list of the out processing procedures as soon as possible.”

“How did you and Nobody do this weekend?”

Corbin cleared his throat, still fighting to suppress his anger. “Fine.”

“Anything interesting.”

“No.”

“Have you made any decisions about who we’re going to use?”

“Yes.”

“Who are we going to use?”

Corbin took several deep breaths. “We’ve got a list of candidates. We’re going to check county records this week to make sure they don’t own property we don’t know anything about. We don’t want to use anyone who’s spent their credit on homes or rental property.”

“I’m thinking of running down to Philly this weekend. I could take some pictures of the downtown, maybe steal a phonebook from a 7-11.”

“Steal a phonebook?!” Corbin growled.

“We need a list of banks and mailbox places, right?”

“We can get those off the net .”

“Won’t that leave a record?”

“We’re not going to do it here. We’ve got internet access that can’t be traced.”

“How did you get that?”

“ Don’t worry about it ,” Corbin clenched his teeth.

“So do you want me to go to Philly?”

“No.”

“Ok, I’ll spend the weekend working on my lawn.”

Word of Beckett’s departure spread instantly. No sooner had Beckett told Kak, than Beckett found himself summoned to a half-dozen offices. As if on cue, Molly appeared at their door the moment Beckett left to make the rounds.

“Where’s your buddy?” Molly asked, as she picked light-blue fluff from her sweater and dropped it past her brown tweed skirt onto Corbin’s floor, where it gathered near her feet.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“I hear he’s leaving our lazy little oasis?”

“That’s what he tells me.”

“When’s the big day?”

“June 14th.”

Molly folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “What are you gonna do without your playmate?”

Corbin shrugged his shoulders. “They’ll provide me with another one.”

“Uh huh,” Molly said. She looked around the room, searching for something. “So. . uh, what are you two up to?”

Corbin’s heart jumped. “What do you mean?”

“You guys have been acting suspiciously lately: closed doors, shouting, whispered conversations. You’re up to something.”

“Nothing more than usual.” If Corbin was nervous, he gave no hint of it.

“You know you can’t keep a secret from me. I will figure it out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out.”

“We’ll see.” Molly backed out of the doorway to return to her own office.

Corbin called after her: “You know there are laws against stalking, right?”

Beckett played with his salad, though no one but Corbin noticed. Fiddeja’s was just like every other national chain: busy, noisy, and cluttered. You could do most anything at a table and no one would notice.

“What do you think she knows?” Beckett asked, setting down his fork.

“Nothing or she would have hit me with specific questions. I think she’s just fishing for a reaction, so be ready if she comes after you next.”

“I don’t like this. What do you think tipped her off?”

“Gee, I don’t know. Probably the door being closed so much, maybe the whispered conversations, maybe the shouting.”

“Should we do something to mislead her?”

“Hell no! Don’t overreact, that would convince her she’s right. Just go about our days normally. She’ll lose interest, she always does.”

Corbin stood on his cement balcony looking down at the driveway twenty-two floors below. His old college sweatshirtprotected him from the cool evening air. He was on the phone with Alvarez. As he listened to Alvarez rail against Beckett for picking a resignation date without consulting them, Corbin watched a tow truck turn onto the long circular driveway, causing several illegally-stopped cars to scatter. One remained though, and the tow truck soon would have it. The tow truck then would disappear with its prey firmly in its grasp, as it had on so many other nights. This always reminded Corbin of a wolf stalking sheep.

“What do you want me to do about it, Vez?”

“Can’t we drop him?”

“I don’t see how. We need a third.”

“Can’t we find somebody else?”

“Do you know anyone?” Corbin leaned against the heavy, metal railing which enclosed his balcony and watched the tow truck latch onto its victim. “Besides, now that he knows, it’s dangerous to cut him out. How do we know he won’t turn us in just because he’s pissed? How do we know he doesn’t try something himself and poison our well. . so to speak? I think it’s too risky to cut him out now.”

“You’re probably right,” Alvarez reluctantly conceded.

“Plus, his role really is limited. He’s just carrying the duffel bag, and only on the first day. He’s irrelevant after that. It’s not like we’re relying on him to open the accounts or collect the money.”

The tow truck pulled away from the curb, dragging the car behind.

“How big of a problem is this gonna be for you?” Alvarez asked.

“Not super huge, but it makes things a little more difficult. I’ll probably have to deal with more people coming by the office to wish him goodbye or good riddance, but that’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m more concerned he just did this without consulting us.”

“That bothers me too. We don’t need him doing something stupid and bringing heat down on us.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

The tow truck vanished around the corner with its prey.

Standing with one foot in the office and the other in the hallway, Corbin did his best “Carol Anne” impression from Poltergeist : “They’re here.”

“About time! I thought I’d never get to use this.” Beckett pulled a paper from between the sheets of an unused notepad and placed it into his inbox.

Corbin returned to his desk and tried to look busy.

A few seconds later, Kak knocked on their door. “Hi guys, th. . this won’t take a minute.”

Behind Kak stood a woman with stringy, gray hair tied in a long braid that ran to the middle of her back. She wore pointed glasses and a badge announcing her as an employee of the General Services Administration. She carried a clipboard and a tape measure. Corbin and Beckett watched as she walked around the room, looking behind cabinets and examining electrical plugs. When she peered behind Beckett’s desk, she gasped. A moment later, she was crawling beneath the desk to examine the exposed wires. Beckett pushed his chair out of her away and swiveled to face Kak.

“This is incredibly dangerous. Did y’all list this?” she asked in a thick Virginia accent.

Beckett smiled and deferentially flipped his hand toward Kak, as if to say “you first.” Kak remained silent, but sweat appeared on his forehead.

The woman pulled herself out from under the desk and scanned through the pages attached to her clipboard. “I don’t see any electrical problems what was listed on the inventory. Are these new problems?” The woman tugged the box away from the electrical wires and shined a flashlight directly on the outlet. “How long has this been like this?”

Neither Kak nor Beckett responded, though Kak’s eye twitched, and he struggled to remain silent. Beckett, by contrast, remained cool, but couldn’t stop smiling. Corbin watched the face off as one watches a train wreck in progress, with a strange sense of helpless fascination at the unfolding disaster.