Dennis Larsen - With Cruel Intent

Seymour sat in the back of the squad car, a tear running down his cheek, not understanding what had just happened, but desperately needing someone that would just believe him. He needed to speak with Blanche.

Jeremy broke his own rule and phoned Iggy’s cell from a payphone half way between his office and home. The communication through the online apparatus made it sound like the culmination of their years of planning was to take place this week. He wanted to hear it from his mouth that everything was a go. There could be no screw-ups; they would not get a second chance.

Iggy answered the phone on the third ring, “Hello, Director Savard.”

“Iggy, it’s me, I will keep this brief. Your last message said you were prepared for this week. Do you have everything our man will need?”

He immediately recognized the voice as Jeremy’s but was disappointed that there was no exchange of niceties before getting to the gist of the call. “Yeah, Felix coded a message to me yesterday saying, he’s ‘in like Flynn’ with your step mom and thinks either Wednesday or Thursday would work for our guy.”

“Great, but do you have everything he will need? It must appear to him that it’s the same as the others, however, we will want him to be there at a specific time.” Jeremy paused and thought for a moment. The line was silent but for the sound of the two men breathing. “Do this. Tell him that we know the target will be out of the house at 8:00 p.m., doing a showing that we have arranged, and he’ll be free and clear for at least two hours. Tell him we want the place ransacked, needs to be more bizarre than anything he’s done. We want him to carry on the premise that the perpetrator is escalating his theme.”

“Okay, that sounds good. I’ve got the same stuff as before, key, picture, layout and general information. Can you think of anything else?”

“Yeah, throw in an extra thousand bucks cash, tell him it’s a bonus for doing such a good job and that the rest of his money will be sent when the job is done. You think Felix is up to this?”

“I guess we’ll find out. I think he’s actually enjoying himself, in a strange kind of way,” Ignatius said.

“Okay Iggy, make this happen. Coordinate everything for Thursday night, that’s four nights from now, at 8:00 p.m., do you have any questions?”

“No, other than, when do we hear from you again?”

“Could be months, just stick to the plan. Don’t you two screw this up!”

There was no goodbye, just the click of the receiver as the line was disconnected.

Iggy sat in his car mulling over the discussion he’d just had with his ‘friend’. They had thought of everything, he was sure they had. He was anxious to have it all over with. The sneaking around, the plotting, and the stress of it all were taking its toll. He didn’t know how much more he could put up with. At least it appeared as if there was light at the end of the tunnel. He pulled up his laptop and logged onto the forum, formatted the message in such a way that Felix would understand, and hit ‘finish’.

He would get the message, ‘Thursday night it’s a go, 8:00 p.m., final performance, speak with a friend.’

Felix had done his homework, looked over all the information and statistics, land surveys and everything else Beverly had provided him. He spent an hour Monday morning on the phone with the Developers discussing the pros and cons of the property. He was relieved to hear that they weren’t ready to commit but wanted some more work done before making a final decision. This was not Felix’s first time around the block with real estate deals. He’d worked in Chicago behind the scenes, to secure and flip properties identified by the corrupt mayor’s organization, with a little something always kicked back their way. He could make anything look legitimate, which was his specialty.

He worked on the dining room table at Caroline’s, typing and drafting the documents that he would normally want approved and looked over, by both a buyer and seller, before he brokered a final deal. He made sure that Mrs. Muir and Caroline knew exactly what he was doing, the more witnesses the better at this point. “Don’t appear to hide anything,” Jeremy had said. When he completed a list of questions that the CEO wanted answered, he called Beverly Davis.

“Beverly, how are you? Felix Unger here.” He waited for a response.

“Felix, I was hoping I’d hear from you today. Did you get the documents I scanned and emailed you?” she said, while looking into the rear view mirror of her BMW, smoothing her hair and checking her makeup.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m calling. I’ve been on the phone a good part of the day with the CEO, and they are still very interested, even more so now that I’ve filled them in, but they have a few questions and concerns they would like me to address with you,” the smooth Felix said.

“Oh, well that sounds really good. I’m sure I can clear up any concerns or question ya’ll may have, and the other reason you phoned?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in town but I just can’t get you off my mind. Was wondering if you’d like to have a drink or two with me tomorrow night. I’m kind of tied up till then, we could go over the list of concerns I’ve got and spend some time together, kill two birds with one stone,” he said, almost dropping the phone when he realized what he’d said.

“That sounds lovely. Should we meet or do you want to pick me up?” she asked.

They finalized their meeting arrangements, agreeing to meet at a local bar for some ribs and drinks and 'whatever', the following night.

Felix needed to make one thing clear to Bev and wanted to get the phrasing just right, “Bev, I hate to even say anything, but I just want to be clear about one thing. I have a reputation to uphold, if the company I’m representing were to get word that I was having anything but a professional relationship with a business associate, especially with one as attractive as yourself, it could be devastating for my personal business. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“Certainly, I understand perfectly. I will keep our meetings and dealings strictly to myself until such time that we need to involve other parties. How does that sound?”

“I would really appreciate it, can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

Once off the phone with Felix, Bev hit another number from her cell and dialed the Valdosta Library. Blanche answered the phone, as she always did, pleasant and professional.

“Is this the beautiful and busty bombshell that runs the library?” Bev said, in a loud obnoxious voice.

“If this is Bev Davis it is, but if it’s Ester Anderson, then no, you must have me mistaken with someone else,” Blanche responded, a smile on her face.

“How are you girl? I’ve missed our chats the past few days, what’s been takin’ up yer time?” Beverly asked, having no idea what Blanche had been through the past few days.

“Oh heavens Bev, it’s going to take more than a phone call to bring you up to speed on all the excitement in my life, I don’t have a lot of time to talk right now but let’s get together. I’ve got a ton of stuff to tell you. Oh yeah, and aren’t you supposed to be finding me a place to live?”

“Yes, I’m working on it dear. Good time to buy but everything for sale is up by the base; don’t think I want to sell you one of those, at least not right now. When can we get together? There’s a new chick flick at the cinema, why don’t we hit that this week.”

Blanche thought for a moment, she’d not been to the movie in months. “That sounds awesome! I’m working tomorrow and Thursday night, but what’s your Friday look like? Girls night out, I’m pumped!”