Chapter 22

"Grab your thing, we are leaving" he replied and looked at the naked pictures in the envelope, it was that of was Phina Whyte with her gown drawn up, kneeling in front of Valeria and doing what lesbians did best. Valeria's face was blurred out but there was no doubt that the lady kneeling and in various other positions was the Deputy Governor Candidate for New York State. It wasn't a hard thing to do, if you thought of it clearly, the highest of men and the lowest of boys always fell into the trap of sex, it was like some virus that had been sent into the world to maim and destroy and yet, no matter how many people fell and how many were destroyed by it, many didn't mind towing the same path. It was almost like humans couldn't survive without it. As cliche as it sounded, it did rule the world and women knew and used this skill very well, so did men.
"Where are we going?" Nick asked.
"You'll find out"
"Are we honestly doing this whole suspense bullshit? Where are we heading? What is the plan? Let's not forget we have to focus to get this shit done, if not, we are toast, I think we're living on borrowed time as it is already" Nick retorted.
"Well, any bright ideas pretty boy?"
"Don't be smart Pete"
"I can't help it, it seems I always have to be. I have an idea and in this situation, it's the best one we've got, so pack, we're leaving" Pete replied and ripped open the second envelope, in there was was $25,000 cash.
The very first thing Pete and his gang did when they opened the envelope was get a decent dinner in an upscale restaurant in the city before beginning to find the fastest lease they could get their hands on. Now with phones and money to move strings and get deals done, Pete felt more in charge and less like a moron like he did for the past few days.
Looking at it now, Pete was almost sure he had made the best decision by putting a bullet through Tommy's skull that day at the farm. He could feel the excitement that came with being in control and pulling the strings in the deal, being the puppeteer again and deciding which puppets moved and when. Pete wasn't dumb, he could be accused of being a lot of things, a trickster, a con man, a liar, a cheat and even a murderer but one thing he hadn't ever been called in his brief life was dumb and he knew that was a good thing.
When Tommy had met him at a certain bar in South Carolina, it had rang in his head there and then that the man wasn't just a man in need of a little of some professional help, it was a man that needed something and would go to heights and lengths to get it done up until the very end of it all. Well, Pete didn't hate such people, it was hard to hate someone that shared most of the attribute and tended to think just like you would under the circumstances, no, Pete didn't hate him, he didn't even dislike him, no, he merely wasn't comfortable being in the same room with someone so similar to himself.
He could remember one thing his worse teacher in school had always said when he wanted to sound all wise and smart - which was most of his chemistry class - it was something that at that age hadn't made much sense to him but now, as he gazed at the number of zeros he had in his bed hands, he understood the bald French man quite clearly. He usually said, "Two identical horses should feed from the same stall, who knows who eats what?". It was a rather stupid statement to young Pete's ears, while the whole class often laughed it off and guffawed for minutes on end, Pete had merely frowned at the bald man and his antics and didn't crack a single grin, his face would rather contort in the worse of annoyance. This was exactly what made the man know him and he then hated the man openly. He didn't know what pissed him off the most, the fact that he managed to make him feel small by ignoring his existence and constant frown or that he simply didn't mind all his rudeness and would rather crack an amused smile at him and the shake his head that looked too heavy for his neck, making his bald head bob up and down.
As Pete stood now, he understood quite clearly what he meant by "A man like a man can't be at a place at a time" a clear example was when he'd met Senator Tommy. It wasn't a direct contact, no, one of his allies and long time acquaintance had called him one night while he was trying his best to climax on top of a certain blonde he'd 'hunted' down from the club a couple blocks away. It was a million dollar deal and he was in for it.
The mission from Japan was barely done when he'd received the call, it wasn't something he'd want, he valued his rest and recuperation as much as he loved a good job but then when he'd stated that he wasn't up for the job just yet, he'd gotten an offer he couldn't refuse. Their stack being cleaned out. That was something he couldn't refuse and his ally knew this just as much.
It was at that point Pete realized that Tommy was a man desperate - well, not quite desperate but determined enough - to do whatever had to be done and by whoever wanted it done. Cleaning their stack was not the simplest of tasks and he knew this for a fact. If it was quite easy, he'd have had been sold and cleared out by now, it was a full decade old and still counting and each year, the value of some depreciated and some appreciated as well, an antique car and painting was just like fine wine, the older the better but then a few other things grew older and out of vogue the longer they stayed there. He couldn't clear them and the few men he knew who could clean it out were too shy to, the risk was too big and they weren't ready to risk their ass for a few millions, despite it seeming like quick cash, those wise enough knew it wasn't worth the risk and those who should have been foolish enough to take up the appealing offer weren't quite capable of cleaning the stack to start with.
When Tommy offered to clean out their stack, it was enough reason to make sure Vee and Nick accepted the deal at all cost. It wasn't just the job, the job itself did seem like child's play, he knew it was too easy and he had counted on Tommy being foolish enough to go on with the whole deal. When they'd agreed on the deal, he was now hoping he would be a man of his words and follow through by keeping his own end of the bargain.
It wasn't as apparent from the start that Tommy would double cross him, no, looking at the man's round and overweight face and general size, one would think he might be corrupt as was expected of most politicians and anyone affiliated with the government. But actually being cunning and manipulative wasn't something one could easily label him as just by looking at his general build, he looked too peaceful, too funny, too fluffy to be of any actual harm.
Well, a second look at him would speak dozens and Pete had taken that second look the minute he met him for these in time after the kidnap had been carried out successfully and hitch-free. The man's wandering eyes and twitching jaw were signs too familiar to ignore. It was the tell-tale signs of a cunning man that was most times too smart to be honest and straight forward in any dealing. Well, Pete wasn't scared, merely disappointed because he knew that two "men" could definitely not be in the same place at the same time. He'd known there and then that he had to do what he had to do when he had to. And he did. Tommy was six feet and he didn't have a single regret.
It took only almost sixteen hours before the trio could find a small two-bedroom flat in the outskirts of the city that was within budget on a weekly lease seeing as they needed money for the job itself. The apartment they took was a spacious duplex with a small parking space, no neighbors - thankfully and a pool outside of it. The last family that had moved out did so after the death of their last child, the second child that passed in the very apartment, they had said the sad memories were too much and the 'ghosts' seemed to haunt the house.
Valeria in her new disguise was now a heavily pregnant Texan girl with a son and Nick turned out to be her husband this time after she insisted she càouldn't stand a moment with Pete no more. Despite Pete's protests and subtle threats, Valeria had stood her ground and insisted she would be 'married' to Nick for their duration in the apartment, Pete had backed down, obviously out numbered. He insisted on being in the adjourning room and staying with Valeria all the time.
The warm reception they received had inspired Pete to make a payment for two weeks and pack in their luggages which basically comprised of disguises, silicon pregnancy bumps, maternity gowns and whatever guns and knives they could lay hands on in the black market within their budget.
At the lobby, the nice receptionist had flirted with Nick - as per usual, never minding that he wore a wedding ring and had a pregnant wife.
"Hello, we spoke with the agency last evening" Nick had said as he leaned on the counter.
"Welcome to Flake Homes, my name is Debbie" the young woman replied sweetly - too sweetly - and blinked at Nick coyly.
"I'm Evanston and this is my wife Claire" he said, turning to place a hand on Valeria's waist.
"My brother in-law Joe is coming along for a construction work in town. We may be in for a few weeks" he added.
"Your apartment has been made ready, please collect the key from the janitor on your way in" Debbie said and moved a paper to him. "if you'd kindly sign here, here's the rules booklet and some other legal nonsense" she muttered and smiled shyly.
Nick smiled and signed away one of his several signatures on the paper he didn't bother to read.
"Keep that, it's your copy" Debbie said with a smile and fluttered her lashes at Nick again.
That was how they left the reception to their apartment, unpacked, sorted out their rooms, kept guns strategically, one in the kitchen drawer, one in under the single love seat in the small living room and one in the backyard balcony where two lounge seats were arranged and a small mismanaged garden stood metres away. The house was decent, not as spacious as the apartment in California but then space wasn't their problem, it was privacy and hopefully that they would get considering no other people stayed in the building. Tracy had been a very nasty experience and Valeria hoped they didn't experience that again.
The living room was painted an immaculate white with a small reddish stain on the left wall, hidden behind a vase and a painting. Pete ignored it and refused to dwell on the stain and how it had gotten there to start with. There were two sofas in the room, one velvet black double seater and the other an immaculate white triple seater, the single stool in the room was a relatively low stool, padded with a plush red thick wool, covered in red leather too.
After Valeria had unpacked, put Moses to sleep and gotten rid of the silicone bump but not maternity gown, washed her face, her hair dyed a dull black without highlight or any sheen. She did look the typical pregnant women with little care for aesthetics and what her skin looked like, a little dab of a foundation two shades darker than her topped off the pregnancy look.
Nick turned on the TV to a moderate volume as Pete began to talk.
"I pulled a few strings and bought some information that the newspapers won't release" Pete began as Nick and Valeria listened attentively, eyes trained on him.
"There's a conference in Manhattan, the Congressmen in Washington, DC will be attending there too. Information says most Senators won't be be in attendance because of the rising political unrest in the region. Tommy's death had stirred a lot of stuffs" Pete explained.
"Here's the deal, we get to the venue, get to Mrs. Martha Brownson and leave her a package with everything she needs to reach us" he added.
"Why her? Why not Senator Brownson?" Nick asked, curious.
"Well, she did carry the baby for none months in her womb, I'm counting on the whole mother-child bond crap people talk about all the time. My guess is, she's more aggrieved than Mr. Brownson" he replied.
"What if Martha doesn't show up? Last I checked, she isn't a Senator" Valeria asked.
"And it's a close door Congressmen meeting, she's a third-party, why would she be let in" Valeria asked.
"And why would she be in attendance to begin with?" Nick questioned.
"Well, information from Capitol Hill is that Brownson is being unfaithful, while, Martha hasn't taken that lightly and she's got taps on him, when she doesn't have him on lock and key then she's out to every function with him, plus, she's grieved and all, of course she'll be clingy" Pete replied.
"So we're working with luck here? Huh? Hoping some unfaithful wife follows her husband? Pete, in all plans you've made, I can guarantee you this is one of the dumbest" Nick stated with a huff.
"Any better ideas pretty boy? And should I remind you that I'm high on luck too, remember the Chinese heist?" Pete asked with a smirk.
"That was dumb luck that almost cost you an earlobe" Nick replied
"But it didn't"
"So we'll now operate based on her pride and perceptions? What happened to tactical analysis and planning, sourcing direct Intel and all that?" Nick insisted.
"In case you haven't noticed Nick, we have spent quite a lot on this job and at the moment, we can't cash no debit cards or checks or anything that has our faces or our former aliases on them, that means we're 'teenage boys broke' and frankly, no one's willing to sell no information to is, not when the FBI are on our asses and every accomplice faces a jail term too. So, let's just say it's our wits and instincts we'll be living off of, both of which you don't possess so much Nick, so shut up" he snapped, raising to face him.
Nick simply snorted and stayed put on the sofa beside Valeria, taking a bite of his salted potato chip.
"Vee, you'll have your disguises ready in the airport, an ID too and the package to deliver. The conference is in three days" Pete said and left the room, slamming the door loudly.
"Guess I'm doing dress up again" Valeria said with a frown, turning to stare at Nick who had gone silent and seemed more interested on deciphering the chips flavour than whatever plan their had agreed on.
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