Chapter 34

Pete was grinning from ear to ear, his very rare smile that was always induced by one thing and one thing alone - money. He had a travelling bag full of money, dollar bills stacked under layers of towels, beddings and others. In the second bag was the same thing, stuffed with dollar wraps too, this time, wrapped in diapers and sealed up like the original product. In the third suitcase was dollar bills still, stuffed in coloured shampoo bottles, cans of perfume, toilet paper wraps and every other can, tin or pack they could roll a dollar into.
It was a few days after they had received the billion dollar ransom they demanded, with Brownson virtually begging to see Moses and promising to do his best and make their legal papers ready in 96 hours. Pete had stated that he had 72 hours and nothing more and had ended the call, refusing to receive any more calls. After a few hours, he'd sent a video recording of Moses, the video was muted as the baby was still wailing despite all attempts by the babysitter to call him down.
Pete had figured that since the baby was indeed still kicking and moving, that was all they needed to know, there was no point letting them know just how sico the baby was or how affected he was by the past hot bath he had. During noon of the same day, Martha Brownson had spoken with him, trying her feminine wiles of crying and pleading and pretending to be helpless, pulling the whole "motherhood" crap on him, Pete had simply advised her to quite being manipulative, the only way to get her baby back was to adhere to their demands and that was all. He of all people knew that the whole motherhood thing was BS and he wasn't falling for it or buying it for one second.
Valeria had been in n a sour mood all week, speaking to no one and being unseen most of the days. Except when they had to leave the house for a 'family lunch' merely to keep up appearance in the building. Nick had mentioned that it would be pretty suspicious for them to stay holed up in the apartment all week without even strolling. Pete had decided that suspicion wasn't what he wanted and despite Valeria's murmuring and complaints, the trio had left on that noon for lunch, Valeria with her heavy pregnancy disguise and Nick playing the doting husband still.
Moses had been left home with the new babysitter Pete had hired, Grace, a part-time college student about the age of 21 or less, with a funny looking oblong face, a large nose, a small mouth and very large eyes that would have been attractive but not for the dull brown color and the fact that acne dominated her entire face. She was tall and willowy, a little bent despite her age, she had a hoarse voice that most times made it seem like she was straining to say a word. The baby didn't seem to like her that much at the start but being an easy boy as he was, he got attached quickly and was soon reaching to her whenever she was near.
Valeria had first felt the green envy that came with losing her position but she quickly reminded herself that it was for the best and she was better off without the child to keep breaking her heart and crushing her spirit with each day. She wasn't going to be a short-term mother again, no, she didn't want that, she didn't want the heartache and stress that came with it at the end of the day. Her nightmares had subdued thanks to the medications she had self prescribed and bought off the drug store in town, she now slept relatively well at night because the sleeping pills basically knocked her out cold, giving her a dreamless sleep that still found a way of making her feel drained once she woke. She wasn't a medical pro, infact, asides the best kinda of antidepressants and antibiotics, she knew next to nothing about drugs and what ever jargons doctors used but she could swear that whatever was in the sleeping pills made a full right hours of sleep feel too short and someone taking the drugs always woke up feeling as tired as they would have been if they worked all through the night, moving from one end of their room to another.
During the day though, one glance at Moses' scaling skin was enough reminder that she had been a part of his hurt and pain. The gauze was still wrapped around him, changed daily and it was still a fit, the baby cried and cried every morning when Grace changed his dressings and replaced them with fresh and clean ones.
She had avoided the room where the nanny stayed with Moses, refusing to as much as speak with both of them, neither the child not the baby. Nick had to ditch his room and bunk on the couch most nights, allowing her the space she needed to clear her head, some nights where he wasn't on the couch, he was in Valeria's bed and they were both humping like lizards all through the night.
While Pete still patiently waited for the papers to clean out their stack, the trio remained in the apartment, eating and Pete even plotting another gig he would be taking after this was wrapped up.
Not only was he being optimistic, he knew for a fact, so sure was he that he could calmly take a bet on the success of the mission. He was 100% sure it would turn out well and even if it didn't go quite as he planned, his aim must have been fulfilled, he was sure that if one party was to lose out of the whole bargain, it would definitely, undeniable, doubtlessly Senator Brownson and not them and this assurance pleased him immensely.
In his years of stealing and bribery and cunning, he knew when a man was totally bought with the scheme, could tell when they were still thinking about it and could decide when they weren't at all convinced which was just a step from knowing the scheme for what it was - a scheme. He knew all three reactions just as clearly as he knew the English alphabets and he knew exactly what to do if either of the scenario turned out to be the case.
In the first scenario, if a man was totally buying the scheme and playing into it like an idiot they were, it was time to be an opportunist and get the best out of it. The truth was that humans thought a lot, too much actually and that was what made the con artist business hard. A man could decide one thing now and sleep only to wake with an entirely different mindset and perception towards he same issue he'd decided in just hours ago. The mind was like a carousel that never slept, continually spinning and spinning.
But the human mind thinking wasn't such a problem after all, it as the fact that when they thought and thought an thought and it become overbearing and without a definite and meaningful decision, get tended to look fo others to help them think, that was he show spoiler. Two heads meant conflicting decisions and confusion and confusion meant rethinking and then came questioning and need for reassurance. Well, when it got to that point the deal had to be off.
In the second scenario, if the man was still thinking about it, it was the right time to pretentious withdraw the offer and act like you weren't too eager anyways. This stunt usually worked with the greedy fellows who'd not want a good deal to pass them by. A man thing about it was by far better than a man who had made up his mind and totally beloved, why? They could wake up and change their minds or talk to their spouses and get a different look on the whole matter
The third and final scenario was when they weren't convinced at all and a step away from calling the scheme 'fraud' in this stage, it is usually best to withdraw, but not at once to make it seem like their suspicions and sometimes accusations were true, just withdraw in a way that would make them still sit in their beds at night, three to four months later and think if maybe, just maybe they'd make the biggest mistakes of their lives by letting go a juicy deal.
Pete could tell the scenario with Brownson. He was bought, totally and absolutely and he knew he had no choice but to go ahead with the scheme if he had any intentions if seeing his son again. Pete knew they had a very solid bargaining chip and he intended to use it the best way he could and for the best results.
With a small smile on his face, Pete folded his hands behind his head and licked his dey lips.
Nick was his usual very quiet self and Valeria nursed her broken heart and soul in solitude.
"He isn't eating much and he is still running a fever" Grace, the baby sitter said as she came into the living room, trailing after Pete whose eyes were glued to his laptop.
"Go fix it" he said absentmindedly.
"Sir, I can't fix it, I'm not a nurse, he needs proper medical attention, I thought his fever would break last night but he woke up worse this morning and he hasn't eaten anything since" she replied.
"Breastfeed him if you have to, just fix it" he insisted nonchalantly.
"I don't think you... you quite understand me, I said he is running a fever and that is very dangerous considering he is trying to heal and___"
"Get lost bitch! Why'd you ladies whine so much? Huh? Give him some morphine or something and shut the fuck up!' Pete snapped and left the living room back into his own room.
Grace stood, transfixed on the spot and unable to utter a word. Well, it wasn't the reply she was hoping for g all, at least not from someone who was family to the baby, uncle or not. The job vacancy had been recommended by the receptionist at the front desk who said a busy couple needed a babysitter for a few days, she'd said they were nice and the husband was easy on the eyes. The wife, Claire was pregnant and couldn't do much and the eye candy of a husband, Evanston, was rarely at home, the brother in-law was around more often though and although Grace didn't like his goatee or his general demeanor, she figured he would be concerned for his nephew and help out at once. The reply she got though made her rethink that whole assumption she'd made in her head, his face was just as ugly as his attitude if not more so.
For her few days working there, resuming at 9:00am and leaving the family at 8:00pm, she had only seen the pregnant wife once or twice, she rarely left her room and when she did, it was to grab some whiskey from the kitchen shelf or a glass of water and then go right back in. Grace often wondered if it was her alcoholic habit that made them need a baby sitter because she wasn't to be trusted around the young child or it was truly her pregnancy as Barry, the brother-in-law had said?
Either ways, she wasn't there to find answers and poke her nose in their affair, she decided quickly and tried her best to dim the intensity of her curiosity. Grace needed the extra dollars and they did pay well, enough to make her eager to get her first week wage since they had agreed on a weekly basis. However, the worsening fever of the boy worried her and she couldn't keep it to her self any longer, not when the child was literally burning up and sweating like he had just left the shower despite the chillness of the bedroom she was now in. Evanston had bought some medications but it didn't work on the boy as supposed. The baby was hardly eating, he barely had a spoon of his milk or drank his formula and whatever he managed that take, he usually vomited it right back, that, she guessed generally slowed down his healing process. Grace turned from Pete and made her way to meet the supposed mother of the baby.
Valeria was seated on the rug of her room, a bottle of whiskey beside her, unopened. She had drunk herself to sleep the previous night and didn't want the repeat of that. Her head still hurts badly and her mouth felt like she'd eaten rock. It was one of the worse kinds of hangover in her adult life and she felt too tired to indulge in such tactical torture again.
Earlier on, she'd taken the whiskey bottle from the fridge when she was sure no one was looking, sneaked into her room and then decided against drinking so early. She did notice the curious glances that the new baby sitter gave her, it was questioning and that of pity and Valeria wasn't in the mood to entertain any, be it questions or sympathy.
Her mood hadn't improved for days and other than the meds she was abusing, she was sure she still felt like shit and once she stopped the sleeping pills then the nightmare would hit her in full force. Valeria winced and turned, leaning on her bed and reaching under it for her handgun.
Suicide? No. It was an easy and shameful way out and frankly Valeria wasn't one that liked shame at all. She figured is she was go die then she'd rather die in action or at least with a little dignity than put a bullet to her own head and leave her brain spilling all over the room in an ugly sight.
She had witnessed a suicide before. Well, she had caused it if she was being honest. That was the job that had led her to a certain mad man that had taken Lily from her. She had let go and almost forgotten all about the hurt and pain, she had wallowed in self pity and hated herself for the cruel fate that befell her child. All that had lasted for a few years until she met the monster again. Every one called him Vince the Viper and he in turn called her 'sugar', an endearment that had begun the very first days she let herself be touched by the snake of a man.
It had been a job in Mexico and she had been given Intel that it was a French lawman she was going to con. It was to be a relatively easy gig. Get in, seduce his wits off and get documents that were the evidence for a case, replace it with something entirely different and leave his home after he sleeps.
The cab had picked her up from the hotel she lodged, took her to the home of the French lawman and as a hooker for the night, just as he ordered. She had been five weeks pregnant at the time and barely even showing a bump. The whole episode had passed rather boringly and she had switched the documents as planned.
Two months had passed when she received an anonymous call that she should run if she wanted to be alive. While, she had received such calls before in her line of business and frankly she had learnt it was no serious cause for alarm, all she had to be was hide out for a few weeks and let it blow over. After all, it wasn't her that was the target, she was merely a tool used.
Well, she had hidden for one week and when she felt relatively safe, she'd resurfaced just in time for a new job. This time, the target was a wealthy business mogul. The deal was relatively simple too, to swap a few documents and disappear for a very handsome amount of money. She had been noticably pregnant by then but it didn't matter. She took the job and the man didn't seem to mind her pregnancy either. The next day, she was home with her money and a job well done.
Only, it was well done. She had stated being followed and almost nabbed once or twice on her way home. Valeria had hidden for months until she put to birth and was now relatively free to move around with a certain confidence a pregnant women could never have in the face of danger. She hadn't taken a job for a few more months after the birth and had instead gone clean.