Chapter Two
"All I Wanted"
"I couldn't help but think about my fallen friend. What if I never had gotten him involved in all this, would he still be alive? Would those beautiful children still have a father? I never wanted any one to get hurt because of me. All I wanted was a normal and happy life. The kind with a wife, two point five kids and the house with the white picket fence. But that dream seems so far away, now more than ever before. I asked myself why me, why did this have to happen to me, why now? Everything I have known up until now is a lie. What is my real life like? Do I have parents, brothers and sisters? Did I have a happy home, a happy and loving childhood.childhood? The childhood I always dreamed of, the childhood I always wanted. That's all I wanted as a child but I never got, until Mitch and his family came along. Whatever the truth, the real truth, I will find out, no one will stop me from that. I knew only that I couldn't trust my memories, I didn't know which were real and which were fake."
"But I couldn't think about that now, it was the next morning and I was going to go about business as usual, so I wouldn't tip any one off that I knew more than I was letting on. So I went to work, I was sadder than usual because that was expected of me. Everyone gave me their condolences because they knew we where were friends but they didn't know how far back went. Than after lunch something strange happened on my way back to my desk." Logan said.
" Hey"Hey Logan can we talk for a second." said Robby.
"Yeah, what is it Robby" I said as I walked over to Robby who was talking with someone I'd never seen before around the office, so I thought maybe he was new.
"I heard about your friend Mitch, I'm sorry for what happened to him, I saw the news," Robby said.
"Thanks Robby, so am I. Wwho'sWho's your friend?"
"Oh I'm sorry how rude of me, Miles Logan this is Mike Vanderjack, Mike Vanderjack this is my friend Miles Logan."
"Please to meet youmeet you Mike, I'm Logan." I said to him as I looked at him.
"Same here Miles." Mike said.
"You'll do good to watch this guy operate, you'll learn a lot from him. He's one of our best knew accountants. He landed our firm some of our biggest clients." Robby said.
"Did he now, that's great, I'm sure I can learn a lot from a man like him. A whole lot of information from a stand up guy like yourself Logan." Mike said.
"Yeah I'm sure you could also." I said as I thought to myself that's an unusual choice of words.
"So Logan, did Mitch tell you about cases he was working on? I mean you guys were close right? I know people who are close talk a lot to one another." Mike inquired.
"Hey Mike come on, he just lost a good friend of his, lay off all right." Robby says to Mike.
"Well I mean they were good friends maybe they discussed his cases." Mike said.
"No he didn't talk about his cases, he was a professional." Logan said.
"Not even his last case? I mean the guy did meet with such a tragic end." Mike replied.
"Yeah, so anyway I gotta go, I'll see you guys later." Logan said in an awkwardquaawkward ward ttonetone, than he walks away.
After work I went back to the hotel and called Samantha to see if she was all right. She said that nothing out of the ordinary happened to her. So I asked her to meet me later at Jakes. But first I had some other business to take care of. I figured out that they went after Mitch because of his copy of the police file he had. But I guess they didn't find it. So they killed him because he knew totoo much. I thought maybe his partner could help me. So I called his partner and asked him to meet me in the park. I was sitting down on the park bench when he walked right up to me.
"So why did you call me here." Mathew says as he sits down next to Logan on the park bench.
"I need some information about Mitch, that only you have." I said.
"What do you want to know that you don't already know? What do I know?"
"I need to know if he said anything to you before he died, any thing out of the ordinary?"
"Like what exactly do you mean?" Mathew said.
"Like anything out of the ordinary"
"No nothing I can recall that stands out." Mathew said to Logan.
"When was the last time you seen saw him?" I said.
"Well he came to my apartment around 8:00 o'clock at night."
"Eight at night? So he must have wentgone gone to see you right after I left him." I said.
"So you met with him that night too?"
"Yeah earlier in the night. Why did he say he was there to see you?" Logan asked.
"He said he was in the neighborhood and had bought a new antique jewelry box for his wife that he wanted to show me."
"He said he was in the neighborhood?"
"Yeah he said he was in the neighborhood and thought he would stop by." said Mathew.
"Last time I saw him washim was at Jakes and Jakes is no where near where you live." I said.
"Come to think of it he didn't even have the jewelry box with him to show me, all he had was a key he gave to me." Mathew said.
"Do you have the key he gave you with you?"
"Yeah right here. He said as he takes it out of his pocket and gives it to Logan.
"Did he tell you what the key was too?" I said.
"No, all he did was give it to me and tell me to take care of it. Not to tell anyone that I had it and to keep it in a safe place because he might need it later." Mathew said.
"Thanks Matt, you've been a big help." Logan says as he gets up from the park bench and walks away.
I left the park and wondered what the key he gave to Mathew was for? Then I thought about what Mathew said that Mitch said to him. I was in the neighborhood, why would he be in the neighborhood? He would have had to have gone straight to Mathew's house after Jakes. Than there was the jewelry box, his wife doesn't wear enough jewelry to have a box. So then why did he buy the box, what was the real reason he bought the box? So I decided to go to Mathew's neighborhood for a drive. I drove up and down the block and up the street. I had driven around a few times until I saw it, THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORAGE. It was a public storage place called The Neighborhood Storage. Could that have been what he meant buy in the neighborhood.neighborhood? It was the best lead I had to go on, so I decided to go in and see if he had a locker or some kind of safety box. I went in and approached the girl at the counter.
"Hi how are, my name is William I'm trying to find out where this key goes, if it goes to a locker or something." I said.
"Do you have id?" The woman asked Logan
"No, I don't." Logan replied.
"Then I can't let you in."
"All right I'll level with you, my friend owns the locker, he died and left me the key. WhatsWhat's inside could be a clue about who killed him. I'm just trying find his killer. So please can you help me?"
"Well all right, go ahead but you only have five minutes. Let me see the key (she takes the key Logan pulled out from his pocket), oh yeah this key belongs to locker six. It's straight ahead, when you get to the end make a right and go down about ten feet." The lady said.
"Thanks very much, straight ahead turn right and go down ten feet." I said.
So I went down the hallway and all I saw were a bunch of lockers. I got to the end and made a right. I came to locker six; it was about as tall as a shoebox and as wide as one. There was a pad lock on it, so I pulled out in the key, put it in the lock and turned it. It did fit the lock and unlocked it. So I took off the lock and opened the locker door. There was a jewelry box inside just like Mitch told Matthew about. It was brown with black trim. I took it out and opened it; there was a pair of earrings and a necklace inside. But there was also was a piece of paper with the words red nu kool written on it. I was puzzled as to what the meaning was and I thought it was Latin or something.
But then I looked at it again and knew he was trying to tell me something, thenand then I remembered he liked to spell and say words backward, he was rather good at it. So I spelled it backwardsbackward in my head and it spelled out look under. So I figured it meant that there was something hidden under in a secret compartment. But I couldn't figure out how to open the compartment. I looked at the box and saw these symbolssymbols carved on themcarved symbols it, they looked like roses. I felt each one and one of them in the middle in the front, felt loose. I turned it to the right and all of a sudden the box split in half and the top half popped up. It revealed a smaller hidden bottom half with a floppy disc in it. So I took the disc, closed the box and put back in the locker. Locked it up just like it was before,before; I proceeded to leave the place.
"Thank You miss for your help" I said.
"No problem William, glad I could be of some help." She said back to me.
I left the building and got into my car. As I was driving off I saw two men in black suites enter the building. They looked very suspicious but I didn't want them to see me their there so I drove off and went back to my hotel.
(They both walk up the steps and into the building) "Excuse me miss, I'm special agent Smith and this is special agent Jones (they show their badges), we're here to see if you've seen this man (they show a picture of Logan to the woman)" Agent Smith said.
"Why do you want to know? Is he a criminal or in some kind of trouble?" She said.
"No we're just looking for him, to ask him a few questions. So have you seen him?" Agent Jones says.
"Well he does look familiar but then again a lot of people look familiar. So many come through here everyday it's really hard to tell.," she said. (They both look at one another and then her)
"Thank yYouyou for all your help miss, if you think of anything else please give us a call" said Agent Smith (he hands her his card and they leave).
"She's lying, she has seen him and seen him very recently." Smith says.
"Yes she was, she definitely seen him. Her words are lies but her thoughts are the truth." Jones says to Smith.
"But what was he doing here, I wonder?" Said Smith
"Do you think he was here for to retreaveretrieve it? Perhaps he figured out where Mitch hid it." Jones said.
"Yes that is why he was here and he now has it. We must find him and soon. He is getting closer to discovering the truth." Agent Smith said.
"Yes he is and if he does, everything we have worked for these ten years will go up in smoke." Agent Jones says.
"Yes, we can't let that happen, we are so close to acheivingachieving our ultimate goal. No one knows we are involved but if he firguresfigures it out, he will expose it and expose us. We just missed him,him; we are steps behind him and will catch him soon.
"Yes perhaps but every moment he is free he jeopardizes the mission. Come on letslet's get back to base and report in." Jones said. (They walk back down the steps and walk a few steps down the street and stop at a black SUV and get in and drive away.)
When I got back to the hotel the one thing on my mind was too find out what was on that disc. But first I needed a computer to access the disc. I had a laptop back at my apartment. I was a little uneasy about going back, what if they knew what I was doing and were waiting for me?.? I had to go, it was the only way. So I did, I waited across the street in my car to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. There was no one that seemed unusual in sight. I figured it was all clear, so I got out of my car and went up the steps inside the building. My apartment was in the forth floor so I was going to take the elevator but thought the stairs was a better idea. I got to the forth floor and walked out the main stairway.
I took a look around the hallway, nothing unusual, everything the same as it always is. So I walked down the hall to apartment 3D, it looked like no one had been in my apartment. The door hadn't been kicked in and the lock wasn't picked either, at least as far as I can tell, so I put my key in and opened the door. I went in and took a look around. Everything was exactly where I had left it. So I knew no one had been in my place and if they did get in they didn't touch anything, which defeats the purpose of going through the trouble of breaking in.
Maybe they were watching to see if I came home but when I didn't maybe they figured I would eventually and they could catch me when I do. If that was true I knew I had to hurry up. My laptop was on the coffee table, I packed it up and packed a bag of clothes and other things I needed. You know just for a couple of days or so I thought at the time. I also took my copy of the Oyama file out of my safe in the apartment. I took one last look out the window to see if there was anything wrong and again nothing, everything was as it should be. So I left and locked up the apartment. I took the main stairway again but this time I left through the back door of the building. In case some one saw me go in through the front, they won't know that I left.
I walked out and looked to my left and my right and proceed to go left to the corner. I walked around the corner to the other corner of the block, where I can see my car. No was near my car, so I crossed the street and walked up to my car. I opened the trunk and put the bags in and I shut the truck. I got back in my car and drove back to the hotel. I was very careful,careful; I took side streets and allies, so I knew that no one would be able to follow me.
I brought my bags inside the room and set up my laptop to see just what was on that disc. I put the disc in and opened it. The disc had several files on it. One was titled Oyama. I thought could this be the same file he gave to me?.? He did tell me to make a copy of it on disc. So I opened it and it was the same file that he gave to me. I closed it and looked at the other files on the disc. The next file was titled IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I found that to be odd because the same phrase was used again but what did it mean this time. I tried to open it like I did with the Oyama file but this one was pass coded and I didn't have the passcode. The next two files were titled, "Project Hynds Blood and Project Four Horsemen." I tried to open those as well and they too were pass- coded. I sat there trying to think what the password could be. I tried his wife and children's names, his name and his birthday but no dice.
Damn what could this password be, I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost time to meet with Samantha, so I hid the disc and left. I met up with her around 8:15 p.m. at Jakes. She was already there waiting for me at a table, I went up to the table and sat down.
"Hi thanks for coming, I'm glad your alright" I said.
"Thanks, I can say the same for you. So what's up? , I assume you found something new or you wouldn't have called me here." Samantha said.
"Yeah but not here, you brought your car?" Logan asked.
"Yes of course I did." Samantha said.
"Good come were going back to my hotel room and we'll take your car." Logan said.
So we got up and left Jakes, the hotel wasn't too far from there. We got into the car and drove away but we weren't the only ones.
"So where are we going anyway?" Samantha said.
"To my hotel, I need your help with something." I said to her.
"Yeah I know you told me but how do we get there? Which hotel are you staying at?" Samantha asks.
"Just make a right at the next light and go straight and I'll tell you when to stop."
"Ok but why?" Samantha asked.
"I think we're being followed. That black SUV has been following us ever since we left Jakes. I just want to be sure if we're being followed or not, so we don't lead them to what there looking for." I said.
"Ok but where are we going now, if we aren't going to your hotel yet?" Samantha said.
"To a nightclub called Far Out, we'll be able to loose them there. Make a left at this light. Park right here on the side." Samantha makes the turn and they park along the sidewalk.
"Are they still behind us?" Samantha asked.
"Yup, two guys in black suits that I saw earlier. Come on lets go inside, I think you'll like it." I said as we got out car and go inside the club and the two men follow them in. They get a table and the two men get a table about 15 feet away in plain sight. Samantha it's isit's in front of Logan with her back turned to the men. As the two men sit side by side facing Logan and Samantha.
"Where are they? Did they follow us in?" Samantha says.
"There at the table to the right about 17 feet away." Logan responds.
"Are they staring at us?"
"If they were staring any harder they burn a hole in the wall. You want anything to drink?" I said.
"Yeah, get me a beer." Samantha said.
"You want a beer? I thought you were more refined than that, you know red wine and champagne." Logan sarcastically says.
"I can lower myself to your beer belly and belching nature if need be." She sparingly responds.
(Logan gets up and goes to the bar, one of the two men follow him to the bar)
"Yeah I'll take two beers (bartender gets them for him. The man in the black suite also orders two beers), thanks a lot man. (Logan pulls his wallet out form his back pocket and pays him and then walks back to the table and the man in the black suite does the same) Here you go," (hands her one beer)" Logan said.
"Thanks, this is an interesting club you've brought me too." Samantha said
"It's a space theme,theme; the lights and the black background give you a feeling like your out in space doesn't it?" I said.
"Yes it does, I like it, so what do you want to do now?" Samantha said.
"Well why don't we dance, after all we are in a dance club." Logan said.
"Dance, you?. You don't strike me as the dancing type." Samantha said.
"Yeah that's what people usually do in a dance club. And I have been known to cut a little rug from time to time." I said.
"Ok but are you sure you can keep up with me?" Samantha says jokingly.
"Oh I think I'll manage all right." Logan wittingly responds. (They both get up and go to the dance floor, as the two men just watch their every move. They get to the dance floor and begin to dance)
"You're a pretty good dancer for an accountant, who would have thought." Samantha said.
"Ouch, you're a pretty good dancer for a shrink, who would have thought." Logan responds.
"Are our two shadows still there?" Samantha said.
"Yup still there but not for long. Here's what we're going to do, when I tell you we're going to move left to become more mixed in with the crowd. Than when we are and they can't see us so well, we'll slip out the other side of the crowd and out the back, got it?" I said.
"I think so, you sure it'll work?" Samantha asks.
"No but we've got nothing to loose. Ready, now move to your left (They move to the left and go deeper into the crowd of people until they are no longer visible to the two men). Come on they can't see us, lets get out of here (They proceed to leave out the back entrance of the club)." I said.
"Hey where did they go? They disappeared." Man one said to Man Two.
"What, they'erthey're right there on the dance floor" Man Two said.
"No there they're gone, they must have ducked out." Man One said.
"What! Come on we got to find them. (They get up and go into the crowd and on the dance floor. They bump into a large man who is dancing with his girlfriend. He turns around and is upset that they bumped into him and didn't say excuse me). Man two said.
"Hey what the fuck," Large man says to the two men in black suits.
"Do you see them anywhere in here?" Man two said.
"No but it's hard to see because of the dimmed lights. It looks like we lost them." Man one said.
"The back entrance, they probably slipped out the back. Come let's go., (They proceed to leave when the large man grabs Man One on the shoulder)" Mango," Man Two said.
"Hey I was talking to you, now I'm going to beat the hell out of you." Large Man says. (Man one turns around)
"I don't have time for this shit,shit; I have other matters to tend to." Man One says. (He grabs the Large Man on his shoulder. The Large Man arrogantly looks down at his hand on his shoulder and smiles. Than he takes a swing at Man One but he ducks and than grabs him by the neck and flings him across the room into some tables 20 feet away. Everyone looks in amazement at what they just saw. The large man gets up and charges Man One like a rhino. Man One jumps into the air and swings his right leg in a half circle motion and kick's the face of the Large Man. Man One punches him in the stomach, then in the face and breaks his nose. His face is full of blood and he is out of it. Man One does another swing kick to his face but this time the Large Man spins around once and hits the floor, he's out cold. Security comes but doesn't dare mess with the two men. They just turn and walk right out the club to the street, only to find Logan and Samantha have already left the area and are no where to be found.)
"Damn, they got away." Man One says. (Man two takes out a hand held computerized device and makes a video call to someone. On his screen all that can be seen is a figure sitting in a chair with the lights dimmed to conceal his identity. His voice has also been altered by some kind of machine to sound like a computer voice.)
"Jack and Jill gave us the slip." Man Two says to this figure in the dark on the screen of his hand held device.
"They gave you the slip! Idiots! How could they give you guys the slip? Find them and do it now or its both your Hydeshides." The Strange Man said.
"Yes sir, well find them, don't worry they could not have gotten far. (He puts the device away in his jacket pocket) Come on I think I know where they're going." Man Two says to Man One. (They both get into their vehicle and drive off as flashing lights and sirens can be herd in the background. Someone inside the club has called the police and an ambulance but by the time they get there the two men are long gone)
After the club incident we knew they were on to us, who ever they were. So we went back to my hotel to take care of some more business. We were going to try to crack the codes on those files on Mitch's disc, to see what was so important that he would pass code them. We arrived at the hotel around nine thirty at night. We got out the car and the hole time from the car to the door we were looking over our shoulders, you know just incase. We approached my hotel door when the person in the room next to us came out.
(Opens the door) "Logan, Logan" said the man in the room next door.
"Yeah what do you want, I'm kind of in a hurry here." I said to him as Samantha just stood in the back minding her own business.
"Oh I see, you and your lady friend back there want some time alone,e ,a" The Man says to me in a smug voice.
"No it's not like that John." Logan responds.
"Sure, sure, what ever you say Logan." John says in a doubtful tone.
"Anyway what did you want in the first place?" I said to him with an annoyed tone.
"Well I just thought you should know that today while I was in the lobby earlier today two guys came looking for you." John said.
(Earlier in the day)
(They walk into the lobby and push the man next door aside and walk up to the front desk)
"Can I help you gentleman with something?" The desk clerk said.
"Yes we need some information pertaining to a case we are currently working on. (They flash their badges)" Man one said.
"What kind of information, I'm just a desk clerk at a hotel how much could I know?" Desk clerk said to the two men.
"We need to know if you've seen this man." Man Two said. (Pulls out a picture of Logan and shows it to the clerk. He takes it from man two's hand and looks at it)
"No, I don't believe I have. I see a lot of people around here everyday and no one particular man seems to stand out. But what I can do is take this picture and show it to some of the other clerks on the other shifts to see if they have seen this man. If anyone remembers him than I'll give you guys a call, do you have a card or something?" The clerk says.
"Yeah here (takes a card from his jacket pocket and hands it to the clerk and the clerk take's it and keeps the picture), again if you or anyone else remembers or sees him in the future please remember to give us a call." Man two said.
"Alright sorry I couldn't be more help to you boys." The clerk said to the two men as they left. On their way out they look at the man from next-door with a suspicious look and then kept on going out the door.
"Anything?" Man Agent Smith said.
"No, nothing, I couldn't read him. He must be one of us." Agent Jones said.
"Yes, not very strong but strong enough to block both of us. We still have seventeen more hotels to check." Agent Smith said as they got into their car and take one last look at the clerk and the man next-door through the glass of the door of the lobby and then they just drive away.
"And that's all that happened." John says.
"What time did this happen?" I inquired to the next- doorman.
"Well it was around eleven o'clock this morning." John said to Logan.
"And Ralph didn't tell them anything right?" Logan asks.
"No he said he had never heard or seen you before and it looks like they bought it. Ralph was real cool about it." John said.
"Good, tell Ralph I said thanks and thanks to you too for not saying anything, I really appreciate it John." I said to John.
"No problem but if you don't mind me asking who were those guys and what did they want with you? You seem like a nice man, what could guys like that possibly want with someone like you?" John said.
"Don't ask John, I don't want you to get involved in this too. Just forget about it, forget you ever met me too. It'll be best that way and if anyone asks just say you never saw me before in your life." I said to him as I walked away and opened my hotel door and Samantha and I went in.
"All I Wanted"
"I couldn't help but think about my fallen friend. What if I never had gotten him involved in all this, would he still be alive? Would those beautiful children still have a father? I never wanted any one to get hurt because of me. All I wanted was a normal and happy life. The kind with a wife, two point five kids and the house with the white picket fence. But that dream seems so far away, now more than ever before. I asked myself why me, why did this have to happen to me, why now? Everything I have known up until now is a lie. What is my real life like? Do I have parents, brothers and sisters? Did I have a happy home, a happy and loving childhood.childhood? The childhood I always dreamed of, the childhood I always wanted. That's all I wanted as a child but I never got, until Mitch and his family came along. Whatever the truth, the real truth, I will find out, no one will stop me from that. I knew only that I couldn't trust my memories, I didn't know which were real and which were fake."
"But I couldn't think about that now, it was the next morning and I was going to go about business as usual, so I wouldn't tip any one off that I knew more than I was letting on. So I went to work, I was sadder than usual because that was expected of me. Everyone gave me their condolences because they knew we where were friends but they didn't know how far back went. Than after lunch something strange happened on my way back to my desk." Logan said.
" Hey"Hey Logan can we talk for a second." said Robby.
"Yeah, what is it Robby" I said as I walked over to Robby who was talking with someone I'd never seen before around the office, so I thought maybe he was new.
"I heard about your friend Mitch, I'm sorry for what happened to him, I saw the news," Robby said.
"Thanks Robby, so am I. Wwho'sWho's your friend?"
"Oh I'm sorry how rude of me, Miles Logan this is Mike Vanderjack, Mike Vanderjack this is my friend Miles Logan."
"Please to meet youmeet you Mike, I'm Logan." I said to him as I looked at him.
"Same here Miles." Mike said.
"You'll do good to watch this guy operate, you'll learn a lot from him. He's one of our best knew accountants. He landed our firm some of our biggest clients." Robby said.
"Did he now, that's great, I'm sure I can learn a lot from a man like him. A whole lot of information from a stand up guy like yourself Logan." Mike said.
"Yeah I'm sure you could also." I said as I thought to myself that's an unusual choice of words.
"So Logan, did Mitch tell you about cases he was working on? I mean you guys were close right? I know people who are close talk a lot to one another." Mike inquired.
"Hey Mike come on, he just lost a good friend of his, lay off all right." Robby says to Mike.
"Well I mean they were good friends maybe they discussed his cases." Mike said.
"No he didn't talk about his cases, he was a professional." Logan said.
"Not even his last case? I mean the guy did meet with such a tragic end." Mike replied.
"Yeah, so anyway I gotta go, I'll see you guys later." Logan said in an awkwardquaawkward ward ttonetone, than he walks away.
After work I went back to the hotel and called Samantha to see if she was all right. She said that nothing out of the ordinary happened to her. So I asked her to meet me later at Jakes. But first I had some other business to take care of. I figured out that they went after Mitch because of his copy of the police file he had. But I guess they didn't find it. So they killed him because he knew totoo much. I thought maybe his partner could help me. So I called his partner and asked him to meet me in the park. I was sitting down on the park bench when he walked right up to me.
"So why did you call me here." Mathew says as he sits down next to Logan on the park bench.
"I need some information about Mitch, that only you have." I said.
"What do you want to know that you don't already know? What do I know?"
"I need to know if he said anything to you before he died, any thing out of the ordinary?"
"Like what exactly do you mean?" Mathew said.
"Like anything out of the ordinary"
"No nothing I can recall that stands out." Mathew said to Logan.
"When was the last time you seen saw him?" I said.
"Well he came to my apartment around 8:00 o'clock at night."
"Eight at night? So he must have wentgone gone to see you right after I left him." I said.
"So you met with him that night too?"
"Yeah earlier in the night. Why did he say he was there to see you?" Logan asked.
"He said he was in the neighborhood and had bought a new antique jewelry box for his wife that he wanted to show me."
"He said he was in the neighborhood?"
"Yeah he said he was in the neighborhood and thought he would stop by." said Mathew.
"Last time I saw him washim was at Jakes and Jakes is no where near where you live." I said.
"Come to think of it he didn't even have the jewelry box with him to show me, all he had was a key he gave to me." Mathew said.
"Do you have the key he gave you with you?"
"Yeah right here. He said as he takes it out of his pocket and gives it to Logan.
"Did he tell you what the key was too?" I said.
"No, all he did was give it to me and tell me to take care of it. Not to tell anyone that I had it and to keep it in a safe place because he might need it later." Mathew said.
"Thanks Matt, you've been a big help." Logan says as he gets up from the park bench and walks away.
I left the park and wondered what the key he gave to Mathew was for? Then I thought about what Mathew said that Mitch said to him. I was in the neighborhood, why would he be in the neighborhood? He would have had to have gone straight to Mathew's house after Jakes. Than there was the jewelry box, his wife doesn't wear enough jewelry to have a box. So then why did he buy the box, what was the real reason he bought the box? So I decided to go to Mathew's neighborhood for a drive. I drove up and down the block and up the street. I had driven around a few times until I saw it, THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORAGE. It was a public storage place called The Neighborhood Storage. Could that have been what he meant buy in the neighborhood.neighborhood? It was the best lead I had to go on, so I decided to go in and see if he had a locker or some kind of safety box. I went in and approached the girl at the counter.
"Hi how are, my name is William I'm trying to find out where this key goes, if it goes to a locker or something." I said.
"Do you have id?" The woman asked Logan
"No, I don't." Logan replied.
"Then I can't let you in."
"All right I'll level with you, my friend owns the locker, he died and left me the key. WhatsWhat's inside could be a clue about who killed him. I'm just trying find his killer. So please can you help me?"
"Well all right, go ahead but you only have five minutes. Let me see the key (she takes the key Logan pulled out from his pocket), oh yeah this key belongs to locker six. It's straight ahead, when you get to the end make a right and go down about ten feet." The lady said.
"Thanks very much, straight ahead turn right and go down ten feet." I said.
So I went down the hallway and all I saw were a bunch of lockers. I got to the end and made a right. I came to locker six; it was about as tall as a shoebox and as wide as one. There was a pad lock on it, so I pulled out in the key, put it in the lock and turned it. It did fit the lock and unlocked it. So I took off the lock and opened the locker door. There was a jewelry box inside just like Mitch told Matthew about. It was brown with black trim. I took it out and opened it; there was a pair of earrings and a necklace inside. But there was also was a piece of paper with the words red nu kool written on it. I was puzzled as to what the meaning was and I thought it was Latin or something.
But then I looked at it again and knew he was trying to tell me something, thenand then I remembered he liked to spell and say words backward, he was rather good at it. So I spelled it backwardsbackward in my head and it spelled out look under. So I figured it meant that there was something hidden under in a secret compartment. But I couldn't figure out how to open the compartment. I looked at the box and saw these symbolssymbols carved on themcarved symbols it, they looked like roses. I felt each one and one of them in the middle in the front, felt loose. I turned it to the right and all of a sudden the box split in half and the top half popped up. It revealed a smaller hidden bottom half with a floppy disc in it. So I took the disc, closed the box and put back in the locker. Locked it up just like it was before,before; I proceeded to leave the place.
"Thank You miss for your help" I said.
"No problem William, glad I could be of some help." She said back to me.
I left the building and got into my car. As I was driving off I saw two men in black suites enter the building. They looked very suspicious but I didn't want them to see me their there so I drove off and went back to my hotel.
(They both walk up the steps and into the building) "Excuse me miss, I'm special agent Smith and this is special agent Jones (they show their badges), we're here to see if you've seen this man (they show a picture of Logan to the woman)" Agent Smith said.
"Why do you want to know? Is he a criminal or in some kind of trouble?" She said.
"No we're just looking for him, to ask him a few questions. So have you seen him?" Agent Jones says.
"Well he does look familiar but then again a lot of people look familiar. So many come through here everyday it's really hard to tell.," she said. (They both look at one another and then her)
"Thank yYouyou for all your help miss, if you think of anything else please give us a call" said Agent Smith (he hands her his card and they leave).
"She's lying, she has seen him and seen him very recently." Smith says.
"Yes she was, she definitely seen him. Her words are lies but her thoughts are the truth." Jones says to Smith.
"But what was he doing here, I wonder?" Said Smith
"Do you think he was here for to retreaveretrieve it? Perhaps he figured out where Mitch hid it." Jones said.
"Yes that is why he was here and he now has it. We must find him and soon. He is getting closer to discovering the truth." Agent Smith said.
"Yes he is and if he does, everything we have worked for these ten years will go up in smoke." Agent Jones says.
"Yes, we can't let that happen, we are so close to acheivingachieving our ultimate goal. No one knows we are involved but if he firguresfigures it out, he will expose it and expose us. We just missed him,him; we are steps behind him and will catch him soon.
"Yes perhaps but every moment he is free he jeopardizes the mission. Come on letslet's get back to base and report in." Jones said. (They walk back down the steps and walk a few steps down the street and stop at a black SUV and get in and drive away.)
When I got back to the hotel the one thing on my mind was too find out what was on that disc. But first I needed a computer to access the disc. I had a laptop back at my apartment. I was a little uneasy about going back, what if they knew what I was doing and were waiting for me?.? I had to go, it was the only way. So I did, I waited across the street in my car to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. There was no one that seemed unusual in sight. I figured it was all clear, so I got out of my car and went up the steps inside the building. My apartment was in the forth floor so I was going to take the elevator but thought the stairs was a better idea. I got to the forth floor and walked out the main stairway.
I took a look around the hallway, nothing unusual, everything the same as it always is. So I walked down the hall to apartment 3D, it looked like no one had been in my apartment. The door hadn't been kicked in and the lock wasn't picked either, at least as far as I can tell, so I put my key in and opened the door. I went in and took a look around. Everything was exactly where I had left it. So I knew no one had been in my place and if they did get in they didn't touch anything, which defeats the purpose of going through the trouble of breaking in.
Maybe they were watching to see if I came home but when I didn't maybe they figured I would eventually and they could catch me when I do. If that was true I knew I had to hurry up. My laptop was on the coffee table, I packed it up and packed a bag of clothes and other things I needed. You know just for a couple of days or so I thought at the time. I also took my copy of the Oyama file out of my safe in the apartment. I took one last look out the window to see if there was anything wrong and again nothing, everything was as it should be. So I left and locked up the apartment. I took the main stairway again but this time I left through the back door of the building. In case some one saw me go in through the front, they won't know that I left.
I walked out and looked to my left and my right and proceed to go left to the corner. I walked around the corner to the other corner of the block, where I can see my car. No was near my car, so I crossed the street and walked up to my car. I opened the trunk and put the bags in and I shut the truck. I got back in my car and drove back to the hotel. I was very careful,careful; I took side streets and allies, so I knew that no one would be able to follow me.
I brought my bags inside the room and set up my laptop to see just what was on that disc. I put the disc in and opened it. The disc had several files on it. One was titled Oyama. I thought could this be the same file he gave to me?.? He did tell me to make a copy of it on disc. So I opened it and it was the same file that he gave to me. I closed it and looked at the other files on the disc. The next file was titled IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I found that to be odd because the same phrase was used again but what did it mean this time. I tried to open it like I did with the Oyama file but this one was pass coded and I didn't have the passcode. The next two files were titled, "Project Hynds Blood and Project Four Horsemen." I tried to open those as well and they too were pass- coded. I sat there trying to think what the password could be. I tried his wife and children's names, his name and his birthday but no dice.
Damn what could this password be, I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost time to meet with Samantha, so I hid the disc and left. I met up with her around 8:15 p.m. at Jakes. She was already there waiting for me at a table, I went up to the table and sat down.
"Hi thanks for coming, I'm glad your alright" I said.
"Thanks, I can say the same for you. So what's up? , I assume you found something new or you wouldn't have called me here." Samantha said.
"Yeah but not here, you brought your car?" Logan asked.
"Yes of course I did." Samantha said.
"Good come were going back to my hotel room and we'll take your car." Logan said.
So we got up and left Jakes, the hotel wasn't too far from there. We got into the car and drove away but we weren't the only ones.
"So where are we going anyway?" Samantha said.
"To my hotel, I need your help with something." I said to her.
"Yeah I know you told me but how do we get there? Which hotel are you staying at?" Samantha asks.
"Just make a right at the next light and go straight and I'll tell you when to stop."
"Ok but why?" Samantha asked.
"I think we're being followed. That black SUV has been following us ever since we left Jakes. I just want to be sure if we're being followed or not, so we don't lead them to what there looking for." I said.
"Ok but where are we going now, if we aren't going to your hotel yet?" Samantha said.
"To a nightclub called Far Out, we'll be able to loose them there. Make a left at this light. Park right here on the side." Samantha makes the turn and they park along the sidewalk.
"Are they still behind us?" Samantha asked.
"Yup, two guys in black suits that I saw earlier. Come on lets go inside, I think you'll like it." I said as we got out car and go inside the club and the two men follow them in. They get a table and the two men get a table about 15 feet away in plain sight. Samantha it's isit's in front of Logan with her back turned to the men. As the two men sit side by side facing Logan and Samantha.
"Where are they? Did they follow us in?" Samantha says.
"There at the table to the right about 17 feet away." Logan responds.
"Are they staring at us?"
"If they were staring any harder they burn a hole in the wall. You want anything to drink?" I said.
"Yeah, get me a beer." Samantha said.
"You want a beer? I thought you were more refined than that, you know red wine and champagne." Logan sarcastically says.
"I can lower myself to your beer belly and belching nature if need be." She sparingly responds.
(Logan gets up and goes to the bar, one of the two men follow him to the bar)
"Yeah I'll take two beers (bartender gets them for him. The man in the black suite also orders two beers), thanks a lot man. (Logan pulls his wallet out form his back pocket and pays him and then walks back to the table and the man in the black suite does the same) Here you go," (hands her one beer)" Logan said.
"Thanks, this is an interesting club you've brought me too." Samantha said
"It's a space theme,theme; the lights and the black background give you a feeling like your out in space doesn't it?" I said.
"Yes it does, I like it, so what do you want to do now?" Samantha said.
"Well why don't we dance, after all we are in a dance club." Logan said.
"Dance, you?. You don't strike me as the dancing type." Samantha said.
"Yeah that's what people usually do in a dance club. And I have been known to cut a little rug from time to time." I said.
"Ok but are you sure you can keep up with me?" Samantha says jokingly.
"Oh I think I'll manage all right." Logan wittingly responds. (They both get up and go to the dance floor, as the two men just watch their every move. They get to the dance floor and begin to dance)
"You're a pretty good dancer for an accountant, who would have thought." Samantha said.
"Ouch, you're a pretty good dancer for a shrink, who would have thought." Logan responds.
"Are our two shadows still there?" Samantha said.
"Yup still there but not for long. Here's what we're going to do, when I tell you we're going to move left to become more mixed in with the crowd. Than when we are and they can't see us so well, we'll slip out the other side of the crowd and out the back, got it?" I said.
"I think so, you sure it'll work?" Samantha asks.
"No but we've got nothing to loose. Ready, now move to your left (They move to the left and go deeper into the crowd of people until they are no longer visible to the two men). Come on they can't see us, lets get out of here (They proceed to leave out the back entrance of the club)." I said.
"Hey where did they go? They disappeared." Man one said to Man Two.
"What, they'erthey're right there on the dance floor" Man Two said.
"No there they're gone, they must have ducked out." Man One said.
"What! Come on we got to find them. (They get up and go into the crowd and on the dance floor. They bump into a large man who is dancing with his girlfriend. He turns around and is upset that they bumped into him and didn't say excuse me). Man two said.
"Hey what the fuck," Large man says to the two men in black suits.
"Do you see them anywhere in here?" Man two said.
"No but it's hard to see because of the dimmed lights. It looks like we lost them." Man one said.
"The back entrance, they probably slipped out the back. Come let's go., (They proceed to leave when the large man grabs Man One on the shoulder)" Mango," Man Two said.
"Hey I was talking to you, now I'm going to beat the hell out of you." Large Man says. (Man one turns around)
"I don't have time for this shit,shit; I have other matters to tend to." Man One says. (He grabs the Large Man on his shoulder. The Large Man arrogantly looks down at his hand on his shoulder and smiles. Than he takes a swing at Man One but he ducks and than grabs him by the neck and flings him across the room into some tables 20 feet away. Everyone looks in amazement at what they just saw. The large man gets up and charges Man One like a rhino. Man One jumps into the air and swings his right leg in a half circle motion and kick's the face of the Large Man. Man One punches him in the stomach, then in the face and breaks his nose. His face is full of blood and he is out of it. Man One does another swing kick to his face but this time the Large Man spins around once and hits the floor, he's out cold. Security comes but doesn't dare mess with the two men. They just turn and walk right out the club to the street, only to find Logan and Samantha have already left the area and are no where to be found.)
"Damn, they got away." Man One says. (Man two takes out a hand held computerized device and makes a video call to someone. On his screen all that can be seen is a figure sitting in a chair with the lights dimmed to conceal his identity. His voice has also been altered by some kind of machine to sound like a computer voice.)
"Jack and Jill gave us the slip." Man Two says to this figure in the dark on the screen of his hand held device.
"They gave you the slip! Idiots! How could they give you guys the slip? Find them and do it now or its both your Hydeshides." The Strange Man said.
"Yes sir, well find them, don't worry they could not have gotten far. (He puts the device away in his jacket pocket) Come on I think I know where they're going." Man Two says to Man One. (They both get into their vehicle and drive off as flashing lights and sirens can be herd in the background. Someone inside the club has called the police and an ambulance but by the time they get there the two men are long gone)
After the club incident we knew they were on to us, who ever they were. So we went back to my hotel to take care of some more business. We were going to try to crack the codes on those files on Mitch's disc, to see what was so important that he would pass code them. We arrived at the hotel around nine thirty at night. We got out the car and the hole time from the car to the door we were looking over our shoulders, you know just incase. We approached my hotel door when the person in the room next to us came out.
(Opens the door) "Logan, Logan" said the man in the room next door.
"Yeah what do you want, I'm kind of in a hurry here." I said to him as Samantha just stood in the back minding her own business.
"Oh I see, you and your lady friend back there want some time alone,e ,a" The Man says to me in a smug voice.
"No it's not like that John." Logan responds.
"Sure, sure, what ever you say Logan." John says in a doubtful tone.
"Anyway what did you want in the first place?" I said to him with an annoyed tone.
"Well I just thought you should know that today while I was in the lobby earlier today two guys came looking for you." John said.
(Earlier in the day)
(They walk into the lobby and push the man next door aside and walk up to the front desk)
"Can I help you gentleman with something?" The desk clerk said.
"Yes we need some information pertaining to a case we are currently working on. (They flash their badges)" Man one said.
"What kind of information, I'm just a desk clerk at a hotel how much could I know?" Desk clerk said to the two men.
"We need to know if you've seen this man." Man Two said. (Pulls out a picture of Logan and shows it to the clerk. He takes it from man two's hand and looks at it)
"No, I don't believe I have. I see a lot of people around here everyday and no one particular man seems to stand out. But what I can do is take this picture and show it to some of the other clerks on the other shifts to see if they have seen this man. If anyone remembers him than I'll give you guys a call, do you have a card or something?" The clerk says.
"Yeah here (takes a card from his jacket pocket and hands it to the clerk and the clerk take's it and keeps the picture), again if you or anyone else remembers or sees him in the future please remember to give us a call." Man two said.
"Alright sorry I couldn't be more help to you boys." The clerk said to the two men as they left. On their way out they look at the man from next-door with a suspicious look and then kept on going out the door.
"Anything?" Man Agent Smith said.
"No, nothing, I couldn't read him. He must be one of us." Agent Jones said.
"Yes, not very strong but strong enough to block both of us. We still have seventeen more hotels to check." Agent Smith said as they got into their car and take one last look at the clerk and the man next-door through the glass of the door of the lobby and then they just drive away.
"And that's all that happened." John says.
"What time did this happen?" I inquired to the next- doorman.
"Well it was around eleven o'clock this morning." John said to Logan.
"And Ralph didn't tell them anything right?" Logan asks.
"No he said he had never heard or seen you before and it looks like they bought it. Ralph was real cool about it." John said.
"Good, tell Ralph I said thanks and thanks to you too for not saying anything, I really appreciate it John." I said to John.
"No problem but if you don't mind me asking who were those guys and what did they want with you? You seem like a nice man, what could guys like that possibly want with someone like you?" John said.
"Don't ask John, I don't want you to get involved in this too. Just forget about it, forget you ever met me too. It'll be best that way and if anyone asks just say you never saw me before in your life." I said to him as I walked away and opened my hotel door and Samantha and I went in.