Chapter Thirteen

Revisiting The Past

She points the gun in Alex's direction. "Sit down." She looks over to Bobby. "Stand next to her by the couch and call your son up here." He hesitates, "Now!"

"Alright calm down." He calls to his son. "Chris! Come up here!"

From the basement, he shouts, "In a minute!"

"Not in a minute, now!"

"Alright, gees, I'm coming." He reaches the top of the stairs. "What do you want?" He then looks up and is immediately confused and scared by what he sees. He walks slowly into the room, "Dad?"

"Chris come over here," Bobby waves for his son to stand next to him, "Alright Nicole you can let him go now."

Tommy starts to wiggle and Nicole pulls him into her as she lightly chokes him. "Stay, still." He continues to wiggle. "Tommy please try to stay still," Bobby says.

Tommy stops wiggling and Nicole loosens her hold around his neck, "Nicole let him go."

"No not just yet. I need for you to get some rope."

"Rope, what do you need rope for?"

"Stop questioning every thing I say. Now, do you have rope?"

"Yes I do."

"Get it."

"I have to go to the garage," He turns to leave the room and Nicole calls to him. "Bobby, be smart, don't do anything stupid, remember who I have here."

Alex takes a hold of Chris' hand. She is good, very smart, prepared and in control.

He walks as quickly as he can to the garage. "Shit! This can't be happening, please let this be a nightmare."

Nicole lets go of Tommy and pushes him away from her and he falls to the floor. Alex walks toward him and helps him up. "Both of you sit down on the couch." Waving the gun toward Chris, "Come on, you too."

Minutes later Bobby returns with the rope and extends his arm to give it to her, "No, you hold on to it. All of you I want you in the kitchen."

Alex takes a hold of each of the boys' hand and they walk into the kitchen, Bobby is close behind them. "You three," Nicole says as she points to Alex and the boys, "Sit down, Bobby, tie them up."

"Why, they're not a threat to you." He says very exasperated.

Nicole keeps her distance from him. She points the gun at his head, and in a calm voice, she says. "Chester was not my first or last Bobby and being the intelligent man that I know you to be, you know that. I didn't want to hurt you fifteen years ago, I don't want to hurt you now, so do what I ask, and I will be out of here and out of your life." She raises her voice, "However you are trying my patience. Stop arguing with me and do what I say!"

"Alright," You bitch.

He gently ties up his sons and then he kneels down in front of them, "I'm so sorry about all of this. Everything will be all right guys, I promise. Please try and stay quiet, will you do that for me?"

He lightly taps Chris on his leg, "Chris?"

"I will." He then turns to Tommy, "Tommy?"

"I will Dad," he exhales, "I'm scared."

"I know Tommy, she'll be gone soon."

Chris asks, "Who is she Dad?"

"I'll explain everything later, ok." They nod their heads. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"We know that, right Tommy."

"Yep," he says.

As he ties up Alex she whispers, "Bobby, you know her and you know what she is capable of, don't fight her, do what she says." He finishes tying her wrists and stands up, "Bobby, keep your head."

"I will," he walks away from them. Not completely recovered from his injuries he is starting to feel some pain in his chest.

Nicole calls to him. "Bobby, come here."

Christ. Now what do you want?

She waves the gun in the direction of the hallway that leads to the garage. He walks past her. She suddenly calls to him, "Stop. There was a closet and a pantry down this hallway, wasn't there?"

"What?"

"There was a walk in closet and a pantry here, right?"

"Yes but I knocked down the wall between them and built a room."

Nicole opens the door to a small but well kept art studio. "Where was the pantry door?"

"Can we stop playing twenty questions? Tell me what the hell you're doing here and what you are looking for?"

"Money, I want the money."

He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, "What money? I don't have any money."

She turns to face him. "I want my money, Bobby. It's here in this house." She looks down at the floor. "You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?"

"The money Bobby," he notices her looking down at the floor. Nicole lifts her head and he catches her eye. He rubs his chin. "You buried money under my floor?"

"No, love,"

He absent-mindedly steps forward, "Don't call me that!"

"Move back," she points the gun at his head.

"Okay, okay," He takes two steps back.

"You really don't remember, do you?"

He shakes his head, "No I don't."

"You totally freaked out one day about having the money in the house and you decided to hide it." She points at the floor, "It was your idea, not mine."

"Oh God," He shakes his head, "Why didn't you come back for it when I was in……when I wasn't home?"

"I couldn't, I had to get out of the area very quickly. Someone was looking for me. And he was getting closer to finding me, he wanted his money back."

Bobby's eyes widen, "Why do I get the feeling that Harry was looking for you."

"Oh I see you remember Harry."

"Sort of, what did you do Nicole, rip him off?" Bobby rubs his eyes and he has to smile. "I always thought that you and Harry were partners." He points his finger at her, "Son of a bitch, it was you and Chester, wasn't it?"

She has to smile, "Yes that's right. Harry had been at Chester's only a few days before, when we made a deal with him to buy the cocaine. He told us that it would take him a few days to get the money together. During that time, Chester and I sold the cocaine to someone else and filled the bags with powdered sugar. Of course it didn't take him long to figure that out, but living out here with you it took him a while to find me. A few days before you and Stewart were arrested, I heard that he was getting closer. Do you remember where I was that day?

"Where you were? I don't even remember where I was going."

"I was in Westchester getting our new ID's and passports. We would have new names and we would be living elsewhere, maybe another country. When I got back to Brooklyn that night, the cops were searching your house. I had to leave and I had to leave in a hurry. I decided to go back to Europe using my new identity. I was very patient waiting year after year, for when I could come back and get my money. Last month I found out that Harry had died and that was when I knew it was safe to come back."

"You used everybody."

"To get what I want I will do what I have to do," she says.

"So you disposed of Chester to get his share of the money," he says.

"I didn't want to share the money with him. I knew Stewart would be happy with the two hundred and fifty thousand I gave him. I wanted to share that money with you. The money in the paper bags, that was Chester's share, I had placed my share in a locker at the bus station. After it was all done I had close to a million dollars."

"Well that explains a lot."

Nicole leans up against the wall. "I have waited fifteen years for Harry to leave this earth so I could come back and get my money. Well?"

He says with a disgusted tone, "Well what?"

Nicole walks over to the door and gestures for him to get closer, "Start chopping, sawing what ever you have to do to get this floor up."

He shakes his head, "That's a lot of work to do and I don't think I have the strength to do it, I have to cut through the vinyl floor and then remove the wood floor underneath and since neither of us remember exactly where I put it," he shakes his head, "I don't think I can do it."

"Do what I say Bobby."

He shakes his head and exhales. "No I can't do it."

"You never argued with me before Bobby." She points the gun at him and he steps back and holds up his arms. "I have waited long enough, now get to work."

He hesitates for only a moment and Nicole takes a few steps back toward the kitchen.

"Ok, ok. I have to get some tools from the garage." Nicole doesn't answer. "What do you think I can rip up the floor with my hands?" he says sarcastically.

"No I don't think that, make it quick. Remember, Bobby, be smart."

He returns and as he bends down, he cringes in pain, "Damnit." He cuts the vinyl, normally he could do this job very quickly and easily but his injuries are still causing him some pain.

"How long have you known her?" Nicole asks.

"Huh?" He looks up at her.

"Her, I know that's not your wife."

"We met a few months ago," He says breathing heavy. He stops once again to catch his breath. Nicole is being very patient.

"Does she do the same things for you that I use to do?"

He continues his task, "Nicole," he looks up at her, "I don't care to discuss my personal life with you and I don't want to talk to you, so please just let me finish this so you can get the hell out of here." The vinyl floor is cut and he pulls it up and out of the way, he can now see the floorboards. He then starts to pull up the floorboards.

"Afraid they might hear what we will say, all of them or just your sons." He looks up at her and she smiles, "My, my they don't know the nasty deeds that their Daddy had done."

"Shut up Nicole," He stands up too quickly and he grimaces from the pain, "Just shut the hell up!"

"Just trying to make conversation while you work," He pulls up a board and catches his finger on a nail, "Son of a bitch."

He can see the bag and he has to remove just one more board. He pulls the bag out and sets it down next to him as he sits down on the floor. She gestures for him to move away. Nicole bends down and picks up her money. "Now if you have any thoughts about calling the police, remember you are the one with a criminal record in this country, not me." She smiles at him.

She walks quickly through the house, "Have a nice life Bobby," The door closes and she is gone.

TBC