At 11:30 a.m. Nick Johnson pulled into the covered garage connected to our building. I
wanted to meet in person because I didn't really trust any other form of communication. My work
lines were tapped, and who knew if the Cartel had a way to intercept my cell phones and e-mail? I
had one cell phone that I rarely used and didn't think anybody knew about, so that was the phone
I used to ask Nick to meet me at 11:30 a.m. But even then, it was a quick call with no names
acknowledged, kind of like, “Hey it's me. Can we meet at 11:30 in the garage?”
I got this cell phone a few months after I first met Julio, for the sole intention of owning a
communication device that could be kept a secret. I never left it lying around in the office or at
home, and probably had only used it five or six times.
Judy had gone for lunch already, something she did a few times a month usually with
Darryl. I didn't expect her back until 1:00 p.m. Though, I tried to take the three of us out to lunch once a month if not more, it had been over six weeks and we were due.
This morning, I couldn't leave Judy all alone down the hallway, so from 8:30 on, I sat in
Darryl's spot. We talked about our favorite memories of him, of the holiday parties he organized
for just the three of us during office hours, of the disaster of a car Darryl owned up until last year, and of his fanciful clothing. We both knew I would have to hire a replacement for him, but I
really was in no hurry.
There were maybe fifteen cars in the two story garage. I never used it, except on snowy
days, something Claire hated because she claimed I would stay healthier if I kept out of the foul
weather.
“Peter, what's up?” Nick asked while stepping out of the car. He was dressed casually in
a brown leather jacket and tan slacks. The man watching me was on the other side of the building
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and couldn't see into the garage, only the entrance. I trusted that he wouldn't recognize Nick,
unless Martin had given him a picture, telling him to be on the lookout for a visit to my office by
Mr. Johnson. That wasn't real likely.
“Okay, January 16th is your date, if you choose to go ahead with your plan,” I said,
looking around to make sure no one else was listening.
Nick looked puzzled. “Why that date?”
I couldn't be honest with Nick here so I made up something believable from his
standpoint.
“Because there is a big Cartel meeting in New York on the 16th, so there will be way less
attention on you.”
Nick nodded his head. “Alright, I was thinking hard about the middle of January, so that
date is as good as any, I suppose.”
My heart was beating at a coronary pace. I never liked lying, but this was the rare
occasion where it was clearly in Nick's best interest
“How are Susan and Tom?”
“They're good, don't suspect a thing,” Nick said. “I can't believe what Oleg is forcing me
to do.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “It is the best option for you in the long run.”
It definitely took balls to try and pull something like faking your death to fool a Mexican
drug cartel. I couldn't imagine how many sleepless nights Nick Johnson had experienced since
Oleg forced his way into Nick's life. For Pete's sake, I knew I had my share.
The sad thing was that Nick didn't understand who he was dealing with. He was thinking
far too rationally, that if he could fool the cartel into thinking he was dead, the cartel would leave Timothy Gilbert
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his family alone. But I could easily envision Julio killing Susan and Tom just in case they knew
something dangerous to Julio's operation.
Nick smiled weakly and looked down at the garage floor. The man had such limited
options at this point that all I could do was to act like he stood a chance.
“What are you doing for lunch?” I asked.
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Saturday, December 7th
5:45pm