Geek Mafia: Mile Zero by Rick Dakan (best fiction novels to read .txt) đź“•
"If you can spare it, it'd help. I've already doled out all my cash on hand to secure the place and get the liquor. But we still need..."
"I know, I know," said Paul, handing the money to Sandee. "Let's just try and make tonight kick ass so we can earn that back as quick as possible."
"We should be flush by dawn, my dear," Sandee assured him. "Just you wait."
"That's the plan anyway. But would you explain that to Chloe for me?"
"What is Chloe doing tonight, anyway?" Sandee asked. "I was hoping to get her to come out with me and check out the new help at the Hyatt."
"She's busy getting everything set up for our visitors. She's kind of freaking out about all the little details."
"Oh my, are they coming in tonight? I thought that was next week."
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“And what’re you going to be doing in the meantime?” asked Paul. “Snooping around on your own behind our backs, I assume.”
“Winston is going to help dispose of the body. I’m going to continue doing what I came here to do - I will not be dissuaded. Later today I’m meeting again with Eddie to discuss future plans and alternatives to how he might be involved now that Raquel is gone. Hopefully you and Chloe will turn up some more leads by then.”
“We’re working on it,” said Paul, but his mind was elsewhere. He was remembering Sandee’s conversation with Eddie, which he’d watched via the party’s hidden cameras. Eddie had been pretty careful, but Sandee had gotten him to brag about his prowess as a planner. He’d talked about having a backup plan. How he always had a backup plan. A particularly nasty possibility occurred to Paul.
“I think we’re done here,” said Isaiah. “We’ve all got much to…”
“Wait a sec,” interrupted Paul. “There’s another possibility.”
“What’s that?” asked Isaiah.
“When you talk to Eddie, there’s a strong possibility that he’s going to suggest someone to replace Raquel in the corporation. Someone or some crew that he already knows and trusts.”
Isaiah stared at Paul for a long, hard moment. “Why do you think that?”
“Like you said, this is my island and I’ve got resources here you two don’t. Just trust me on this one. Eddie’s got someone else lined up and ready to jump into the inner circle now that there’s an opening at the table. I’ll bet you.”
Isaiah sat back in his seat and drummed his fingers on the table. “I don’t bet.”
“Whatever. Just wait and see. It’ll happen.”
“And if it does?” Isaiah asked.
“Well, then that opens up another possibility. No one was sending a message or trying to scuttle the group. They were just trying to change the dynamic of the founding members. They killed Raquel and left her body in her room because they knew we’d find it.” Paul’s mind was racing and he was talking almost as fast, the realizations spilling out of his mouth as they occurred to him. “If they dumped the body in the water, we wouldn’t know for sure that she was dead. They leave it out for the cops to find and, well, now you’ve got the cops involved and no one wants that. Place the body where only we will find it and now we know for sure that she’s dead, but there are no cops. And since we know she’s dead, we also know that we can start looking right away for someone to replace her.”
“It’s an interesting theory,” said Isaiah, his face blank.
“And you suspect Eddie?” asked Winston.
“Yeah, Eddie’s the most likely candidate isn’t he? Or maybe it was the replacement he has in mind who went ahead and acted alone. Or maybe they were both in on it together.” Paul was excited now that last night’s events were finally starting to make sense to him. Something about Eddie had rubbed him wrong from the moment they met, and now he knew why. The man might be a murderer.
“It’s worth investigating,” said Isaiah. “If Eddie does indeed offer a replacement at my meeting with him, then I’ll be sure to keep both him and the new potential player at arm’s length while we look into the matter.”
“But you need to be careful, Paul,” Winston chimed in. “You and Chloe need to take every precaution when you’re dealing with Eddie. If he is behind the murder, then…”
“I know,” said Paul. “Then he’s very dangerous. Well, if I’ve learned anything in the last twenty-four hours, it’s that you can’t be too careful.”
Winston nodded in approval. “And don’t hesitate to ask either of us for help.”
“And keep us updated on your progress every three hours,” Isaiah added.
“Yes, sir,” Paul shot back, not liking Isaiah’s commanding tone.
Isaiah ignored the sarcasm and stood up. “Well, we’re done here. I’ll pay downstairs. If you two want more breakfast, feel free to stay.”
“Thank you, Isaiah,” said Winston, who remained in his seat. “I too would like some eggs. Paul, will you stay and eat with me?”
“Sure,” said Paul, “Sounds good.” He’d welcome a chance to talk things over with Winston without Isaiah’s intimidating presence in the room. Isaiah gave them both a blank look and then nodded, leaving without another word. Winston poured Paul a glass of juice.
“Now, Paul,” said Winston. “Can you tell me what you really think is going on here?”
Paul looked around the room. At the framed pictures on the wall and the clock and the little ceramic sun and the plastic flamingo. They could all have cameras or microphones or both. After Isaiah’s morning demonstration of his omniscience, Paul doubted that he would have left him and Winston alone in a room without a bug.
“Sure, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Paul lied.
CHLOE fumed as she hit the street. The whole world was spinning out of her control. Nothing pissed her off more than being out of control. Isaiah’s little “message” to Paul through that fucking game had been a real shock to her. Despite all her many misgivings about being in Key West, she thought at the very least that they’d managed to create a secure environment for themselves. Between Bee’s spy cameras and their own security measures around the house and the network of contacts she and Paul had cultivated, they should have had some hint that Isaiah was poking around in their affairs. But for all she knew, he could have been surveilling them for days or even weeks, and she’d never had a moment’s suspicion that he was out there. Could he and his crew be that good?
Once again she cursed the fact that they didn’t have a real hacker in their crew anymore. Raff had been brilliant with all the computer stuff, and given the time and resources, there wasn’t a system he’d failed to crack for her and her Crew. But Raff had turned out to be a fucking rat bastard. She needed a non-rat-bastard Raff. But surprisingly enough, the city of Key West was known more for its margaritas and bare-breasted festivals than it was for its booming tech industry. Isaiah had her totally outflanked on the hacking front, and that scared her. Their system at home was as secure as they could make it, but she and Bee weren’t experts. And when it came to computers, Paul was basically useless.
It took her and Bee an hour to finish sweeping the computer room upstairs. After that, she left her friend to finish the rest of the house. As far as she was concerned, the whole place needed to be treated as compromised from now on, no matter what Bee’s equipment found. There would be no talking outside of Bee’s safe room about anything important until all this bullshit with Isaiah and Raquel’s murder was resolved and these crazy fuckers left her island.
Now Chloe buzzed along on her scooter, on her way to see the girl that had first told Paul where Raquel was staying. She was the receptionist at Raquel’s guest house who worked the day shift and was staying in one of the rental properties the Crew controlled. Her name was Riva Lindell, and she’d never done much to earn her keep before as far as Chloe could remember. She was a friend of a friend of Sandee’s and had been living for free in a timeshare off Roosevelt for two and a half months. Sandee said she was a good kid, a party girl, and that she’d be cooperative.
The house where Riva was staying was really more of a tiny bungalow, tucked in behind a larger house that the Keys Condos and Estates also managed. The bungalow had been a guest house originally, but at some point the original owner had sold it off as a separate property. It was a cute little place, although it could use a new paint job. Now that hurricane season was over, the owner might actually want to spend money on something like that.
She knocked on the door louder than was polite. Riva wasn’t supposed to be at work for another two hours, and odds were that she was still asleep. Getting no response to her first round of knocks, she pounded on the door even harder. It took a third barrage to finally rouse the resident. A heavyset, bleary-eyed woman with a tangled mass of brown hair flung the door open, looking very angry. She wore only an oversized Miami Dolphins jersey that barely came down to her upper thighs.
“What?” she shouted, rubbing her eye with one knuckle.
“Hi,” said Chloe. “Sorry to…”
“Who’re you?” Riva asked sleepily. “Do I…”
“I’m your landlord,” said Chloe.
That woke Riva right up. “Oh, I’m just… it’s a friend’s place…” she stammered. “I’m just…”
“It’s ok, Riva,” Chloe assured her. “I’m a friend of Sandee’s.”
“Oh, shit, thank God,” said Riva with relief.
“Can I come in? I’ve got a question or two. You’re not in any trouble, and you don’t have to move out or anything. I just think you can help me out.”
“Um… sure. Of course,” Riva replied, looking over her shoulder nervously. Chloe peered past her into the one-room bungalow and saw that there was someone else lying in the bed. “Sorry about the mess. My boyfriend…”
“Why don’t you throw on some pants, and we’ll talk out here,” said Chloe. She didn’t know who this guy in the bed was, but she didn’t want to have to deal with him right now.
“Sure,” said Riva. “Just a sec.” Riva shut the door again and Chloe thought she heard anxious whispering between her and the boyfriend. Chloe thought about how well the real estate scam had worked out for them. Taking over Keys Condos and Estates had been a stroke of genius and it continued to pay unexpected dividends. There was no such thing as affordable housing in Key West, and it wasn’t like they were making any more land. Property was king on the tiny island, and the more properties they controlled, the more influence they had.
Riva had thrown on a pair of jeans and some sandals and tied her hair back with a scrunchy. “Sorry about that,” she said as she stepped out.
“Don’t be. I’m the one who should be sorry for waking you up,” Chloe assured her. “It’s just that I have a ton of stuff to do today, and I needed to get these questions out of the way while I had some time. It’s nothing too important, just a few little things.”
“Ok, sure. What do you need?”
“You talked to my business partner last night about a guest at the place where you work.”
“Sure, I remember. That woman.”
“Exactly. Well, I’ve got a few other questions about her, if you don’t mind.”
“What’s this about?”
“It’s a business matter, that’s all.”
Riva looked like she might not be satisfied with that answer, but she nodded. “Ok.” Living off the books as she was, she couldn’t afford to ask any questions.
“Do you remember seeing her with anyone else?” Chloe
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