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Mike Smith Is Dead—Pt. 13

Christian lite - Fiction

By Dub WrightPublished 5 years ago 14 min read
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Kip tried to relax in his hotel room and planned his next day. “I need to go to the bank, but shish, if I’m being watched I don’t want to go to Publica.” He thought for a second. “Paulo.” He picked up one of the new burn phones and called.

“Good evening.” Paulo answered with a sleepy voice.

“Paulo, it’s Kip. I know it’s late, but I have an idea and I really need your help.”

“Kip, it’s two in the morning, surely your idea can wait 'til breakfast.” Paulo hung up.

“Phooey.” Kip disconnected his phone. If I had any points with Paulo they just went out the window.” He flopped back on his pillow. At six in morning his cell rang. “Yes,” Kip tried to answer.

“You got me up at two, now it’s morning. What do you want?”

Kip didn’t answer for a full minute.

Paulo yelled in the phone. “Wake up. What is so important?”

Kip finally regained consciousness. “I need help getting the money for Rosa, but there’s an issue that maybe you can help me with.”

Paulo huffed. “Okay, what is it?”

“By now the kidnappers know I have a rental car and they undoubtedly know what I look like. But, I need to go to Publica Bank before I go to Scotia. Oh, and I need to be seen going to Scotia. I would imagine they know the realty car too.”

Paulo was silent a second. “Linda drives a Rav4, and probably they don’t know Maria. How about if I drive Linda’s car to San Jose and you meet us. Then Maria can drive you to Publica and back to Scotia or wherever we meet.”

“Good idea, we’ll just meet at Scotia and figure out how to get me into the car with Maria. There’s a new parking deck across the street.”

“That won’t be a problem. I know about the new parking garage, so just go to the top level.“ Paulo chuckled. “We’ve been banking there while you were away. I make runs with company cash and rental payments.”

“Okay, bank opens at 9 AM, let's get there at 8:45 or so, we should be able to see if anyone is watching when we pull into the parking deck.”

The next morning at 8:40 AM Kip drove up to the top deck of the parking garage. The Rav4 was the only other vehicle there. He hopped in the back and reclined with his empty satchel.

Paulo got out of the Rav4 while Maria got in the driver’s seat. Paulo sat down in Kip’s vehicle. “I’ll wait here,” he said. A decided disgusted tone in his voice.

Maria drove to Publica bank and parked across the street. Kip made a dash into the bank just as it opened. The lady who had served them before was in her office. “Ms. Ortiz?” Kip walked in an offered his hand. “Kip Waller.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Waller. How can we serve you today.”

“Just need in my main box today.”

She picked up the phone. “Teresa, vengas aqui por favor. (Teresa, come here please.)”

A small young woman in a pressed pant suit appeared at the door. She looked very typical Tico, and Kip guessed she was less than five foot tall and probably right out of college, her hair was tied in a bun and her makeup was almost non existent.

“Mr. Waller needs to get in his box, would you handle that please. She stood and offered her hand. “So glad to see you again Mr. Waller, please come by and we can chat about some investments.”

Kip shook her hand. “I would like that Ms. Ortiz; thank you for your help.”

Kip and the young lady walked toward the vault but she paused at a teller station. The young lady smiled at Kip. “I speak English, please put your code in on the pad.”

Kip complied.

She opened a file cabinet and produced a card. “Just sign the card right under Mrs. Smith’s signature.”

Again Kip complied.

She filed the card then pointed the way into the vault. “You have one of the larger boxes, I assume you will need a cart and a room.”

“Good assumption.”

When the box appeared Kip hoisted it onto the cart and followed the young lady to the private room.

“Will there be anything else Mr. Waller?”

“No, and thank you. I’ll only be five minutes or so.”

Kip closed the door and began counting out thousand dollar bills, five hundred dollar bills, and hundred dollar bills. At 500 thousand dollars he quit counting. Filled his satchel and locked it. He peeked out the door. “Ready.”

Minutes later he and Maria were parked back on the top deck of the parking garage. Kip and Paulo traded places. “Paulo go to the bank door and wait.” Then Kip drove down to the street level and parked. He took the satchel into the bank and asked to exchange dollars for Calones. He transferred ten thousand dollars to 100 mil Calones and took the bundle into a private room and started rearranging the satchel. He put two layers of hundreds on the bottom, then filled the satchel with Calones putting a layer of five hundreds on top of the Calones. The satchel was now heavy enough Kip had trouble carrying it. The rest of the cash he deposited in his account before leaving the bank.

Kip walked out the door toward his car when a car stopped on the street and a man crossed the plaza and approached Kip.

“You have the money?”

Kip nodded.

He started to reach for the satchel when Paulo grabbed his arm. “New deal,” said Paulo. “Rosa first, even exchange. Kip show him the money.”

Kip opened the satchel and the man gasped. Kip picked up one of the $10 thousand packets and held it in front of the man. “Rosa first. Period. Here on the plaza in front of the bank. You park in the garage and walk her over.” The plaza was wide open with no abutments. “No police, no army. Just me you, this man, and Rosa at 12 noon. Understand? You don’t show up at noon we come looking for you and our people will find you.”

The man and the driver of the car did not notice the tall beautiful woman walking across the street who stooped, pretending to pick up a coin.

The man looked up at Paulo then at Kip, and without saying a word he turned quickly and ran back to the car. The vehicle sped away and turned a corner.

“I hope we did the right thing,” said Paulo.

“Me too.” A worried Kip watched the car disappear.

Giles pulled the scarf off of her head revealing long blond hair. She casually wandered up to the two men. “The device will be broadcasting their location for a long time; the battery should last at least a month, that little tracker adhesive mounted to the inside of their plastic bumper will work better than the US ‘On Star’. And it can’t be removed without a whole lot of technology and trouble. Oh hi Mike, uh Kip, you sure look good for a dead guy. By the way, you’re more trouble than you’re worth. I joined this fiasco for Rosa. Samantha called me. We go way back. You do have Rose’s Passport?”

Kip handed Giles Rosa’s Passport. “Rumors of my demise are quite overstated. Like you said, time to go get Rosa.” Kip nodded toward the corner.

A large black Mitsubishi Outlander SUV, driven by Sam, came up behind them. Sam leaned out the window. “Let’s go, he’s headed toward the beach.” In the SUV were two more women each looking like World Wrestling Association female stars.

Giles poked Kip in the chest. “We need to talk. I’ll call when we have her.” Then she turned and jumped into the back seat of the SUV.

Kip watched the big car disappear around the same corner as the kidnapper representatives. “Okay Paulo, I gotta put the cash back in the bank until tomorrow, we’ll see what happens. You’ll be here at noon?”

Paulo looked distraught, “Yeah.”

“I need you to sign something.” Kip walked back in the bank and arranged for a short term large box. He had Paulo sign the signature card along with him. “If anything happens to me, you know where the money is.” Kip dropped the satchel into the big box and closed it.

He fully expected the kidnappers to contact him again, so he spent a restless night counting sheep. Mid morning he met Paulo at the bank.

Paulo grinned. “A few of my friends decided to give a hand. If anything funky goes down the perverts not only can’t leave the street, but they can’t even get in the garage.

An hour earlier in the beach town of Limon an SUV with four women pulled up to a beach cottage and piled out with all sorts of beach gear, they just happened to park such that the SUV blocked the car they had followed. Suddenly a screen door slammed open. The women ignored it and turned to head for the beach.

A man dressed in shorts and a wild colored shirt called to them from the porch. “Hey, las mujeres no pueden aparcar allí. (Hey, you women can't park there).”

Sam turned and walked up on the steps of the porch, the other three women stayed behind. Sam was a head taller than the man.

“You speak English?” she asked. “I speak some Spanish, but it’s a dialect.” She held three fingers behind her indicating she could see three other people in the cottage.

Giles followed her up one step on the porch. “What’d he say?”

A woman from inside the house came to the door and yelled in English. “He said you can’t park there.” The woman pushed open the screen door and joined the man. She too was considerably shorter than Sam or Giles.

Before the man and woman could say more Giles and Sam had them disabled and out cold sitting in lumps on the porch.

Another woman walked out of a back room and saw Giles standing at the door. The two bodies were off to the side. “Can I help you? She said in English, obviously stuck by the sight of a large blond and an equally sized brunette standing at the screen door.”

“Something is going on with our car, do you have a phone.”

“Don’t you have a cell?” asked the woman.

“Yeah, but it’s dead.” Sam opened the door to show the woman and suddenly the woman was flat on the floor. Sam pulled her out to join the other two. The two women accompanying Sam and Giles trotted up the stairs like it was a race and within seconds they were in the cottage and dragging a complaining man out by his ears. Rosa was sitting with a gag on her mouth in the adjoining room. Giles walked in while the two others pulled the man out of the house. She quickly undid Rose’s gag and untied her feet and hands. “Hi, hey girl, we heard there was a party. Are you okay?”

With tears in her eyes Rosa hugged Giles. “I’m okay now, just sore from sitting in this chair.”

Giles looked at her phone. “I honestly don’t have cell phone service here.”

Sam moved the SUV out of the way and two of the women gagged and put one of male kidnappers into trunk of the small car.

“Okay, Sam I’ll talk to you later, and ladies I will see you in San Jose. Rosa, ride with the girls, it’ll be more comfortable than this little piece of tin. Besides I don’t want you and Kip making some lewd shameful scene in front of the bank.”

Rosa got in the front of the SUV. “Thanks, I guess,” she giggled.

Giles took off headed for San Jose. Sam got in the driver’s seat with Rosa on the passenger side, the mouthy guy was tied with the women and gagged in the back storage of the SUV along with Sam’s two friends in the back seat. “Off to the airport,” said Sam. “Rosa, call Marcos and tell him we have three passengers going to Buenos Aires, the three may have some problems with customs and immigration. Then you and the girls head on to San Jose.”

Two hours later the small car pulled to the curb near Scotia Bank plaza. Giles got out, popped the trunk and walked to the bank and sat on a bench near where Kip and Paulo were standing. “She’s on her way here with a couple of Sam’s friends. They oughta be here in fifteen minutes or so. I’ll need a chance to debrief her after she rests and gets cleaned up. You can bring her to Panama City next week. Kip these guys were amateurs taking advantage of a situation, they probably have read about the big money some of the really dangerous Nicaraguan kidnappers made back in the 80s.” She got up and moved to a shadow of the bank. “Oh, see what this guy has to say.”

The man began to crawl out of the trunk and saw Paulo and Kip approaching. He froze in place half in the trunk and half out.

“Okay, where is she?” Paulo demanded.

“Some women broke in and took her,” he complained. He pulled himself fully out of the trunk and Paulo untied his bindings.

Kip almost laughed. “You lost her? To whom?

“I don’t know. Just some big women broke in and took her out of our house.”

“Women?”

“Yeah, big women, dressed for the beach.”

“Well you’re here.” Kip pointed to the car. When Kip pointed three of Paulo’s friends rolled the car away. The man noticed but didn’t say anything.

“One of the big women, the big blond one, put me in the trunk and brought me here.” The man was becoming more and more embarrassed and frightened.

“Is that your car you drove here or rode here in? The one I just saw being moved?”

“No, it’s Manuel’s. My friend’s, this was all his idea.”

“I think someone stole it. It’ll probably end up in the police compound somewhere. Where are you from, your English is pretty good?”

The man ducked his head. “In a village near del Sur. I studied English in business school.”

“I think you should stick to business. Nicaragua has changed, it’s no longer a land of outlaws; but, it is a long walk or I can call the police, I mean you kidnapped my wife and now you’ve lost her.”

The man hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

Paulo put his hand on the man’s shoulder and pointed toward Nicaragua. “Better get started.”

The man looked totally lost, Paulo put a 20mil Calones note in the man’s shirt pocket, “for water,” and then walked him to the corner and sort of pushed him gently toward the street. “My friends will be checking on you. Don’t even consider ever coming back to Costa Rica.”

Giles stood and walked up to Kip and slapped him on the back. “Wow, I’m impressed. You’re letting him go?”

“Yeah, I spent a year in Costa Rican prison. I don’t care what part he played, but his walk home he will have time to rethink their stupidity and I think he won’t be involved in anything so stupid again. It’s probably more punishment than he deserves, it’s a long hot walk.”

“I would have recommended a firing squad. However, it’s your wife who was kidnapped. Reminds me,” she said. “Ivan still thinks you’re dead, despite a rumor you went to your mother’s funeral.”

Kip almost shouted. “I did not go to my mother’s funeral. I really wanted to.” He didn’t say he had been in Maryville, Missouri, and left before the funeral.

Giles was unmoved. “Consequently, I have a directive and and an undercover order from the State Department to help find lost monies from years gone by. How much are you holding of United States funds?”

Kip shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t honestly know. Maybe someday we need to find out.”

To be continued ....

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About the Creator

Dub Wright

Curmudgeon; overeducated; hack writer; too much time in places not fit for habitation.

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