Without a Hitch (12 page)

“We’ll miss
him.”

“Maybe he’ll get
sick of his new job and come back to us,” Corbin suggested.

Kak seemed
unsure whether Corbin was playing with him, so he ignored the comment.  “Tell
him to, uh, come see me.”

“Will do.”

Alvarez’s heart
raced.  Not only had Beckett screwed up the colored-dot system, casting doubt
over all of the paperwork, but now a security guard decided, for reasons unknown,
to stand right behind Alvarez as he filled out the account paperwork. 
Moreover, the account manager was far too talkative, and her words bore traces
of suspicion.

“How do you like
your apartment?”

“It’s ok.”

“A friend of
mine lives down there.  Are you near the Murphy building?”

Alvarez had
never heard of the Murphy building.  “Uh, I’m not sure, I don’t pay attention
to building names.”

“What grocery
store do you use?  My friend had a hard time finding a grocery store in the
neighborhood.”

“Uh, I eat on
campus.  I shop at the university store.”  Alvarez began sweating, and he struggled
to maintain eye contact with the woman.

“That’s really
expensive.”

“I guess.  I
never thought about it.”  Alvarez pulled out the mismarked cell phone and read
the number off the sticker on the back.  As he did, he snuck a peek over his
shoulder at the security guard.

“Oh, what an
interesting phone,” the woman said.

“Uh, yeah,
they’re pretty nice.”

“Where did you
buy it?”

“It was a
gift.”  Alvarez handed her the completed form.

She took the
form and scanned it carefully.  “Do you have a landline where we can reach
you?  At home?”

“No, I use my
cell.”  Alvarez fidgeted with his pen.

“What about an
office number?”

“No, no desk.” 
A drop of sweat ran down his forehead.  “It certainly is hot in here today,
isn’t it?”

“Can I see your
social security card again?”

“Why?!” Alvarez
nearly yelped the word, before recovering his composure.  “I’m sorry, here it
is.”  He handed her the card.  “I’m running late for a lunch date.”

The woman
nodded.  “I’ll be right back.”

Alvarez watched
the woman walk to a back office.  Moments later, the security guard drifted in
that direction as well.  He soon followed her into the office.  Alvarez’s mouth
went dry.  Sweat soaked through his shirt.  His nerves were fraying.  He
shifted in the chair and looked toward the door.  Suddenly, laughter erupted from
the office.  Alvarez froze.  He looked at the exit again.  His hands gripped
the chair.  More laughter.  He squeezed the chair even harder and snuck another
look at the exit, just as the woman emerged from the office.  Beside her, the
security guard emerged as well.  Alvarez held his breath.  The security guard
looked at him, but turned and walked away, toward the back of the bank.  Only
the woman returned to the desk.  Alvarez took a deep breath and let go of the
chair.

“Here’s your paperwork.”

Alvarez took the
documents.

“Thank you for
banking with us.”

Corbin returned
to the office to find Theresa sitting in his chair.  He carried two coffee cups,
one for himself and one for Beckett’s desk.  “Theresa, what a pleasant
surprise.”  He set one cup down on Beckett’s desk and took the other to his own
desk.  As he approached, Theresa moved from his chair to her usual spot on the
edge of his desk.  She wore a new perfume.  This one smelled sweeter than the one
she normally wore, which always reminded Corbin of a flower shop.

Theresa’s eyes
went to the coffee cup on Beckett’s desk.  “Where’s Evan?”

“We were talking
to Stuart when the front office grabbed him.  Did you know Stuart’s TiVo is
watching porn during the day and he’s getting stuck paying for it?”

“I don’t want to
know.”

“Neither did
we.”  The conversation actually took place between Corbin and Stuart alone, but
Corbin knew no one would verify any story involving Stuart and pornography, so
he felt safe adding Beckett to the list of participants.  “By the way, have you
met the new guy yet?  Molly met him earlier today.”

“Oh please, what
a loser!” Theresa spat out.

Corbin furrowed
his brow.  “You know, it’s asinine that Kak introduces him to everyone except
me.  After all, I’m going to be the guy’s roommate.”

“That’s Kak for
you.  Speaking of losers, have you heard the latest about our little office
whore?”

Corbin rolled
his eyes.

“You didn’t get
my e-mail?” she asked.

“I got it, but I’m
not opening an e-mail titled ‘Our Office Whore.’  I’d rather that one not end
up in the government archives.”

Without
hesitation, Theresa launched into her tirade, mockingly imitating Molly’s
voice.  “I’m sorry, but I can’t believe her.  ‘Oh, you like my shoes?  How
disgusting.  Oh, you’re gross.  What a weirdo.  Want to go back to my place?’”

Corbin’s
eyebrows shot upwards.  “‘Back to my place’?  I thought the date ended in
disappointment?”

“I’m sure it
did, but the goodbyes didn’t happen until after the evening’s less-clothed
festivities concluded.  At least, that’s what the grapevine says.  I take it
she left that part out of the version she told you?”

Just then, Molly
appeared at the door.  It was obvious she’d heard the entire conversation.  Corbin’s
face flushed with embarrassment.

“I thought I
heard your roomie?” she said.

“Uh, no.  He’s
at the front office,” Corbin replied uncertainly.

“You know, I
haven’t seen him all day?” Theresa interjected.

“He’s been
busy.  He should be along any second.”

“Uh huh,” Molly
said, though her tone left no doubt she didn’t believe this.  “Corbin, I’d like
to see you for a moment, if you can break yourself away.  It won’t take more
than a few seconds.  T, you can talk amongst yourselves while he’s gone.” 
Molly stepped back into the hallway.

Theresa snarled
her lips.  “How did your date end, Molly?!” she called out.

“It ended well. 
How did yours end?” Molly countered, as she walked off.

“What date?” Theresa
said to herself.  She hadn’t had a date in some time.  Suddenly, the puzzled
expression on her face twist into rage.  Her forehead creased and deep wrinkles
appeared under her eyes.  Her teeth visibly clenched and her nose flared.  She
now got Molly’s point.

“You started
it,” Corbin said without sympathy.

Theresa squinted
at Corbin.  “Can I tell you something?”

Corbin looked at
Theresa suspiciously.  “Ok.”

“You can’t ever
tell her or you and I are finished, got it?”

Corbin agreed.

“I was a lot
like her when I was younger.  No guy was ever good enough, and I made it very
difficult for. . .,” she paused.  “Well, that’s all I’ll say.”  But she
continued:  “Let me tell you!  There are a lot of women out there who would be
grateful to get as many dates as she gets.  She makes the rest of us look bad,”
she grumbled before slipping off the end of the desk and heading for the
hallway.  “You know where to find me.”

Alvarez walked
to the coffee shop where Beckett had set up shop.  Alvarez looked harried, but Beckett
looked quite comfortable sitting in a recliner near a small table.  The duffel
bag lay at his feet.

“You were
supposed to wait for me outside the bank.  I don’t like having to find you.” 

“I told you I’d
wait for you here.  Besides, standing outside the bank looks suspicious.  Did
you get it done?”

“Of course I got
it done.”  Alvarez pulled the bank documents from his pocket and handed them to
Beckett.  “Have you figured out if any of the other documents are screwed up?”

“They’re fine. 
It’s just the one sticker.”

“You better be
right.”

Beckett pulled
another wallet and cell phone from the duffel bag.  “The next bank is inside
this building, out that door and down the hall.”

Alvarez pulled
off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.  “These things are killing my eyes.  I
don’t know how people go through life wearing them.”

“They make you
look like Mr. Magoo.”

“I’m not wearing
them for fashion.”

“That’s a
relief.  Whose are they?”  All morning, Beckett kept asking questions like
this, little questions which would give him more insight into Alvarez’s life
than Alvarez wanted to share.  Alvarez immediately became cross.

“Does it
matter?!  They’re not mine!”

“Calm down.”

“Fuck you.”  He
replaced the glasses.  “After this, I’m taking a break for lunch.”

“Fine.  I’ll
meet you at McDonalds.  It’s up the street, on the corner.  You can’t miss it.”

A few minutes
after Theresa left Corbin’s office, Molly reappeared at Corbin’s door.  “She’s
not very good at this, is she?” Molly asked with a laugh.

“I’m not taking
sides.  I do wish you two could get along though.”

“No chance of
that.  Here’s your mail by the way, that’s why I wanted to see you.  Stuart
gave it to me by mistake.”  Molly handed Corbin several envelopes of varying
shapes and sizes.  She looked toward Beckett’s desk.  “So where is your playmate
really?”

“Am I my
playmate’s keeper?  What do you care anyway?”

“I don’t.  Do I
look
like I care?”  Molly made a show of nonchalantly flipping through a file she
was holding.

“Then why did
you ask?”

“Because I’m a
nice person, and I’m trying to make you feel better about yourself by feigning
interest in your life.”  Her good mood had returned.  “I’m that ray of sunshine
that makes your life worth living.”

Corbin smiled despite
himself.  “But you’re not feigning interest in
my
life, you’re feigning
interest in Beckett’s life!”

“Beggars can’t
be choosers.  Take what you can get, partner.”

Corbin laughed. 
Usually, he and Molly followed the unwritten rule that neither would laugh at
the other’s verbal jabs, but this one struck Corbin as particularly funny.  “All
right, you win.  Forget I mentioned it.”

“No need to
forget, I wasn’t listening anyway.”

Alvarez pushed
open the door to the McDonalds and headed straight for Beckett.  Over his
shoulder, he saw the police officer enter the McDonalds, the same officer who
followed him from the bank.  Alvarez even changed his pace twice, hoping to
elude him.  Yet, here he was.  Upon reaching Beckett’s table, Alvarez all but
tossed the wallet and paperwork at him.

“Is he coming
this way?!”

Beckett looked around
Alvarez.  “Who?”

“The cop.”

Beckett looked
again.  “No.  He just sat down two tables behind you.”

Alvarez breathed
a sigh of relief.

“Wait a minute! 
Are you saying you thought a cop was following you?  And you came right to me
and threw the incriminating evidence at me, like some punk throwing his gun out
the window when the cops start chasing him?”

“Fuck off.”

“Fuck off?!  I’ll
tell you—”  Beckett stopped mid-sentence as the officer rose from his seat. 
“Shit!  Your friend stood up.”  Beckett jammed the wallet into his back pocket.

“What’s he
doing?”

“He’s talking to
the woman behind you.”  Beckett folded the paperwork and slipped it into the duffel
bag without taking his eyes off the officer.  “Now he’s sitting down at her
table.”

Alvarez’s
shoulders slumped.  “I feel sick.”

Corbin looked at
the food before him.  The meal was planned perfectly to appear on the receipt
as if two people were eating.  When he first arrived, he sat in the bar and
ordered a beer and meal-sized plate of nachos, both of which he abandoned when
he moved to a table.  After moving to the table, he ordered a Coke, a tuna melt
with vegetables instead of fries, and a side order of onion rings.  He finished
it all off with a coffee and two cookies.  To disguise the fact he didn’t eat
most of the food, he cut everything into small pieces and piled the dishes on
top of each other.  He shoved the cookies into his pocket.

Today’s waitress
was Alice.  Not coincidentally, Alice served Corbin and Beckett the day before
as well.  Corbin learned months prior how to choose a waitress by asking to be
seated in particular sections.  Using this method, he chose Alice both as a
waitress and an alibi.

“Where’s your
friend?” Alice knew both Corbin and Beckett.  In fact, they tipped well enough
that all the staff knew them.

“He’s back at
the office trying to finish some project.  Tomorrow is his last day.”

“Aw!  We’re
going to miss him!  Is he coming tomorrow?”

“As far as I
know.”

“Remind me, I’ll
get him one of the birthday cakes.”

“Chocolate,
yellow or other?” Corbin raised an eyebrow.

“It’ll be a
surprise!”

“Great, he loves
surprises.”  Corbin handed her Beckett’s credit card to pay the bill.  She
never noticed.  One well-practiced forgery later, Corbin was on his way to the
next restaurant.

The lunch crowd
packed the counter.  Alvarez and Beckett stepped into one of the lines, though
it was more of a cluster or a rabble than a line.  Alvarez kept looking over
his shoulder at the officer, prompting Beckett to tell him to “stop acting like
an asshole” and “face forward.”  Eventually, Alvarez found himself with only
one customer between himself and the counter, but this customer was having
problems ordering.

“I’m not sure
what I’d like,” said the customer, as he stared at the menu.

“What the fuck?!”
Alvarez said to himself, but loudly enough that everyone nearby heard.  “Buddy,
can you get a move on?  I’ve got to get back to work.”

Beckett tapped
Alvarez’s back.  “Let it go.”

“Miss, what
comes on the Big Mac,” the customer asked, ignoring Alvarez.