L.A. Fisher - Make Yourself at Home

Chapter 15


The day finally arrived.

Kendra, Marcus, Vissili and I got there early in the morning and waited for the house to be empty before we parked the BMW across the street and I pulled the Veyron onto the driveway.  Vissili went around back and broke into the house as if he was a character in a Tom Clancy novel.  He let the rest of us in through the front door.

In all of our research we never did find out who lived in the house.  He was just a face on his own wall, the pictures we collected and threw in the swimming pool.  We took dishes and the home stereo system, throwing everything we could into the water.  Vissili turned off the alarm system and then smashed out a window leading to one of the bedrooms.  He ransacked the room, giving even more evidence that we broke into the house.  Only the front hallway, the living room, and the kitchen looked untouched.  Everything else was either turned over or destroyed.

The backyard, which had been an oasis hidden in the trees was now a disaster area.  All of the owner’s stuff was scattered about, kicked around, broken and/or sunk to the bottom of his swimming pool.  He wasn’t going to be happy when he got home later this evening… but what could I do?  We were having fun.

As noon got closer, Marcus and Vissili left in my car to go for a drive.  We had thirty minutes before Anthony would get there.  Kendra gave him the address over the phone, but in case he showed up early we didn’t want anyone other than the two of us to be inside the house.

I had to tell her about the twins.

I had to confess.

We had sex.  We fucked on the floor of the master bedroom.  It wasn’t a game like sex had once been to me.  It wasn’t just a fun meaningless romp in the back of an SUV, or on a public stairwell, or whatever… it was fun, but it meant something – to both of us.  Sex to us was more like a way of expressing our commitment to one another while in the middle of our business transactions.  I could tell by the way she treated each con that it wasn’t something she wanted to be doing either.  Maybe she enjoyed it.  She enjoyed it in the same way that I enjoyed it, the same way that her brother enjoyed it, but she wanted something more, just like I did.  If I could only confide in her then we could make this scam our last.

How?

When?

What would she say?

I was on my back with her on top of me.  She was fully undressed while my pants were just far enough down my thighs that she could ride me.  I wanted to say something but couldn’t.  I closed my eyes and felt her.

We could leave right now.

Forget all of this.

But I needed to know that I’m not a total failure.

I need to be a hero.

I need to save those kids.

In mid coitus Kendra seemed to remember something.  We were on top of the title we made for the car.  She yanked it out from underneath me without losing her rhythm; she reached into the pocket of my jeans and grabbed a pen.  “You need to sign this.”

I took the title from her and looked at it.  Marcus had made a very convincing fake.  

“Alright.”

She spun around on me to face the other direction and leaned forward so that I could use her back as a table.  Business and pleasure!

I sat up and started my faux-signature.

“Make sure you sign your name as Karl, hon.”

“Yeah, I remember.” She squeezed tight around me as I signed the paper on her back.  After scribbling Karl Wolf I tossed the paper and the pen to the side and I lied back down.  Kendra then spun again to face me.

She leaned forward and whispered into my ear, “I love you.”

I didn’t respond.

“I love you,” she repeated.

I couldn’t respond.

“Michael?”

Repent.

“Kendra…” I focused on the movements of her body.  She didn’t stop, though her face showed that she was concerned.  I had to tell her.  Perfect timing, “I have two children.”

“Oh?” She didn’t stop.

“I just found out about them not too long ago.”

“And…”

“When we’re done here I’m going to go get them.”

“I see.”

“We’re going to have to stop this.”

“I know.”

“Will you be okay with that?”

“Yes.”

“I want to leave this place.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Apologies are for the weak.”

“Kendra…”

“Yes?’

“I love you.”

Kendra made it easy to confide in her.  She was going to be there for me.  She trusted me to make things better.  Perhaps, this was the most heroic conversation I had with her.  I had to forgive myself and forgive LA.  I had to forgive my brother and Caroline and Will and Vissili.  But before I could do that I had to sell Anthony Medina a car.

The doorbell rang.  Kendra flexed tight and pushed down on me hard forcing me to cum, bringing an end to our lovemaking. She kissed the bridge of my nose, “It’s going to be okay…  I’m going to hop in the shower.”

She got off me and I pulled my pants up over the condom I didn’t have time to take off.  I wasn’t about to leave it at the house.  I’d just have to let it hang like a half filled water balloon on a faucet, until I had time and a place to take it off.  I still wasn’t quite used to the things – Kendra made me wear them.

Another ring at the door and I rushed to go answer it.  Straightening my shirt, making sure it wasn’t tucked in to any part of my pants; I opened the door and introduced myself to the man that waited on the doorstep.

“You must be Anthony?”

“Tony,” he was tall and olive skinned.  He had dark hair and deep blue eyes.  He wore a pressed suit and talked with slight Italian flair, “and you must be…”

“Karl.  Karl Wolf.  Come on in, make yourself at home.”

He brushed his feet off on the doormat before coming inside and he studied the hallway and living room as we made our way to the kitchen.  

“My wife and I just moved in just this month.  We haven’t really had time to decorate or anything, you know?  You want a drink?”

I pointed him to the bar where the paperwork for the Veyron lay.  He looked at it briefly then set it down, “What do you have?”

I spoke from the fridge, “Bud Light, Coors, Dos Equis, Shiner…”

“Shiner’s fine.”

I grabbed one for him and one for myself.  Twisted off the caps and handed him one, “I’m a shiner man, myself.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, Karl, why are you selling the Veyron for the price you’re selling it?”

Ease the suspicion.

Calm down.

“Dealer won’t pay any more than that for it.”

“Do you know how much it’s worth?”

“I do,” I swallowed down some beer before continuing, “My wife and I came into some money recently.  Death in the family.  We inherited the car and the house, so, we’re just trying to make room.”

“You’re selling a car that’s almost two million dollars for a quarter of that amount?”

“I can charge you more for it if you want me to.  It’s not a matter of money really, we just can’t have the car.”

“Why not?”

“We’re planning on having kids.  The wife and I…” Shit!  I never asked her what her fucking name was.  I had to go with ‘the wife’ as not to blow our cover…  Shit!  Shit!  Shit!  “We need a car that seats more.  Plus, you can’t really park it too many places without worrying about someone taking it.”

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t ask for more.”

“That auction’s been on there for a month.”

“There was only one other bid.”

“I was hoping we’d get more, but we’ll take what we can get.  The car’s kind of a liability – someone could come up and steal it in the middle of the night…  We don’t have any room in the garage for it.  It’s a nice car, we just have to get rid of it, you understand?”

“It’s just a really good deal…”

“It is a good deal.  You a car man, Tony?”

“No, actually…”

“You plan on turning right around and selling it, don’t you?”

“To tell the truth, yes.  The right buyer would easily pay double for it.”

“You know what, that’s kind of what I figured you were going to do.  Don’t tell the wife, though.  I don’t care much, we can afford it, but she thinks we ought to extend the time on the auction a bit longer and see if we can’t get more for it.  She won’t let me get a new car until it’s gone, though, and I hate driving the thing.  I’m thinking about getting one of those new four door jeeps, you know?  You seen those?”

“No.”

“Those are something!”

Close your eyes.

Relax.

Take control of your pores.

Take control of your reflexes.

Lie convincingly.

Lie honestly.

“You want another drink there, Tony?”

“Yeah, I’ll have one more.”

My pulse quickened as if I was beginning to drown.  I didn’t feel like a con artist anymore.  I didn’t want to be a con artist anymore.  I paused in the fridge and let the cool air calm my nerves and slow my heart rate.  I grabbed the beers and turned around to find that Kendra was coming in from the other room.  She wore a towel just big enough to cover her.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know we already had company,” she came to save me from drowning.  Thanks babe.

“Hi, honey, this is Tony Medina.  Tony this is my wife…” I waited for her answer.

“Linda.  We talked on the phone.  Did you decide you’re going to buy that car, Mr. Medina?”

“I did.”

“Great!  Karl’s been wanting that thing off our driveway ever since we moved here.  You mind if I have one?”  She pointed to an empty Shiner.

“Not at all.”

She retrieved her own beer, bending down just enough to show a little bit of ass.  I knew she was doing this for Tony, but I felt like I reaped the benefits as well.  She drank half of it and put it on the counter with the other four empty bottles.  She went back to the master bedroom and hollered out to me, “I’m going to go for a little jog, baby.  When I get back do you want to go to that jeep place?”

Oh, she was good.

“Absolutely.  Don’t be too late though.”

She called out from the other room as she got into her clothes, “I won’t be.  Just going to do a couple laps around the block.  Might grab something to eat, do you want anything?”

Tony drank while I called to my wife Linda, “Where at?”

“Subway good?”

“Actually, you know what?  I’m not really that hungry.  Just grab yourself a sandwich and I’ll find something when you get back.” I stopped yelling and turned to our guest, “Hey, Tony, you going to need me to drop that car off for you somewhere?”

Medina was caught a little off guard by my banter with the sexy Linda Wolf.  He caught himself staring off at the door to the master bedroom.  “Sorry, what?”

“Do you need me to drop the car for you?  At your house or anywhere?”

“No.  That won’t be necessary.  I’ll pick up my cousin and he’ll drive this car.  It’s not going to be a problem.”

Kendra came out of the bedroom wearing the jogging outfit she had worn out to the house.  She was gorgeous.  “Bye sweetie.  See you in a little bit.”

She left through the front and I continued with the transaction.

“You brought cash, right?” I gave Tony a look that said it was time to be serious.  My eyes were about to give me up… they didn’t.  I stuck with it and said, “I know it’s a lot of money to carry around, but sometimes checks bounce.  You seem like an honest guy, but you never know.”

“No problem.  The money is in my car.”

We had to hurry.

“You mind if I grab it while you fill out the title?”

“I’d rather I get it.”

“Sure thing… I guess that was a stupid question.”

“Nah… I would just feel more comfortable if I grabbed it myself.”

I waited as he went to his car and came back with a backpack.  There was a lot of money in that backpack.  Stacks of hundred dollar bills, twenties, whatever… a lot of money.  

“It’s all here.  You can count it if you want.  I’ll go ahead and sign the title and be on my way.”

“Sounds good.”

All the money seemed present.  I thumbed through it, but didn’t count.  Tony hadn’t gone through the trouble to put it into bundles.  All the cash was just loosely thrown into the backpack.  Mostly hundreds.

“Let me just go get the keys for you.”  I put the backpack on and headed toward the back room.  Behind me the door knocked, but I pretended not to notice.  I disappeared into the back room and threw the backpack out the shattered window.  Someone pounded on the front door.

I ran back to the front of the house, apologized to Tony who was about to open the door for himself, and I opened the door.  It was a cop.

“Good afternoon, I’m officer McNickle.  Is this your house?”

Fuck!  Don’t blow this for me!

“Um… yes it is.”

“May I ask you to step outside please?”

“Is there a problem officer?”

“If you would just step outside please, sir, my partner would like to ask you a few questions.”

I did as he asked and was greeted by another officer on the porch.  “Are you aware that one of the vehicles on your property has been reported stolen?”

I peaked around the corner, “What that Benz?  That’s not fucking mine!  That’s the guy’s inside!”

“The Veyron, sir!”

“The Veyron?  I didn’t steal that car!  I just fucking got that car two days ago!  I didn’t steal that fucking car!”

“Sir, you have the right to remain silent…” He read me the Miranda rights.

“That’s not a fucking stolen vehicle!”

“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” he kept up the speech as he turned me around and threw me in handcuffs.

“This is bullshit!”

“You have the right to have an attorney with you during questioning.  If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.”

“Fuck this.  It’s that motherfucker’s car in there.  He bought it!”  I was having a tantrum… freaking out.  Everything was going so perfectly!

“If you are not a United States citizen, you may contact your country’s consulate prior to any questioning…”

“Do I look like a fucking foreigner?  Do I sound like a fucking foreigner?”

“Do you understand the rights I have just given you?  With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

“Fuck you!”  I spat in the officer’s face and he threw me down on the ground.  

Cock sucker!

McNickle spoke to Anthony through the opened door, “Did you purchase that car out front?”

“I saw the ad on a website.  I had no idea the car was stolen!”

“You bought it from this man?”  He pointed to me as I squirmed on the ground, struggling to breathe.

“Yes sir.”

“Do you have the title with you?”

“Yes sir.  It’s on the bar in the kitchen.”

“Run and get that for me would you?”

Tony disappeared into the house while I cussed and tried to break free.  The cop had his knee tight on my spine, pinning me to the ground.  It was pointless to try.  Tony came back seconds later and handed over the title.

“Do you have your driver’s license with you, bud?”

“Yes sir.”  Tony handed over his license, without fuss.

“Do you have any other forms of ID?”

“I have a military ID.”

“Yeah?  What branch?”

“Um… Air Force.”

“Air Force, huh?” Fucking small talk bullshit, “Well I guess we owe you a thank you for fighting for our country, don’t we?”

“I was discharged sir… honorably.”

“Yeah?  Sorry, to hear it.  If I could just get your military card from you, that’ll really make things go a lot faster.”

Again, no question, he just handed over both IDs to the police and the title.  I guess he just didn’t want to end up on the ground like me.  I couldn’t blame him.  The pavement crushed my ribs and there was no telling where the dirt had been that made its way between my teeth.  I tried to spit to the side but the cop on top of me pushed my head back down when I lifted it.  Drool ran down my cheek until I was face down in spittle.

The cop talking to Tony looked over the two IDs he was given and then he looked back up at the man in the house, “We’re just going to run these through the computer and if they check out you’ll be clear to go.  In the mean time, why don’t you have a seat inside and try to relax.”

“Yes sir.”

The police officer started to shut the door, “Oh, and one more thing.  Next time you buy a car from someone, make sure you get a background check on it, first.”

“Yes sir.”

“Just sit tight, Mr. Medina.”  He shut the door and helped his partner lift me to my feet.

The one who had pinned me to the ground, Marcus, took the cuffs off of me while Vissili called the real police on a cell.

“Did you have to spit on me?”

“It needed more realism.  Your fucking speech was dry as shit, man.  I’m surprised he still believed us after that shit.”

“Fuck you.”

We made our way to the Veyron.  Marcus got in the passenger seat and I opened the driver’s side door.

In an American accent, Vissili spoke to the operator that answered his call, “I would like to report a break in, please.  I’m at North Golf Course.  I’m not sure what the address is, I was just playing a round of golf, I can describe it to you…”

I waved to the Russian as he pinned our crime on the guy inside.  It was cruel, yes.  Immoral too, I know.  Tony would be found sitting in the kitchen of a house that doesn’t belong to him, five open beers, and a backyard full of the owner’s shit.  He wouldn’t have any form of ID on him, and just a far-fetched story about how he tried to buy a multi-million dollar car for a fraction of the cost when police came and arrested the guy.  Of course, there would be no record of that, and the real owner of the house would be by to explain how he had no idea what the guy was talking about…  Yeah, this was pretty fucking cruel.  I can’t justify it… just think of Medina as a pederast and you’ll get over it.

I got in the car and pulled out.  We drove past my BMW, where Kendra sat in the back seat holding Tony’s backpack.  After we passed her I reached into the side panel, fumbled a bit, and finally pulled a gun.  I pointed it at my brother’s head.

“Where’s Will?”