The 16mm Caper

Chapter 38

Austin buzzed his henchmen in and went directly to the drink cart by the sofa. Julia sat uncomfortably in the corner of the room, silently watching and applying some self-recrimination to her recent decisions. Bringing a few bags of personal items over and being seen by the superintendent didn't exactly thrill her, particularly the way things seemed to be headed.

"It's Harry and Douglas," Austin said, gulping down his drink and immediately pouring another.

"Do they have the film?" He shook his head and made a face. She looked away, staring out at the sky.

The door knocker sounded, and the two men entered, nodding to Julia and walking straight to Austin.

"What happened?" Austin finished his second drink and waited.

"Turn on your TV." Harry suggested.

With a sinking feeling, Austin picked up the remote and turned on the television, cycling through several channels until he found some local news.

The visuals were of the police presence outside the Hughes building and the female reporter, in a box in the corner of the screen, described the grizzly find in the office of Ralston Hughes.

"Oh God, no." Austin poured another drink and swallowed it right down.

Julia stood and walked to his side. "Do you think it was--?"

"No doubt in my mind, lady," Douglas blurted. "Harry and I are done here. We want our money and we're gone." Austin simply looked at him, his eyes glazing slightly.

"This goes way beyond what we hired on for, Austin." Harry added. "You gave me your word. Just pay us off and you'll never hear from us again."

Julia took his arm and started to speak when the voice from the dining room froze them all on the spot.

"Just when we have success you're bailing out?" Vera strolled into the room carrying the bag with the film and the poster. She held it out to Austin who simply stared, still locked in a glaze of quickly consumed liquor.

"Goodness, you look terrible, father. Hasn't Julia helped your spirits at all while you were waiting?" She showed a row of white teeth to Julia and then tossed the bag on the sofa. "Nobody care we have the prize?"

Harry pointed his thumb over his shoulder and asked her if she thought that was considered success. Vera glanced at the TV and smiled, shrugging. "The penalty for obstruction. He picked the result."

"I can imagine," Douglas snorted.

"Can you." Vera turned a cold glare on Douglas, silencing his remarks.

Let's not have any bickering." Julia spoke up. "Is that the original film?" Vera faced her and nodded. "Fine. Austin, get the money you promised these people and let's move on with this."

He looked at her and blinked then seemed to recover his senses with a long shuddering sigh. She let her hand slip from his arm as he moved to the cupboard on the adjacent wall and opened a wall safe that was hidden inside.

"You will take your money and immediately leave this city if not the country." Julia spoke with surprising authority, and she caught the smirk from an amused Vera. Austin returned with an envelope and handed it to Harry.

"As we agreed." His voice was small and soft.

"We should be getting a bonus after putting up with her." Douglas complained and before Harry could stop his outburst, Vera moved to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened wide and he began to sag toward her.

"Vera! Don't! We are in enough hot water with Ralston's killing." Austin held out a pleading hand.

Douglas slumped down to his knees while Vera watched her father's face twist in desperation and she pressed slightly harder before releasing her grip. Douglas groaned aloud and collapsed onto his face on the floor.

"You gave me permission father, remember?"

"Not to be careless." He looked at Douglas, relieved to see he was still breathing. "You also made me a promise."

Vera heaved her shoulders carelessly and wandered to the window. "What can I say?" She spun around and sat up on the sill.

Harry was helping Douglas to the sofa, his eyes warily on Vera as she leaned forward watching with apparent glee. "I hope he isn't thinking of quitting."

"Quitting what?" Harry asked without thinking.

"His macho vendetta, remember?"

Harry looked to Austin who was reaching for another drink. "Austin, this has gone far enough. We're leaving so keep your daughter in line, please." Douglas rolled his eyes and focused on the woman smiling down at him from the window. His shoulder felt like it had been nailed to his neck and he thought for a minute he might throw up.

The conversation eddied about his fuddled brain as he gradually registered the words Vera was speaking. He stared up at her, her legs swinging idly to and fro while she rested both hands on the sill beside her. Harry stood, drawing her attention for a second and in that second, Douglas pulled a gun from his belt and aimed it at Vera.

******

Harv pulled Peter into the room as soon as he opened the door. "Have you seen the news! Jesus, what happened over there?"

"Where? What are you talking about?"

Mary and Catlin sat together on the couch consoling one another while Cheryl and Freddy stood apart on the other side of the room watching the TV.

"Hughes is dead! Murdered!"

Dylan and Peter gaped at one another. "Where are the kids?" Dylan went straight to Catlin and took her in his arms.

"The kids are safe. They're in the bedroom playing Game Boy." Harv said. "What happened over there?"

"We did the deal. What's this about Hughes? He was fine when we left."

"It's all over the news," Mary said angrily. "You and your movie film have placed all of us in this mess, Peter. We could be suspects in this!"

"Don't be nuts, Mary. We didn't do anything. We made the deal, went to the bank and came straight here." He wiped his we face. "Have you got a towel, it's pouring outside now." Harv went to the kitchen and returned with a wad of paper towel.

"Yeah well Cheryl and Freddy had a run in with those thugs again."

Peter wiped his face and looked at the couple questioningly.

"They followed us to the mall and took the fake bag."

"Did they hurt you?"

"Nope. We played it real cool and then went to the show for an hour." Freddy placed an arm about Cheryl's waist. "When we came out there was no sign of them."

He looked back at Mary who was still staring at him defiantly. "We didn't do anything! I swear." Dylan was holding Catlin and he nodded his agreement with Peter.

"It was Vera." Harv said. "The news mentioned a woman, that wouldn't give her name, as the last one to see him."

"Dylan sat Catlin back down and faced the others. "That woman is poison. If they don't catch her there's no knowing what she might do."

"Look, the cops are going to be asking us a lot of questions so we had better get our stories organized." Harv barged into the discussion. "Doesn't matter about Vera, we have to answer for ourselves."

"Maybe they won't find us," Freddy suggested.

"They have phone records, hell they've got Peter and Dylan down for an appointment just before he died. They'll be on to us shortly and it won't look good if we're all hiding out here together."

Arguments raged back and forth until Peter took out the share of money he'd taken out for each of them and in the lull it created, they agreed to go on with living normally and face the police if necessary with a united front. That meant the whole truth, withholding as many of the extraneous events as possible.

Their story would be, Peter came across the film a while ago and they entertained different interested parties, were accosted by the two thugs and the woman but refused to do business with them instead selling the items in the end to Ralston Hughes. Cheryl and Freddy were cautioned not to go into details about the hotel meeting and the beating Freddy took. Keep it simple, was Harv's advice - the easier to remember what was said.