Crossroads

Prologue

 Prologue

I stood in the corner, right underneath the camera. My face had ton of make up on it which made me look like a South American and, thanks to my shabby clothes, poor barely-able-to-make-ends-meet guy. A black shirt and black jacket with faded jeans made me totally harmless and not worth noticing. Hence, nobody paid any attention to me.

When I saw the fat slug’s car pull over to the curb right in front of the posh restaurant, I calmly started walking towards the rear of the restaurant where I knew is going to be chaos as the restaurant is holding a sea food festival. I opened the back door, and as I thought, there was a uniform there which I immediately wore.

“Hey! Take this to table number 8.” A chef screamed at me while pushing a plate full of caviar and a plate of oysters towards me.

“Yeah, sure.”  I grumbled and took the plate and glass and walked out of the kitchen. I walked to the table number 8 and placed both the plates in the middle. I knew the restaurant like the back of my hand as I came here often and thanks to a drunk waiter in the nearby bar the other night, I learned about the tables and their numbers.

While walking back to the kitchen I looked at the waiter, James as I had learned the name of all the waiters, taking orders for the table in which the fat slug was sitting and mentally counted him as the fifth person sitting in the group of eight people. I quickly walked back and stayed in the background waiting for James to come back.

When he stuck the note the stainless steel counter for the chefs to see the order, I sneaked a peek and saw that the fat slug has ordered scallops. I wait for his dish to be ready and then when it is prepared and the chef has called for it to be taken, I sneakily take out a small bottle out of my pant pocket and pour the colourless liquid on top of the dish.

When the waiter takes the dish out to the table, i grab another one and go out. I place the plate in front of one of the New York’s biggest tycoon’s son.

“Thank you.” He says politely and looks up at me. His forehead crinkles and he tilts his face towards me. “Hey!” He says, “Have I seen you somewhere?”

I looked at him and give him a polite yet a bit amused smile.

“Sir, I work here.”

“I mean I have seen you somewhere else.” He snapped. Ah! Here comes the arrogant son of a rich penny bags. He waves his hand in a dismissal fashion and turns towards his friends chatting loudly and laughing arrogantly.

I quickly leave his table and start making my way towards the kitchen but just before i enter I hear a choking sound and a female’s high pitched panicked scream.

While the waiters and then the kitchen staff came running out, I manoeuvred my way to the kitchen where I removed my borrowed costume and poured oil on it and then dumped it into the oven. Then i made a phone call and before anyone could pick up I disconnected it. Then I quickly got out of the restaurant and made my way into a diner. It was small and safe with no cameras. I went straight to the bathroom and washed my face and took out the eye contacts. I, also, removed my clothes turned it inside out. Now, my shirt is red in colour when before it was black and my jacket has an army print on it. And my face, instead of a wheatish colour with black eyes, I am now a blue eyed white man.

I walk out the diner and walked upto the diner’s rear where a man who wore the same thing I had, minutes ago, walked into the bathroom. I took his seat knowing that he escaped from the window.

“Check, please.” I said to the waiter.

He nodded and came back to me with bill in his hand. I smiled and put a 100 dollar bill on the table. He looked at the note and then at me.

“Keep the change.” I said and walked out the door.

I called my driver to come and pick me up and when my car pulled up in front of me, I looked at the commotion behind me.

There was an ambulance and many news vans. I secretly smiled and sat inside the car.

When the car started moving, i asked my driver- innocently- the reason behind the commotion.

“Somebody died. Who, I don’t know but someone.”

“okay,” I reply in a dismissive manner.

“I am Cindy Shaw  from News 7 and I am standing outside the great Waldorf hotel. Tonight a tragedy struck at Waldorf. Senator William Hodges, who had come here with his staff suffered a heart attack from what the sources say, but there is no confirmation of this from the police. Oh wait! Looks like the FBI has taken jurisdiction over this.”

The black SUV’s of FBI pull over right in front of the hotel and FBI agents come out and one of them, a female, walk over to the news reporter.

“Mam, can you give us any insight over this accident?” The reporter asked.

“Well as you can see, I’ve just come. But I can tell you this. It was no natural cause.” The female agent smiles and then walks back into the hotel.

She walks right up to the body and then kneels and peer into the froth that came out of Senator’s mouth. Oh yeah, she thinks, this was no heart attack.