Arcadia

A crime story of sorts with interesting characters and creative setting.

“Say goodnight because that was Jessica’s last dance of the evenings. Next up is Michelle.”

Daniel spoke quietly into the microphone. From his booth he could hear the thumping of the base and next to him Jazz was asleep. He poked him in the arm with his long slender hands.

“Jazz, you’re up.” He said impatiently.

The man looked around, and remembering he was at work took over at the mix table. Daniel hated leaving late, so he was in a rush to get his pay and get the hell out of the club. Being a DJ at strip clubs was in no way glamorous, but it paid well enough, and filled his weekend time on top of his sanitation job.

He walked down the stairs and knocked on the manager’s door. There was no response but a shuffling in the room. The door opened and Candy or Nicole to him was standing at the door with her top hastily returned onto her chest. She smiled at him with a look of being a kid caught with her hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Umm Dex” he said in a low tone. “I’m here to pick up my pay for the week, and then I’ll be on my way.”

Dex adjusted in his seat, pretending to look busy and waived him over. As Daniel stood there Dex spun the safe dial to open it. As it swung open Daniel caught a peek of the cash inside.

“Relax Daniel” he said to himself.

Large quantities of money got him all excited. Daniel was not only a recovering alcoholic but also a gambling addict. He would most likely go and spend most of his paycheck at the closest casino.

Dex counted his money, and handed him the wad, which was sizable. He might come out even tonight if luck was on his side, which it was hardly ever. As he moved to leave Dex called to him.

“Hey Daniel, you mind working Wednesday night?”

Daniel stopped and thought about it for a second.

“Sorry Dex, my day job comes first. It pays the bills. This pays the vices.”

Dex smiled.

“That’s why I like you Daniel, you do good mixing, you don’t f**k around and you don’t kid yourself about the state of everyday people’s lives.” As he finished the sentence he pulled a bottle of scotch from the desk he was sitting at. “Have a good night Daniel.”

Daniel said goodbye and nodded to Nicole as he passed by. On the way out he said goodbye to some of the bouncers he was friendly with, stopped for a glass of ginger ale and to talk with Gina at the bar then it was out the door. His Pontiac Firebird started up with a grumble and the cold October air blew through the parking lot. He closed the door and changed tracks on the CD player. He was hoping it would be a good evening, but looked forward to simply relaxing.

***

The phone rang in Violets office meaning it was a specific customer. Usually she gave the number to her secretary of the gallery who would deal with most of the clients. Today was not a good day for violet. She was under investigation for some funny numbers and felt like she was being squeezed. She hated that feeling, but more so hated people going through her things. She picked up the phone in a tense but polite tone and answered.

“Violet Antiques and Rarities LLC this is Violet speaking.”

The man on the other line cut her off almost immediately.

“You gave me this private number; I assume this formality isn’t necessary.”

She glanced at the number and as usual with that specific customer it was blocked.

“You are not my only customer, and I always answer my phone like this.” She heard the man laugh softly over the line; this made her eyes squint a little in contempt.

“What is it you need this time?” she said impatiently.

“I can’t say over the line, especially since it’s probably tapped due to your investigation…” She picked the phone up looking for signs of tampering with it. “But if you meet me at Don Della’s on 34^th and Monaco tonight at eight we can do business.”

“James look, I can’t keep doing this…” But the phone had already clicked off on the other line. She knew she wasn’t supposed to use his name, especially now that she was most likely being tapped. She growled on the inside and knew she had to meet him now, not only for business but to assure him that the blunder wouldn’t happen again. It was the investigation that was putting too much pressure on her.

The drive home was more uncomfortable than she had anticipated. She still felt like she was being watched despite not being. Her paranoia was just a reflection on the situation she was in. She had a special relationship with this client, one that was, in her mind, mostly a mistake. She made rules for a reason, and she broke one of them for this client. Sure she got a few good things out of it, but in the long run it made business much more difficult and was why she had to separate herself from it. Things were finally back to normal when the investigation started.

She got home a little after six, and redressed for the evening. She stuck with a more professional dress to show her seriousness about business and the choice she had made with James. The dress was still very tight though and showed off her body well.

The restaurant was mildly crowded. She found the table with no problem and James, or Sterling as she was supposed to call him was already sitting with a drink in his hand. She sat down quietly and he did not stir. She put her napkin on her lap and looked up. He was as neatly kept as usual. His brown hair and eyes fit well with the suit he was wearing and his facial structure was eerily attractive yet solemn. From his appearance he was about thirty one or so but she guessed he was older.

Sterling sipped his drink then spoke. His voice was usually professional and strong, but in a low tone as to not call attention to himself. Sterling was the kind of person you know not to mess with not because of the fact that he can kill you before you know you’re being attacked but you can never really figure out what he is thinking, and is incredibly hard to peg. She mused over this thought as he spoke.

“I’m glad you decided to come Violet. I know you are busy with the investigation and things being generally… busy.”

She looked around for the waiter as she spoke.

“Considering you are such a good client, and have helped me out here and there I made the exception. We can’t keep meeting in public places like this.”

He sipped his glass, finishing its contents. A waiter appeared out of nowhere and took his glass and placed another down. He paused and asked if Violet would like anything to drink. She ordered a Shiraz and he disappeared from sight.

“How much are you tipping him?” she asked, knowing his tricks.

“Hundred bucks to watch my table like a hawk; make sure I never am out of whiskey.” He pointed at the full whiskey glass now on the table next to him.

“If he is smart he’ll understand that also includes your glasses of wine.” He made something that looked like a smile.

“I’m not here to drink I’m here to do business.” She said smartly.

He waived his hand at the idea and picked up his menu.

“Dinner first, I’m very hungry.”

She browsed the menu knowing well she didn’t need to eat; she wasn’t very hungry. She ordered food anyway though just to waste his money. She didn’t like feeling like he was treating her but going Dutch was unacceptable in her book. The food came quickly and they did business over the meal.

“So what is it you need this time?”

“I got an interesting request this time. Not hard but something not my style. I need a peashooter, specifically something modern. Last time I got stuck with one it was a point and click and it didn’t go to well.”

She nodded and stored the note in her head.

“Is that all?”

“No” he said. “I need rugs. Persian. Three of them. Also if you can find me some Cantonese candle holders I’ll take those too. My apartment is difficult to decorate lately.”

He paused for a moment to look at his steak.

“This isn’t rare enough for my taste… oh well.”

He took another large piece of steak and ate it.

“Also, I need a new coffee table, my last one got… well suffice to say I need a new one, I trust your judgment there.”

“When do you need all this by?”

He swallowed some of his mashed potatoes and finished.

“Next Friday. You know where.”

She nodded and tried to close the sale.

“So that’s it then, you’ll get a bill when I find what you looking for.”

She stood up and excused herself. He looked at her half eaten meal and smiled. He finished his glass of whiskey in one gulp and the waiter appeared again.

“I’m done; the check please.”

Violet stopped briefly on the way home to stock up on wine and noticed a large amount of cop cars down the block. She ducked back into her car, and chose another route to get back home. Once there she slipped out of her dress and into something more comfortable. She opened the door to her closet and pushed in the hidden wood panel that opened to a door. She punched the key code in and the door slid open.

She was well aware of how bad it was to take her work home with her, and she learned well from her experience with Sterling. But having all of her business backed up at home was the safest way to continue operations if anything happened to her gallery. Given the gallery was a front, and wasn’t her main source of income she did like it. She liked looking at all the art she got, and almost enjoyed selling it as much as she did weapons. She decided when she was tired of the arms trade she’d close that door and focus on making the gallery a real full time operation.

She did some research into finding the shoulder mounted rocket launcher. She could get a crate for cheap, even if Sterling used only one; there were more people who could use one. She did some more browsing on her secure network and shut the computer down. She slipped out of the room closing the door behind her.

On the other side of town Daniel was already halfway through his pay at the blackjack table. He was doing better than usual but he still was losing. The next round was his and he pulled in his chips, only to be tapped on the shoulder of one of the security people for the casino.

“Uncle Asmo wants to see you.”

Daniel looked around and got up handing his chips to the next guard.

“Cash those for me would you. I believe that should be five hundred bucks towards my tab.”

The guard led him into the back area of the casino, but away from the rooms where they hurt people. They were going to the office. He wouldn’t be hurt this time around. Daniel knew both places well. The secret rooms he would be roughed up for information and for money to pay off his debts, or to the office to beg for more money, forgiveness or to just heckle him sometimes.

Tonight though Uncle Asmo was not in the office, just his second in command Jimmy the Shylock. Jimmy had an unsatisfied look on his face and was leaning against Asmo’s desk. The guard left and Daniel just stood there. Jimmy motioned for him to sit, and he took the closest seat to the door.

“Now Daniel, you and I get along very well most of the time. I like you, and cut you a lot of slack, specifically with your debt. If it wasn’t for the fact that you sank most of your borrowed money back into our casinos we wouldn’t be so generous. But now we have a problem.” He stopped and sighed.

“It appears to us that Uncle Asmo has gone missing. We last heard from him at the airport. He sounded distressed but nothing totally out of the ordinary. Thing about it is, he doesn’t leave without telling us, nor does he do something like go on a vacation without us guarding him. We need you to look around in all those places we cannot, use whatever connections you have to see if Asmo was taken or just gone missing. It’s highly unlikely he is dead or any of that, but that is why we are sending you. You have to search everywhere you can, even in other territories.”

He was referring to other gang or mafia territories. The city was divided rather sloppily by some of the gangs in the area. The mafia controlled the upper half, the ports and casinos. The Dubrovnik family owned Old Victoria and surrounding area. The Asian alliance gang ran east and west sides running down the city, and the center of the whole mess was gangbanger territory. Each territory had its rules and regulations. You don’t go into other territories unless you are going for business or on non organizational reasons. Even then it wasn’t uncommon to end up dead.

That’s why Daniel was needed. He wasn’t part of Uncle Asmo’s crew, and therefore had free reign to go anywhere. This suited him just fine. But Daniel wondered why the offer.

“What do I get in return if I say yes?”

Jimmy grinned.

“We wipe away your debt with us, and give you a reputable spender’s account in all the casinos we run.”

It was a tempting offer. No more busted knee caps, no more random beatings and then apology games. It would be a healthy relationship… almost.

“Okay I’ll keep my eyes and ears open. I’ll feed you any info I can through the usual means.”

Jimmy nodded.

“There is a limited time span to this as well. If he is not found in due time, problems will arise. I can only suppress this for so long so don’t tell anyone.”

Daniel nodded and Jimmy waived him away. Jimmy was deposited outside the Casino and there was a taxi waiting for him. It was the one he always took. David was inside listening to reggae.

“Same place mon?”

“You know, call me crazy but I think you work for them. You are always here when I come out.”

David laughed and started the engine.

“Nah mon, de just gimme da good jobs, and tip well.”

He put the car into gear and dropped him off at the motel he called home.

Rina’s motel was in a neighborhood that was slowly going down, being swallowed up the industrial sector. But she still had enough guests and low enough costs to keep it open. Rina was a cute country girl trying her life in the big city. Apparently she inherited the motel from her uncle or grandfather. She was kind, especially with his lack of payment on a regular basis. He stuffed all the money he had into an envelope and slipped it under the manager’s office door.

He shuffled to his room and unlocked the door. He had a few hours before work, so he sat down and turned the TV on. It was far too late to eat so he flipped through the channels until he fell asleep. He was interrupted in what seemed like a few minutes later by his co-worker calling if he was coming to work today. He looked at the door and he had been watching TV for five hours. He grabbed his phone and ran out the door. His car started right up and he tore off towards the city’s sanitation center.

Bill was waiting for him at the truck. His truck was fifth in line to leave the depot, and after running in and throwing on his gear he hopped onto the back the garbage truck and smiled at Bill.

“Damn Moses, you look like this truck smells.”

“Well considering it’s still clean from last night I take that as a compliment.”

Bill squinted, looking at Daniels eyes.

“Not sleeping well?”

“Not sleeping at all.” He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding back a yawn.

“You should go see a doctor about that, maybe get some pills for it.”

“No, I’m not a fan of doctors, and I don’t like pills.”

Bill shook his head.

“It's for your health man, it might be worth it.”

The truck rumbled to life as it slowly lurched forward.

“It’ll pass I’m sure.”

The trucks engine grumbled and rolled along out of the area and down the road to its route. It was a Monday, so Glass and plastic bins were out. They ignored them as they dumped large pales and metal containers of garbage into the back of their truck. They made idle chit chat while collecting and when the compactor started they had to yell to each other.

Daniel enjoyed his job with the sanitation department. Despite the smell, heat and cold in the different seasons it wasn’t a bad thing to do. It paid him well enough, afforded him some friends not in the casino or strip club scene and he enjoyed the drives, specifically on his route.

It helped that the guys on his truck were good guys too. They knew about some or all of his problems and they each tried to cover for each other as much as possible. He watched in the distance as storm clouds rolled in. The weather said there would be rain tonight and over the weekend. After work he stopped at a few of the various bars he used to visit to casually press for information. Nobody in the bar business in the city could do so without some sort of gang or mafia authorization. Organized crime had a firm grip on most of the city. The financial center, as powerful and wealthy it seemed was actually just a more business oriented affiliation of the mainstay Italian families that settled in the city long ago.

The financial district was full of business savvy men and women who were just as much crooks as the Dons and family heads that ran the banks and territories. Nothing was beyond the touch of the mafia except the larger government institutions. The military for one was absolutely clean, Sterling knew this well. The police force in most areas was also clean; the mafia gave up trying to pay all them off. Instead they just “deal with” cops and investigators that snoop around too much.

The lower class sections were less powerful in the financial sense, but they made up with their fierce competitiveness and ability to not only hold their own territories but even manage to slowly take new ones around the city. There was a large war between two of the lower class gangs over the “territory” of the old stadium. When a third group of business savvy investors tried to move in on the property both groups pooled their resources and ended the dreams of those investors.

Daniel didn’t get much information from any of his usual spots, and it was getting late. He decided to call it a night and head back home. Upon returning to the motel he found Rina trying to get into a room. She looked like she was having some trouble. He walked up to her almost starling her.

“Do you need some help?”

He looked at him and then at the door.

“The key doesn’t work anymore, but I need to get inside to clean. This door always was a pain.”

“Here let me try.” He said and passed around her.

He knelt in front of her on one knee and listened to the door as he jiggled the handle. He walked back to his car grabbed something from the glove compartment. He stuck what looked like a staple gun into the lock and squeezed the trigger a few times. There were some clicking noises and he turned the metal object and the door opened.

“Hey, you got it, thanks so much.”

He smiled and shook his head.

“It’s no problem. Also, about this month’s rent…”

She cut him off before he could finish.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Whenever you get it just slip it under my door.”

He felt bad about stiffing her so often, but he couldn’t really tell her his problem.

“I know, and if things go well after this month I’ll be giving you all my rent money on time. That is a promise.”

“Daniel, it’s alright. Just pay me when you can. It’s not like your rent is going to save this place anyway.”

She looked very sad, and suddenly Daniel was worried.

“Wait, what’s going on?”

She looked like she was ashamed but, she spoke anyway; albeit in a low tone.

“Well, I’ve been in financial trouble for a while now, and not because of you. Business has been...well... bad as you can see for a long time. I can’t afford to keep the motel for much longer. Eight months max.”

Daniel hadn’t thought of it much, but he didn’t really see any customers aside from himself visit. The area was no longer very good and it was mostly by accident if people found it. Rina refused to allow it to become a sleazy motel to rent out to prostitutes, call girls or horny businessmen. This also put her at odds with the local group that ran her area, they wanted the spot for a “base” and so far the only thing that kept them at bay is the bribe money she paid them.

She continued.

“So just pay me what you can, but you should start looking for a place of your own. I don’t know exactly when we’ll close, but I want you to have a place to go to.”

“Maybe I can help with that too, I do have some respectable friends, maybe I can get you a loan to fix the place up, or even relocate.”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. This whole event was not really my idea of what I want from life. I plan on returning to the countryside and opening a bed and breakfast.”

“Well at least you have a good plan; I guess I should work on one myself.”

She nodded and there was an awkward silence.

“Alright, I’m going to go back to the office. Have a good night Daniel.”

He smiled and wished her a good night.

***

It was a cold and rainy Friday as Violet drove to the pickup spot. As usual she had received half of the payment before the deal in the mail. He was one of the few people that still mailed in wads of cash. It was… old fashioned and it sort of tickled her a bit. October was oddly cold this year, and full of more rain than usual.

She pulled up to the docks in her European sedan and stopped at the gate. The gates were closed, a sure sign he was there, these gates were usually open. He grabbed her umbrella and stepped out of the car. The cold rain pelted her umbrella with soft pitter patter and the sound of the wipers of her car brushing away the rain comforted her despite the cold. She pulled over the rusty gate with a leather gloved hand, and after getting the other door she drove down the row of docks.

Most of the docks were unused since the dock company had gone out of business, but she used them often to deliver goods and meet up with clientele. She drove along and found the dock house that they always met in, building thirteen. She pulled in and found the back BMW already sitting there. Sterling was standing beside it not facing her. As she pulled in he turned and he looked at her car. Though nothing about his appearance was off, but his casual turn towards her sent a chill down her spine. It didn’t help she was cold, and she could see his breath in the air.

She parked and stepped out. He walked over to her car as she opened the trunk. He looked into the trunk and opened two of the cases. He didn’t remove or touch any of the products, he just checked to make sure they were there. He knew about re-sale value and not leaving finger marks. He closed the cases and did something he didn’t do very much, he talked.

“That’ll do.”

He never, in the many years of dealing with her talked at this part of the deal. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing. He reached into his coat and she got suddenly nervous. He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. She looked at it, and him. But he was already unloading the cases from her car. She counted it slowly as he loaded the last case into his trunk and opened his door. She finished counting, it was too much.

She looked up and called to him. “This is too much.”

He stopped just shy of getting inside and looked at her. She waited for a response either in motion or words, but he just looked at her, a passive blank look on his face. Most of the time he was very handsome, but at this moment all of his attractive qualities took on a more disturbing tone. The fact that he wasn’t saying anything was also uncomforting. But as quickly as he had stopped to look at her he sat down and closed the door.

She knew that meant business was concluded. He sat patiently as she got in and left, which was customary. She didn’t know if it was part of his rules or he didn’t like to leave a deal first. She knew all too well he didn’t finish until he was satisfied, and that he generally got want he wanted. She flashed back to a few weeks ago and felt herself getting warm. As she pulled out of the building she noticed the rain was picking up, and felt a small pang of sadness or melancholy. She decided she didn’t like the rain in fall.

Back at her office he had two messages from normal clients and one from a much respected client of hers. She dialed his number and made plans for the upcoming week to meet and greet him about something important. She had only dealt with this client once or twice before, but she knew he was a very serious businessman. He made Sterling seem like an amateur when it came to business, which was an accomplishment. But she also found him to be overbearing and too much to handle sometimes which is why she only did business with him on occasion. As much of a pain Sterling was, he was at least humane and treated her equally. This client did not, but she needed the money and he needed stuff, so she dealt with it.

After hanging up the phone she had her usual mid day cappuccino, browsed through her mail, watched a bit of the news and then left for the day. Friday was half days, and when she had deals that went longer than expected she didn’t even show up to work. The secretary would stay until three take all messages and then let herself out. The rest of her staff, which was meager at best all left at three as well on Friday’s.

On the drive home she stopped in the financial sector to visit a business acquaintance in her antiques field, and check up on the new values of gold and jewels. After that it was off to her apartment. She had a very spacious apartment on the upper floors of a very well off and very centrally located skyscraper. It was about twenty five hundred square feet and tastefully decorated by herself. It was far more than she needed, but she liked open space, and the ability to relax so she convinced herself it was fine.

One thing she hated was food shopping, and after seeing a lack of any sort of food in her fridge she ordered her groceries on the internet to be delivered from the high end supermarket a few blocks west. Within the hour the doorman’s bell rang.

“Miss, you have some groceries here for you.”

She pressed the reply button.

“Send him up please.”

She waited patiently by the door for the man to arrive. She was anxious for food, and wondered why he hadn’t eaten before. There came a knock on the door and she was met with a young man no older than thirty five holding her bags. He was very good looking and if she wasn’t so hungry she would have invited him in. She took the bags and paid the man, admiring his features as he left. She turned and looked at her bags of food and realized she had to put them all away. She sighed and started unpacking.

Further South Daniel was awaking from his usual late afternoon malaise. An hour to forty five minutes naps were all he could manage to do, and most time he just sat around and spaced out until something caught his attention. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had gotten a good night of sleep, but he was sure it was at least a year, maybe more. He got up and made himself some dinner. He lit up a cigarette despite not being allowed to in the room. Rina had sort of accepted him as her only permanent resident and said as long as the smell didn’t bother the guests he could. There weren’t enough guests to bother so it was never an issue.

As he puffed away at his cigarette he thought about his little quest he had been given, and where to start looking around for information. He knew he had limited time before the deal was over so he had to figure this out, or give Jimmy some kind of information that could be considered useful. There came a knock on his door, and when he opened it there was a police officer and a plain clothes detective standing outside. One of them held up a picture of a dead body, the other looked him up and down.

“Do you know this man?”

He looked at the picture.

“No, can’t say I do.”

The cop looked at him suspiciously.

“Are you Daniel Moses?”

Daniel nodded slowly, blowing smoke into the air.

“It is according to our records that you work for his man, his name is Dexter Maltese.”

Daniel squinted at the picture and realized the corpse was actually his boss Dexter. Someone had shaved his head and eyebrows so he almost couldn’t tell. Suddenly he felt sick.

“Oh s**t, that is him.”

He dropped his cigarette outside and stepped on it.

“What happened to him?”

“That is classified as of right now, but suffices to say we are questioning his co-workers and acquaintances about him.”

“Sorry I don’t know much about his aside from he always pays in cash and has more women than a sheik prince.”

The detective resumed questioning.

“So you do know about him.”

Daniel looked back almost angry.

“As I said, I worked for him, as a DJ in his strip club. That’s about it, I don’t know much about him. He’s just a boss.”

The detective put the picture away and continued.

“Well unfortunately you will not longer be working there. The club was shot up and burned down two nights ago. Most of the girls, died before the fire, and you boss in the parking lot. We are investigating possible suspects and motives for something like this.”

Author's Note

Still a work in progress.