Layla was a step closer, but not down a path that seemed to scare Terra. Something was obviously amiss and it became clear to Layla, that whatever the job was, it would mean talking to Dr. Armistead. Layla walked back inside of the building and into the penthouse. Will and Mike were back and already devouring the personal pizzas they often coveted above normal takeout.
“What took you guys so long?” Layla asked, as she approached the last pizza box. Her order was written in black marker and it was wrong, but Layla saw no need to complain, nonetheless It was food and warm.
“Line was long.” Will replied through a mouthful of food. Layla cracked a smile, picked up the first piece and joined the others in their ritual. Stuffing their faces as if starved for weeks, in between mouthfuls, they told their jokes and points of interest until they were too full to even think of laughing at another of Mike’s long winded jokes. Layla slept soundly through the night, but Will became restless. The previous day took its toll.
Layla woke as soon as Will finally maneuvered the sheets and duvet from beneath her. As rude as it was, Layla decided to get dressed and leave before the others woke. Just before she walked out the door, the Balcony door opened. The cold breeze stopped her in her tracks as she turned to face Mike.
“Morning, you are up early.” Mike said. Layla felt herself blushing.
“Yeah, just going to the coffee shop down the street.” Layla said. She shuffled towards the door, hoping to escape before he offered to come with.
“Oh, Can I come with you?” Mike replied. It was too late. No matter what she said from this point on would not deter him, and she would eventually relent.
“Sure, why not?” Layla answered rhetorically, she forced a smile as Mike followed her out.
They walked in silence to the shop, thankfully it wasn’t so early that they were close, but to their surprise a line had already formed out of the door.
“The sun isn’t even up, it won’t be for another 2 hours.” Layla complained with her arms folded to warm the blood vessels in her hand and fingers.
“It’s not so bad. Think of it, that warm coffee and the fresh donuts. I bet that is why they are here as early as us.” Mike said. It was his best quality to make the best of a bad situation, but in an inconvenient situation it only annoyed Layla. Mike continued his own conversation, which Layla ignored to the best of her ability. Until a question grabbed her attention so fast, it almost made her dizzy.
“Did you call the number?” Mike said, there was no longer a smile on his face when she looked at him.
“No, what number?” Layla replied. She tried her best to reassure him, but he knew all too well when she lied.
“Terra told me about the card, and she knew you only tossed out the wrapper of the bandage.” He said while gesturing towards the hand and the bandage she knew still covered the wound.
“I did. I did. Alright?” She said defensively. She expected the bite of her sister to vicariously flow from his lips, and braced for the onslaught. She should have known better than to expect something that was against his nature.
“What did he say?” Mike said, compassion lining every word like silk thread.
“Nothing, it was a lady. A receptionist, I think.”
They bought their coffee and Layla recreated the conversation between her and the lady from last night, and showed him the picture of the doctor’s information. His concern was virtually nonexistent; his curiosity and attention was entirely in her conversation. He asked questions back and forth; about the man, the phone call, and things that Layla could only speculate about.
“Have you called her yet?” He finally asked. Layla took a long sip before acknowledging the loose end in her tale.
“No, not yet.” she said.
“Well why?” Mike was getting impatient, he looked as if he would take her phone from her pocket and call the doctor himself. His hobbies were reading and mysteries were his favorite genre. It would have been in her best interest to have kept it secret, but the cat was out of the bag.
“I’m going to go see if I can find her. A phone call seems… invasive almost. I mean I have her name and I can guess where the seminar is being held. I saw many ads for the seminar around the city.” Layla said after dumping the rest of the coffee down her throat.
“Well let’s go.” Mike said. The smile had returned to his lips.
They spent the next hour looking online for the address of the seminar, luckily only one was for this weekend, they took the first taxi they managed to wave down and gave the address to the driver. Soon they were faced with an unassuming building and walked inside. Layla was the first to spot the sign of the seminar and the itinerary of speakers. There was only a single woman handing out the pamphlet. They approached.
“Well hi there. What’s the name?” The woman spoke with a southern accent.
“Sorry we are looking for Doctor Charlotte Armistead, we heard she might be here.” Mike spoke first. He was confident and Layla was not, but still followed his lead.
“Don’t send out the search party just yet, you both can sign in and go in yourselves.” She responded. Her grin was professional and hospitality wasn’t lacking. She handed Mike a pen and pointed to a clipboard at the end of the table. Layla took the pen when he was done, but before she was done the woman spoke again.
“Now open admission is three hundred dollars, but seeing as you two are together. I’ll cut you a deal, five hundred for the both of you.” Her smile didn’t falter in the slightest. Layla looked towards Mike, he kept the facade of a smile as he reached into his back pocket. The woman turned to greet the next guests. Layla saw her chance and snatched two name tags from the carefully sorted box. Mike saw this and stopped as Layla shoved the tags into her jacket.
“Ma’am I’m sorry, but I wasn’t told how much this would be. This is so embarrassing, we’ll just go.” Mike said before putting his wallet away.
“It’s no problem, honey. We hope we can see you next year.” The woman replied as she crossed out both of their names with a marker. Mike took Layla’s hand and led her out of the building.
“Are you insane?” Mike exclaimed through his teeth. Layla looked at him, smirking as she pulled the name tags chosen at random.
“Listen, I want an answer and we both know you don’t keep that much cash in your wallet.” Mike merely stared at her for a moment, and chuckled.
“You are really taking after Will.” Mike said “let’s go around back and find a back door.”
“Lead the way.” Layla finished while she passed one of the tags to Mike.
The two circled around the building until they found what they were looking for, better yet some people were there. Cigarettes in hand and deep in conversation, Layla and Mike blended in with the stolen names pinned to their jackets. After a few minutes the group snuffed the burning stubs against the wet asphalt and retreated indoors. Layla was nervous about their entrance, but luckily only one guy stood at the secondary entrance to the seminar. He nodded as they passed through the threshold. Despite whatever expectations that Layla had for the place, she never imagined the amount of people inside. The place was packed to the brim with people. The stage was empty except for a sign with the same itinerary as the front. Layla searched eagerly for the name tag bearing the doctor's name until Mike whispered into her ear.
“Look at the sign, She is up in an hour.”
Layla focused her eyes on the sign, he was right.
Mike continued, “she probably won't be out here, let's check the office spaces.”
Layla took the closest door and began her fervent search for any other signs, now more focused than ever. She was close, she could feel it. Finally she reached the end of the hall, one door remained. Just before her hand touched the knob and heard a conversation from within. It was quiet, but she pressed her ear against the door. The southern woman they first met was in there speaking to another woman, presumably Doctor Armistead.
“It’s like you said Doctor, you are definitely popular with the young folks. That is the fourth incident today. I just wish the last ones paid the entry fee.” The Southern woman said.
“You can’t charge them extra Debra. If they need help, you would only damn yourself for charging them.” The unknown woman replied.
“Listen here, you may be able to pay your bills with that fancy doctor’s degree, but I can’t. Not with the wages I get here. I may be your friend Charlie, but I still have the number for the ethics committee. You rat on me and I’ll have your medical license within a day.” Debra hissed.
“No, I’m sorry. I will pay you instead. Just let them in, I don’t care about the consequences, but I need to help them.” Charlotte said.
“That’s more like it. I’ll let you know when they come in, just to be nice.” Debra said triumphantly.
Layla saw a shadow from beneath the doorframe, she sprung from her position of eavesdropping and ducked into an empty office down the hall. She listened to the muffled clap of thick heels on the thin carpet. When they reached the tile of the main hallway, Layla rose from her hiding spot and approached the door of Doctor Armistead’s temporary office. She turned the handle and opened the surprisingly light door. The woman sitting behind the desk lifted her head from the stack of notecards and peered at Layla.
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“Interviews aren’t until after my presentation.” Charlotte said dismissively before returning her gaze to the stack of cardstock.
“Sorry to disturb you,” Layla began, “I need to talk to you about this card.” Layla drew the wrinkled card from her pocket and tossed it on the desk. Charlotte’s face went pale, the color drained like water.
“Where did you get this?” She said, she backed her chair away as if a bug was on the desk.
“A man, with a silver pin of a bird on his coat. He said he had a job for me, but as I see it, you know something I don’t.” Layla dropped her act of kindness, and it was time for an interrogation.
Charlotte removed her glasses with trembling hands as carefully placed them in her lap.
“I do.” She put it plainly.
“Well you know the man then? What job does he have for me? Why do I have to run around and overturn every stone just to get here?” Layla rapidly spouted the questions that she prepared on the way.
“That was my husband’s card, before he passed away 3 years ago. His body was scattered in a pond in east Texas. It wasn’t a business card, it was the only card he had made to contact me. He had Alzheimer’s. Early stages, but he had these episodes where he would lose things,” Charlotte let out a long sigh as she brushed a tear from her eyes, “he always remembered something his mother used to say ‘Even in the dark of the clouds you can always see the silver lining, you only need to look’. The point is that that card was missing from his clothes, well what was left of them.”
“Oh… I’m sorry for your loss.” Layla said, her face softened. The mood of the room shifted completely to somber when Mike walked through the door.
“There you are honey, you can’t wander off on me like that,” He forced a smile and poked Layla’s back, “sorry to disturb you ma’am, can we have a moment?” Before Charlotte could answer, Mike pulled Layla out of the door.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Layla whispered aggressively.
“Security saw you take the tags, I had to ditch mine before they saw me. I managed to slip past them, but they are coming. They have a picture of us and they are asking the people in the seminar,” Mike said before looking over his shoulder to the end of the hall, “you have to hurry otherwise I’m leaving without you.”
“Fine, two minutes tops.” Layla whispered. She walked back in to see a briefcase on the desk and a revolver on the desk. Panic raced through her head.
“You know as well as I need that life is short and how you live it is your choice.” Charlotte said, great streams of tears fell from her eyes, streaking the thick mascara down her cheeks.
“Hey, no I’m sorry. I just wanted answers. I didn’t mean any harm.” Layla raised her hands in defense; Mike walked through the door unphased by the scene, until his gaze hit the gun.
“Whoa lady, cool down.” He said as he copied Layla’s gesture.
“Sit down, it’s not for you. I tried looking for answers myself, what with the police being useless unless it affected them. Backwater town cops have no right to hold a gun or carry that badge. I found all I could, but I’ve done all I can with the system I grew up on. I know what the job is because my husband got the same call and failed. Take the briefcase or don’t. I couldn’t care less.”
Layla reached for the briefcase, and grabbed it by the handle.
“Why us?” Mike asked.
“Don’t be scared of the dark, there are worse things hiding in our God's light.” Charlotte said.
Charlotte raised the revolver to her chin without wavering and pulled the trigger.
A clap of thunder rang through the enclosed room amplified tenfold.
Blood covered the wall behind her chair in an instant.
Her body and chair collapsed to the floor, tipping the balance.
As her body lay on the carpet, dark red flowing through her hair made black pool beneath.
Mike sat in the chair, a look of shock carved so deep that when he finally realized the specks of blood on his face, all he could do was stare. Layla on the other hand, shrieked so loud that she almost didn’t hear the stampede of footsteps coming down the hallway. The adrenaline pumping through her veins finally reached her mind.
“Mike, we have to go now.” Layla exclaimed. She pulled him from his chair, his gaze rested on her, but he looked through her as if she wasn’t there.
“Mike snap out of it,” Layla shouted, “we have to go.” Finally their eyes met and Mike grabbed the case from her hand as she pried the window open as far as she could before pushing Mike out. It wasn’t a long fall, but when she landed, Mike had only started to move away. Her arm broke her fall, but the roll she was preparing for didn’t help. She felt the sharp needles of pain forcing their way through her muscle and skin. It was very broken. Mike helped Layla to her feet, she braced her arm. Tears crowded over her sight. She couldn’t hide it from Mike, who broke into a sprint to the nearest shop, she had no choice, but to follow. The pain was unbearable and felt like an eternity in between strides. Mike pushed Layla into the bathroom and locked the dead bolt. She finally cried, letting the tears freely escape. Mike examined her arm and left for a few minutes, she couldn’t bear to move herself so the door remained unlocked until Mike came back with a roll of duct tape, a bottle of vodka and a bottle of pain relievers . He pulled them from the flimsy bag and ripped the packaging apart. He broke the rubber bowl from the plunger and doused the wooden rod with the vodka. Layla examined her own arm and saw the unnatural bend of the bone. Mike removed his belt.
“Bite down on this and try not to scream. I paid the cashier to take a smoke break,” Mike said as he pressed the worn leather into her mouth, “deep breaths now, in… out.” Mike grabbed her arm. He was a nurse before Layla met him, so trusting him was the easy part. Mike ramped the pressure of his grip and using the rod of the plunger as a guide, he set the bone back into place. Layla felt the grind of the bone. Her nerves were on fire as she screamed twice as loud as the scream from the office. Her face blushed as red as blood, but only for a few seconds. She fainted. Mike continued his makeshift splint and called Will, who immediately answered.
“Get the car, We have a problem.”
Layla dreamt of the moment the revolver fired, over and over again, and when she woke her arm still tingled with the pain, but not nearly as vicious. Her ears still rang, she rose from her bed and walked into the living room. Mike, Will, and Terra took the liberty of rummaging through the briefcase, papers were scattered everywhere. Will looked up and hugged Layla, careful not to touch her arm.
“Why didn’t you ask me to come with you? This wouldn’t have happened if I was there.” Will said, guiding her to an open seat. Layla sat carefully and took a few papers to glance at as she thought of a response to give Will.
“Hey, I’m sorry for doubting you, but I don’t think this is much better than what I was thinking,” Terra said in earnest, “but listen to this ‘I arrived at this ancient mansion and met with the groundskeeper over my reason for coming, he was saddened at first, but relented to give me the key to the house. I walked inside its dust laden halls only to be lost in its labyrinthe. There is something unnatural in its construction, but I can’t quite place a finger on it. I will continue my investigation in the morning, but for now I will be staying in my car. The groundskeeper was kind enough to come looking for me around midnight, to lead me out. As I stepped back through the door to the cold chill of Autumn, I couldn’t help, but wonder whose voices followed my steps if the house hadn’t been lived in since the selfish tragedy of drunken stupor.’”
“It was the caretaker for the old man, It was his eldest son. Albert I think. I found it a bit ago. The poor idiot wrapped the car around an old hickory tree.” Will said from across the room, Layla noticed the tea he prepared. Will passed the warm mug to Layla, she winced at the movement.
“I don’t know who this guy is, but he was loaded. There are a bunch of preloaded cards hidden in the lining. I checked all of them, and they got about a million split between all of them.” Mike said, his eyes never lifted from the crudely stacked papers in his hands. Layla sipped the sickly sweet earthy brew with a creeping trepidation as to the conclusion the others set their minds to. Mike stopped his search on a sheet of paper so weathered that the corners were nothing more than fibrous strands stained with age. Dropping the rest of the papers sent an order across the room, halting everyone's activities. Terra shifted herself along the couch to peer behind Mike’s shoulder; her eyes flicked from line to line of the letter at a slower pace than Mike, but his reaction to whatever was written was subtle compared to Terra’s. She yelped before covering her mouth, Terra’s excitement was poorly contained. Will swiftly strode towards Mike and seized the paper from his hands, Mike’s expression was catatonic and shocked to his core.
“Holy shit.” Will gently set the paper on the table for all to see. Layla was afraid to even glance at the paper, much less read its contents. Terra with such speed that Layla felt the couch’s failed attempt to tip backwards.
“Do you know what this means?” Terra said, grabbing Mike and shaking him in an exaggerated comedic fashion.
“We are going to be rich.” Will cheered. The temptation of the letter was overwhelming and proved too much for Layla. She grabbed the letter from the coffee table and read it slowly to herself.
February 1st 1943
My eldest brother Aleksander,
It has been a morning brushed with death after a gruesome year in the lines of battle, it is in the spirit of fortunate news that I write you today. As to when you receive this letter is unknown or if my fortune were to turn sour before my return. I have met a man within the field, a civilian at best, that had a particular favor as to your name, our shared name. His face was lashed with scars and burned in years before, and his name eludes me even now, although I was sure that I asked. He claimed to be an associate of yours in your studies, but the details were difficult to hear amongst the boisterous noise of gunfire. He led me away from the frontlines against my will, but I do recall walking alone in many instances. He requested me to write this to you and so I shall.
He wished to meet you again in person to discuss a business opportunity. It is strange that he knew my name and even to find me on my patrol, in fact I don’t believe I had even been in the field. My mind twists and bends the details of my encounter, perhaps it is the shellshock I had seen so many others afflicted with. In any case, none of these details truly matter aside from the fact that the man pulled a gold bar from his pocket and offered thousands more in return to meet again at the place he met you before. The specifics were kept from prying ears, including my own. My mind is left to wander in these evening hours to the true purpose of this man, but your decisions are your own and I should have trusted them sooner.
Give my regards to Little Ralph and your wife Eliza, I hope to see you all very soon.
May dawn shine on your doorstep
Respectfully, Ulrich Sinnhoffer
Obviously Layla was missing the need for such excitement and reasoned that the “gold bars” mentioned could already be gone. She remained skeptical as to the letter’s authenticity, although strange was the least of her concerns now that her mind floated towards the story told by the late Charlotte Armistead. Whatever this house holds and the danger that so easily slipped past the details of the pages now scattered across the carpeted floor. What killed and possibly tore Charlotte’s husband apart could still be there, lurking in the halls of this place. Layla finally took the stand against the recklessness that would likely ensue.
“Didn’t you hear that lady Mike,” Layla yelled, freezing everyone in the midst of their preemptive celebration, “she killed herself right in front of us and for what? This gold? The cards belonging to a dead man?” Layla ripped the letter into rough confetti and tossed it into the air. She continued, “you all ransacked this briefcase of something that is beyond us now that you have a motive and compensation. Who knows how many people that man tried to lure in before us. This is crazy and you know it.”
“Layla, We have all read the papers and now we have each other. This has to be some joke, and you have seen the things rich people have been doing for years for kicks. The way I see it, we have a chance to get everything we want and more. This is probably a publicity stunt or a movie set with hidden cameras. That guy probably just had an accident. I mean all this money would only last for a while, split between all of it.” Mike said, doing his best to calm her down. It was little reassurance, but it was interesting to say the least.
“Tomorrow we will go to the cabin and stay away until we can all agree on this.” Will announced softly as he put an arm around Layla’s shoulders and led her to the master bedroom. He laid her on the sheets and draped the duvet over her. Layla’s emotions were beaten and bruised after that long day and it was Will’s only talent when it came to their relationship. Within the turn of the hour Layla was asleep in the warm silk sheets. Will and the others shoved everything of theirs into their bags, and filled the SUV Will bought the previous summer to the brim. The drive would take them nearly a full day on the road without weather conditions, but the off-road capabilities of that car would see them there in one piece.