Boosted (In The Fast Lane) Read online

  EIGHT

  Pieces of the Puzzle

  By the time Hannah was dropped off at her apartment that night she barely recognized the life she had left behind that morning. Her afternoon with Brody had shaken her deeply. She had been scared by his actions and disturbed by his secrecy. But something about it had also excited her. And this excitement, in turn, caused her even more trouble. This was not who she was. She was not the girl who wound up in fast cars driving to God knows where in pursuit of God know what.

  They barely talked on the way back from the edge of the city. He seemed even more shaken up than she was. She had witnessed a new side of him. Something told her that this was in fact his true side. Hannah wasn’t sure what they had been doing in the car. She didn’t even have any particular guess.

  However, she was sure that whatever it was she didn’t want any part of it, and yet she still wanted Brody. She felt more attracted to him than ever. The way he had taken control in the car, the way he had shrugged off the prospect of getting into a devastating car wreck, the way he had taken hold of her hand and told her that everything was going to be fine. Even his vulnerability on the way home had been strangely magnetic. She wanted to be the one who would now tell him that everything was going to be okay.

  She had done no such thing though. It was only in retrospect that she had thought to do it. She hadn't been there for him when he needed it. And now she felt nothing but guilt. When he dropped her off she could have rectified the situation and invited him in to do what she could to calm him down. But she had missed that opportunity as well. So now she sat at home alone, shell shocked by that afternoon, while Brody drove off into the unknown.

  Hannah hadn't checked her phone once during her adventure in Brody’s car and now found that she had a ton of messages to sift through. Most of them were from her adviser. The messages had at first shown concern and eventually devolved into telling her how unprofessional and embarrassing her conduct had been at lunch today.

  Hannah didn’t feel any real regret. She was fully willing to submarine her own future at this point, and not just because of Brody. Although, she did genuinely like her adviser and she didn't mean to make her look bad. It was yet another personal relationship that she had undermined today.

  She decided to lay down on her hardwood floor for awhile. It was an activity that had helped her relieve stress in the past. She'd usually put on music but was not in the mood this evening. She lay in silence for a long while. Of course it wasn’t complete silence. She gradually became aware of the sounds around her. The traffic flowing through the street below, the tread of footsteps from the apartment above, the gentle hum of her electronic equipment.

  What was she going to do now? How was she going to fix this? Was any of it even worth fixing? She did not know the nature of Brody’s work, but she was now sure that it was borderline illegal at best. The way he had been driving suggested that it was not the first time he had done something like that. She had always sensed that there something dangerous about him. Now her suspicions were confirmed.

  Consultant my ass. She thought. He had definitely aroused her curiosity and now she wanted to know exactly what it was that he did. She knew he would never come right out and tell her. She would have to figure it out on her own. But how?

  She immediately ruled out following him. With driving like that she felt sure that she would never be able to keep up. Oh shit. That reminded her. Her car. Her car was still at the restaurant. She hadn’t even thought about that. It was too late to venture across town to get it now. She’d just have to let it sit. Of course this meant she’d have to find some other way to get to her morning class tomorrow, a class for which she’d done none of the work that was due. Damn it. She was falling apart. The walls felt as if they were closing in upon her. A few days ago everything had been so simple. Now she didn’t know what to do.

  Hannah closed her eyes. She had to focus. One task at a time. Since the image of Brody refused to dissipate from her mind, that would be the first thing. She needed to know who he was, what secrets he was hiding. She tried to piece together the afternoon in a rational way. They had been at the restaurant together and he had been distracted by something outside.

  His eyes had kept going back to the window. He had got up and left suddenly, leaving some lucky waiter a very healthy tip on top of the cost of his meal. These were all things she knew. Things that she had witnessed firsthand.

  Brody had still seemed in a hurry as she got into the car with him. From there his driving had actually been quite calm and controlled. It wasn’t until after she had sucked his cock that he had gone into a panic once again. It was only then that he had sped up and started to drive like a madman. They pulled off the highway and were in some suburb she'd never been before.

  It didn’t seem like he'd ever been there either. It was right on the edge of the desert but he hadn’t gone that far. Instead he had climbed up the lattice of a house. That was perhaps the most confusing part to her. Why would he have done something like that with no explanation? He hadn’t stayed up there very long either. And upon returning to the car he took her home as if none of it had ever happened.

  How did all these pieces fit together? The sudden exit from the restaurant, the panic on the highway, the abandonment of the drive seemingly out of nowhere. Now that she had broken down the afternoon into its individual parts, the cloud of uncertainty began to fade. The decisions he had been making did not seem to be his own. That was, of course, because they were contingent on the actions of someone else. She realized that he must have been following someone. He had been watching whoever it was from the restaurant and then tracked them in his car. He must have given up when it was becoming too obvious.

  This begged a further question: why was he following someone like that? In Hannah’s mind it seemed like something that a cop would do. But Brody didn’t seem like any cop that she had ever heard of. But who else would be on a stakeout like that? A part of her didn’t want to know the answer. The other part of her knew that it was becoming clear. He was undoubtedly involved in some sort of illegal activity. It was only a matter of how illegal.

  NINE

  A Drink With Sergei

  Brody spent most of that night camped out at the bar where he had met Sergei a few days before. He'd tried the garage first but there was no sign of anyone. Must not have been a work night. So instead he went to the bar where the Russian mob types liked to spend their evenings (and late nights and mornings, apparently). He ordered a beer, some obscure Eastern European band with Cyrillic letters on the label. It had a bitter taste that didn’t go down easy but it beat straight vodka for the time being.

  He was careful not to get drunk despite the amount of time he spent there. He was surprised to find that no one bothered him while he was there. These Russians tended to be pretty territorial too. Perhaps they recognized him from his previous visit. Maybe they could just tell that he lived on their side of the law. As long as he didn’t make any trouble, they seemed content not to give him any in return.

  After a few hours Sergei entered the bar. He was accompanied by some associates, none of whom Brody recognized. They had already been drinking and were much deeper in the bag than Brody was despite his head start. Sergei and his cohorts headed straight for the bar. He obviously hadn’t spotted Brody yet. They ordered their vodkas, raised a toast, and gulped them down. It was only when the bartender was pouring their second round that Sergei looked over and noticed his presence.

  “Brody! My friend!”

  Sergei parted his comrades and came over to him. Sergei took him in a bear hug. He then kissed him on both cheeks and ended with a peck on the lips.

  “Your new favorite place, huh?” Sergei asked, with a crooked smile.

  “I came here to find you.”

  Sergei didn’t seem to hear him. “Come, come. Tonight you drink with my friends.”

  Brody stood his ground at the bar. “I need to talk to you.”

  “These
men, they could bring you a lot of business.”

  “That’s great, but first--”

  Sergei was hearing none of it. He took him by the arm and started to drag him over.

  Brody took his arm away. “Who’s the target?”

  Sergei balked. Brody had his attention now. “We do not need to talk about this right now, not tonight.”

  “Yes we do.”

  “Come here.” Sergei led him to a more isolated part of the bar. “This question. It’s not as important as you think.”

  “I need to know,” Brody said.

  Sergei shook his head. “I do not see why you need to know.”

  “I’ve been tailing him.”

  “You do not need to do that. This is why I gave you his address.”

  “I can’t get the car from his place. Too much security. He’s got cameras and people all over the place, not to mention the fence. I’ve gotta find another opening.”

  “And I am confident that you will,” Sergei said, as he went to move back to his group.

  Brody stopped him with one more appeal. “Look, I need to know what kind of stuff this guy’s into. I’ve got a bad feeling. Yesterday he drove off into the desert. He would have made me if I’d followed him.”

  “Maybe he likes the desert.”

  “I’m just saying that if I’m going to do this, I need to know what kind of consequences there are going to be on the back end.”

  Sergei’s demeanor changed now. “Sit down.”

  Brody followed his lead and sat on one of the bar stools.

  Sergei called the bartender over and ordered two vodkas. “A drink will help,” he explained to Brody. Once they had gulped down the vodka Sergei went forward.

  “I do not know much about this man. Only what they told me. But you’re right to think that he’s dangerous. He is. Very much so, from what I understand. In Iran he was a military officer. I don’t think a general. A colonel perhaps. I’m not sure. The story, it’s a little hazy. No one wants to talk about it.”

  “Just tell me what you know.”

  Sergei looked like he could use another drink but pushed on anyway. “This man fought in the war against Iraq in the 80’s. He was young then but very skilled. He rose through the ranks quickly. He became noted for his cruelty in battle and the intense loyalty he fostered in his men. He accrued tremendous personal wealth by staging unsanctioned raids on Saddam’s gold stores, by robbing civilians, and by running the black market that grew larger in the midst of the war.

  After the war ended he and some of his men, fearing that they would be exposed as war criminals, hopped the border. They acquired new identities and spread through the world. The colonel, again I am only assuming he is a colonel, came here.”

  “So this is a revenge thing?”

  “Of sorts, yes.”

  “I don’t get it. Why don’t they just send someone to kill the guy?”

  “He is still a war hero. And he still has friends at home. Think of it more like a game. The car was the first possession he bought when he came here. He had the etching done to ensure that all who entered it could read about his exploits in the war.”

  “Quite the ego on this guy.”

  Sergei laughed. “This is true. But I assure you that it is quite justified.”

  “So the car is his most prized possession. And the people back home want it.”

  “They want him to know that he has not truly escaped from their influence. A simple reminder. Call it a simple act of humbling. But all in fun.”

  “So they want me to steal this car as part of some fucking joke?”

  “I will remind you that they are paying quite handsomely for this joke. And besides, who cares about their motive? Isn’t it actually better than some businessman who wants a fancy car just so he can show off for whores?”

  “Materialism’s not going to get me killed though.”

  “It’s going to be fine. I have faith that you will come through. At the end of this you will be happy and healthy. And rich!”

  Brody still wasn’t sold. “What do you think he was doing in the desert?”

  “That is none of my concern. And none of yours.”

  Sergei then left him to rejoin his friends. Brody didn’t feel any better about the situation. In fact, he felt significantly worse. He never thought he’d have to deal with something as serious as a war criminal. And all so a couple Persian fat cats could have a few laughs at his expense. It was a joke, alright. A big fucking joke. And the joke wasn’t on the colonel, it was on him.

  TEN

  Picking Up The Pieces

  Hannah could barely sit through class the next day. She considered it an accomplishment to have even made it there in the first place. She had figured out the bus route to get to class in lieu of having her car. It wasn’t a glamorous journey but it had gotten her there on time.

  She had managed to get some of her work done the night before and felt at least somewhat prepared for class when she arrived. In a further effort to repair what she had done the day before, Hannah reached out to her friend Julia to help her pick up her car later that afternoon.

  As well as things were going, as soon as the lecture started Hannah’s mind started to wander back toward Brody. He was the inescapable force in her life now. She had left the detective work alone ever since she had gathered the strength to get up from her floor. Now her brain was churning on that subject once again.

  It was that lingering question of why. Why was he following someone? The other surrounding questions mattered too. Who was he following? How often did he do this sort of activity? What was he getting in return? But it was “why” that was the central question, the one she truly yearned to know.

  She was beginning to put together more of the clues. He had mentioned that he had done freelance work. This was probably true but it surely didn’t tell the whole story. She hypothesized that this wasn’t completely his idea. Someone had hired him to do it. She had no idea who and it was a question that was far beyond her grasp at the moment.

  Hannah also had no concept of who the person he was following could be. She tried not to get hung up on these questions. They were certain to be dead ends at this stage. Better to concentrate on the things she could deduce from her experiences with him.

  Brody told her that he was not a drug dealer and she believed him. This seemed to go far beyond that anyway. At the same time she was fairly sure that it didn’t go as far as him being a hit man. She was sure that those only existed in the movies anyway. Besides, there was a soft side to Brody. Though he might be willing to do certain illegal things, she was sure that he wasn’t actually capable of hurting someone. At least she hoped that was the case. Brody had already proved to have something of a dark side. It was certainly possible that he had an even darker side lurking somewhere in his being.

  After class she met Julia to go pick up her car. It was a bit of a devil’s bargain as she was sure that there would be a constant stream of invasive questions and passive aggressive comments about her situation. She would just have to deal with it. The interrogation began as soon as she sat down in the passenger’s seat.

  “So why did you leave your car there yesterday?” It was a fair enough question on the surface. It was the tone that really bothered her.

  “I got another ride home from lunch.”

  “From who?” Hannah really didn’t want to answer. She thought for a second about lying but that had never been one of her strong suits. Julia would see right through it. When Hannah didn’t respond, Julia repeated the question. “From who? Your boyfriend?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Hannah said, as if she were in sixth grade again.

  “But it was him though.”

  Hannah still didn’t want to admit to it. “Yeah,” she said after a few moments. “It was him.”

  “So you’re still seeing him.” Julia said, with a smug satisfaction like she’d been right about the two of them all along. Hannah didn’t know where she got of
f talking like that. She then took a different line of questioning, one that Hannah didn’t expect. “So what’s he like?”

  “I don’t know,” Hannah said, all too truthfully.

  “Well you’ve only known him for what? A week?”

  It was actually less than that. “Yeah I guess.”

  “You know some stuff about him though, right?”

  “A little.”

  “How big is he?”

  “What?”

  “Come on. I’d tell you. What’s he packing down there?”

  “Julia, that’s gross.”

  “I’m doing you a favor here. You think I want to go all the way across the city today? I’ve got better things that I could be doing with my time. The least you can do is answer a couple interesting questions.”

  “Okay, fine.” Hannah surrendered.

  “Good. Now. Is he big?”

  Hannah was infuriated with herself even before she answered. “Yeah. He’s big.”

  “Really big?”

  “He’s pretty big.”

  “Feels good doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It really does.”

  “Some girls try to tell me size doesn’t matter but that’s bullshit. Right?”

  “I don’t know. Julia, I’m not really comfortable talking about this. You know that.”

  “Come on. Tell about what a nice dick he has. You should be proud of it.”

  The still had a ways to go before they reached the restaurant and Hannah already wanted to jump out of the car.

  “How many times have you guys fucked?”

  “Only twice.”

  “That’s it?”

  “And, well, I did something else too.”

  “You sucked his dick, right?” Julia laughed to herself. It was a grating cackle that sent a shiver through Hannah. “For some reason I just can’t picture you doing that. You’re too much of a good girl. So just three times? I would have expected more since you’re so obsessed with him.”

  “I’m not obsessed with him,” Hannah said. In part it was in an effort to convince herself.