He would make sure to be in the bedroom already when he expected that company might arrive. If he shut the lights off in the room but left the hallway ones on, anyone entering would be at a disadvantage in having their eyes going from light to darkness. By the time they adjusted, he’d have the advantage of seeing a silhouette in the doorway; that’s when he would strike. He wasn’t sure if there were cameras in the bedroom as well, so he’d wait until he heard the front or back door open before he’d switch off the lights where he was. That way, even if he were being monitored, it would do the person downstairs no good since he wouldn’t have that last second information.
While he would have liked to know why he was being spied upon, that wasn’t as important as getting rid of the threat.
The rest of the day went by slowly as he waited to execute his plan; it wasn’t perfect but at least it gave him some breathing room. He didn’t like the idea that he’d have to bring the cops in, but right now they weren’t the threat to his freedom that Dan was. If there was anything that Andrew Slate had learned since he had adopted this identity it was to act first and think later. It was crude but had served him well up to now.
CHAPTER 24
While Slate was concocting his plan, Dan was trying to cope with what he had done by putting his brother into jeopardy. It was one thing to be reckless himself and to bear the consequences for his own actions, but to involve Richie was unthinkable. Between Louis’ threats on one side and Slate’s behavior on the other, Dan was close to a melt down. The ocean of money was no longer the driving force in his life; getting out of his present situation was.
The day passed slowly as he could not focus at all on business but spent much of his time pacing around the office. When Lisa came in to give him papers to sign, he tried to pretend that nothing was bothering him; but when she left, he went back to feeling depressed.
By the time the surveillance crew left and Dan was in the big room with the array of monitors in front of him, he was literally washed out. Then, at 10:00 PM, Slate put his plan into play. As he sat in front of his television set, he pulled out a piece of poster board and laid it in his lap. Then taking out a black marker from his shirt pocket he wrote:
I KNOW YOU ARE WATCHING! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU. IF YOU DO NOT COME TO MY HOUSE AT 11:00 PM THIS EVENING, I WILL CALL THE POLICE AND TELL THEM YOU ATTACKED ME. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHERE YOU LIVE, DAN!
He held up the card and showed it to three walls figuring there had to be a camera on at least one of them; then, to make sure, he read the message aloud. Finally, he showed the print out copy of Dan’s driver’s license to prove that what he was saying was true.
Dan was stunned into complete silence. He couldn’t believe that Slate had somehow discovered he was being monitored; and more so, he was overwhelmed that Andrew knew his name. Of course it was a bluff since the last people Slate wanted to talk to were the cops, but the pure fact that he was exposed made Dan feel queasy inside. He slumped back in his chair; his mind was completely blank and his emotion of fear was kicking in big time. Dan could feel his hands begin to shake uncontrollably and sweat started to appear on his brow. His heart was racing as if Slate were going to walk through that door any second and confront him. He was almost in a full panic stage when something happened causing him to slowly come to his senses; his basic survival mode kicked in. Suddenly, it wasn’t the overwhelming thought of what was going to happen to him and to Richie in the future that was ruling his actions; instead his brain began simplifying his immediate choices to handle the problem right now, to remove the threat. He started to calm down as his mind began to calculate what he needed to do. In this state, morality isn’t a restriction; the bottom line becomes survival at any price.
Dan’s brain posed a simple question: what would solve his problem immediately if he could make it happen? The answer was just as simple: eliminate Slate. But then there was the matter of Louis who might pose an even greater threat. Once again, the answer was simple: eliminate Louis. Since Dan wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to terminate either or both men, then the problem would continue…unless, somehow he could get the two men to eliminate each other. He knew that his moral code could definitely be bent enough to allow that to happen. Then all of his problems would be solved, and he and Richie would be in the clear. Though he would lose the golden goose in Slate, he had earned enough money already to live comfortably. Unfortunately, Louis hadn’t that same approach as his greed overwhelmed any idea of ever entertaining the thought of quitting.
In this new scenario, Louis, the criminal, and Slate, the killer, would cease to exist, Dan could almost convince himself that he was doing a socially worthy deed if it hadn’t been for the bodies Slate had already accumulated.
Dan had one hour to create an environment where he hoped both Slate and Louis would no longer exist, but he had no way to contact Louis to make anything happen. Lisa. She would know a way since he always suspected she was more than just a secretary and a spy.
He quickly typed in the key to the personnel records and got her telephone number. He was hoping that it was real as he pressed the digits on his cell phone.
“Hello, Lisa?” he asked.
“Yes,” an irritated voice answered.
“It’s vital that I speak to Mr. Postadolas right away, but I don’t have his number. Can you call him and have him contact me immediately; it’s an emergency. Just tell him it involves Slate and have him call me on my cell,” Dan said trying to show great concern in his voice.
Lisa hung up. Two long minutes later, Louis called.
“Problem?” he said in a tone that didn’t seem as if it was about to tolerate a real problem.
“Slate knows,” Dan said, and then he stopped to gauge Louis’ reaction.
“Knows what?” Louis replied with another question. From his tone, he was anticipating a negative answer.
“Everything,” Dan said trying to build up the tension.
“How?” Louis continued in his one-word question style, the anger starting to build as the emphasis on the questions became stronger.
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