The empty below ground parking garage was filled with the droning hum of the fluorescent lights overhead. Their sickly blue green light washing everything in it’s pallid color. Harsh quivering shadows thrown from the concrete pillars that held the massive weight of the floors above it. Cold concrete and cinderblock walls reverberated the sound of a car approaching from above. It was a low and throaty rumble. The sound of an engine just itching to be opened up yet unwillingly restrained within the confines of the parking garage. A sleek and angry looking car rolled down the ramp leading to the garage, a pair of bright and harsh blue xenon headlights leading the way. A rolling black shadow that even in idle thrummed with power. The windows were tinted even the windshield. Black spoked wheels and even the custom plate was black on black with HWL8MN embossed onto the plate.
Sitting there, idling for a few seconds, the car turned off, lights dimming. It was then, as if on cue the light above the lone elevator lit up, along with a soft chime signaling its arrival. At the same time the passenger door of the car popped open. A man in his late twenties stepped from the car, dressed in a razor sharp royal blue suit he tugged on his cuffs before buttoning his jacket. In the cold light of the garage his eyes looked almost a cold and calculating black quickly scanning, darting to shadows. His attention snapped back to inside the car, looking into the dark void of the interior as if he were listening to someone. With just an ever so subtle nod of his head he closed the door. A hand smoothing his jacket one final time, he took long yet measured steps towards the elevator. Stopped a few paces from it he crossed his arms holding them at the wrists his eyes dead before at the seam of the two doors.
A final chime and the doors opened. A lone man, short in stature, in his fifties stood in the center,a briefcase in hand. Rimless glasses perched upon his nose he looked like a man that belonged on Wall Street or in a courtroom. There was an unease in the way he held himself as if halfway into the ride down he’d begun to change his mind. As soon as he saw the man waiting for him just outside the doors his whole demeanor changed the slight apprehension turned to a look of anger. Shaking his head back and forth he waved off the man with a black leather gloved hand before shaking a finger at him.
“Will I have nothing against you, but I not here to see you,” he said jabbing a finger his way before readjusting his whole on the briefcase. He brought it up cradling it under his arm now.
The blue suited man he’d called Will didn’t move a muscle, or even blink an eye. “Mr. Havel, you know the rules.Would you be so kind as to step out of the elevator sir?” he said in a low and even tone. There was a slight inflection that betrayed annoyance on Will’s part as if they had had this conversation before.
The older man’s grey brows knitted together, his hold on the briefcase only tightening. Red splotches speckled his cheeks and throat now, his lined face scrunching into a scowl, his voice echoing out of the elevator and across the emptiness of the garage. “No. To hell with the goddamn rules! I specifically requested, no, I demanded that I meet with him this time! Not you! I want to talk to-”
“Mr. Havel.” Will interrupted his tone sharp, cutting Mr. Havel out before he could get out what he was about to say next. There was a stretch of silence between the two men as Will’s words reverberated drowning out any of Mr. Havel’s complaints. Will shifted where he stood ,moving his weight from one foot to the other, his hands readjusting themselves from their slightly clasped position. “You know we don’t speak his name. Again Mr. Havel, the rules.”
Looking a bit deflated now, Mr. Havel tried to hold himself high but it was obvious that the small shift in Will’s stance hadn’t gone unnoticed and held some unspoken message to the other man. Swallowing hard he still lingered in the elevator, the doors chiming and starting to close. Will’s hand shot out in a blink grabbing one side of the door halting it from closing his black brown eyes locked onto Mr. Havel’s own quivering pair. “Martin please, at least step out of the elevator. The least you can do is give me the courtesy of speaking to me. “ Releasing the door, Will backed up a few paces giving Martin room to step out as well.
Briefcase still firmly clutched in his hand Martin’s eyes frantically darting around the garage, spinning around in a wobbly circle at one point to see if they were alone. “Will I want you to know I’ve got nothing against you, but I’ve worked with—your employer for many years, the least he could do is talk to me in person.”
Will nodded his head in silent agreement with Martin his posture taking a bit of a more relaxed stance, the corners of his mouth turning up just ever so slight. “And I can assure you Martin that he is very grateful for your dedication to him over the years. You must be aware of the media at the moment. I’m sure you’re well aware that he needs to keep a low profile.”
The older man rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. “He got the whole city’s attention with that little stunt of his. Gotta hand it to him, it got the message across,” he said with a little snort. “That doesn’t mean that he can’t meet me here. You have to know how vital and sensitive this information is. It’s not that I don’t trust you Will. You’re a good kid, the best thing that’s happened to him since, well, since I came along probably,” he joked with a bemused chuckle. “That being said this should go into his hands and his alone.”
Will merely nodded again tilting his head to one side before straightening back up. “I am aware of the sensitivity of the material, and this is why my employer has entrusted me to receive it. You know that he has fully entrusted me to speak and act on his behalf., while he attends to other matters.”
Martin leaned a little to the side looking around Will towards the car. “So much so he let you take the jag out? He loves that car as much as his dog.” Straightening back up his gaze flicked back to Will a brow raising. “Just what exactly are the other matters that he is attending to? Holing himself up in that overpriced penthouse? Being enigmatic and morose? Watching Sportcenter in his boxers on the couch? What is he doing that is more important than dealing with this personally?”
The look on Will’s face was slowly beginning to crack, his patience starting to wear with Martin. He took a breath to say something, but a buzzing from his jacket pocket silenced him. Reaching into his pocket he looked at the number. Turning a little to the side he answered. He didn’t say a word, just staring off through a wall as he listened to the voice on the other end. His eyes lowered towards the pavement before snapped and locking onto Martin. “Yes sir...yes sir.” was all he said at first before another long pause. Taking in a sharp breath Will flex his jaw, before wetting his lip. “Mmhmm, yes sir. I understand sir. Understood.” Ending the call Will placed the phone back into his pocket, smoothing it out once more and adjusting his tie. Snapping his arms he gave his cuffs one tug each. “Mr. Havel.” he began finally looking backup to Marin once more. “It has come to my attention that my employer believes that your dedication has wavered of late.”
Baulking at Will, Martin looked utterly aghast at him jaw going slack for a moment before the red and white blotches returned to his face. “Is that so? And just how exactly did he come to this conclusion? I come down here at this ungodly hour to deliver this to him and now he’s accusing my dedication? Call him back right now and tell him either he comes here in person right now or I leave and take this with me.” he said holding up the briefcase.
The driver side door of the car popped open gaining the attention of both of them. Will straightened up and took a few steps back. Martin on the other hand seemed to pale a few shades the briefcase nearly tumbling from his hands.
“William, would you please take the briefcase from Mr. Havel?” a voice from the car said before it opened further.
Looking over his shoulder towards the car Will nodded and without hesitation went up to Martin and grabbed his wrist, twisting till the man cried out and released the briefcase. While Martin cradled his hand against his chest, Will walked back towards the car holding the briefcase in one hand and opening it with the other.
“Is everything in order William?”
Looking over the contents of the briefcase Will closed it back up and passed it off to the occupant of the driver seat. “It appears so.”
“Excellent. Oh, one more thing. Mr. Havel?” the voice questioned from the car. “You have my attention now if you have something to say. No? Mmm...interesting, so you wasted my time and William’s time for what exactly? Did it not stroke your ego enough to just talk with William and save us all from wasting valuable time?
Martin was trembling now. “You need me, it’ll all crumble without me to manage all the accounts and all the finances. You need me...you need me!” he cried out towards the car.
“No, no I don’t Martin.”
Without a word Will pulled a gun from his jacket, aimed straight between Martin’s eyes and pulled the trigger.