Case 32 - Hope Springs Again, Part 3


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What the hell is going on?”  the supervisor of casino security asked.  At his feet was a large man, one of his security men, writhing on the floor and gasping.

    Sean Morrison wasn’t in such great shape either.  He was doubled over, sitting on the floor.  The only one who was unharmed was Keiko Takashi.

    Naturally, that attracted suspicion.  “You’d better start explaining, quick,”  he told Keiko.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Your guard hit my friend, so I hit him,”  she explained quickly, as requested.  Then because that wasn’t sufficient, she added, “My friend is a cop.  So perhaps you should start offering some help, before he has to start arresting people.”

    Sean caught his breath long enough to pick up his police I.D. and show it to the supervisor.

    Before the guard had a chance to find the right words to try and placate Sean, Keiko moved on to the next most important subject.  “We are looking for someone who was probably in your hotel.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s not very specific,”  the supervisor said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He’s the police chief in Garden City.  He went missing.”

    Keiko had been well trained enough in interrogation to realize that the security supervisor paused a little too long after that sentence.  He knew something.  The next step was to apply a little pressure.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I--”  he started to say, before Keiko disregarded it purposely and interrupted him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He’s here, in the hotel, isn’t he?  He’s in trouble, and you’re protecting him.”

    There was a paused, as he ran out of words.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sean here is one of his detectives,”  Keiko explained.  “We’re here to help him, not to harm him.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Bull!”  the fat guard protested as he finally caught his breath.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I could have killed him, but I didn’t.”  She indicated to the guard.  “That’s not my mission right now.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“If he is here, and I’m not saying he is,”  the supervisor said, “I’m going to have to ask you to wait outside while I verify that.  What were your names again?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m Sean Morrison, he’ll recognize my name right away.”  Sean replied.  “She’s Keiko Takashi.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  The security supervisor pointed at the two of them again.  “Wait outside.  I’ll find you once I verify your story.”  He opened the door, and waited for Sean and Keiko both to exit, and then he left himself, and headed to a security elevator.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Clever,”  Sean mentioned, “No floor number on the security elevator, so we can’t see where he’s going.”

    Keiko smiled just then.  “I can find out.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How?”  he asked.  And he was sorry he did, because Keiko headed straight through a door that said ‘Maintenance - Staff Only’.  

    Just as she guessed, it was a dimly lit hallway that led to a narrow pathway just behind the elevators.  She had to push her way past all sorts of mops, vacuum cleaners, and buckets that were stored there, blocking the way.  Sean had a more difficult time squeezing past.

    She followed the hallway around and to the right, and there was a metal door in the wall.  She unlatched and opened it, and then gingerly stuck her head into the dark void within.  Only for a moment though, then she withdrew.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sixth floor,”  she said.  “Go, quickly.  Security knows we’re in here by now.”

    As Keiko asked, they quickly exited the closet and headed to the stairway, once she realized that the elevators were electronically controlled, and could be stopped dead in place and locked down by remote.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What are we doing?”  Sean whispered to her as they emerged on the sixth floor.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Everything and anything,”  she replied icily.  “Security is going to throw us out as soon as they find us...we have to do what we can to find your boss first.”

    Sean pointed.  One room nearly was just opening, and the sleeve of the security supervisor’s uniform was visible.  When he came out of the room, he was shocked to see Keiko and Sean standing there.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I told you two to wait downstairs!”  he angrily said.

    Keiko grabbed a handful of his hair, and he screamed.  She slammed the door hard on his temple, now that his head was trapped in just the right place.  He slumped to the floor, and twitched.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Is he going to be okay?”  Sean asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He’ll have a bad headache when he wakes up.”  She spoke as she walked into the room.  Sean’s boss, the police chief, backed away from her.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“About the money--”  he started to say.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Shut up.”  Keiko grabbed him by the shoulder, and pushed him out of the doorway and toward the stairs.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sean, we have to split up to confuse security.  Take him outside.”

    Her friend nodded, and he more calmly whispered let’s go to his boss, as they entered the stairway.

    Keiko headed for another staircase at the end of the hall.  She descended quickly, and looked across the lobby as she came out.  The fat security guard she assaulted earlier looked at her, and then at Sean going the opposite way.  He decided to pursue Keiko first.  She ducked into the pub.

    The man in the pinstripe suit could see something in her eyes, and knew he was in trouble.  He cursed, and jumped to his feet, pistol in hand.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Useless freaking security!”  Keiko grumbled as she dove under a heavy wooden table.  

    He started to approach, so she grabbed ahold of a chair from beneath and rose quickly, launching it at him before he could tell who was throwing it.  The chair hit him right in the face, and just as he opened his eyes again, Keiko was charging him feet first.

    She landed both feet on his chest, tackling him against the back wall, smashing his head against it.  She was careful never to touch the gun, because that, in the minds of the local law enforcement, would elevate her from disturbance to fugitive - and she didn’t want to subject Sean to that again.

    Without a word, she grabbed the handle of the briefcase and raced through the kitchen of the pub, and out the open back door, confusing two workers on a smoke break.  She heard screaming behind her, and knew the mobster was running through the kitchen with his pistol, only far more clumsily since he didn’t emerge yet.

    The next thing that happened, Keiko could not have set up on purpose if she tried.  She stumbled over the hood of a police car that had just pulled into the parking lot, no doubt called by the security guard.  She rolled over it, and then got up and started running again just as the officer got out.

    The officer then realized there was a man in a suit brandishing a pistol.  He drew his gun quickly and started yelling for the mobster to drop his gun.  Keiko was ignored then, just someone who was running from a man with a gun.

    She climbed into the back of Sean’s car just as he was approaching, and slammed the door behind her.

    But the car stopped suddenly.  The fat security guard was blocking the way, yelling something unintelligible, and waving his baton angrily.

    Sean backed up quickly, and drove onto the street backwards before speeding off.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What kept you?”  he asked.

    Keiko held up the suitcase.  “I asked for a refund.”

    

TO BE CONTINUED?
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2012 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
--    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.