17(S2E6)-The Case

17

The Case

(Season 2 Episode 6)

“What the fuck was that?” Savannah’s accent became a harsh threatening tone as both she and Sidney entered the limo after Friday’s round of poker.

It was clear to Sidney that Savannah was mad at her for her move on the cowboy fellow mid-way through the game.  “What did you want me to do?  I have to make some kind of move or I will bleed out.”

Savannah scowled back at her as she pulled off the brunette wig.  “Of course you did, but not all in, you could have put us out in on the first day!  All that idiot had to do was call and it would have been over.”

“Did I lose it for us?” Sidney said unable to keep the smirk off her face.  “Honestly, you wouldn’t have had to worry about me so much if you had dealt with Markov.”

Savannah didn’t answer that but her face became flushed.  Sidney was getting to her. Savannah had probably hoped to have this over on the first day and had not expected Demtri to be as good as he was.

So good, in fact, he was currently high stacked.

“Better than you thought, isn’t he?” Sidney said finally, after a long, tense silence.

Savannah took a deep breath and brought her cheerleader persona back to the forefront.  “Don’t you worry, sweet heart.  I will take him tomorrow.”

 Sidney raised an eyebrow.  “He’s a wall Savannah.  How are you planning to-”

“Don’t you worry about how, just keep your head on straight and keep yourself in the game.” Savannah cut her off, her voice still a high accented cheerleader but it was wrapped in threat.

Sidney weighed her reactions and decided she would back off, having taken Savannah to her limit.

Having taken Savannah to where she wanted her.

The longer the game continued, the more time Tobias and Hank had to even the odds. Very rarely had Sidney and Tobias had to work on the fly like this, but she had faith he would know what to do.  She also had faith that Tobias would be thinking like her right now.

If Tobias had listened long enough to hear Savannah talk about the hype scam, then he would know how to turn the tables.  He would put Hank to the task of flipping the dealers, putting Sidney back into the game.  He would know that they would also need leverage to barter with Savannah, so he would go about acquiring some.

This was, of course, all banking on the fact that Tobias had heard that one small piece of information through the phone when it was tucked in Sydney’s pocket.  Whether or not he heard, it really didn’t matter at this point.

If Sidney was going to get out of this, she would have to assume that he had heard every word.

****

“So that’s the place?” Linda asked from the passenger side of the car as she and Tobias watched a building from across the street.

“That is the place,” Tobias answered, not turning toward her.

He felt a serious unease with her in the car.  She was seeing a part of his life he had never intended for her to witness.  He had thought he was done with this, but yet again, he was sitting across from someone else’s building trying to find a way to illegally gain access to it.  To make matters worse, he was doing it in front of his soon-to-be wife.  A woman he had promised that he would never to do this kind of thing again.

“Why this place?” Linda asked, surprisingly without judgment but with more of an honest curiosity.

“We have to find a way to turn the tables on Savannah.  It’s the only way to get Sidney back,” Tobias began to explain.  “To do that, I have to acquire something to hold over Savannah’s head as well as whatever she is holding over Sidney’s.”

“You know it’s in there?” Linda questioned.

“Savannah Burton makes almost all of her money from playing in illegal poker games, but she also has a real estate business.  So, my guess is that it’s some kind of cover to assist with explaining her fortune.  In there is her company.” Tobias again answered.

“So you are going to break in, in hopes of finding something you’re not even sure exists?” Linda asked.

Tobias shrugged.  “I’m a good thief babe.  I know that’s not exactly the kind of words you want to hear, but I am. This kinda stuff, however, was never my bag.  Sidney’s the one that figured this stuff out, but I think it’s my best bet.”

Linda looked at her soon-to-be husband for a long time and Tobias felt her eyes on him.  He turned back to face her.

She seemed to look for the right words, then spoke.  “Who is this woman to you? Really?”

Tobias knew this question had been coming but didn’t expect it now.  He took a long deep breath and placed his hands gently on either side of her face.  “She’s more than a friend, but not more than you and never will be.”

Linda spoke softly.  “But why all this?”

Tobias kissed her gently.  “Because I owe her my life.  I can’t give up on her because she never gave up on me.”

Linda smiled, reassured.  Tobias knew that was all she needed.  Linda was a smart practical woman who had the ability to cut right to the heart of a matter.  She saw through bullshit and knew Tobias wasn’t lying.  She took his words at face value and trusted him.

It was just one of the reasons he loved her.

“So, what’s the next move mister cat burglar?” Linda asked sarcastically and Tobias turned to look back at the five-story, premier office building.

This was a nice place and had the most updated security.  “Well, we have to case the place but I don’t like what I see.  There are four armed guards at the front.  I can see two at the door to the lobby and another two inside the lobby, which has a security check point with a metal detector.”

Linda frowned at Tobias’s lack of options.  “What about the back?”

Tobias shook his head.  “Key pad and key card entrance and exit only.”

Tobias suddenly cracked a smile and Linda looked at him slyly.  “What?”

“I got an idea.  Does that smart phone of yours still have GPS?” Tobias asked.

Linda nodded and Tobias looked around the busy city street.  Eyeing a super market, he opened the car door.  “I’ll be right back.”

Tobias went inside and bought a pre-paid Boost Mobile phone.  He then went back to the car and had Linda key the phone’s number into her GPS tracking system.

They then waited until someone exited the front door and crossed the street to a nearby Starbucks.

Tobias smiled.  “Want to ruin someone’s day?”

Linda starred at him suspiciously…

****

Mark Devin was an I.T. guy who was having the worst Saturday of his life.

First he was woken up on what was supposed to be his day off to find out that the entire network had gone down for Creative Solutions, one of the many businesses he tended to in the building.  He was the only one who picked up the phone so he was the one who had to come in.

Most of the time, all the computer needed was a quick reboot, something the common and usually computer illiterate office worker never understood.

Mark had hoped it would be a quick fix.

It wasn’t.

One of the many severs had just up and died, something Mark had been warning Tom Gardner, Creative Solutions boss, about for months.

 “It’s just not in the budget.” Had always been Tom’s response.

It would have to be now.  If only they had listened, but nobody listened to the I.T. guy it was just-

Mark’s internal rant was cut short when an average height man bumped into him while he waited in line at the Starbucks for his coffee.  The man had a hawk-like nose, slicked back hair, and Mark noticed that he was overdressed for the coffee house.

“Hey!” Mark hollered as he stumbled.  “Watch where you are going!”

The man frowned.  “Jeez, I’m sorry buddy.  Are you okay?”

Mark could tell from the accent that he was a northerner.  The bastards thought they owned everything.  “Yes, I’m fine just be more careful.”

The man nodded.  “Sorry again man.  Did you see the bathroom in this place?”

Mark shook his head and pointed.  “Over there.”

“Thanks, sorry again.” The northerner said and headed for the bathroom.

Mark took a deep breath.  Could it get worse?

Mark had no idea that it could.

He crossed the street and caught his eye on a beauty walking down the sidewalk toward his building.

She had short layered blonde hair and wore tight form fitting jeans that showed off her hippy figure.  She wore an orange top will frills around the edges and large designer sunglasses.

Mark couldn’t help but watch as she approached.  He then sped up at the last second to beat her to the door then opened it for her with a grin.  “Beautiful whether we’re having, huh?”

His comment about the beautiful North Carolina sun on the spring afternoon seemed to have very little effect on her.  She gave an uneasy smile and passed into the building.

Mark let the door shut and followed her in, suddenly and without warning, the woman in front of him stopped.  Mark, unable to do the same in the small distance bumped into her.

“Oh my God, get off me!” The woman screamed loudly.

Mark’s eyes went wide as she yelled loud enough to get all the security guards attention.  “What?”

“I will not and I don’t appreciate the advances!” The woman continued to scream.  “And if you touch me again I’ll scream!”

Mark looked confused.  “Lady, you’re already screaming.”

“You want to do what?!” She screamed.  “That is disgusting!”

Mark reached out a hand to her shoulder as he saw the guards start to approach.  “Lady, please calm down!”

“Knife!  He’s got a Knife!” The woman screamed before Mark was full-on tackled by one of the guards and driven to the floor.

“What the fuck?!” Mark screamed as the guard flipped him and zip tied his hands.

The other guard went to the insane woman.  “Are you okay, ma’am?”

The woman smiled and seemed to swoon at the guard’s attention.  “I am indeed.  Thank you so much.”

Mark was dragged to his feet and through the gate.  “I didn’t do anything!”

“Shut up!” The guard yelled.

 Mark was having a bad day.

****

Linda crossed the street and got back in the car.  “How’d I do?”

Tobias mocked anger.  “Little too flirty with the guard for my taste.”

Linda grinned.  “Well, you’re a criminal who could be headed to prison at any time, so I have to keep my options open.”

Tobias gave her a sullen look.  “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“No,” Linda countered.  “You’re lucky I’m cute.

Tobias was trying to think of a good response when two cop cars pulled up to the front gate to acquire Mark.  Tobias had Linda check the GPS to see that Mark seemed to be being held in a back room on the first floor.

“Fast response time, six minutes.” Tobias said.

Linda watched with him.  “So can you do it?”

Tobias smiled.  “Like I said babe, I am a good thief.”

END EPISODE 17.