“Okay, I want you to walk into my office and lock the door behind you.”
“What?” I asked confused.
“Just do it; tell me when you’re in there and the door is locked.”
I looked up at Lou; he was in the same position. I fixed my gaze towards Romeo. He was sitting by the couch, watching Lou. Was Marcus trying to keep me away from them? What about Romeo, shouldn’t I lock him in the office with me? Confused by this sudden request, I wasn’t sure what I should do. “Mia? Are you in the office yet?” Marcus’ impatient tone hurried my legs to his office, and I shut the door behind me. Locking the bolt, I turned the knob to make sure was secure. “Okay, I’m in here. The door’s locked. What now?” I asked.
“Good, at my desk by the top right-hand drawer, you’ll find a key. Let me know when you find it…what the fuck…you cock-sucker, move out the fucking way!” Road rage—he was trying to rush home. I glanced at the clock by his desk; it was rush hour. There was no way he’d be here anytime soon.
After I took a seat in the office chair, I reached for the top right-hand drawer. There were several files, no keys. Rummaging through, I tried to see if the keys were in between the files. I was alarmed when I noticed one particular folder. On the tab written in all caps were the words M. SULLIVAN. Why was there a file with my name in his desk? I lifted the file to have a closer look; that was when I noticed the key. Marcus interrupted my curiosity, “Mia, did you find the key?” Biting my lip, I wasn’t sure what to do. Romeo was out there with Lou, and if I didn’t hurry, he could harm him again. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the key and placed the file back. I’d look at it later.
“Yes, I have it.” I said, closing the drawer.
“Okay, beside the bookshelf, you’ll see the large-framed mirror. Underneath the frame, you’ll have to feel for a small keyhole to place the key in. Unlock the mirror and open it. Behind it will be a vault.”
What the hell? As many times I’ve been in this office and stared into that mirror, never once did I expect it to be a hidden passage to something. The mirror had a vertical gold frame, and it was taller than me. I assumed it was décor; I always admired how beautiful and luxurious it looked.
Kneeling before my reflection, I held the phone between my shoulder and ear. Feeling underneath the curvy detailed frame, I managed to locate a small keyhole. I dug the key in and turned it…a small clicking noise loosened the mirror. Standing up, I pulled the mirror open like a door. Behind it was an all-black steel door with a keypad in the middle. “It’s open,” I whispered, imagining what could possibly be behind this door.
“Good, now you have to do this correctly, or the entire system will lock for twenty-four hours.” He waited for my okay and continued, “On the keypad press the following code: pound-two-four-four-seven-pound. Once you hear the door unlock, open it and enter immediately. Don’t be alarmed. The door will shut behind you. Let me know when you’re in.”
This was ridiculous; he should be here to do this. What if I get stuck in there? I didn’t want to screw this up, and he trusted me with all of this. I sucked it up and took a deep breath. Doing as I was told, I punched the code into the pad and entered as soon as it unlocked. As he said, the door closed behind me. I was standing in a small, lit, narrow space with another door in front of me. I told him I was in and waited for the next instructions.
“You’re doing good, baby. Just a few more steps and you’ll be done. Now this entry is similar, though the code is different: pound-two-two-zero-four-pound.”
I did as I was told, and the door opened. Hurrying through, I almost dropped the phone. When I looked up, I was shocked. It felt like I’d walked into an eight-by-ten, advanced storage unit. On one side of the wall, there were shelves filled with all types of guns: small, large, AK-47’s, many different calibers. If you could think of a type, it was there. On the other side of the wall were neatly stacked bricks of money. Not just a few bills, no, there were rolls and columns of one-hundred-dollar bills wrapped in Saran Wrap. If my jaw weren’t attached to my face, it would have fallen to the ground. I’d never had been around this much money. I knew Marcus was financially successful, though my mind steered more toward only a fraction of what was in this vault.
“Okay, Mia, now that you’re in, I need you to walk over to the money stacked along the right side of the wall. On the metal table in the center of the room, you’ll find a few black bags. Each small stack is worth ten grand. I need you to take six of those stacks and place them into a bag and hand it to Lou.”
The “small” stacks were placed into two fabric bags. After exiting the vault and making sure it was securely closed as per Marcus’ instructions, I placed the key back in the drawer. Marcus said he’d be home in twenty minutes. We hung up, and I was left in the room holding two heavy medium-sized bags worth sixty-thousand dollars. Taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, I stormed out of the office.
Romeo was nowhere in sight. Lou was sitting on the couch, and beside him was Elle, holding up her handheld game, showing her score. Lou had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. The image of him touching her disgusted me. “Elle, go to your room.” Both of them snapped their heads in my direction. Elle first smiled, but it instantly faded when she saw the irate expression I had.
“But I’m showing Uncle Lou my game,” she whined.
“Go to your room now!” I pointed to the staircase with a black velvet bag in my hand. She flinched at my tone, and her lip began to tremble. Great, I’m becoming Marcus. I took a deep breath and tried in a calm manner to explain myself. “Please, Elle, go to your room. I need to talk to Lou…privately.” He nodded at her, giving her the okay. Very quickly she ran past me and up the stairs, holding back her tears. I felt terrible. I didn’t mean to snap at her. Shifting my anger back on the person it was meant for, I stomped over to him and tossed the bags on the couch where Elle just vacated. “You have what you want. You can leave now.”
The smart smirk slowly turned into stern, thin lips; his jaw tightened. Very slowly, he flexed his neck side-to-side, and a loud crack sounded. Standing up, his shoulder bumped into mine. Adjusting his suit jacket, he turned and lowered his head. His lips were inches from the side of my face, and he growled in a low, raspy, stern tone, “You know at first your little attitude was cute, but don’t fucking think for one second that I will tolerate it.” Turning, he grabbed the bags, and walked towards the door. Before leaving he yelled out, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mia; we should do lunch.” The door slammed behind him.