The Mississippi Company

by Mark Kertzman

Chapter 10

The crustaceans arrived at the table with two muffled thunks. They were steaming, cooked to a rosy pink hue and expertly split from feelers to tail. Yellowish melted butter glistened on the plump red and white flesh. Dark greens and brown rice framed the hefty chitin-clad bodies.

“Oooh!” Dani gushed, her big brown eyes wide, “I love lobster.”

Ravi, picking up his fork and gesturing towards Dani’s plate magnanimously, replied, “Only the best for you, my dear.”

She giggled, and started to spear a piece of flesh with her own fork. Popping it into her mouth, she spoke through the rubbery piece. “It’s so nice to go for lunch like this.”

“I know. Later, we can go out for drinks.”

“I’d like that.”

She batted her eyes at him, eliciting a very charming smile in return. Changing the subject deftly, she continued. “Judging by this lunch, your business must be doing very well.”

“I have a generous expense account,” Ravi replied.

“It certainly is.” Dani did not look disappointed at all. She savoured the smooth white wine, then put the glass down. As she took up her fork again, a sudden burst of synthesized dance music made her jump.

“Sorry.” Ravi dug into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, bringing out his cellphone.

“Hello.”

“Ravi,” a voice hissed in his ear, “we’ve got trouble.”

“Who is this?” Ravi asked.

“It’s Jim, you idiot. We’ve been busted.”

Ravi took the phone away from his ear like it was hot. He stared at it for a long moment, then turned his attention to the woman sitting across from him. “Excuse me a moment.”

He was already up and stalking through the half-full restaurant before Dani could say “Of course” to his retreating back. Only once he was between the two glass doors of the vestibule did he put the phone back to his ear.

“What are you talking about?” he snapped into the phone.

“Where the hell did you go?”

“I had to get away from my date. What’s going on?”

“Police raided the office.”

“What! Did they get anything?”

“How should I know? I wasn’t going back.”

Ravi frowned, thinking. “Hell, it’s not so bad. There was nothing important at the office anyways.”

“Yeah, but how did they know about us?”

Ravi shrugged. “Who knows. Forget about the office. Don’t go back there. Wire me the last of the money. Make one last round to collect anything else that came in, and then we’ll close up shop.”

“O.K. Then what?”

“Then we go to ground. Got it?”

“Yeah. O.K.”

Ravi slowly closed the phone. His face was pensive, his brows knitted and hunched over his dark eyes. He stared into the restaurant, lost in thought for several moments. Then, making a decision, he turned on his heel and hurried out and onto the street.

Forty-five minutes later, Dani got up from her half-eaten lobster dinner and started to search the restaurant for any signs of Ravi. It was hard to tell if she was scared or furious.

Proceed to Chapter 11...