Page 45

A Real Dog

The four friends were waiting in Pam’s living room when two vehicles pulled up to the curb. They huddled to the side of the curtains to peer out for a better view and watched Padma emerge from the driver’s side of her white BMW and Brenda step onto Pam’s lawn from the other side. Behind them, a large, black SUV with tinted windows parked. Farid bounced down from the passenger seat. The other doors opened, and the four men in suits, who looked like they could be walking off the set of a Bollywood gangster movie, stepped out and, this time, walked toward Pam’s house. Nancy and Shalisa each put a hand on Pam’s forearm. Pam felt goosebumps ripple up toward the base of her neck.

“The smaller one, that’s Farid.”

Pam gulped.

“Holy heck,”

Nancy said in a low voice.

“Why are there so many?”

Shalisa asked.

“To intimidate us and make sure we pay up,” Pam said.

Marlene gave a low whistle. “What have you gotten me into?”

“Us? This is what our shithead husbands got us all into,”

Nancy answered.

Marlene said, “That one on the left is crazy handsome. Actually, they’re all pretty good-looking. But kinda scary.”

Pam tried to wet her lips, but she’d run out of saliva. She had to keep her nerves in check and get through this. Her voice cracked a bit as she said, “We’ll be okay. We’re giving them what they want. We’ll be totally fine. There won’t be any problem. We’ve got nothing to worry about. We’re good.”

Shalisa kept her eyes on the group of men. “Do you have any more self-talk you want to share?”

Pam shot her a quick smile just before the doorbell rang.

Marlene grabbed Pam’s arm. “Don’t offer them snacks. Let’s get them in and out.”

Pam opened the door, and the group crowded into Pam’s cramped living room. Padma and Brenda took a seat on the sofa; Farid stood by the doorway, his hands folded in front of him, with his four men behind lining the wall near the entry. Pam sat forward in the armchair with Nancy perched on its arm, and Marlene and Shalisa sat straight in kitchen chairs beside her.

Elmer, surprisingly, was interested in the guests and sniffed around their pant legs until Pam feared he might lift his leg and pee on a Gucci loafer, so she lightly whistled for him to join her. Thankfully, he liked that idea and lay down beside her chair with a thud.

Their guests’ bums had barely creased the seat cushions when Pam said, “We have the money.”

Padma looked like she was about to clap, but instead tucked her hands under her thighs. Brenda didn’t seem surprised, and Farid’s face was so still he could be in the middle of a poker tournament.

Nancy said, “I just need to transfer it to your Virtual Safety Deposit Box.”

Farid’s expression turned dark. “What? You don’t have it here?”

“How would we ever get nine million dollars here?”

Pam was puzzled. How much space did that kind of money even take? Fifty thousand fit nicely in her purse, she knew that from hiring a hitman. But nine million? She had no idea. Oh my God. The things she now wondered about.

Farid frowned. “Nine? We were talking ten.”

Pam shook her head. “Nine is all there is. We have everything they took.”

“And where is that, exactly?”

Nancy answered, “I have a bank draft in a Virtual Safety Deposit Box. I can upload it into yours if you have one.”

Farid nodded. “Let’s do it.”

He cocked his head to the men at the door, and one handed him a laptop.

“We can use the kitchen table.”

Nancy stood, and Farid trailed her.

Padma began to push herself up off the sofa, but Farid put his hand up to stop her. “No worries, doll. I’ve got the accounting. That’s what I do.”

He winked, and Padma froze for a moment, then slowly lowered herself back into the cushions beside Brenda. Pam noticed the flush make its way up her neck.

Pam remained seated and felt more uncomfortable in her living room than she ever had before. They waited. Padma scrolled through her phone, and Brenda sat straight with her hands folded on her knees, occasionally exchanging uneasy smiles with anyone who made eye contact with her. Pam noticed end-of-day traffic begin on her street as people headed home from work. The only sounds in the dreary townhouse were Elmer’s snoring and murmured voices and laptop keys clicking coming from the other room. A few minutes later Farid returned and stood beside his men, still lined up by the front door.

Nancy appeared in the kitchen’s threshold. “Okay. I uploaded the draft, and he’s transferred it to the bank.”

She gave two thumbs up. “We’re done.”

“Not quite,”

Farid said.

Nancy dropped her thumbs. “What do you mean? You have the money. We’re done.”

Farid’s cool gaze swept the room until it landed on Pam. “I’ve initiated the transfer, but it can’t be completed and verified until the bank opens.”

He shrugged. “For all I know, you created that document at bank-drafts-dot-com and kept the money for yourself.” He checked his watch. “Our bank in Mumbai opens in six hours. Midnight here. If it clears, then we’re done.”

Pam swung her head to Brenda and Padma. Her stomach sank when Padma nodded in agreement. Pam heard the panic in her own voice. “Don’t you have a local account you could use?”

Farid replied, “Banks are closed here. Then we’d have to wait till morning. Which do you prefer?”

Fuck. Six hours. He couldn’t possibly be planning to sit in her living room for six hours. Pam had nothing in the fridge. Marlene had just finished the last of the funeral casseroles. Were they vegetarian? She may have some nachos and salsa, and possibly a bit of Hank’s favorite trail mix. But nothing to properly entertain people for six hours. They’d have to order in, and she couldn’t pay for it. Her credit card was maxed, and her bank account empty. Then she remembered what Marlene had said. She wasn’t offering snacks; she wanted them gone.

Farid put his hands in his pockets and seemed to be weighing his options. He looked around the room. “We’ll go back to the casino.”

Thank fuck for that.

“And we’ll take that dog.”

“No, you won’t.”

Pam put her hand on Elmer’s collar and looked to Padma, hoping she’d intervene. Brenda moved forward in her seat and Padma raised her hand in a gesture that stopped her, and they both remained quiet. Pam looked back to Farid.

“For insurance,”

Farid explained.

“Insurance against what? We’ve done everything you asked for. We’ve given you everything you wanted. What do you need insurance for?”

Farid smiled, raised his eyebrows, and brought his forefinger to his lips. “Hmm. Let me think about that. I think we need insurance to ensure that the people who ripped us off the first time aren’t ripping us off again.”

He shrugged. “Call me crazy but I don’t trust you.” He gave a wide, toothy smile that didn’t reach his eyes but showed the gaps in his molars. His four colleagues remained soldier-still behind him. He tapped his watch. “At midnight, when we’ve confirmed the draft is legitimate, we’ll bring the dog back. If it’s not legitimate . . . then your furry friend has something to worry about.”

Pam’s heart was at the bottom of her stomach. It was hard to breathe. She hadn’t cared one bit about giving them the money, because it wasn’t hers, never had been. But to trust these thugs with her Elmer. She checked on her dog. He was stretched out on his side, oblivious to the commotion about him. Pam looked at the four large men.

Pam jumped up. “I’ll go too.”

She took a step toward Farid. “I’ll sit quietly in a corner until you have the money. You won’t even know I’m there.”

Farid squinted at Pam, then said, “Frankly, I’d rather spend time with just the dog.”

Farid squatted. “Elmer, want to go hunt some wabbits? I bet you like car wides. If we get along, maybe we’ll even take you for a plane wide. Have you ever flown pwivate?”

Pam’s head spun to Farid.

Farid stood up. “Relax. I’m joking. If I wanted a dog, I’d get a real dog.”

One of Farid’s men pulled Elmer’s leash off its hook by the door, and seeing it dangle, Elmer bounced up, his rear end vibrating, his tail wagging. He hopped around, seemingly excited to head out on his routine walk, then politely sat down and waited for his leash to be attached. The group started out the door, and Elmer pranced two steps, then stopped and looked at Pam. Farid’s man tugged on the leash. Elmer took a half step, his eyes on Pam, then spread his front paws wide and hunkered down. The man pulled, and Elmer slid a few inches. Then another man bent down, scooped Elmer up in his arms, and strode out the door and across the front lawn. Elmer peered around his shoulder, his eyes locked on Pam’s.

Brenda said to Pam on her way out the door, “Elmer will be fine.”

Pam’s words caught in her throat. “He better be.”