The Woman on the Train: Part 4
Fiction: Continuing Series
This is Part 4 of my continuing series on “The Woman on the Train”. Again I have to thank
for supplying the real-life incident for which I developed this fiction story.If you need to refresh yourself on the story, here are links to each part:
At 6 pm on the dot, Stephanie knocked on the door.
“Hi,” I said as I opened the door.
“Hi to you too,” she said with a laugh.
“Well, please come in,” I said while making way for her entrance.
“Nice place.”
“It will do for now.”
“It’s nice to see you in just a shirt. That jacket made me think you were allergic to fresh air.”
“I wasn’t sure about the air conditioning. I get cold sometimes. So where are we going?”
“It’s a fun place I like to go. Nothing special.”
We walked a couple of blocks and walked into the place. It was an Italian restaurant. There were large windows showcasing the restaurant. There was seating outside too. As we entered the restaurant, we were met by a person who took us to a table. There were a lot of people, more than I’d ever seen at a restaurant. I pulled her chair out for her and she thanked me.
“Do you like spaghetti?” she asked me.
“Yeah sure.”
“I’ll do the ordering. What do you want to drink?”
“Ice Tea.”
After a few minutes, a waiter came and took our order. As she had said, she did all the ordering. After a few minutes of dead silence, I said, “So what’s new with you?”
She laughed.
“Well, I went back to my dorm room and tried to tidy it up a little.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Oh yes, I did. I would not want anyone to see it the way it was. I hadn’t cleaned in awhile.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Now it is,” she smiled.
“This place always this busy?”
“Every time I’ve been here, yes.”
“You come often?”
“I come here at least once a week.”
“By yourself?”
“Haha. Yes.”
“No boyfriend? Or girlfriends?”
“What’s with the twenty questions?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. I’m just kidding. No I don’t have a boyfriend and it’s hard for me to make friends over here. I have tried but no one seems to like me.”
“I find that hard to believe. My first day and I’ve already had lunch and dinner with you.”
“You’re right, that is true. You’re new here and I think we’re going to be good friends.”
“I think so too,” I said as I raised my iced tea.
The dinner came and we munched down on everything. She definitely knew what was best at this restaurant. As I ate, I looked around at all the pictures on the wall. They had trinkets on shelves that were attached to the wall. It was so noisy in there with all of the people talking, I could barely hear her at times.
After dinner, we walked back to her dorm room.
--------------------------------------------------
As she unlocked the door, she said, “Come on in.”
It was a nice room. She had a bed, a nightstand, and a desk with chair. There were pictures on the wall. She had a table too for extra projects. She didn’t have a roommate, as there was no other bed. It was just a single bed.
“So what do you think?”
“I think it’s great. I thought dorms usually have two people to a room.”
“They do have some like that but with this building they want a more quaint arrangement.”
“It looks clean,” I said as I smiled.
“Funny!” she said and pushed me.
“Sit on the bed and I’ll show you my research.”
“I’ll just stand.”
“Sit!”
“I’ll take the chair.”
“Okay, but I don’t bite. I promise.”
I laughed.
There were two reasons I didn’t want to sit on the bed. One reason was my gun was shackled to my ankle and I didn’t want my pants to ride up and it be exposed. How would I explain that? The other reason was obvious. I was falling for her after just one day. I hated it. I had to remember why I was here. Don’t be a jerk and get you both killed.
I grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the bed.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said.
“I guess so,” I said not really convinced this was the best idea.
She started telling me about her research. She told she had found out about an illegal gambling ring that was taking place at the NYPD. She told me it reached all the way over to the UK. She said that there were people over here that were involved, including bad people.
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“Well, for one thing, my father is retired NYPD. He stumbled upon some information and I started looking into it over here and then I found some information. But this is damning info and I’m scared to tell anyone.”
“But you’re telling me?”
“I need someone to help me with this, now that Amanda isn’t my partner anymore.”
“Did you tell Amanda this information?”
“Yeah.”
I took a big gulp and knew where she was. She hadn’t dropped out. She was dead.
“Is that your father in the photo there?” I asked pointing to a photo.
“Yes. He was a decorated cop before he retired.”
“Well, let’s see this information.”
She opened the drawer on her desk and pulled out her laptop. She turned it on and sat on the bed.
“Come sit on the bed, it will be easier for me to show you,” she said.
I finally relented and sat on the bed on her left. I looked down to make sure my gun wasn’t showing. It was okay, whew!
We were so close to each other that I was right up against her left side. Her arm and my arm touched several times. I needed to keep my composure.
She showed me what research she had gathered. It was damning. She had linked prominent people within the NYPD with a gambling ring that stretched across the pond. The problem was the people she had found out about overseas were also police officers and mobsters. The latter making this is a very dangerous discovery.
These kind of people didn’t take a liking to you knowing about their business. And when they found out you knew something, they wanted you dead. That way, their information wouldn’t go public and they could continue their ventures.
We needed to get this information to the proper authorities back in the states. I had a contact within the State Attorney’s Office in New York. I couldn’t call her because I didn’t know if her phone was tapped. I had her personal number but I needed to get back to the states before I could call her. And I needed to get back there alive, along with Stephanie.
“I keep this information in the cloud,” she said.
“That’s good because you never know if your laptop will get stolen,” I commented.
“Yeah, my first laptop was stolen a few weeks ago.”
“Really? Did you have this information on there?”
“Heck no! It’s always in the cloud. My father sent me money for another laptop.”
“Did you ever find out who stole it?”
“No. The police told me they were following leads. That’s the last I heard.”
“It seems like the usual thing they say.”
I thought that the officers investigating this might be in on this gambling ring. That’s probably why she never heard anything back.
“I also have information on a thumbdrive.”
“That a good idea. You never know what will happen when it’s in the cloud. They say they backup data every night but what if they have an error?”
“Exactly. I don’t trust it sometimes.”
“Are you keeping it in a safe place?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s in my underwear drawer, under everything,” she said with a laugh.
I laughed, “Well, I don’t think anyone is going to find it there.”
Although I knew otherwise. It was the worst place to hide it. But I would take care of that later.
“What further research do you have to do?”
“I’m still linking some places and names. Maybe you could help me with that part?”
“Yeah, sure. I can help any way I can,” I said with a smile.
I smelled her perfume and it took everything in myself not to reach over and kiss her.
“I was planning on going to the library tomorrow early evening. Do you want to accompany me?” she said with a raise of her right eyebrow.
“Sure but I have to do something before then. How about I meet you there around 6?”
“I was going to go much earlier, like 4:00.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you at 4:30 or 5:00.”
“Sounds good to me.”
END PART 4
Conclusion
And the saga continues. Pretty soon it’s going to get dangerous. Enjoy the build-up before the danger comes.
Thank you for reading.
Until next time, happy reading!
-Matt
A terrific update. Thanks!