The Darkness - Jason Pinter [41]
shop on the corner."
"How do you know that?"
"Every now and then she'll bring me a cup of coffee
and a Danish. The bags were always from that shop."
"Do you have any idea who this guy is? Business
partner? Maybe a lover?"
"Hey, man, I don't know that much about my tenants'
private lives. But I don't think so, as far as the gay stuff
goes. He was a real tall guy. Wore sunglasses a lot, even
at night. Looks a little like a G.I. Joe action figure.
Stands real straight, even less personable than Mr.
Kaiser if that's possible. Even after he'd been coming
over for a few months the guy never even looked me in
the eye. Got the blondest hair I've ever seen, kind of
wavy. He comes out at midnight and stays for just about
an hour. Then he leaves at one, and Mrs. Kaiser comes
back just as he's left."
"Do you have any idea what he's doing?"
"No, sir. Shows up, stays an hour, then leaves. No idea
why or who he is, but he never causes trouble and always
seems pleasant enough."
"What's his name?" I asked.
"Sir?"
"When you buzz him up, what name does he give you?"
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"I don't buzz him up anymore. By this point I know
he's okay so I don't bother."
"But at the beginning," I continued, "he must have
given you a name. Do you remember it?"
Don thought for a moment, then he said, "Chester. I
think it was Chester."
"You sure?" I said.
"Not a hundred percent, but I think so."
"What else can you tell me about him?" I said. Suddenly Don stood up straight and took several steps back
from me. He straightened his hat, then stepped forward.
I turned around to see a Lincoln pulled up at the curb. Don
was approaching the backseat door, which he opened,
bending over slightly while holding his hat with his free
hand. When the door was fully open, a man stepped out
and nodded at Don.
He was about six feet tall, slightly stocky, a middleaged man who clearly took care of himself. His black hair
was slicked back into a neat coif, and his skin was evenly
tanned. His watch glimmered in the afternoon sun, and I
didn't need to look closer to know it was real, and had
likely cost nearly as much as my education.
He strode up to the entrance, and I could tell from
the slightly scared look in Don's eyes that this was
Brett Kaiser.
"Mr. Kaiser," I said, matching his pace. Not an easy
feat. "My name is Henry Parker. I'm with the New York
Gazette. Can I ask you a few questions?"
Kaiser turned to glare at me, barely breaking stride. "I
have nothing to say to you," he sniffed.
"Can I ask you what you know about 718 Enterprises?
Do you know a man named Stephen Gaines?"
Kaiser stopped, turned to face me. His eyes were
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cobalt-blue, but there was an anger in them that went well
beyond that of a businessman annoyed at a prying reporter.
"Listen here, you little prick," he said. "I don't know
who the hell this Gaines fellow is, and I sure as hell am
not going to talk to you about anything else. I--"
"So you know about 718 Enterprises."
"That's not what I said."
"You denied knowing Stephen Gaines, but didn't
deny being aware of a company that was allegedly paying you for lease space in your office building. Why not
deny that as well?"
"Like I said, I have nothing to say to you."
"One question," I said. "One question and I'll leave."
Kaiser held a moment. I could tell that this man hated
being shackled by a "no comment," didn't believe he had
to bow to anybody or pretend his nose was clean. He ran
his business the way he chose, and he'd be damned if
anybody else told him that he might have erred on the
wrong side of the law.
"One question," he said, "and then if I ever see you
again I'll have your job taken away faster than you can
clean all this mud off of you."
Cute line, I thought. It never ceased to amaze me that
men like Kaiser could so calmly keep potentially devastating and illegal secrets, yet somehow I was the bad guy.
"Why?" I said. "Why take their money? Your practice
seems to be thriving. Why take the risk?"
Kaiser opened his