Cold Deception

COLD DECEPTION

The silence loomed over us, like the darkest cloud on a winters night.
No one spoke, no one moved, and no one dared to breathe, because it did
not seem real. As the coffin approached the mourners the silence was
broken by the widows' cries of pain and loss. Nothing and no one could
console her and the only person who could explain had disappeared. The
seconds felt like hours and the minutes like days, but all we could do
was watch as the body vanished into the hole in the ground. Fiona's cry
became louder, but still no one spoke. Fiona stifled her tears as the
coffin was covered and the final prayers said. None of the other people
were showing emotion one way or the other. It had all happened so
quickly. Only ten people attended the funeral, the dead man, Jake, had
ensured that.
It had all begun a month ago, when Jake started to act odd. He had
always been laid back, yet confident in his ability. Since he was a
child everyone had seen the potential. There was never any doubt that
he would become successful, it just took longer than expected. Exactly
two months ago Jake sold his first painting. He had been commissioned
by the company Piagnetta, to paint five paintings that best portrayed
life in each of the five businesses. At first Jake thought the task
would be easy. The Piagnetta company owned a pizzeria, a law firm, a
car dealership, a shipping company, and an airline franchise. Jake
originally planned to do a painting summing up life in each business.
This proved harder than expected. At first none of the five businesses
would let him on the premises, but he finally managed to enter the
shipping company. He explained that he had been commissioned by
Alessandro Piagnetta to paint a picture of the business. After numerous
calls to head office Jake was allowed to start work. He was told that
he had 30 days to construct a painting, at five p.m. on the 30th day of
March, he was to hand in the painting and receive his first payment.
That was two months ago.
To this day the only surviving person that knows precisely what
happened has vanished. AJ had been friends with Jake since Junior
School. They had been inseparable since the age of ten. Nothing had
ever come between them. Until a month ago.
Jake turned up at Alessandro Piagnetta's house as he was told to at
five p.m. on the 30th of June, painting in hand, and eager for payment.
On approaching the house Jake noticed that there were no cars in the
drive. The house was enormous, Jake had never seen anything like it.
The exterior was crisp white and the walls were covered with ivy. There
were four bay windows on each of the two floors. The house looked
impeccable. Jake reached the front doorstep, the door was ajar, and
inside it was desolate. He started to panic , he double checked the
address and walked in, "Hello? Anybody there?" No reply. Jake was still
clutching his painting to his chest. The inside of the house looked
like a bomb site. The floor and furniture were covered in paper,
bottles, boxes, food and money. Jake bent down to inspect, there were
hundreds of $500 bills lying crumpled on the floor. Confused, Jake
slowly walked into the next room, "Hello Alessandro?" Something popped
under his feet. Under his feet were thousands of small bags of white
powder. Where was he? Jake's head started to spin, he felt like he was
in another world. In the distance Jake could hear sirens. He pulled
himself together, dashed out of the house, jumped in his car and sped
off. He had been in a house full of cocaine and laundered money, and
lots of it. What was he involved in?
Jake did what he always did in times of need, he went to AJ's. AJ's
girlfriend Candice said he was in the bar on 35th Street. Jake was
shaking uncontrollably. The bar was full of dark smoke and everyone
looked like a threat. Towards the back of the room Jake spotted AJ
chatting to a man in sweats.
"AJ man, I need to speak to you."
"Hold on, I'm talkin to Johnny!" Replied AJ in an impatient tone.
"AJ, it's urgent I need your help."
Johnny obliged Jake and walked away slowly enough to stare out Jake. AJ
managed to calm Jake down, and he proceeded to tell AJ about the
beautiful house. AJ sat and listened intently for thirty minutes as
Jake poured it all out and drank three shots of whisky. When Jake had
finished AJ said, "Let's go back to this house of mystery."
"We can't it's loaded and I'm sure the cops are watchin' it."
"We'll go in through the back."
"Why? There's no pint. I'm not gettin' involved any further."
"Well let's tip off the cops about it."
"No way! How are we gonna explain how we know about it? Anyway I'm
involved."
AJ had always been the daring one. He was always the first one to
climb a tree, or skate on the frozen rivers, secretly hoping it would
crack and he'd have to be rescued. He was a thrill seeker. Unlike Jake,
who'd stand back and watch impassively, not because he was scared, but
besause he had no enthusiasm. However this time it was different. He
was scared, more scared than ever and this time he wasn't going to
stand and watch. Having worked in the world of the Piagnetta's for the
last month he didn't think them capable of drug smuggling and money
laundering. Although there had been questions in the back of his mind.
Why all the secrecy and security? Why did all the ships go to just the
Bahamas? It all suddenly made sense. The company were not shipping in
tea, but instead cocaine. AJ brought Jake back to the present, "Well
let's keep an eye on the companies."
"No that's just stupid. Fist thing tomorrow I'll go back to the
shipping company and hand in the painting," Jake said this with grave
fear in his voice, the thought of speaking to these men gave him
chills.
"Good luck!"
"We're gonna need it."
"What do you mean WE?" AJ replied, secretly getting excited.
"Seeing as you're so desperate for action, you can come with me."
So he did. Much to their surprise the Piagnetta's were not that
concerned, and Jake was released with full payment for the first
painting. Although Jake was relieved he couldn't relax. Fiona started
to worry about her usually laid-back husband. Jake wasn't sleeping,
eating or leaving the house often, he was acting like a guilty man.
When Fiona questions his change in behaviour, Jake shrugged it off as
the flu. Fiona was so busy at work, that she accepted Jake's answer and
thought no more of it.
Two weeks passed and there had been no repercussions from the
Piagnetta's. Although Jake could've sworn he'd seen a black Mercedes
sitting opposite the house all last Wednesday. AJ was disappointed at
the lack of action, he'd had been looking forward to an adventure. His
life had been drab and boring lately, same job, same girlfriend and no
money. He was desperate for change.
However the Piagnetta's had not forgotten about Jake or AJ. In fact
the opposite had happened. Alessandro Piagnetta, the main man, had
discovered fingerprints all over his house and there was a man
resembling Jake on the CCTV. The day after Jake had been in
Alessandro's house, Alessandro was arrested for drug smuggling. The
Piagnetta's came to the conclusion that Jake had shopped Alessandro's
house to the cops. He got his boy's to find out everything there was to
now about Jake Munroe and Arnold James "AJ" Green.
Jake slowly became more and more withdrawn until he no longer left the
house. Fiona didn't understand and Jake wouldn't elaborate, so she was
left in the dark. A week ago Jake dragged AJ out of the house and to
their favourite bar. They stopped at the cash machine on the way, "Jake
I gotta get some cash, wait here,"
"No don't go! I mean I'll come with you," Jake was edgy, he hadn't seen
the outside world in a week and he wasn't about to be left alone and
vulnerable.
"Come on then you wimp!"
Jake and AJ had to cross the street to reach the cash machine.
"Hey chumps," came a voice from near the cash machine.
Jake started to panic, they'd found him. They couldn't see the man, it
was too dark. How many were there and what did they want? Questions ran
through Jake's head ,he started to get dizzy and felt faint.
"Stand against the wall, NOW!"
Jake turned around at the sound of manic footsteps. It was AJ, he ran
to his car, jumped in and sped away. The mystery men shot at AJ's
tyre's. AJ had gone, and left his closest friend, with God knows how
many armed men. His breathing got heavier, until he could no longer
stand up. Jake sank to the floor, "AJ, HELP," cried Jake before he
became unconscious.
BANG! There was a single gunshot, which reverberated through the
surrounding buildings. The sound of screeching tyres echoed the
gunshot. Then silence set in and Jake was left alone bleeding, near
death.
By the time Jake's body was discovered it was too late to save him. He
had died cold and alone on a quiet street in the middle of April. No
one could find AJ. The police knew he was with Jake before he died but
they could not track him down. The police questioned the Piagnetta's.
They denied everything and there was no evidence linking them with the
murder. The only man who knew the truth had mysteriously disappeared.
He'd taken nothing, no clothes or belongings. His car had been found
abandoned 100 miles from the crime scene. What was he hiding?