Into a corner

Chapter Twelve

The basement hideout was still and silent. All three occupants were fast asleep in their respective areas, exhaustion had stopped their plan making, without any resolve for the time being. They had retired, as the problems of the past few days weighed heavy on everyone.

Nagira was on one side of the box wall, snoring quite loudly in his sleeping stupor Robin and Amon were snuggled in their sleeping bag on the other side of the makeshift wall, their bare bodies clasping each other in their slumber.

Nagira suddenly sat up out of his sleep, his eyes snapping open in a split second. He looked around, trying to figure out what woke him up like this. He quickly remembered what had awoken him. He smiled, as it was right there in his mind’s forefront.

Somewhere in the depths of his dream world, a idea had came to him. It was based on something that he had overheard Robin and Amon had been talking about quite awhile ago. He was unsure of why his mind suddenly connected with something that he was not even a part of discussing, but it was there.

What his mind had came up with was a daring and a little out on a limb, but as he thought it over sitting there in the dark, it was possible. He slipped out of his makeshift bed, hurrying to do it before the others would wake.

The man dressed as fast as he could, and made his way stealthily to the staircase that led out of this subterranean place. With his shoes in hand he went up the stairs, and exited, achieving the outside without rousting the others. He listened for a moment just outside, assuring himself that he had not disturbed the others. Satisfied that he did not, he closed the door quietly, making sure it was locked again

Once outside, he took only a few steps to the left, and stopped at the back entrance up to the noodle house. Using a key that he had in his coat pocket, he entered the establishment as she made sure that no one had seen him doing so.

Inside, he found his friend the owned the noodle restaurant sitting in the back kitchen having a coffee. The man was covered in noodle making residue, as the owner had been up making the noodles to use in new business day.
“ Ah, Mr. Nagira...” He said, politely, seeing the man appear. “ What brings you out of hiding this early morning.”
“ I need you to find me a way of having an untraced phone call?” He said to his friend. “ I sort of have a idea to help us out.”
“ That I might be able to do.” The man said to Nagira, nodding. “ How fast would you need to do that, Sir?”

“ I would like to do that as soon as possible.” He said, thinking on it for a second. “ And I need access to a computer that is on the net.”
“ I also have that too.” Said the man, standing. “ Can I help in any way, other than what you ask?”
“ Momoko, This would be just fine.” Nagira smiled. “ This one, I have to do.. Let’s just say this could be a longshot.”

The Noodle house man stood up and began to go off. Nagira just waited where he was, lighting a smoke as he did.

The man came back with a cell phone and handed it to Nagira.
“ A untraceable cell.” He said, handing the small phone to the man. “ You need to do a serious call, sir?”
“ To be honest, it is a stretch to call.” The man said. “ Show me to the computer, and I will start this.”

Te owner took the larger man to a small room off of the kitchen. It was an office space, about the size of a larger closet, but to Nagira, it was a godsend. Nagira went in to the office and closed the door behind himself.

The owner just went back to his coffee, not even looking back at the door. He knew that whatever this man was doing, was important. Sitting down, he just went back to enjoying his break.

An hor had passed. Nagira came out an found his buddy hard at work alone in the kitchen. He set down the phone, as he looked at the much smaller man.
“ That went better than I really expected it to.” He said, a satisfied look covering his face.

The noodle man picked it up and pocketed it.
“ I am glad that I could help out, Mr. Nagira.”
“ This one was one I nearly owe you.” The tall layer said with a chuckle. “ Now come the waiting part of this.”

The owner looked at the man, not understanding the statement. Nagira looked at his friend’s puzzled look and chuckled a little again.
“ I know you don’t understand. I will explain what I did at a later time for you, my friend.” He calmly said. “ For now, I can’t.”
“ Understood!” The man said bowing low. “ You think it will help?”
“ For now, I can only hope it will.” He flatly said, without reveling anything.

Nagira turned and headed back out the way he had entered the place. He looked back at his friend for a moment, nodded, and exited. The owner went back to his work, seemingly totally forgetting that the man had been there in the first place.

Lighting a smoke, Nagira turned to head back to the basement. He glanced up at the sky he could see from the alleyway vantage point. He noted the first rays of light were beginning to hit the dark sky. He knew that it was early in the morning, that just made his internal clock right on the money.

He just took a drag off of his smoke and walked on to his destination only a few paces away. He paused just before quietly unlocking the door to the basement, and just stared down at his feet for a few seconds.
“ I hope this works.. Or it could put us in one hell of a predicament if it does not.” He muttered to himself.

Opening the door quietly, he headed back down to the hiding place, still trying to assure himself of the idea. He snuffed, as he knew that he could not tell the others just yet of his little plan. This one was a gamble, but in his profession, he had to gamble many times in the past to help clients. He also recognized that this was different, he was gambling with their lives.