Paid In Full

Matt Debris was an unassuming man and some would say too smart for his own good. His father was a big shot in an underworld organization that has since been shattered by shadowy figures and idealistic police officers. Matt’s hide had been saved by his father’s authority on more than one occasion and he knew that that would not last now that his father had passed away recently. Gambling was Matt’s preferred vice though this night it seemed he aimed to usurp that title to drinking. In a stupor he leaned against the jamb of the steel door and looked up and down the alley before giving the secret knock. The small panel just over Matt’s head opened and from it two intimidating eyes just stared at Matt. The door thumped rhythmically to the techno music that hissed its way through the peephole.

“What are you looking at?” the eyes asked.

“I’m looking for Janus,” Matt replied.

The eyes seemed to look at Matt piteously before closing the panel. Matt leaned against the doorjamb impatiently until he heard the click of the door unlock. The heavy door swung open to reveal the owner of the eyes: A man nearly twice Matt’s size wearing a shirt that seemed to be two sizes too small even for Matt. The music was loud and the lights were blinding. He looked at the young people dancing away in time to what Matt guessed is what they called music.

He cut through the crowds to the wooden door behind the DJ’s stage where he gave a second secret knock. A small panel near Matt’s hip slid open and Matt slipped in a custom made poker chip. The person on the other end took it and moments later the chains and locks were undone and the door slowly squeaked open. Two large men in suits approached Matt and patted him down finding nothing but his cell phone and Bluetooth attachment which was already in his ear for some reason. They figured he was some sort of big shot banker looking to have a little fun on the side so they let it go. They guards kept the cell phone but let Matt keep the Bluetooth device in his ear.

“A steel door in an alleyway with a bouncer, kids dancing to crazy ‘music,’ another locked door hidden behind the stage being guarded by you two knuckleheads… If I had to remember another secret knock or password or handshake or whatever I would have forgotten what I came here for,” Matt said to the guards one of whom was making a call on the phone. “Can I go yet?”

“Not ‘til we get the okay,” one of the bodyguards said. Matt looked over his shoulder and saw the security camera and waved at it. The guard on the phone hung up the receiver and nodded to the other guard who got out of Matt’s way.

“If you really wanted to scare off patrons you can just put more of those weird kids dancing to that freaky noise they’re listening to. It would save you a lot of money you spend on doors and guards remembering secret passwords.” There was no response from the guards. “Ah, not that kind of crowd.”

Matt spent some time on the roulette table and had some success before moving on to the craps table where he just about broke even. When he made his way to the poker table the alcohol had completely taken over his sensibilities. In a game where the people are played more so than the actual cards dealt, Matt was getting on their bad side.

“Another drink!” he yelled. “My God, man! How can you smoke a cigar in here! I certainly hope that it’s worth it. There are no windows here and I know I’m already getting sick of the smoke. Hey! Guards! Can we open that door! That’s the only way we’re getting any ventilation here!”

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you leave the table,” the dealer sternly muttered.

“Fine!” Matt yelled defiantly, “You guys are boring and I was losing anyway. That’s probably a fire hazard anyway. Smoking in here with no windows and the only emergency exit is the way I came in. Sounds like a death trap to me especially with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum guarding the door and their stupid camera and stupid phone.”

Fortunately for Matt the alcohol in his system had made those last few sentences understandable only to himself and not the guards on duty. Otherwise, a disturbance like that would have him literally dragged out into the alley (and that would have been the best case scenario). He clumsily sat down at the black jack table where it was only him and the most amiable of dealers.  An hour would pass and then another and another when Matt had multiplied his money to nearly five times what he had come in with. Two more guards came from some shadowy hallway in the back to greet Matt before he cashed in his chips for the night.

“If you’ll come with us, sir,” one of them said.

“How do they fit such large people in a room so small? It’s got to be 200 square feet in here, tops!”

They took him by the arms and forcefully led him to the shadowy hallway.

“I didn’t even notice this hallway in the back here,” Matt said, nervously. “I suppose that’s the point. All the way in the back away from the tables… That’d be a nice quiet place to—”

“Shut up,” the other one said as he opened the door to the back office.

“This back office is completely hidden. Must be the lighting, can’t find my place around here with the lighting.”

“As drunk as you are, Mr. Debris,” a voice behind the desk began, “I’m surprised you found your way around with all the lights on.” The chair turned and an old man with a thin mustache got up from it and laid down a ball-peen hammer on the desk. “Do you know who I am, Mr. Debris?”

“Yes, Mr. G.”

“Please,” the old man said with a sinister smile, “call me Eddie. After all I knew your father. Do you know why my employees here brought you to this room?” Matt held on to his cash, some of which fell to the ground.

“To congratulate me on such a lucky streak?”

“You can say that.”

“This is some office you’ve got here, Mr. G—erm, I mean Eddie.”

“It’s nothing fancy but I get a lot of work done here. I can see you’ve been rather busy and—how did you put it? Ah, yes, ‘on a lucky streak.’ But like I said: I get a LOT of work done here” Mr. G nodded to the two guards who wrestled Matt rather easily to the desk. They pinned him down face first with his arms outstretched. Mr. G plucked the Bluetooth device from Matt’s ear.

“Did you not think we would notice you counting cards?” Mr. G said. “I’ll admit that it was a tough catch at first and to do it as drunk as you are is quite impressive. I’d shake your hand but to count cards in my house. In MY HOUSE!”

Matt squirmed but the bodyguards held him firmly in place. Mr. G continued.

“You see you got as sloppy as you got greedy towards the end. If you had left an hour earlier, I would have let you go and thought, ‘That was one helluva streak.’ But it’s never enough with you. You got that from your father. You see, he never knew when to quit either and it got him in trouble with people much scarier than me.”

Mr. G took the Bluetooth device and put it in his own ear, tapping at it to make sure it was still on.

“Why are you putting that thing in your ear? It’s not even mine! It belongs to a friend, I swear!”

“I know it does. You see, low-life cons like you usually work on your own but for you to get that much money from me and almost get away with it means you were working with someone else. Now let’s see who this someone else is.” Mr. G tapped at the device in his ear before telephoning the guard. “You have that guy’s phone? Yeah, dial the last number for me.” A few moments passed and the line was ringing. “Hello? Is this Matt’s friend?”

Just then a high-pitched screech emitted from the device and it brought Mr. G to his knees. Matt attempted to wrestle away but the guards still pinned him down. The guards in the front door who dialed on Matt’s phone saw the phone buzzing uncontrollably. It started beeping quickly before suddenly turning off all the power in the building. The guards dropped the phone which exploded and knocked them out. The patrons cleared the club and the gambling hall in a panic.

Matt was still pinned down by the two guards on the table. Mr. G got back to his feet and turned on a battery powered lamp he had in case of emergencies. Blood was dripping from his ears as he pulled the device out, threw it on the ground and crushed it under his feet.

“Do you think that’s funny? Do you know who you’re messing with?!”

“Do you?” Matt asked as the guard closest to the door was pulled into the shadows, knocked unconscious. The other guard was nervous and let go of Matt. A shadowy figure bolted straight for the guard and knocked him out cold with a single punch. Mr. G grabbed Matt and put a gun to his head, putting Matt between him and the shadowy figure. Mr. G didn’t see it coming but a flying projectile knocked the gun out of his hand and before the gun hit the floor a single punch across his chin from the shadowy figure was the last thing he felt before he fell to the ground.

The mystery hero brought Matt to the adjacent buildings rooftop where he patched up Matt’s wounds. Matt looked as the police swarmed the area and took the guards and Mr. G into custody.

“I thought my father was making you up until you asked me to help you out with this.”

“This was just one of many to take down.”

“You’re going to ask me to do this again? Because I don’t think I can. Things got intense in there.”

“No. Your debt to me, to this city, is paid in full as far as I’m concerned. You did good describing everything (the layout, the guards’ positions) discreetly. But if I catch you in a place like this again without my knowledge I will not hesitate to treat you the same way I did Mr. G.”

“I totally understand,” Matt said to himself as he rubbed the hand that Mr. G nearly pulverized with a ball-peen hammer. “And by the way… Thanks for saving me. Thanks for everything.” There was no response. Matt turned to find the shadowy figure had disappeared.

“Now,” Matt said to himself. “How the hell do I get down from here?”