The Parking Lot Attendant Who Controlled the Stock Market

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The First Test

Felix drove the borrowed BMW back to Derek's building.

The sun was setting and the city was turning orange and pink like a bruise healing. He parked in Derek's spot and sat in the car for five minutes. Just breathing. Just thinking. The coin was warm in his pocket and the fake flash drive was warm in his hand and everything inside him was cold.

He walked up to Derek's apartment. Derek opened the door in his robe again. He looked at Felix's face and did not ask questions. He just stepped aside and let Felix walk in.

"You look like you saw a ghost," Derek said.

"I saw something worse," Felix said. "I saw a way out."

Derek handed him a beer. Felix took it but did not drink. He sat on the couch and stared at the wall. The wall was white. The wall was empty. The wall was like his future before he found the coin.

"You are going to do it, are not you?" Derek asked. "You are going to work for him."

"I already work for him."

"No. You work for yourself. That is what you told me. But working for Victor Kensington is not working for yourself. It is working for a monster."

Felix looked at Derek. The man who slapped him three days ago. The man who took his girlfriend and his pride and his last shred of dignity. Now that man was standing in a robe with worried eyes and a shaking hand.

"Monsters can be killed," Felix said.

"Not by parking attendants."

Felix pulled out the coin and held it up. The eye stared at Derek. The number three stared at Derek.

"Parking attendants do not have this," Felix said. "Parking attendants do not know what is coming. I know what is coming. That is the difference."

Derek sat down on the other end of the couch. He looked at the coin like it was a snake.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Does what hurt?"

"Using it. The old man said he used it too much and now he is dead. Does it hurt you?"

Felix thought about it. The nosebleeds. The headaches. The way his vision got blurry when he flipped it too many times in one day. He had been ignoring those signs. He had been pretending they were nothing.

"Sometimes," he said. "But not enough to stop."

Derek shook his head. "That is what addicts say. That is what gamblers say. Just one more time. Just one more flip. Then I will stop."

Felix put the coin away. "I am not a gambler. I am a winner. There is a difference."

Derek laughed. It was a sad sound. "There is no difference. Winners just win longer. But eventually, everyone loses."

Felix did not answer. He finished his beer and stood up.

"I need to sleep," he said. "Tomorrow I go back to Victor. I give him the fake flash drive. I lie to his face. And then I find out if I am a winner or a loser."

He walked to the door.

"Felix," Derek called out.

Felix stopped.

"Be careful with Chloe," Derek said. "Women like her do not help men like you for free. She wants something. And when she gets it, she will disappear."

Felix looked over his shoulder. "Maybe. But right now, she is the only one who has my back. That is better than nothing."

He walked out and went down to his cousin's apartment. His cousin was already asleep on the couch. Felix lay down on the floor and closed his eyes.

The coin was under his pillow.

He dreamed of the old man.

In the dream, the old man was sitting on the hood of the blue sedan. His gray beard was longer. His coat was dirtier. His eyes were still too bright and too clear.

"You are using it too much," the old man said. "I can see it in your face. The color is leaving your skin. The light is leaving your eyes."

"I have no choice," Felix said in the dream. "I am fighting rich men. I need to see what is coming."

The old man shook his head. "You need to stop. The coin is not a weapon. It is a tool. Use it like a weapon and it will cut you."

"Then what should I use it like?"

The old man smiled. It was the saddest smile Felix had ever seen.

"Use it like a mirror," the old man said. "Look at your own future. See where you are going. Then decide if you want to keep walking."

The dream ended.

Felix woke up on the floor with the sun in his eyes and the coin in his hand. He had not put it under his pillow. He must have grabbed it in his sleep.

His nose was bleeding.

He wiped it with his sleeve and looked at the red stain. Then he looked at the coin. The eye stared back. The number three stared back.

The old man was right. He was using it too much.

But he could not stop. Not yet. Not when Victor Kensington was still walking free. Not when Marcus Webb was still hiding in his glass tower. Not when Chloe was still a mystery he could not solve.

He got up and took a shower. Cold water. The same as always. He put on the borrowed suit and the borrowed watch and the borrowed shoes.

Then he drove the borrowed BMW to Victor Kensington's office.

The elevator went up fast. The doors opened on the fortieth floor. The accountant was waiting.

"Victor is in a meeting," the accountant said. "You will wait."

Felix waited. Twenty minutes. Thirty. He sat in a white chair in a white hallway and watched the seconds tick by on the white clock on the white wall.

At ten thirty, the accountant came back.

"He is ready now."

Felix walked into the office. Victor was behind his desk. The three big men were against the wall. The one with the scar was cracking his knuckles again.

Victor looked up. His cold eyes scanned Felix from head to toe.

"You have the recording?" Victor asked.

Felix pulled out the fake flash drive and placed it on the desk. "It is deleted. This was the only copy. I watched him delete it myself."

Victor picked up the flash drive. He looked at it. Turned it over in his fingers. Then he plugged it into his computer.

The screen stayed empty.

Victor stared at the screen for a long time. Then he looked at Felix.

"Where is the original?" he asked.

"That is the original," Felix said. "There was only one copy. Marcus kept it on a phone. I took the phone. I deleted the file. Then I destroyed the phone."

Victor smiled. It was a thin smile. A cold smile. A smile that did not reach his eyes.

"You destroyed the phone," he repeated.

"Yes."

Victor leaned back in his chair. He looked at the three men against the wall. The one with the scar nodded.

"Bring him in," Victor said.

The scarred man walked to a door at the back of the office. He opened it and pulled someone out.

Felix's heart stopped.

It was Derek.

His face was bruised. His lip was split. His hands were tied behind his back. He looked at Felix with eyes that said I told you so.

Victor stood up and walked around his desk. He stopped in front of Felix.

"Your friend here came to see me this morning," Victor said. "He wanted to warn me. He said you were lying. He said you were working with Marcus Webb. He said you were planning to betray me."

Felix looked at Derek. Derek looked away.

"Did you know he was a coward?" Victor asked. "Did you know he would sell you out the moment things got scary?"

Felix did not answer. His mind was racing. His hand was in his pocket. His fingers were on the coin.

"Now," Victor said. "Let us try this again. Where is the real recording?"

Felix looked at the coin. He looked at Victor. He looked at Derek's bruised face.

Then he flipped the coin.

Three seconds.

He saw Victor pulling out a gun. He saw Derek lunging at Victor. He saw the scarred man grabbing Felix's arm. He saw himself ducking. He saw the gun firing. He saw Derek falling.

The vision ended.

Felix put the coin away and smiled at Victor.

"I do not have the recording," Felix said. "But I know where it is. And I am the only one who can get it."

Victor tilted his head. "Why would you help me now?"

Felix looked at Derek. The man who slapped him. The man who betrayed him. The man who was about to die.

"Because I want to see him suffer," Felix said. "He slapped me. He took my girlfriend. And now he tried to destroy me. I want him to watch me win. That is better than revenge."

Victor stared at Felix for ten seconds. Then he laughed.

"You are dangerous," Victor said. "I like dangerous."

He nodded at the scarred man. The man untied Derek's hands.

"Get out," Victor said to Derek. "Go home. If I see your face again, I will kill you myself."

Derek ran out of the office without looking back.

Victor turned to Felix. "You have one week. Bring me that recording. Or I will come looking for you."

Felix nodded. He walked out of the office with his heart beating fast and his hands shaking.

The elevator went down. The city was waiting outside.

He had one week.

He had a coin.

And he had a traitor named Derek who just made everything harder.

Felix pulled out his phone and called Chloe.

"It is me," he said. "Victor knows. Someone betrayed us."

Silence on the other end. Then Chloe's voice. Low and smooth.

"Meet me at the address Marcus gave you. One hour."

The line went dead.

Felix got in the BMW and drove.

The game had just changed.

And he was not sure if he was winning anymore.