Too Broke For Afterlife

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The gold coins.

Oh my god.

The gold coins! I found them! How lucky can one be?

Now we are hot on the heels of whoever tried to manipulate us. So many questions will be answered soon.

"Guys!"

I throw open the door to the basement and stumble inside, excitement beaming all over my face but only Walter greets me with a small  Hi.

I stop in my tracks and raise my eyebrows as I look around. "Where are the kids?"

"Who?"

"Parker and Judy!"

"Oh, they went to the bar," he tells me as his eyes glide back into the book he is holding.

I blink. "What?"

"Yeah, they wanted to drink something but I didn't feel like joining." He says that in a tone as if it was the most normal thing.

"But...we are hiding here. We have to stay on the low. Did you guys forget?"

Two drunk young adults on a secret mission? What could be worse?

"We have to go get them! What if they get caught? Or what if they spill information?"

But Walter just raises his hands. He speaks slowly.

"Isabella, relax. Let them be."

"Relax?" My voice shoots up an octave and the volume increases. "Would you like to know what I just found out? Relaxing would be the worst thing for us to do right now!"

"Why don't you sit down first? Then we can talk."

Walter gets up and pulls out a rusty old chair.

I look at the abandonment of a furniture piece.

"I'll get a rash."

"No, you won't."

I sigh and reluctantly take a seat. Walter does the same. Then he looks at me.

"So, what did you find out?"

I quickly take his hand and he flinches a bit but doesn't push me away. 

We look at each other.

I try to put as much urgency into my voice as possible. "The gold coins are being sold at an auction tomorrow, in Miami."

"Wait. What did you just say?" His eyes widen.

"The coins. We have to buy them. Maybe that way we'll find out something about either those who are hunting us or those who tried to help."

Walter thinks for a second. He doesn't look half as excited as I had expected. This is great news, it changes everything! Why does he seem so sour?

He sighs. "But what if it's a trap?"

I raise my eyebrows as my hart starts beating faster. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Why would they sell the coins if not to lure us in? And how come you just happen to randomly stumble upon that information? This doesn't sit well with me."

I hate to admit it but Walter is right. I didn't think this through.

"But-"

"Either way, we do need the coins. You are right. I think Judy and you should go to the auction. With your new bodies they won't identify you guys that easily."

The thought of being stuck with Judy on yet another mission immediately dims my mood. But I try to swallow that feeling.

"Okay."

"And who told you all this?"

"A guy at the gym. He said that he is an art trader."

Walter nods. "We have to eliminate him. He might be working together with our enemies."

"Eliminate him?" My eyes widen. "You can't mean…"

"We will figure something out."

<<<

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"Honestly, you're not as weird as I thought. You're actually kind of cool."

I look at her with raised eyebrows. "You thought I'm weird? You're the weird one! With your mood swings and all."

"Me?" Judy huffs. "I'm the most normal one out of the group. It's not my fault that I got pulled into this mess."

This mess.  There it is again. Her way of pulling herself out of the situation.

I look at my glass and mumble: "I mean, it kinda was."

"What do you mean?"  She looks confused.

"Nobody forced you to stick around. That was your choice."

"They kidnapped me!" Judy screeches and I quickly hold a hand in front of her mouth.

A few heads turn around to us but luckily they quickly lose interest again.

"No, before that. You knew Isa's life was a mess, yet you came to New York with her. That was your decision."

Judy stays silent for a few seconds while she inspects her drink.

"I don't want to talk about that with you."

"Why?"

"You always try to get involved," she grumbles.

"Of course, she is my f*cking friend. Do you think I-"

My phone interrupts me as it wildly vibrates in my pocket. "One sec."

I unlock the screen to look at a white string of SMS from Walter.

Gold Coins sold at auction tomorrow.

Info from an 'art trader'.

Will have to get rid of him.

Text you room number later.

Act normal.

With shaking fingers I put the phone away again.

Oh f*ck.

"What? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Judy chuckles, obviously amused by her own joke.

Ghosts. Haha. Hilarious.

I look at her with piercing eyes before I lower my voice and lean closer.

"Do you think...Walter would kill someone?"

She seems surprised by my question but puts on a thinking face. "Hmm, he does like to threaten people with guns. But actually killing them? I'm not sure. Why?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"Huh?"

I turn to the bartender. "I'd like to pay." The man nods.

Judy grabs my shoulder.

"Parker, what's going on? What happened?"

I put the money onto the counter and take Judy's hand to pull her with me.

Following a small trail that leads away from the beach bar I used to work at, I find an empty bench between some rose bushes and sit down.

Judy does so as well and I lean closer again so I can whisper.

"I'm not sure what happened but he just texted me. They apparently somehow located the gold coins. And there's a spy at the hotel. Walter said he will have to get rid of him. What do you think that means?"

She looks at me with shock in her eyes.

"Wha-"

"How would you interpret this message? Doesn't it sound like murder? He told me to come to the room later, what if I have to help cover it up? Clean the bedsheets or something? Throw away the gun?"

I can see that she is thinking.

"What if...they do what you guys did last time?"

"What do you mean?"

"The man in the closet," she hisses. "You beat Jasper up and locked him in. Together with me." The last part sounds taunting.

I lean back, contemplating this new theory.

"Maybe. Possibly. Also, the SMS said the coins are being sold at an auction. Maybe they'll keep him tied up until after that. But what if not?"

Judy shakes her head. "Isa would never kill someone. She'd convince Walter of other methods."

"Yeah...let's hope so," I mumble.

We sit there in silence for a bit until I clear my throat.

"I gotta go piss."

"Have fun," she sneers.

I get up from the cold bench and make my way over to the pool. No, I'm not going to pee into the water. Stop freaking out.

Every bigger pool has its own toilet to make sure guests do exactly not that and although the pool is closed at this time, I don't think I have the patience to walk back to the main building.

I look around, making sure nobody can see me, then I carefully climb over the barrier and hurry to push open the door to the bathroom. Immediately, my nose fills with searing chlorine. But that at least means this place is sanitized. Right?

Without turning on the light I get into one of the blue stalls and lock the door behind me. Then I unbutton my pants.

I sigh deeply as the piss streams out of me.

This might sound weird but urinating is freaking relaxing. My clearest thoughts are usually formed on the toilet. As if emptying your bladder creates more space for other things.

Maybe this way I'll be able to figure out what to do.

But is there anything I can actually do? I don't know where either Walter or Isabella are so how can I stop them? Or how could I possibly find and identify the spy?

Sadly, my bladder is empty before inspiration has hit me. 

Once I'm done, I flush the toilet and pull my pants back up. Time for me to get back to Judy before someone kidnaps her.

Okay, I shouldn't joke about that. In the end it might actually happen, we are obviously no longer safe here.

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opens, the sound causes me to flinch. 

Someone stumbles into the room, a deep male voice is talking on the phone.

"Yes, I said to her what you told me. She bought the act after she saw the picture. They'll come tomorrow, I could bet my dick on that."

Huh.. Interesting.