Carole With An E: Part Twelve

~ beetleypete

This is the twelfth part of a fiction serial, in 854 words.

Carole thought for quite a while before answering.

“Find somewhere to stop, and I will tell you who I was on the phone to”. Her voice was quieter than usual, and she looked worried after she said that.

Inside the roadside cafe mainly used by truckers, they sat a long way from anyone else, both holding large white mugs of strong tea. Unable to smoke inside, Carole was edgy, and her fingers tapped the side of the mug rythmically.

“After I tell you this, you may well leave me here, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I have told you a lot of bullshit so far, but I swear to you this is the truth. I admit that if I hadn’t blurted out I was on the phone to someone outside Luke’s place, I would have gone on with the deception. To be completely honest, it’s a relief to tell someone”.

Karl was giving nothing away, and just stared into his tea.

“So Luke’s name was Lukas, and he was from Lithuania. When he came to live in London, he liked to be known as Luke. My dad was also from Lithuania, and I had some connections to that community in London. I did go to university, but after graduation I was working as a travel agent in London, using the job to get travel perks before deciding what to do with my life. I travelled around on the cheap, and was able to see a lot of America, Europe, and I visited distant relatives in Lithuania a few times. Then one day, Luke walks into the agency, and wants to talk to me about organising tickets and visas for people coming to Britain to work. He told me my name had been mentioned by other Lithuanians he knew”. Karl interrupted her.

“What, people from Lithuania coming to work here?” She shrugged.

“Not just there, all over. Moldova, Slovenia, Lativia, Ukraine, even as far away as Vietnam and Thailand. Naturally most of those would not get visas easily, and some might get seasonal work only, but he implied there was a lot of money to be made if I was prepared to help cover up illegal immigration, and doctor some of the identites on the tickets when people were using fake passports. I was going to move on from being a travel agent anyway, and the money was enticing, to say the least. So I got involved. Can we stand outside for a while, I need a cigarette”.

“It didn’t take long before I discovered that all the people I was fixing travel for were women, and they were all coming to London or Manchester. I wasn’t stupid or naive, they were going to be trafficked as sex workers, on the promise of jobs like au pairs, domestic servants, or hotel workers. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t walk away, or report him to the authorities. The money was too good, and I had already got in too deep anyway. Because of his background, Luke didn’t have any financial setup in London, so he relied on me to channel the money into accounts I opened, then move it around before drawing out cash to give him. It occured to me that as far as he was concerned, even half the money coming in was a small fortune, so I stupidly kept half of everything for myself, and he had no idea. Over the next year or so, it amounted to a great deal of untaxed income”.

She stopped to light a second cigarette, and Karl surprised her.

“So eventually he found out you had been ripping him off, demanded you come to see him to explain where the money was, and when he got angry, you shot him. Is that about the size of it?” Carole dropped her lighter in shock, then looked up at him as she bent to pick it up. “You a cop?” Karl kept his voice low.

“Nothing like that, but I’m not stupid either. I looked up things that had happened before I saw you hitching, and that was one of the news stories. Ever since I found that out, I’ve been waiting for you to come clean”. She lit the cigarette as he continued. “Are others from the gang after you for the money, is that it? Is that why you are not already dead, and me along with you?” She looked defeated for the first time, and had no pat answer ready.

“They can’t kill me because they don’t know where the money is. Some of them are known to the police and being watched, so they have hired people to follow me to try to find out where I am keeping the money. If I don’t lead them to it, I presume their next move will be to kidnap me. That’s why I am so glad to be travelling with you, Karl”. She blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke, and he could see her hands trembling.

“And by the way, I didn’t shoot him. The man I was on the phone to did that”.

33 thoughts on “Carole With An E: Part Twelve”

  9. It has always been obvious that Karl should not only walk away. but also report to the authorities. Unlike so many caught in these kinds of fictional traps, he apparently has nothing to be concerned with if the authorities are involved. Warmest regards, Ed

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  12. (1) Karl stared at the black tea in his white mug. “I was hoping for Earl Gray.”
    (2) After Carole was arrested, a cop ogled her mugshot and said, “I’d tap that!”
    (3) LUCAS preferred to be called LUKE. This somehow reminds me of George LUCAS and LUKE Skywalker. Did the film director see himself as a Jedi knight? (Probably not, but the idea was worth a shot.)
    (4) Charon eventually got tired of being a travel agent. So he got involved with Thanatos, who wanted him to facilitate illegal immigration from Gaia to Hades.
    (5) Carole was tired of being on the run. That’s why she looked de-feeted.
    (6) Carole buried the money under the Big W—a pair of crossed palm trees located in a private park on the Rancho Palos Verdes coastline, southwest of Los Angeles. (A detective named Spencer hopes to trace her to the money, but he’s fully aware that a mad, mad, mad, mad gang of Lithuanian misfits are chasing after her, too.)
    (7) Carole looked at Karl point blank and said, “I didn’t kill Lucas. I don’t even know how to shoot a Daisy Targeteer!”

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  14. Another great chapter, Pete…the ending is a terrific cliffhanger as well….can’t wait to see what Karl’s next move is, because he’s either going to surprise us with how smart he is, or he’s going to walk the same walk as William Hurt did in “Body Double” and we know how that turned out!

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