Kit Piper sat nervously with the briefcase full of money. He'd tried standing for a while, but his knees were shaking too much, and people were beginning to give him strange looks. It was important that he made this meeting, though. His daughters' lives depended on it.
"You Piper?" a voice said from behind him.
Kit jumped up from his seat, startled. He turned and looked at the man. He was a dark-haired man with a scar on his jaw and had a strangely-shaped "boxer's nose" that had obviously been broken at least once in the past. He wore a black trenchcoat and looked very out of place on a tropical Caribbean island in his suit.
"Y-yes," Kit replied.
"Gambini sent me. I'm here about the money."
"A-are my daughters here? Where are they? I need to see them!"
"Hold on, guy," the man said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "Not here. Not now. Follow me." He turned and began walking through the corridor of the airport.
Kit looked around himself nervously. There were few people in this wing of the airport at the moment, though the waiting area would soon be flooded with people from the next flight arriving at any moment. Nobody paid them much attention.
The man kept on walking until they reached the door which was marked "Personnel only". The man pushed the door open and motioned Kit to follow him. As soon as they were in the room, the man locked the door.
"Nobody will be interruptin' us now," he said. "I have some friends here to make sure o' that."
"Where are my daughters?" Kit asked him again.
"Hold it, Piper," he said. "You'll see your daughters again. But I gotta see the money first. Mr. Gambini's been burned before by deals like this."
"O-of course," said Kit. He began opening up his briefcase. "Here it is," he said, going on to describe the precise amount of money contained within it. "It took some doing, but I managed to obtain 30% of what MBL Consulting is worth. Just as long as I get my daughters back."
The man whistled as he looked at the money. "Nice," he said grinning. "Mr. Gambini will be very pleased. He had no idea you were rolling around in this much dough."
"Then we have a deal?" Kit asked him. "You'll give me my daughters back in exchange for this money?"
"Sure, sure," the man said, smiling.
"Where are they? Are they here? I want to see them!"
"You'll see 'em soon enough, pal," the man said. "But first you're gonna have to hand over the money."
Kit wasn't too sure about this. He said, "How do I know I'll get my daughters back if I give you the money?"
"Hey, Mr. Gambini made a deal with you in good faith," the man replied. "You give us the money -- 30% of what MBL Consulting's worth, and you'll see your daughters again. But you have to give us the money first. That's the way these kinda deals go."
"Fine," Kit said, reluctantly handing him the briefcase. "Now I want to see my daughters."
The man opened up the briefcase again and flipped through the bills, ensuring that they were all real. "Don't worry, my man. They're safe. And they'll continue to be safe as long as you continue to play ball."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Mr. Gambini doesn't like being lied to, you fat fuck," the man said, his voice rising in an angry tone.
Kit was taken aback for a moment.
"Yeah, you heard me. You've been holdin' out on us, haven't you, Mr. Kit Piper of New Orleans? You've been rollin' in dough like this for months, and you still haven't been able to pay your gambling debts? Mr. Gambini's not happy with you. Not at all. But he's willin' to give you the benefit of the doubt. See, he's been lookin' into your little company here, and Mr. Gambini likes the operation you've got goin'. You make Mr. Gambini a silent partner, and he might consider lettin' you see your daughters again."
Kit didn't know what to say. "Wh--but... but that wasn't part of the deal! Y-you said... I give you 30% of MBL's holdings, and I get my daughters back. I've given you everything I could!"
"Yer a lousy liar, old man. Just be glad Mr. Gambini's willing to give you a break." He walked over to the door and opened it. "I'll be in touch with you again soon. Nice doin' business with ya." He shut the door.
"NO!" Kit shouted, moving to the door. He tried to open it up again, but it was stuck. He started pounding on the door.
"Pipe down in there," a strange voice said to him through the door.
Kit stopped and began to realize how he'd been had. After five minutes he was let out again, but by that time Gambini's man was long gone. And his hopes of getting his daughters back safely went away with him...
