2064.06 - The Bonsai and The Burglar

[Graham]

The deal with Moscow had been one of those trades where you knew exactly what you were doing, but it didn’t make you feel any better afterward.

Jesse Holman and Rich Moore, once valuable bench pieces in Johannesburg, were now boxed-up veterans on the Triple A roster after the winter roster shuffle. Holman had been the backstop through good and bad stretches, catching innings that felt endless; Moore had been the versatile infielder who always seemed to be around when Graham needed a spot start. But with new pieces in place, there wasn’t room anymore. Both men had quietly become spare parts.

So Graham shipped them to the Thunder Bears for Ah-cy Ying, a 21-year-old first baseman in Rookie Ball who wasn’t fooling anyone. A non-prospect if there ever was one, Ying’s name would vanish from transaction logs faster than a discount app subscription. But the real victory was the nearly three million in salary off the books. Payroll space. Wiggle room. Graham told himself this was what good GMs did. Still, he poured himself a bourbon that night, sitting in his condo with the lights dimmed, and wondered if “good GM” also meant “guy who sells off part of his catching depth for a kid who can’t hit the curve.”

After the easy negotiations with Moscow GM Mike Neugebauer that ran less than 15 minutes, Graham made his way to his couch and relax. It was the time of the year, post-Winter Meetings and pre-spring training, in which general managers could finally catch their breath. Suddenly, Graham's phone rang again on his kitchen island. He thought about letting it go to voicemail, but had a sixth sense intuition that this was a call to pick up.

The phone buzzed again on the faux marble. “Palm Beach Police Department,” the screen announced. Graham’s blood chilled. He picked it up anyway.

“Mr. Luna?” the voice said, gravelly, authoritative. “Detective Randall here. We’ve got someone in custody we believe is connected to you. One Darryl Eugene Halbrook. Age forty-eight. Criminal record’s thicker than a Cheesecake Factory menu. Petty theft, breaking and entering, aggravated assault in ’57. Tonight we caught him trying to strip catalytic converters off a line of parked cars. Sloppy work. He was using a power saw at two in the morning.”

Graham leaned against the counter, knuckles whitening around the glass in his other hand.

“When we searched his residence,” Randall continued, “we found some items. A small bonsai tree. Recognize that?”

The room tilted for a moment. Graham’s eyes went instinctively to the bare table by the window.

“And…a folder,” Randall added. He hesitated, the kind of pause that told Graham the detective was weighing his words. “A folder full of documents. Photographs. Information. Let’s just say it paints a picture that you may not want to come to light. We’d like to have a talk tomorrow. Discuss…it.”

“It.” The single syllable thudded heavier than any of Randall’s charges against Halbrook. Graham’s pulse pounded in his temples. He wanted to ask what exactly was in the folder, how much detail, who else had seen it, but he didn’t dare. He was balanced on a knife edge.

Silence stretched between them, broken only when Graham’s phone chirped for the third time within the hour with the high-pitched beep of call waiting. He glanced at the screen. A new number. International. +90 country code.

"Turkey?", Graham said to no one but himself.

Randall’s voice crackled on. “Mr. Luna? You still there?”

Graham didn’t answer. He was staring at the glowing screen, at the country code, at the sharp new thread pulling at the unraveling seams of his life.

He tapped the button. The detective’s voice vanished. The line clicked.

“Mr. Luna?” came a smooth, accented voice on the other end. “This is Cemal Jirecek. I own the Charm City Jimmies. Are you free to talk?”

The glass slipped slightly in Graham’s hand, ice cubes clinking. The bare table by the window mocked him once more. The bonsai was gone. Darryl was in custody. The folder existed. And now Turkey was on the line.

[Jwalk100]

OIP.1uEcTVkwBx5BwLA9zinkowAAAA.jpeg (12.45 KiB) Viewed 159 times

[Graham]

OIP.1uEcTVkwBx5BwLA9zinkowAAAA.jpeg

[Jwalk100]

[url=http://montybrewster.net/forums/viewtop ... oe#p193658]

I know what's in the file!

OIP.4uJyw7FaqN089TxOkCAYbQHaE8.jpeg (16.86 KiB) Viewed 135 times

[jleddy]

[url=http://montybrewster.net/forums/viewtop ... oe#p193658]

I know what's in the file!

Oh shit, what a callback.

[Jwalk100]

[url=http://montybrewster.net/forums/viewtop ... oe#p193658]

I know what's in the file!

Oh shit, what a callback.

Those were some great stories!