by Mike Ryan
“That solves one of our problems,” Franks said.
“One?” Thrower asked.
“Tiffany and her work situation. She’ll have to go back at some point too.”
Jacobs sighed. “Yeah.”
“Can’t she take more time off too?” Thrower asked.
“A, does she want to?” Franks said. “And B, can she? I don’t know how that stuff works with teachers. They got a union and all, right? Can she take more time off? And if she does, would she still have a job to go back to? ‘Cause if she don’t, I can tell you right now she wouldn’t jeopardize that.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” Jacobs said. “And she loves those kids she teaches. She already feels like she walked out on them. She wouldn’t just leave again.”
“But if it’s for her safety?” Thrower said.
“Doesn’t matter. She’s not leaving those kids for a longer period of time. And she shouldn’t have to.”
“What she has to do and what she wants to do are two different things.”
“I know. But she shouldn’t have to go through this at all.”
“That’s not really the point, Brett. Whether she should be in this or not isn’t debatable. She shouldn’t. But she is. And now it’s about protecting her at all costs. Still can’t teach if you're dead. But you could always find another teaching job when this is over.”
Jacobs looked up at him. He couldn’t really debate what he was saying. It was all true, of course. But he wasn’t going to tell Tiffany what to do. She had to make up her own mind. And whatever she decided, he’d have to be OK with it. And he’d have to work with it either way.
“I can tell you right now,” Franks said, “I think I know that woman good enough by now… she’s going back. And we’re just gonna have to deal with it.”
Jacobs nodded. “I agree. I’ll talk to her. See if she can push back her return another week. I think that’s about all she’ll give us. And it’s about as much as we can expect. The only real issue with her going back is going there and coming back. One of us will just have to be there.”
“That’ll be me,” Thrower said. “That’s my specialty. I’ll make sure she gets there in one piece.”
Franks then spoke loudly, making sure Hack could hear him. “Of course this could all be avoided if someone got us some information soon!”
“I’m working on it!” Hack yelled back.
Franks laughed. “Yeah, man, I mean, if we can find these dudes quick enough, maybe it won’t matter when she goes back to work.”
“Yeah, that would be nice,” Jacobs said. Something told him, though, that it wouldn’t be as quick as he hoped. “Sure would be nice.”
17
Mallette and Butch stood over Ace’s shoulders, looking at the computer screen. They were now on day three. Mallette had hoped something would happen by now.
“What is the holdup?” Mallette asked.
“Hey, I can only put the stuff out there,” Ace replied. “I can’t make them grab it.”
“Your fee is lowering by the day.”
Ace sighed. He immediately started typing again, trying to put some more things out there to be picked up by someone. “You know, what happens if you’re wrong, and this guy doesn’t have some computer guy helping him? Huh? Ever think of that?”
“It crossed my mind.”
“Then what?”
“Then I guess you’ll be working for free, won’t you?”
Ace sighed again. “That’s really not fair, man. I mean, I’m doing my part. It’s not my fault they’re not picking it up.”
“Maybe you’re not doing your part well enough,” Butch said. “Ever think of that?”
“Hey, do not question my skills. I am doing everything I can do here. You wanted this address out there, I’m putting it out there. You want it somewhat hidden, it’s somewhat hidden. You want your names on it, your names are on it. I mean, what else can I do?”
“Try adding more to it,” Mallette said. “Add something else to lead them there.”
Ace took a deep breath, then wiped his face. He put his hands in the air as if he were a doctor about to perform surgery. He wiggled his fingers, then brought them back down to the keyboard and kept working.
“OK. Watch the master at work.”
Mallette and Butch looked at each other. They still weren’t sure about the guy. He seemed to know what he was doing, but he was a bit of an oddball, not that that mattered much to Mallette. As long as Ace got the job done, he’d put up with just about anything.
“Just get it done,” Mallette said. “And fast.”
Jacobs let Franks in, who immediately looked around, wondering why it was so quiet.
“Where is everybody?”
“Tiffany went to the store to get a few things,” Jacobs answered. “Nate went with her.”
Franks continued looking around. “Where’s the pooch?”
“Gunner went with them too.”
Franks raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that? If something happens, is he gonna listen to them?”
“If something happens, I want him there. He loves Tiff. He’ll go into guard mode and protect her. But let’s keep a good thought and hope for a quiet outing, huh?”
“Yeah, you got it, man.” Franks then heard a noise coming from the kitchen. He walked in there and saw Hack typing away. “Hey, thought you weren’t coming until later?”
“My schedule cleared up faster than I thought,” Hack replied. “Figured I’d just come over now.”
“Oh. Good.”
Jacobs and Franks sat down at the table to talk as Hack continued working. It was about ten minutes later when Jacobs glanced over at Hack and saw him with a confused look on his face. Jacobs studied him for a few seconds, quickly coming to the conclusion that he found something, or something was wrong.
“What is it?” Jacobs asked.
Hack briefly looked up for a moment, then put his eyes back on his laptop. “Uh, I dunno.”
“Say what now?” Franks said. “You wanna say that again? What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“Uh, I mean… well, I don’t know.”
“Man, will you stop talking in circles? Did you find something or not?”
“Possibly.”
Franks rolled his eyes and put his hands up. “And people think I’m the only one who talks nonsense.”
Jacobs snickered. “You do, and you are.”
“Really? You gonna tell me you understood what he just said?”
Jacobs didn’t bother answering. He just looked to Hack for further clarification. “What’d you find?”
Hack continued typing. “I’m still trying to figure it out. Looks like I may have come across an address associated with Mallette.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m still trying to confirm that it belongs to him, but it’s looking promising.”
“I’m assuming he doesn’t have his name on it in bright letters?”
Hack laughed. “No. Not quite that easy. It’s hidden behind a couple other names, one of which looks like it’s a Mallette alias. At least it’s a name used before for one of his other places that you hit before.”
“Would he use the same name twice?” Jacobs looked over at Franks.
Franks shrugged. “Maybe he figures it’s something you wouldn’t expect him to do. If you saw it again, maybe you’d think it was someone else.”
“Maybe. Where is it?”
“Just outside the city,” Hack replied. “So far it’s looking like it’s been vacant for a while. Can’t find any utility bills, things like that.”
“It’s probably not him then.”
Hack put his finger in the air. “Until…”
“Until what?”
“Utility bills were turned on three days ago.”
Jacobs and Franks looked at each other. “Fits the timeline with Mallette getting out,” Jacobs said.
Franks nodded. “Yeah, sure does.”
“Just outside t
he city, you said?”
“Yep,” Hack answered.
“Sounds like maybe we’re going on a little scouting mission. Get me everything you can on that building. Information, maps, pictures, everything.”
“You got it.”
Hack started bringing some pictures up when the front door opened. Jacobs got up, just in time to see Gunner run toward him. With the dog wagging his tail, Jacobs rubbed his fur for a few seconds, then went into the living room, seeing Tiffany and Thrower walk in with some bags.
“Since I didn’t get any SOS signals, and didn’t see any flares in the sky, I assume there were no issues?”
Tiffany walked over to him and gave him a smile and a kiss. “Everything was fine.”
“Nice, easy, and peaceful,” Thrower said. “Just the way I like it.”
“But there are more bags that need to be brought in.”
Jacobs and Franks looked at each other. Franks laughed. “Hey, she’s talking to you, man.”
Jacobs sighed, then went outside and helped bring in the remaining bags of groceries. He took a careful look around outside, just to make sure they weren’t followed. With everything looking clear, he went back inside and put the bags on the kitchen counter. He helped Tiffany and Thrower put the items in the cabinets and the refrigerator.
“Oh, I heard back from my parents again,” Tiffany said.
“Everything good?” Jacobs asked.
“Yeah. They are really loving Hawaii.” She laughed, thinking about their conversation. “You know what they asked?”
“Uh, no.”
“Well, you know how they agreed to the extra couple weeks out there, right?”
“Yeah.”
“They asked if I had any more connections to extend their stay even longer.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Jacobs looked at Franks. He immediately got the hint.
“Consider it done,” Franks said, leaving the room to make a phone call.
Once Tiffany saw him leave, she knew what he was doing. “Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. You don’t have to…”
Jacobs put his hand up. “Hey, they’re enjoying themselves, they’re willing to stay, and they’re safe. If they want an extra week or two, as long as we can make it happen, it’s good for everybody.”
“But you’ve already done a lot for them.”
Jacobs shook his head. The only reason they were in danger was because of him. In his mind, he really hadn’t done anything. “Not really.”
“But…” Tiffany stopped, realizing she shouldn’t try to fight it. He was right. They were safe out there. And since there were no changes in their current predicament, it was better for all of them that her parents remained there. She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when it’s over.”
She put her hand on his arm. “Soon. I hope.”
“It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
Franks came back into the room. “Done deal, man. Two more weeks in the sun and the sand, doing nothing but sipping some pina coladas and shaking their bonbons in some hula skirts, and heating up their bedrooms at night.”
Both Jacobs and Tiffany gave him the exact same pained look. One that had a mix of terror and confusion at the same time.
“What?” Jacobs asked.
“Eddie, why would you say that?” Tiffany said. “I love my parents, but you just gave me some visuals I didn’t want to think about!”
Jacobs shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “Because it’s Eddie. Disturbing visuals is his thing.”
Franks looked at both of them. “TMI, huh?”
“Uh, yeah. Just a little.”
Franks laughed again. “Sorry about that. Sometimes I get carried away thinking about certain…”
“Eddie.” Jacobs put his hands in the air and made the safe sign, as if he were a major league umpire, not wanting his friend to say another word. “You don’t have to say anything else. As a matter of fact, please don’t. You’ve already said too much.”
“Oh. Yeah. Mum’s the word.” Franks pretended to zip his lips. “No more talking. Just gonna keep it quiet.”
“So do it.”
Franks pretended to zip them again. “Battening down the old hatch right now. Just gonna button it up.”
As Franks kept talking, Jacobs and Tiffany looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.
“He certainly is one of a kind,” Tiffany said.
Jacobs agreed with that. “He certainly is. What kind, is the question?”
While they were doing that, Thrower started zeroing in on what Hack was doing. He glanced at the computer screen and could see that something was going on.
“What’s that?” Thrower leaned in, looking over Hack’s shoulders.
“Might have a line on Mallette,” Hack replied.
“Promising?”
“Seems so.”
“What?” Tiffany asked, taking turns looking at everybody, hating being left in the dark. “What’s going on?”
“Hack might have found a place that belongs to Mallette,” Jacobs answered. “It’s just outside the city.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is if it actually belongs to him.”
“How are you gonna find out?”
“Only one way.” Jacobs looked at Thrower.
Thrower knew what that look meant. “I’m assuming I should start getting ready.”
“If you’re planning on tagging along, you should.”
Thrower left the room to get his gear. Tiffany sighed, also knowing what that meant.
She gave Jacobs a pair of sad eyes as he put his arms around her. “I know it’s the only way. I just wish there was a different way.”
“Me too. But we’ll be careful.”
“There’s those words I always hear.”
“Would you prefer me to say we’ll be reckless?”
“Of course not.”
Hack turned around to get Jacobs’ attention. “I got some stuff for you. It’s not much, but it’s something.”
Jacobs walked over to him. “Whatcha got?”
“Can’t find any pictures of the actual building. Just have an aerial satellite view of the place. Road view is no help as the building is off the main road.”
“Of course it is.”
“Nothing else?” Franks asked.
Hack shrugged. “Not a whole lot to find. The building hasn’t been in use for a while. There’s just not much info on it.”
Jacobs was undeterred. “We’ll work with what we got.”
Thrower came back in, his vest on. “Ready?”
“Let’s do it. Come on, Gunner. We got some bad guys to take down.”
18
Jacobs and Thrower were off to the side of the road, a minute or two away from the entrance that would lead them into the property they believed Mallette was now at.
“I don’t like this at all,” Thrower said.
Jacobs found it hard to disagree. It didn’t look like the most ideal setup. There was nothing but trees in between them and wherever the building was, though they still couldn’t see it from that vantage point. There was a small opening a little further down the road, which was blocked off with a small wooden gate. The gate was no issue in itself, as it wasn’t any bigger than waist high, and it didn’t even go all the way across. A car couldn’t go around it, but a person easily could.
Across the street was a bunch of smaller type buildings and business, mostly of the manufacturing and warehousing type. As they continued looking around from the safety of their car, the bad feeling in the pits of their stomachs weren’t subsiding.
“I’m assuming you’re thinking what I’m thinking?” Thrower asked.
Jacobs scratched the side of his face. “Can’t crash through the gate. If they’ve got some type of alarm or camera there, they’ll know we’re coming long before we get there, and there goes our element of surprise.”
“Righ
t.”
Jacobs looked at the picture Hack printed out. “And judging from this, it’ll take a few minutes to get there anyway.”
Thrower then pointed to the picture, putting his finger on the trees on the side of the gravel road that led up to the building. “And who knows if they have guards along the side of the road here.”
“Yeah. So going up with the vehicle is out.”
Thrower looked at the picture again. “Going on foot isn’t much better.”
Jacobs pointed to where they were currently sitting, moving his finger through the trees. “If we get out on foot, we go in through this way, we can use the trees as cover.”
“Same issue with the guards, though. They could have them spread out. And we don’t know if there’s a fence on the other side of those trees. That could be another obstacle.”
Jacobs sighed, not liking it one bit. “And if we find what we’re looking for, and we get into it, getting out could be a challenge.”
Thrower nodded. “We’d have to run out through that jungle again. So if we don’t get everyone that’s there, or a few escape, we could have some big problems.”
“Or if we wind up getting pinned down and they call the cavalry.”
“And we don’t even know if they’re really there.”
“Well, if we get there and the building’s empty, then we don’t really have much to worry about. It’s if we actually find someone that’s the issue.”
“So what are we hoping for?” Thrower asked. “Finding someone or not?”
“I think the goal is always hoping we find someone. The question is whether we want to take the risk in finding out.”
“Well, I guess there’s no rush. We don’t have to make a move. We can wait a while, see what transpires.”
Jacobs agreed. “Yeah. I’m not sure how much they’re gonna advertise their presence, though.”
Thrower looked at the map again. “According to this, there’s no other way in or out. Trees surround the place.”
Jacobs pointed to the back of the property. “Unless they’ve spent some time back here clearing out a small path, just in case they needed to escape. Or wanted to come in unnoticed.”
“Always possible, I suppose.”