by Mike Ryan
“I know, man. I know. But we’re getting there. It’s not going as fast as we want. But we’re getting there. Butch is gone. Maybe soon one of these other chumps is gonna go… we’re getting there. Just a little bit longer.”
Jacobs then had a thought. “Of course, if you’re able to figure out a way to get these two guys in the same place at the same time, maybe we can work some magic and eliminate both of them at the same time.”
“What do I look like, Houdini? You think I can just magically bring these two slobs together?”
“Well? Can’t you?”
“What do you think I am?”
“You really want me to answer?”
“No!” Franks then rubbed his chin. “All right, let me put my ear to the ground and see what I can do. Maybe I can put some feelers out there. Maybe we can create some false info out there leading both of them to the same place. Might take a little work and a bit of luck. Or maybe a lot of luck.”
“If there’s anyone who can do it… you’re the guy.”
Franks gave him a side-eye. “I don’t know about that, but we’ll give it a go. We’ll give it the old college try.”
“And if that doesn’t work, try something else.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know,” Jacobs said. “But like I said, if there’s anyone who can do the job… you’re it.”
4
Everyone was huddled around the kitchen table at Jacobs’ house, including Franks, Tiffany, Thrower, and Hack. They were trying to get some kind of lead on either Mallette or Ames. They weren’t having much luck on either account.
“You sure you put out those feelers?” Jacobs asked.
Franks rolled his eyes. “How many times are you gonna ask me that, man? It’s only been a day or two; you gotta give it time to spread and percolate.”
“We’ve already had a lot of time.”
Franks put his arms up. “Hey, it takes what it takes, man. I can’t speed things up here.”
Jacobs sighed but knew there was nothing else they could do with that. Nothing but sit and wait. He turned his attention to other matters. “Nate, you sure my brother’s family is good?”
Thrower nodded. “Eddie’s still got those other guys over there, but I didn’t see even a hint of anything wrong in the few days I was watching. And you’d think if they were gonna try anything, they probably would’ve done it by now.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“I can head back over there if you want.”
“No, as long as those other guys are still there, that’s good enough.”
“I think if they were gonna try something, they wouldn’t wait this long. They’d try to do it before we thought about it. And that means they would’ve done it right away.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Hack started snapping his fingers, though his eyes remained fixed on his computer. Everyone immediately stopped and stared at him, though.
“You got something?” Franks asked.
“Uh, just give me a second,” Hack answered.
Franks huffed. “Well, why’d you call us over here if you’re not ready yet?”
“I didn’t call you over. I snapped my fingers. That was just to get you prepared.”
“Prepared for what?”
Hack finished typing, then pointed at the monitor. “This.”
Everyone leaned in to see what Hack had learned. They all looked at each other, though, clearly not seeing the same thing he was. Hack glanced at each of them, seeing the puzzled looks on their faces.
“You don’t see it?” Hack asked.
They each shook their heads. “Evidently not,” Franks replied.
“Look at this address here.” Hack pointed at the screen.
“Not familiar to me,” Jacobs said.
“Because it’s never come across us before.”
“What exactly are you telling us, man?” Franks asked.
“I’m telling you, I think this is where Mallette is.”
Everyone stared at Hack again, not quite believing what he was saying.
“You’re saying you think Mallette is here?” Jacobs said. “Right now?”
Hack nodded. “Yes.” He continued typing, bringing up different pages and images to illustrate his point. “Look, this is a two-floor building. The bottom floor is currently in operation, used as a manufacturing facility. The second floor is used for offices.”
“So?” Franks said. “What business is gonna let a guy like that come in and set up shop there?”
“One that he owns.”
“Say what now?”
“Mallette owns this building.”
“Come again? I thought we already figured out everything that was connected to him. We’ve already been down this road. We established there was nothing else out there associated with him.”
“That we knew of at the time,” Hack said. “Yes, it’s true, we’ve run these searches before, but I’ve diverged a little bit, played a couple hunches, and now I’m telling you this place belongs to him.”
“How are you coming to this assumption?” Jacobs asked.
“It’s not an assumption. I’m telling you, he’s there.”
“OK, let’s just say you’re right. How did you get to this?”
“Well, we’ve known all along that Mallette has had—and still has—aliases for various business purposes and other reasons.”
“Yeah?”
“And we ran down all of those that we knew of, which didn’t lead us anywhere. So I started playing a few hunches and started looking into businesses that were formed or incorporated in the year or two before he was sent to prison, figuring that maybe he was stashing things away for a rainy day. That way when he got out, if things didn’t go so well, he wasn’t left pinching for pennies.”
Jacobs waved his hand around in a circular motion. “We got all that. Get to the good part.”
Hack took a deep breath. “OK. I’ll spare you the long boring details of how I got there, but I uncovered a few names and businesses that I was able to definitely pinpoint back to Mallette.”
“How?” Franks asked.
Jacobs put his hand up, not really wanting to hear the details. At that point, he just wanted to know it was accurate. “Forget how. You’re positive?”
“Absolutely,” Hack replied. “A name that I can trace back to Mallette bought this business two years before he was sent to prison.”
“But how do you know he’s there now?” Franks said. “That’s what I want to know.”
“I’ve analyzed a lot of information about that building. Phone records, electricity records, computer IP information, and more, and I’m telling you, there is a lot of activity coming from that building long after the place closes.”
“But how do you know that’s just not normal operating activities?”
“The place closes at five. There is power consumption, IP activity, well after midnight on most occasions. And those occasions didn’t start until after Mallette was released.”
Jacobs cleared his throat. “So this activity you’re talking about… it wasn’t present before Mallette was released?”
“Right.”
“And now it’s like a hotbed?”
“Correct. I’m telling you, he is there.”
Jacobs nodded as he looked at Hack. He couldn’t remember Hack ever steering him wrong before. There were times when Hack may not have been sure about something, but whenever he guaranteed something, he was right on the money. Jacobs wasn’t about to doubt him now.
“I believe you.”
“Well, if he’s there, then what’s the plan?” Thrower asked.
“The only plan I’ve got at this point. Just finish it.”
Jacobs, Thrower, and Gunner were outside the manufacturing plant that they believed Mallette was using as a headquarters. They were kneeling near some bushes, figuring out their plan. They had each walked a portion of the perimeter and met back up. There were two security cameras mounte
d at the top of the fence in the corner, one pointed to their left, and the other pointed to their right. There were also several strands of barbed wire at the top of the fence. For now, they were safely out of range from the cameras.
“I think we’ve got the right place,” Thrower said. “There’s a ton of cameras around. Never seen so many on a regular business.”
Jacobs agreed. “Yeah, it does seem like a lot.”
“Two on every corner, plus the front and back gates, then who knows how many on the inside.”
“The middle of the fence is a blind spot, though. The fence is too long for each camera to see all the way down.”
“Unless they got another one pointed at the middle, out of sight.”
“Maybe. I think it’s worth chancing.”
“Fine with me. Lead the way.”
They went over to the middle of the fence, making sure they stayed out of the way of the cameras. They brought wire clippers with them to cut through the fence. They had no interest in climbing over the barbed wire. Plus, if they had to make a hot escape, it would be easier to go back through the hole than to climb back over. And Gunner didn’t enjoy climbing fences.
They quickly got through the fence, staying low to the ground. They didn’t see any guards around, though that didn’t mean there weren’t any. Especially with those cameras, they had to assume someone was watching.
They ran to the main building, seeing there were more cameras plastered on the corners of that building as well.
“I don’t see that many cars around,” Thrower said.
“Yeah, I noticed. Let’s keep going.”
They were near a window toward the middle of the building, and they figured that was as good a place to enter as any. Most people—and they assumed this was the case here—reinforced the doors and forgot about the windows. Thrower started smashing the window as Jacobs kept his eyes peeled for signs of trouble coming. Once Thrower had finished, he and Jacobs hoisted Gunner up through the window first. With Gunner inside, Jacobs and Thrower followed him in.
After taking a quick look around, they could see they were in the main part of the manufacturing business. They really had no interest in that and didn’t care to look around much at it. They were more concerned with finding Mallette, or at least where he set up shop.
“Gotta be the second floor,” Jacobs said.
They found the stairs, then slowly went up, their guns out and ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. Once they got to the second floor, they opened the door, finding a small hallway with several doors on each side of it.
They barely stepped foot on the floor when the door closest to them opened. A man stepped out. He had a shoulder holster on, though he had a paper in his hands that he was looking at, not paying attention to, or expecting anyone else there to join him.
Jacobs and Thrower briefly glanced at each other, both of them quickly aiming their weapons at the unsuspecting man who was walking straight for them. The man looked up, then did a double-take once he saw the intruders. He immediately dropped the paper and reached for his gun.
Jacobs and Thrower didn’t let him draw his gun, though, each firing one round that put the man down. Almost instantaneously, another man appeared in the same door frame.
“What’s going on?!” the man asked, before realizing he was in just as much trouble.
Seeing the guns pointed at him, the man tried to retreat through the door and close it. Jacobs and Thrower rushed over to it and pushed it open before the man was able to lock them out. The opening allowed Gunner to sneak in, his mouth cinching down on the man’s forearm, pulling him to the ground.
“Get him off me! Get him off!”
Once Jacobs and Thrower went inside and saw there was nobody else there, and the man had no visible weapons on him, Jacobs called his dog off. The man clutched his arm, then retreated back against the wall. As Jacobs started to question him, Thrower went back to the door, keeping his eyes—and gun—fixed on the hall, in case anyone else came out of any of the other doors. It was clear so far.
“Who else is here?” Jacobs asked.
“Nobody.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“There’s nobody else. Just us.”
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We monitor the cameras overnight.”
“For who?”
“What do you mean, for who? For the business.”
“Mallette?” Jacobs asked.
“Who?”
Jacobs turned his head for a second, trying not to get agitated. He hated when people played these games with him. Especially when they had no leverage.
“Listen, I’m gonna ask you this question one more time. And if you don’t give me a truthful answer, I’m gonna let that dog go back to work on you, and let him chomp down from your wrist until he gets to your shoulder and you’ve got nothing there but bone. And believe me, he is quite capable of tearing your shoulder completely out of its socket.”
The man looked at Gunner, and based on his brief encounter with him already, was inclined to believe just about anything.
“Just… please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not interested in you,” Jacobs said. “Tell me the truth, and I promise we won’t touch you again.”
Realizing he had no leverage, the man knew he had no other option. He nodded. “Mallette works here most times.”
“What do you do for him?”
“Just monitor the cameras overnight. That’s all. We get here about six and work twelve-hour shifts.”
“You work every day?”
“Just weekdays. Someone else takes over the weekends.”
“Nice gig,” Jacobs said. “You know who I am?”
The man shook his head. “No. I’m not involved in Mallette’s business. I was just hired to watch the cameras. That’s it.”
“When’s Mallette usually here?”
“It varies. I don’t know about the weekends. Like I said, I’m not here.”
“During the week?”
“I don’t know about during the day, but at night, sometimes he’ll show up. No specific times.”
“Every day?”
“Most days, yeah.”
“When’s he leave?” Jacobs asked.
“Depends. Sometimes by ten, other times he’s here till midnight, or even later.”
“You ever talk to him?”
“Not normally. Usually just his assistants.”
“Where’s his office?”
“Down the hall. Third door on the right.”
Jacobs looked over to his right where there was a large desk and a dozen monitors, all hooked up to the security cameras that encompassed the building. He then grabbed the rifle that was strapped to his back and started putting holes in the equipment. Though after this he assumed that Mallette wouldn’t come back, but Jacobs still wanted to send the message. Plus, if Mallette wanted to replace everything, he’d have to spend a lot more money to do it.
Jacobs commanded Gunner to stay put and guard the man while he and Thrower investigated the rest of the rooms. Jacobs knew the guy wasn’t going anywhere with Gunner standing in front of him. One by one, they opened and went through each door. There wasn’t much of interest in the rest of them, until they got to Mallette’s office. Jacobs kicked the door open, with Thrower rushing in first and Jacobs following.
“It’s clear,” Thrower said.
They looked around, hoping they’d find something that would tell them where Mallette was staying. They knew Mallette wasn’t staying there twenty-four hours a day. And they were sure he had other places he set up shop in. Jacobs looked through the desk, while Thrower looked around the rest of the room.
Unfortunately, they found nothing of interest. Not that they really expected to. But they hoped, even though it was unlikely, Mallette was going to leave around a clue.
“There’s nothing here,” Thrower said. “Let’s get out of here before someone else shows up.”
&nbs
p; “Maybe we should wait.”
“Brett, this is a working facility. You’ll likely have a hundred workers in here long before Mallette shows his face again.”
Jacobs sighed. “I just hate to give this up already. We found him. Now, he’s probably not coming back here.”
“Well, we just can’t hit here during the day and risk all those other people being here. There’s too many. And they’re probably not involved.”
“I know. I just really wanted this to work. I really hoped he would’ve been here. Maybe we should’ve waited a while.”
“Cat’s out of the bag now. Besides, from the outside, you can’t tell who is or isn’t in this place, anyway. We might’ve waited a week and still came to the same place.”
“Yeah. It’s just disappointing.”
“He’ll know we were here,” Thrower said. “That accounts for something. If this was his main place, this is gonna hit hard for him. Might throw him for a loop. Make him sloppy. Make a mistake.”
“Hope so.”
“C’mon, let’s go.”
Before leaving, Jacobs looked at the whiteboard across from them and went over to it. He couldn’t resist leaving Mallette a message. It wasn’t fancy, but it did the job. Maybe Thrower was right. Maybe this would help Mallette make a mistake. A final one.
Jacobs wrote his message on the board, then took a step back to look at it.
I’m coming — BJ
“Should do the trick,” Thrower said. “Let’s hope it makes him mad enough to get sloppy.”
“Yeah. Just need him to make one more mistake. Just one. That’s all we need.”
5
Mallette was summoned to his office as soon as Daryl Selby had called and told him what had happened. Mallette wasn’t usually the first one there, since he was often attending to different matters. And while Selby didn’t give him the exact details about it, other than someone had broken in, Mallette immediately thought of Jacobs. While it could have been Ames as well, Mallette knew it was Jacobs. This type of operation didn’t seem to be Ames’ style.