by Mike Ryan
“Back door?” Thrower asked.
“As good a place as any.”
Jacobs stood guard as Thrower bent down and started working on the lock. Thrower had it open in less than a minute. He gently pushed the door open and immediately removed his gun as the two of them entered the house. As they started going through the house, which was about four thousand square feet, they heard a noise.
“What’s that?” Thrower asked, stopping in his tracks.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“Sounded like something walking.”
“Maybe it’s the giant dogs coming toward us.”
“Stop, it isn’t even funny.”
Jacobs smiled. “If people could see the big Nate Thrower, afraid of running into a dog.”
“Hey, not all dogs are friendly, you know.”
“Believe me, I’m aware.”
“Sounds like something scurrying toward us.”
They didn’t move for a few seconds, but there was no doubt something was moving in their direction. It sounded like something scratching on the floors, not too far away from them. It was definitely getting closer with each passing second.
It didn’t take much longer to find out what it was. About twenty seconds later, they ran into it. Two small white dogs started hopping up on their back legs, their front paws on the legs of Jacobs and Thrower, wanting to be pet.
“Wow, these little guys sure are vicious,” Jacobs said. Thrower gave him a look, before he reached down to pet the little dogs. “Poodles are known for their bite, too. I figure we got maybe five, ten seconds before they start ripping our arms off.”
“OK, OK, so they’re not quite as big and fierce as I was expecting.” Thrower pet them a few more seconds. “OK, guys, run along now. We got work to do.”
The dogs instantly ran off again.
“Feel better now?” Jacobs asked.
“A little.”
“C’mon, let’s keep moving. Berry’s gotta be upstairs.”
They continued moving through the first floor, trying to find the stairs. Once they did, they started climbing. Once they reached the top step, something hit Thrower hard on the head. He slipped on the top step, sending him sprawling down the steps.
Jacobs hurried onto the top step to face the direction the blow came from, but he got hit on the back of the head as well, from the other direction. Jacobs instantly fell to his hands and knees. He then got hit with another blow on the back of his head, sending him the rest of the way to the floor.
Then, what seemed like all the lights in the entire house, came on. Multiple people appeared from the shadows now, including the big one. Mallette came out from one of the upstairs bedrooms, walking towards Jacobs’ lifeless body. He stood over him, as some of Mallette’s men on the first floor grabbed Thrower by the arms.
“What do you want to do with him?” Selby asked.
“Take him into the room,” Mallette asked. “I wanna know who he is.” Mallette continued looking down at Jacobs, contempt in his eyes. “Get this piece of trash out of here. Take him in with his friend. Make sure they’re both tied up and can’t escape.”
Then Andrew Berry came out from one of the bedrooms, standing next to his boss. Mallette’s men picked Jacobs up and dragged him down the steps, taking him to the same room they were taking Thrower.
“I told you they would come here sooner or later,” Mallette said. “It’s a Jacobs staple. He gets in close with my lawyers. Always. Pumps them for whatever information he can. I knew this day would come. It always does.”
“You were right,” Berry said.
“It looks like Mr. Jacobs went to the well once too often this time. This time it’s gonna cost him his life.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“What do you think I’m going to do with them?” A wide smile spread over Mallette’s face. “I’m going to kill them.”
Mallette started walking down the steps, Berry right behind him. As they made it to the bottom floor, and Mallette made his way to the guest bedroom that Jacobs and Thrower had been taken to, Berry was hoping not to get the room too messy.
“Couldn’t you just throw them in a car and take them to a swamp or something? I mean, I just moved in, I’d hate to get the room all bloody.”
Mallette stopped and turned to face his attorney. “I’m not moving them and giving them the chance to escape. We have them. We have them now. And now is the time where we must do what must be done.”
“Yeah, I get all that, but… it’s… I just moved in.”
“I’ll pay for the cleanup.”
Berry sighed, knowing he had no chance of winning the argument or changing Mallette’s mind. Mallette finally reached the bedroom, and stood in the doorway, seeing Jacobs and Thrower sitting next to each other, both tied to their respective chairs. It was a pleasing sight for him.
“Anything else you need, boss?” Selby asked.
Mallette smiled again. “No. Let the killing begin.”
10
Jacobs and Thrower both picked their heads up as they saw Mallette in the frame of the door. Mallette had a smug look on his face, as was usually the case when he had that sweet smell of victory in the air. He didn’t move as he stared at his two captives, content in how everything had played out to this point. It was just as he predicted. Just as he’d told Berry, he thought Jacobs would get around to this. He always did.
Jacobs tried moving his arms to break free, but they were restrained pretty tight. He wasn’t going anywhere unless the ropes were cut. He looked around, seeing a few other men in the room. There were two men to each side of him, and though he couldn’t see all the way behind him, he thought it was likely the same back there.
Finally, Mallette moved from the door, inching closer to Jacobs. He stood less than a foot away from him, looking down at the tied-up man. As Jacobs held his head higher to look at him, Mallette backhanded him across the cheek.
“Make you feel better?” Jacobs asked defiantly.
“No. What will make me feel better is your death.”
“So do it! Stop blabbering and do what you’ve wanted to do all along.”
Mallette wasn’t ready at that exact moment, though. He had a lot of pent-up anger that he wanted to unleash. He started pacing around the chairs as he tried to get out his thoughts.
“You know, I’ve thought a lot over the years about how we’ve gotten to this point.”
“We got to this point because you killed my family.”
“After you infiltrated my organization in secret and sent me to prison!”
“That was my job! I was a cop. You’re on the other side. That’s what happens. Was I just supposed to turn the other way and pretend you weren’t doing anything criminal? Was I just supposed to join you instead? That’s the way it works between the two sides.”
“I’ve lost too many years of my life because of you,” Mallette said. “Before prison, in prison, and since prison. You’ve consumed too much of my thoughts.”
“So kill yourself and you won’t have any more.”
Mallette chuckled. “Or I could just kill you and have the same effect.”
“Suit yourself.”
Mallette continued walking around the chairs. It seemed to have a calming influence on him, though it might just have been because he knew he was in complete control of the situation.
“Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment? How many times I’ve had thoughts and visions of you sitting before me, just as you are right now? And you know how every single one of those thoughts and dreams has ended?”
“With you killing yourself?”
“With me putting a bullet in the middle of your forehead!”
“Doesn’t sound as good as mine.”
As Mallette kept walking around the two chairs, the calm he had shown slowly started to evaporate. All he was thinking about was how Jacobs had destroyed his organization, ruined his life with a few years behind bars. And t
he more he thought about it, the angrier he was getting. Suddenly, he stopped right in front of Jacobs’ chair and unleashed a right hand that found its mark on Jacobs’ cheek.
Jacobs brushed the pain off. “Make you feel better?”
Mallette then delivered another punch, connecting over Jacobs’ eye. “Before I kill you, I need to get out a lot of anger and aggression I’ve felt over you.”
Mallette continued working Jacobs over for the next several minutes, beating his adversary with left and right hands that had some power behind them. It didn’t take long before the cuts and bruises formed on Jacobs’ head. Blood started trickling down his face from the corner of his eye and the bridge of his nose.
While Mallette concentrated on Jacobs, Thrower kept trying to wiggle free from his restraints. He wasn’t having much luck, however. As the situation went from bad to worse, he couldn’t see a way out of their predicament. Nobody was coming to save them at the last moment. Only Franks and Tiffany knew where they were, and they didn’t have a cavalry behind them to come in and save the day. Even if they unleashed Gunner, he’d likely only get a few people before the rest of them stopped his paws in their tracks.
Their situation seemed hopeless. There didn’t seem to be any way out of it. Not unless lighting struck from above and killed everyone except for them. And that was a little far-fetched.
After a couple minutes, Mallette finally stopped whaling on Jacobs’ face. He shook his hand, feeling some pain in it, though he really didn’t mind. It still felt good to get some of that anger out of his system. It was something he thought he needed to do before he finally finished Jacobs off for good.
As Mallette felt his hand, he took a step back. He still had a few more questions for Jacobs that he wanted answered. “So where’s Franks?”
Jacobs’ eyes were closed, and he didn’t pick his head up. “I dunno.”
Mallette’s instincts took over and he immediately nailed Jacobs with another punch. “I said… where is Franks?! I wanna know, and I wanna know now!”
Jacobs took some deep breaths and coughed, feeling the blood in his mouth. He started whispering. “Come in closer and I’ll tell you.”
Mallette looked at his men, fearing that Jacobs might have been up to something. “Just tell me.”
“I can’t…” Jacobs continued talking, but it was low and didn’t seem coherent as he closed his eyes again, looking as though he might be passing out.
Mallette moved in closer again, putting his hands on Jacobs’ shoulders, and started shaking him. “Where is Franks?!”
Jacobs’ eyes immediately opened, and he spit the blood from his mouth in Mallette’s face. Mallette took a few steps back and wiped his face. He looked back at Jacobs, who had a smile on his.
“I ain’t never telling you where Eddie is. I don’t care what you do to me.”
Mallette unleashed several more right and left hands that connected across Jacobs’ face. They had power behind them. “You cost me everything.” He continued throwing punches. “You cost me time. You cost me money. You cost me my freedom. You did this to me. You. You.” He kept throwing punches, getting angrier with each passing second. “You. You. You.” He seemed to be getting a lot of his frustration out with each punch he delivered. After a minute, he stopped again to continue his questioning. “And what about the dog?”
“He’s right behind you,” Jacobs answered.
Mallette immediately turned around, as if he were frightened that the dog was actually there. Jacobs got a laugh at seeing his reaction.
“‘Fraid of him, aren’t ya? Well, you should be. Because he’ll be coming for you next. And after you kill me, he’s probably gonna rip your testicles right out of your body. And then he’ll stop the foreplay and rip you to shreds.”
“Speaking of the mutt, where is he?”
“He’s around. Nervous?”
Mallette actually was a bit nervous. He knew what that dog was capable of. And he was a little worried that Gunner was actually out there somewhere, waiting for him. It wouldn’t have surprised him if that were the case. He looked at Selby.
“Take a couple men and search the house. See if the dog’s there.”
“And if he’s not?” Selby asked.
“Then look outside. I wanna know if that dog is anywhere on this property.”
“And if he is?”
“Then kill it!”
Selby nodded, then motioned for a couple of the others to leave the room with him as they searched for the dog. As Mallette waited for word from them, he grabbed another chair, and set it up in front of Thrower. Then he sat down.
“So who might you be? You’re the mysterious tough guy who shows up everywhere with him, right?”
“Me?” Thrower asked. “No. No, I just work for the city sanitation department. I help take out the garbage.”
Mallette laughed. “You’re a funny guy, too, huh? You think you’re amusing?”
“Me? No.”
Mallette pointed at Jacobs. “Take a look at his face. You think you want similar treatment?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Well, you can. You can start off by telling me who you are. Maybe you can tell me where Franks and the dog are, huh?”
“Don’t know them,” Thrower replied. “I only go where he tells me. I’m just a hired gun, man. I don’t know anything about the behind-the-scenes stuff. I’ve heard him mention the names, but I don’t know where they are.”
Mallette nodded, looking like he didn’t believe a word he’d just heard. “So that’s what you’re going with, huh? You don’t know nothing?”
“It’s the truth. I can’t tell you what I don’t know. He just hired me to be his right hand, kind of.”
“Oh yeah? What’s he been paying you?”
“Five thousand a week?”
“Five thousand? He’s getting you cheap. I pay a lot more than that.”
“Really? You still hiring?”
“Why? Thinking of changing teams here?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s crossed my mind,” Thrower said. “Seems like the team I’m on is losing.”
“Lost. Not losing. Lost.”
“So how ‘bout it?”
Mallette grinned. “So you think I’d be able to trust you after all this? After you’ve helped the man I hate most in this life? After you’ve helped to kill men who’ve worked for me? You think I could trust you to be loyal after that?”
“Hey, nothing personal. It was just business.”
“Hmm. Well, maybe we could work something out, if you were to finally come clean and tell me your name.”
“The name’s Dave.”
“Dave, huh? What’s your last name?”
“Rogers. Dave Rogers.”
“I don’t suppose you have anything verifying your name, do you?”
“Oh, gee, I must’ve left my wallet in my other pants. If you wanna untie me, I’ll go get it and bring it back.”
Mallette laughed. “You’re an amusing guy, Dave. Where you from?”
“St. Louis.”
“St. Louis, huh? What are you doing here?”
“Told you. He hired me. It’s as simple as that.”
“I’ll tell you what, Dave. If you tell me where Franks and the dog are, I’ll let you go. You can just walk right out of here and go back to St. Louis like nothing ever happened.”
“OK. Just untie me and I’ll let you know.”
Mallette smiled and shook his head. “No. Information first.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly sure you’ll live up to your side of things.”
“What other choice do you have but to trust me? If you don’t, you will most certainly be dead anyway. So why not take the chance that I just might be telling you the truth?”
“I think I’d rather you just kill me.”
Mallette grunted, then angrily stood up. He walked toward the door again, putting his hand on the back of his head before turning around and facing his prisoners. “I’ll eve
n sweeten the pot for you. Both of you. If either of you tell me where Franks and the dog are, I’ll let your dear Tiffany skate free of this. She’ll get a pass. If not, when I find her, if she’s with the others, I’ll kill her too.”
“I don’t believe you,” Jacobs said, his face turning red from the blood that covered it.
“I give you my word. All I want now are Franks and the dog. They are all that concerns me at this point. Once you’re gone, I don’t want to have to worry about them trying to avenge your death. The girl, she’ll move on to someone else. I don’t view her as a threat. The only reason for me to kill her is to cause you more pain. But if you’re already dead, that’s no longer an issue, is it? Just tell me where the others are.”
Mallette looked at Jacobs, who had a blank expression on his face that showed through the blood. Thrower just shrugged, at least as much as he could with being restrained.
“Nobody?” Mallette asked. He turned his attention to Jacobs specifically. “Don’t you love this girl? Don’t you care for her? Don’t you deeply care about her future? Because if you don’t tell me where Franks and the dog are, she’s not going to have one. Is that what you want for her? To go down with everyone else? I’m giving you the option to spare her life. Are you really just going to throw it away for a dog and a guy like Eddie Franks?”
With nobody responding, Mallette paced around the room for a few minutes, trying to figure out his next play. There really wasn’t one, though. If they weren’t going to tell him what he wanted to know, the only option left was to kill them. He wasn’t overly concerned about finding Franks on his own. It would’ve been easier if Jacobs had just told him, but if he had to do it the hard way, he wasn’t exactly opposed to it.
Mallette stopped in front of Jacobs. “Well… if that’s the way you want it.”
One of Mallette’s men came back into the room a few seconds later. “Rest of the house is clean.”
Mallette leaned up against the wall as he waited for Selby. Clearing the outside would take a little longer.
“Hey, uh, you think any more about that job?” Thrower asked.
Mallette laughed. “You know, you seem like the kind of guy I’d like. What was it, Dale?”