by Mike Ryan
“If you choose to stay, be careful.”
“I am anyway.”
“If you were, you wouldn’t have gotten picked up by Ames today, would you?”
“Well, I guess if you put it like that,” Franks added.
“You can’t do anymore face-to-face meetings with anybody unless you trust them one hundred percent.”
“Not everyone trusts the phone, man.”
“You need info, you do it on your terms,” Jacobs said. “If they’re not willing to meet those terms, you walk away. That’s how you stay safe. You don’t reach. You don’t get desperate.”
“What if it’s something we really need?”
“Eddie, you know how I stayed alive for this long doing this?”
“Luck?”
“Well, besides that. Everything you do has to be in an environment or situation that you control. At least as much as possible. Sometimes you can’t, but for you, control it. If someone says to meet somewhere in a dark alley somewhere, assume that’s Ames setting you up. No matter how good the story seems, doubt it first.”
“Yeah, man, I guess that’s a good way of looking at it.”
“It’s the only way of looking at it. ‘Cause the next time Ames sees you, you probably won’t have to worry about me coming to save you again. You’ll probably already be dead,” Jacobs said.
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I do. I’ll be careful.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of careful, how you gonna handle things with Tiffany now?” Franks asked.
Jacobs looked confused. As far as he knew, there was nothing to handle. “What do you mean?”
“Well, with Ames stepping up the pressure, Butch recruiting you, how you gonna manage things with her?”
“There’s nothing to manage.”
“Awe, c’mon, man, don’t start that again.”
“You’ve just said it, Eddie. There’s too much going on. Way too much danger to bring another new person into my life. I can’t do it. I can’t let her.”
“Gonna break her heart, man.”
“I’ve already talked to her about it.”
“You did what now?!”
“That outing at the park, I did go to the park, but I met her there.”
“And?”
“I told her we couldn’t see each other again.”
“You dumb, stupid fool. What’d you go and do a dumb thing like that for? She was into you. This was the chance you needed to turn your life around. To move on and turn the page. And you just crumpled the pages up and threw them away. Man, what is wrong with you? Don’t you wanna eventually get back to what you had before?”
“I’ll never have what I had before.”
Franks started to speak more softly. “Yeah, I know. And I didn’t mean it like that. Obviously no one can replace what you lost. But you could start a new book, a new chapter.”
“Now’s not the time. If I ever did decide to do that again, it has to be the right time.”
“Is there ever gonna be a good time? I mean, there’s always gonna be a Mallette, or an Ames, or a new guy in town, that won’t change. It’ll just be a different name to use as an excuse,” Franks said.
“Maybe you’re right. But that’s how it’s gonna have to be. I won’t get Tiffany mixed up in this. She deserves better than me.”
“All right, man, I guess your mind’s made up on the matter.”
“It is. Like I told her, it’s for the best.”
“Well, I don’t know about that, but we’ll see how it goes. Maybe she’ll come into your life some other point down the road.”
“Maybe.”
The two finished their conversation and hung up their phones. Franks then sat in his kitchen, thinking about things. “And maybe that road just needs to come to you, my friend.”
10
Tiffany was sitting at the kitchen table in her apartment, typing on her laptop, trying to come up with some new lesson plans and ideas for her class. She was hoping that by throwing herself into her schoolwork, she wouldn’t think about Jacobs as much. She’d been brooding over his rejection ever since it happened. But she knew she couldn’t force it, so this was the next best thing she could think of to get her mind off it.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Though she wasn’t expecting anyone, she went over to the door and opened it. She looked at the man who was standing there, who didn’t say a word. He just stared at her.
“Yes?” Tiffany pleasantly asked, though with a tint of confusion.
“Uh, yeah, yeah, um, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t trouble you or anything.”
“Uh, no, not really. Can I help you with something?”
“Umm, yeah, I mean, no. I mean, well, here’s the thing, man. I mean, ma’am. I mean, sorry, I’m a little nervous here.”
Tiffany smiled cautiously, wondering if she was going to have to slam the door shut in the man’s face. She was starting to think the man was a little crazy. Of course, most everyone who knew Franks already thought the same thing.
“Is there something I can do for you?”
“Well, no, I mean, maybe, I mean, maybe there’s something I can do for you.” Franks then looked down at the floor, not sure if that came out how he meant it to. “Uh, this ain’t going right.”
“Excuse me?”
“Umm, I’m sorry, this is coming out all wrong. Can you just shut the door so we can start over?”
“What?”
“Can you just shut the door on me? Just shut it.”
Tiffany looked like she had no idea what was going on. “Uh…. OOOK.” She then shut the door, locked it, and also made sure the deadbolt was attached. She then went over to grab her phone in case she needed to dial 911 in a hurry. She wasn’t sure what the man was going to try to do next. Then there was a knock on the door again. “Go away.”
“It’s me again. My name’s Eddie. Eddie Franks.”
“Please go away.”
Franks spun around and rubbed his head. He knew he had bungled this badly. This wasn’t at all how he pictured this going. “I’m here to talk to you about Brett. Brett Jacobs.”
Tiffany’s heart, which had started racing, now calmed down a little upon hearing Jacobs’ name. “How do you know Brett?”
“He’s one of my best friends.”
“How do I know you’re not just saying that?”
“Uh… I dunno. Oh, he told me what he told you at the park. That you guys couldn’t see each other no more. That you were better off forgetting about him.”
The alarm bells that were initially going off in Tiffany’s head were now starting to subside. Considering she and Jacobs were the only ones there, Jacobs had had to tell the man what had happened. That would mean they had to be friends. She unlocked the door and took off the deadbolt and opened the door slightly, just to get a peek at the man again.
“You’re a friend of Brett’s?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“He didn’t mention you.”
“He didn’t?”
“No,” Tiffany said.
“Hmm. Can’t imagine why. Anyways, I came here to talk to you about him.”
“What’s to talk about? Brett made it clear at the park he didn’t want to pursue anything.”
“Well, that’s the thing, ma’am, I mean Tiffany, Tiff…”
“Tiffany’s fine.”
“Beautiful name, by the way. Love it.”
“Thank you. So what’s there to talk about?”
“Well, this might take a while. You mind if I come in?”
Tiffany looked at the man, unsure if she was willing to take that chance. He did seem a little strange still. “I dunno.”
“Please, I’m only here to talk about Brett. I’d like to help you cats get together, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d be good for him. And god knows, that man needs something good in his life to drive him back from beyond.”
“You don’t even know me.�
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“But I know him. And any lady who can get him to see her on multiple occasions, that’s a keeper in my book. He wouldn’t do that for just old anybody.”
“And you wanna play matchmaker?”
“As crazy as it sounds, yes. Please, I love that man like a brother. And he don’t always know what’s best for him.”
“But you do?”
“In most cases, no. But in this case, yes. Most definitely yes. Can I come in and talk?”
“Umm, what good would that do?”
“I guess that depends on what you want. If you’re willing to take his blowoff and be done with him, then it won’t do no good at all. But if you want the chance of something more with him, then maybe I can help.”
“Help how?”
“That depends on you and what you want.”
“I don’t want to force him into something he doesn’t want or isn’t ready for.”
“He’s ready. Believe me, he is. He might need some pushing and shoving, but he’s ready.”
“Doesn’t seem that way.”
“Tiffany, I’ve been with that man for a few years now, almost since the day that tragedy with his family happened. A few days after that, I think. But I’ve been with him through thick and thin since then. We’ve both saved each other’s lives in that time. And many others. I know what makes him tick.”
“I’m still not sure what…”
“Brett has been at the bottom of a bottomless pit…” Franks stopped talking for a second, realizing what he said didn’t make sense, but like usual, he pressed on. “Anyway, he’s been in this big dark tunnel for so long; he doesn’t think there’s a way out of it. But there is.”
“Umm, are you going to tell me that I’m the light at the end of that tunnel?”
Franks smiled. “Well, you don’t have to be if you don’t want to be. And if I’m wasting my time here, then I sincerely apologize. But if you were at all interested in possibly making something work with Brett, maybe I can help make that happen. But like I said, I guess what happens from here is up to you. And there’s no pressure. You don’t have to be his savior or anything like that. And he wouldn’t want you to feel that way either. But he’s a good man who’s lost his way a little. And if you want to help him find it, and maybe carve out something real good for yourselves and have a future? That’s up to you.”
Tiffany cleared her throat. She didn’t take long to think about it. “Why don’t you come in and we can talk.”
Franks grinned. “My pleasure.”
Tiffany led her guest into the kitchen area, and they both sat down at the table. Tiffany closed her laptop and put it to the side. “Listen, I like Brett, I really do. I like him a lot. But I don’t want to…”
“Before you get into that, let me tell you, the biggest reason that he said he didn’t want to see you again had nothing to do with you. And it had nothing to do with his family and him not being ready.”
“It didn’t?”
“I got the feeling that…”
“The biggest reason is because he feels that anyone who gets close to him, gets hurt. And I guess there’s some truth to that. He was investigating a big mobster, putting him behind bars, and the man had Brett’s wife and kids killed in return.”
Tiffany looked down, still sad to hear it. “It’s awful.”
“A little while after that, Brett’s father was killed by the same man.”
“Oh my god.”
“His brother’s kids were then kidnapped, Brett’s been shot, I’ve been kidnapped, his dog’s been shot.”
“I can’t even imagine everything he’s gone through.”
“Yeah, and because of that, he’s afraid something like that might happen to you. And that’s why he’s pushing you away. He feels he doesn’t deserve… well, you, I guess.”
Tiffany put her hand on her head and thought. “Umm… isn’t that man behind bars now?”
“Well, yeah, but Brett’s still afraid he could give orders to hurt you. And besides that, Brett has been battling the major criminals in this city ever since. Now there’s new guys trying to take Mallette’s place. And believe me, they fight dirty too.”
“Wait, Brett told me he’s in security. Why is… that doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, he is in security. He’s in private security. But part of that is protecting people against these criminals, and he’s not shying away from it. He’s not leaving it to the police; he’s not leaving it to anyone else. He feels he’s got a duty to stop these people on his own, and he’s going full-bore into this thing. And he’s not stopping.”
“I’m not sure how I fit into all that,” Tiffany said.
“I’m not asking you to do anything extra or special other than just trying to be there for him. Don’t take no for an answer with him. You can get through to him if you keep pushing.”
“I’m not sure I want to keep pushing if someone keeps resisting.”
“It might be unfair of me to say that, or to ask of this, and if it is, feel free to tell me to take a hike, lord knows everyone else does, but… nah, forget it.” Franks sighed and looked away.
“What is it?”
“I don’t want to burden you with that. It’s not your fault or nothing.”
“What?”
Franks took a deep breath before saying what he thought. “Well, I just get the feeling that if Brett doesn’t start feeling… human again… that he’s heading down a path of… destruction.”
“Destruction of what?”
“Himself. I’m just worried…” Franks started holding back tears as he thought of his friend. “I’m just worried that if he keeps down this path, that he won’t come back.” Franks looked away and dabbed a tear from his eye, not wanting to break down in the woman’s kitchen.
Tiffany felt bad that Franks was choking up. She could tell how much he cared for Jacobs. “If… if I was around, what could I do to change that?”
“Nothing different. Just be who you are. If he’s around you enough, I think he’ll start… maybe he’d start to…”
“Maybe his heart would start to thaw?”
Franks snapped his fingers and pointed them at her. “There you go. That right there. Maybe so. Maybe so.”
“I do like him. He seems like a good guy.”
“Brett’s the best. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for anybody. He’d put his life on the line for anybody.”
“But there’s that. It does seem like his life has a lot of dangerous elements in it. And I’m not sure I’m… ready for that.”
“I understand. And I’m not here to push you into anything. My only goal here was to try to connect you two if it’s something that you wanted. But if it’s something you really don’t want, then I won’t push.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want it either. I just… I don’t know. It’s a lot to process right now.”
“Completely understand. I get it. I’m throwing a lot of information out there all over the place. I just wanted to give you the chance of pursuing it if you were interested.”
“I mean, what would I even say now to meet with him again? How would I go about it? If I did want to meet with him again, that is.”
“You got a pen and paper I can use?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Tiffany reached under her laptop where she had a pad of paper. There was a pen next to the computer as well. She slid them both over to Franks. He wrote down his name and phone number on it.
“Listen, here’s my number. When you’re ready, if you’re ready, then you send me a text or call, and I’ll figure something out.”
“OK.”
“Don’t worry, figuring out how to get people together is my specialty. I can arrange an accidental meeting with the best of them.”
“OK. I guess, I’ll, uh, I’ll contact you when I’m ready.”
“Thank you for your time, ma’am.”
Franks left Tiffany’s apartment feeling good about the meeting. He felt like she would co
ntact him again. He wasn’t sure how soon that would happen, but he could tell that she liked Jacobs. That was all he needed for a good start. As Tiffany closed the door behind Franks, she put her back against the door, thinking of what just happened. She sighed, not sure what to do. She did like Jacobs, but she wasn’t exactly the pushy type. She wasn’t sure how much she could do with someone who didn’t seem to be as infatuated with her. Still, maybe it was worth a try.
As Franks left Tiffany’s apartment, there was a car across the street keeping an eye on him. He didn’t see them. He also didn’t notice that they followed him into the building to begin with. As soon as Franks got in his car, one of the men in the other car immediately got on the phone.
“Mr. Ames? Franks just walked out of an apartment building.”
“Do you know which one?” Ames asked.
“Oh yeah. We followed him and kept an eye on him. Once he went inside, we came back to the car to wait for him.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t see who answered. We got the apartment number, though.”
“Good. We should be able to find out who it is from that.”
“What do you want us to do? Keep following Franks or sit here on this apartment?”
“Keep following our friend. As long as we know who it is, we can come back to the apartment another time.”
“All right, we’ll keep following him. We’ll keep you posted.”
Ames smiled as he hung up. He started talking to himself while he was lounging by his pool, as if Jacobs were standing right in front of him. “I think the walls are starting to close in on you, Mr. Jacobs. They are closing in.”
11
Ames was sitting by his in-ground pool, having a drink with a couple of ladies on each side of him when one of his associates walked over to him. Charlie tapped Ames on the shoulder and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“We’ve got something.”
Ames put his drink on the ground next to the chair and looked over at his female companions. “Why don’t you ladies take a dip in the pool or go inside or something?”
The women both decided to take a dip. Charlie waited until the bikini-clad women were in the pool before he sat down next to his boss.