by Mike Ryan
“Listen, man, now ain’t the time for quibbling. If he can do things faster than us, my personal feelings don’t matter.”
Though the case could certainly be made for bringing the police in, Jacobs wasn’t ready to, though. “No, not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because they would handle things a lot differently than I would.”
“Brett, now ain’t the time for thinking about payback. The first thing to worry about is just getting that girl back. Everything else can wait for a later time.”
“I know. But if they took her for a specific reason, which they did, and we both know that reason is me, do you think bringing the police in is really going to help?”
“Can it hurt?”
“Yes, it can. ‘Cause if they want me and get them, what’s to say they won’t just kill her and be done with it?”
Franks tilted his head, thinking he had a point. He wasn’t sure he was correct, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t either. And with Tiffany’s life at stake, they couldn’t take chances.
“Are we assuming that they’re gonna try to contact you at some point?” Franks asked.
“Yes.”
“Then why not just wait for them instead of frantically trying to find them?”
“How would you like to be an innocent woman trapped in their grasp through no fault of your own? Think she’s OK just waiting?”
Franks hung his head. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jacobs put his hand on Franks’ back. “I know. If we can find them, before they contact us, we might be able to get the drop on them. That’s my hope, anyway.”
“I hope they’re treating her all right and not doing… anything to her.”
Jacobs had the same hope. “Me too.”
They eventually sat down at the table and tried to give Hack as much of a hand as they could. They obviously couldn’t hack into anything the way Hack was able to, but if he got some programs up and running, they could do whatever he instructed them too if it freed him up for other tasks.
They worked straight up until midnight, not having much luck with anything. Hack wasn’t able to find any traces of camera footage, and he couldn’t figure out where Ames or any of his crew might have been hanging out. Frustrated and tired, Hack finally put his elbows on the table and started rubbing his face. He closed his eyes for a second, knowing he had to persevere. Jacobs put his hand on Hack’s arm.
“Take a break for a minute, buddy. Get a drink, stretch your legs.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Hack said. “I just… I can’t find anything. I can’t find anything. It’s like they disappeared. I just can’t believe I can’t find anything.” Hack stopped again, leaning over and putting his hand on the side of his head.
“Just take a few minutes,” Jacobs said
Hack nodded, then got up to grab a drink out of the refrigerator. He leaned up against the counter as he drank the can of soda.
“Can’t even find a crumb?” Franks asked.
Hack closed his eyes, leaned back, and ran his hand over his hair. “No. Their social media footprint is almost non-existent. The couple phone numbers I can trace back to some of their guys, but I can’t locate or fixate on an exact position, and I can’t find any footage leading from that apartment complex. The only thing I can get is an address that traces back to Ames, and it might be a home address, but he’s obviously not going to take her there.”
“But maybe he’s there.” Franks looked over at Jacobs. “If Ames is there…”
“Then I can force him into telling me where Tiffany is. Anything’s worth a shot,” Jacobs said. “What’s the address?”
Hack walked over to the computer to find it again. Before he could sit down, Franks’ phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it anyway.
“Put him on,” the male voice said.
“Who?” Franks answered.
“You know who. You’re standing next to him, aren’t you?”
“Don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Just put him on.”
“I’m not doing anything until you tell me who you are.”
“Put Jacobs on now or else the girl dies in the next five minutes.”
Franks immediately looked at Jacobs and held the phone out for him. He gave a slight nod, letting Jacobs know this was the call they’d been waiting for. Jacobs eagerly took the phone.
“Yeah?”
“Brett Jacobs?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to see the girl again?”
Jacobs tried to quickly place the voice, but he didn’t recognize it. It definitely wasn’t Ames’. “What do you want?”
“We want a simple trade. You for the girl.”
“Where and when?”
The man laughed. “Not even a hesitation or a second thought. So noble.”
“Where and when?”
“Right now.”
“Where?” Jacobs asked.
“The Jefferson Apartments. You know it?”
“Yeah.”
“The girl will be on the fifth floor. Room 512. When you get there, as soon as you step into the apartment, she’ll be released.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
The man laughed again. “You don’t.”
“I’ll be there.”
“And just a word of warning. If we see anyone else there besides you, cops, other men you recruit, anybody, we won’t try this again. We’ll just kill her and move on. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good. See you soon.”
After the man hung up, Jacobs left the phone pressed to his ear for a few seconds, letting everything he’d just said sink in. He finally took the phone away and handed it back to Franks.
“Well?”
“Jefferson Apartments,” Jacobs replied.
“Jefferson Apartments?! That old dump! There ain’t even anyone living there anymore. They evicted everyone a month or two ago. They’re tearing the place down soon.”
“What, you thought they’d pick the Hilton?”
“Ah, jeez. What are you gonna do?”
“They’ll make a trade. Me for her.”
“You ain’t doing that, right?”
“Have to. It’s the only chance she’s got.”
“Brett, buddy, think clearly about this…”
“I am thinking clearly. She deserves a chance. She deserves a life.”
“And what about you? As soon as they see you, you’re as good as dead, you know that.”
“I know.” Jacobs shrugged. “I’ve resigned myself to that fate a long time ago.”
“Awe, c’mon, man, there’s gotta be another way. Let’s call Butch and his boys. That’s the agreement, right?”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“They said if they see anybody besides me, they’ll just kill her and move on. They won’t wait, and they won’t try again.”
“That’s just bluster, man. They’ll obviously try again.”
“But what if they don’t? I can’t take chances with her life. I can’t. And I won’t. If I’m what they want, then that’s what I’ll give them.”
“How long we got?”
“Now.”
Franks made some motions with his arms, then threw them up over his head, keeping them on top as he thought about it. “Gives us no time to prepare.”
“There’s nothing to prepare. I go in and she might live. I don’t and she doesn’t. As simple as that.”
“Nothing’s as simple as that.”
Jacobs shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? That’s the deal.” Jacobs smiled. “It’s OK. We both knew this was the way it would eventually end anyway, right?”
Franks shook his head. “No. No. So that’s just it? You’re just going in there and giving yourself up so they can kill you?”
“Her life for mine.”
“And you’re just gonna take
their word for it that she’s even there? What if it’s just a trap to lure you in? What if she ain’t even there? You’re just gonna trust them?” Jacobs looked down, thinking about it. He had a point with that. Ames and his crew weren’t exactly trustworthy people. “And what happened to that fighting spirit you had earlier? The old, ‘I’m gonna kill every single one of them for doing this to me.’ Huh? What happened to that guy?”
“Maybe I’m just tired. You know? Maybe I’m just tired and through with it all.”
“You wanna get tired? Fine. You wanna be through? Fine. You wanna be done? Fine. But not now. Now’s not the time to throw in the towel.” Franks leaned on the table, almost getting in Jacobs’ face. His voice was rising like he was a football coach trying to give a pep talk at halftime. “You wanna be done? I’ll tell you what to do. You get yourself fired up, pissed off, mean, angry, whatever you gotta do to put yourself in beast mode, and you go in there and find that girl, kill every single son of a bitch you come across, then bring her back here. Then you can be done. Not before.”
Jacobs glared at Franks for a few moments. His face started to get tense. His jaw started to clench tight. Franks could see that his talk was starting to work. Jacobs was starting to get angry. It was written all over his face. It was the talk that Jacobs needed to get him out of his brief moment of despair. Franks was right. Now wasn’t the time to give up. Now was the time for payback. Jacobs took out his weapon and jammed a magazine in it.
“So what are you gonna do?” Franks asked.
Jacobs briefly looked at his gun before looking back at his friend. “Unleash Hell.”
15
Jacobs had the building in sight. It’d been a while since he’d been around the Jefferson Apartments. Honestly, it didn’t look a whole lot different now that nobody was living there. Though there were some chips and cracks in the brick exterior, and small pieces of the building were missing, it really didn’t look much worse before. He could see that they were already starting the demolition process. There was construction debris all over the ground, parts of the roof were missing, and some of the windows had been knocked out. Jacobs looked over at his partner and rubbed his head.
“You ready, boy?”
Gunner growled, standing up in the seat. It looked like he was ready for action.
“I’m ready too,” Franks said from the back seat.
Jacobs looked in the rearview mirror. “I could tell.”
“You sure you don’t want me to go in there with you?”
“I’d rather have you here manning the wheel in case we come out quick. Be ready to roll.”
“You might need someone to watch your back in there.”
Jacobs looked at Gunner. “I already have someone.”
“I meant someone who could shoot.”
“We’ll make it work this way.”
Franks sighed, not liking the setup at all. “Maybe just call Butch and his boys. Maybe he can spare just one or two men.”
“And if they’re spotted? What about Tiffany?”
“Awe, man, this sucks.”
“Usually does.” Jacobs put on his bulletproof vest. He reached down into his bag on the passenger seat floor and removed several handguns. He put one in the holster attached to the front of his vest, then put one each on the holster attached to both of his thighs. He looked like a character straight out of the old West, ready for a shootout in the middle of the street. He also had one attached to the back of his pants. He then grabbed some magazines, also putting them in the compartment on his vest.
“You sure you got enough?”
“Well, I don’t have room for an RPG or anything,” Jacobs replied.
“Taking a rifle?”
“Nah, if anything happens, it’ll be in tight. I’m better with a pistol in tight spots.”
“You sure you don’t want me to call Buchanan?”
“No, Eddie, we’ve already been over that.”
“I’m just making sure, man, just making sure. You want me to grab a rifle and see if I can pick anyone off if they’re standing by a window?”
“Uh, so I should make a note to stay away from windows?”
“No, man, I’m not gonna hit you. I can see what I’m shooting at.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“What, you don’t trust me?”
“Shooting a rifle and hitting a target at a hundred yards away through a window? No, not really. That’s a skill shot and you don’t have the training for it.”
“I can try.”
“You could also blow your hand off.”
“Thanks for the faith.”
“Eddie, just sit at the wheel and keep an eye out. Don’t worry about anything else. Just wait to see us coming out and get in there like your hair’s on fire. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“All right, man, you got it.”
Jacobs took a deep breath, then looked at his furry friend. “Let’s do this.”
Before Jacobs got out of the car, Franks tapped his friend on the back of the shoulder. “Hey, you make sure you make it out of there, huh?”
Jacobs nodded, knowing there was a very real possibility that he wouldn’t. But at the moment, he was more concerned with getting Tiffany. He and Gunner got out of the car and started walking toward the building. The street lights in the area weren’t working, so it was pretty dark out. When they finally got to the edge of the perimeter, there were gates and fences all around the property. It usually wasn’t enough to keep anybody out who really wanted to get in, though. They walked around the outer fence, eventually finding a small hole that was big enough for both of them to crawl through. Once on the inside, Jacobs got to one knee with Gunner sitting next to him. Jacobs put one hand on the dog’s head.
“Listen, all that matters is that we get Tiffany out, yeah?”
Gunner looked at him and whimpered.
“If I go down in there, you find her, you understand?”
Gunner licked his lips and panted.
“It’s important you know that. You don’t stop, you don’t wait for me, you don’t do anything except help get Tiffany back to Eddie, you got it? If I don’t make it, I want you and her to get back to the car, you understand?”
Gunner let out a small bark. Jacobs put his hand up to hush him.
“OK. You ready?”
Gunner replied by bolting toward the building with Jacobs running after him. They tried to avoid running on top of anything that would make a sound that would give away their presence. Of course, if they were watching, and he figured they were, it was likely they knew they were there, anyway. But he didn’t see any reason they should advertise it by making lots of noises either.
Within a few minutes, they got to what used to be a door. It didn’t close properly and was swaying in the wind, and by the looks of the bottom of it, it looked like termites had gotten to it.
“Look alive in there. Be ready for anything.”
Jacobs and Gunner went in, with Jacobs crawling on the ground after pulling the door open violently. He wanted them to know he was there now. When the door hit the back of the building, shots were fired, aiming for where they assumed Jacobs was standing. Jacobs, on his stomach, returned fire, dropping the two shooters that stood at the end of the hallway.
Jacobs got up to one knee and looked at both sides of the hallway. He didn’t like it. Some of the doors were closed, some were open, but there could’ve been a shooter waiting for them in any one of them. Or all of them. The last thing he needed was to pass a room, then have someone jump out of it and start shooting at him from behind.
Jacobs pointed to the first open door to their right. “Gunner, search.”
As Gunner ran into the room, Jacobs kicked open the door to his left. As soon as it opened, there was more gunfire. Jacobs returned the shots, though he was firing blind. Gunner then whizzed right past his owner and ran into the room. Seconds later, the growling of Gunner sinking his teeth into someone’s arm was unmistakabl
e. The groans from the man made it clear enough too. Jacobs quickly darted into the room and found his dog, and the man he was attached to. Jacobs immediately put two rounds into the man’s chest to end the conflict.
They went back into the hallway and started checking the other rooms. They worked the same system. Gunner went into the rooms with no doors, while Jacobs kicked open, or just opened the ones that were closed, though none of them appeared to be locked. It would now take a lot longer to get up to the fifth floor, but it was safer for them to work it this way. They continued walking through the hallway, getting near the end of it, when Gunner suddenly stopped. Jacobs noticed and looked down at him, though he also kept turning his head to make sure nobody surprised them from the front.
“What’s the matter, bud?”
Gunner looked at the back door. Jacobs hadn’t considered it before, but now he thought about the possibility of them having men waiting outside, then coming in after them, hoping to catch them by surprise. Gunner started growling. Jacobs knew something was there now. Gunner was on high alert. He didn’t get like that unless there was an issue.
“What’s wrong, boy?”
Following the lead that his dog was telling him, Jacobs went over to one of the opened rooms and stood there. Gunner went with him. He assumed something was coming. He figured they could wait for them, just like they had been waiting for him.
“Shh. Just wait.”
It didn’t even take a minute, though it seemed much longer than that. Then, what looked like the outlines of two men came in through the back door. They seemed to be moving quickly. Jacobs sprang his arm out from the door and started firing. The first man was dropped immediately. The man behind him got a few shots off, but none of them landed before Jacobs was able to take him out too.
Jacobs went over to the two new dead bodies and removed their weapons from them. He figured he would need them. He holstered his own and took hold of one of the new ones.
“Anything else?”
Gunner stood still for a moment, looking all around, using his nose, but appeared to come up empty.
“Good. Let’s move.”
They went to the end of the hallway, coming to another door that led to the stairwell. Jacobs took a deep breath then quickly opened the door, standing behind it, letting Gunner fly in and take care of anyone who may have been hiding. There was no one, though. Jacobs peeked his head in, then brought the rest of his body in there to follow Gunner. They started going up the steps, Jacobs looking and keeping his gun pointed the entire way, expecting to run into some more visitors.