by Robert Swetz
“Someone is coming to pick you up,” the guy told him. “But they won’t be here till later. So take it easy and relax. Just stay out of the way of my drivers.”
“Drivers?”
“The truck drivers.”
“Can I look around?”
“If you want, but it would be a lot safer if you stay here, out of sight.”
“I need to move a bit,” Brian told him.
“Then don’t go far. And whatever you do, don’t carry that gun around.”
Brian left the bag with the gun in it on the floor and wandered out into the building. He saw a big truck pulled partially in through one of the big garage doors. The entire cab of the truck was tilted forward so he could see the engine where a man was working on it. Trucks. He had never ridden in one. They were interesting though. Someday, he’d like to know more about them.
After walking around the interior of the building and not finding anything interesting, except the truck that was still being worked on, he found himself back in the office where he sat on the floor with nothing to do. Not his idea of fun, but what else could he do? The biggest problem with sitting there was that with nothing else to occupy his mind, he couldn’t help but worry about his mother and father. What was happening to them? Where had they been taken? The cleaners. But that was all he knew. What did it mean? And just as much, he wondered what kind of accident they all might face.
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
Michael’s phone rang. He answered it. “Yeah?”
“It’s all set,” the voice on the other end replied. “One push of the button and boom! It’ll look like the fuel line ruptured.”
“Good. Where’s the detonator?”
“I’ve got it.”
“I’ll get it from you later. Just make sure nobody goes looking for that thing.”
“The more I watch it, the more someone is going to get suspicious. Trust me, nobody saw me. Leave it alone and nobody will suspect a thing.”
“Okay. See you later then.”
“Any idea when?”
“We want it to happen this afternoon, but we’ve got to find that damn kid first. Without him, we’ve got trouble.”
“Okay. Let me know,” the man replied. “You need me for anything else right now?”
“You can help look for the kid. He’s proving to be a major pain in the ass.”
“Do you know how many million people are in this city?”
“I don’t care. We’ve got to find him. Then later I’ve got to have another talk with that damn street gang too. That’s another bunch I’d like to annihilate.”
“Don’t do that,” the man replied. “The city might give you a medal.”
“That would be fine. It would be good for the family’s image.”
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Brian!” the voice called softly but firmly.
Brian opened his eyes. Bored, he had fallen asleep again. “Uncle Gerald! What time is it?”
“After lunch. Have you eaten?”
“No, but I’m starving.”
“Then we’ll get something. Come on.”
As Brian grabbed the bag with the gun in it and got up from the floor, he saw three big men standing behind his uncle. None of them were wearing suits.
“Let’s go,” Gerald told him.
Brian followed all of them out of the building. There were three cars parked outside. His uncle led him to the one in the middle and he got in.
“Got the gun?” Gerald asked. He waited until Brian had handed the bag over. He looked into it, then closed it and handed the bag off to one of the men with him. “Brian,” Gerald finally said, “I hate to say this, but we’ve got to figure out someplace to stash you for a bit.”
“What was wrong with where I was?”
“They were friends. Business associates. They were willing to take care of you for a while, but not long. I’ve got other friends in this city though. I just haven’t had a lot of time to look into finding you someplace to stay for a day or two…or three.”
“Someplace I can stay? That’s easy,” Brian told him.
“Where nobody will find you?”
“Yeah. Let me go home.”
“That dump of an apartment?”
“Yeah. It’ll be fine. Nobody in the neighborhood would know that we moved. Not yet anyway.”
“How about Scuderi? He might go looking for you there?”
“I doubt it, but even still, if I see him, I know places where he can never find me.”
“What would you do there?”
“What I always do. Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Well, I walk a lot.”
“Where Scuderi might see you!”
“I doubt it.”
“It sounds like you want to go back there.”
“Not really, but if you don’t want me around, then it’s the best place I know to be. I know the area and the people. And even the Scorpions don’t worry me.”
“The Scorpions?”
“The street gang.”
“They don’t worry you?”
“Not really.”
Gerald considered it. “Okay. I hate to do it, but I’ve got a lot to do right now. The Scuderi’s murdered my father. There’s things that have to be done.”
“Just get me something to eat first. Please?”
Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of the building where Brian and his mother had lived for the last five years. He looked around the street before he got out. Not seeing any of the Scorpions, he grabbed the two bags of food his uncle had gotten for him and hurried from the car into his building. He had some food, his father’s cellphone, and two one-hundred dollar bills from his father’s wallet. According to his uncle, his job right now was to stay in the apartment and out of sight. As far as he was concerned, that wasn’t going to happen.
His apartment door was unlocked when he got there, but he wasn’t sure if his mother had locked it when they had left or not. The moment he opened the door though, he could tell it didn’t matter if the door had been locked or not. He pulled out his father’s cellphone and for the second time, he called his uncle. “Uncle Gerald, you should see this place. Someone’s been in here looking for something.”
“Get out!” his uncle told him. “We’ll be right there.”
He stood outside his apartment door and waited for about five minutes before he heard a lot of feet running up the steps. Five big men came up first. His uncle trailed behind them all.
“This it?” one of the men asked as he pointed to the door. Brian nodded and the man pulled out a gun and went in. So did all the other men. His uncle stood on the landing with him and waited. One of the men finally came out. “Clear,” he told his uncle. “But it looks like they were here looking for him.”
Gerald entered the dingy apartment and Brian followed him. Gerald looked all around. “What do you think?” he asked his men.
“I think they were looking for him…or something…or both, and didn’t find it,” the man replied.
Gerald nodded. “How safe do you think it will be for my nephew to stay here?”
“Safe enough…maybe,” the guy told him. “They were here already. They missed him. I can’t see any reason why they’d come back. Any idea what they were looking for?”
“Maybe,” Gerald replied as he continued to look around. He turned to Brain. “Maybe a hotel room would be better. This place is…”
“Where I used to live,” Brain told him.
“I was going to say that a hotel would be further out of the way, not to mention a lot nicer to stay in.”
“I know this place. I know everything there is to know about this place and the whole neighborhood.”
“Are you sure you want to stay here?”
“Like I said, I know it. I’ll feel better being here than in some hotel where I’ll be even more bored than I will be here.”
“Okay,” Gerald finally decided. “Call me if y
ou need me!” With one last glance at his nephew, he led the men out of the apartment and down the stairs.
Standing to the side of the front window, he watched as the three cars pulled away. He was on his own. He had no idea what had become of his mother and father. His uncle was off doing something he wasn’t sure about. And men were searching for him. Men who wanted to kill him. Now what should he do? First things first. It was time to check the attic.
A few minutes later, he was staring down at the Scorpions below. The only ones who seemed to be there were Frank, Raven, Big Paul, Bella, and Tank. He watched for a few minutes, but there was nothing interesting going on, with the exception that somehow Frank seemed to have hurt his knee. He noticed some kind of cast or knee brace on it. All quiet.
With the Scorpions checked on, he went back to his apartment. But he was alone now, on his own. Staying in the apartment wasn’t what he wanted to do.
He left the apartment and went outside. His eyes scanned all around as he walked down the street. It was hot, very hot. Why did it have to be so hot in the summer? But he was used to it. He walked six blocks down and turned the corner. He went a block over then walked ten blocks up. His eyes constantly scanned what few people he saw around him. Very few. None of the Scorpions at all. But then it was well into the afternoon, and it was hot. After the ten blocks, he turned again, heading back towards his own street, trying to cover the entire edge of the Scorpion’s territory. He was about to cross the street to go another block in the same direction, when a reflection off a shiny car caught his eye. He backed up quicky behind the corner of the building and looked. A big black car was coming up the street. A car that looked an awful lot like Michael’s car.
He was getting ready to run when he saw the car pull over to the curb at the other end of the block he was standing on. With his head peering carefully around the corner, he watched as Michael and his two friends got out of the car and went into the building there. His panic level went way up. He knew who lived there. Frank. But Frank wasn’t in that building just then. Frank was in the building next to his own apartment, where the Scorpion’s headquarters was.
Michael and all his men were inside where they couldn’t see him. He chanced running as fast as he could down the street and into his building. He ran up the stairs and into his apartment. Quickly, he looked out the window, but he didn’t see Michael’s car yet. As fast as he could, he hurried up into the attic. Getting to his watching spot seemed to take too long, but he dared not go too fast in case anyone might hear him. He finally got there and looked down, to see nothing special happening. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe Michael wasn’t coming here.
He had started to slide backwards toward the main air vent when he heard loud cursing from the Scorpions below him, followed by Frank yelling something about getting the guns. By the time he got back, all the Scorpions he could see were staring at the door, and Frank, Big Paul, and Tank were not only holding guns, they were pointing them at the door.
“You bastard!” Brian heard Frank say after a few moments of waiting. He couldn’t see who had come in, but he knew it had to be Michael. “What do you want?”
“Another talk,” Brian heard Michael reply.
“Forget it!” Frank said. Brian jumped when he saw Frank suddenly shoot, followed by Big Paul and Tank. The shots all stopped after a moment, but he saw them still aiming their guns at the door. Then he saw Frank shoot again followed by two more gunshots, one from Big Paul and one from Tank. But there had been one other gunshot mixed in there too and he saw Big Paul fall dead. He heard Bella scream.
“Kill them!” Frank yelled as he started shooting again.
Brian watched as Frank and Tank kept shooting, but he also heard single shots still firing back at them. And then he heard another scream from Bella, and he watched as her body slumped down over top of Big Paul’s body. He was shocked. Was she dead? She hadn’t even been holding a gun.
And then he saw Frank fall, but since he was moving a little, he could tell he wasn’t dead yet. But his stomach was bleeding badly. He saw Tank shooting as fast as he could, until his gun seemed to suddenly run out of bullets. One final gunshot sounded, and Tank’s huge body was blown backwards where he didn’t move. Was he dead? Brian got that impression.
The only two Scorpions who still seemed to be alive were Frank and Raven, and he wasn’t too sure how long Frank would stay alive. Raven was now on top of Frank, crying over him. He saw Raven look up toward the door, crying. And then Michael and both his friends came into his view, none of them hurt at all. He wished he knew how they had done it. How they had managed to kill the Scorpions without any of them even getting hurt. He was going to have to try and figure that out.
Brian was surprised when Michael spoke to Raven instead of Frank. “I have just one question,” Michael said. “If you found a business card, say…in someone’s purse or wallet, what would you do with it? And please tell me you’d put it in that box.”
“A business card?” Raven asked.
“Yeah. A simple business card.”
“Raven shook her head. “We can sell the IDs from the licenses. Sometimes we can use the credit cards. Bus passes and subway passes and things like that we can use too. We’ve got no use for business cards.”
Brian had no idea why Michael would be interested in a business card.
“Do you by any chance remember seeing a business card for someone called Vincent Bianchi?”
“That’s the same name as the woman you were asking about before.”
“Good memory. Maybe you should have been in charge here instead of your boyfriend. Did you see a card like that?”
“No. But we don’t even look at things like that. We just toss them.”
“Where?”
“Into the trash pile.”
“The trash pile you got rid of?”
“Yes. There’s none of that stuff here anymore.”
“What did you do with it?”
“Throw it all in the trash. We break it up and put some into a few different trash cans.”
“And I’m guessing the trash was picked up.”
“The next day,” she told him.
To Brian, Michael seemed deflated. “How could you throw away one hundred and twenty million dollars?”
“What?”
“Never mind. I know you had no idea what you were doing. I wouldn’t have either.” He looked around. “Where’s Legs?”
“Legs?”
“Where is she?”
“She’s not here right now. We haven’t seen her much since…you took her.”
Michael nodded. “Like I told her, if I was in a different line of work, I would have hired her. You were right, the girl can run. Do you know where she is right now?”
“Probably home.”
“If I tell you to go see her for a while, will you leave your cellphone here, and do it?”
She looked at him for a moment. “What about Frank?”
“Frank and I have a little bit of unfinished business to conduct.”
“He’s hurt! He needs a hospital!”
“That’s his problem. Now leave your cellphone and go. And if I see any cop cars come this way while we’re still here, I’ll come back looking for you. And neither you, or your friend Legs, will do any running again. Understand?”
Raven glanced down at Frank, then slowly got to her feet.
“Leave your phone right there,” Michael told her.
She set her cellphone on the floor. Slowly, watching Michael and his friends carefully, she left the building.
Michael looked down at Frank. To Brian, Frank looked like he was dying. There was blood pooling all around him from his stomach and blood coming out of his mouth. “You and your bunch have cost me a hundred and twenty million dollars,” Michael said to Frank. “But this isn’t for that. This is just because a woman I used to like very much, asked me to.”
Brian watched as Michael pointed his gun at Frank and shot him in the head. A w
oman he had liked asked him to kill Frank? Who? Why? As he was trying to puzzle that out, he saw Michael pull his cellphone out and make a call.
“Pop,” Michael said. “The damn street gang didn’t save the business cards. As much as I hate to admit it, the money is gone. There’s no way anyone will ever get it.” He listened for a moment, then said, “Yeah. It’s all set up. Pinky rigged it so it will look like his fuel line ruptured. I’ll get the detonator from him when we get to the airport.” He listened again. “No, we’ll drug them before we pull them out of that basement. They’ll be no trouble at all that way. He listened again. “No, the pilot is taken care of already. He won’t know anything. It’ll just happen. All we’re waiting for now is the kid. He’s the only loose end.” Once again he listened, then replied. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Maybe in the future we’ll find him. If we do, we can take care of him then. Okay, I’ll get Vince and Francesca now. Send Iris over with the drug. Like you said, we need to get this over with as soon as possible.”
Brian’s panic level was off the charts as he watched Michael put his cellphone away and walk out the door. He waited a moment before he dared to move, then he slid backwards as fast as he could toward the main air vent. He climbed up into the attic, but went no further before he pulled out his father’s cellphone. He waited desperately for his uncle to answer. The moment he did, he said, “Uncle Gerald, they’re going to kill my mother and father right now. They’re going to drug them so they’re unconscious, then they put a bomb on the plane that’s supposed to make it look like the fuel line ruptured.”
“How do you know?” Gerald asked immediately.
“Don’t ask. I just know. I heard Michael talking to his father on the phone.”
“You’re sure they put a bomb on the plane?”
“Some guy named Pinky did it. Michael is supposed to meet him at the airport to get the detonator from him. But they’re leaving here to get my mother and father right now. They’re going to drug them so they won’t be any trouble.”
“Are you safe?” Gerald asked.
“I’m fine. Just get my parents.”
“We will,” Gerald said. “If they’re doing it now, then we don’t have time to look after you. I don’t know what you were doing, but please, stay out of sight!”