by Jon Mills
“Whether you are right or wrong, there is procedure that we have to follow, so whether—”
The same black SUV came racing into view from the west and blindsided them, slamming into the driver’s side of the cruiser. Metal crunched, glass shattered and brakes screeched as they went into a spin. The impact was so sudden and hard that the cruiser landed in a ditch at the side of the road with steam pouring out of the engine. Jack’s head jerked to the side and cracked against the side door. For a few seconds he must have blacked out as when he came to, the front of the engine was on fire. Golden flames licked upward and several vehicles had stopped. He groaned in agony and hauled himself up just in time to catch sight of three masked men stepping out of the busted-up black Chevrolet.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The three of them were carrying AK47s and walking towards the cruiser. A fast sports car skidded up beside them and the door popped open, it looked as if it was waiting for them. The nerve of these men was unbelievable. Everything was occurring within fifty yards from the police station. Sure, it was a small satellite station, one of seven but still. They must have taken into account the fact that officers would be coming and going. That was unless they had already created some other distraction. It was a common tactic used by criminals. Draw them away so they could do whatever the hell they wanted elsewhere.
Jack looked across to Lieutenant Garcia. He was slumped over the wheel, alive but had a cut on his forehead. Blood trickled down the side of his face and he was groaning.
“Listen to me, we have only a matter of seconds before these men pull me out. If I don’t make this, I want you to go to Howey Mansion, it’s north, four hours from here. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get to Naples and Howey Mansion in time.”
“You ain’t going anywhere,” Garcia groaned, trying to reach for his gun but was cut off as the men got close to the vehicle and pointed a barrel directly at Garcia. One of the other masked men yanked the back door open and hauled Jack out, then slammed the door closed.
“Ray said if you don’t bring him the money, she’s dead. Now go.”
The man shoved his AK47 into his arms and pushed him in the direction of the sports car with the driver’s side door open. The previous driver exited and hopped into the SUV. As Jack rushed towards the Porsche 911 Carrera GT he heard gunfire. He turned to find them shooting at the wheels of the cruiser.
“Don’t kill him.”
His words were lost in the sound of gunfire. Jack glanced at his watch. He’d have to floor it all the way there and even then there was a chance he wouldn’t make it. Jack dove into the slick, idling vehicle and tossed the AK on the passenger side. He slammed the door and jammed the gear stick. The V-10 engine growled as he slammed his foot on the ground and tore out of there, heading west towards Naples. He glanced back in his rearview mirror only for a few seconds to see the masked men leaving in the SUV while Garcia dropped out of the driver’s side and fired several rounds at them.
How the hell had it come to this?
His nerves were fried, he was running on steam and he was torn by what he had to do. This wasn’t just about saving Karla anymore. If he didn’t get that money Isabel and Karla were screwed. The Porsche shot forward, the engine letting out a deafening roar. It was the first time he’d driven a vehicle like this. It had to have been stolen off some car lot as it still had the specs sheet on the passenger side window.
The sports car shot through multiple red lights, almost causing a four-car pileup in the process. Jack had tunnel vision as he snaked his way around US-41, up to FL-29 and then onto I-75.
All he had was an address, no GPS and no idea of where it was in Naples.
As soon as he saw a sign for Naples he pulled off to a gas station, hopped out and rushed inside. There were three people ahead of him waiting to pay for gas, the guy at the front was ordering cigarettes, then he wanted Lotto cards. For god’s sake, hurry up, he thought. Just when Jack thought the guy was done, he asked if he could buy a few scratch cards. Right, that does it! Jack circled around the people and pushed his way to the front.
The other men protested.
“This is a police emergency, where is this place?”
He held up a scrap of paper with nothing more than a number and a road name. After they were done protesting and asking for a badge, one of them squinted at it. “Hold on a second, that’s the Naples Botanical Garden.”
“The what?” Jack stammered.
“It has trails. Beautiful place. Actually funny story…” The old guy was about to break into a long-winded story about him and his ex-wife but Jack wasn’t having it.
“How far away?”
“Well… it’s…”
“Spit it out, goddamnit,” Jack said grabbing him by the collar.
He threw up his hands. “Ten minutes from here. Just keep on this road, you’ll have to go west on Thomasson Drive.” He shot out leaving them wide-eyed, breathless and grumbling. Within seconds he was back on the road causing a few other vehicles to honk their horns as he screeched out in front of them leaving behind a trail of black tire tracks.
“A botanical garden?”
Of all places to meet and yet it was perfect. How many cops would be patrolling there? How much surveillance equipment would be used in a garden? He didn’t imagine they would be expecting people to yank plants out of the ground and walk off with them. They could sit at a bench, exchange a rucksack full of money for a bag of dope and walk away without anyone noticing a thing.
Jack veered right into the lush display of trees, bushes and exotic plants. The sign read: STAFF PARKING ONLY
He ignored it and continued on. As he jumped out of the car he pulled the AK47 and tried to hide it under his coat. A useless endeavor. The first staff member that saw him coming across the green hollered to him that he couldn’t park there. Jack opened his jacket and flashed the weapon and the young man’s eyes flared as he backed up.
“FBI,” he yelled. He’d always wanted to do that. He grinned as he broke into a run. He thought if he at least said that, the kid might not be in such a hurry to call the cops. Not that it would matter, by now Garcia would have already alerted the county sheriff’s department in Naples to be on the lookout for a black Porsche. Jack hadn’t given him the address in Naples. He couldn’t take the risk that he would call it in and blow the whole thing. Cops weren’t exactly subtle when called to an incident. They would rush in with their lights flashing, sirens blaring and crooks would know it long before they showed up.
The young worker threw his hands up. “Whoa, dude, park wherever you like.”
He heard the guy mutter something as he took off running about how they didn’t pay him enough. Jack jogged through the 170 acres of cultivated gardens and preservation land. It was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He saw a sign with a large picture of the garden map outlined. A star indicated where he was on the north side. He circled around Harvey’s Lake and past the Education and Research Center heading south. In order to not cause panic he kept the AK hidden and avoided eye contact with anyone heading in his direction. When he reached the main visitor parking area, he scanned the countless cars moving up and down until he spotted Jimmie’s truck at the far end. He raced down and caught sight of the driver, it was Karla.
The second he came into view her eyes widened, a look of shock spread across her face. She hopped out and ran towards him. He gripped her with one arm.
“Where are they?”
“They went that way.” She pointed towards the water garden sign.
“Listen, get back in and head out on to Bayshore Drive. I will be there soon enough.”
She nodded and rushed back to the truck. Jack pressed on in the direction she’d given. The path took him between the Event Plaza and the café. His eyes scanned the tables for Jimmie but there was no sign of him. He made it down to the Asian Garden and shook his head. The place was an absolute maze of trails and paths that spread out like veins thro
ugh flooded brackish marsh, upland scrub, pines and mangroves. There were eight different gardens and a natural preserve full of hundreds of species of animals. It truly was like entering an exotic jungle.
He figured they wouldn’t stray too far from the truck, which meant they had to be in either the Asian Garden or the Water Garden as those were the only two in that direction that were close to the visitors parking.
Several families passed him and glanced at him. He was sweating profusely and had a cut to the side of his head from the crash. He checked the Water Garden but saw only tourists taking photos and a group on a tour. Doubling back on himself, he had just turned the corner that led down to the Asian Garden when he spotted them. Amid a landscape of banyan trees and bamboo, beneath a Thai pavilion set in a lotus pool that was accessible by a stepping-stone path through the water, he spotted Jimmie. He was seated at a table, sunglasses on, a straw hat perched on his head. Beside him with his hands behind his back was Willie. He was wearing John Lennon-style circular glasses and had his blond hair tied back. Jack stopped. He stood at the corner looking for some way he could take them out while avoiding any public casualties. Shit! A large group of schoolkids moved into view. Some of them were leaning over a bridge blocking his view. He knew this wasn’t going to be a simple case of firing off a few rounds and swooping in and taking the money.
He would have to wait for them to make the deal and then head back this way. Jack took advantage of the towering reeds and plants to stay out of sight. With every passing second he was losing precious time and patience.
“Sir, sir, would you take a photo of us?”
A Japanese woman in her early twenties came up to him and patted him on the back. He turned to find her and her boyfriend grinning like two love-struck buffoons.
“This is not a good time,” he muttered.
“But it will take just a minute.”
“Look, I’m sorry, I can’t.”
Her smile changed to a scowl and she walked back to her boyfriend.
Jack returned to looking at them as they chatted and then exchanged bags. Jimmie rose from the table and shook the Hispanic man’s hand and they parted ways. This is it. He rolled back behind a thick tree and unzipped his jacket to pull out the AK.
That’s when the young woman came back again. However, this time she wasn’t as a polite.
“You know what, you are the reason this world is…”
Before she could continue her rant, Jack pulled the AK.
“Fuck off, lady!”
He assumed she would rush back to her panic-stricken boyfriend and they would get the hell out of there. Not this bitch. She opened her mouth like a guppy fish and let rip a scream that would have made even Alfred Hitchcock proud.
Naturally everyone within earshot turned to see what the commotion was, that included Jimmie and Willie. He yanked the sunglasses from his eyes and his face screwed up as Jack arched around and lifted the AK. Multiple bullets erupted and screams ensued as people rushed for cover. The Hispanic and two of his people who were still beneath the pavilion turned and joined in the firefight, thinking they had been set up. Willie and Jimmie were stuck in the middle. They did the only thing they could and tried to escape through the lily pond while returning fire. Bullets struck a mosaic wall and chunks spat in the air. Water splashed loudly as they desperately tried to run for cover, and the cries of people yelling permeated the air. Jimmie and his brother managed to exit on the side where an ancient ruin was. Jack had already moved around and was coming up the path towards it. Willie shot into view and he unleashed a torrent of slugs, some of which annihilated ancient stone structures. Whoever owned all this shit was going to be pissed. Jimmie wasn’t only trying to return fire on Jack but he had the Hispanics to contend with now. Jack used them to his advantage. Every time they unloaded on the two he would shift a bit closer. Willie tugged on his brother’s jacket and they raced towards another section of the Asian Garden that was part of a village scene. They had a rice field, black bamboo and numerous large bushes they could seek cover in.
After another spurt of gunfire, Jack cut off Willie who was trying to circle around and head back towards the parking lot. He didn’t even see him when Jack burst out of a cluster of trees and plowed into him knocking him to the ground. Wrapping the AK around his neck he pulled him up and leaned his back against a palm tree to try to choke him out. All the while he could see Jimmie slide into view. He cast a glance and his brother asked him to help but he just smiled and raced onto the parking lot.
Willie plowed his heel into Jack’s shin but that only pissed him off even more. No matter how hard he tried to pull that gun away from his throat, Jack held it in place. That’s when Willie pushed forward into the AK, and caused them to stumble. He then bent sharply at the waist and hoisted Jack up and over in one smooth motion. Jack peeled off to the left, the AK dropped to the ground and Willie went for it. The window of opportunity opened, and Jack kicked him in the face as he reached down. He fell back on the ground as Jack scooped up the AK and fired two rounds into him. Immediately he snagged Willie’s Beretta before rushing off in pursuit of Jimmie.
When Jimmie reached the parking lot, holding a bag in one hand, a gun in the other, families rushed for cover, others tried to escape in their vehicles. Jimmie looked around for Karla but she was already gone. Jack jogged up, keeping him in his sights. He fired once, then again and Jimmie ducked for cover behind a vehicle. Back and forth rounds were exchanged until Jimmie saw a woman try to get into her vehicle, he rushed over and smacked her in the face, knocking her to the ground. He snatched the keys out of her hand and dived in. He nearly backed the vehicle over her in his hurry to get out.
Jack reached the parking lot just as the car screeched away. Tires burned. A plume of exhaust fumes billowed. He squeezed the trigger three more times. The rounds shattered the back of the window, and punctured the trunk but it was too late. He’d escaped.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The sound of police sirens echoed nearby as Jack sprinted to the safety of the truck. Karla was parked as requested on Bayshore Drive. They exchanged places and he slammed his foot against the metal and peeled away. An ambulance and four cruisers shot past them, just a blur in his peripheral vision. His heart was pounding in his chest. He wished he could have used the Porsche but the cops would already be on the lookout for it.
Time was against him.
He didn’t have the money for Ray, and Jimmie would be heading for the dock. With his mind whirling, he had to make a few swift decisions. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel while scanning the mirrors for cops. Think!
“Karla, you have a phone?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Um.” She rooted around in her purse and fished it out.
“Okay, I need you to make an anonymous call to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. Tell them to get a message to Lieutenant Garcia. Say that Jack Redford wants him to know that if he wants to get the Mitchell brothers, that window of opportunity is closing. Tell him that Jimmie is on his way to the docks. I’m not sure which one, so have him get in contact with the Coast Guard. He has 2.3 million on him.”
His words came out jumbled. It was hard to know what to suggest. As much as he wanted to get his hands on that bastard’s neck, he knew it would have been a pointless endeavor. Besides, Isabel was the only one that mattered now.
Jack gunned the engine to its full capacity. It roared as they made their way north.
Back at the Howey Mansion, Ray Edmonds snorted a line of coke in his study, then wiped his nose with his finger and thumb. Hours had passed without any call from Jack. Where the hell was he? He had been on edge ever since receiving his panic-stricken call. He’d gone over the numerous deals they had made in the past and was now sitting in front of his computer going through the list of clients in Miami and making phone calls to each of them to confirm that the amounts they requested were what they had received. Nothing about this added up. He trusted the Mitchell boys, they were good guys
he had known since his days growing up. They ran together, got drunk and partied hard. It was a no-brainer hiring them once he had his infrastructure in place and connections with the Colombians. And yet here was an outsider, a complete stranger telling him that the very men he trusted with his own life had betrayed him.
Surrounding him were Thomas and Rico, outside his study were two other men. Upon arrival of Chris, he had told him to wait in the main living area. Right now he was unsure of what to do as he’d never been in this position before. Every deal had gone smoothly. They had flown under the radar of the police. He followed a strict set of rules. In fact he’d studied how other large drug operations had collapsed or fallen prey to raids by the DEA or FBI and in every instance it came down to either carelessness or betrayal.
Ray rose from the table and went over to the large windows that overlooked the grounds behind the mansion. Had he not paid them enough? That had always been a fear of his. Well-paid workers generally didn’t grumble. Even in his legitimate hotels he’d made a point to pay far and above what most employers did, for the simple fact that a worker could make or break his business.
No, he’d never heard them grumble. Not a single word had been mentioned about being unsatisfied.
“Thomas, is Chris still here?”
“Yes sir.”
“Please ask him to come in. Oh and frisk him.”
He gave a nod and exited the study. A few minutes later while his back was still turned, Chris was led into the room.
“What the hell is going on, Ray? You paranoid someone is going to shoot you?”
“Tell me, Chris, we go way back, right?”
“Of course.”
“You would never think of screwing me over?”
He hesitated for a second. “No, Ray.”
Ray went over to his table and pulled out a large box of cigars, he lifted the lid and pulled one out, along with a cigar cutter. He clipped the end while eyeing Chris and proceeded to light it. It burned hot and let off a sweet aroma. He’d always been fond of the finer things in life. He didn’t care for flaunting it in people’s faces but he liked to experience what he knew others couldn’t. He conducted his business in the same manner. His chain of condominiums was expensive to live in, but then he didn’t cater to the poor.