by Mike Ryan
“So, what should I do? Never have a life outside of killing people?”
“That’s not what I said. You just need to be cautious. If others with a similar mind to Jeremiah know of her...is all I’m saying.”
“Once I get rid of Jeremiah there will be no others,” Recker said confidently.
“You’re forgetting Vincent.”
“I’m not forgetting him. I just don’t think he’d ever stoop so low.”
“You’re putting a lot of faith in someone who is, let’s just say, not on the side of the city,” Jones said.
“He may not be. But I think, even at his lowest point, he still has some honor.”
“Honor among thieves?”
“Something like that.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Jones asked.
“Then he’ll fall like the others and I’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
Mia exited the bathroom, feeling refreshed from the change of clothes. She threw her arms out as if she was modeling her new wardrobe. She wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. But it fit nicely on her and was comfortable. Recker had good taste in women’s clothes, she thought. She gave him a break and didn’t tell him and tease him further.
“How do I look?” she asked.
“Great,” Recker said.
“Well, with the pleasantries out of the way, I do believe it’s time to get back to work,” Jones said, sitting down at his computer. “In case anyone’s forgotten, we do still have a cop hater on the loose.”
“Oh, yeah, umm, what do you want me to do?” Mia asked, drawing a look from both Recker and Jones.
“Do?” Jones asked.
“Yeah. I mean, I can help somehow,” she said.
“Doing what?” Recker said.
“I dunno, beats me. But just point me in the right direction and let me do something.”
“Mia, we have very complicated systems and software programs in place,” Jones said.
“So, what do you want me to do? Just sit around and play solitaire all day and watch daytime soap operas while you two do all the work?”
Recker looked over at Jones and raised his eyebrows. “She’s got a point.”
“I’m not computer illiterate you know,” Mia said. “I may not be a wiz like you guys but I know how to move a mouse and type. You’re looking for some guy, I can help. Four eyes are better than two.”
“Fine,” Jones said finally. “Pull up a chair.”
Mia smiled and clapped her hands together as she rushed over to a chair and spun it around next to Jones. Though Recker was fairly good with computers himself, Jones was obviously the expert, and he’d be the one to show her what he needed and what she could do. As the day wore on, Mia actually handled herself pretty well and was more proficient than Jones assumed. Jones was impressed with what she was able to accomplish. She was no expert, but he didn’t have to keep looking over her shoulder to make sure she was on task either. The situation with Bernal and Officer Perez was explained to her, and with Jones’ guidance, they continued their search for the pardoned criminal.
While they were on the Bernal case, Recker started looking for ways to end the fight with Jeremiah. Though Recker had known the gang leader for several years, there was still so much Recker didn’t know about him. Since they’d always had a good relationship, or at least cordial, and with all the other cases he had to work on, Recker never assembled as thorough a file on Jeremiah as he should have. Though he could try to pump Tyrell for more information, Recker wasn’t sure how forthcoming he’d be. Both Recker and Jeremiah frequently paid Tyrell for his time and information on different projects, so it was unlikely he’d willingly offer to give up either of his payment distributors. Recker had heard of a few spots where Jeremiah liked to hang out or frequent over the years, but no place where he would definitely be at a specified time. Since Recker only met him at the boarded-up house for their meetings, and Jeremiah was unlikely to go back there until their business was concluded, he had to somehow figure out where he would be in order to take him out.
As the day grew longer, there didn’t turn out to be much success on anybody’s front. Recker exhausted his resources to find Jeremiah, but didn’t get even one lead. He reached out to Tyrell as a last-ditch effort, but never got a return call from him. Jones and Mia also came up empty with trying to find Bernal. They tried everything they could think of, retraced their steps, but couldn’t come up with a location. Seeing as it’d already been several days since they began their search, they assumed time was running short. Recker was ready to use desperate measures. He began pacing around the room, which was usually an indication to Jones that something was on his mind.
“I think it’s time,” Recker said.
“Time for what?” Jones asked.
“Time to get Vincent involved,” Recker said as he stopped pacing to look at him. “I don’t think we have another choice anymore.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to get him involved?”
“I didn’t. But what we’re doing isn’t working.”
“Just to be clear, exactly which case are you interested in bringing him on board with?” Jones asked.
“Bernal.”
“And why would he? What are we offering?”
“A deal,” Recker said. “If he can find Bernal, I’ll take out Jeremiah for him.”
“What makes you think he’d agree?”
“You don’t think he’d agree to a deal where his competition is eliminated?”
“Yes, I know it’s enticing, but what makes us believe he can find Bernal either?”
“I don’t know if he can,” Recker said. “But it’s more than we got now. How many more days can we go on with nothing?”
An agonized look came over Jones, knowing Recker was probably correct in his assessment. “I don’t know. But I do know Bernal is unlikely to wait much longer to extract his own justice.”
Recker grabbed his phone and called Jimmy Malloy, the usual protocol for getting in touch with Vincent. Even though Recker had a direct line to the crime boss, unless it was an immediate emergency, Vincent preferred Malloy being the principal contact. Within ten minutes, Recker got a call back from Malloy, telling him Vincent was willing to meet with him in one hour at the usual restaurant.
“That was fast,” Jones said.
“Well I did say as quick as possible.”
Recker wanted to be as prepared as possible for the meeting and printed out all the information they had on Bernal, so he had something to show Vincent, in the event he was willing to help. After taking a few minutes to print everything out, Recker put it in a file folder and got ready to leave. He touched Mia on the shoulder and told Jones he’d be back immediately after the meeting unless something else came up.
Once Recker got to the diner, he saw the same guard as usual at the door. Instead of going through the usual song and dance over his guns, he decided to just leave them in the car, only carrying the file folder with him. As he approached the entrance, the guard put his hand up as if to stop him from going any further. Recker simply opened his coat so he could see he wasn’t armed.
“Figured I’d save us both the hassle and left them in the car,” Recker said.
The guard shrugged. “I was gonna tell you not to worry about your guns today. You were getting a free pass.”
“Are you serious?”
“Boss said you didn’t need to be checked today. Guess you’ve graduated to trustworthy status.”
“I should’ve graduated to sainthood status by now,” Recker said, drawing a laugh from the guard. The guard opened the door for him, where he was immediately greeted by Malloy. “Don’t you guys ever get tired of the same old thing? Recker asked. “Maybe you should switch it up sometimes. Maybe every now and then have Vincent greet me at the door and you sit at the table.”
Malloy grinned at the humor, though he didn’t deem it worthy of a response. Instead, he did like he usually did, and led R
ecker to the back of the diner at the booth where Vincent was sitting. The boss was just about to cut into a steak dinner as Recker sat down across from him. Recker noticed he also had a plate in front of him.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you,” Vincent said.
“Thanks.”
“So, what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?” Vincent chewed at his first forkful of steak, closing his eyes as he savored the flavor.
“Well, first, thanks for meeting me so soon. I was expecting to have to wait a little bit,” Recker said.
“It’s a good thing you contacted me before dinner.”
“Anyway, I wanted to conduct some business with you.”
“Oh?” Vincent asked, putting his fork in his mouth again.
“Well, first off, I have a few questions I’d like you to answer if you could.”
“Depends what they are.”
“Have you been having problems with Jeremiah lately?” Recker said.
“Problems? In what way?”
Recker shrugged. “In any way. Are you starting to jockey for position with him?”
Vincent put his fork down and sighed, pondering the question for a minute, and not looking too pleased at it even being presented. “In the past couple of months, I have transacted some business in what would be constituted as Jeremiah’s territory. But it’s not with the intent of beginning a war or playing any kind of game with him. I simply began doing some business with a new player and, much to my dismay, they only agreed to conduct it in Jeremiah’s part of town.”
“So, you’re not actively trying to eliminate him?” Recker asked bluntly.
“Not at the present time. In another year or so, who knows? But right now, it’s not on my plate so to speak. Why do you ask? Have you heard rumblings of a problem with him?”
Recker tilted his head and stretched his facial muscles, indicating he had. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“What have you heard?” Vincent asked.
“It goes a little deeper than just hearing a rumor.”
“Considering I haven’t heard anything, you seem to have me at a disadvantage.”
“I actually had a meeting with Jeremiah yesterday,” Recker said.
“I see,” Vincent said, looking very concerned. “And the contents of the meeting.”
“Largely you. He told me he thinks you’re moving in on his territory and planning on eliminating him. He wants to hit you first before you get him.”
“Hmm. That’s an unfortunate turn of events,” Vincent said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I appreciate you coming to me with this.”
“There’s more,” Recker said.
“OK?”
“He wants me to kill you.”
For the first time since Recker had known Vincent, he actually looked a little nervous. Sitting there across from him, seeing firsthand what Recker was capable of, knowing how dangerous he was, Vincent was worried about the revelation.
“And your reply?” Vincent asked.
“I’m not interested.”
“Well I must say it’s a relief to hear that, but why?”
“Because I have no quarrel with you,” Recker said. “You and I have done business nicely together up until now. I’ve done things for you, you’ve done things for me. I see no reason why the situation can’t continue.”
“I would tend to agree,” Vincent said, nodding. “I’ll owe you for this.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I’ll have to be cautious in the coming weeks and months.”
“It actually brings me to why I’m here. I told you I had some business for you.”
“That wasn’t it?”
“No. There’s more,” Recker said.
“I’m listening.”
“I’m willing to take Jeremiah out for you if you do me a favor.”
“And the favor is?”
Recker slid the file folder across the table. Vincent looked at him briefly before opening the folder and scanning its contents. “Adrian Bernal. I’m looking for him and I can’t find him.”
“And you think he works for me?” Vincent asked.
Recker shook his head. “No. I just figured you might have better luck in finding him than I have.”
“And your interest in him?”
“Case I’m working on.”
Vincent threw his hands up, thinking there must’ve been more to it. “There must be something else at stake. You’re willing to kill a powerful player in the underworld in order to find this hoodlum?”
“He’s planning on killing a cop. Officer Perez,” Recker said.
“And you know this officer?”
“Nope. Never laid eyes on him.”
“Then what’s the connection?”
“There isn’t one. Bernal’s a bad dude, looking to kill an innocent person. Perez is a good cop, trying to do his job the best he can. I’m just trying to prevent a bad thing happening to a good person. There’s nothing more to it than that.”
Vincent smiled, believing him totally. “It’s one of the things I’ve always admired about you. Your sense of morality. You’re like a light in a sea of darkness, just trying to break through. You’re an honorable man, Mike. You live by a certain code, your own code. I’ve always respected you.”
“So, we have a deal?”
“Perhaps. Far be it for me to assume there’s more in play here, so you’ll have to excuse my skepticism. But you’re willing to kill a man like Jeremiah, which is no easy task by the way, just for help in a case you’re working, albeit one of good intentions?”
“There may be more to it than I’ve laid out and it may not be as simple as I’ve made it out to be,” Recker said. “But I’ve got my own reasons for wanting Jeremiah dead and they’re kind of personal, so I’m not really too keen on sharing right now.”
“Understood.”
“So, do we have a deal?” Recker asked.
With a smug look on his face, Vincent nodded, moving his mouth around as he swallowed the last part of his food. He called Malloy down to their table and handed him the file folder.
“Adrian Bernal,” Vincent said. “Find him.”
“Right away,” Malloy said.
“Enjoy the rest of your meal,” Vincent said, smiling. “We’ll find him.”
“He’s not as easy as you might think,” Recker said. “I’ve tried all the spots.”
“Well, we’ll go over them again. Just in case.”
“What makes you think you’ll succeed in the spots I didn’t?”
“Well, we may be a bit more persuasive than you were.”
11
It’d been about fifteen hours since Recker had his dinner meeting with Vincent. Recker and his cohorts had been working since around seven, putting most of their resources into getting a fix on Jeremiah’s trail. Jones, though, wasn’t sure it was the best use of their time. He wanted to split their efforts and still focus on Bernal, not wanting to solely leave it up to Vincent to find him. As they were working, Recker periodically looked over at his partner, and could see by the pained expressions on his face that he was bothered by something.
“So? What’s eating you?” Recker asked.
“Do you really think it’s wise to just abandon our search for Bernal?” Jones said.
“We’re not abandoning it. We’re just enlisting other resources in our efforts.”
“For the last few hours, all we’ve done is try to get a beat on Jeremiah. I’m not comfortable not seeing what’s happening on the other fronts.”
“David, what do you want to do? We tried our best. We tried everything we could. We came up empty. What else is there?”
“I don’t know. I would just like to know and see what is being done instead of being left in the dark.”
“When there’s news to report I’m sure we’ll hear something,” Recker said.
“You’re putting a lot of faith in Vincent to find him.”
“Why shouldn’t I? Has he
ever not come through for us when we asked him for something?”
Jones sighed, agreeing with the sentiment, even though he still didn’t like it much. “No, I suppose not.”
“He did rescue us from that maniac,” Mia said.
“Yes, I know,” Jones said. “It doesn’t mean I have to give him carte blanche over all our activities for the rest our days though.”
They continued working for a few more hours, still focusing on Jeremiah, much to Jones’ chagrin. They tried to piece together news reports, public records, witness accounts and contacts in order to find where Jeremiah may have been hiding out. When Recker’s phone rang, he and Jones eagerly looked at it, thinking Vincent had found their man. It wasn’t what they were expecting though.
“Tyrell?” Recker said.
“Hey. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Had a lot of things going on.”
“It’s not a problem. What’s up?”
“I know you and Jeremiah got this thing going on right now and I’m getting caught up in the middle of it.”
“Why, what’s going on?”
“You’re asking me to look for him. He’s asking me to look for you. What the hell’s going on with you guys?” Tyrell asked.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Nah, man, just said something about you double crossing him. I know that don’t sound like you.”
“He wanted me to kill Vincent,” Recker said.
“Oh, wow. He didn’t say nothing about that.”
“I didn’t figure he would.”
“Did you say you would do it?”
“Yeah. Only ‘cause he was trying to blackmail me. Had to figure out a plan first.”
“Blackmail you? How?”
“He was threatening to kill someone I know unless I did it. He had men following them.”
“The prof?”
“No. Someone else.”
Tyrell sighed, trying to figure out what he was going to do. “Listen, he wants me to try and draw you out somewhere.”
“Why?”
“Why you think? To put a bullet in you probably.”
“Well that’s not very nice,” Recker said, joking.