Cap's Place: A Jack Nolan Novel (The Cap's Place Series Book 1)

by Robert Tarrant

  The caller, ensconced in the backseat of the limousine moving down the George Washington Memorial Parkway, growled, “What the fuck is going on down there?”

  The old man hesitated, took a deep breath and replied in a deliberate and measured tone, “Things are under control. I have taken the necessary steps to rectify the situation. Everything will stabilize now.”

  The caller, “Don’t tell me everything is under control. That’s the whole problem. You can’t control your own people. They’re sticking their noses where they shouldn’t be. If you can’t control things I can send someone down there who can.”

  The old man drew another deep breath, “That certainly won’t be necessary. I have already addressed the matter.”

  Again the growl, “Do you have your boy back under control?”

  The old man replied, “He is under control. You can be confident of that.” Starting to continue but thinking it better to leave some things unsaid the old man waited for the next outburst. The wait was not long.

  The growl morphed into a roar, “He better be under control. This isn’t the first time he’s gone rogue on us but it is the last time. Am I clear. I don’t care who he is, or what he’s done in the past, that son of a bitch is expendable. I’m about a heartbeat away from punching his ticket.”

  Fatigue weighed on the old man like an anvil on his chest but he forged ahead into the hurricane, “I understand exactly what you are saying. I assure you he is under control and he will remain so. He intervened when he saw a totally innocent person getting swept up in the matter. The rigid compartmentalization we are practicing these days contributed to this entire mess.”

  The caller’s voice returned to it’s low growl, “You leave protocol to us and you just handle your assets. The issues we are addressing in today’s environment require the level of compartmentalization we utilize. You just worry about the piece of the puzzle you are assigned. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  The old man plowed ahead, “And if innocent people get hurt in the process?”

  “Collateral damage! Are you not familiar with the term?”

  The old man rubbed his temple and sighed, “I’m all too familiar with the term.”

  The growl, “That raises another issue. What loose ends have been created by your boy’s little adventure?”

  “There will be no loose ends.”

  “There had better not be. I can send someone down there to audit things and take any additional steps necessary.”

  The old man shot back, “I’ve told you, everything is under control. Steps have been taken to assure that no loose ends exist.”

  The growl, “You sure as hell better be right. I hear one word to the contrary and the next call won’t be so pleasant.” With that the line went dead.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  I began to thrash again but succeeded only in causing the plastic bands to cut deeper into my arms and legs. With the tape over my mouth I couldn’t even scream. Now I was experiencing the worst terror of all. Sissy was about to be brutalized before my eyes and I could do nothing to stop it. Not only could I not stop it, but I was responsible for it. I should have listened to others. I should have allowed PJ to protect Sissy. I should never have believed Justin when he said that he had eliminated the threat. Fuck, I couldn’t even utilize the intrusion detection equipment properly. Sissy was going to suffer and die and it was my fault!

  Suddenly, Sissy broke free and toppled onto me. Somehow her arms were free and wrapped around me. “Jack, wake up. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Wake up Jack.” I awoke. I was in bed and Sissy had her arms around me in a bear hug shaking me, “Jack, wake up. Wake up. It’s just a nightmare.”

  I felt as if I was enveloped in a thick dark cloud. As the fog began to clear I realized I was trembling all over. I was soaking wet with perspiration and shivering. Sissy now had her face against the side of my head. She whispered, “You’re safe Jack. You’re here with me. It was just a nightmare.”

  As lucidity flooded back into my brain I heard myself whisper, “My God Sissy, it was horrible. He was here. He had you.”

  Sissy leaned back and said, “Who was here?” I watched fear flood across her face when she realized who he was. As quickly as the fear came, it left her face. “No one’s here Jack. Just you and me. No one else. I’m safe. You’re safe. We’re safe.”

  Grasping for reality to counteract the flood of adrenaline I asked, “What time is it anyway?”

  Sissy turned and looked at the clock on the bedside table behind her, “It’s 4:30. Too early to get up. Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

  Feeling the onset of fatigue that always follows a surge of adrenaline I said, “Sure. I think so. First I have to check something. I’ll be right back.” I got out of bed and went into the great room to check the intrusion detection equipment. The system was fine with both the visual and the audible alarms set. I walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water. Standing in front of the sink drinking the water I realized for the first time that I was naked. Obviously the first half of the night had been real and not a dream.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  After the interruption of my nightmare, I slept soundly. When I awoke I could literally smell the coffee brewing. I rolled over, found Sissy’s side of the bed empty, and saw that it was just after eight o'clock. I put on my boxers, a pair of cargo shorts and tee shirt that were draped over the back of a chair, and went out to the kitchen. Sissy was sitting at the small pub table looking through a magazine while the coffee maker was imitating a capped geyser, signifying that the coffee was nearly ready. Sissy was wearing a pair of skin tight yoga pants and an athletic top. Her auburn hair, curling gently at her shoulders, was brushed to a shiny hue and she was wearing light makeup. She looked radiant. Sissy looked up and smiled, “Hi there.”

  “Hi yourself. How long you been up?”

  “Oh, an hour or so. I woke up and you were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to wake you. I went into the other bathroom and freshened up a bit. Coffee is almost done.” The smile faded just a tad and she continued, “Did you sleep okay after your nightmare?”

  I had forgotten the nightmare. It came back to me but the details were a little foggy. I felt my gut clench at even the foggy details. “Oh yeah, sorry about that. Guess I got pretty carried away. Hope I didn’t scare you. It was just a nightmare though. Thank God.”

  Just then the coffee maker sighed its last gasp and Sissy slid off her stool and headed for the coffee, “Only thing that scared me was how agitated you were. I’ve never seen you like that, awake or asleep.” I had never felt like that before, awake or asleep.

  After a couple cups of coffee I called PJ. She said that she was tied up all morning with the carnage left over from the typical weekend but that she could meet Sissy and I for lunch. I had intentionally mentioned including Sissy for two reasons. First, if Justin wasn’t back I didn’t really want to leave her alone. Probably a product of my nightmare. Second, I was certain that PJ would take the news that I had met with Dockery better if Sissy was there. I suggested we meet at Mickey Byrme’s Irish Pub on Hollywood Boulevard near Young Circle. We would grab a booth and the din of the lunch crowd should cover our conversation.

  While I called PJ, Sissy put together a couple of bowls of cereal with strawberries and bananas. We went out to the patio to eat. After a few awkward moments, I realized that we were both ignoring the elephant in the room, or in this case, on the patio. Uncharacteristically, I decided I would break the ice and said, “Sissy, last night was incredible. You are one wonderful lover.” Realizing what I had said I stammered, “Err, you know what I mean.”

  Sissy looked across the table at me with sparkling eyes, “Jack, last night we did make love. For that short time we were definitely lovers. We should not deny that. What we don’t know is whether that will ever occur again. Was it more a product of the circumstances that allowed us to connect like we did or is it something between us as individuals. If it’s so
mething between us, then we’ll experience it again. If it was just the circumstances, then in the future it’ll be a wonderful memory and nothing more. Only time will tell.”

  I reflected on what Sissy had said and then, as is my habit of deflecting anything that could border on a discussion of feelings, replied, “Don’t you think we’ll need to try several more times in order to know if it’s just circumstance or something more?”

  Sissy chuckled and reached across the table patting the top of my hand, “Yes, we may certainly need to take the opportunity to see if it’s more than just great sex. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with great sex in itself. Who knows, maybe we’ll just be friends with occasional benefits. At least we have finally fulfilled the yearning we’ve both been fighting since we first met.”

  I grinned, “Well, I know that on occasion I may have lusted after you, but I certainly never sensed a reciprocal feeling.”

  The sparkle in her eyes morphed into a deep smokey glow, “Oh my friend, I’ve lusted after you since the moment you first appeared on Mickey’s doorstep. Why do you think Mickey and I had talked so much about you?”

  “I guess I didn’t know you and Mickey had talked so-o-o much about me.”

  Sissy gently nodded her head up and down, her hair danced on her shoulders, as she said, “Oh yes, Mickey and I had plenty of talks about you. At first we were afraid you’d just be on the rebound. Your emotions were very raw when you first got down here. Mickey said to just give you some time to get your feet under you. After Mickey died, and you were around Cap’s so much more of the time, it was all I could do to keep from throwing myself at you.”

  I interrupted, “So why didn’t you? Throw yourself at me.”

  Sissy cocked her head and said quietly, “Jack, in spite of what you might think, I’m not easy. I want to know that there is a potential for more than just sex before I get into bed with someone. You had just seemed too . . . too . . . superficial. That is, until now. I’ve gotten to know more about you in the past few days than I had learned the past three years. Like I told you last night, you do have the qualities Mickey always talked about.”

  “Sissy, I never thought you were easy. I thought you were gay, remember. For heavens sake, we slept together the first two nights we were here and I never even attempted to touch you. I will admit that I was confused the last couple of days. I thought maybe you were throwing . . . err . . . interested in Justin. I really couldn’t figure out what was going on. It just didn’t compute.”

  Sissy looked quizzical, “Really. Probably what I was doing was throwing myself at you. I certainly am not interested in Justin. Oh, he is a friend, of sorts, and I certainly appreciate everything he’s done to help protect me, but he’s . . . I don’t know . . . he’s somehow without feelings. It’s like he has no emotions or his emotions are locked so deep inside that they can’t get out.”

  If only Sissy knew how much Justin had done to protect her. At least I think he has done what he says. Still, I must have some doubts. That’s what came out in my nightmare. Yet, I can’t help but believe that he’s the real deal and that he’s on our side and I am thankful for both. However, I certainly understand what Sissy is talking about. If Justin does have emotions he controls them to such an extent they seem to be nonexistent.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Business in downtown Hollywood was light at lunchtime on a Monday, so we found a parking spot on the street only a couple of blocks from Mickey Byrme’s. We found a booth against the wall toward the back of the bar. The waitress hadn’t even spotted us yet when PJ and Tim arrived. PJ slid into the booth across from Sissy and Tim took the outside across from me. They both said hi, but not warmly. Given what I was about to tell them I was glad that Sissy was here. I didn’t think my undercover work with Dockery was going to lighten their moods. I was right.

  PJ’s eyes were big as saucers, “You did what?” Tim was leaning back with his arms folded across his ample stomach with a smirk that said, “You’ve really fucked up now.” Sissy seemed surprised by their reaction. I should have forewarned her. She started to say something but I patted her on the hand to let her know that I’d handle the situation.

  I looked first to Tim and then locked eyes with PJ. I resurrected a low volume version of my courtroom voice and said, “Let me tell you the whole story before you jump all over me. You said yourselves that Dockery wouldn’t talk to you. I wasn’t working as your agent so nothing I learned is tainted.”

  Tim leaned forward and hissed, “We told you that Dockery had declined to talk to us up to that point, but that we weren’t going to take no for an answer. We should never have told you about him at all.”

  PJ had regained her composure and she tilted her head as she said, “Be that as it may, let’s hear what he’s got to say. So what did Dockery tell you?”

  For the next forty-five minutes I told and retold the story of my meeting with Dockery. Each time I ended, PJ or Tim would ask a direct question that brought me back to the beginning again. They seemed to accept my story that Sissy and I had come up with the idea, done internet research to locate Dockery, and executed the plan alone. I was relieved that Justin remained invisible. On the third time through my rendition of our conclusions, that Dockery was behind both murders and the mistaken attack on Sissy, Tim pushed the plate that held the faint remnants of his cheeseburger aside, produced a small notebook, and began to take notes.

  We took a short break while the waitress cleared our dishes and brought the coffee Tim and I had both ordered. Then PJ began going through my story, line by line, asking questions. She was obviously attempting to understand the basis for our conclusions. The more I explained our rational the more confident I felt in our conclusions myself. While PJ and Tim were both noncommittal I could tell from their body language that they began to see our logic. A couple of times as I was talking, I noticed them very subtly look toward each other in seeming recognition of another piece of the puzzle falling into place. I was certain that there were outstanding pieces they hadn’t shared with us. I was also certain that they would not be sharing anything additional with us while the investigation was ongoing. Couldn’t say I blamed them.

  Finally, PJ wrapped up her questions and said, “Okay, thanks Jack.” Turning to Tim she added, “Anything more you need Tim?”

  Tim asked me a couple of questions to clarify his notes. His tone and demeanor was noticeably less accusatory than it had been an hour earlier. I wasn’t certain about PJ, her poker face was on full display, but I felt confident that Tim liked our theories about Dockery. When Tim had finished, he turned to PJ and nodded. PJ said, “Okay Jack, we have everything we need right now. We’ll take this and see what we come up with. I shouldn’t need to tell you to stay out of things now . . . but I will. Have no additional contact with Dockery. We may be able to defend the fact that you acted independently of us yesterday, but no judge is going to buy that you were not acting as our agent if you contact him after this meeting. Are we clear?”

  In my best Tom Cruise imitation, “Crystal.”

  To me firmly, “Good.” Turning to Sissy and softening her voice noticeably PJ asked, “How are you holding up Sissy?”

  Sissy, who had been a spectator to the conversation and seemed lost in thought, shook her head to refocus on the moment and replied in an upbeat tone, “Me? I’m doing fine. Jack is taking great care of me.”

  PJ said, “Just give us a couple of days to run these leads down before you feel too certain there isn’t still someone out there looking for you.” A dark cloud settled on Sissy’s face and PJ quickly added, “I don’t mean to scare you Sissy, I just want you to be careful.”

  I patted Sissy on the hand and said, “You don’t need to worry about that. We’ll continue to be very careful. Sissy won’t go near any place associated with us. Not to her apartment or Cap’s.” I had stopped patting Sissy’s hand and was lightly squeezing it when I finished talking. Tim and PJ both noticed. I awkwardly removed my hand.

  We
made small talk for a couple of minutes and then PJ and Tim left. They told us they would be in touch when they learned anything. As they were walking out the front door it occurred to me that with all of my rotation of cell phones PJ might not be able to reach me. I made a mental note to check in with her in the morning. While thinking about the phones it dawned on me that we hadn’t heard from Justin. The phone he gave me was turned on and in my pocket. I checked it, but no missed calls. Seems like we would have heard from him by now.

  As we were walking back to the car Sissy turned toward me and said, “Jack, I don’t want to go back to Lighthouse Point. I’m tired of hiding. I’m not in danger any longer.”

  I stopped walking, turned, put my hands on her shoulders, “You heard PJ. We still need to be careful Sissy. I think the danger is over too, but we can’t take any chances. Just hang on a while longer.”

  Sissy twisted her mouth in disagreement but said, “Okay, we’ll go back to the hideout, but let’s do something fun first. Let’s not go right back. How about that?” With that, her mouth relaxed into a smile and she batted her eyelashes at me.

  I exhaled deeply in acknowledgement of defeat and said, “What is it you would like to do?”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  It was nearly six when we drove down the driveway toward the guest house. We had spent the afternoon walking on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, poking through tourist trap gift shops, and having a couple of beers in a small dive bar along the Intracoastal.

  I half expected to see Justin’s car when we pulled in, but was wrong. I had checked the phone several times, but no contact from him. Seemed strange. He had suddenly and intensely inserted himself into our situation and now, just as abruptly, he was gone. Just didn’t make sense.