“It ain’t about being bad,” said Jangle. “It’s about being smart. The game is set. All you got to do is be smart and you never have to go to jail or get killed.”
Bob laughed. “Smart like you ain’t tied up and at my mercy, right? Smart like that fool ass convict locked up in Ionia that you worship? Ain’t none of y’all bad. I’m bad,” he pointed to himself. “This game here in Detroit? It’s bullshit compare to what I’ve seen. iDT ain’t got shit on the Taliban. And some white ass cop ain’t nothing compared muthafuckin’ Hamas. No, I got this, all of it and ain’t nothing in Detroit gonna stop me.”
“How?” asked Jangle. “How the hell are you going to do what nobody else has been able to?”
Bob told him and Jangle knew that when all this was over, a lot of people would be dead.
LaMaris swung her gun upwards toward Danny. It was fast but before it had moved an inch, Danny had already fired the .45 at her.
At the same time, one of the two men on the floor pulled a gun and turned toward Danny.
Danny fired the Glock a second later. To the others in the room, the two guns it sounded like one shot it happened so fast.
LaMaris was hit in collarbone, shattering it. She squeezed the big gun and it fired into the floor in front of her and the kickback threw the gun from her grip.
The man who had pulled the gun was hit in the upper part of his chest. The bullet knocked him over into the man next to him. His weapon never fired.
Trini and Kenjie both hit the floor, yelling surrender.
Danny went over and took LaMaris’s gun away. She was down and shaking. She was uttering curses at Danny and blood was forming on her lips.
Danny took guns off the fallen man and his partner. The wounded man was still alive but having trouble breathing.
“Press down hard on his chest,” Danny told the other man. “Do it!”
The other man put his hands over his partner’s wound and leaned in on it.
LaMaris groaned loudly and tried to get up. “I’m fucking bleeding to death,” said LaMaris. “Call an ambulance!”
“Stay down,” said Danny loudly. “Try not to bleed.”
LaMaris stop trying to get up but was still visibly in pain.
Danny called for the police and medical. Then he turned to Trini and her brother.
“You two over there, get up,” Danny demanded.
Trini and Kenji stood. Trini’s legs shook and she had difficulty.
“Who are you?” he said to Trini and Kenji.
They gave their names.
“Lawrence,” said one of the men on the floor.
“Wasn’t talking to you,” said Danny. To Trini, he said. “Who is this woman?”
Trini hesitated. She was crying and rubbing her hands together very fast. She didn’t seem aware she was doing this.
“LaMaris,” said Trini. “She work with Bob.”
“What did you come here for?” asked Danny.
“Money. To get his money, “ said Trini and now she was crying.
“Fuckin’ snitch!” said LaMaris from the floor.
“Where’s Jangle?” asked Danny. “I know he lives here.“
“We took him,” said Trini. She shrieked as she stepped away from LaMaris who feebly reached for her.
“Focus on me,” said Danny, stepping on LaMaris’s outstretched hand. She yelled and Danny took his foot away. “Where did you take him and why?”
Trini began to cry even more and became incoherent. She was obviously not a hard player, Danny thought.
Two police cruisers pulled up outside. The cars’ flashers threw swirling light on the house. When a cop called a shots fired, they were always prompt.
“I know where he at,” said Kenji. “I’ll take you but me and my sister gotta get out of this. We ain’t in this, man.”
Jangle emptied his bladder in the corner of the room. Bob had untied him to let him pee. When he was done, he turned to see Bob watching him. He held the M4 the way soldiers did, pointed down at an angle.
“Ain’t gonna tie you back up, but if you try to run, you won’t get far,” said Bob patting the rifle.
“I won’t,” said Jangle rubbing his head. “Didn’t have to knock me like that. I might have a concussion or some shit.”
“LaMaris don’t like you,” said Bob. “It was her call.”
“Fuck that fat bitch,” said Jangle. “Damn, my head. Yo, I know this place. This is that old battery place by where they farm.”
“You would have made a fair soldier,” said Bob. “We use this place for work sometimes.”
“How you get past that scary ass farmer?” asked Jangle sitting back down. “That nigga is seriously crazy and his people watch everything around here.”
“I don’t worry about old men. When I take over the east, we gonna run them old bible thumpers off the block.”
Suddenly, a brick crashed through a window to Bob’s right. Bob reacted by turning to his left and raising the M4.
Danny had not expected the man named Bob to turn his way. Most people instinctively turned toward the sudden sound. This man was different. The Farmer was right; he had been trained.
Danny fired the Glock at Bob but Bob had already moved backwards and into a crouch, making himself a smaller target.
Bob raised the M4 up and fired at Danny. It was set on three round bursts. He tilted and moved with it in one motion as he had been trained.
Behind him, Jangle had hit the floor covering his head.
Danny circled in the opposite direction, firing the .45. He landed behind some crates as Bob ripped them to splinters with the M4.
This was no ordinary thug, Danny thought and that gun looked like military issue. He would not last in a shootout with Bob.
As Bob ripped the crates again, Danny kicked a stack to his right. They fell has he moved with them, raising the guns.
Bob shot in the opposite direction thinking Danny had tried to fool him with misdirection again.
Danny emerged from behind the moving crates. Bob turned in the instant but it was too late.
Danny fired both weapons on the run at the former soldier.
The .45 hit Bob in the arm. The Glock cut into his side. Bob jerked and the M4 was dislodged, hitting the ground as Bob fell to the floor on one knee.
Danny ran over and kicked the M4 away as Bob reached for it. Danny eased for just a second then Jangle got up and ran. Danny jerked his head around at the movement.
Bob spun his body around on the floor and swept Danny off his feet using his leg. Danny toppled to the ground hard and his guns flew into the air.
Danny scrambled to his feet, only to be kicked hard in the head by the wounded man who’d gotten to his feet. Bob turned to look for his weapon but Danny lunged at him, knocking Bob back to the ground.
Bob got up. Blood was coming from his wounds. Bob did not measure Danny; he attacked right away. His wounds were not fatal but he would lose blood and get weak if he didn’t finish Danny off quickly.
Bob threw punches and kicks and Danny blocked them. If either man went for a gun, the other would have the advantage.
Danny waded in as Bob jumped and kicked at him, missing. Danny pivoted and slammed a fist into Bob’s back. Bob spun and raised a leg but Danny caught it. Danny leaned back and hurled Bob away. He crashed into a wall and fell into a heap.
Bob rose up and Danny was shocked to see the M4 in his hand. In the confusion, Danny had forgotten where it landed. He had thrown the wounded man over to his weapon.
Bob fired but he was weak and shaken and it was wild. Danny dove for the Glock, which was now just behind him. He got it and turned hoping he wasn’t too late.
Danny saw Bob in front of him tilting the M4 his way. It was too late, he thought. He would not get off a shot at Bob in time.
Suddenly, something jutted out through the right side of Bob’s chest. Bob dropped to his knee
s, then fell forward on his face, revealing the Farmer.
The old man had Jangle and Kenjie next to him on the business end of his .44.
Danny got to his feet. He grabbed the M4 then his own guns. He checked Bob. He was passed out but the bastard was still alive. Danny walked over to the old man.
“Thanks,” said Danny.
“I told you he had training,” said the Farmer. “Is he dead? I hope so, lousy bastard. Woulda shot him but I couldn’t take the chance of hittin’ you. Had to toss the machete at him.”
“Nice shot” said Danny. “He’s still breathing for now,”
“My people saw someone throw a brick in the window,” said the Farmer. “I caught the brick thrower, then I heard shooting and then this one ran out,” he referred to Jangle.
Danny walked over to Jangle who looked scared and hurt. “I know about the whole thing Jangle,” said Danny. “I know you can reach iDT. If Bob there doesn’t die, I’m gonna find out how he planned to catch him.”
“You don’t have to,” said Jangle. “I know how he was gonna to do it. I’ll tell you if you promise I don’t go down for none of this.”
“You want to deal?” said Danny, stepping closer to Jangle. “After the shit I’ve been through tonight? I got a deal for you, tell me right now and I won’t shoot your ass.”
“Sounds like a good offer to me, Irish,” said the Farmer.
30
NS3
Kenjie had dropped the big bag of money into the bus station locker hours ago. Danny waited in the basement of the building, hiding in the shadows. Outside, the police were hiding, strategically placed.
LaMaris was in the hospital under heavy guard. LaMaris had been patched up but Bob was pronounced DOA at the hospital. He’d lost too much blood. The soldier was dead.
Wounded and shaken, Bob had beaten Danny. If it hadn’t been for the Farmer, he might be dead. The U.S. Army did really turn men into badasses, Danny thought.
The Farmer had been taken in for a statement, then released. He’d only seemed to be worried about getting his machete back. Crazy or not, Danny liked him.
Kenjie and his sister had been released. Danny was sure they would both be out of the city as fast as they could run.
Jangle was in the hospital. He’d been kidnapped and beaten and did indeed have a concussion. Since there was no law against having money in your house and he’d had no drugs or illegal weapons, he would be set free.
Jangle told Danny that Bob’s plan was to make the money drop, then he and LaMaris would rotate watches until someone showed up. Bob had bribed two workers at the bus terminal to watch the locker for him twenty four seven.
Jangle had told Bob it wouldn’t work but Bob had thought otherwise. He had been determined to kill iDT.
When Danny heard about the locker and the fact that no one ever came to get the money, he went to the bus terminal to look around. Unless iDT was Harry Potter, someone had to be taking the money away.
Danny had come in the terminal and talked with the terminal manager, asking about the lockers. The one in question, number 117-B was on the bottom in a new area that had been added several years ago.
The old bus station lockers at the terminal had been built over a solid slab of concrete, but the new ones, the ones that contained iDT’s money locker, were built over a wood and concrete foundation.
Danny noticed the new floor and asked what was below it. The terminal manager told him it was a basement.
In the basement, there was a thick foundation with a crawlspace but essentially the lockers sat over a hole in the ground, supported by sturdy columns.
This was how he was getting his payments out, Danny had thought. Sure enough, right under locker 117-B was a false bottom. It must have taken months to carve through at night, Danny thought and it was definitely not a job anyone could have done alone.
The basement was dark and smelled of cleaners and old mop water. Danny waited in a dark corner with the Glock held closely to his side.
It was early morning and the sun was not up yet. Danny vowed he would wait as long as it took to find out who was behind this. This iDT was very smart but he had to be stopped.
Several hours into it, Danny got a call on his radio that someone was walking toward the building.
“Did you see a vehicle?” asked Danny.
“Negative,” came the answer.
“Okay, I’m in position,” Danny said. “No further transmission until we apprehend.”
Danny turned off the radio. Whoever it was had to have a routine. He must have parked several streets over and walked just in case anyone saw him.
Minutes later, a door opened. Light flooded in quickly then it went dark.
Suddenly, Danny saw a flashlight turn on. And soon, he heard footsteps coming his way. Danny struggled to see, but all he could make out was the light and the shape of a person.
The suspect said nothing as he got a ladder and climbed up to the ceiling, then into the crawlspace under the floor above. He moved quickly and smoothly making very little noise.
Danny heard noises then something dislodged. A few seconds later, Danny heard more noises as the false bottom was put back in. The suspect climbed down, then put away the ladder and moved out of the basement.
Danny followed the suspect out of the room, matching his steps. His heart raced a little as he closed the gap between himself and the figure before him. If there were a gang of them outside the door, it would get ugly. Danny quietly pulled his other gun and advanced.
The suspect got to the door and opened it, flooding that part of the room with light.
“Police! Stop!” said Danny as he moved out behind the suspect in the hallway. “Get ‘em in the air! Now!”
The suspect stopped, holding the package filled with drug money in the air.
Danny saw it was a small woman. She was dressed in jeans and a dark jacket. Danny turned her around and looked into the face of Reebah, the computer hacker.
Danny entered and took a seat opposite Reebah in the police interrogation room. He could hardly believe this tiny woman was a criminal kingpin.
Danny had informed Jesse King of this arrest and discovery. The whole city would find out soon and so they had to get as much as they could from Reebah.
“Let me guess,” said Reebah, “you’re disappointed.”
“You’re going to jail for a long time, unless you help me,” Danny said to Reebah. “This is not the time for jokes.”
Danny actually was disappointed in her. With all her talent and all the breaks she’d gotten, Reebah had fallen again. Only this time, she could not blame drugs.
“You was always a smart one, Danny,” said Reebah. “How’d you figure it out?”
“The hard way,” said Danny. “Who are you working with? Who is iDT?”
“I am,” Reebah laughed. “Maybe you ain’t so smart.”
“You want me to believe that you did all this by yourself?”
“You ain’t got to believe it,” said Reebah. “It is what it is.”
“Then let me ask you different question,” said Danny. “Who helped you cut through three feet of concrete and wood to put a false bottom in that locker?”
“I did it all by myself. Had to drink a lot of Red Bull.”
Reebah had been denied any sugar since being brought in and she was beginning to fidget and shake.
“Okay,” said Danny. “We got you on drug charges and a lot of other shit, including violating your probation. We have dealers who will testify to dropping off money to you. And you have to be keeping it somewhere. We’ll find it. With your previous record, it don’t look real good. And whoever supplied your dope will get off free, so they will come after you, even in prison.”
Reebah still looked calm. She was a smart girl and had probably thought of this. Danny was measuring her before he dropped the bomb.
“And that’s before we bring all the murder charges,” said Danny.
Reebah straightened her back and concern crept into her face.
“Nice bluff, Danny. “I never killed nobody and you know it.”
“But you paid people to do it. Once we establish you’re this iDT, then it’ll be easy to pin drug-related murders for hire on you or did you think the people you ordered dead don’t matter?”
Reebah was clearly alarmed now. The shaking intensified, her face drained of color. She looked like she did when she was using drugs, Danny thought.
“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t bring murder cases,” said Danny. “But we got bodies to account for. Now, if the case goes federal because you testify against your partners, then they can offer witness protection. With me, you go to county, then to state prison where your life won’t be worth a bag of weed.”
Reebah buried her face in her hands for a moment, thinking. The word murder had done it. Her hands and head trembled as she contemplated her actions. It was a comical and sad sight.
“I don’t want nothing to happen to my brother, Duke,” she said.
“Why?” asked Danny. “He’s already in prison, I thought.”
“I’ve been working with his friends on the outside, they’re some of those white power guys. The whole set up was their idea. They bring the stuff in and I just keep the dealer’s in line but I only do what they tell me. I cooperate with you and my brother is dead.”
“As soon as they find out you’ve been arrested, he’s dead,” said Danny. “They’ll move to clean up all lose ends.”
“I want Duke moved then, I want a deal from the feds and want it all in writing.” Reebah’s shaking had lowered as she said this with conviction.
“That’s an awful lot for a few names,” said Danny.
“Well, I got one more thing to trade,” said Reebah smiling. “I know who killed that girl who traded sex messages with the Mayor.”
Citycide Page 22