Nimble Be Jack: A Jack Nolan Novel (The Cap's Place Series Book 2)

by Robert Tarrant

  Moe walked toward the back hallway and Mancuso turned to Justin with his hand outstretched, “Lorenzo Mancuso. You and Eddie were in the service together?”

  Justin shook his hand, “Yes sir, Eddie and I did serve together.”

  Mancuso turned to Eddie, “You vouch for this guy, Eddie?”

  “With my life Mr. Mancuso. With my life.”

  Mancuso nodded his head and said, “That’s good enough for me.”

  Moe returned and said, “No answer, I rapped hard. If he was up there, he would’ve heard me.”

  Justin asked, “You have a key Moe?”

  Moe hesitantly, “Yeah.”

  Justin firmly, “Give me the key, I’ll go check. Make certain.”

  Moe took a ring of keys from his pocket and handed it to Justin indicating the key to Jack’s apartment. As Justin started toward the back hallway, Mancuso started to follow, but then stopped and said, “We should stay here and let you check Justin.” The three men stood in the center of the bar, each trying to push the worst thoughts from their minds.

  Shortly, Justin returned shaking his head, “No one up there. Nothing to indicate they have been there at all this evening.”

  Moe gestured toward the back door, “Let’s go outside and take a look at the cars. Look around the building. See if we find anything.”

  Outside, they found the Ferrari as Mancuso had said. Looking at the Ford Fusion Moe said, “This is the rental Jack got on Monday.” Walking over to it, he opened the driver’s door and exclaimed, “It’s open too.”

  Cox, standing at the front of the car, bent down and picked up a cell phone and a small ring of keys, “Do these belong to Nolan?”

  Justin took the phone from him, hit the screen power button and said, “This is Jack’s phone.”

  Mancuso hissed, “Something happened to them as they arrived here.”

  Moe and Justin looked at each other and said simultaneously, “Cameras.”

  Two minutes later the four men were crowded into the small office. Moe was seated behind the desk manipulating the replay on the security system and the other three were standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the desk. It only took a minute to find the scene of Jack and Elena being abducted.

  Moe said, “They’ve been kidnapped. We need to call the cops.”

  Mancuso’s face scowled, “We need to think first. The cops may not be the best answer. At least not just yet.”

  Justin looked to Cox, then to Mancuso, then said, “Let’s go out into the bar where we have a little room and talk about what we know.” With that, he picked a pad of paper up from the desk and led the others back into the bar.

  The four men sat around a table in the center of the bar floor. Justin began to make notes as they exchanged what information they had about the time leading up to the abduction. It was obvious that Mancuso held the majority of the information.

  Jack had gone out early in the afternoon, but hadn’t told anyone where he was going so Moe and Justin didn’t know he had been with Mancuso’s daughter. They didn’t even know he was acquainted with Mancuso’s daughter. Mancuso explained that they had met the day Jack came to his office to discuss his problems with Bracchi. He said, “I’m afraid I didn’t take his situation seriously enough. I told him I didn’t know Bracchi, which wasn’t true, because I didn’t want to get tangled up in the situation.”

  Mancuso paused in thought and everyone waited for him to continue, “When Elena called me on her way here she told me about Jack’s car being blown up. I knew then that the situation was very serious and I tried to convince her not to come around here.” He sighed heavily, “I’m afraid long ago she quit doing what I tell her, at least in her personal life.”

  Moe mused, “Jack mentioned meeting with you, but he didn’t mention meeting your daughter.”

  Mancuso replied, “He probably didn’t know she was my daughter. She was married before and still uses her married name. Especially, with people she meets through the office.”

  Justin asked, “Since we all believe Bracchi is responsible why don’t you want to call the police Mr. Mancuso? It seems like they would jump all over this in a heartbeat.”

  Mancuso rubbed his forehead, he seemed older than he was before seeing the security tape. Finally, he spoke, “I doubt that Bracchi knows it’s my daughter he’s taken. If he finds that fact out, he will feel that an unforgivable grievance has been committed. I’m afraid that fact alone will place Elena in even graver danger.” His words trailed off as he stared off into nowhere.

  Justin finished his thoughts, “And you feel that if the police become involved, there is too much chance for that fact to become known to Bracchi.”

  Mancuso nodded slowly, “Exactly!”

  Justin continued, “And you think that if Bracchi finds out that Elena is your daughter, he will kill her, Jack too, in an effort to cover the fact that he ever abducted them.”

  Mancuso just nodded wearily.

  Suddenly, Cox sat up rigidly in his chair as if struck by a bolt of lightning, “Mr. Mancuso, Elena came from the office, do you think there is any chance she is wearing the necklace?”

  Mancuso turned toward Cox, “Eddie, I don’t know, but very possibly. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Call the communications center and see if they have a location on it.”

  Cox got up from the table and walked to the bar where he leaned on a bar stool and punched a number into his cell phone. Justin asked, “The necklace, what’s the necklace, a tracking device?”

  Mancuso’s voice was now energized, “Exactly. When Elena came to work with me she was always going out to look at projects for me but forgetting her cell phone half of the time. I worried that I would have no way to find her if something happened, so I had a miniaturized transmitter installed in a pendant necklace that had belonged to her mother. The pendant emits an electronic signal on a cellular phone frequency. Our corporate communications center has software that they can use to locate the pendent.”

  Moe asked, “You think she was wearing this necklace today?”

  Mancuso replied, “God, I hope so. She loves the necklace and wears it nearly every day. After years of me harping, she is especially good at wearing it when, like today, she goes out in the field. I can only pray she is wearing it today.”

  Cox could be heard saying excitedly, “Thanks much guys. I’ll call if we need more. You call if there’s movement.”

  He came back to the table and said, “She’s in a warehouse on the other side of Hollywood. Not really that far away.”

  Mancuso stood and exclaimed, “Let’s go get her.”

  Justin said, “Sir, we need a plan. We can’t just go barging in. We don’t know anything about the terrain, we don’t know anything about the opposition forces. We need to take a little time to plan this if we’re going to be successful.”

  Mancuso shot back, “While we plan, he could kill her!”

  Cox’s voice was strong and steady, “Boss, he’s right. You’re talking to one of the most experienced covert operators on the planet. He knows what he’s doing. You should listen to him. We’ll get Elena back.”

  Mancuso sunk back onto his chair, “Okay, we’ll do it your way, but let’s hurry. Please!”

  Justin turned to Moe, “Moe, go upstairs and get Jack’s laptop. I saw it on the table upstairs” As Moe left the table Justin turned to Cox, “Eddie, how many guys can you have here within an hour?”

  “Within an hour, probably two from our executive protection, more if we have more time. The others just live farther out.”

  Justin barked, “One hour. We are operational in one hour. Your guys armed?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good. Call them. Have them start moving. We’ll decide whether to link up here or near the target later, but get them started moving.”

  Cox nodded and started scrolling through his phone for numbers. Justin punched numbers into his phone, waited for an answer, and said, “Yes, it’s me. This is a business call
. I need you for a rescue operation, now. It may require role playing. You may also need to stop by the storage unit and pick up some equipment. Drink some coffee and wait for my call back.” With that, he ended the call.

  Cox placed his phone on the table, “Two guys on their way.”

  Justin replied, “Great. I have one operator within our window. Everyone else is much farther out. Tomorrow I would have had six in the area but that is tomorrow and now it today. We go now.”

  Moe returned to the table and powered up Jack’s computer. Justin said, “Okay Eddie, let’s have that address. We’ll take a look at Google Earth and see what we’re dealing with.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  It was all I could do to keep from looking away from Bracchi’s cold stare, but I knew I needed to stand my ground. At least to some degree. Again, forcing myself to hold my voice steady, I said, “We are going to do business. That’s not the issue. The issue is your abduction of Elena. I want her released. I want her released now!”

  Bracchi leaned back in his chair and looked as if he was sizing me up. “You make demands Jack, but I don’t know what backs up these demands. You say I must release this, this Elena, but I see no reason to do so. I see no reason to do so, and I don’t see you bringing any force to the table that would cause me to do anything I don’t care to do.”

  It was just as Moe had told me, Bracchi only understood and responded to force or violence. He had demonstrated his aptitude to rain violence on me, and from that position he expected to accomplish his goal of taking Cap’s. I hadn’t demonstrated a level of violence in retaliation that even garnered his respect, much less forced any level of acquiescence to anything I requested. Oh sure, Moe had his little ruse the last time Bracchi was in and Justin’s guys drove two of Bracchi’s guys out last Saturday, but those actions paled in comparison to putting me in the hospital and blowing my car up at will. No, Moe was right, Bracchi would only respond to violence, or the threat of violence, and only the threat if it was a credible threat. He certainly didn’t view me as a credible threat.

  Maybe I’m not a credible threat, but maybe I have access to a credible threat. Taking a deep breath and again trying to steel myself I said, “I wonder how Lorenzo Mancuso’s going to react when he finds out you’ve abducted one of his key employees?”

  Bracchi casually reached for his drink, but I could see a momentary spark of concern flash through his eyes. By all appearances he remained stoic, but his eyes betrayed him for just a second. He took a sip of his scotch and calmly asked, “What does this have to do with Lorenzo Mancuso?”

  Now I attempted to sound condescending, “I told you, Elena is a very important employee of Lorenzo.” Referring to Mancuso by his first name automatically made he and I much closer associates. I continued, “I met her last week when I was meeting with Lorenzo in his office. In many ways she’s his right hand person. My guess is that he’s going to be very upset when he learns of her abduction, regardless of how insignificant you may think it is.”

  I knew I had Bracchi’s attention now, he set his drink down on the desk and glared at me. His lips were moving, but no words were coming out. I made my play, “I’d suggest that you return Elena and me to Cap’s Place as quickly and comfortably as possible. I’ll do my best, on your behalf, to smooth things over with Elena. Maybe I can persuade her to not even mention this whole unpleasant event to Lorenzo.”

  Bracchi continued to stare at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. I knew I had him off balance, I’d seen it many times with witnesses on the stand. I also knew I needed to give him a way to save face so I said, “Now, why don’t we get Elena back to Cap’s before the hole those two morons working for you have dug gets so deep I can’t get us out of it.” I thought referring to his goons by his demeaning nickname for them would help bond us.

  Bracchi rubbed the bridge of his nose as if he was getting a headache and asked, “And how is it that you know Lorenzo Mancuso?”

  Whatever you make up Jack, keep it realistic. I replied as casually as I could muster, “I met him through a mutual acquaintance.” I’d met someone on the federal task force and the task force certainly knew Mancuso, so I guess that qualifies. “He’s big in real estate in this area, among other things, but of course you know that. Anyway, I met with him to discuss future business opportunities. That’s how I met Elena. In fact, she and I had just returned from looking at a property in Boca Raton when your two morons snatched us up. You know, they could have just told me you wanted to meet with me. I’d have said goodnight to Elena and come with them. They didn’t need to kidnap us.”

  By the way Bracchi was rubbing his forehead I knew he had a headache now. Good! About time I got in a few licks. My mental victory lap was interrupted when he said, “I’m not so certain that you can contain the situation with Lorenzo Mancuso. He is not known to be a forgiving man. This Elena being associated with Mancuso is very troubling.”

  I interrupted, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. We must contain the situation. Take us back to Cap’s and I will deal with the situation. I will smooth it over with her, somehow.”

  Bracchi abruptly stood, “And what I’m telling you is that I don’t know that the situation can be contained. Not if there is any chance of Mancuso finding out this Elena was taken.” With that he walked to the door, but before leaving said, “I must check out some things. I may need to pursue another course of action to clean up this mess. You stay put. My men are outside the door.”

  Before I could say another word he was gone. I didn’t like the sounds of his last statements one bit. When I first mentioned Mancuso I felt I’d found the one asset I had in our little power struggle, now it sounded more like a liability. In using Mancuso’s name to protect us had I somehow signed our death warrants?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Mack sat behind the wheel of the Expedition parked at the rear corner of the warehouse. He’d been out here for two boring hours now. Keeping an eye out they called it. Bullshit duty was what he called it. The damn warehouse is all but abandoned. He was surprised the power was even on for the lights. No one knows they’re here. No one’s going to be looking. Weeds are growing through cracks in the damn driveway. The cops probably haven’t even checked this building in years. But he’s assigned to keep an eye out. Damn degos. Half of them are dumber than a box of rocks. They don’t even realize that the former raging forest fire of their nefarious Mafia is no more than a persistent grass fire now.

  One of these days he’d hook up with a decent crew, maybe the Russians, or maybe a bank crew or armored car crew. Something with some class. No more knocking over truck loads of booze and bullshit like that. And what’s this half-baked scheme of kidnapping some two bit bar owner so they could take over his bar. The damn bar is a thousand miles from their home turf. Makes no sense.

  The only bright spot in this whole miserable deal was the fine piece of ass that came along with the bar owner. Now that could be worth the effort. Of course, they probably wouldn’t share that with him either. Stingy damn degos. His internal rant over, Mack went back to playing solitaire on his phone.

  The bright headlights flashed across Mack’s face as the car bounded up the driveway from the street. Mack had his window down, but he couldn’t hear the car running. It coasted to a stop half-way between the street and the rear corner of the building where he was parked. The bright lights were shining directly at him. It looked like a small sedan, but he couldn’t tell much looking into the lights.

  The driver’s door creaked open, it must be a real junker the way the door creaked, and someone got out. Mack couldn’t tell much looking into the headlights, but it didn’t look like a very large person. Could even be a broad. The figure seemed to be staggering toward the front of the car. Finally, passing in front of the headlights the figure was illuminated.

  Holy shit! It was a broad all right. She was tall and thin wearing a bright red sleeveless cocktail dress with a skirt that barely covered her ass.
The dress sparkled in the light like a million stars over the desert. She was perched on what had to be four inch platform heels as she bent over in an effort to open the hood of the car. Bent over the skirt didn’t cover her ass.

  Mack checked to make certain his forty-five was in his belt and got out of the Expedition. When he closed the door, it startled the woman and she stood up and said, “Damn. You scared me buddy. This piece of shit car of mine quit again. I can’t get the hood open. My damn flashlight won’t even work.”

  For the first time, Mack noticed the flashlight in her hand. Sure enough it wasn’t on, although his guess was that the way she was staggering she might be too drunk, or too high, to figure out how to turn it on. He started toward her, “Well, let me see if I can help you sugar babe.”

  She took a step toward him and he could see her clearer now. She was a knockout. No doubt about it. Top shelf stuff. The hell with the broad they had snatched with the bar owner, he had his own private stock now. As he got to within four feet of her, he smelled her perfume. Damn, this miserable night has finally taken a turn for the better. He saw the big smile on her pouty red lips, he saw the flashlight move slightly in her right hand. He never saw the metal rod telescope from the flashlight. He never saw the rod cut through the air and crash into his skull just behind his left ear. Mack never saw anything, as his world went black.

  Mack heard before he saw. He heard a loud buzzing in his head as if a circular saw was working overtime. Then he heard jumbled voices. Finally, the voices became coherent. He heard, “I told you to take him down, not kill the dumb son-of-a-bitch.” Next he heard a second, somewhat familiar voice, “Sorry Justin. I just didn’t like the way he was leering at me. It pissed me off.” The first voice, “Remind me not to leer at you.” Then the most pungent odor he had ever smelled hit his brain and his eyes popped open.

  Justin tossed the smelling salts tube aside and growled, “Good, you’re awake. What you tell us in the next couple of minutes will determine if you stay awake or go to sleep permanently. Do you understand?”