by Charlie Cole
I pulled the door open then and saw Ken Gibson sitting on the end of the bed, shoes off, stainless Smith & Wesson automatic cradled in his hands. He was looking at the closet door, waiting for me.
“Hello, Ken,” I said. I raised my hands hopelessly. I was caught. He had me dead to rights. There was nowhere to go. “How’d you find me?”
Ken shrugged.
“I did my homework,” he said finally. “You have no family here, so I checked with your parents. No luck. Then your friends. Turns out you were close with a Jessica Madison from work. She has relatives here. A cousin, right here in the city. We talked to the neighbors, turned out there’s been a lot of activity here for someone who’s away on vacation.”
I smiled despite myself.
“You did your homework, alright,” I said. “I’ll give you that. Tell me something, though. Why didn’t you have your uniforms pull me out of that attic?”
Ken shrugged again.
“I didn’t want to get my hands dirty,” he said. “And I wanted to hear your side of this whole fiasco.”
“Max Donovan is under Blackthorn investigation,” I said.
“And what about those agents?” Gibson asked. “They were on my ass up until this morning. Now they packed up and left.”
“Those are Randall Kendrick’s people,” I said.
“Who’s Kendrick?”
“My boss… my old boss,” I said. “He’s wandered off the program. Needs to be brought in. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”
“So your story is that Kendrick is the problem here, not you?”
“That’s right,” I replied. “I’m sorry, Ken. But I really have to go.”
Ken leveled the pistol at me, rising up off the bed into a firing stance.
“I’m afraid not, friend,” he said. He looked ridiculous, aiming the pistol at me but with no shoes on. He took a cautious step closer and the floor didn’t creak. He’d taken his shoes off so he wouldn’t make any noise. Ken was smart and I dared not underestimate him.
“Ken, listen…” I began.
“I want to hear about the murder,” Gibson said. “I want to hear about it right now. Before we get downtown and you lawyer up and everything starts circling the drain. I want to hear it from you.”
I saw something move behind Gibson, but I forced myself not to look. If I looked, I’d give it away and God knows what Gibson would do then. I had to stall while I could, keep him focused on me and not on the shape of the person crawling out from beneath the bed.
“Ken… you have to know, it wasn’t me,” I said. I could see the shape behind him, lifting the lamp from the end table. “I could never hurt anyone like that. You have to believe me. It… it wasn’t me.”
Jessica was behind him then, holding the lamp up to her shoulder like a major league baseball player. She swung the lamp, but the cord was too short. The lamp broke on Gibson’ head. His face crumpled in pain, his shoulders hunching, and he reached a hand up to his bleeding scalp. But he didn’t pass out.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ!” he spat, whirling with the gun. “What the hell are —?”
That was as far as he got and then I was on him. I grabbed Gibson’ gun hand and twisted. I heard the sharp, sudden snap of bone breaking and Gibson screamed like an animal caught in a trap. I wrenched the gun away from his clutching fingers and spun, clubbing him at the base of the skull. Gibson went down hard.
I looked up at Jessica and her eyes were wide in shock and surprise. She hadn’t had the time to dress before the cops had arrived and she stood in a bra and jeans and I could see the staccato beating of her heart in her chest.
“You okay?” I said, putting my arms around her.
“No.”
“Me too,” I said.
I pulled away and although she was trembling, she seemed to be unharmed. She dressed quickly and I opened the bedroom window. I leaned out and found a drain pipe. If I leaned far enough out, I could see the tail of a squad car still parked in front. The police were still there. We’d need to get out as quickly as possible.
I quickly described my escape plan to Jessica.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked. It was a rhetorical question, I knew. I obviously wasn’t kidding and if we could have walked out the front door, I probably would have opted for that choice. But our choices were limited, so we returned to the window.
“It’ll be okay,” I reassured her.
“Um, no, it won’t,” she replied. She stood still as if rooted to her position.
“I know you’re scared,” I began.
“I’m terrified,” she corrected me.
“Alright, you’re terrified,” I agreed. “But if we stay here, we’ll be arrested and thrown into jail and then you’re going to be terrified in a jail cell.”
“Fine,” Jess said tersely.
“I’ll go first,” I suggested. “Then if anything happens I can break your fall.”
Jessica said something under her breath that I felt certain I was better off not hearing. I crawled through the window and grabbed the drain pipe. It appeared to be anchored fairly securely to the brownstone. I was struck by a feeling of vertigo as I swung my leg out over nothingness, then came back to the wall.
“Alright, come on out, Jess,” I said.
Jess didn’t come out.
“Jess,” I hissed and looked over at the squad cars, wondering if anyone would suddenly get the bright idea to look up. Just when I was about to crawl back inside to see what had taken her so long, she finally stuck her head out.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she said through gritted teeth. “I had to get a shirt. I’m not climbing walls in my underwear…”
I hadn’t suggested any such thing, but the thought made me chuckle despite myself. I choked back my laughter though, seeing Jess struggle to get ahold of the pipe. Finally she had it and hung on for dear life.
“Okay, here we go,” I said.
We moved down an inch at a time at first, feeling our way as we went. At each bracket that held the pipe to the building I had to release my grip, move my hand and slide down a little further. Our progress was agonizingly slow. I was being cautious. Jess wanted to get down faster and so was trying to rush me along. At one point, her foot nearly stepped on my hand and I had to move quicker. We continued on like that until eventually the ground was close enough and I dropped the last six feet. Jess followed close behind until she stood next to me between the houses.
“Guys! Get up here!” we heard the voice from the third story bedroom window. “Gibson is down. Call it in. Officer down! Officer down!”
Jess and I ran toward the backyard and ducked between houses. We stayed off main streets for blocks and eventually hailed a cab. From the backseat I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed.
Billy Bender’s cell phone rang once, twice, three times and I could picture it then chiming away impotently in some property box deep inside the Chicago Police Department. With that as my thought of the day, thinking of the operation as a whole stalled. I was capable of a lot of things, but breaking into the police department to rescue someone from lockup just wasn’t on the menu today.
I didn’t like considering the possibility that I could give up Billy and Nan when they were in a tight spot. It said something cold and callous about my personality, a numbing of emotions to the pain of others. I didn’t like thinking that I could be apathetic about them. Didn’t like thinking that at all.
Billy saved me from that treacherous train of thought when he answered his phone on the fourth ring.
“Hello?” he said and in that one word, I knew how he was.
“Billy…” was all I could say.
“What the hell, Simon…” he croaked. “What the hell happened back there?”
My first thought was crude and trite and I bit my lip to keep from saying it aloud. Billy deserved better than the obvious observation that the cops were on to us. Surely he could see that for himself without me pointing it out to him.
The line was silent for a moment and I could hear a hydraulic hiss in the background. They were on a bus or public transportation of some kind.
“Yes…” he said finally. I could hear Nan in the background then, asking if it was me on the phone and if it was me that I should piss off. Her commentary turned into a rant, peppered with vulgarities. I couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t going at all the way that I had planned.
“Let’s get together, okay?” I said. “Let’s meet under the El…” I gave Billy an address, an intersection I knew was close enough to the Jacobson Tower.
“Fine,” Billy said and hung up.
“Damn it,” I muttered as I rang off.
“Everything okay?” Jess asked.
I could only shake my head, lips pressed together as I dialed again. This time the call was picked up on the first ring.
“Crawford,” Ron barked into the phone.
“Ron, it’s Simon.”
“Simon, are you okay?” Ron asked. “I heard you had some trouble at the house.”
“You could say that,” I replied. “Are you and Geoff still on track?”
“We’re good to go,” Ron said. “Moving the cars as we speak.”
“Good,” I replied. “Listen, Ron, I need something else from you. Something that could be difficult…”
“Go ahead, man.”
“Remember that job in Miami?” I asked.
“Yeah…”
“The one with the ordinance?” I asked, looking at the back of the cab driver’s head to see if he would pick up on what I was saying. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah.”
“I need you to pick it up,” I said.
“You stole it?” Ron asked.
“Creatively acquired some of it, yes,” I replied. “I was redistributing resources for future operations. I need you to pick it up and meet me at this address…”
***
Jess and I exited the taxi and began to walk. We were separate at first. Somehow the reality of the situation, of almost getting caught was sinking in and I knew that it jarred her tremendously.
“Hey,” I said. Jess looked over at me as we walked. Her arms were held across her chest. I put an arm around her. “It’s going to be okay.”
Jess sighed.
“I don’t know how,” she said.
“How about this?” I said. “Let’s call the kids and see how they’re doing? Okay? I’ll just call right now.”
Jess nodded. I knew she was upset and I hoped that I could help turn this around somehow. I dialed the phone.
After a couple rings, Alaina picked up.
“Hello?” she said. Her voice was stressed and I could hear the kids in the background.
“Hi, it’s Simon,” I said. I tried to keep my voice upbeat, hoping it might be contagious. It wasn’t.
“Where the hell have you been?” Alaina asked.
“Excuse me?” I was hurt and surprised and for a second I thought/hoped I’d dialed the wrong number.
“I’ve been with the kids for a few days now,” Alaina said. “You wake us up in the middle of the night, make us run out of the house with no explanation and then don’t bother to call? What is that?”
“Alaina, Alaina, calm down,” I said. I looked at Jess who was showing signs of concern. My calming phone call to the kids was going bad in a cataclysmic way.
“Calm? I am calm,” Alaina said in a decidedly uncalm way. “Here, you want to talk to your kids? Here you go.”
I heard the scuffling noise of the phone being handed over. I could hear Mel first, then David in the background.
“Daddy? When are you coming home?” she asked. “We miss you. You’ve been gone forever… Are you at work?”
Oh my God, I was dying inside.
“Baby, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ll be home as soon as I can, okay?”
“Where are you?” Mel asked.
There was no way I could tell her and despite everything, I felt guilty anyway. I never should have left my kids. I should have stayed home. Kept them safe. Watched my own yard. I was so far from home now.
“Mel, I’m working, honey, but I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“This isn’t home, Daddy,” Mel said, her little voice taking on an irreverent tone. “I don’t even know where we are. Some stupid cabin…”
A part of me wanted to correct her, to discipline her for being disrespectful, and yet, I knew that at the same time, she was right.
“I know, Mel,” I said. “It’s only for a little while. I’ll be back soon.”
“Daddy, what’s - - OW!” Mel began screaming and I could hear the slap of skin on skin on the other end of the phone. Then Mel was crying.
“I told you I wanted to talk!” David said. I could hear him wrestle the phone from Mel. She was crying in the background now and I could hear Alaina consoling her.
“Hi Dad,” David said. “Where are you?”
My heart broke and I struggled to stay composed.
“David, apologize to your sister,” I said. I tried to control my tone.
“But Dad, she—” he began, but I wasn’t hearing it.
“David, do it now or we’re going to have a talk when I get back,” I said.
David sighed heavily.
“Fine,” he said to me, then faintly I heard, “Sorry, Melissa.”
I could hear Melissa grumble something back that I’m sure I wouldn’t be happy if I heard. What the hell was happening to my children? Was everything falling apart so soon, only days away? And for that matter, why the hell had I allowed myself to be taken from them? I shook my head trying to clear it.
“Simon,” It was Alaina again. I could imagine that David had handed the phone back without saying good-bye and it made me yearn to talk to him, get him back on the phone and talk it through, but it wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m here,” I said tiredly.
“The kids miss you,” she said. “And I miss you. Come back. Soon. Please.”
How could I argue with that?
“I’m coming, Alaina,” I said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m sorry for all this. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”
Alaina said good-bye and hung up. I dropped the phone in my pocket, looked up in the sky and let out a long sigh.
“What’s up?” Jessica asked concerned.
“Kids,” I said, as if that explained everything.
“Are they going to be okay?”
I started to nod my head, stopped, and shook it from side to side. I covered my eyes with my hands and tried not to cry.
“Jess,” I said. “Maybe I’ve been wrong about this whole thing. We’re running from the cops… I just broke my friend’s arm back there… things have gone sideways on us here… Maybe we should just call off the project. We could all just walk. We could pick up the kids and just run, get out of town, live somewhere else, Europe, South America, anywhere. C’mon, let’s just go… I miss my kids.”
Jess grabbed me by the arms and turned me to face her.
“Simon, this project… it isn’t just about you. It’s about those kids, too. It’s about the freedom that they deserve. We, you and I, we need to take care of those kids and we can’t do that if we’re looking over our shoulder all the time. Simon, listen to me… I love you, you dope. We have to finish this. We have to do this for the kids.”
Jess reached up and wiped a tear away from the corner of my eye and smiled that warm smile at me until her dimples showed. She brushed her auburn hair from her eyes and kissed me then. And somewhere in me, I knew that she was right.
We walked together then, Jess holding my hand and I knew what a drowning man’s relationship to a life preserver was. I’d sink without her. Maybe that’s weak of me. But at least it was the truth. And all I had room for was the truth.
I rounded the corner of a building with Jessica at my side. I saw them then. My tea
m. My people. They were waiting for me. For me. I was no General Patton. No tremendous leader of men. I was fallible. I was human. Sometimes I’d be measured and found wanting… in work, at home. But I had no fear of standing up for those closest to me.
Nan saw me first and ran to me. She pointed a finger in my face and screamed. She was riled and railed against me. And I let her. What was she so passionate about? Wasn’t it her safety? My safety? Maybe even Billy’s well-being? Who was I to tell her that was wrong? I waited until she lost her bluster and fury. She seemed exhausted by the end and I gave her no resistance, letting her tire herself out.
“I’m sorry, Nan,” I said at last. I knew that the team was watching us, weighing what would happen. “I was careless. You mean a lot to me and I will never take your safety lightly again. I swear that to you as your friend.”
Nan wanted to say more, but stopped.
“Are you okay?” she asked in a near whisper.
“We’re okay,” I whispered back.
“Don’t do that again, ‘k?”
“’k,” I replied.
Nan hugged me then, pinning my arms to my side and put her head on my chest. I stood still, letting her, looking over at Jess who could barely contain a smile. Nan finished and slapped me in the arm and walked back to Billy. I followed her over. Ron and Geoff had collected the twin Caddys. Billy and Nan stood by the van.
I stood before them, looking them over. I knew that I had their trust, their respect. We would fight together. God willing, we would prevail. And if we did not, if God didn’t smile on us that day, at least I’d get to see my wife…
***
It was time to meet Kendrick and Max. I would enter the building by myself. But I would not be alone.
I exited the alley and walked across the street and entered the building. Two guards stood at the elevator doors and I recognized them from the offices of Donovan & Associates. They had been the two guards who had tried to escort Tom Ellis from the building. I didn’t bother to meet their eyes. Their job was to impress and intimidate. My job was far worse. And far more permanent.