by Mike Ryan
As Recker approached the house, the front door swung open, with a young rugged looking man appearing in the frame of the door. Recker stopped for a second and then continued toward the door, walking past the unfriendly looking man. Recker immediately saw a large table in the middle of the room with a few folding chairs surrounding it. There were six other men around the edges of the table on the far side, a few of them Recker could see with guns tucked in the front of their pants. One of those men was Gibson, who Recker couldn’t see was armed. Gibson walked around the table and stopped halfway between Recker and the man who’d be selling him the guns.
“This is Recker, the man I was telling you about,” Gibson stated.
“Before we get started, if I hear a siren outside or anything, I’ll be gone long before they get inside. I got men upstairs lookin’ out,” the leader told him.
“I don’t want the police here anymore than you do,” Recker said.
“Whatcha want the guns for?” the leader asked.
“That’s my business,” Recker answered.
“If you intend to use them in my city, then it’s my business too.”
“Oh? Did you get elected mayor recently?” Recker sarcastically asked.
“Don’t be cute. You know who I am?”
Recker shrugged. “Haven’t a clue. Does it matter?”
The leader looked at Gibson, not sure he believed him. The man at the door came into the room, standing a few feet behind Recker, just in case anything went down.
“Vincent send you here?” the leader asked.
“No idea who that is,” Recker responded.
“The Italians?”
Recker shrugged again. “Still no clue. Look, if you don’t wanna sell me the guns, that’s fine. I’ll just be on my way and I’ll do my business elsewhere. Maybe I’ll look up this Vincent you’re talking about.”
Recker turned as if he was about to walk away when the leader stopped him. “Alright man, just calm down. I have to take precautions as to who I do business with. If you don’t know who those other chumps are then you must not be from around here.”
“I’m not.”
“Where you from?”
“Around.”
“What are you planning on doing with the guns?”
“My business,” Recker repeated.
The leader pulled one of the metal folding chairs out and sat down, sizing up the stranger in front of him. “You’re not like the usual people who come in here.”
“Is that a compliment?”
The man shrugged. “Somethin’ different about you. Somethin’ dangerous. How do I know if I sell you these guns you aren’t gonna use them to come after me or take out my crew?”
“Well…stay out of my way and you got nothing to worry about.”
“You got the cash on you?”
Recker opened up the duffel bag and lowered it so he could see it was in there.
“I could just kill you and take the money and keep the guns for myself,” the leader stated.
“Maybe. Big gamble for you though.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, if I hear so much as a twitch from that guy behind me, or anything that sounds like he’s pulling that gun out of his pants, the first thing I’m gonna do is blow a hole through your head. Then I’ll turn around for him. I should be able to take out one or two more of you before you get your wish though,” Recker warned.
The man smiled, impressed with Recker’s confidence. “You’re very sure of yourself. I like that. You come in here, someone who’s not from around here, and you have the balls to make threats about killing me and my men.”
“I don’t make idle threats. I back them up,” Recker said, beginning to get aggravated.
“I believe you. You’re very calm for someone in a difficult situation. Lot of money, guns, outnumbered, but you don’t seem worried at all. Your life could be in danger and you don’t even look like you’re breaking a sweat.”
“The only people who fear for their life when it’s in danger…are the people who have something to lose.”
The man nodded, understanding what he was saying. “You a cop?”
“Nope.”
“Ex-cop?”
“No.”
“Well you somethin’. Military?” the man pressed.
Recker sighed, still weary of the questions. “Used to be.”
“So what are you now?”
“Nothing. We doing this deal or not? Cause if you ask me one more question I’m about to walk out that door.”
The man nodded to one of his men, who left the room with another member of the gang. They returned a couple minutes later, bringing with them several large bags containing weapons, dumping them on the table for Recker to see. There must have been close to a hundred guns laying on the table, pistols, revolvers, rifles, of all different makes and models.
“I charge a little less than double retail on most. The Glocks are a thousand each. Sig rifles two thousand each. Sig pistols fifteen hundred, except the 250’s which are a thousand,” the leader informed. “Even got an AK-47 at the end there, that’s fifteen hundred.”
“Sounds fair,” Recker said, throwing him the bag of money.
“Just take take whichever ones you want. Gibs’ll count the cost. I won’t get picky if you’re a little over.”
Recker looked the pile over, picking a few up to get a feel for each weapon as well as test the sights out on them. After a few minutes of deliberating on which ones he wanted, he finally decided.
“I’ll take the full and subcompact 250’s. Three Glocks,” Recker said, putting them in the empty duffel bag. “The AK-47,” he continued. “Three of the Sig pistols. And four of the rifles. What’s that come to, Tyrell?”
“Uhh…nineteen thou,” Gibson answered.
“Got a thousand left to play with,” the leader stated.
Recker looked up and down the table before noticing a couple of silencers toward the end, nestled in between a pair of guns. “How much are the silencers?”
“Normally a thousand each. Because we’re getting off on a good foot here, I’ll let you take two if you want, one for the rifle and one for the pistol, and we’ll call it even.”
“Generous of you,” Recker replied, grabbing the two silencers and shoving them in the bag.
“With a haul like that, I’m assuming I’ll be hearing about you in the coming weeks.”
“Maybe,” Recker said. He turned to leave then did an about face. “Oh, uhh, one more thing…I like to know the names of who I’m doing business with. I never did get yours.”
The leader hesitated, unsure if he should give it, though he finally relented. “Jeremiah.”
“Good,” Recker said, turning to leave again, and again turning back. “I guess it’s two more things. I have a few more things for my wish list. Can you get some grenades, maybe an RPG, night vision, tear gas, tasers…oh,” Recker laughed. “And a bullet proof vest.”
Jeremiah looked at him like he was a little crazy asking for all those items. “What’re you, trying to start an army or something?”
Recker smiled. “One might think so.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“Good. If you get something, let me know. Gibbs has my number,” Recker said, walking out the door.
“I told you, Jeremiah, somethin’ ain’t right about him,” Gibson said.
Jeremiah went over to the door and watched Recker get into his truck and drive away.
“We’ll try to keep tabs on him if we can,” Jeremiah told his crew. “If anything happens to any of our boys over the next few weeks, and it’s done by someone matching his description, we’ll know what’s what.”
Once Recker got back to the office, he put the duffel bag of guns down in the corner of the room. Jones broke free of his computer work and was a bit concerned about the bag full of weapons.
“I do hope you plan on putting them in a more secure location,” Jones said.
“Yep. Soon
as I get some type of safe or cabinet constructed.”
“I assume all went as expected?”
“Yep.”
“Get all you need?”
“Not quite. Still a few more items I’d like to have around,” Recker said.
“How much did you get?”
“Let’s see…there was eight pistols, four rifles…and an AK-47.”
“Oh dear.”
“And a couple silencers.”
“And you still need more?”
“You wanna do this right, you need to be prepared. We’re good with guns for the moment. Just accessories that we need.”
“Oh.”
Recker sat down at one of the desktops and started looking at gun cabinets. After a few minutes, he decided on which one he wanted. It was a large steel one that could hold up to fifty guns, plus shelving for some of the accessories, such as ammo, cameras, tasers, and such. Plus there was pouches on the inside of the door that could hold the pistols, as well as the silencers, or scopes, or other small items.
“Find one to your liking?” Jones wondered.
“This one should do.”
“When do you plan on acquiring that?”
“No time like the present,” Recker said.
“At the risk of seeming to be impatient, when were you planning on working on Ms. Hendrick’s case?”
“Oh. That. Yeah, I guess I should get started on that.”
“It might be helpful. Especially considering I intercepted his latest text message about two hours ago, telling her that if he couldn’t have her than nobody else would either,” Jones said.
“Have any idea where Eldridge is at right now?”
“Should be at work. He’s done in about an hour.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes. Get me that safe.”
Recker immediately left to meet Eldridge before he left work. He worked in construction, for a rather large company, and was on a job in the northeast part of the city in Mayfair. As Recker was driving, Jones texted him Eldridge’s exact location. It only took Recker about half an hour to get to the construction site. He parked on the street and stared at the site, watching different workers come and go. Jones sent him a picture of Eldridge to make sure he recognized him. He patiently waited for an hour and half for the crew to get done work. They worked a little later than usual since they were behind schedule on the building. Though there were still some guys working, it looked like Eldridge was finished for the day since he had his coat on and keys in hand. As Eldridge walked toward his pickup, he hit the button to unlock it, flicking the lights on and off. Recker looked at the picture on his phone to confirm it was him. He quickly exited his car and walked in his target’s direction, making sure he didn’t get away from him. Recker timed it just right. As soon as Eldridge got in, Recker opened the door to the passenger side, hopping in beside him.
Surprised, Eldridge wondered what the guy was up to. “What the hell you doing?”
“We’re gonna have a little chat,” Recker responded.
“Who are you?”
“Just call me a concerned third party.”
“Get the hell out of my car!”
“Now that’s no way to get acquainted.”
“Dude, get out of my car! If you don’t…”
“Then what?” Recker asked. “You’ll beat me up? Like you beat up Mia?”
Eldridge was taken aback. “What? You know Mia? How do you know Mia? She send you here?”
“She doesn’t know I’m here.”
“What’re you? Her new boyfriend or something? Is that why she won’t see me or return my calls or messages?”
“She won’t return your messages because she’s afraid of you and that you might beat her up again.”
“I’ve never laid a hand on her,” Eldridge stated.
“Oh, stop. Lets not play games here.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to leave Mia alone. She’s done with you. You need to accept that on move on,” Recker told him.
“Yeah, well, I love her. And she loves me. We’re just having a rough patch right now. We’ll get through this.”
Recker rolled his eyes, knowing this talk was going nowhere. “Listen, idiot. She doesn’t love you. She doesn’t want anything to do with you. And if you don’t move on, and I find out that you’re still threatening her, you’re gonna find yourself in a lot of trouble.”
“Oh yeah? With who?”
Recker stared at him with his menacing eyes. “With me,” he said, clenching his jaws. “Keep it up and you’re gonna wind up with another visit from me. And I guarantee our next one won’t be so chummy.”
“Are you done?”
“No. I’m giving you two options. Leave her alone…or wind up in the hospital.” Recker then smiled. “I kind of hope you pick the second.”
Recker then got out of the car and walked back to his, Eldridge peeling out of the street, leaving tire marks and smoke in his wake. Recker started driving back to the office but got Jones on his com device.
“Jones, just got done a chat with our friend Eldridge.”
“And how did it go?” Jones asked.
“Tough to say but I don’t think he got the message. I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have to deal with him again.”
“I had a feeling that would be the case. I don’t get why she doesn’t just contact the police and have him arrested. Surely the text messages and phone calls are a violation of the restraining order.”
“That’s why it’s a worthless piece of paper. It does nothing to protect the victim. Doesn’t stop the perpetrator from showing up and a lot of times the victim’s afraid to go further. It’s only a six month to a year stay in jail for a restraining order violation. Some women, certainly not all, but some feel that if they send the guy away he’ll come back madder than ever and hurt them even worse than before.”
“Well we can’t let that happen,” Jones said.
“We won’t.”
“Where are you heading now?”
“Back to the office, I guess.”
“Maybe it’d be wiser for you to head to the hospital where Mia works to keep an eye on her.”
“Think Eldridge is going there?” Recker wondered.
“Possible. I don’t know for sure but I don’t think we can adequately protect her from a distance. I think you need to have eyes on her at all times from now on.”
“I’m on my way.”
Recker drove to St. Mary’s Hospital and parked in the lot. Jones had told him that her shift ended at seven, so he had some time to wait. He kept his eyes open just in case Eldridge showed up though he saw no indication yet that he was there. After a half hour of patiently waiting, Recker attentively sat up straight, noticing Eldridge’s brown Chevy pickup roll into the parking lot.
“Jones, I just saw Eldridge’s pickup come into the parking lot.”
“Uh oh. Any sign of Ms. Hendricks yet?”
“Not that I see.”
“She should still have at least thirty minutes left on her shift. He might be waiting as well.”
“No doubt.”
“Do you need assistance?” Jones asked.
“I got it.”
Recker kept an eye on the brown pickup as it coasted through the parking lot looking for a spot. Once the truck settled into a spot, Eldridge continued sitting there, apparently doing the same as Recker…waiting. It was parked in a spot that Recker could still keep an eye on it, so he didn’t have to change positions or get out of his car. After about twenty minutes, Eldridge got out of his car and walked toward the entrance of the hospital, waiting in front of a brick wall, out of sight from the entrance doors. Half an hour later, twenty minutes past when her shift was supposed to be over, Hendricks walked out. As soon as she got near the edge of the brick wall, Eldridge stuck his hand out and grabbed her arm, pulling her over to him.
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
Eldridge did let go of her and put his hands up, le
tting her know he wasn’t going to hurt her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just wanna talk.”
“All the talking’s over.”
“You won’t return any of my calls or texts,” he shrugged. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“There’s nothing else you can do. We’re done.”
“C’mon, Mia. You don’t mean that.”
“I absolutely mean that,” Hendricks replied, looking around, trying to keep her voice down so nobody else would hear them.
“I just wanna make things right with us. Why won’t you give me another chance?”
“I gave you another chance, remember? You blew that one too. And the third one.”
Eldridge sighed, looking away from her. “I’m different now.”
“Oh really?” she asked, not believing it.
“I haven’t had a drink in a couple weeks.”
“Good,” she nodded. “Maybe another girl will find that appealing.”
“I don’t want another girl. I want you.”
“That’s not happening anymore. Ever.”
Eldridge was starting to get frustrated at his lack of progress. “Is it that other guy? Is that why you won’t give me another chance?”
Hendricks shook her head and shrugged. “What other guy? There is no other guy.”
“The one in the trench coat. He paid me a visit today and told me to stay away from you,” he told her, sounding a little more angry.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s no other guy.”
“So you’re just gonna lie to my face like that?”
Getting frustrated herself, Hendricks was also starting to lose her cool. “I don’t know what to tell you, Stephen. There is no other guy. I don’t know who you talked to today. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. The reason we’re not together anymore is you. And that’s never gonna change so please leave me alone. No more texts, no more calls, no more anything.”