by Mike Ryan
“You Albert?” Recker asked.
“Just like the sign says,” the man cheerfully replied with a laugh.
Recker took a quick look through the aisles to see if anybody else was in the store, either regular customers, or the three crumbs that were about to knock the place over. After going through the six small aisles, Recker went back to the front of the store, where the register was located.
“You might wanna take a break,” Recker told him.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re about to be robbed.”
“What? Are you drunk or high or something?” Albert asked.
“Nope. You keep a gun under there?” Recker asked, his eyes pointing to under the register.
“Maybe,” the storekeeper replied, getting a little uneasy about the stranger’s questions.
“Three young kids are coming here in a few minutes with the intention of robbing you,” Recker informed.
“How you know this? You a cop?”
“Close enough. You got a place you can hide out till this is over?”
“Uhh, there’s a bathroom and an office in the back. What are you gonna do?” Albert asked, coming around the counter.
“I’m gonna pretend to be you,” Recker replied, going behind the register.
He looked down under the counter and found Albert’s gun, a Sig Sauer 9mm. Recker picked it up and handled it for a second, aiming it toward the wall. He smiled and handed it over to its rightful owner.
“Nice choice,” Recker told him.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Go back to the office or bathroom and hide out there. Take the gun with you just in case.”
“You want me to take them out from back there?” Albert asked.
Recker smiled, impressed with his willingness to get in the fight. “No, I’ll take care of them. If shooting starts, just make sure you’re not in the line of fire. But just in case one of them gets a lucky shot off, be prepared to defend yourself if the need arises.”
“You mean if one of them shoots you and then searches the store for other people?”
“You got it.”
“OK. If that happens, where should I shoot them? I know how to use it but I never had to fire a gun before. Wing them in the arm or leg or something?”
“If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. Center mass,” Recker said, point to the middle of his chest. “Or, if you’re close enough, right here,” he told him, putting his index finger in the middle of his forehead. “A winged or injured man can still kill you. If you ever fire that thing, you shoot to finish the fight.”
“Gotcha,” Albert replied, walking to the back of the store. Just before he got to the office he turned around. “Is the backup team coming soon?”
Recker smiled. “It’s just me. You’re the backup team.”
Five more minutes went by. It was a minute after two o’clock. Not a single customer entered the store in the time Recker had been there. Then the door swung open. Three young kids, probably in their late teens or early twenties, walked through the door. They all had sports caps on and baggy clothes, with a gun most likely nestled in the waistbands of their pants. Recker closely eyed them up as they all came in. As soon as the first one saw Recker, he stopped and did a double take, then nudged the second man in the arm to alert him. They weren’t counting on anybody else other than Albert being there. They’d been in the store a few times before, and never saw anyone else working there. Recker was a new wrinkle in their plans.
“Yo man, who you?” one of the kids asked.
“Just an employee,” Recker answered.
“Where’s Albert?”
“Oh, he took a lunch break.”
The three men separated and walked throughout the store, making sure they were all alone. Recker could tell they were the three that Jones was talking about. A common technique of criminals that worked in pairs or teams was that they would spread out, especially in smaller stores or places without a lot of eyeballs on them, knowing you couldn’t watch all of them at once. One of the kids walked up to the register and started talking to Recker, while the other two moved around the counter.
“I’m sorry, you two aren’t allowed back here,” Recker said, facing the pair.
While he was talking to the others, the one in front of the register pulled a gun, pointing it squarely at Recker’s body. Recker faked being surprised and began putting his hands in the air.
“Get the cash,” the one with the gun told the others.
They started to move but quickly stopped when Recker brought his left hand down and kept it in the air in front of the two, directing them to stop.
“You guys don’t really wanna do this, do you?” Recker asked, knowing what the answer would be.
“Yo dude, shut up and move out of the way and you won’t get hurt,” the gun toting man told him.
Recker gave a half smile, “well, I just wanted to give you a fair warning.”
“Fair warning for what?”
Recker quickly reached into his opened coat and grabbed a pistol with each hand. He brought his hands out of the insides of his trench coat, pointing a pistol in both directions that the robbers were standing in. “Like I said, you really don’t wanna do this?”
“Hey man, we ain’t armed,” one of the two to Recker’s left said.
“So why don’t you guys just pack up and move on out of here before someone gets hurt?”
“We will. As soon as we get what we came for,” the one with the gun stated.
“Well, I don’t think that’s happening.”
“There’s three of us, man. There’s only one of you.”
“You got one gun, I got two,” Recker responded.
As soon as Recker took his eyes off the two to the left, one of them reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol. Recker looked back at him as he was removing it, shooting him in the chest. He turned back to the man in front of the register and blew a hole through him before he got a chance to do the same to him. Both men were dead as soon as they hit the ground, receiving point blank shots through their chests. The third man in the crew really wasn’t armed and hadn’t made a single motion in any direction as he froze himself the moment the action started, not wanting to make a wrong move.
“I really ain’t armed,” the remaining robber said, putting his arms up, worried that he was soon going to join his friends.
“Lift your jacket up and turn around,” Recker told him.
The kid did as was requested, revealing that he really didn’t have a weapon on him. As he was spinning around, Albert came out of the office after he heard the shots. He saw Recker with a gun pointed at the remaining member of the crew.
“He one of them?” Albert wondered.
“Yeah. Call the police and tell them you’re holding a suspect.”
“You got it,” Albert said, going over to the phone.
“Looks like you picked the wrong set of friends, kid,” Recker said.
“They ain’t my friends, really. They said they had this thing going on and it’d be easy money,” he told him, shrugging.
“There’s no such thing as easy money. There’s your first lesson right there.”
“Cops are on the way,” Albert said, coming back over. “Should be here in just a couple minutes.”
“That’s my cue to leave,” Recker said.
“What? You have to tell the police what happened.”
“Nah. You can do that for me. The two dead ones drew guns. You tell them I defended myself and shot them in self defense. Make sure you tell them this one here wasn’t armed. That’s about all I can do for you, kid.”
The kid shrugged, knowing he was screwed no matter what.
“Well, I gotta go,” Recker said.
“Hey,” Albert said, putting his hand out. “Thanks for everything.”
Recker returned the handshake. “You take care.”
“Don’t be a stranger. You come back sometime, hear?”
Recker nodded and smiled. “I’ll do that.”
Recker quickly exited the store and walked down the street, staying close enough to see the store’s entrance, just to make sure the third robber didn’t get the jump on the elderly storekeeper before the police arrived. Three police cars came storming in only a minute later to take control of the situation. As Recker continued walking to his truck, he let Jones know the problem had been eliminated.
“Professor, situation’s resolved,” Recker said.
“Is there someone else with you?”
“No.”
“Oh. Your use of the nickname threw me off,” Jones told him.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you like it?”
“I hadn’t really given it much thought until now. Anyhow, what happened at the store?”
“Robbery thwarted, one in custody, two men down,” Recker replied.
“And Albert?”
“Safe and sound.”
“Now, when you say two men down, you mean…?”
“I mean dead,” Recker enforced.
“I had an inkling that was your meaning. There was no other way to prevent it I assume?”
“If there was another way I would’ve done it another way. You send me into a robbery that’s about to happen with guys who have guns, what did you expect the result would be? Talk them into giving themselves up?”
“Yes, I know. It’s just I wanted us to stop bad and violent things from happening and it seems as though we’re just contributing,” Jones expressed.
“There’s a difference. We’re stopping bad things from happening to good people. The violent things are happening to the people who want it that way,” Recker explained.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“When we started you told me sometimes you’d disagree with the way I handled things but knew I’d probably be right. These are some of those times. Trust me when I say there was no other way to handle these issues.”
“I know. It doesn’t always seem like the clean victory I was hoping for when I started this endeavor,” the professor stated.
“One thing I’ve learned over the years, is there is no clean victory. For anybody. Even the winners and the good people with the best of intentions wind up with blood on their hands. It’s a product of the system. Be proud of what we’ve accomplished in a short time so far. We saved Mia from an abusive and violent ex-boyfriend, Gilbert and her boss from possible death from her husband, a store robbery that could’ve ended in Albert’s murder if it went down differently, and a woman from being raped. Sure, a couple people died in the process, but they weren’t the people we were trying to save. They’re the people who can’t be saved and what we’re protecting people from.”
“When you put it like that it does lift my spirit’s a bit. We have made a difference so far, haven’t we?”
“We have. You’re a big part of that. I’m the one on the street level but nothing I do is possible without you and your intel. You should feel proud of that.”
Chapter 9
A week had passed since the robbery attempt at Albert’s went down. In that time, Recker and Jones had saved two more people from being killed, another robbery attempt, as well as an attempted arson. Recker had just arrived to the meeting spot he engineered with his contact along the Schuylkill River. He walked along the trail until he saw the statue, then waited along the metal railing by the river. He checked the time on his phone. He was about ten minutes early. Though it was a little cold, it was basically a pleasant day since the sun was out, so he didn’t mind the wait so much. Fifteen minutes went by until his visitor finally arrived. Recker was leaning on the railing and looking at the river when the man put his hands on the railing next to him.
“You’re looking healthy,” the man greeted.
“You look the same as when I saved you from that mob hit man in Sicily,” Recker returned.
“Philadelphia huh? Living here these days?”
“No. Told you. Cleveland.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Cleveland,” the fifty year old former CIA agent replied, not believing it. “Just picked a neutral spot, right?”
Recker turned his head and smiled, realizing his former mentor knew him too well. “How’s Boston?”
“Ahh, you know, takes a little while to get used to. The accents there drive me crazy, but what are you gonna do, you know? So what’s this all about?”
“The less you know the better off you are. You’re out of the game. I don’t want you to get pulled back in,” Recker said.
“What do you think you’re doing by having me here?”
“You could’ve said no.”
“I always had a weakness when it came to you,” the man said. “I always gave you a long leash.”
“Why was that?”
“Because you were a great student. And a good friend. And probably because you always reminded me of myself when I was a little younger.”
They stood there for another minute, neither of them saying a word, just staring out at the water.
“They’re still looking for you, you know,” the former agent stated.
“Figured they would be. You don’t just try to terminate someone then forget about them after you’ve failed.”
“They talked to me after London.”
“When?” Recker asked.
“Couple days later. Wanted to know where I thought you might’ve gone. Told them I had no idea.”
Recker smiled. “You always had that ability to make people believe anything you told them.”
“Wasn’t hard with them. I knew they were telling me some bullshit. Said you went rogue and were doing your own assignments off the grid. I’ve known some agents over the years who I thought could’ve went over the edge but you weren’t one of them. Especially not since you had Carrie. You’d never have done that to her.”
A painful look of agony overtook Recker’s face as he looked down, thinking of her. “Yeah. You took a big chance helping me out like you did. I can probably never repay you for it.”
“You don’t have to. You’ve already repaid me plenty over the years.”
“How you figure that?” Recker asked.
“By being my friend. It’s just a good thing you contacted me after you left that hospital in London.”
“Well, I had nobody else I could contact. Nobody I trusted anyway. You were the only one I knew who wouldn’t betray me.”
“Never,” the man replied, putting his hand on Recker’s shoulder. “I’m just glad I still had that guy there who took you in. He owed me a favor. Saved his mother from a rather gruesome end.”
“Yeah, he told me. Sorry about blowing your hold on him over me.”
“That’s all right. He still owes me another one,” the man laughed. “Saved his girlfriend too.”
Recker looked over his shoulder, uneasy about someone else being around. “Sure you weren’t followed?”
The man took a step back, faking being insulted. “Who you think you’re talking to here? I know they still might be watching me in case you contact me. Took a train to New York, then hopped a different one here. We’re fine.”
The former agent took a large manila envelope out of his pocket and handed it over to Recker. Recker quickly opened it and took a peek inside, seeing a picture of Jones.
“That the guy you’re looking for?”
“That’s him,” Recker answered.
“What makes you think he can help you?”
“I hear he’s good with computers.”
“Yeah, if you can find him. Even the NSA doesn’t know where he is. You know he’s good when he disappears even from them.”
“That’s why I want him. I hear he can bypass just about anything,” Recker said.
“Assuming you can find him. And assuming he’s willing to help you.”
“I can be convincing.”
“What makes you think you can even find him?”
“I have a couple of leads to check out.”
<
br /> “Like what?”
“You know I can’t tell you.”
“You know you don’t need him,” his friend said. “Give me a couple weeks. I’ll find the name of that son of a bitch that killed...”
Recker shook his head. “I know you would. But I don’t want to put you in danger. You’ve already done enough. If you go poking around and asking questions then they’re gonna know what you’re doing. There’s no other reason you’d be doing it other than helping me. They’d kill you for sure.”
“Let me take that chance.”
“No, I can’t let you do that. Not with having Jenny and the kids. You have a life with them to look forward to. You gotta put them first. Definitely before me,” Recker told him. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find what I’m looking for.”
“I know you will. If you ever need anything else, don’t hesitate to call me.”
“I will.”
The two former agents shook hands and then went their separate ways. Recker walked back to his truck and sat in it as he opened the envelope and started reading its contents. It was a report about Jones, including a small picture of him, as well as his background information. It listed his real name and everything he did for the NSA, as well as his personal information from his time before being employed by the agency. The report had him as being missing and a red alert was listed for him, the NSA still looking for his whereabouts. Everything Jones had told Recker was down there in the report. He’d been truthful about everything. No discrepancies that Recker noticed. He continued reading the report for half an hour, rereading it several times until he was sure he’d looked over every inch of it to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Once Recker was satisfied that he’d looked over the report long enough, he put the information back in the envelope. After reading Jones’ information, and seeing that it was as he said it was, Recker felt a little better about his situation. That small nagging feeling in Recker’s gut that said maybe Jones was another in the line of people who would betray him started to fade away.