Twisted: Nick Stryker Series, Book Two The Shallow End Gals

by Vicki Graybosch

  Tyler shook his head, “You’re mistaken about staff from Buildings B and C taking shifts there. You must have misunderstood Dr. Elmhurst. The state won’t allow that.” Tyler leaned back in his chair. “You know the rumors. Building D changes people. Maybe you’re just upset?” Renee frowned at him. Tyler added, “What does Nancy say about this? Have you talked to her?”

  Renee said, “Nancy? She quit three weeks ago. That’s how I got the transfer. I’m the only nurse for the whole building.”

  Tyler entered a few keystrokes to his computer. “She’s still getting a paycheck. And she’s still sending email reports to the state. I’ve got one she sent this morning. Here, a narcotics order.” Tyler’s brow furrowed. “That’s odd. She’s placed two narcotics orders this week. One was delivered yesterday.” Tyler made a couple of more entries and exhaled. “She’s made six narcotic orders in the last three weeks.” Tyler stared at Renee. “These entries were made during the day shift. You really haven’t seen her?”

  * * *

  Dom did not appreciate Joey arriving late. “Your boss calls so you decide to take a nap? What’s your problem? You think because your name is Joey Lacastra you can make me wait? You’re worthless to me if I can’t have you when I want you!” Dom purchased Joey’s contract from the Gambino family in New York. He had been a sniper in the Army and decided to follow his family’s footsteps with the crew after his discharge.

  “You need to learn to relax.” Joey stuck a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and grinned.

  Dom lunged forward and yelled, “You need to learn respect!”

  Joey pulled back from Dom’s fury. Dom’s eyes said it all. He was a full blown maniac. It was a look Joey had seen before on his dad and it never ended well.

  Joey composed himself and muttered, “Sorry, Dom. It won’t happen again.”

  Dom glanced around to make sure no one would hear. He slipped a piece of paper to Joey. “This guy disappointed me. Take him out. He’s a hot shot banker downtown; I put home and work addresses for you there at the bottom.” Dom smiled, “No sniper shot. I want you up close and personal. Make him hurt. You make sure he knows where it’s coming from.”

  * * *

  Before Agent Phillips acknowledged the presence of Travis, he took Nick aside. “That bug you managed to plant at Dom’s bar this morning just picked up an interesting conversation about our guy here.”

  Nick asked, “What?”

  “Dom just put a contract on Cummings. Joey Lacastra, he’s a New York boy, Gambino family. Dom didn’t get him cheap.”

  Nick shrugged, “New name to me. If this conversation just happened, it means Cummings has two people trying to kill him.”

  Phillips nodded, “Well, should we see what Mr. Cummings has to say?”

  * * *

  Frankie stood at the kitchen window waving the fresh air inside. He was certain he had experienced heart palpitations when Agent Miller had been there earlier. A flash of light outside at the street caught Frankie’s attention. In an SUV down the block the parking mirror was angled wrong. It was bent too far outward. The sun blasted from the top rim of the mirror. The driver was watching the sidewalk across the street. Probably the entrance to Frankie’s building. Frankie looked down the street in the opposite direction. A pickup truck was parked and the driver reading a newspaper. A passenger in the truck was talking on a cell phone and looking toward Frankie’s building. Suits. Black suits.

  Artie was in the living room still yacking about tunnel people.

  Frankie broke the silence. “Say, I’m not saying you have to, but could you take that cooler under the sink and go down to Sutherland’s Butcher Shop for some fresh fish? The bus will drop you right at the door. Bus should be out front in about seven minutes.”

  Artie was surprised at the request, but felt he owed Frankie something for letting him stay there. “I suppose I could, but why take the cooler?”

  Frankie smiled, “I don’t like my fish to get warm. That’s about a thirty minute bus ride. I can fry them for our dinner.”

  Artie didn’t have the heart to tell Frankie that he loathed fish. He went to the closet and pulled his jacket on.

  Frankie quickly grabbed the cooler from below the sink and handed it to him. “Thanks.”

  Artie smiled to himself as he walked down the steps to the street. Perhaps he was making progress with Frankie after all.

  Frankie watched as Artie left the building with the cooler. The man in the SUV grabbed the car mirror, straightened it, and put a phone to his ear. The man reading the newspaper folded it and straightened up behind the steering wheel. His passenger leaned forward intently watching Artie. Artie climbed the steps into the bus as both the SUV and pickup pulled from the curb.

  They had been watching, waiting for Artie to leave. That cop knew exactly what he saw in Frankie’s freezer. They believed it belonged to Artie and they knew about the cooler. Frankie didn’t know how, but someone had tipped off the Feds. Frankie closed his kitchen window. When they stop Artie and find out there’s no head in the cooler, they’ll be back. He opened the freezer door and pulled the head out. On his closet floor was another small, blue cooler.

  Frankie packed the head in the cooler and made his way to the parking garage below. As he pulled his car out, he looked for suspicious vehicles and drivers. There were none, they were all chasing Artie’s bus. He headed for his storage unit. As much as he worried about Artie and the cops, he worried more about the head being out of his sight. This was his life’s trophy, his insurance policy. He wanted to look at it every day and know it was safe. He couldn’t do that now. Because of Artie, the Feds knew a frozen head had been in his apartment.

  He stopped at a convenience store to buy a bag of ice. While he stood waiting to pay, he noticed a small freezer unit with ice cream sitting on a counter. It was small enough to fit in his trunk.

  “How much do you want for that freezer there?”

  The owner of the store raised an eyebrow, “You mean the ice cream? Or the freezer?”

  “The freezer.”

  “What’ll you give me? Three hundred bucks?”

  “Make it three fifty and you load it in my trunk.”

  As Frankie plugged in the freezer and listened to it hum in his storage unit, he felt better. Now that he had the freezer he wouldn’t have to come back with ice. You never knew when someone was watching.

  CHAPTER 13

  Wednesday 5:00 p.m.

  He was dressed and ready to go. The drugs were wearing off and every hour he was thinking clearer. He remembered how he knew Ryan. Ryan had been his friend for years. Ryan and he had both been at this place for years. He was a doctor and this place had become his whole life. He rubbed his temples in the hopes that it would improve his memory. How could he know he worked at this place and not know what this place was? Nothing made sense. Surely he had more to his life than his job. Did he have a family? Where did he really live? Why couldn’t he remember his name?

  A siren sounded in the distance. Not a siren like the police would use; a warning siren that reminded him of old German movies or tornados. There was a danger nearby. For some reason he desperately wanted to hide. He went to the bathroom and closed the door. Crouched in the corner of the shower floor, he wondered what horrors were happening outside of the walls.

  * * *

  Lacey, Kamber and Chad sat on mats in the gym. Nick had given Lacey a membership for her birthday. It wasn’t just any gym; it was owned by a group of retired cops and specialized in teaching self-defense. Lacey was a familiar face to many of the people there because she worked out at least every other week. Many of the trainers knew that she was Nick Stryker’s girlfriend.

  Today she had begged one of the trainers to give a crash course to Chad and Kamber. Lacey had a feeling that in spite of Chad and Kamber’s promises to stay clear of trouble, trouble was going to find them. Kamber leaned back on her elbows on the mat and looked at Chad who had not moved for five minutes.

&nb
sp; “Are you dead?” Kamber smiled when she saw his head slowly rise from the mat and turn to look at her.

  “Yes.” Chad dropped his head back on the mat.

  The trainer walked back in the room. “Okay, everybody up! Now that we’ve warmed up we can start your training.”

  Chad pulled himself to stand slower than Kamber had. He looked at Lacey and said, “My mom’s not going to appreciate you killing me.”

  * * *

  Artie stepped off the bus and walked across the street to Sutherland’s Butcher Shop. It was right where Frankie said it was. He walked straight to the counter and asked the butcher to recommend a fresh fish that would not taste fishy. Artie didn’t notice the man standing behind him until the man moved in a little too close. Artie was fresh from prison and knew to maintain his personal space. Artie took a step sideways and glanced back, definitely a cop. Now he realized why Frankie wanted him to take the cooler. Artie smiled to himself, he actually liked the excitement of being used as bait. He liked the idea of messing with the cops even more.

  Artie clutched the cooler close to his chest like a treasure. The butcher placed the wrapped fish on top of the counter. Artie just looked at the wrapped fish. He wanted it to look like he was afraid to set the cooler down. The cop grabbed the wrapped fish and said, “Here, let me help you with your cooler.”

  The second cop moved in closer.

  Artie smiled, “Well, thank you, young man. I don’t want anything to smell fishy.”

  Artie lifted the lid to the empty cooler and nearly laughed out loud at the cop’s expression. The two cops exchanged glances and quickly left the store. Artie put the lid back on the cooler after paying and walked back to the bus stop bench to wait. He couldn’t help but chuckle every time he pictured the cop’s expression. Frankie was every bit as good as his reputation, maybe better. Artie was quite sure the head was long gone by now.

  * * *

  Joey Lacastra placed a call to Travis Cummings’ office. The secretary informed him that Mr. Cummings would probably not return to the office until Monday. His murdered wife was being buried tomorrow.

  Joey said, “I’m sorry to hear that. Where are the services being held? I would like to pay my respects.” Joey wrote down the information and entered the address into the GPS in his car. He drove past the funeral home slowly, twice. Other than a back parking lot and a back door for family use, the building was far too exposed. He decided to head over to 45 Dalton Street.

  Joey watched the street activity in front of Cummings’ townhouse to get a feel for the neighborhood. He guessed that most of the residents were professionals, because there was little to no activity on the entire block. It almost seemed too easy. That worried him.

  * * *

  Agent Phillips had Travis Cummings sit in a secure, private room for his interview. Nick sat well off to the side of the table and Agent Phillips sat directly across from Travis. Phillips placed a recorder on the table and pulled a file from a briefcase.

  Phillips looked at Travis, “I have more than one deal here. The one you get depends on what you can deliver. Any deal we make is void if we catch you in a lie. Even a small one.”

  Travis glanced at Nick and then answered, “I understand. What would I get if I gave you all of Dom’s real books for the last ten years, complete with names and bank account numbers, for both the skims and the gambling business?”

  Phillips raised an eyebrow. “We already have quite a bit of that. You’re asking for immunity, a new identity and protection from the mob. That’s a big package considering you’ve been knee deep in this over ten years. I need something special.”

  Travis leaned forward, “How special is proof that every major private prison and mental health facility in Illinois is paying skim to the mob and some are supplying narcotics to dealers?”

  Phillips was surprised. “You have proof?”

  “Do I have a deal?”

  Nick asked, “Wouldn’t you only know Dom’s operation? How could you know about the entire state?”

  Travis smiled, “I supervise the books for the entire Chicago Outfit. Dom is just a crew boss, a side ledger. He gets what the Outfit feels like giving him.”

  Phillips was stunned. Travis Cummings was in deeper than any of them had imagined. Securing whatever documents Cummings had was now the priority. Phillips pulled out a document that displayed the seal of the United States Justice Department at the bottom. “This is the best deal, everything you’ve asked for. Read it and sign, then we’ll start recording.”

  Nick offered, “I think we need to get his records fast. You can interview him while I pick up his records.”

  Phillips frowned at Nick, “The FBI is capable of retrieving documents and protecting Mr. Cummings.”

  Travis pushed his chair back and stopped reading the deal from the Justice Department. “I’ve got stuff scattered all over my house. I’ll have to be there. I want him watching out for me.” Travis pointed at Nick. “No offense, but I trust Stryker more than the FBI. That’s got to be part of the deal or I’m out. I’ll take my chances getting out of the country.”

  Nick knew Phillips had just been put in an impossible position.

  Nick addressed Travis, “Look, I have a job already. I can’t become your personal bodyguard. You said that you trust me; the FBI can keep you safe. I can assist, if everyone agrees, for special situations. Could you live with that?”

  Travis smirked, “I suppose no pun is intended when you ask if I can live with that? I sure hope so. Yeah, I just want you involved in this and watching my back.”

  Nick glanced at Phillips who was not happy with the turn of events.

  Agent Phillips looked at Nick, “I’m not the only one that won’t like this.”

  Nick knew he meant his mom.

  * * *

  Frankie arrived home from the storage unit, hung up his coat and went to stand at the kitchen window. Like clockwork, the pickup truck and SUV that had followed Artie’s bus pulled up in front of Frankie’s apartment building. He watched Agent Miller and another man take the front steps two at a time. Neither man looked very happy.

  Frankie waited. The apartment door shook with pounding. Frankie opened the door and Agent Miller pushed his way in and walked straight to the kitchen. He stood with his hand on the freezer door and said, “You think you’re pretty clever, don’t you?”

  The other agent stayed in the living room and watched as Agent Miller opened the freezer door and then slammed it shut. “Where is it?”

  Frankie sat on the arm of his couch, “Where’s what?”

  Agent Miller wanted to shoot Frankie. “The head. We know Artie brought a head here in a blue cooler last night. I saw it in your freezer an hour ago!”

  Frankie whistled, “They are working you boys too hard these days. I sure hope you didn’t tell your boss that you saw a head in my freezer and left it there. Boy, I sure wouldn’t want to explain that, especially since you already had a felony probation warrant. If a head was in our freezer, why didn’t you say so? I’d have given it to you. What the hell would I want with a frozen head?”

  Frankie walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer door. Only he and Agent Miller could see what was inside, which was nothing. “I bet you thought that big beef roast in there was a head after hearing that rumor about Artie having a head in a blue cooler. Sounds like an honest mistake to me.”

  Agent Miller was furious at himself for not taking the head earlier. He thought the rumor had been hogwash. When the rumor proved real, he decided to see what Artie would do with it. The potential had been there to get more evidence. Now there was nothing. Miller’s mind raced for a way out. He wasn’t going to leave there with a frozen head no matter what. Frankie was right; he certainly didn’t want to admit he had lost the head to his superiors. The smart career move would be to expose the rumor of a frozen head as being false. There never was a head, it was a beef roast.

  Agent Miller stared in the freezer and then shut the door. He look
ed at the other agent and then to Frankie. “I guess I owe you an apology, Mr. Mullen.”

  Both agents left. Frankie laughed so hard he wet himself. Another little issue old age had blessed him with.

  * * *

  Joseph had agreed to meet with Kamber and discuss her documentary assignment. Mitch had told Joseph he would bring Kamber and her friend, Chad, to the tunnel after seven when the sandwich shop closed. Joseph cautioned Mitch that Kamber should be made to promise not to mention the entrance from Momma’s basement. Keeping the location of the community secret was vital to its survival. Ultimately, he had to protect the community and preserve their trust in him.

  Mitch called Lacey with the good news that Joseph would meet with Kamber and Chad. Lacey trusted Mitch to keep Kamber safe, but warned him anyway. “If something happens to them, you’re going to have to answer to Nick.”

  Mitch imagined what a confrontation with Nick would be like and shuddered. “Don’t worry. You just have them here at seven. No cameras allowed.”

  “Thank you, Mitch.” Lacey hung up and glanced at Chad and Kamber’s anxious faces.

  Kamber spurted, “Well?”

  Lacey smiled, “Nick wants to see you both first, but you can meet with the ‘mayor’ of the tunnel community at seven.”

  Kamber was literally jumping in place while Chad just watched her.

  He turned to Lacey, “Is she always like this?”

  “I have no idea.”

  * * *

  Agent Phillips looked at his watch; it was almost six. “We have to go to your house and get whatever documents and computer information you have. You can pack your personal items and we’ll take you to a safe house.”

  It was apparent that Travis had not thought about having to leave his home. “Can’t you just guard me at my house? Do I really have to move?”

  Phillips nodded, “At least for now, you really have to move. Dom took out a contract on you a couple of hours ago. That was after someone else had already tried to kill you. It looks like two people want you dead.”