Street Justice: Book 2 of the Justice Series

by Trevor Shand

  Adrian’s face turned red, “Fine, but I get the agents out in the field helping us too. They are FBI guys and that makes them part of my team because as you pointed out, you’re not FBI.”

  Steve smiled, “Fair enough, and the stakes?”

  Adrian thought for a moment, then smiled, “OK, I win, you have to run a sprint triathlon with me.” Adrian was an avid triathlete, Steve spent his time building and working on his cars.

  Steve smiled back, “Fair enough, and if you lose, you have to go drinking with me, and I don’t mean sit there while I drink, I mean drink what I drink.”

  Adrian make a sick face when he thought about it but said, “Okay, you’re on.” He collected his jacket and a note pad and headed out the door. Steve smiled and headed out to the Seattle Justice Center.

  Steve met Sarah in her office. He gave her a quick rundown of the situation, most likely more than she needed and more than he should have revealed but Steve knew he could trust her and it was helpful to lay it all out to someone with a fresh perspective. She listened intently, nodding occasionally but not interrupting. Sarah had the ability to pull the conversation out of someone without saying a word.

  When he was done Sarah said, “Well, let me make a call.” She picked up the phone and dialed a number. After a short pause she said, “Harry, how are things?... Excellent. Hey, did I hear this morning some guy walked in off the street and started telling you all about a large drug connection? ... uh huh … I think I have a guy who can help you out. If you have a minute come on up to my office … great, see you in a couple.”

  Sarah set down the phone and smiled back at Steve. “It might be your lucky day. One of our drug guys came in this morning and had a guy off the street trying to tell him all about a huge drug connection. It all sounded a bit fantastic and it seems this guy has some holes, so we weren’t sure if he was crazy or the real deal, but on first blush, what this guy is saying meshes exactly with what you’re saying. He has parts you don’t have and you have parts he doesn’t have but the bits that fit together seem to fit together well.” Just then they heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” Sarah said.

  A trim, muscular man in his early thirties with a pompadour stepped into Sarah’s office. His charcoal suit fit him in every way without a pucker or pull. His light gray shirt matched his eyes and his bright white teeth matched the starched white of his collar. He nodded to Steve as he entered then said to Sarah, “Hey there Sarah.”

  “Harry, good to see you again. This is Steve,” She indicated to Steve, “He’s, well, an old friend and to tell you the truth I’m not sure who exactly he works for now other than ‘Us.’” Harry seemed unfazed by the comment and shook Steve’s hand. Sarah continued, “Steve, this is Harry Connick, not the singer but you should hear him on karaoke night sometime.”

  Steve laughed and replied, “What? Harry Connick Jr. didn’t quit singing and become a Seattle police officer? I was sure the pay alone would attract him.”

  “Okay, you found me out, I’m trying to keep a low profile less people commit crimes just to get my autograph,” Harry smiled.

  “Please sit,” Sarah said, “Now Steve just told me a story I thought you might want to hear. Oh, and while you’re listening Harry, please know, Steve does not care who gets the collar. He’s not stepping in to take anything over and take credit. He only cares about the results.” Harry looked at Steve who nodded in affirmation.

  Harry proceeded, “Well, we had a guy show up this morning and say he wanted to talk to someone in vice about drug dealing. At first we figured he was a concerned citizen telling us he saw a drug deal or he thinks the high schooler across the street is dealing, or something like that, we get it all the time. I was up on rotation and thought I got the short straw, having to listen to this guy complain rather than be out in the field doing real work.

  “But the more I listened to this guy, the more I realized he wasn’t just complaining nor was he some crackpot. This guy is a decorated veteran who came home from the war and basically slid into the drug trade. Now he’s neck deep and wants out. He knows this has gone too far, that there will be consequences but knows coming clean to us was the right thing to do.”

  “So where is he?” Steve asked.

  “Downstairs. We were on a break when Sarah called. He’s having lunch. He’s been so cooperative, and this bust is going to be so nice, I thought the least I could do is by him a sandwich,” Harry replied.

  “Mind if I join you for the afternoon. I am not looking at this from the same avenue you are, I’m trying to go upstream, I want the supplier. I’d like to ask a few questions to that end,” Steve said.

  “Not at all. I’ll be honest, it’ll be nice to have someone else in the room with me. Everyone has been trying to get in. Now that everyone knows what this guy has got everyone wants to help me so they can get their name on the bust. But I ain’t lettin’ any of those leeches in on my bust. They didn’t want to help me when I was just listening to some guy complain. “

  “I got ya,” Steve said. He turned to Sarah, “Darling, it seems it is time for me to go, but I owe you for this.”

  “It was mostly random luck and timing,” Sarah played it down.

  “And yet when I’m around you we also seem to catch the breaks, you must be my good luck charm,” Steve smiled. He walked around the desk and gave her a big hug and then said to Harry, “Lay on, MacDuff.”

  Harry nodded his head and exited Sarah’s office. Steve looked back at Sarah, gave her a wink and said “Adrian’s gonna have such a hangover.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Steve said and followed Harry down the hall toward the elevators. Two stories down, they entered an interrogation room and Steve saw a large, fit man eating a turkey sub. Steve assumed this was their man. The large man nodded at Steve and Harry and continued to eat.

  Harry indicated to a seat for Steve and said, “I’m going to get a cup of coffee, want one?”

  “Of course,” Steve said with a smile.

  Harry looked over at the soldier who nodded, continuing to chew. Harry left, Steve pulled out his smartphone and looked through some emails. He didn’t have anything new in his folders but he did not want to try small talk with the big man. The big man continued to focus on his sandwich. A couple of minutes later Harry returned with three large coffees in a cardboard holder. The spot for the fourth cup was filled with sugars and creamers.

  Harry set the holder down and said “I didn’t know how either of you took it so I just brought a bunch of stuff.” Harry grabbed the closest cup and put in one sugar and a creamer. Steve took his and added nothing. The large man set down his sub and proceeded to put four creamers and six sugars in his coffee.

  He let out a laugh and said, “I imagine I should enjoy good coffee and real cream while I can. I don’t imagine they have either in the Pen.” He took a big swallow and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  Harry said to Steve, “Steve, this is Russ. Formerly an Army Ranger, did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been telling me quite the story so far this morning.”

  Steve shook Russ’ hand. “So can you give me a quick re-cap?”

  “Sure I can. The highlights are, when I got back to the States I tried to find a job but no one wanted to hire me. They all talk about honoring our heroes but I guess honoring doesn’t mean giving me a chance. Anyway, I was partying and running out of money, when a dealer I had been introduced to needed some help. I helped a bit, including putting him in contact with a supply I got connected to when I was in Afghanistan. The money was nice and I think of drugs as basically a victimless crime. Sure, some people overdo them, but they do it to themselves.

  “But then things took a turn. Our supplier was increasing our supply way past what we asked for. Local guys were getting hot that we were eating into their market, so we needed help. We hired a crazy crew I knew in the Army and now they have taken everything over and are killing people. I am not quite sure how it got
this out of hand but when we’re killing folks, even drug dealers, we are no longer victimless and I don’t know how to get out. I need help.”

  Russ’ face had an earnest look Steve knew he could not be faking. He looked like a child asking for help with a complex task. “Yeah, we can help you though I can’t make any commitments to how much your cooperation will or won’t help with your own legal issues. I’ll want more details later but let’s figure out our general next steps.”

  “OK, fair enough,” Russ gave a thin smile, “One of the guys we asked to come in and help has been killed in the scuffle, so as I understand it, they need more men. They plan on getting mercenaries, people they can get references for. My thought would be, we find someone willing to go in as a mercenary and take them down from the inside.”

  “I like it, simple,” Steve nodded his head.

  “Yeah, but where are we going to find someone dumb enough to get into bed with these guys?” Harry asked.

  “Oh, I might know a guy,” Steve offered, then added, “By the way Adrian, I believe this means I won our bet.”

  “Ugh,” was all Adrian could say.

  Sam and Adrian stared at Steve in Sam’s office. “Let me get this straight, you want to pose as a mercenary and infiltrate these guys on the fly, with no background other than this Russ guys’ word and with no time to study them?” Sam asked.

  “Yup, that’s about the gist of it,” Steve said back with more confidence than he felt. He knew there was usually weeks and months of surveillance before the FBI ever even considered sending in a mole. But he also knew they did not have time to wait. The crew was killing people and hiring now. If they waited there was no knowing how many more people would die before they needed more help.

  “My first instinct is to say no,” Sam said.

  “But isn’t this why we have Steve? Isn’t this part of the reason we keep him a contractor? To do the things are don’t want anyone else to do?”

  Sam thought about this and said, “On second thought, Adrian is exactly right. I wouldn’t let an FBI agent do this. I feel a responsibility to my agents and don’t want to do the paperwork if one of them dies. But you’re not an FBI agent. I don’t have to do any paperwork if you die, in fact, I bet I could get away with not paying you. And at your rates, I might shoot you myself.” Sam gave Steve a big grin. Both men knew Sam was mostly kidding about all of this, mostly.

  “Okay, so what do we do?” Adrian asked.

  “Well, Russ vouches for me, tells them he knew me when, blah, blah, blah, and puts me in touch.”

  “We can do better than that. I’ll build you a fake history, military record, back date some posts on some soldier of fortune sites so it looks like you’ve been around for a few years. That should help sell you,” Adrian offered.

  “Perfect, let’s make sure what Russ says and what you create line up, and we’re good to go. I guess now I need to go spring Russ,” Steve said.

  “Spring Russ?” Sam sad startled.

  “Um, yeah, they are still holding him at the police station,” Steve explained.

  “They can’t let him go, he has admitted to multiple offenses. He’s going to do some time.”

  “He can’t very well vouch for me from a jail cell,” Steve offered with a straight face.

  “How do we know he’ll stick around?”

  “It seems to me he could have just disappeared and never come in, so his conscience weighs on him. I think he’ll be around, at least long enough to alibi me.”

  Sam thought for a moment, “Fine, I guess we can’t move ahead without him and it sounds like the exact target we’re looking for is in our grasp, a drug supply line with ties directly back to the terrorist regions. We set out to shut at least one terror funding channel down, and we can do it. Russ is a DEA or local police problem. I’ll call ahead.”

  “OK, let’s go,” Steve said, “You’re free.”

  Russ, whose hands were stuffed in his hands looked up. He crinkled his brow and looked up at Steve. He stuttered and said, “W-W-What?”

  “One small catch,” Steve smiled and stepped into the room and let the door close behind him, “Don’t worry, the cameras are off, anyway, I found you an idiot, your guinea pig.”

  “Really?” Russ said, “Wait, no, I don’t want an idiot or a guinea pig. I can do it. I’ve been thinking, I will tell him that I’ve been thinking--”

  Steve cut him off, “Listen Russ, I like you. In fact I have been in your shoes, well, at least close to it. Anyway, no, there is no way you get to leave here and go in. Shoot, you should be excited to leave here. Many didn’t want you to. Anyway, what we need in exchange for your ability to walk out of here is I need you to vouch for my dummy.”

  Russ stared for a moment then said, “What?”

  “What, what?” asked Steve.

  “I’ve led ops, they take time, there is no way you have one set up this quick,” Russ replied.

  “But if we don’t, more will die.”

  “I’ve seen a lot of men die.” Russ looked into Steve’s eyes. He expected to see softness. He saw Steve’s eyes of steal.

  Steve did not break eye contact and said, “I too have seen men die. I too have caused men to die. Now what I need is help for my plant.” Russ looked deep into Steve’s eyes and saw his own reflection. He knew Steve was not driven by ego but by responsibility. He could also tell that Steve was not going into this lightly, he knew the risks.

  Russ nodded, “OK, what are the next steps?”

  “Well, Adrian is back at the FBI building creating a fake background for me, seeding stuff online, making it look like I’ve been around. We need to head over so you can give him any input and make sure our stories align.”

  As Steve and Russ exited the building to walk the few blocks to the FBI building, they did not see Alex sitting in the car across the street. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Johnny. “Uh, yeah, your hunch was right. Good thing we tailed him. He went into the police station a few hours ago, now he’s walking out and down the street with another man, could be his lawyer I guess but he’s dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, not a suit.”

  “Keep following him,” Johnny advised.

  “Will do,” Alex said and he hung up the phone. He put the car drive and eased into the street behind his quarry. He eased down 5th Ave in the right lane keeping the two men about half a block in front of him. Just before the corner a large truck was parked unloading packages. Alex eased left to go around. When he did, headlights filled his rear view mirror and a horn exploded. The faster moving traffic did not appreciate his traveling at a walking pace. Alex glanced at the driver behind him, obviously yelling in his own car at Russ and Steve.

  The two men started to turn to see what the commotion was about. Alex knew he could not let Russ identify him so he hopped on the gas, cut across three lanes and took a left on a stale yellow light. He headed down one block, took three right hand turns and headed back down 5th street in the opposite direction. The two men had recommenced walking and were talking, not aware or looking for Alex traveling down the road.

  Alex whizzed by, this time flowing with the traffic. Once past them he took another right then one more. He planned to head up two blocks this time. Half way up the block he saw the light turn yellow. He gunned the engine and nearly made the yellow. Instead he sailed through the intersection under a crisp new red. Not thinking anything of it he continued up the road, preparing to take another right, then saw red lights again, this time flashing from the top of a patrol car behind him.

  Alex thought about gunning it but then looked about at the busy city traffic. The chance of extricating himself from downtown and alluding the police was slim. He knew he had not broken any laws, other than the red light, so he pulled over. The cruiser pulled in behind him and a young officer got out. He sauntered up toward Alex, taking his time. Alex rolled down his window and waited.

  When he got to Alex’s window he leaned his head in and said, “You know why I pulled you over
?”

  “No sir, officer,” Alex replied as he scanned the area, looking for any sign of Russ and his companion.

  “Well, you seem to have run a red light back there.”

  “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to,” Alex replied, secretly hoping he could just get a warning and move on.

  “You know, I have trouble believing that, know why?”

  Alex was not focused on the officer, instead trying to search for the two men and figure out what to do now. Johnny would not be happy he had lost them. It took him a moment to realize that the officer had asked him a question. He then had to stop and reply the scene in his head, finally stuttering out, “N-no, why?”

  “Because when you saw that light turn yellow, you sped up. I heard the engine rev. You know, that is just as illegal as running a red,” the officer droned on.

  Finally Alex’s heart leapt as he saw Russ and the other man heading south down Columbia St. barely a half a block in front of him. “Sorry sir, can I just get my ticket and go?” Alex asked.

  The young officer seemed taken aback as if the script had been flipped and he did not like it one bit. He was the officer, this was his domain. The ticket giver was supposed to say how things went, the ticket getter was supposed to listen, or at the very most whine about how they should not get a ticket. This was not right at all. He was the officer, he was in charge, he had the power.

  So, the young officer shook off the question and decided, if this guy wanted to leave quickly, then he would do the opposite. “It is my duty as a police office to not only enforce the laws but educate you as well. I know we like to joke that red means stop, green means go and yellow means go faster, but that just isn’t the case. It’s a safety thing…”

  The officer’s words turned to a buzz as Alex sat in the car, watching Russ and his mysterious friend wander down the street and out of sight. Alex fumed and the officer continued talking, “…and did you know the police station is just over there? This is not a good place to be breaking laws…” In his head Alex imagined reaching under his seat, pulling the H&K 9mm he had tucked there and shooting Officer Chatty in the face. In reality he sighed and leaned back, knowing for the time being it was out of his control.