Street Justice: Book 2 of the Justice Series

by Trevor Shand

  Slowly, his fingers slid in and his fingertips brushed the side of the small cylinder. As he brushed the cylinder, it slipped farther into his pocket. He tried to lift his fingers, push the denim of the rear pocket out, so he could slip his fingers over it, but as he lifted with his hand, it simply pulled the entire rear of his pants out away from his body and did little to give him a gap between the cylinder and the fabric of his pocket. He continued to grasp and fumble at the cylinder until it stopped moving.

  The cylinder had reached the bottom of the pocket and could go no further. He attempted again to grasp the cylinder but unfortunately his hands would not go any farther either. His shoulder was already strained but he used his feet to drive his body up off the floor, driving his weight on his left shoulder, forcing his arm closer to his right rear pocket, sending pain throughout his body, as his shoulder stretched farther than it was supposed to stretch. His fingers finally slid up the side of the cylinder. As he tried to close his fingers again, the cylinder spun in place. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his body even higher, driving more bodyweight onto his shoulder. He felt something rip in the muscles but blotted out the pain. He forced all the air out of his lungs, minimizing the depth of his chest. He arched his back, trying to bring his butt ever so slightly closer.

  Finally, pain searing in his shoulder, his back protesting and seeing spots from heavy exertion and no air, with one last surge, his middle finger slipped over the tube and he closed on it like a vise. His body, other than his hand went limp and collapsed flat. As he did his hand popped from his pocket and the tube dropped to the carpet. Will’s eyes went wide as his hand scrambled to locate it. A minute later it was back in his hand and before anything else could happen, he hammered his thumb into the small button located on the device’s end. It was designed not to make any sound, to be a silent alarm, but the lack of feedback put a pit in Will’s stomach. Questions raced through his head, “What if when I fell it broke, what if the battery went dead, what if something in the room is blocking the signal?”

  Kip’s pocket vibrated violently, much stronger than anything his phone could produce. He reached into his pocket and produced the cylinder Will had gave them. The LED light was blinding and filled the room with a strobe effect even though the room was well lit. He looked at the tube then up at Johnny. Johnny already had his phone out and hit the speed dial. Russ looked at Kip and asked, “What’s that?”

  “A panic device, seems Alex might be in trouble,” Kip curtly explained.

  “What’s up,” Johnny asked his phone.

  “I was calling you when my phone rang. My panic device went off,” Alex replied.

  “So you didn’t push it?” Johnny asked.

  “No, I thought you did,” Alex responded.

  “No, we’re fine…”

  Both men said, “Oh crap,” at the same time. They both realized if it wasn’t one of them, then it had to be Will.

  “Will’s in trouble,” Alex spoke for both of them.

  “We’re twenty minutes away,” Johnny said.

  “I’m watching the corner,” Alex said. Both men went quiet for a moment then Alex continued, “Damn, we need more men.”

  “We had more men, we were trying to get more men which got us into this jam,” Johnny said apologetically. He knew he was putting Alex into a tight spot but knew there was nothing else to do. Johnny was physically too far away to help, Alex was the only one close enough.

  “There will be no one watching the corner,” Alex protested.

  “No one will know that, we keep quiet, our mystique is that we are ghosts anyway.”

  “Fine, but remember, this was your poor planning,” Alex said. He hung up before he could hear Johnny protest. Johnny did not like having his planning questioned. He used the glasses to take another look around. Everything seemed quiet, it was still during the day and the traffic was slow. He disarmed the door, leaving it disarmed because no one would be up there to disarm it again when he came back. He took the stairs down two at a time and stopped just before the exit. The exit led out into a small alley. He knew he needed to look calm so as not to attract attention to himself once on the street.

  He took a deep breath and pushed out into the alley. He gently closed the door so as to make as little sound as possible. Then he walked down the alley toward the street, trying to walk quickly while looking like he was in no hurry. He walked almost rigid while taking steps just a few inches longer than normal. He knew it wasn’t perfect but hoped it was good enough. Once on the street he kept his pace for two blocks, then he figured he was out of site of the street salesmen and took off at a run.

  Dario had watched Alex’s weird walk and knew who he was. Many of the boys with him didn’t care, but Dario wanted to know more about the guys they now worked for, beyond picking up product and dropping off money. He also realized that he had not seen any of the other guys today. He thought this might be worth some money to someone. He dialed Carl Marfori.

  In room 314, Steve finished with the front room, hallway and bathroom. He headed into the back room. He saw Will laying on the floor and walked past him starting checking through the nightstand and wardrobe. Casually he said to Will, not expecting a response, “I am starting to feel you guys were smart enough to rent a room especially for this meeting. So I’ll finish with a quick check of the room, then you, then call for back-up. Adrian is not going to be happy, we’re going to have to basically start over but what can you do.”

  Steve closed up the wardrobe and headed over to Will. He lay on his side, glaring at Steve. Steve grabbed Will’s upper arm and pulled him to a sitting position. As he did he looked down and saw the panic device. “What’s this?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Will answered.

  “Actually I would,” Steve confirmed.

  “Well I’m not telling you,” Will narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips.

  “Dude, really? Is it that important? I mean when I call, they will come take you downtown and this little doohickey too. I’m sure someone at HQ can take it apart and tell us what it does. Why not just tell me?”

  “Where is HQ? Seattle PD?” Will asked.

  Steve let out a chuckle, “No, you’re in a little more trouble than that. I’m working on the behalf of the FBI.”

  “So you’re an FBI agent?”

  “Not exactly,” Steve replied.

  “So then what exactly?”

  “What does it matter?”

  “I want to know who is arresting me and who beat me up, so I know who to sue,” Will said flatly.

  Steve evaluated Will for a moment trying to figure out if he was serious. Finally he offered, “If you get down to it, I used to work for the agency and now am a full time contractor for the FBI. The great part about this is, if you do sue, and you did win, the FBI would simply cut me free.”

  Alex sprinted into the hotel lobby and up the stairs two at a time. He tore down the hallway and raced to room 314. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then he leaned his ear to the door and listened. He heard quiet voices, but could not make out the words. He would like a lot more information about what was waiting for him on the far side of the door. He only knew it was not good, otherwise Will could have simply called, rather than hit the panic button.

  Alex had a key to the room, so his choices came down to trying to sneak in, which, if they were in the front room together would mean he would be giving up his element of surprise, or he could barge in, giving him some shock value if they were in the front room, but give away his entrance if they were in the back room. He listened again and guessed. There was no reason they would be whispering and the voices sounded quiet, so he gambled they were in the back room.

  Alex slid the card into the lock and the small green light blinked. Slowly he turned the knob and eased the door open. When the door was wide enough, Alex stuck his head inside and risked a look around. The front room was empty so he quickly slid inside and closed the door behind himself. He paused and
listened again. Will was talking to Chris about how Chris came to work for the FBI. That was news, the fact the FBI was involved. As he glided toward the hallway, he prayed Will would keep Chris talking.

  As he crossed the front room, Alex saw the Taser and smiled. Finally, something was breaking his way. He scooped up the device and continued his journey. Sliding quietly down the hallway, he paused when he saw Steve’s back. Steve was grilling Will about their emergency contact device. Will was doing a great job of doing everything but answer the question. Alex looked up and down the hallway. It was too small to have any cover so he decided his best action was to simply move as fast and quietly as possible.

  Alex ducked back to the front room, checked the safety was off on the Taser and fit it comfortably into his right hand. Taking one more deep but silent breath, he moved toward the back room. As he took the last step that put him in the doorway Will saw him in his peripheral vision and inadvertently let his eyes shift to look at him. It was not much but it was enough. For Steve, hyper-tuned for indicators about his surroundings through years of conflict, the eye shift might as well have been a flashing message on an LED screen.

  Without warning Steve dropped his body and pivoted, swinging his right shoulder and arm back, leading with the elbow. The hit was solid and would have knocked most people from their feet and had them grasping their mid-section in pain. Unfortunately, Alex was not most people. The unexpected strike did cause Alex to collapse upon himself a bit, but he maintained his feet and more importantly was ready for the next strike. Steve continued his circle, bringing his left fist around. Normally Alex would have raised his right arm to block the blow, but instead, seeing Steve’s exposed rib cage, snaked in with the Taser and triggered the button.

  Steve dropped like a sack of bricks, piling up on himself then toppling over. Alex wasted no time grabbing two more sets of plasticuffs and zipping up Steve. Because he had been Tasered he expected Steve to be out for a bit but did not want to take any chances. Alex wasn’t quite sure who Steve was but did not want to take any chances. He hurried to the bathroom, got a wash cloth and stuffed it into Steve’s mouth then pulled a pillow case off a pillow and jammed it over Steve’s head.

  Carl Marfori said, “Yes, Dario, this is great news. Yes, you did the right thing by calling. Yes, I will show my appreciation. Now I need you to do me a favor, I need you to find out where they hide when they are overseeing the street and secure the spot. I’m sending Brad to come help. Call me when you have the location.”

  Carl hung up the phone and yelled, “Brad.”

  A few moments later Brad appeared at the doorway, “Yes, sir?”

  “I need you to head down to Colorado Ave and re-secure the corner there,” Will said.

  “Um…”Brad hesitated, “Didn’t we lose a lot of good men trying to do just that?”

  “Brad, I’m not trying to get you killed, who’d fetch me coffee if not for you? Dario just called, apparently their man Alex just left. Since we have eyes on the other three, that means there is no one there.”

  “What? They are all gone, why would they do that?”

  “I am guessing because they don’t think anyone is watching them, which is a good bet, I’m not sure I would have been using resources to watch them if this thing with the FBI hadn’t come up. Now get your butt down there and help Dario until I can round up some more recruits…and hope they don’t decide to all come back together.”

  Brad gave a half chuckle, “Huh, yeah.”

  Dario ran down the small alleyway he always saw the crew come from when he did see them come and go. He looked left and right, seeing dumpsters, trash, windows and a few doors. These doors led into the buildings. The doors on the left led to buildings that did not overlook the corner. He guessed they wanted to overlook the corner. There were four doors on the right. Dario looked at each for some sign that this was the door they used. They all looked the same. Well, not exactly the same, but they all looked old and tired.

  Lacking a better plan, Dario headed into the closest door. He skipped the first floor. He knew height was an advantage when trying to get a good view. Heading to the second floor, he burst out into the hallway and looked up and down the dingy corridor. He jogged to one end then the other. He did not know what he was looking for but hoped he would know it when he saw it. Nothing jumped out at him.

  He headed back to the stairwell and up to the third floor. In the third floor hallway he saw a tall gaunt man, leaving an apartment. As he approached the frail man he said, “Yo, my man check it..”

  Turning to look at Dario, the old man put his hands up and said, “Hey, listen, I don’t have anything worth stealing.”

  “What, no man, I ain’t here to steal anything. I just want to know if you’ve seen anything lately,” Dario stopped several strides away from the old man and held his hands out to the side, trying to show he was not holding anything and to be as non-threatening as possible.

  The old man put his hands down and replied, “I’ve seen lots of things, you need to be more specific.”

  Dario let out a long sigh. He did not know how long the crew would be gone from the corner, but he guessed it would not be long and he needed to hurry. “I mean like, have you seen people who don’t belong here?”

  “You don’t belong here,” the old man offered.

  “You know what I mean,” Dario huffed.

  “I have seen some white men in the alley behind the building,” the old man seeming to finally think about the question.

  “But not in this building?” Dario asked.

  “No, not in here.”

  “Do you know which building they go into?”

  “I didn’t know they went into a building, as I said, I’ve only seen them in the alley.”

  “OK, thanks man,” Dario said and took off down the stairs. He burst out into the alley and ran to the second entrance. He ducked inside and started his sweep.

  Only after he had secured Steve, did Alex step over to help Will. Leaning into Will he produced a knife from his pocket, snapped it open and sliced through Will’s cuffs. “Thanks man,” Will said.

  “Don’t mention it. Now pick him up, we need to get him out of here.”

  “Where to?” Will asked, to his credit not hesitating and starting to pull Steve over his shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” Alex snapped, then more quietly, “I don’t know. Let me think.” Alex started walking out of the room and down the hall.

  “OK,” Will said, moving quickly and efficiently behind Alex, as if Steve weighed nothing. The two men took the stairs down to the ground floor and took the door heading out to the parking lot. Alex hustled over to his rental car and opened the trunk. Will dropped Steve inside and Alex slammed the lid.

  Moving to the driver’s door Alex said, “I’m going to take him up to Johnny, let him figure this out. He’s supposed to be the great planner but it’s his plan that is coming apart, so let him figure it out. You get back to the rooftop. It’s unguarded.”

  “It’s unguarded? Why?” Will asked in shock.

  “Because Johnny and Kip are in Shoreline dealing with Russ and you let this guy kick your ass,” Alex screamed, “Now get back to the roof.” Alex dropped into the driver’s seat and fired up the small engine. He gunned the engine and chirped the wheels as he peeled out of the parking lot. Will stood still as he watched Alex tear off. Only after Alex had disappeared from sight did Will take off at a run, heading to the look out.

  “You guys have been following these guys around for a week and nothing. Now all of a sudden everything is happening,” Carl said.

  “I’m sorry,” said James, one of the street runners Carl had assigned as watchers.

  “No, don’t be sorry you did good. So they threw him in the trunk and said he was headed up to Russ? Is that right?” Will confirmed.

  “Yes, sir, well he said he was going to take him to Johnny and that Johnny was taking care of Russ so I am guessing he is at his house,” James clarified.

>   “Yes, safe assumption, again good job, now I have some phone calls to make,” Carl said. Without waiting for a reply he disconnected. “Brad,” he called out then remembered that Brad was not there, so he made his way to his study in the back and sifted through his desk until he found the card for Agent Massie. He dialed the number.

  On the third ring Adrian answered, “This is Agent Massie, go.”

  “Agent Massie, so good to talk to you again, this is Carl.”

  “Yes, Carl, what can I do for you?” Adrian said with some confusion in his voice. He had not been expecting a call from him.

  “Well, I have some information you might find interesting,” Carl said.

  “And it is?” Adrian asked briskly.

  “My, you are hostile for a man I am doing a favor for,” Carl lilted his voice, as if offended.

  “Somehow I am sure this will benefit you too,” Adrian replied dryly.

  “Yes, yes, quite so,” Carl gave a slight chuckle, “Anyway, a little bird just told me that there is a green Kia headed to Russ’ house with your partner in the trunk. Apparently, Johnny and a friend are already there as well as Russ.”

  There was silence on the phone. One moment stretched into two. Nearly a minute passed before Carl asked, “Agent Massie, are you there?”

  Snapping out of his own head, Adrian replied, “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  “I did.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to call in the cavalry,” Adrian said, “Thank you, good bye.” Adrian hung up his phone and sat frozen for another moment. His mind raced, Steve was unbeatable, how had they gotten him in the trunk, he asked himself. Then, tearing himself out of analysis and forcing himself into action he called Sam. “Sir, I need a tactical team to support me in Shoreline now,” he stated as soon as Sam answered the phone.