by Mike Ryan
“One hour?”
“One hour.”
After hanging up, Recker could feel Jones’ icy stare without even looking at him. He knew Jones was giving him a disapproving look. Recker stared at his phone for a minute before finally glancing up at his partner. He was correct in his assumption.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Recker said.
“I’m not saying anything.”
“It’s not what you’re saying, it’s what you’re thinking.”
“I’m not thinking anything.”
“Don’t give me that. I know you know that was Vincent and I know you know he asked for a meeting and I know you don’t want me to attend.”
“I would say you have everything well covered,” Jones replied.
“I’m just going to listen to what he has to say in case it’s something else. I promise I won’t get us involved in something that’s not our business.”
Jones pulled open a few drawers and pretended to be rummaging for something. “Wait, will you put your hand on a Bible and swear to it?”
“Really? We both know you don’t keep a Bible in there.”
“Well how about if I print out a picture of it and we use that?”
“I give you my word.”
“I guess that will have to do.”
“Need me to come with?” Haley asked.
“Nah. Stay here in case something else breaks. I won’t be too long.”
Recker made sure his firearms were loaded, then headed out of the office for his meeting. He wound up getting to the diner about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Vincent was already there, evidenced by one of his bodyguards at the door. After a brief greeting with the man, Recker went inside, immediately acknowledged by Malloy. They gave each other a nod, which seemed to be their usual greeting, a sign of mutual respect between the two.
“How ya moving these days?” Recker asked, his eyes moving down to Malloy’s midsection, where he was previously shot.
“Almost back to normal.”
“So, I probably shouldn’t give you a good rib shot right now?”
Malloy grinned. “Not if you wanna walk out of here.” Recker looked to the back of the diner and saw Vincent sitting there. “You’re a little early.”
“You know me, no use putting off for later what you can do now. He ready?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Vincent had been reading a newspaper but folded it up and put it to the side when he saw Recker approaching. He got up and gave his frequent business associate a handshake before they sat down across from each other.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Vincent said. “Hopefully, I didn’t pull you away from anything urgent.”
“Nothing that couldn’t wait. So, what’s this about?”
“As I’m sure you know and have heard by now, one of my properties was hit with an explosive yesterday.”
“Yeah, I’ll miss conducting business there,” Recker deadpanned.
“Be that as it may, we both know who was behind it.”
“Nowak.”
“Exactly. I have a proposition for you.”
Recker, having an idea what he was about to say, wanted to stop it before he even started. He put his hand up to prevent Vincent from going any further. “Before you say anything, whatever’s going on between you two is between you two. It’s not my fight.”
“I had a feeling you would say that. I’m sure David would be proud of you for that also since I’m sure that’s his feeling as well.”
“We’ve got our own things to work on right now. We just can’t intervene in this.”
“What if I made it worth your while to assist me in this quest to rid the city of these scoundrels?”
“No amount of money will persuade us,” Recker answered. “You should know that by now.”
“I wasn’t referring to money. You can name your price. Whatever you want.”
Though Recker was a little bowled over by the offer, he wasn’t even sure how to respond. As big an offer as it was, Recker wouldn’t know what to even ask for. He shook his head slightly as he tried to think of something, not that he was seriously entertaining the offer, no matter how appealing it was. Seeing that his proposition was falling on deaf ears, Vincent was willing to do whatever he could to enlist the services of Recker and his partners.
“You have a blank check. You can write in what you wish.”
Recker continued to shake his head, refusing to let himself get roped in to another one of Vincent’s causes. “No, I just can’t do it. Not right now.”
“What would be the reason for that?”
“Like I said, we just have our own things to work on right now.”
“I noticed you didn’t say never somewhere in there,” Vincent said, still holding on to the hope of being assisted by The Silencer’s crew.
“Never know what might happen down the line. But it can’t happen at this moment.”
“Is that your final answer?”
“I’m afraid that it is.”
Vincent leaned forward, speaking more softly. “I can respect your position, whether I agree with it or not. But you’ve kind of positioned yourself as a man of the people. Protecting those who can’t or won’t protect themselves. I’m sure you are as aware of this as I am… if Nowak and I get into the war that she seems to crave… and that I’m almost obligated to respond to, there’s going to be a lot of innocent lives lost.”
“You don’t have to respond in the same manner.”
Vincent glanced over Recker’s shoulder, not looking at anything in particular, making a face like he wasn’t sure whether he agreed with Recker’s assessment. “Well, that’s probably a matter that could be debated. But if I let her get away with this without a public and violent response in the same manner, then I am saying to everyone in this city that I am weak and vulnerable to others doing the same.”
“You could operate in stealth.”
“I could. But that doesn’t have quite the same sting to it. We both know how this game works. If this conflict between us goes on for any length of time, innocent people will be killed. It’s inevitable.”
“So, make it not so.”
“All I can do is try to prevent it on my end.”
“I would like to think that our relationship is way beyond making idle threats or warnings.”
“I would agree.”
“But if innocent people get caught up in this… I will get involved. And I can’t guarantee I’m coming in on a certain side. I’ll come in on the side of the people. And whoever’s on the wrong side of that will be lining up against me.”
Vincent nodded, knowing that his plan of getting Recker on his side in this conflict wasn’t working. “Understood.”
5
Several days had passed since Recker’s meeting with Vincent and not another incident had cropped up. It was quiet. Almost too quiet for Recker’s tastes. Though some in the office, Jones in particular, held out hope that it meant that Vincent took Recker’s talk to heart, that there would be no violent and public response to Nowak’s actions, Recker did not share those beliefs. In his mind, it just meant that the response would be even greater, with Vincent taking extra time and precaution to get all the details right.
Recker had just finished having dinner with Mia at the hospital since she was working a night shift. Though he was planning on going back to the office since there didn’t seem to be anything pressing, his plans would soon change. As soon as he left the hospital, his phone started ringing. Since it was pouring with rain at the time, Recker waited until he got across the parking lot and into his car to answer his phone. It had stopped ringing by that time, but since he saw it was Tyrell on the call log, immediately called him back.
“Hey, saw you called. What’s up?”
“Hey, just wanted to give you a heads up if you want it.”
“On what?” Recker asked.
“Yo, I just heard from a dude that there is something major
going down in back of a jewelry shop on seventeenth. You know the place?”
“Yeah, I think I’ve passed by there before. What’s the deal?”
“I don’t know, man. All I heard is it is m-a-j-o-r.”
“That doesn’t really tell me much.”
“All I can do is tell you what I know,” Tyrell replied.
“What time’s this supposed to be happening?”
“Like in thirty minutes.”
“Nothing like advance notice, huh?”
“All I can do is report it when I hear it.”
“OK, thanks. I’ll check it out.”
“Hey, wait a minute. I haven’t even told you the best part yet.”
“Oh. You got more?”
“Yeah, man. I hear that Nowak is connected to this.”
“Why?”
“I dunno, man, that’s your department.”
“Why would she need to knock over a jewelry store?” Recker asked.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about it getting knocked over. Could be anything. Maybe it’s just some kind of meeting, maybe they’re meeting with another guy, maybe they need more money, heck… maybe the woman wants some more jewelry without having to dish out the cash for it. I’m just telling you what I know.”
Though Recker was grateful for the tip, something didn’t seem right about it. Though by now he had no concerns or worries about Tyrell’s honesty or loyalty, Recker was still apprehensive about how he obtained this kind of information.
“Where’d you get this from?”
“Just a guy I know.”
“Use him before?” Recker asked.
“Yeah, bunch of times.”
“He reliable?”
“Always has been before.”
“Where would he get it?”
“I dunno, man, he runs around certain circles. He’s like a fly on the wall sometimes.”
“You trust him?”
“Like I said, he’s never let me down before. Could he be mistaken? Maybe. Is he flat out lying? Don’t know why he would be, but hey, there’s always a first time for everything. I just pass the info along to you. Whether you wanna act on it or not is your business.”
“That’s all there is to it?”
“That’s it.” Recker was silent for a minute, prompting Tyrell to wonder what was wrong. “What’s bugging you about this? Why you trippin’?”
“I just don’t see what Nowak would be doing having a meeting in the pouring rain behind a jewelry store.”
“Well I didn’t say it was her. Maybe it’s just one of her peeps or something, you know.”
“Yeah, maybe. How much did you pay for this info?”
“Didn’t cost me a dime, man.”
“Isn’t that kind of unusual?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“You mean, this guy just called you up out of the blue and told you all of this without expecting anything back?”
“Uhh, yeah, kinda something like that. He did tell me that I might owe him one somewhere down the line if it played out.”
“All right, I’ll check it out.”
“You got it. Listen, if you really wigged out about this, you make sure you watch your back out there. Don’t go out there playing hero, you got me?”
“I got you.”
“Aright. There’s always another day.”
“Let’s hope so.”
As soon as he got off the phone with Tyrell, Recker called Jones to let him know of the developments. As much as Recker’s alarm bells went off, it was tenfold with Jones. He wanted Recker to skip the whole thing.
“I don’t like it,” Jones said.
“Neither do I. But that’s the business we’re in, isn’t it? It’s not all gonna be peaches and cream.”
“But it also shouldn’t be kale and sauerkraut either.”
“Huh?”
“Forget it. The point is that we need more time to digest this.”
“David, there isn’t time. This thing’s going down soon.”
“But we also agreed not to intervene in Vincent and Nowak’s feud.”
“Yes, but it’s the same deal I always told Vincent. I don’t want to get involved in a criminal versus criminal thing, but if it involves innocent people, I can’t stay away. And it might not even involve her. Maybe one of her underlings is planning to knock the place over. Aren’t we supposed to act on that? Isn’t that what we signed up for? Sometimes things happen at a moment’s notice and we gotta roll on it. Won’t be the first time.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t make me have to like it any better.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“I’ll have Chris meet you there.”
“How far away is he?”
“He’s here at the office with me. I’ll have him go now.”
After getting off the phone with Jones, Recker just sat in the driver seat of his car, staring out the rain-soaked windshield. As the rain pelted the glass, Recker’s mind took him elsewhere. He thought about the alley behind the jewelry store, visualizing it in his mind. He placed himself there, moving about the shadows through the darkened alley. Recker’s thoughts then turned to one of his dreams, the one in which he was gunned down, killed in a similar scenario. It was the same set of circumstances. A dark alley late at night, a blistering rain, a dangerous situation.
For the first time he could ever think of, Recker thought of not rolling on the call. The prospect of his dream actually becoming a reality gave him cause for concern. A couple minutes went by, but he couldn’t in good conscience not check it out. Regardless of his feelings, or whatever worries he had, he couldn’t just ignore it. If he chose to let it go, and he later found out someone innocent had gotten hurt, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. He couldn’t sit this one out.
Recker started the car and put it in drive, knowing he didn’t have time to waste. He was already a few minutes behind schedule after daydreaming. He put his foot on the gas to make sure he got there in good time, though knowing he couldn’t push it too fast with the slick roads. Still, he got to 17th street only a minute or two after the scheduled time that Tyrell told him. He first drove along the street, passing the jewelry store to see if he could see anything going down from the front of it. Everything seemed quiet though. He continued driving, making the first turn possible, stopping near the alleyway entrance to see if he could make anything out. It was still quiet.
Though the alley was big enough for his car to drive down, it was just barely large enough, and Recker worried about getting trapped in there with no place to go, and no way to escape. The jewelry store was also near the middle of the street, flanked by a bunch of other buildings on both sides. Recker was going to have to park somewhere and go the rest of the way on foot.
Recker finally parked on the next street over so he could double back. He got out of his car and started walking but stopped just beyond the bumper. Those unpleasant thoughts came rushing back to him as the rain battered his face, his hair quickly becoming soaked by the onslaught of water. He turned around and looked at the trunk of his car and then opened it. As the trunk opened, he stared at the bullet proof vest that was lying by his black bag of weapons. He almost always carried the vest with him, but yet seldomly used it. Most of the time he liked to move quickly into a situation and didn’t have time to throw one on, though he knew he should have used it more often than he did. This would be one of those times he figured it was a good idea. He quickly grabbed the vest and put it on, closing his trunk as he then ventured toward the jewelry store.
With the rain driving down, Recker thought of how much he hated being out in weather like this. Visibility was always a concern, as was traction on the ground, not to mention losing grip on his weapon, possibly when he needed it the most. Recker navigated through some tight spaces between buildings as he made his way to the alley. After only a few minutes, his clothes were saturated, feeling like he’d just been submerged in a pool with his clothes on.
After succ
essfully maneuvering to the alley behind the jewelry store, he was still several buildings away from the location. He clung to a wall behind a green dumpster that was overflowing with trash, pools of water forming underneath his feet. He stood there frozen, patiently watching and waiting for any sign of life being out there other than himself. He suddenly felt the vibration of his phone going off in his pocket, an incoming text message from Haley, letting his partner know he was about ten minutes away.
A few minutes later, a bright light shone across Recker’s face, but only for a fleeting second. He quickly looked to his left and saw an incoming truck. It looked to be some kind of van, unmarked, its headlights lighting up the alleyway as Recker ducked down behind the dumpster as the van passed his location. It went further down, well past Recker’s position, not stopping until it was directly behind the jewelry store.
Recker kept still, peering around the edge of the dumpster as he tried to figure out what was going on. About ten seconds after the van stopped, the doors opened and four guys jumped out of it, heading for the back door of the store. The back door suddenly opened, allowing the men to come inside.
“Well that’s interesting,” Recker said to himself. “Inside job.”
Recker couldn’t tell if there was anyone remaining inside the van, but his instincts told him there was. There was usually always a guy on the outside being used as a lookout. Recker finally broke from his position but had to tread carefully to avoid being spotted by someone that he couldn’t see. The hard rain and murkiness of the night definitely helped to conceal his movements. He tried to stay as close to the brick wall as possible and tried to move slowly so he didn’t alert anyone by hearing the splashing water that would kick up into the air from his feet.
Recker continued to inch closer to the van as the rain came down even harder if that were possible. At least it wasn’t windy though, as that would have made it nightmarish conditions. Recker wanted to get to the van before the men came back out, since he didn’t envy going up against four men at the same time. At least if he could get to the van, he could catch them by surprise, and cut down their numbers at the same time. But he knew he needed to move faster than he was. The men weren’t going to take their time and stay inside the store forever, assuming they were there to rob the place. If they weren’t there for that and were having some kind of high-level meeting, Recker would have more time. But he couldn’t count on that. And considering he couldn’t even make out any of the men that went inside the building, he had no way of knowing. He had to go with the assumption that they were picking the place clean.