by Mike Ryan
“Appreciate it. So, who is this guy? I’ve heard some pretty wild stories about him. What is he, some kind of jacked-up superhero?”
“Well I don’t know his real name or his backstory, but I’ve seen his work up close. As far as I’m concerned, there is no one better.”
“Sounds like you got a deep affection for this guy.”
“I would love to put him on my payroll. But he marches to his own drum beat.”
“So, you two aren’t on the same side.”
“The Silencer is on his own side.”
“So how is it that you two coexist?”
“Because he and I made an agreement long ago not to interfere in each other’s business, similar to the offer I made to you. So far, we’ve both kept our ends of that agreement. We stay out of each other’s way. I’ll say it again. I’ll warn you to stay out of his.”
“Thanks again.”
Billings then turned around again to leave. Vincent and Malloy were quiet as they watched the man exit the room.
“Make sure he exits the facilities in the proper fashion,” Vincent said.
Malloy got up and left the room, making sure that Billings left without any trouble. There was always the odd chance that the Scorpions were using the meeting as a cover to get Vincent into one spot so they could take their shot at taking him out in one swift stroke. Thankfully, there would be none of that on this day. Malloy returned to the conference room a few minutes later.
“He’s gone,” Malloy said. “No problems.”
“No problems indeed.”
Malloy sat down across from his boss to further discuss the meeting. “You don’t really believe all that, do you?”
“You think he came in here and lied to my face?”
“Boss, you know their reputation as well as I do. They don’t peacefully coexist with nobody. If they come in here, if we let them come in here, we’re eventually gonna have to deal with them. And not by talking.”
“What do you propose?”
“Let them know they’re not welcome here. Don’t even let them get a foothold.”
“They have a large group,” Vincent said. “It wouldn’t be an easy endeavor. And after just recently getting rid of Nowak, I’m not sure we have the stomach to take up such a task at the moment.”
“Even if we’re not at full strength right now, we might not have any other choice.”
“There is always another choice. If we decide to throw down against this group right now, it would be like two giant behemoths in the gladiator ring, just taking turns annihilating each other. It wouldn’t be pretty. And it could decimate both sides.”
“What’s the alternative?”
“We wait. We plan. We keep an eye on them. We don’t let our guard down. We make plans to put something in place for when they get out of line, then we’re able to end it quickly without it turning into a bloodbath.”
“OK. We can do that. How come you didn’t tell him about both Silencers?”
“I think that’s something that’s best left for them to discover for themselves,” Vincent replied. “And if there’s one thing I know about Mr. Recker and friends, I’m sure they’ll be knocking on their door soon enough.”
4
For once, Recker had actually beaten Vincent to the diner. He knew it was probably only because it was a little later than their usual meetings and assumed that Vincent had gotten tied up with other matters. Not that Vincent was late, as it was still only ten minutes to one. But he knew Vincent also usually liked to arrive much earlier than this. While he waited, Recker sat down at their usual table and ordered something small.
Malloy was the first one in the door, getting there exactly at one o’clock. He and two other men went around the diner to make sure there were no obvious warning signs. Once they cleared the place, one of the men went out for their boss. Malloy went over to Recker as they awaited Vincent’s arrival.
“A little late, huh?” Recker asked.
Malloy grinned. “Duty calls. And we’re not late.” Malloy looked at his watch. “We’re right on time.”
“I was under the impression that according to Vincent, if you’re right on time, then you’re late. Is that not so?”
Malloy continued smiling, always enjoying the back-and-forth with Recker. He then looked toward the door and saw Vincent coming in, so he walked over to him.
“He’s already here, boss.”
“Ahh, good,” Vincent said.
Malloy took his usual spot near the door so he could spot anyone coming in who wasn’t exactly a friend to them. Vincent went down and took a seat across from Recker.
“I apologize for my lateness. I was tied up with some other business.”
“Happens,” Recker said.
Vincent noticed some appetizers on Recker’s plate. “I see you ordered already.”
“A little hungry.”
Vincent grabbed a menu and ordered something himself. After putting the menu away, he inquired about the purposes of their meeting.
“So, you said this was urgent. What’s on your mind?”
“The Tri-State Scorpions,” Recker said. “What do you know about them?”
“I know they’re a very dangerous group.”
“Did you know they’re now in the city?”
“I’ve heard something to that effect.”
“Well I’ve heard that they’re moving their base of operations from Delaware to here.”
“That would be on point to what I’ve heard as well.”
Recker could see by the lack of surprise or emotion on Vincent’s face, that this information wasn’t new to him. It seemed a little odd that a man of his position wouldn’t be worried about a new gang coming in, possibly going against him.
“You don’t exactly seem concerned or anything.”
“If we’re being truthful here, I’ve already had a meeting with The Scorpions.”
“You have?” Recker said, a little surprised himself.
“Not more than two hours ago.”
“Don’t tell me you’re throwing in with them.”
Vincent smirked. He didn’t throw in with anybody unless it benefitted him somehow. And usually more than the other party. “No, they requested a meeting with me to let me know they weren’t coming in with hostility.”
“They wanna be friends?”
“Well, let’s just say they don’t want to be enemies at the moment.”
“That’s surprising,” Recker said. “I was under the impression they didn’t play nice with others.”
“They don’t. I’m well aware of The Scorpions reputation, their history, their methods. They’re a group that bears watching.”
“So, you accepted their peace terms?”
“Let’s just say I made them an offer. I’m waiting to hear whether it’s been accepted.”
“Is there something about this that seems strange to you?”
“Such as?”
“They’re known as a violent group that answers to no one, will go up against anyone, takes and does what they want… but they’re not doing that here?”
“I assume it’s because they want to come in quietly and get their bearings straight before they get too hot and heavy.”
“And you think you won’t be one of their targets?” Recker asked.
“Mike, if you’re asking me if I trust them and they’ll live up to any truce agreements, then the answer is no. I don’t trust them as far as I can spit.”
“But you’re letting them move in? That doesn’t seem like it would be good for business.”
“First of all, I’ve told them that if they don’t want problems from me, then they’ll leave my interests alone. They’re free to hit anything that doesn’t belong to me.”
“And you think that’ll satisfy them?”
“In the beginning.”
“You know they’ll keep wanting more,” Recker said.
“I suspect as much.”
“But you’re still lettin
g them in.”
“Mike, there’s still a lot of heat from what went down with Nowak. If I make a stand against The Scorpions now and get into another war, that’s going to bring more heat than I’m prepared to deal with. Plus, I’m still operating shorthanded from that last business. The Scorpions are a powerful force. I’m not prepared for an all-out assault from them yet. This is the strategic option. I’ll let them in. I’ll keep a close eye. And I’ll wait.”
“For?”
“For the right opportunity. I’m well aware they’re not going to be satisfied with just doing what I tell them. Eventually they’re going to want what I have. That’s inevitable. If I go against them, run them out, it must be in the shadows to avoid a full conflict that would undoubtedly batter and bloody both sides. I can’t allow my group to be decimated so soon after Nowak. It could cripple me and allow another force to come in and easily displace me.”
“A lot of people are going to get hurt.”
“Saving the city is your department. I did give them a warning about you though. They’ve already heard of your exploits.”
“Oh?”
“They didn’t seem impressed. I didn’t tell them your name or anything about your partners, however. I’m sure they’ll find that out soon enough on their own.”
“So, you’re not onboard with driving them out right now?”
“Not if it means my name gets attached to it,” Vincent answered. “I can’t afford for something to happen to them and have them think I’m involved somehow. If they think I’m behind it, another war is a certainty. And a war between me and The Scorpions will devastate this city. It will be fifty times worse than anything that happened with Nowak.”
“You know anything about what they’re planning?”
“Nothing specifically yet, no.”
“I can’t just let this group run roughshod all over the city until you’re ready to put your plan into place.”
“I understand. But for my own reasons, I cannot interfere at the moment. I’ll give you whatever help I can in that regard, as long as it doesn’t come back to me. But if there’s any chance of my name getting stamped to it, I cannot get involved.”
“If it’s just me, it’s gonna take a long time to eliminate this bunch.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Take out five at a time every night, you’ll have the whole thing wrapped up in two weeks.” Both men laughed at the preposterous statement. “In all seriousness, though The Scorpions don’t have a true leader, and they operate by committee, the man who does most of the talking for them and therefore has the biggest influence, is a man named Tommy Billings.”
“I think I saw that name.”
“I believe him to be more reasonable than the rest. More calculating. He may be the man you want to target first. Take him out, perhaps the rest of the group spins its wheels for a while as they figure out the direction to go.”
“Maybe I’ll do that.”
“Of course, on the flip side, maybe you’d want to save him for last, as he seems to be what keeps the group under control, for whatever that’s worth, and if he’s out of the picture, maybe they go hog wild and destroy everything in their path.”
“Something to think about, I guess. Have you thought about what you’ll do if this group decides not to play ball with you?”
“Then I’ll have to engage before I’m ready to and live with the consequences. But until that point, I’ll have to keep my cards close to the vest.”
“I understand. I probably won’t be able to afford to do the same though. I’ll take them out as soon as possible.”
“And I wish you all the luck in the world in that endeavor,” Vincent said. “And as I’ve mentioned, any help you need, as long as it’s done on the down-low, just ask.”
“So, loaning me ten of your boys to engage in a shootout’s off the table, huh?”
Vincent smiled. “For now.”
“I’ve heard they might have something going down today at three o’clock.”
Vincent looked at his watch. “Doesn’t give you much time.”
“You heard anything about that?”
“I have not.”
“Billings didn’t mention anything at your meeting?”
“He did not.”
“What happens if they hit something today that belongs to you before they agree to your terms?” Recker asked.
“Then I guess I would have to make a statement and change my terms to something more favorable to myself.”
The two men finished their meals, while also continuing to discuss The Scorpions. Neither man’s position would change though. For Recker, they were an immediate threat that needed to be dealt with swiftly. For Vincent, he was going to do what he usually did. Watch. Wait. And then strike when the right opportunity arose.
5
After the meeting with Vincent, Recker went straight back to the office, hoping Jones had something more concrete about what The Scorpions were planning. He would be disappointed, though, after learning the situation was the same as when he left. They hadn’t learned anything new. And time was growing short.
“You don’t have anything?” Recker asked.
“Unfortunately, not,” Jones replied. “I’m not a magician. I can only decipher what’s communicated through the usual channels, email, text, phone, I’m not a mind reader. If they don’t use those methods of communication to devise their plans, there’s not much I can do to learn about it other than make some guesses.”
Recker sighed. “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make it easier to swallow though. Especially if someone gets hurt because of these clowns.”
“We’re doing everything we can, Michael, you know that.”
Instead of standing around, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, Recker decided to make a more productive use of his time. He sat at a computer and started reading everything he could about The Scorpions, wanting to learn as much about them as possible.
“What about their earliest jobs in those other places?” Recker asked. “Maybe there’s some kind of connection there. Maybe they like to hit a certain kind of place first to announce their presence.”
Jones turned to his partner and smiled. “It’s a good thought.”
By Jones’ lack of urgency at the suggestion, Recker could tell it was no good. “You already looked into, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“No connection to be made,” Jones answered. “Their first jobs in Jersey as far as I can tell, at least the ones that made headlines, were some high-profile robberies. They announced their presence in Delaware with some home invasions.”
“Connection in the targets?”
“There is not. I checked six ways to Sunday. They’re either not dumb enough or not sloppy enough to target the same people when they arrive.”
Recker then looked around the room, finally noticing that Haley wasn’t there. “Hey, where’s Chris?”
“He went out and started cruising around. If something went down and we got wind of it, he wanted to hopefully be closer to the action than sitting here.”
“Not a bad idea,” Recker said. “Sitting here could add another twenty minutes to the timeline.”
“Assuming that he’s actually in the area of whatever goes down, which the probabilities of such are probably not all that high.”
“Well, at least there’s that chance.”
“I suppose that’s all we’re hoping for now,” Jones said. “A chance.”
“I guess that’s all we got right now, isn’t it?”
“For now. Unless your other friend has a change of heart or something.”
“Vincent doesn’t usually have a change of heart,” Recker said. “He analyzes everything before he makes a decision and sticks with it. And besides, he didn’t say he wouldn’t help. He just said it couldn’t be out in the open right now. He doesn’t wanna risk another war already.”
“Logically speaking, I guess I can understand that.”
“So that means, right now, we’re on our own.”
“They must be using some kind of base for operations,” Jones said. “I sincerely doubt that they’re operating out of grandma’s basement or some other rudimentary type of place.”
Recker sat there for a minute, trying to clarify his own thoughts. “I think we’re going about this wrong.”
“How so?”
“Let’s get ahead of them.”
“I thought that’s what we were trying to do?”
“No, we’re trying to figure out where they’re targeting first. Whether we do or not, it’s unlikely there’s gonna be more than a handful of guys on that job, right?”
“Well, unless those plans involved knocking over ten banks at once or something.”
“We need to stop them before they get started. Before they get a foothold, because once they do, getting rid of them is gonna be a whole lot harder.”
“No complaints there, but how do you propose to do that?”
“Find one guy, tail him, let him take us to the rest.”
“And how do you plan on finding that guy?” Jones asked.
“How ‘bout the texts you intercepted from those guys? Let’s track them down.”
“If it was that easy, Michael, I would have done so already. The fact that I didn’t, or haven’t, would suggest that those phone lines are no longer in operation or I can’t pinpoint their location at the moment.”
“What about Billings?”
“What about him?”
“We now know he’s sort of a front-man for the group. We know he’s met with Vincent, and is planning to do so again, maybe we can tail him.”
“But we have no way to track him down to begin with,” Jones replied. “I have no phone numbers related to him, no email addresses, no calls, no nothing. I do not have a starting point.”
“We do. Vincent.”
“You just said that Vincent is not going to give up anything if it will somehow get back to him. If you’re suggesting that Vincent will let you stake out their next meeting, in the hopes of following Billings afterwards, then I think you need to have your head examined. He is not going to take the chance and allow that to happen. If Billings realizes he’s being followed from that meeting, he’s going to assume that Vincent set it up. Vincent knows that.”