Corrupt City

by Tra Verdejo

  Back in the Bronx, there was a twenty-man SWAT team posted all around his house, hate in their eyes. They felt like Lucky had betrayed their brotherhood. They were hesitant to enter, only because of the surveillance cameras they found around the area. They knew the equipment belonged to Lucky. They figured he was inside watching and waiting with all sorts of guns and explosive devices. Once the snipers were in position, the captain of the squad called for tear gas.

  Four members ran up to the house and threw eight tear gas bombs through the front window of the house. They waited two minutes before entering. A total of ten were ordered to storm in and kick in the front door. The cops entered the house with only one thing on their mind—Kill Lucky and anyone else in the house.

  Twenty minutes later, they realized Lucky wasn’t home, that he had destroyed all his computers. When the officer in charge was informed of the bad news, he had to call it in and report the mission a failure.

  By the officer calling it in, The Watcherz picked up on the call and alerted his boss. When Captain Tuna got the call, he rounded up his squad, and they headed up to the Bronx location as fast as they could.

  Speedy was still confused about why they were rushing if Lucky wasn’t there. “Cap, I don’t understand why we are rushing,” he said.

  “I know they reported no sign of Lucky, but we could still find evidence that might help us. Nobody knows him like we do. Maybe a picture or a postcard could help us.”

  “Okay, now I understand.”

  “And knowing that muthafucka, he may be still hiding in that house in a secret wall, on some Batman shit,” Loose Cannon added.

  “You right.” the captain said. “Lucky may still be there.”

  While they rushed to the house, Lucky was off his bed and watching the cops walk through his house. He left one little camera in his basement, a silent alarm attached to it. He was sitting on the edge of his bed laughing because the cops were trying to figure out a way to save his burned computers.

  Lucky’s laugh and facial expression changed when he saw his former partners walk into the picture. They had just arrived and quickly received permission to take over the crime scene. Leaving that one camera gave Lucky a big break. Once Lucky saw The Watcherz in his basement packing up his burned computers, he realized his former partners had hired them to track him down.

  After The Watcherz packed up the computers, Lucky realized his captain was holding a picture frame. Lucky didn’t have the capabilities of zooming in, so he couldn’t see the picture the captain was holding. It was bugging him so much, he wanted to drive up to the Bronx.

  The captain knew what he was doing. Loose Cannon and Speedy kept asking him why he was holding that same picture frame. The captain walked back upstairs and called Speedy and Loose up with him.

  “Listen, I got a funny feeling that Lucky is watching us. If I know him like I do, he has a camera somewhere in that basement, so I figure I’d throw him off by holding this picture frame.”

  “Smart move, boss,” Speedy said.

  They all headed back down to the basement to finish up their walk-through. They wanted to make sure they looked through everything before leaving the scene.

  Loose Cannon kept whispering stuff into the captain’s ear, but he wasn’t saying anything. He was just adding to the suspense.

  Lucky kept asking himself out loud, “What the hell are they talking about now?”

  The captain played along with Loose Cannon’s idea, so he also whispered back in his ear. They all pointed at the picture frame as they left the house, leaving Lucky wondering what was really in that picture.

  When his former partners were outside, they were hoping their little plan worked, and that Lucky would come out of hiding.

  By this time, the media was already outside the house and had reported in the news that Lucky made a last-minute blazing escape as a twenty-member SWAT team ambushed his residence.

  Lucky went and woke Diamond out of her sleep and started asking questions about the pictures they had around the house.

  “Slow down, Lucky. I can’t understand you. Can you at least let me get up and rub my eyes?”

  “No, I can’t. Focus because this is serious. Listen to what I’m asking you. How many pictures we had hanging up at the old house?”

  “Why?”

  “Just answer the fuckin’ question. How many fuckin’ pictures?”

  “I don’t know, not many. I think four. Yeah, only four. The rest were just hanging up for decorations.”

  “Are you sure only four?”

  “Yes, I’m sure, and I have all four packed in one of my suitcases. Why? What’s going on?”

  Lucky then switched the channel on the TV and let Diamond watch the news for herself. When she noticed police cars and camera crew in front of their old house, she realized why Lucky was nervous.

  She got up from the bed and went into the kitchen, where Lucky was heating up some leftovers. “Lucky, what happened? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m good. The alarm I set up back at the house woke me up. These clowns came at full force, and it looked like they were hunting to kill. I was only able to leave one camera, so I had limited vision, but I noticed my old partners were at the house as well. My captain kept holding this picture frame, but I couldn’t clearly see the picture. That’s why I was asking how many pictures in total we had at the house.”

  “What color was the frame he was holding?”

  “I don’t know. Everything was black and white.”

  “I know for sure I got all four picture frames we had up.”

  “I believe you. Maybe they were bluffing because they thought I was watching. Plus, I also noticed they had the two best underground hackers in the game with them. These two brothers call themselves The Watcherz. They are the best in the business. I remember the FBI once employed them to help locate some of the most wanted criminals in the country. They could find anybody.”

  “For real, I see they really want to find you, baby. What are we going to do?”

  “For right now, I just have to wait. I know they are hoping I come out of hiding, but they will need a better tactic than just a picture frame. My only fear is that they find my daughter and her mother. I have done a real good job of hiding their identity.”

  “You really have, because I barely know anything about them. Hopefully they are bluffing with the picture frame.”

  “I need to be sure they’re bluffing. I’m going to have to hit the city tomorrow and get a closer look at their operation.”

  “How are you going to do that? You just said they are using the picture frame as bait to get you out of hiding. Don’t you think that’s a bad idea? Just wait a day or two. You don’t even know where they are located, so how can you look for them?”

  “You’re right, but I know where The Watcherz grew up. I figure I could go around their old neighborhood and see what kind of information I could get on them.”

  “I don’t know, Lucky. It sounds risky, but you make the final call. In my opinion, we should stick with the plan of mailing out these folders and sitting back and let everything else unfold.”

  Lucky knew Diamond was right, so they went back to the bedroom and watched some more TV.

  Meanwhile, Captain Tuna was busy back at his place. He was hoping The Watcherz could get some type of information out of those burnt computers. The Watcherz tried for six to seven hours but couldn’t retrieve anything.

  The captain began screaming at the two brothers. “How in the world are you guys the best in the world, but yet, no sign of Lucky, and now you can’t get anything out these computers? Am I wasting my fuckin’ money? Let me know. Either you guys find Lucky, or I’m going to put a bullet through each of your heads. Do I make myself clear?”

  They didn’t answer, but by the look in their eyes, they knew the captain wasn’t playing. The Watcherz got back to work and promised the captain they would find Lucky.

  While they went back to work, the captain went down to the
fourth floor to make some phone calls. He figured they needed a bigger team to catch Lucky and kill him. He called his cousin Floyd from Florida, who was dirty himself when he was employed as a cop in Florida. Now he ran his own bail bond and bounty hunting business.

  “Floyd, it’s me, your cousin Tuna.”

  Floyd was surprised to hear from his cousin, but not stunned. “Tuna? Captain Tuna from NY?”

  “Yes, from NY.”

  “Cousin Tuna, I haven’t heard from you in a long time. I guess you are calling me for another mission. It’s been like ten years since the last time you called me and asked for help. I knew this day would come. What’s up?”

  “Well, we can’t talk over the phone. Let’s meet.”

  “I’m not going to say no. Just let me know when do you need me up there, and how many men you need.”

  “I knew I could count on you, Floyd. I need at least four extra bodies. I need some real good people. Our target is a specialist. I will leave it at that. I will fill you in once you are here. I need you up here ASAP.”

  “Give me about three days, I’m up there.”

  Captain Tuna was excited about the extra help coming up. He quickly called Loose and Speedy and told them about the new hired help. Speedy didn’t sound too happy, but Loose Cannon was excited. He knew his captain had war on his mind.

  Chapter Nine

  The Manhunt

  Within two days, Floyd was in the city with three of his best men. They didn’t know the details of the mission or who Captain Tuna was, but they were in New York with Floyd, ready to put in work. The captain sent Speedy to pick up the new squad. When the captain and Floyd saw each other, it was a family reunion moment. They embraced each other like brothers.

  “Damn! Ten years. Come here, you bum,” Tuna said.

  “It feels more like twenty years,” Floyd replied, hugging his cousin.

  “I really missed you, Floyd.”

  “Okay, enough with the bitch talk. Let’s get down to business.” Tuna asked Floyd to follow him upstairs to his office. He took him to the fifth floor, where The Watcherz were busy at work. Floyd was impressed with all the high-tech equipment.

  “I like what I see, little cousin. I see you have done really good for yourself, but I have to ask…”

  “Ask what?”

  “I’m sorry to switch topics, but I have to ask. Was the kid armed?”

  Tuna took a deep breath. “No, he wasn’t. I wish I could really take that day back, you know. But I can’t.”

  “Hey, listen, you don’t have to explain nothing to me. I know it was a mistake. Fuck the public and their opinion. They don’t understand the risk of being a police officer, especially in New York. They don’t think about the lives you saved by removing guns and drugs off the streets. What’s the latest on the trial?”

  “It’s looking good, but we have a major issue. That’s why I called you up here.”

  “I’m all ears,” Floyd said as he pulled up a chair.

  “Well, our ex-partner testified against us, and he didn’t hold back on the stand. He told it all like a little girl, and raised a lot of eyebrows in the department. Even after we win this case, the heat will still be on us.”

  “Okay, so let’s find and kill him!” Floyd yelled.

  “Listen, I want him dead, but he’s good at what he does, and we can’t find him. By the time we found his house, he was long gone.”

  “His house? Wait a minute, you guys know where he lived? That’s perfect. Let’s go. Show us the house.”

  “We already checked the house. There’s nothing there. If it wasn’t for the burned equipment we found in the basement, you would have never known he lived there.”

  “No disrespect, little cousin, but my squad makes a real good living finding the unfound. Let’s go back downstairs so I can introduce you to my team.”

  The Cap agreed, and they both went back downstairs.

  It didn’t take long for everyone to get accustomed to each other. When they walked back in the apartment, all the fellas were drinking beers and talking football.

  “Okay, listen up. Loose, turn the music down. Hey, fellas, listen. For those who don’t know, my name is Captain Tuna, and this is my team. Speedy, he would chase down and catch anyone. He’s one hell of an officer. He’s our forensic guru. He’s the one who keeps us on our toes and makes sure we follow our plans. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here today talking. I would be in a federal prison, serving life for all the shit I’ve done.”

  The room exploded with laughter.

  “Then we got Loose Cannon. The name speaks for itself. It doesn’t take much to set him off. Long story short, he’s been my right-hand man for almost fifteen years. The ‘Cleanup Guy’ is his other nickname.”

  Tuna turned toward Loose and Speedy. “Listen here. I got some out-of-town boys to help us with our situation. My cousin Floyd will do the honor of introducing his boys, but it looks like you guys know each other already.”

  “What’s up? Like Tuna said, my name is Floyd, and this is my team. That’s Country, Ace, and Chucky. We are the best bounty hunters in the state of Florida. We hunt muthafuckas down. No one could hide from us. Their work speaks for itself. I’m not too big in telling stories. We just put in work. My boys and I are up here to help find this little bitch and rip his mouth off. Tuna was telling me you know where he lived. I need to get my crew in there and check out the premises again.”

  “No problem. Speedy will take two of your guys up there,” Tuna said.

  The captain sent Speedy, Ace, and Country back to research Lucky’s house. He was hoping Floyd was right and was able to find new clues to hunt down the traitor. The captain wanted his cousin to give out more info about his team. He wanted to trust him enough to not question their skills, but he had to ask just to make sure.

  “Hey, Floyd, while we’re waiting around, tell me a little about your team.”

  “Sure, no problem. We got Ace, who’s my best man on the team. His nickname is ‘Hound Dog.’ He’s able to track down anyone. It doesn’t matter where or how. He once was able to track down one of Florida’s most wanted criminals. He was wanted for smuggling over forty kilos of dope every week from Panama. Ace tracked him down in Brazil, in a small town called Rosita de Paz. Once he found him, he killed him. You see, cousin, I’m also a businessman, and I follow my own set of rules. I work for whoever pays more. It doesn’t matter if they are the good or bad guys.

  “Then we got Country. He’s the only member who tries his best to follow the rules. He was born and raised in Louisiana. He moved to Florida when he was twenty-five years old. He joined the police force, and that’s when I first met him. Country had assisted me in tracking down a homicide fugitive. I loved the way he carried himself and also liked the fact he was very muscular, a plus in the bounty-hunting business. I was able to persuade Country away from the police business and to join my team. Country is the guy that will break every bone in your body from just one punch.

  “Now Chucky, he’s another Loose Cannon. He lives on a short fuse and doesn’t care about the law. If it was up to him, he will shoot and kill each fugitive we captured. He didn’t care how big or small the case was, he wanted blood every time. They called him Chucky because of his red hair. He is one racist muthafucka too. He hates every race. He’s the only one who was never a police officer. Is that enough information? I’m ready for a drink.”

  “Ha! I’m ready for one, too, and yes, that’s enough information. Let me get some entertainment for us.”

  The Cap was up to his old tricks again. He got on the phone and called up The Candy Shop and placed an order for four girls. Within forty-five minutes, they were partying with naked call girls and high off a mixture of drugs. It was hard to tell which lifestyle they preferred, because these cops loved the gangster life.

  Speedy, Ace, and Country were back at Lucky’s house searching every inch. As soon as they walked in the house, Ace was examining every piece of furniture, e
ven smelling some of it.

  Speedy was looking at him like he was crazy. He called Country over to smell one of Lucky’s pillows in the master bedroom, and they both agreed on the fragrance. It was a woman’s perfume, for sure.

  They went around smelling other linens, curtains, sofas, and even the closet. They identified the same smell all over the house. They now realized Lucky had a female sidekick. This was the break they were looking for. Until now, they’d thought Lucky was a loner. Speedy was really impressed with how quickly they figured out he had a female sidekick.

  Speedy went outside to speak to some of Lucky’s neighbors, while Ace and Country kept searching. When they reached the basement, they triggered the alarm.

  Meanwhile Lucky was watching these new faces rumble through his basement. He was puzzled, but it quickly hit him. His old partners were desperate and had hired more outside help.

  As Ace and Country looked through the basement, Speedy was yelling their name out loud. They quickly ran upstairs to see what Speedy found or wanted.

  “Wait a second. Before I tell you what I just heard, let me ask you a question first. Did you just come up from the basement?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “Shit! Fuck!” Speedy yelled.

  “What happened? We weren’t supposed to enter his basement?” Country asked.

  “No, but it’s my fault for not mentioning it. We believe Lucky has a camera set up in the basement, so if you guys went down there, he now knows how you look. If I know him like I think I do, he’s on the Bureau’s database right now trying to type-match your identity.”

  “Aw, man, we didn’t know,” Ace replied. “But seeing our faces may bring him out of the dark.”

  “Yeah, maybe, but anyway, I was calling you guys because one of his neighbors spilled the beans on his female friend. He said he knew there was foul play involved. She seemed so young, young enough to be his daughter. He said she went to the same diner every day to pick up lunch. He gave me the name of the diner, which is right up the street.”