by L.T. Ryan
4
Jack pressed the gun into the back of Lester’s head. The man kneeled down on the ground, feet crossed, arms tied behind his back, his face just inches away from the cold, grey wall. Lester struggled to keep his head from touching the wall. Jack had told him if he touched the wall, he was dead.
The dimly lit cellar had a single yellow light bulb hanging from the ceiling. It swayed slightly, casting shadows side to side.
“I… I don’t know any more than what I told you, Jack,” Lester said.
“For some reason I just don’t believe that, Lester.” Jack looked back at Bear and nodded.
Riley “Bear” Logan was Jack’s partner on most of his assignments. Bear was a big man, as one would guess based on his nickname. He stood at six foot four and weighed in at over three hundred pounds. He had a big, bushy brown beard and a heavy brow. He’d had Jack’s back since they were 19 years old, fresh out of bootcamp.
Lester’s teeth chattered and his body convulsed every ten seconds or so.
There was a time when Jack would have felt sorry for the poor bastard. Those days were long gone. In fact, it had only taken a few civilian kills to cleanse him of any feelings of remorse. Today all he wanted was a name. He really didn’t care if he killed Lester or if he let him walk out of the cell. But killing him would only be fair, since Lester sure as hell didn’t care that Bear nearly died a month ago due to Lester’s recklessness.
“Lester, I just need a name. Any name that leads me to him. You got in contact with him to set up that job. How did that happen? Don’t try and tell me telepathy or some mystical bullshit.”
“They’ll kill me, Jack.”
“I’ll kill you, Lester.”
Lester bowed his head. “Do what you gotta do then. At least you’ll be quick about it. Those guys will torture me and probably kill my family too.” His voice shook the entire time. Bravery did not befit him. He made a better computer geek than a spy.
“Why are you protecting these people?”
“Protecting them? I don’t fucking care about them. I’m protecting my wife, my kids,” replied Lester.
Jack remained silent, pushed the barrel of his gun into the back of Lester’s head.
“You’re a killer, Jack, but you won’t go after my family.”
Jack smiled. He would go after Lester’s family if it got him what he wanted. And Lester knew enough about Jack to know that. “What if I could offer you protection until this mess is cleaned up?”
“How? I thought you worked alone now?”
“Plenty of people owe me favors,” Jack replied.
Just then his cell phone rang. Christ, how did she find his number? He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It wasn’t Clarissa. He didn’t recognize the number at all.
He walked out of the cellar and told Bear to keep an eye on Lester. Bear was the only person other than Clarissa that Jack trusted. They had worked together as independent contractors for the last ten years and Bear had saved his life at least a dozen times. In another life the two were soldiers. Trained killers. But now they killed for profit.
“Who is this?” asked Jack.
“Hello, Mr. Jack.”
He recognized the voice. “You ready to finish this deal?”
“What business have you with Lester, Mr. Jack?”
Jack climbed the stairs and peeked out the tall, skinny windows next to the front door. “Not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Mr. Jack, you know I have eyes and ears everywhere. Don’t try to bullshit me,” the old man said.
“My business with Lester is my business. I don’t work for you.”
“As you wish. Mr. Jack, all I want is the briefcase. I want to complete our deal.”
“You left me out there to hang yesterday. Why should I trust you now?”
The old man laughed. “Trust? This is about money, Mr. Jack. Not trust.”
“Where do you want to meet?” Jack asked while peeking into the cellar.
“The city is too hot right now. Your face is all over the news. Something about kidnapping a girl and attacking a cop. The horror.”
“Christ, fucking tourists with their damn camera phones.” Jack would have to use another favor to clean this up. “Ok, so where then?”
“I will be in touch soon, Mr. Jack,” the old man replied. “Oh, and give my regards to Mr. Lester. Tell him his wife and kids didn’t suffer, they went in their sleep.”
Jack was silent. He worked out what had happened in his head. The old man must have had guys on Lester’s house or tailing Bear. The goons saw Bear go in and come back out with Lester. As soon as Bear left the goons went in and killed Lester’s family. They probably have pictures of Bear going in and leaving with Lester and can use those to pin it on him. What a fucking mess.
“Your silence is confirmation enough for me Mr. Jack. Goodbye.”
The line went silent. Jack stood in the doorway and nodded at Bear.
The big man walked toward him. “What’s the deal?”
“Seems Lester pissed off a lot of people.”
“How so?” Bear asked
“That was the old man,” Jack stepped back and closed the door. The cellar was soundproof as long as the door was shut. “Had Lester’s family taken care of.”
“You don’t think he’s behind—“
“No,” Jack said. “It’s something else. Wait here.”
Jack stepped into the cellar. “You ready to give me a name?” He positioned himself behind Lester.
“I told you Jack, I got nothing.”
“You know who that was?” Jack asked. He didn’t wait for Lester to answer. “That was the old man. You pissed a lot of people off, Lester. A lot of damn people.”
This was a game to Jack. Whether or not Lester gave him a name, Jack was going to kill him. He’d be doing Lester a favor. Lester’s family was dead and the poor bastard would be devastated when he found out their fate. Besides, the old man would kill Lester if Jack didn’t, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be quick or painless. Why not save him the pain of knowing his family had been murdered?
“Do it!” Lester shouted.
Jack grabbed a piece of plexiglass to shield his body from the blood spray. He preferred to stay clean whenever possible. He fired one bullet into the back of Lester’s head and stepped back.
Lester’s body slumped forward against the cinder block wall, slowly falling against the wall, leaving a trail of blood.
Jack opened the door and waved Bear in the room. “Take care of that.”
Jack didn’t know exactly what Bear would do after he left the room, but Lester’s body would never be found. That was good enough for him.
“Did you get it?” Bear asked.
“No,” Jack said. “Maybe the old man knows. I’ll find out when I complete this deal.”
Bear nodded.
Jack climbed the stairs. Noticed blood stains on his shirt. He rolled his eyes and ducked into the bathroom to wash up and change before leaving the building. They kept a change of clothes in the linen closet. Jack grabbed a casual outfit, baseball hat and a pair of sunglasses.
He made a call to an associate who could modify the footage the news was showing and get some of the heat off of him.
“Hello?”
“Hey Brandon. It’s Jack.” He put the phone on speaker so he could change and talk at the same time.
“Jesus, Jack. Your face is all over the news. What the hell you got yourself into?”
“Yeah, about that… I need a favor.”
“I’m already on it. But you are gonna owe me big time for this one. I’m talking a free job type favor.”
“You got it.” Jack hung up the phone and cursed to himself. Then he made his way to 52nd Street to find Mandy’s mom.
5
“You think he took care of Lester?”
“I really don’t care,” the old man replied, “I pay my men to kill. If Mr. Jack didn’t kill him, then the
y will.”
Charles laughed. “I see your point, Boss.” He sat back and thought for a second, rubbing his temples with his large fingers. “Hey, what are we going to do about Jack?”
“Oh, I have plans for Mr. Jack.” The old man smiled and clapped his bony hands together. “Big plans.”
“Care to elaborate?” Charles leaned in closer to the old man.
The old man’s smile broadened. “When the time comes, Mr. Charles, you will have all the details. For now, get your smelly breath out of my face.”
Charles sat back in his seat. He held his hand in front of his face and exhaled into it, checking to see how bad his breath smelled. He thought about pressing his boss for more information, but he knew that wouldn’t go over well. He’d seen his boss have men killed for less. No, now was not the time, the old man had made that clear. But as soon as the old man was ready to confide in him, Charles would be ready. He’d proven that over the last ten years.
The old man turned his head away and Charles thought back to his first couple of years working for the old man…