The Senator was making sure the money was getting put together for delivery to Barry. This hit needed to go off without a hitch. The White House was getting closer to being his, and Mr. Donaldson would see that he was a man of action, swift action and this would solidify him as the right choice for Mr. Donaldson as well, he just needed to get the favor done for Barry, depending on what it was of course.
"Dale are we almost ready?"
"Yes, Senator, we are just finishing up now."
"Good, I want to get this finished quickly."
Dale had never seen the Senator nervous, but he could tell the Senator was a little edgy. Dale knew the Presidency was the end game for the Senator, and he imagined he would be nervous too, knowing one bad move could blow it.
"Okay, all done Senator," Dale said, as he closed the trunk.
"Good, let's go."
The Senator pulled up to the country estate and was surprised to see Barry was already there. Dale and Mike got out and patted him down and gave him the wand treatment for electronics as usual. The Senator was still sitting in the car. Barry saw him signal for him to come over.
"We are all set, Senator. You should see the reports on the news tomorrow to confirm what I will tell you before the news getting wind of the story."
"Very good, and this will be handled, with no slip-ups, correct?"
"The people handling this case have never missed a target yet. So I am told."
"Let's hope so. We won't get a second shot like this."
Barry saw concern on the Senator's face for the first, and maybe last time, that let me know this guy had to go because if they missed, they were all goners. He would talk to Marko when he gave him the money to be sure this gets done, or the consequences would put them all out of the game, forever.
"The money is in the trunk, let me know when it's done."
"I will call you as soon as I get the word. I am going to go to take care of my last kill as well. My wife thinks I am getting a bag for you."
"Good, I can finally win that pool at work, I can have Agent Harold and Agent Marone give you a lift, they have a private jet at their disposal, courtesy of the F.B.I."
"Do you think that's wise?"
"Why absolutely. We are at a point where everything is getting close to being done. Why take a chance now?"
"Yes, I suppose you're right, and the favor is on this paper," Barry said as he handed the Senator a piece of paper.
"I am right, I will have them take you tomorrow morning, I will have them pick you up at nine in the morning, and I will look into this favor to see what can be done," the Senator said and shook his hand.
Barry got out of the car and went to the trunk. He started to load the bags in his vehicle when Mike came over and helped him. Barry looked over at the Senator, and he saluted him and smiled. He smiled back, and Dale closed his door and then they were gone. He waited about five minutes after the Senator left then he took off. He sent Karen a text letting her know he was on his way back, but he needed to go home first. She sent him a message back to come to the building first. So, he headed to the building. When he got to the building, he saw Karen sitting in the car and pulled up beside her.
"Everything okay?" Barry asked, looking at Karen.
"Yes, I just figured you didn't count the money, so I brought the one point five to give Marko," Karen said, using her head to point toward the trunk of the car.
"Yeah, I forgot that little detail."
"I got your back, now go park."
He parked the car and went over to Karen, who had the trunk open and two big bags sitting inside. He saw Corey coming outside and walking toward them, as Marko and Deck were pulling down the long drive to the building. Barry handed Corey a bag while he took the other one.
"I guess we up eight and a half large fo' sho' now," Corey said, looking at the other bags.
"Yes, and we may have more money later if the opportunity presents itself," Barry said.
"Man, I know we on some ride or die shit, but this shit feels good," Corey said, smiling.
"Hey, I see the gangs all here," Marko said as he walked up with Deck.
"What up my peoples," Deck said, smiling and shaking everyone's hands.
They all said their hellos and shook hands and hugged.
"So, is everything set? We don't want to miss with this guy, he may look like a nerd, but he is a real heavyweight, and blowback will be very nasty."
"Yeah, I know, that is why I have the two doing this job that I do, they haven't missed a target yet, and I don't think they will start now."
"Good, how are they progressing?"
"I just talked to them about an hour ago, and they are ready."
"Any idea how it's going to go down?"
"Nah bruh, I don't ask. I let them do them and get the fuck outta the way, believe me when I tell you that tomorrow is old boy's last day breathing."
"I understand," Barry said.
"Yeah, never get in the way of an artist, and them two mothafuckas is on some next level shit, they hit the unhittable," Deck said.
"Yeah, remember that oil baron Mizacki or some shit like that?"
"I remember him, he died in a plane crash," Karen said.
"That was them two," Deck said.
"How could they pull off something like that?"
"As Marko said, we don't ask; it's just better that way."
"Yeah, I get it," Karen said, shaking her head a little to show she agreed with them that not knowing is better.
"Well, here's the money," Barry said, handing Marko his bag, while Corey handed his bag to Deck.
"Okay cool, I will call them and let them know I have the payment secured."
Deck took both the bags, grabbing Marko's bag and headed over to the S.U.V. they rode in. They all watched Deck put the bags in the car. Barry knew they were all doing their quiet before the storm reflection because they knew tomorrow would change things for them all if things went sideways with Mr. Criss.
"Okay y'all, we got to take off, but we will talk tomorrow, everything will go as planned," Marko said as he walked away.
"Okay, tomorrow bruh," Corey said.
They watched Marko and Deck drive away until their taillights disappeared. Barry went and sat in the car, and Karen and Corey went to look at the building before they left. Karen got in the car with Barry, and Corey drove her car back to the house. He pulled into the garage and Corey parked Karen's car in the driveway so that they could unload the money from the trunk. Corey came in, and they closed the garage door and unloaded the cash.
"Man, it is crazy how we keep getting this bread," Corey said as he opened a bag and thumbed through stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
"It is crazy, but the kind of crazy I can deal with," Karen said, dropping a stack of money back in the bag.
"I guess we are all going to have to deal with it, the money, craziness and whatever else comes," Barry said, picking up a stack of money, looking at it and then tossing it back in the bag as Karen and Corey had just done.
"So, I guess we just wait until tomorrow and see what happens, but you have a flight to catch in the a.m., so I guess Karen and I will chill until the dust settles."
"Yeah, that is the best bet, we should lay low until this thing is done, now we all better get some rest."
They all agreed and tried to get some rest, although Barry doubted that any of them would sleep very much tonight. Karen didn't say she was nervous, but he could tell she was. He just hugged her to let her know things would be okay.
The Senator was having his own problems trying to get some rest as well; he was nervous about everything going as planned tomorrow. He couldn't sleep, so he decided to get out of bed so he wouldn't wake up Gail with his tossing and turning.
"What's wrong? You haven't tossed and turned like this in years."
"I guess I am just a little worked up thinking about the election and a possible run at the Presidency; I guess it's a little more nerve-racking than I thought it would
be."
The Senator knew Gail wouldn't press him for the truth, but if he gave her an answer that made sense, she would accept it, and since she knew Mr. Donaldson had contacted him, she probably figured out a presidential bid may be, happening soon. She would buy that story, no way he could say he was having Larry Criss killed in the morning, and couldn't sleep because he was worried about a blown hit, and the consequences it would bring.
"Well, if you're going to get up, let's go get a snack, there is still some pot roast leftover, since you're not going to get any sleep, we might as well eat," Gail said, getting up and putting her robe on.
"That sounds wonderful," the Senator said as he waited for Gail to finish putting her robe on.
Chapter 6
“Next”
The Senator and his wife walked downstairs, and she made him sit down at the table. The Senator found it very comforting to watch Gail in the kitchen, moving this and that out of the way in the refrigerator and the rustling of plates took him back to the old days when they were both dating, and he worked sixteen-hour days to get by. He thought of getting into politics and how he wanted to give Gail all the best life had to offer, and soon he would make her the First Lady, which made all the madness worthwhile. Gail finally got the food warmed up and put the plates on the table; then she put a pitcher of fresh-squeezed lemonade on the table. The next few hours the Senator and his wife spent doing something they hadn’t done in years, talk to each other about nothing more than the bad “B” movie they were watching, while they lay in bed, enjoying each other’s company.
Barry woke up with his heart pounding like he was late for work and missed the alarm clock. He didn’t remember falling asleep, or even being tired for that matter. Karen was sleeping on his chest, and his sudden jump woke her too.
“Is everything ok?” Karen asked, looking around.
“Yeah, everything is okay, I just woke up startled is all.”
“Oh wow, I guess we both dozed off. What time is it?”
“It’s seven thirteen,” Barry said, looking at Karen knowing it was almost time for the hit.
The Senator was up in his study pretending to look over documents, but he was waiting for his phone to vibrate confirming the job was done, and Larry Criss was nothing more than a memory.
Marko was up as well; he knew how important this was, and it had to go down with no mistakes. Marko decided to do something he had never done before, and that was to call before the hit and make sure everything was going according to plan.
“Hey, what’s up, is the party being called off?”
“No, I just wanted to be sure that everything was going as planned.”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it? Did I become a rookie overnight or something?” Red asked, looking at the phone a little irritated.
“Nah, I just wanted to make sure on this one that things go as planned. You know where he is right?”
“Yeah, his ass is in danger, I’ll hit you back in a minute.”
“Who was that?”
“Marko. He’s just making sure we’re cool.”
Marko didn’t know it, but there was a car, a Police car following a wine-colored Bentley at that very moment.
“When do you want to move on these guys?” Lay Low asked.
“In another minute or two, they will take the turn off, that’s when we move.”
“Okay.”
Mr. Criss’ driver noticed that there was a Police cruiser following them, or at least traveling down the same road as they were. The driver figured it was nothing to worry about, probably some local hick cop who was running the plates and would move on. The driver took the turnoff and looked in his rear-view mirror to see if the Police car turned with them; it did and started to close the distance between them. As the Police cruiser sped up, the driver knew that they were about to be stopped, so he let his partner know, even though he saw him checking his side-view mirror. He decided to let Mr. Criss know that they would probably be stopped.
“Excuse me, sir,” Don said, still looking in the side-view mirror at the advancing Police car.
“What is it, Donald?”
“I think we are about to get pulled over by one of the local Police officers,” Don said, looking in his side-view mirror at the Police car behind them.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Okay, be sure to get me this idiots badge number so I can talk to the Chief about this fine Officer.”
Right about the time Mr. Criss finished his sentence, the Police car’s lights came on, and the siren blew. The driver pulled over and kept the window up until the cop got to the car, he didn’t want to let too much of the road dust in unnecessarily.
“Ok, hit the lights and siren now.”
“Ok,” Lay Low said as he hit the switches turning on the siren and lights momentarily.
“That’s a nice car; I wonder if killing that fool in it will devalue it, or make it more valuable?” Red said more talking to herself out loud than asking Lay Low, who answered the unintended question.
“Remember the car from them old gangsters that were all shot up on display in Vegas?” Lay-Low said, as he started to pull over to the side of the road behind the Bentley.
“Yeah, it was at one of the casinos.”
“Yep, but this one won’t go in a hotel, it will go in somebody’s private collection,” Lay-Low said.
“You’re probably right, okay they’re stopped, showtime, time to lay ‘em down.”
Lay Low pulled over and stopped behind the wine-colored Bentley. Lay Low and Red got out and approached the Bentley, he took the driver side, and she took the passenger side.
“Good morning Officer,” Don said as he rolled his window down.
“Good morning sir, can I see your license and registration please,” Lay Low said, standing just behind the driver, so he had to reach back and hand the papers outside the window.
“Sure,” Don said as he handed the documents over to Lay Low.
“Any weapons or drugs in the car?” He asked when Red advanced from the back of the car and came up to the passenger side and signaled for the passenger to roll his window down.
“We do have weapons, but we are licensed to carry them,” Don said.
“Okay, hey partner we have weapons here,” Lay Low said as he stepped back from the driver’s door a bit and pulled his gun out.
“I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle please,” Red said signaling for the passenger to get out of the car while drawing her weapon from its holster.
“There’s no need for that Officer, we have permits and pose no threat,” Don said as he stepped out of the car and walked over to the side of the road.
“I know, the threat isn’t you, it’s me,” Lay Low said as he raised his gun and shot Don in the face.
“What the fu….,” is all James could say as he got shot in the back of the head while putting papers back into the glove box.
Red walked to the back door of the Bentley and heard the doors lock.
“Are you serious? You act like I can’t do this,” Red said as she pointed her gun at the window and fired a shot that broke the window and showed a terrified Mr. Criss trying to use his cell phone.
“It ain’t gonna work, we have a jammer, sorry, but you’ll be happy to know it’s one of yours,” Lay Low said, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.
“Yeah, as much as I would love to hear you screaming like a bitch on the 911 tape, it ain’t going to happen,” Red said.
Red looked at Lay Low, and they both raised their guns at Mr. Criss, but before they could fire, he spoke.
“Wait, just tell me who hired you, at least I’ll know who had me killed.”
“Can you keep a secret?” Red asked, leaning toward the shattered window like she didn’t want someone to overhear what was going to be said.
“Yes,” Mr. Criss said, wondering what that had to do with anything.
“So, can I,” Red said as she and Lay Low raised their weapons again and fired as
Mr. Criss screamed like a bitch.
“Damn, we fucked up a good car,” Lay Low said as he got in the Police car and drove away.
“Oh well, it wasn’t our car,” Red said as she sent a text message to Marko.
Marko was sitting at his kitchen table when his phone vibrated with a text message that read, “next.” Marko sat back and breathed a big sigh of relief, then sent a text message to Barry, “game over, we won.”
Barry felt the phone vibrate but was scared to look at it for a few seconds, Corey saw Barry grab the phone and not look at it and decided to step in.
“Let me see that dog,” Corey said as he opened the text message and read it.
“Well, are we clear?” Barry asked, looking at Corey, anxious to know what the message said.
“We’re clear,” Corey said as he sat on the couch like a guy who just dropped a thousand-pound weight off his back.
Barry looked back and saw Karen standing at the corner of the kitchen hanging onto the wall, she walked over and sat down on the couch like Corey did. Barry wanted to celebrate, but the relief of this job getting done was all the celebration he needed. Barry also needed to let the Senator know that the mission was done. Barry took the phone from Corey and sent the Senator a message, “Your lawn is clear.”
The Senator was still sitting in his study trying to look busy when his phone vibrated. He just looked at the phone for a few seconds, this was the moment either things came together or fell apart completely. He readied himself for whatever message was on the phone and opened the text message. He read the message three times before he slumped back in his chair and took a deep breath. He had to let Mr. Donaldson know the mission was done; he took the card that Mr. Donaldson’s assistant Melissa had given him and sent a text message,” The drain is clear.” The Senator sat and waited for a response, and about two minutes later, he got one that read,” Very good; we will talk soon.”
Death of the C C K Killer Page 8