Hot Shot, page 15
Maggie handed Jack a slip of paper with a wild flourish, and said, “Ta-da!”
“What’s this?” Jack asked.
“William Devane’s agent’s number for you to give to Harry. I told you yesterday we have a book of agents at the paper. Well, here it is. One big question: Is Harry going to call him? I did my part,” Maggie said, smacking her hands together dramatically to make her point.
Jack snorted. “Like Harry is really going to do that. He’s going to dump it right back on me. Harry doesn’t do commercials no matter how much they offer in payment, so it’s a moot point even if that guy would agree to the deal.”
“Run it up the flagpole and see if he salutes,” Ted said, laughing out loud. When Jack didn’t make a move to pull out his cell phone, Ted reached for his own and pressed in the number 4 for Harry’s phone. The gang stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation the minute Ted pressed the SPEAKER button.
“Hey, Harry, you winning big?” Ted didn’t bother waiting for a response. He dived right into the conversation. “Listen, Maggie came up with that gold guy’s agent, and I have the number right here for you to call. You got a pen, or can you type the number into your phone?” The gang listened to a string of Chinese that literally bounced off the walls of Annie’s kitchen. Doing his best not to laugh, Ted said, “I don’t understand Chinese, Harry, so let’s go with English. But before you do that, know this. You gotta give a little to get a little, so be prepared to . . . you know . . . maybe make some concessions to help out your friends, and they are your friends, aren’t they? You want to talk to Jack, is that what you said?”
A gleeful look on his face, Ted handed the phone to Jack. If looks could kill, Ted would have expired on the spot. Everyone in the room leaned forward to hear what they all thought was going to be a one-of-a-kind conversation.
“So, how much did your friends win last night?” Jack asked in a jittery voice. “Uh-huh. Yep, that is a lot of money! They can’t stop the boys from gambling if they aren’t doing anything wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that security is tight and they are being watched. So what? Some people are just out-and-out lucky. You could pull the discrimination card if it’s getting out of hand. I guess. I’m not up on casinos and how they operate and do things. I’m talking to you now from a lawyer’s perspective. Just call the guy and see if it’s even possible? Or have your guys call the 1-800 number and place an order for the gold.
“How much longer are the guys here for? Timing is everything, Harry. Talk to them, Harry, then call me back. Did I just hear you right? The boys have a charter plane at the ready! Well, damn, Harry, do you or your friends really think a Brink’s truck is going to pull up alongside a charter plane bound for someplace in Asia and unload five million dollars in gold without anybody saying a word to anybody? I get the part where they believe if they can’t hold it, then they don’t really own it. Truth in advertising. That’s crap, Harry. I’m hanging up now because this is giving me a headache.”
Jack handed Ted back his phone and snarled, “Don’t anyone say one word. Not one word.” He massaged his temples as he looked at Dennis and nodded. “Dennis will fill you guys and Maggie in on our night’s adventure while I try to figure out Harry’s next move.” Jack continued to massage his temples as Fergus poured him a fresh cup of coffee and Dennis recounted their nonadventures of the early morning hours.
After letting the coffee cool down some, Jack was about to take his first sip, but he almost jumped out of his skin when Maggie shrilled at the top of her lungs, “You two went without me?! How could you do that?” The cup Jack was holding flew into the air, the coffee splashing everywhere.
Jack knew he needed to get a grip, or things were going to go downhill very quickly. He almost passed out in relief when he heard Dennis say, “Maggie, be reasonable. You are just getting over the flu, and you also just traveled cross-country. Furthermore, when you left, you left with Ted, which meant to all of us that you were going to . . . um . . . spend the night with him. It’s not like Jack or I participated in any kind of action. We pretty much just stood around and watched what was going on. You really didn’t miss anything. I just told you all what happened and showed the pictures we took. There was nothing you could have done even if you had been there. So get over it and let’s move on here and make some plans.”
Slightly mollified because her young colleague made sense, Maggie started to chew on her thumbnail. She nodded, meaning she was okay with Dennis’s explanation. For now. With Maggie, it was always for now.
Before anyone at the table could decide what to do, the elevator pinged. Cyrus was like a black streak of lightning as he sprinted forward to meet Abner and Avery Snowden.
“Well, it’s about time,” Maggie exploded as she took her frustration out on Abner and Avery. “Where have you guys been all this time? You know the rules. You don’t go off the grid for more than a few hours at a time. What’s going on? Why do you look like . . . like . . . someone just died.”
“Coffee anyone?” Fergus asked, just to have something to say.
“I think I could use a cuppa tea, mate,” Avery said.
“Tomato juice,” Abner said.
Charles did his best not to stare at his old friend Avery. In all the years they were in service to Her Majesty, he’d never seen the old spy look like he looked at that moment. Not even during their stint serving in MI-5. He felt his gut start to churn, and then he looked at Abner, who in another minute was going to lose the tomato juice he’d just consumed. “The lavatory is over there to the right off the short hallway. Go!” Abner sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him.
Everyone at the table shouted at once, “What? What?”
Charles decided to take the lead the minute Abner returned to the table. He deliberately kept his voice neutral as he brought the two newcomers up-to-date. “And that’s where we are at the moment. Of course, we also have to contend with Harry’s friends’ problems, but that is separate and aside from what is going on at Happy Village. The two of you have been off the grid for a day and a half. You both know the rules: Three hours is the max you can be off grid. You both broke that rule. There are consequences to rule breaking. This is not like either one of you, so that tells me something very unexpected happened to keep you from checking in. Speak up and tell us what you found, what you know, and where the rest of us fit into the equation.” One look at Abner’s white, drawn face forced him to choose Avery to tell the tale.
“I took over one of the conference rooms off the mezzanine. We’ve been here at the hotel the whole time. It took us a few hours to set up shop and get my five operatives on board. We’ve all been at it from the time we split up. There were eight of us in total, if you count Abner’s friend Philonias Needlemeyer, who, by the way, was a godsend. He got us to places no one but the Devil goes. I’m not just talking about the dark web; I’m talking about the ugly, black underbelly of the dark web. That’s where the Devil and his disciples reign supreme. As you can see, I’m up there in years and I thought I’d seen everything, thought nothing could shock me or shake me. I was wrong. I regret that young Abner here had to see what I saw, because he will have to carry those images with him for the rest of his life.”
All eyes turned to Abner, who just looked sick to his stomach. Maggie offered him a stick of gum. “Chew it, Abby. It will settle your stomach because it’s peppermint, and mint is good for sick stomachs.” Abner reached for the gum and nodded in thanks.
Cyrus, sensing something not right with his travel buddy, got up and walked over to where Abner was sitting and nuzzled his leg. Abner looked down, smiled, and started to stroke the big shepherd’s head. He felt himself calm almost immediately. He wondered what it was, the gum or the dog—maybe the combination of the two.
Avery said, “I might be able to answer some questions, but I’m going to leave you all for an hour or so to go shower and change into fresh clothes. I want you all to use that time to decide if you want to hear what we saw and read and heard. We do have some very graphic pictures. I will tell you this. At least five of the tenants from Happy Village who disappeared are dead. I’m sure the other fifteen are, too, we just didn’t . . . um . . . see them. But what we heard indicates they are also dead. Think on this. I’ll be back in an hour, and we’ll talk more. Abner can answer any questions you might have in the meantime.”
No one moved. No one spoke. Cyrus continued allowing Abner to stroke his head.
Maggie finally took the initiative. “Is anything you and Avery know or saw gang related?”
“Yes, very much so, sad to say,” Abner said quietly.
“Can you be more specific, Abby?” Maggie asked gently. “If you would rather wait for Avery to get back, we can deal with all of it then. It’s not like we’re on deadline here. In the meantime, I guess we could look at the pictures you guys have. Ted can put them on the TV for better clarity if you give him your phone.”
Abner exploded off his chair, his arms waving wildly. “Good God, no! Don’t put those pictures up till Avery gets back. Look, I’m no more of a wuss than any of you, but I have my limits, and I know you do, too. Yes, I lost my cookies a few minutes ago, but Avery lost his earlier, so don’t go thinking I’m less than he is. My best advice to all of you is not to look at them and just go with what we both tell you.”
“C’mon, Abby, we’ve all seen dead bodies before, if that’s where this is all leading. Let’s get this show on the road. Ted, put them on the TV!” Maggie ordered.
“Wait just a damn minute,” Jack growled. “Who put you in charge, Maggie? We should at least give some credence to what Abner is telling us and put it to a vote. Raise your hand to see the pictures.” Maggie’s hand shot high in the air. “You’re outnumbered, so give it up already. We’re waiting for Avery.”
And that was the end of that.
Disgust ringing in her voice, Maggie said, “So I guess that means we wait for Avery, okay, I get it. But I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t remind you all that a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s why I’m having a hard time understanding your reticence. Men!” she snorted, as if that one word summed it all up.
Annie’s beautiful kitchen suddenly exploded in a whirlwind of activity. Charles turned the water on in the sink, Fergus started banging pots, while Ted and Espinosa circled Dennis and whispered in his ear. Jack got up and started to pace the long, narrow kitchen, his thoughts on Harry and his immediate problem, along with worries about Little Jack and his upcoming swim meet on the weekend and wondering if he would be able to make it to the swim camp to see his godchild perform. On his third lap around the kitchen, he zeroed in on Dennis, who was doing his best not to laugh out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Jack demanded.
“I think we just came up with a solution to Harry’s problem,” Ted said. “All we—meaning you, Jack—have to do is convince Harry that this is a better solution.”
Miffed that her colleagues didn’t see fit to include her in whatever was about to come out, Maggie snarled, “Well, what is it?”
“That guy on the TV with the pillows. The one who is all over television twenty-four seven. I just saw his newest commercial, and if you buy one of his pillows, you get two more. All for the price of one! Think about it! Harry’s buddies have millions. They could buy hundreds of thousands of pillows and get hundreds of thousands more for free, and Lizzie could handle the export end of it as opposed to trying to buy gold and sneaking it out of the country. This way Harry won’t have to worry about the Treasury Department and the IRS going after him or his buddies. Or them. Buying pillows is legitimate. Everyone sleeps on a pillow.”
All activity in the kitchen came to a standstill as Dennis’s words were processed. Cyrus let loose with two sharp barks, which indicated he approved of the idea. Jack whistled. “Ya know, that just might get Harry off the hook. Good thinking, Dennis. Now, who wants to call Harry with the good news?” There were no takers on Jack’s offer, and he knew there wouldn’t be, so he pulled out his phone and punched in Harry’s number.
“Speak,” Harry said.
Jack sucked in a deep breath. Harry was such a card sometimes. Never saying two words when one would do.
“I have an idea, Harry. As I told you earlier, buying and moving the amount of gold your guys want is a serious problem. You know it, too, and are just being a stubborn ass over all of this. We, as in all of us here in Annie’s kitchen, came up with what we think might be a solution to the problem. You ready to hear it?” Jack sucked in another deep breath as he waited for Harry’s response.
“Hit me!”
“Pillows!” Jack said triumphantly. “The guy who is all over television and advertises on just about every channel all day and all night. Right now he has a promotion going on where if you buy one pillow, you get two for free. And remember this, the guy guarantees a good night’s sleep on his pillows. He manufactures the pillows here in the good old US of A! Lizzie can do all the paperwork, the export end of things, and it keeps it legal. Legal is the key word here. Think about it, Harry, hundreds of thousands of pillows! They buy one and get two free ones to sell. Think of the profit margin. Your friends will be so rich, they won’t know what to do with all their money.”
As Jack said good-bye to Harry, Dennis tried to calculate the profit margin on the pillows. He waved the calculator app on his phone around so everyone could see the numbers. “They might have to do some promotion, give away a few thousand at first. Then everyone will want one. There’s no way this won’t work, and it’s all legal!”
“Good! Good! You can give Harry the numbers and see what happens. I hear the elevator, so that means Avery is about to arrive. Do it now, Dennis, so it’s not hanging over our heads with what we are going to be dealing with in regard to Avery and Abner,” Jack said, only too glad not to have to argue with Harry again.
Dennis nodded and started to tap out his text to Harry.
Charles motioned for everyone to take a seat at the table. Fergus poured fresh coffee, and Charles called the meeting to order.
Jack narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong here. In all the years he’d known Sir Charles Martin, he had never seen the big man who had all the answers looking so rattled. And while he hadn’t known Avery Snowden and Abner Tookus as long, he was seeing something in their expressions that defied words. What the hell is going on?
He looked down at Cyrus, who was picking up on something because he had his head pressed tight against Jack’s leg, not for a head stroke or a belly rub or even a treat. The big dog sensed what Jack figured they were all feeling. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
“The short version will do nicely for the moment, Avery. Later we can delve into the intricacies.” While Charles was speaking to Avery Snowden, his gaze was on Abner, who was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He looked drawn and haggard, but then Avery looked the same way. A shiver of something he’d never felt before rushed over him.
“How short is short, Sir Charles? Before I share anything, don’t you all want some background so you fully understand where Abner and I are coming from?”
“I think the highlights, then the guts, then back to highlights will work for all of us,” Maggie said, impatience ringing in her voice. The others mumbled their agreement, even Abner, whose eyes snapped open as he bolted upright.
Snowden cleared his throat. “Almost everyone knows or has at least heard of the dark side of the web, where nefarious things go on. There are layers and layers to go through, and you literally need a map to traverse it or someone who has already traveled there. I personally did not know there was such a place. It’s hell. That’s the bottom line. The dark web is like an onion: You peel back the layers until you reach the underbelly, which is where the Devil and his disciples live. I’d never been there, nor had Abner, but his friend Philonias has. He traveled it with ease and took us along for the ride.”
“It’s not something I ever want to do again,” Abner said quietly.
“Nor I,” Snowden said, just as quietly.
“Everyone seated at this table is a grown-up, Avery. I think we can handle whatever you are about to tell us. Ted, Dennis, Espinosa, and I have seen it all. We’re investigative reporters. You learn to deal with the unreal, the unthinkable, then you move on. It’s what we’re trained to do, so would you please just tell us what you found out. Is all of this gang related?” Maggie said, a definite edge to her tone.
Dennis was only half listening as he concentrated on texting Harry his hard sell of pillows. He stopped what he was doing when he heard Maggie’s comments about the gangs. He made a face, clicked SEND, turned his phone to vibrate, and gave his full attention to what was going on at the table.
“Of course it’s gang related. Only the depraved reside in the underbelly. We came in contact with, or I should say Phil came in contact with, members from Crips, the Bloods, and the Lobos gangs. I can give you a few statistics on the Lobos and leave the others to talk about later. Lobos seems to be front and center in this area. Nevada is rated seventh for most wanted gang members per capita. The FBI crime statistics report states they have about a hundred thousand members. Vegas Metro has the highest reported crime rate.”
Snowden looked down at his notes and said, “There were 7,277 violent crimes, 83 murders, 2,537 robberies, 3,922 aggravated assault cases, and 22,234 property crimes this past year. Not good.”
“I think Chicago is worse than that,” Ted said.
“We aren’t in Chicago, Ted. We’re in Vegas, where Cosmo Cricket got shot, so we have to work with what we have. Early on, Abner came up with a theory, and I think he’s spot-on. To join any of these gangs, you have to be initiated. Gangs like the Scorpions, the Rats, and the Snakes are small-town-gang terrorists hankering to join the big boys, have their own cells. If you can’t pass the initiation test, then you might as well pack up and leave town. You lose face, and no one fears you. That’s how they survive, through fear. Their motto is, rape, kill, control.
