by Tom Haase
She explained to the captain how McGregor had agreed to help get only actionable intelligence. Someone on the street might have a better chance of gaining this than the police she insisted. When Eddie arrived and joined the meeting in the captain’s office, Emma felt the need to explain her idea to both.
“I want to initiate a war between the two factions operating in Savannah. We know there’s a group from the Bahamas setting up here from the drugs captured at Chuck’s place. Another group killed the man driving the boat. They were trying to steal the drugs on board the boat. We can conclude by that murder there’s a group here in Savannah already operating. We know they tried to steal the drugs from the Bahamas while they were being smuggled into the city. In my opinion that demonstrates there are two gangs involved.”
“So how do you plan to accomplish that?” the captain queried.
“We'll need more information than we now have,” Eddie said. “Perhaps that's where Chuck can assist. He's good at ferreting out things as we learned in the last operation in which he assisted. Some gang member killed his latest girlfriend, peppered his home with bullets, and pissed him off. He'll want to make someone pay. I know him quite well. Believe me. He'll be going after them.”
“Maybe he’s too good,” the captain said. “We must keep a tighter reign on him this time. I suspect he always does things his own way, but we need to be able to monitor him.”
“I plan on doing that,” Emma said and winked at the captain.
“Make sure you do. I don’t want to see any vigilante tactics this time.”
26
The next day, Chuck attended Darlene’s funeral. There were only a few workers from the yacht office at the graveside. Unfortunately, the owners of the yacht company were still on vacation somewhere in Italy. He didn’t know if she had any family, but none had appeared. A funeral wasn’t a place to get reacquainted with his grandmother, so he was grateful she was on vacation.
After the service, he returned to his warehouse. His mind flew over the many times he and Darlene had shared, laughed, and loved. He would miss her. It wasn’t the same feeling he had when he lost a friend or a fellow soldier in combat, but it came close.
He drank a beer and fell asleep on his couch thinking of how he would settle the score. No immediate plan jumped into mind, but as in the past he could wait, and the right spark would land in the kindling gathered in his mind.
A pounding at his front door woke him up. Chuck wasn’t expecting visitors, so he rose slowly to go open it. He didn’t appreciate being interrupted today. He wanted to be alone with his memories.
“What do you want?” He said on seeing Emma, the last person he wanted to see on this day.
“Good to see you too,” she said with a warm smile. She took off her sunglasses and pushed past him.
“Come in,” he said after she entered.
No matter what he felt like, Emma remained someone he couldn’t avoid. His mind shouldn’t be going anywhere near her. He still mourned the memory of Darlene.
“I needed to see you. I’m sorry about what happened to Darlene. It was those drug dealers. I wanted to ask you if you have any idea why they targeted you? The police had publicly stated you had turned over the contraband from the boat and that you had none of it. So why would they come after you?”
She sat at the wooden table and waited for an answer. Her black deep-set eyes searched his face.
“Look, Emma. I do not understand why they came after me. I don’t have whatever they were after. No drugs, no leftover items from the boat, nothing. I can tell you one thing for sure. They made a mistake, and I’m going to make them pay for it.”
“Come on, Chuck. You are in no position to do that. You’re not a vigilante. We want you to support us by gaining intelligence on the gang’s operation here. We’ll take the appropriate action to get your revenge by bringing them to justice,” she stood to face him as he had not taken a seat.
“I told you I’d try to uncover the intel you needed. I promise nothing about taking any action. If that’s what you are looking for me to say, you’ll have a long wait.”
“I want you to say it. I promised the AG you would be helping in a private capacity with no law enforcement function conducted by you.”
“You can tell him I will not be conducting any law enforcement functions,” he moved toward the front door and used hand signals to show he expected her to follow. Once there, he opened it and turned to face her.
“I’ll get you the information you are looking for. I may also get you more than intel. I can’t promise more. Please don’t come back until you hear from me.” He moved closer to her and reached out and pulled her close. “I just need some ‘me’ time.”
“I understand,” she said and kissed him on the lips that lingered a few seconds longer than necessary but not long enough to convey any message. When she backed away, she said, “I’ll wait, but not for long. We have to get moving on these gangs before they can get set up.” She walked out to her car and waved as she drove off.
He had promised not to conduct any law enforcement functions. The actions he now saw as necessary to repay the drug gangs for their attack on his person didn’t fall within any conceivable notion of law enforcement function. No, they did not.
He reached a decision. It was time to act.
27
Chuck greeted Sam Jones warmly with a firm handshake and a man hug. Sam arrived first. As the full-blooded Seminole Indian, he undoubtedly remembered the compensation Chuck generously gave to the Seminole family of the man they lost in the raid on the sex trafficker’s headquarters.
“Want a beer?” Chuck asked as they went to his dining area and seated themselves.
“Sure. I see you have patched the bullet holes in the walls. The table is a different matter. I can get you a new one, special price for you Kemo Sabe.”
Chuck understood Sam could replace it from his furniture store with no problem, but he had a good reason for not doing it.
“I plan to keep it as a reminder of what happens when we are not vigilant. I patched it up well enough to use it, didn’t I?”
“You did. What is it you want to talk about? You were very vague on the phone.”
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Chuck rose to open it, and he greeted his Cuban friend, Roberto. The man had also helped him take out the human traffickers. The Cuban ran a rental car business on the Southside of town. He was slightly overweight, had black hair and his winning smile displayed brilliant white teeth.
“Come in,” Chuck said.
When the Cuban entered, he saw Sam already drinking a beer.
“Oh, no. What do you want us to assault this time?” he said with the smile that openly displayed warmth. “I still bear the wound from last time.”
“Crybaby,” Sam said as he rose and extended his hand to Roberto. “Good to see you again. How is the wound?”
Roberto had suffered a bullet wound in the attack on the building in the western part of the city. He and his men took out the rear guard and then came to the front of the building and assisted in the final assault. Roberto had taken a bullet when they charged up the stairs inside the gang’s headquarters.
“All healed, but I prefer not to do it again. So, if you are here and Chuck called us together, I smell a rat. What’s he up to this time?” He looked at Chuck for an answer.
“Want a beer?” Chuck asked.
“Is that to soften me up?” Roberto replied.
“Sort of,” Chuck said. He went to the kitchen area and took two beers from the fridge. He gave one to Roberto and opened the other for himself.
“You’re a sly devil, Roberto. I do have an ulterior motive for getting us together again.”
“No shit,” Roberto interrupted. “I could never have guessed.” His old friend from high school football ribbed him.
“Let me bring you up to date on what’s happening in the drug trade here in our city. But first, know that I’m not planning on doing
stupid acts.”
“Heard that before,” Sam said. “So, it’ll be awhile before we get shot at again?”
Chuck gave them a grin and took a sip of his beer. “How long do you plan to wait?”
“I knew it,” said Roberto. “My wound is starting to hurt real bad.” He grabbed his leg faking pain. “I don’t think it can take another round.”
“Candy ass,” Sam said. “Come on and tell us why we’re here.”
Chuck started with the speedboat slamming into his house and ended with the death of Darlene. He culminated his recount of events in the struggle with the man he killed. He gave as much detail as possible and didn’t hold back. If he planned to ask these men for help, they needed to know everything he did.
“So you got the name of a guy named Ramon?” Sam asked. “Any other info on this druggie?”
Chuck shook his head. “I asked Lieutenant Gordon to get me any info he has on the man, but so far he hasn’t given a lick of data. I think we have to discover for ourselves.”
“So we will be vigilantes again?” Roberto asked.
“We’re not vigilantes. We’re concerned citizens who are trying to help the police. I told you what Emma said. We’re only here to assist and to give actionable intelligence on the drug trade. We provide it to them so they can act.”
“If I believed you, I’d have to be committed to the nuthouse. But let’s say you’re doing what they asked and not trying to avenge Darlene’s death. What do you want us to do?”
“I'm working on a full-scale plan, but don't have it yet. That's why I need your help. We need to find the address of this Ramon's operation. Where does he hide? Where he has his headquarters, things like that.”
“I can put four men on the street looking for it,” Sam said.
“Count on me for three. We'll start to search tomorrow. I'll let my people know what we are trying to do and why. We want to clean up any drug trafficking. We can't solve all drugs being consumed, but we might put a big dent in the suppliers,” Roberto said. “Whichever of us finds the location of this Ramon, the other will have men to give us surveillance.”
Sam nodded.
“The men who worked with us on the last operation will have no problem helping this time. My people appreciated what you did for the man’s family.” Sam stood and shook hands and headed for the door.
“Let’s meet here in two days and see what we have unless one of your people finds what we need earlier,” Chuck said.
They both nodded agreement and when Roberto departed Chuck sat and contemplated his next move. He estimated what would be necessary. He’d refine his needs after he received the info on Ramon from his friends.
Would he share whatever he learned with Emma, or the captain, or perhaps with Eddie?
No matter what he decided, Chuck would eliminate the man responsible for Darlene’s death.
He swore it. There was no need for a lot of introspection on the matter of payback. Whoever had ordered the hit was a dead man walking.
28
Roberto returned to his home after the meeting and made a phone call to Ruben Santiago, his cousin and sometimes associate. The man had refused to assist him in his request for him to go along on the raid where he received his wound. The Santiago family had escaped from Cuba in a small sailboat in the early stages of the Castro regime. Their fathers had been friends.
They were among the more fortunate ones and reached the U.S. that welcomed them. The family had previously sent money to a bank in the states and had relatives already living in Miami. They prospered over the next decade. Roberto hoped he could appeal to Ruben to contribute in finding out the information for Chuck.
“Ruben, I need your help in something, and you have a few young people in your family who may render assistance. Can you come over in the morning to my office?”
“I’ll be there at nine.” The man ended the call.
Roberto entered the bedroom where his wife already was asleep. He quietly undressed and slipped into bed and pulled up the covers. He had made too much motion getting into bed.
“So, what did Chuck want? You going to get shot again?” his wife asked.
“Not this time,” he rolled over and gave her a goodnight kiss. “At least, I don’t plan on it.”
At nine the next morning the door to his office opened, and Ruben entered. He was a large man, a few inches over six feet and weight at least two fifty. He kept his balding head covered with an Australian bush hat. The eyes were a bright silvery color. His lips were thin and his smile non-existent.
“So what is it this time?” was the only greeting Roberto received.
Roberto remembered the time he helped Ruben get settled in the Savannah area after he lost his home in Miami due to foreclosure long after his father’s death. He had mismanaged the family business and lost all the money. The loss of his position and the months on welfare had drained his self-respect.
Recently Roberto had assisted his cousin in getting a business started in Savannah and previously had secured a respectable paying job for him through another Cuban at Home Depot when he arrived. The man never showed gratitude or expressed his appreciation for the help Roberto had rendered. It was now time to collect a personal chit he believed the man owed him.
“I need your help for a change instead of you needing mine.” Roberto watched, and the man’s eyes almost glowed with hatred at this piercing comment. “I know you have friends who are using a couple of different drugs. I also remember you have two sons in their high teens or perhaps early twenties. So, I need you to get me information on where people are getting their drugs. I need the address or location of the distributor here in Savannah. Not a local boy on the corner selling a small amount, but the man higher up the chain selling to them.”
“No friggin’ way. I’m not going to ask my boys to snitch. What do you want to know that for?”
“I've been very generous with you. I've never asked you for anything in return. I’ve taken care of you and your family over the past few years despite your reluctance to show any appreciation. I need a payback now. I'm not asking. I'm telling you to get me the information on a guy named Ramon.” Roberto said this as sternly as he could and never wavered in his eye contact with Ruben.
Ruben was the first to blink. Roberto saw the man must realize he did indeed owe a big favor, and this was a way to repay it.
“Okay, but I can’t make any promises. If my sons know anything, I’ll get that info to you. Is that it?”
“Yes, and thanks. It will mean a lot to me.”
“This will make us even.”
Without another word, Ruben turned and walked out.
Roberto realized that he couldn’t count on Ruben getting all the info he required. He called the ex-marines who had accompanied him on the raid of the human trafficker’s headquarters and asked them for the same favor. That way, he would have between six and fourteen people trying to get him answers on Ramon’s location. He liked those odds.
The next morning, to his surprise, Ruben appeared in his doorway with a young man behind him.
“I have something for you.” He ushered in the youth. “Tell him what you told me.”
“I have friends who buy heroin from a dealer here in Savannah. They say they can’t get any right now. The guy called Ramon is out of goods and there doesn’t appear to be anyone else able to supply the dealers on the street. Ramon has a place over on 71st Street from what they tell me. It’s located behind the strip mall. Dad wanted me to tell you.” He looked at his father. Ruben gave him a nod.
“That’s all we got,” Ruben said. “I hope this repays my debt. I’m not good at saying things, but I don’t mind doing things if I can.”
“I appreciate what you have done, Ruben. You are a good friend.” He tried not to show his inherent dislike of the man. How hard would it be for him to be a little gracious for all Roberto had done for his family?
“I hope this doesn’t put us in any danger. If it does, I’ll hold yo
u responsible. You get my drift?”
The sheer gall of the man. Roberto reminded himself to be gracious as the son was present and one day he might be useful—or at least more helpful than his father. The ungrateful bastard.
“Perfectly, and I assure you it won’t. Thanks again.”
The bastard had to ruin the goodwill he had generated by his actions with that stupid threat.
Roberto picked up the phone and called Sam. The Indian would take over from here the next day to conduct surveillance before they met with Chuck tomorrow night.
“Sam, I found out Ramon has a place on 71st Street behind the strip mall.”
“We’ll take it from here.”
29
Chuck had spent the day continuing to turn this old warehouse into his home. The upstairs office area became the center of his attention today after he took Murphy on a run and fed Merlin. He had accepted delivery of the desk Emma had specified for the area. When he sat behind the desk, the view was out over the river. On the wall to the left of the computer hung two sixty-inch televisions with one on Comcast and one on DirecTV. The other wall remained blank waiting for artwork he hoped to acquire in the future.
That evening Chuck heard cars arrive at eight sharp and greeted Sam and Roberto when they entered his place. This would hopefully be a productive meeting. He would get a feeling for how he’d repay the bastard who had taken the life of Darlene and tried to waste him.
