by Mike Ryan
The Finish
The Eliminator Series Book 12
Mike Ryan
Copyright © 2021 by Mike Ryan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Design By BZN Studio
Edited By Anna Albo
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Author Notes
Also by Mike Ryan
About the Author
1
Jacobs and Thrower walked through the door, putting their gear down on the couch. Tiffany ran over to Jacobs and hugged him.
“I was so worried,” she said.
Jacobs gave her a quizzical look. “Didn’t Eddie tell you we were on the way back? I told him what happened.”
“Hey, I said everything I was supposed to,” Franks said.
“No, it’s not that,” Tiffany replied. “Of course he did. It was just the whole situation in general.”
“Oh.” Jacobs gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “We did everything perfectly. It all worked out.”
“This time.”
“Well, we can only do things one at a time.”
“Not unless you do one of them two-for-one deals,” Franks said. “Then it’d be over lickety-split.”
Jacobs rolled his eyes. “We can’t always drop bodies like you pick up cheeseburgers.”
“Speaking of dropping bodies, man, is that on the level with what you said about Butch?”
“Would I kid about a thing like that?”
“I mean, man, I’m telling you what. Mallette just dropped him, just like that?”
“As far as we can figure it,” Jacobs said.
“Man, isn’t that a kick in the coconuts? To think, one minute they’re conspiring against you, and the next, one’s got a bullet in the back of his head.”
“I think technically it was the front of his head,” Thrower added.
“Whatever. The sentiment’s still the same. You sure neither of you hit him?”
“He wasn’t in either of our sight lines.”
“Hmm. I don’t quite understand it.”
“I think I do,” Jacobs said.
“Pray tell, then, man. Pray tell it to the masses.”
“What?”
“Speak up and be heard.”
Jacobs looked at the others. “Did we just step into a church or something?”
Franks pointed at him. “Might not be a bad idea, know what I mean? With all the stuff that’s been going on, might not hurt to get a little religion in ya.”
“Uh, yeah, maybe after this is all over.”
“After it’s all over, you won’t need it no more.”
“Can we get back to the point?”
“Of what?”
“What we were talking about?”
“Which was what?”
Jacobs took a deep breath, keeping his calm. “About Butch and Mallette?”
“Oh yeah. Why’d you get off point with that?”
Jacobs glared at him for a moment and shook his head. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Someone distracted me.”
“Well, continue, man, continue.”
“Gee. Thanks so much.”
“So about um… what were we talking about again?”
Jacobs thought Franks sometimes acted absent-minded just to aggravate him. He took another deep breath to stay calm. “Butch and Mallette.”
“Oh yeah. Well, proceed, man, come on. We ain’t got all day, you know.”
“I think it’s likely Mallette killed him because they were having a difference of opinion.”
“Well, we have differences of opinion all the time and neither of us shoots the other.”
“We’re not the leaders of two groups both vying for power either.”
Thrower knew what was being implied. “I got a feeling Butch wanted to pull out. Or he wanted to change tactics. Either way, we took out a lot of his boys, and he probably wasn’t too ecstatic about it.”
Jacobs nodded. “And Mallette wasn’t about to let that happen. That means his ever-shrinking force would have lost even more men had Butch left. He couldn’t let that happen. So he shoots Butch, hopes to keep the rest of his men, and knows it’s one less rival he’s gotta worry about.”
“Well, that all makes sense and all,” Franks said. “But that’s kind of like shooting yourself in the foot, ain’t it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to shoot the man after this is over with?”
“Did you not just hear what we said? If Butch was planning on leaving, it would have left Mallette no choice.”
“He could’ve just let the man leave.”
“That’s not how Mallette operates. You should know that.”
“Isn’t prison supposed to mellow people?” Franks asked.
“Prison only changes people who want to be changed. Did anyone really expect Mallette to come out of there with a different outlook on life? Especially since he wasn’t in there that long?”
“What am I going to do about school?” Tiffany asked. “They’re not going to fall for that trick again.”
“They won’t have to,” Thrower said. “They’re gonna remember it. It helps us out either way. Either they don’t bother following you there anymore, figuring it’s a waste of time, which means you’ll be safe, or they’ll use an extremely loose tail, which means we’ll be able to lose them easily.”
“I hate to be the bearer of contrivialities,” Franks said, holding a finger up.
“Contrivi-what?”
“Contrivialities.”
The rest of the group looked at each other. “Is that even a word?” Jacobs asked.
Thrower shrugged. “I never heard of it.”
They both looked at Tiffany, since she was the schoolteacher. She quickly shook her head. “Not in my vocabulary.”
“What does that even mean?” Jacobs asked.
“You guys never heard of it?” Franks said. Everyone shook their heads. “Isn’t that when you, um, like, disagree with the popular opinion or something?”
“I don’t think that’s a word.”
“Well, if it ain’t, I’m gonna make it a word. Don’t it just sound cool? Contrivialities. You say it.”
“No.”
“C’mon, man, just say it one time.”
“I’m not saying some made-up junk word that you just invented.”
“Well, just because you don’t know it, don’t mean it’s made up, you know. Maybe my intelligence is just on a higher level?”
Jacobs rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Can you just get to the point?”
“What point?”
“I’m not even gonna bother.”
“About tailing Tiffany from the school?” Thrower asked.
“Oh, that. Yeah. Anyways, like I was saying, they could still tail her. But instead of following you to an address, they might just drop drawers right there in the street an
d try to take you out. Do a drive-by, run you off the road, shoot your tires out, blow up your car…”
“We get the point,” Jacobs said. “And yes, they could do any of those things, so we can’t take anything for granted.”
Tiffany’s face sank. “I don’t want to keep hiding.”
“Nobody said you had to. If you wanna keep going to work, you can. Like I said, they’re not gonna shoot up the school.”
Thrower looked away for a second, obviously thinking about something. The others kept talking for a minute or two. Jacobs finally looked over at him and wondered what was going through his mind.
“What is it?” Jacobs asked.
Thrower looked back at him. “I might recant my previous statement.”
“About?”
“Tiff. She’s still the key.”
“How so?”
“Because she’s the only thing that’s still known and out there at this point.”
“Meaning?”
“If Mallette, or even Ames, is looking for you, they don’t know where you are, don’t know where Eddie is, don’t know me, Tiff’s family is away, that only leaves one constant.”
“Tiffany at work,” Jacobs said.
Thrower nodded. “That’s right. So if they wanna get to you, it’s gotta be through her. Unless they just decide to punt.”
“Punting is not Mallette’s style.”
“That’s not the only way to get to him,” Franks said.
“What else is there?” Thrower asked.
Franks looked at Jacobs. “Your brother.”
Jacobs glared at him. He hadn’t talked to Terry in a long time. It’d been well over a year. Maybe even two.
“You got a brother?” Thrower asked.
“Yeah,” Jacobs replied. “Haven’t spoken to him in a while.”
“Would they go after him?”
“They have before. They took his kids once.”
“Might be something to keep an eye on,” Thrower said.
Jacobs thought about it, eventually nodding. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“If you want, I can go sit on them. With Tiff’s parents gone, and her living here with you, if you take her to and from school, I can make sure your brother’s protected.”
“There’s only one of you, though. If kids go to school, Terry goes to work, and his wife is somewhere else, that’s three potential targets.”
“I can take care of that,” Franks said. “I’ll bring in two more guys.”
Thrower agreed. “That’ll work. I’ll sit on your brother, another guy goes wherever the kids go, and another of us takes the wife. Everyone’s protected.”
“Except that we don’t even know they’re a target,” Jacobs said. “You could be sitting on them for weeks with nothing to show for it.”
Thrower shrugged. “All part of the job. It’s better to sit there for weeks with no action, then not go at all and find out after the fact that they’re all gone.”
Jacobs nodded. “OK.” He looked at Franks. “Set it up. Get the other guys.”
Franks and Thrower walked away, discussing the logistics of protecting Jacobs’ brother and family. Tiffany could see Jacobs was deep in thought and put her head on his shoulder.
“You never told me you had a brother.”
“I didn’t?”
“No.”
“Oh. Sorry. We’re just… not very close. Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
“This happened,” Jacobs said. “My dad was killed, his kids were kidnapped, and I started drifting away.”
“He didn’t approve of what you were doing?”
“No. I think he pretty much blamed me for all of it.”
“I’m sure that’s not right. Maybe he was just hurt or angry about what happened. I’m sure he doesn’t think that you’re at fault.”
Jacobs shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever the case, we just drifted apart.”
“Maybe it’s time to reconnect.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not now.”
“Why not?”
“What am I gonna say to him? Hey, I’m back, and by the way, you and your family are in danger all over again?”
“Give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he misses you.”
Jacobs shook his head. “No, I don’t think I’m ready for that. Not now.”
“When?”
“Maybe when this is all over, and there’s never another danger to worry about.”
“Were you different then from who you are now?”
“Back then I was hurt, angry, and living without hope. Now…” He looked at her and smiled. “Now I have you.” He then gave her a kiss.
“For better or worse, right?”
“There is no worse when it involves you. Only better.”
Tiffany allowed herself to dream for a moment. “I can’t wait for the moment when all of this is behind us. When we can go to a movie, or dinner, or just go for a walk, and never have to worry about someone being out there, looking for us.”
“That day is coming. Soon.”
“I just wish it was now.”
“I know. But I promise, it is coming.”
2
Mallette was in his office, pacing the room, trying to figure out his next step. Whatever he eventually decided, he needed this next move to work. Between the rest of Butch’s men, and his own, he had no more than twenty in total. He couldn’t afford a long drawn-out war with Jacobs, or with Ames, who was still on his list as well. His next action needed to be swift, decisive, and a knockout blow.
“What about Jacobs’ family?” Reed said, leaning against the wall.
“Jacobs’ family is dead,” Mallette answered, a hint of agitation in his voice.
“I don’t mean that family. I mean, don’t he have a brother or something? Thought I heard that or read it somewhere.”
Mallette waved him off. “I’ve tried that before, and I’m not doing it again. It failed the last time we did it. I’m not going back to something that’s already proven not to work.”
“You got a different bunch of guys now, boss. Maybe it’ll work this time.”
“Different, yes. Not necessarily better. I’m not going back to the well on something that’s already failed.”
“So what, then?”
Mallette wound up by the window and looked down. He focused on a tree out there, trying to let his mind come into focus. “I still think the girl’s the target here.”
“Tiffany?”
“Yeah. Tiffany. Jacobs cares about her, that much is obvious. He will do everything in his power to prevent the same thing happening to her as it did his wife. She is still the key to this.”
“Well, we know she’s back in school now.”
“But for how long?” Mallette asked. “Is that for good, or was her last appearance just for show? Just to draw us out?”
“We can keep an eye on her.”
“Yes. Do that. No moves on her, though, until I give the word. We just watch for now.”
“She’ll obviously have a guard.”
“Yes. Either Jacobs or the new guy,” Mallette said. “One of them will always be with her.”
“Tail them?”
“As much as possible. They’ll still have their guard up, be looking for us. Loose tails. I don’t want them to notice anyone. I don’t want anyone getting too close to them again yet.”
“What if they lose the tail?”
“Then they lose it,” Mallette replied. “Keep a distance. Even if they shake a tail, they do that enough times, maybe we can detect a pattern, or focus on an area that we think they might be. Our next move has to be smart. Calculated. Effective.”
“I’ll get on it.”
Mallette put his arm up to stop him from leaving. “Not yet. We still have other matters to tend to.”
“What’s that?”
“Ames.”
“What do you wanna do about him?” Reed asked.
“Same thing I always
did. Kill him.”
“I thought you said no wars right now?”
“That’s right. So this needs to happen quietly. And I need to do it in a way where I can take his men and add them to my arsenal.”
“That’s gonna be a tall order.”
“But it’s an order that can be filled. And it will be.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Get the word out to Ames,” Mallette said. “Make it known I want to meet with him again.”
“And then what?”
Mallette looked at him, as if it didn’t need to be said. He did anyway, though. “And then we’ll kill him.”
Jacobs and Tiffany walked along the trail, holding hands and Gunner’s leash together. They were on their way to meet Buchanan.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tiffany asked.
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
Tiffany took a deep breath. “OK.”
“Why are you so nervous? You’ve met him before.”
“Yeah, but that was different. That was… saving my parents. I didn’t really have time to think. I only had the one thing on my mind.”
Jacobs smiled at her. “It’ll be fine. He’s a good guy. And I figured it’d be good for him to meet you personally, us, together. My world is changing. It’s time I start stepping out of the shadows.”
“I’m all for that. I just want to be sure it’s the right time to do that.”
“He’ll help us.”
“OK. I trust you.”
By the time they got to the usual meeting place, Buchanan was already sitting on the bench. He thought he was only meeting Jacobs, so he was a little surprised to see Tiffany and the dog with him. He watched the pair closely as they approached. He let out a little smile, seeing the two of them holding hands. It was the first time since Jacobs had lost his family that it seemed like he was starting to move on. Buchanan wasn’t sure his friend would ever get back to this point, but it made him feel good that it seemed as if Jacobs was on his way.
