Watcher

by Andrew Weis

  “You better come with us,” the officer said, then gripped Rico’s bony upper arm.

  “Why? I didn’t do nothing, man.”

  “On the way to the station, try remembering who was with you besides Coz when you attacked Riley.”

  “Wasn’t nobody else, man. Just me and Coz.”

  “Thanks for the confession. There was also a girl. White, tan complexion, attractive, with long black hair.”

  “Who said a girl was there?”

  “Daniel’s aunt. She said so right before she died.”

  My heart fluttered when I heard that. Daniel’s aunt was alive when I left, at least long enough for her to see me help Riley.

  The officer handcuffed Rico, then helped him into the back seat of the squad car. The mastiff squeezed out of the Chevelle and made a fast break to the back of the house.

  “I’ll take care of him,” the officer said as he drew his revolver and jogged after the dog.

  I zipped through the house and found the dog in the back yard sniffing grass along a tall dilapidating cedar fence. After spotting me, his ears perked up and he growled. While seeing him through my blue vision, I reached my hand out to the dog. He licked his mouth and whimpered. He stepped closer and sat in front of me. While I caressed his ears, I noticed a terrible scar across the bridge of his nose.

  “Did I do that to you, boy?” I asked.

  The nice benefit of being an angel was having dominion over animals, especially dogs. I always loved dogs, the bigger the better, as long as they didn’t try to eat me for lunch. My family never had a dog while I grew up, but I always thought it’d be cool to have one of my own.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, puppy,” I said. “But look at it through my eyes; you attacked me, you know?” The dog licked my hand vigorously. “Oh, don’t worry, boy,” I said, scratching behind his ears. “You were only doing your job. You did it pretty good too.”

  The officer froze when he saw the dog sitting with its back to him. I watched the officer with his gun drawn, ready to shoot should the dog go after him.

  “Well, puppy, you best make a run for it,” I said.

  I headed to the fence and opened the gate. The dog scampered through to places unknown. The officer stood with his mouth hung open as he lowered his gun.

  Darkness wrapped the sky as I left Daniel’s house for Xtremes. Most of the players of interest should be there. Sook busied himself by polishing the Chevelle.

  I paused in front of a dry cleaner’s store window when I caught my reflection. If I hoped to make any progress in finding Daniel, I’d have to do it in human form. Like I did in training, I changed my appearance to something much different.

  Since Riley’s aunt saw me, I needed a different facade. I removed my facial scar, darkened my skin color from white to a mix of black and Asian, and sharpened my facial features. My hair remained long and blonde for a cool exotic look. I then widened my jaw, made myself a couple inches taller, but left my figure in its usual stunning form. My friends would be so jealous if they saw me do this.

  I dressed myself in form-fitting black leather leggings and a matching low-cut sleeveless top. With over-the-calf black-laced combat boots I’d blend in well in Englewood Rails. I rocked this look.

  Muffled music from inside served as a suitable playback for my demonstration.

  I approached the Chevelle and paused. A glint of the car’s classic beauty had an unexpected appeal to me.

  “Hey, is that a sixty-nine?” I asked.

  Sook didn’t bother to look my way.

  “Don’t touch the ride, girl,” he said.

  “These classics, uh, kick. Did you pimp it out or put purple neon underneath it?”

  “We don’t spin Calicars, girl, so quit talking trash on the ride.”

  The locals of Englewood Rails were purists for the classic cars and not Calicars, or California cars. Some of boys who couldn’t get a classic car of their own would trick out newer cars with underbody neon, hydraulic lifts and sound systems strong enough to handle a rock concert in Grant Park. People here treated cars like that as novelties and barely got any respect. Personally, it didn’t matter to me. Small crowds sometimes gathered around these cars and watched as the owners played with hydraulics that tilted and lifted the cars into odd stances. They even had contests to see whose car could bounce the highest. Lame.

  I materialized a long knife, crept closer to him then stopped myself. What good would it do if I killed everyone who wouldn’t help me? I got rid of the knife and stepped back onto the sidewalk. The car was beautiful, and I thought of a sure-fire way to get Sook’s attention. I wound up and kicked in the driver side door, leaving a huge dent. Boy, that felt good.

  Sook froze in mid-polish.

  “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did,” he said.

  “Oh, I sure did,” I said with a big smile. “I want to see the boss. Now.”

  Sook threw down his polishing rag. In his haste to work me over, he tripped on the curb. I pounced on his chest and twisted his ear.

  “Are you going to show me in, or should I make the passenger door match?” I asked.

  “Inside. Ask the bartender. Not sure if Tyrone’s around.”

  “Thanks, Sook.”

  I left Sook, then headed for the club entrance.

  “Hey, how do you know my name?” Sook asked.

  “Who doesn’t?” I said matter-of-factly.

  Sook looked at the dented door.

  “Dammit!” he said as his face contorted in frustration.

  I paused when Coz and two of his soldiers marched by the crowd as if they owned the place. They didn’t acknowledge Nemo or Nero as they walked into Xtremes which seemed disrespectful to me; a big no-no in Englewood Rails.

  Nemo and Nero eyed Coz with contempt as he passed. I materialized an ID card, showed it to Nero, then ventured inside the club.

  Chapter 11

  EVEN THOUGH IT was a weeknight, that didn’t slow the crowds from jamming through Xtremes’s doors. I weaved my way through the crowd and made my way to the bar. There, I found the same bartender I saw before, the bald Mexican badass with a silver-tinged goatee, leaning against the back bar while other women bartenders in glittered bikini tops took drink orders. He stared back at me with cold dark squinting eyes. I leaned over the bar, pressed my breasts together and smiled as I looked him in the eye.

  “Yeah?” he asked with a cocked head and his thick tattooed arms crossed over his burly chest. His eyes gave me a quick once-over, pausing at my cleavage, then huffed. He didn’t seem impressed. In a way, I felt insulted.

  “Is Tyrone here?” I shouted over the pounding dance mix.

  “What do you want?” he shouted back.

  “I want to see Tyrone.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m looking for Daniel Perry.”

  “He’s in his office down the hall,” he said, pointing toward the back of the club.

  “Thanks.”

  I headed for the office and, like before, I saw Henry playing with his smartphone in front of what I figured was Tyrone’s office. Before I stepped any closer, someone grabbed me by the neck and hustled me toward the back door.

  They shoved me through the door and onto the smelly alley pavement where I tumbled across the filth. I spun to my feet to see my attackers. Nemo and Nero stood expressionless, each standing about seven feet tall in their tailored black lather blazers and fedoras in a nod to 1930s gangsters, waiting for me to do something stupid. I couldn’t believe those big apes bounced me like that.

  “Get lost, girl,” Nemo said. “Don’t go asking questions where you don’t belong. You’ll live longer.”

  “I need to see Tyrone. It’s important,” I said.

  “I’ll tell you what’s important. He ain’t interested, so get to stepping.”

  “How do you like Coz muscling you? Pay you well, does he?”

  Nemo shuffled on his feet and glanced at Nero.

  “He owns you, doesn’t he?”
I asked. “So, are you guys his bitches? Mules?”

  Nemo fumed, then started for me when Nero held him back.

  “Don’t worry about us, girl. Be smart. Don’t come back,” Nero said.

  “Hey, I’m not looking for a fight. Some heavy action occurred at Daniel Perry’s house yesterday. Do you know what happened there? Coz and Rico sure do.”

  Nero paused as though he wanted to speak. Things didn’t seem to sit right with the big lug. I held a glimmer of hope that these human mountains cared about other human beings. What a breath of fresh air that’d be.

  “We don’t know nothing, girl,” Nero barked.

  “I have a hunch you do,” I cooed.

  “Do yourself a solid and leave!” Nemo said.

  They both retreated inside the club then slammed the door. I kicked the garbage dumpster and uttered my favorite curse words when a car’s high beams filled the alley with daylight.

  I ducked out of the car’s way as it rumbled to a stop at the club’s back door. Sook, behind the wheel of his Chevelle, sneered at me.

  As the back door of the club opened, I inrepped. Moments later Coz came out with another big strong black dude. Coz climbed into the back seat.

  The big dude sat on the passenger side and closed the door. Sook checked his mirrors, trying to find me. He jerked his head around with a cracked open mouth while frustration grew on his face.

  “Tyrone, did you see where that chick went?” Sook asked.

  “Sook, cut the crap,” Coz said.

  “You heard him. Move it,” Tyrone said while swiping through his smartphone.

  While the Chevelle drove down the alley, I zipped above it, passed through the car’s roof and sat beside Coz. Coz seemed a little mad about something.

  “What was that crap you said about the formula?” Tyrone asked.

  “T, I couldn’t talk, all right? I was raiding Daniel’s house when you called. You got on my damn nerves with your constant bitching,” Coz said.

  I wasn’t a gangster or had an ounce of respect for them, but I was sure that an underling like Coz wouldn’t last long if he continued to mouth off at his boss like that.

  “I’m running the show. Got that?” Tyrone said. “When I question, you answer. It ain’t like we got time to waste.”

  “What’s the rush? I can keep Daniel on ice for a while.”

  “Relax, little man. With Reggie and Daniel off the grid, peeps will ask questions in quick time. Reggie’s making the clay for us. Once he’s done, we go to market.”

  “Why didn’t you get the blues before this madness?” Coz asked.

  “Blueprints like that ain’t for any stiff to look at,” Tyrone said. “They’re federal and you need permission to see them. We ain’t got that.”

  “So, how we getting inside?”

  “My, uh, friend made an arrangement.”

  “What friend?”

  “Never mind.”

  Tyrone wanted blueprints to a federal facility? I didn’t realize he was that ambitious.

  “Are they still open? It’s late, man,” Coz asked.

  “Fed buildings close at six every weeknight but they closed on weekends. We have to work fast. Sook, turn right at the next light, then turn into the mall. Park in a shadow,” Tyrone said.

  “Done,” Sook said.

  Sook found a suitable place to park beside a tall light pole with a burned-out bulb. It was dark in our area of the lot. Coz removed a handgun and checked it for bullets. Tyrone frowned.

  “This ain’t a hit, Coz. A friend on the inside will help us. We go in, he gives us the blues and we’re out. Got it?”

  Coz frowned as he put away his handgun. It seemed he was intent to shoot his way through life if things didn’t go his way.

  Tyrone, Sook and Coz trotted across the street to a two-story office building of cold concrete and thin vertical windows. The sign out front read, General Services Administration.

  We walked around to the back of the building. Bright lights and security cameras covered every door but their black sweatshirt hoods hid their faces while they waited on the steps beside one of the doors.

  Tyrone sent a text message, then scanned the back alley. In minutes the door opened. A short black man with thick black-framed glasses and an unkempt afro hurried them in while he struggled to hold the heavy door open. Once everyone was inside, he let the door close.

  “Hey, Gordy. You got what I need?” Tyrone asked.

  “Yeah,” Gordy, a rickety bow-legged retiree, said in a raspy hushed manner. “Cameras everywhere, so wait here. I got the cameras in here and the alley covered.”

  Gordy hobbled into the next room and closed the door.

  “I don’t like this, T. He could be setting us up,” Coz said.

  Coz looked all around. He was so wound up a mouse fart would’ve given him a heart attack.

  “Setting us up for what? He let us in, dummy. Besides, we ain’t done nothing,” Tyrone said.

  Coz nibbled his lip. He shoved his hands into his coat pocket while shifting on his feet.

  Gordy returned carrying a brown cardboard tube then handed it to Tyrone. Tyrone opened the tube and removed the blueprints enough to see the legend in the corner. He smiled as he slid them back into the tube and pressed the end cap.

  “Thanks, man. I owe you one,” Tyrone said.

  “Make sure you get them back before Monday morning. They check everything,” Gordy said, clearing his throat.

  Gordy eyed Coz and Tyrone. Sook started to open the back door when a loud pop startled all of us. Gordy fell to the ground while he clutched his bleeding stomach. His body trembled and his face grimaced in agony. Coz aimed his gun and shot Gordy in the head point blank. Blood and gray matter splattered the wall and floor.

  Tyrone dropped the cardboard tube and cold-cocked Coz across the jaw. Coz fell back against a gray steel file cabinet and spun to the glossy concrete floor.

  “Son of a bitch!” Tyrone said, standing over Coz. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “He saw us, T,” Coz pleaded. “If we can’t get the prints back to him in time, he’ll rat. It’s like the pirates, man. Dead men tell no tales.”

  “You can’t kill everyone who helps us, fool!”

  Coz scurried to his feet then shuffled out the door. Sook, shaken up by the shooting, hustled behind Coz. Tyrone looked at his friend on the floor as he picked up the tube. I wasn’t sure what was on those blueprints, but damn if I wasn’t curious.

  After returning to Xtremes, Sook and Coz dropped off Tyrone at the back door and parked in front of the club’s entrance. Instead of fighting my way through a sea of bouncers, mouthy bartenders, untold numbers of party girls and studs on the prowl, I headed straight for the back door.

  While inrepped, I found the gangly Henry in his black leather jacket keeping a close vigil on the game he played on his smartphone. He definitely had an addiction to whatever he played. Tyrone emerged from his office, then locked the door.

  “Keep an eye out, Henry. Nobody goes in,” Tyrone said.

  “You got it, man,” Henry said while his eyes remained focused on his stupid phone.

  Tyrone smacked the phone out of Henry’s hands. “Nobody goes in! Clear?” Tyrone bellowed.

  “Yeah, T, clear. Clear as glass,” Henry said.

  Tyrone shook his head before going to the main floor of the club.

  Henry picked up his smartphone, pulled aside his jacket and wiped the phone’s screen on his white thermal tank top shirt. He returned his attention to his phone, then shifted himself in front of Tyrone’s office door.

  Instead of getting into a face-to-face with Henry, I figured out a more time-consuming distraction for him. He needed something special.

  I smiled as the transformation I started on Henry progressed. He was funny. Too engrossed with his phone game, he didn’t notice the change occurring on his chest. His arms moved out in front of himself so he could see his game. Then, his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped when he realized
what was happening to him.

  “Son of a—” Henry said, running down the hall to the men’s room with his firm double-D man boobs bouncing proudly in front of him. A bra would’ve helped him, but he had enough to deal with.

  A stream of profanity and screams emanated from the scummy men’s room. While Henry dealt with his acquired attributes, I made my way into Tyrone’s office.

  I passed through Tyrone’s office door and emerged from inrep. The cramped, grungy office stunk of mold and old booze. Piles of military ordinance manuals stacked high on top of dusty steel cabinets. A cardboard tube leaned beside a black four-drawer steel cabinet. I opened the tube, removed several blueprint sheets and spread them across the desk.

  The floor plan was difficult to read. I didn’t know what I was looking at until I read the text in the lower right corner, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago–Vault Room. The vault? No wonder the government kept the prints locked up.

  The doorknob jiggled and startled me. The blurry shadow of a man wavered in front of the frosted glass. Keys rattled then fell to the floor, followed by suitable profanity. I rolled the blueprint, leaned the cardboard tube against the cabinet and shuffled to a corner. While inrepped, I watched as the deadbolt lever flipped away from the doorframe. Then, the cardboard tube tipped over to the floor.

  Tyrone entered and threw on the light switch. He stood the tube back up and sat behind his desk. His eyes searched across the desk then paused. He snatched the tube and studied the lid which wasn’t completely on. After removing the lid, he looked inside and saw the blueprints.

  “Damn it! Henry!” Tyrone shouted.

  Seconds later, Henry burst into the office.

  “Tyrone, the craziest thing happened,” he cried. “I got tits, man!”

  I almost busted out laughing. His horrific expression was priceless while he gripped and squeezed each oversized breast in panic. I removed his breasts before Tyrone looked up with a frown.

  “I don’t see nothing, man,” Tyrone said. “Was anyone in here? Things don’t feel right.”

  Henry looked back at his chest.

  “The damnedest thing,” Henry muttered.