by Mike Ryan
“I dunno. It’s just… it feels like this never ends, does it?”
“Because it doesn’t.”
“In the CIA, there were terrorists, arms dealers, drug dealers, violent criminals, then I’m almost assassinated by the very country I was sworn to protect. Then here, there’s Vincent, the police, the CIA again, the Italians, Jeremiah, Nowak, more violent criminals, Agent 17, and now Jerrick. It never stops.”
“And it never will. The world won’t blow up because you’re not around to protect it. And all these things you mentioned, there’ll always be a new one that pops up to replace the one that’s gone. Eradicating crime, that’s something you’re never going to accomplish. All you can do is all you can do.”
Recker leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees, and put his head down. He heard some children playing nearby and picked his head up to watch them. “I dunno. Maybe it just feels like sour grapes.”
“In what way?”
“How much is one person supposed to give? I mean, I’ve been shot multiple times, lost someone I loved because of my actions, been blown up, tied up, on the run, different identities, wanted by the police and every government agency known to man at one point or another, living in secret, not able to do things normal people do, being in some kind of danger nearly every day of my life, not to mention Mia being shot and kidnapped multiple times…” Recker then shook his head. “How much can one person give?”
“I think that’s a question that only you can answer. Maybe you should talk to someone, help you sort things out.”
“Don’t tell David, but I saw someone this morning. A psychologist. I didn’t give specifics on what I do or have done, of course.”
“They help?”
Recker shrugged and made a face. “You know, I don’t know. I feel like, maybe I got some things off my chest that maybe I’ve been holding in a while. But, I don’t feel like it’s lifted any of this weight off me. I still feel like… I dunno.”
“Maybe try a few more sessions.”
“Well this was actually the second time I saw her.”
“Think you’ll go again?”
“I’m not sure. I think I might be a lost cause.”
“What about Mia? She know?”
Recker nodded. “She’s the one that initially encouraged me to go. I’ve been having…” Recker then stopped, feeling like he shouldn’t reveal everything. He didn’t want his friend to suddenly think he was a mental case. But he decided to talk about it, anyway. He’d been holding things in for such a long time, he felt it was now time to reveal it. “I’ve been having nightmares for a long time now. Practically every night for the past year or two. Mia was getting concerned.”
“What kind of nightmares?”
“The violent ones. Usually involving someone dying. Sometimes me. A lot of times Mia. And every once in a while, you and David. But it’s always one of us.”
“What’d the shrink say?”
“I dunno. You know, it’s probably got something to do with my profession, things I’ve dealt with, fear of losing things, stuff like that.”
Haley tapped his friend on the knee. “Well, I’m not gonna tell you what you should do. And I’m not gonna pass judgment on whatever you decide to do. That’s something only you can figure out, either with Mia, or on your own. Just know that, whatever you decide, know that I’m in your corner. And I’m always here for you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I just hope that whatever you decide, make sure it’s for the right reasons. Make sure it’s for you and not based on what you think me or David would think or want. It’s not about us. It’s about you.”
Recker nodded. “I will.”
“And, if I can give you some advice, you probably should keep Mia in the loop. She’s been through a lot with you. It’s only right that she gets a say.”
Recker took a deep breath. “Yeah.” There was silence between the two of them for a few more minutes. “How’d you find me here, anyway? I didn’t tell David where I was going.”
“You told me a while ago that if I ever needed to clear my head, this was a good spot. I just figured you knew that from firsthand experience. I saw what you texted David, and based on my own assumptions of what you’d been going through lately, I just figured this might be where you were.”
“Impressive. You might make a good secret agent one day.”
Haley laughed. “Yeah. One day.”
Both Recker’s and Haley’s phone went off. They both looked at it. It was Jones.
“Looks like David’s got something,” Haley said.
“Well, back to work.”
“I got this. Why don’t you just take the rest of the day, think about things, maybe talk to Mia, reflect, whatever you need to do? I’ll take care of this.”
“It might be big.”
“Well, let’s just find out then.” Haley then texted Jones. “How big’s the job? Is it a two-man operation or can I handle it myself?”
Jones immediately texted back. “Possible robbery. Looks like one person can probably handle it.”
“OK. I’ll take it then.”
“OK. Did you find Michael?”
“I did. He’s fine.”
“Is anything wrong?”
“Nothing that I can tell. Just looks tired. Think he just needs the day off to recharge. Nothing to worry about.”
“OK.”
“When do I need to move?”
“Now would be best.”
“I’m on the way.” Haley showed Recker the texts. “See. I can handle it. Take the day. I got it.”
Recker grinned. “OK. But if you run into something and you really need help, you better call me. I mean it.”
“You’ll be first on the dial.”
Recker nodded. “OK. Good luck.”
Haley got up and left, leaving Recker to continue pondering his future, though the more he thought about it, the more he decided he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. But he was sure of one thing. He had more difficult conversations upcoming.
3
Several black SUV’s pulled up in front of the restaurant, each with dark-tinted windows. It was a strategy that Vincent usually employed when he was going to meetings, or any other event where his safety was in question. It was hard for a shooter to target him if they didn’t know which vehicle he was in. And considering the importance of the meeting he was going to, that was every bit a possibility in this instance. After all the cars stopped, a few men popped out of each of them, including Malloy, making sure the area was safe. One man went inside the restaurant, while the others looked at the rooftops of nearby buildings, scoured the streets to look behind other parked cars, around the edges of buildings, or to see if a gun was poking out of a window that was across the street. Once everything seemed clear, Malloy went over to the second car and tapped on the back window. The window rolled down.
“We’re all clear,” Malloy said.
Vincent put the window back up, then opened the door and stepped out. As soon as he did, Malloy, as well as a few other men, came over to their boss and huddled around him very closely as they escorted him into the building. Just in case they missed a potential sniper, they’d have a hard time getting a clear shot with all the bodies walking close together. Luckily, there wasn’t a hint of any trouble lurking. Once inside, several of Vincent’s men continued escorting him to a table in the back of the restaurant, away from any windows. Malloy stayed near the front door at the moment to keep an eye out for their guests. Once Vincent was seated, the manager of the restaurant came over to his table.
“Vincent, so glad to have you.”
Vincent shook his hand. “Thank you for allowing me to rent out your place for an hour.”
“You know you’re always welcome here.”
Vincent smiled. “Thank you. Before we leave, you’ll get a check to make up for your lost business here.”
The manager threw a hand up, as if it weren’t a big deal. “There
’s no need. You are one of our best customers.”
“No, no. You’ve done right by me, so I will do right by you.”
“Very gracious of you, sir. I have a couple cooks in the kitchen. Would you like something?”
Vincent leaned back and thought about it. “Yes, I believe I would. A plate of your delicious spaghetti and meatballs would be nice.”
The manager bowed his head. “One plate coming up.” He turned to leave, but stopped and looked at Vincent and put a finger in the air. “With generous portions, huh?”
Vincent put his arm up and grinned. “Ahh, not too generous.” He then patted his stomach. “You’ll cause me to lose my figure.”
The two men had a laugh as the manager disappeared into the kitchen. One of Vincent’s men went back there with him, just to make sure there were only cooks back there. Just as the man came back and nodded at Vincent, letting him know everything was well, Malloy walked over to the table.
“No sign of them yet.” Malloy looked at his watch. “It’s right on time now. They should be here.”
Vincent didn’t look worried. “Don’t worry. They’ll be here.”
“You’d think he’d want to be on time and get this over with.”
Vincent shrugged. “I think our friend, Jerrick, likes to arrive a little bit late and make a grand entrance.”
“We should just kill him now and get it done with.”
Vincent put his hand up to calm his friend down. “Now, they’ll be plenty of time for that later. If I can get through to him first, we can save a lot of bloodshed.”
“You’re not getting through to a guy like that. He wants to finish what Jeremiah started.”
“I think you’re probably right. But the effort must still be made first. If that’s rejected, then the gloves come off.”
Another of Vincent’s men came through the restaurant doors. “Jimmy.”
Malloy took a few steps toward the windows and saw several cars pulling up. “Looks like we’re in business.”
Malloy rushed over to the front door and stepped outside as he looked at the mob of men pouring out of the ten cars that arrived. Jerrick was leading the pack, though there didn’t appear to be much of an order behind him. It looked like some type of march. As they got to the doors of the restaurant, several of Vincent’s men stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking it, with Malloy positioned in front of them.
“You and one more can go in,” Malloy said.
“How many’s he gonna have in there?” Jerrick replied.
“Just me.”
Jerrick nodded. “All right.” He looked to his right and tapped the man next to him on the chest with the back of his hand. He was good with a gun if there was any shooting inside. “You and me.” Jerrick turned around to face the rest of his men. “The rest of y’all stay close out here.”
“You also better tell them what’ll happen if they start shooting.”
Jerrick turned back to face Malloy. “And what’ll that be?”
“You won’t make it out.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, that’s so.”
“You know, you’ve been hanging around Vincent too long. Maybe it’s time someone brought you down to size a little.”
“Who’s gonna try it?”
Malloy and Jerrick glared at each other for a few moments. Finally, Jerrick decided this wasn’t the time for that, though it did cross his mind. He turned back to his men again. “I don’t want nobody getting antsy out here. Everyone stand down unless I give the word, you understand?” Jerrick angrily turned his body back to face Malloy. “I hope that satisfies you.”
“For now.”
“I hope the same applies to your men too.”
“It does. For some reason, Vincent wants to talk to you like a man first. Me, I’d rather just shoot you down like the dirty thug that you are.”
Jerrick continued staring Malloy down. If looks could kill, Malloy would’ve been dead already. Jerrick finally let a crack of a smile come over his face. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today.”
“Is that right?”
“But don’t worry, when the time comes, and it will come, before I get to Vincent, I’m gonna have fun killing you first.”
“I wish you luck with that. You’ll need it.”
Jerrick grinned. “We gonna stand here and give pleasantries all day or we gonna go in there and do this?”
Malloy turned around, and without needing to motion or give a word, the rest of his men cleared a path for them to go through. Malloy entered first, followed by Jerrick and his man.
“Clear the place,” Jerrick said. His man started searching the place, making sure there was nobody there that wasn’t supposed to be.
Malloy and Jerrick continued walking toward Vincent’s table, who sat there calmly, waiting for them to arrive. A few seconds later, Jerrick’s man appeared near the kitchen door.
“Hey, look what I found?” A second later, Vincent’s man appeared, Jerrick’s man pointing to him.
“Thought it was just us?” Jerrick asked.
“He’s just there to guard the back,” Malloy answered.
“Yeah, well, either he leaves or we all do. I don’t like odd numbers.”
Malloy looked at Vincent, who nodded. Malloy then motioned for his man to step outside.
“Satisfied now?” Malloy asked.
Jerrick shrugged. “We’ll see.”
Vincent put his hand out, inviting his guest to sit down across from him. As Jerrick pulled out the chair and sat down, Malloy moved to the wall, standing behind his boss. Jerrick’s guard came over and stood behind his boss as well. A few seconds later, the manager of the restaurant came out with Vincent’s food, setting it down in front of him.
“Thank you, George, that’ll be all.” Vincent grabbed his fork and started digging in. “Oh, look at me, I’m forgetting my manners. Can I interest you in something?”
“I didn’t come here to eat,” Jerrick replied.
“Yes, well, the reason I asked you to meet with me today is because I like you.”
“You what?”
“I like you. I respect your style.”
Jerrick looked confused. He was sure the man was up to something. “And?”
“And I’d like to offer you a choice.”
“Which is?”
“Stop all this nonsense that you’ve been doing these last few months. You know, trying to kill me, Recker, blowing things up, kidnapping people, shooting at people, you know, that sort of stuff.”
“Or?”
“Or I’ll kill you. It’s that simple.”
“I thought you were gonna offer me a deal or something?”
“I just did. The deal is, you stop, or you’ll be dead in very short order. I am completely losing my patience with you.”
Jerrick looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re out of your damn mind.”
“It’s only because I like you that I’m offering you this chance to save yourself.”
“Is that right?”
Vincent took a sip of his drink. “I know you think you have to pick up where Jeremiah left off, but that’s fool's gold. It’s not going to happen. He’s dead because he was too ambitious and didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. And if you’re not careful, you’re going to follow him on that same path. And I’m trying to prevent that from happening to you.”
“You’re crazy. You know that? You’re crazy. I came to this meeting thinking you had something to offer me, and that’s what you got to tell me?”
“What did you think I had to offer?”
“That you were giving me Jeremiah’s old territory back. I’d be satisfied with that.”
“Oh, that’s ridiculous. We both know you wouldn’t be satisfied with that. Oh, for a few months you would, maybe. But after that, you’d start thinking like he did and think that you could get more. You would start thinking to yourself that Vincent gave me that so easily, maybe I could keep getting more from
him. It won’t happen.”
Jerrick leaned forward. “It will happen. Now that you’re done making your joke of an offer, I got one of my own.”
“OK?” Vincent asked, putting some spaghetti in his mouth, not looking the least bit worried or concerned.
“You will give me Jeremiah’s old territory back.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because it’s rightfully mine.”
“That’s not how this business works, unfortunately.”
“Well that’s how we’re gonna make it work. Or else you’re gonna lose a lot of men defending that place.”
“Why is this so important to you? You could set up shop anywhere. Why do it here?”
“Because this is where I belong. I came up with Jeremiah’s crew. It was eventually supposed to be mine. But you and Recker stopped that.”
“What was done was done because Jeremiah suddenly got stupid. That was neither Recker’s fault or my own. If you want to blame anyone, blame your mentor. Be that as it may, that is also in the past. What we’re talking about now is the present and the future. And if you don’t curtail your activities, you won’t have a future.”
“Maybe the same could be said for you.”
Vincent grinned. “Perhaps. Believe me, you wouldn’t be the first to try.”
“Yeah, I know all about the others.”
“But you would be different?”
“Maybe.”
“I admire your gumption. I do. As misguided as it may be. I know you’ve been recruiting hard, but you don’t have the experience or the firepower to withstand a war with me.”
“Well if you’re so confident then why are you trying to make a deal with me?”
“Because wars with rivals are rarely good for anyone. They’re costly. In terms of money, men, and unwanted notoriety from the public as well as the law, it’s not good for business. So if you want to know the truth, my main concern is not in keeping you alive as much as I don’t want to take hits to my bank account.”
