Damn… this kid is a shock. I exchanged glances with Stacy. I could tell in her eyes, and the slight smile, she harbored the same thoughts about Jim’s maturity as I did. “You have it exactly right, Jim. Whether anything in the future ever works out for you with Temple, it won’t matter. Friendship where you bond with another person can last a lifetime.”
“We want to get you into school as soon as we can. Then we’ll help you out with sports, band, acting, or anything you want to do,” Stacy said. “Keeping your mind occupied at your age helps you over the rough spots.”
“Trish told me you were the heavyweight boxing champ in the Navy, Pa. Can you teach me how to box? Aunt Lo told me you can teach me unarmed combat too… like in the mixed martial arts.”
“I’ll teach you everything I know, Jim… about anything I can think of. If you remember unarmed combat is for circumstances where there is no other choice, I’d be glad to teach you. I don’t believe for a moment you’d ever use it to kick the crap out of other kids for the hell of it, so I have no problem with helping you.”
Jim shook his head with a grim tightening of his mouth. “I’d never do that. I…I’ve been on the receiving end too many times.”
“I could tell by the way you were going to make sure Winton didn’t recover,” I told him. “Under different circumstances I would have let you kick him into the next hemisphere. The gym with all the witnesses was not the appropriate venue. You may have taught Alex a very valuable lesson I know you’ve learned – no matter how bad you think you are, there’s always someone who if given the chance… will kick your ass or worse.”
“I’ll be careful.
“I hope so, kid. Being a man has nothing to do with how many ass-kickings you give out. I’ve made enough mistakes on the violent side too many times to play the all-knowing oracle on absolute endings. I’ll help you to know both sides so you can… shit! Get down, now! Hit the dirt!”
Jim dragged Stacy down, as I drew my .45 caliber Colt out I keep in my bag. I crouched to face off with the moving targets appearing from behind my company GMC. My first instinct was to fire… and good Lord did I almost do it. They didn’t fire either, but they wanted to. I doubt if they’d hit anything on their first fusillade of fire. The three of them were doing their sideways gangsta’ aim with automatic pistols held sideways. See… the theory is they’d look cooler. It wasn’t working. “Best if you boys lower your weapons and walk away. You must have us confused with someone else.”
“Ain’t no confusion, old man,” the black hoodie in the middle informed me. “March that old skank out here. You and the midget can walk away. We know you, Cantelli. That old broad fucked your old ass a shit-load of times. Give ‘er up. We’ll take it from here. My boss is sick of her game.”
“Can’t do it, homey. She and I found out we’re grandparents. The boy with me is my grandson. Stacy is his grandma. Let me clue you in. I’m holding a .45 caliber Colt, aimed at your head. Here’s one fact for you to think about. No matter what else happens, if something starts here I don’t like, I put two hollow points right between your horns.”
Silence. If we’d had crickets around, their chirping would have been easily audible. It might be this idiot wasn’t as dumb as he sounded. Then he shot me. I felt the bullet tear through my parka, and along my side. There was no telling where he had been aiming, because his head exploded a moment later. No time then to wonder why. I saw flashes, so I knew his buddies fired. So did I. Time slowed to a crawl. I noticed the night air on my face. I led my targets, highlighted by the parking lot lighting like silhouettes at a shooting gallery. I heard screams behind me as their bullets zinged wildly by. I aimed dead center mass, the one on the right first, and then the one on the left. Both dropped. Time then stood still. There would be only one story here. I put two more in each of the writhing figures on the parking lot surface, and held position. I prayed Jim and Stace were okay, but I had to retreat to them without turning.
“Jim!”
“Here, Pa. We…we’re okay.”
“Good. Stay on the ground with your G-ma. Don’t stick your heads up until we have help.”
“I can’t hear so good.”
Stacy let out a sound half between a sob and a laugh. “Don’t worry, kid. It’ll pass.”
Thank you, God, for the chance to be able to hear the boy and his G-ma at all. Help arrived in the form of two female bookends bracketing me, holding automatics. I didn’t have to look. “Trish… take Stacy and Jim back to Jadie’s.”
“On it.”
I heard the rustle of movement, along with tinny sounding voices as Trish moved my family. The sound of approaching sirens in the distance meant another late arrival by some of San Diego’s finest. A few minutes more of shared watchful silence with my partner, and we knew no other surprises would be arriving tonight.
“You have this, Rick? I don’t have my back up piece in the car. The PD will be doing their usual confiscation of weapons from the victims.”
“Yeah, Lo. You and Trish look after Stacy and Jim. Give me a short whistle when I have the PD at my back. I’ll lay my Colt down so they don’t shoot me.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to hear the whistle?”
I chuckled. Lo had a whistle very much as audible as an air horn. “Yeah… I’ll hear it. I’m glad we have video coverage of Jadie’s parking lot.”
Lo turned. “Yep. Jadie is already pulling the footage for the PD. I’ll put Cleaver on alert.”
“Thanks.”
“Nice shootin’, you old cuckold.”
“I had plenty of practice overseas.”
“Yeah, you did.” Lo jogged in the direction of the gym entrance.
I didn’t really think anyone besides the three dead goons would be emerging, but I sure didn’t want it happening while my back was turned. I kept an ongoing scan of the area in front of me, watching for any movement at all. The sirens increased their decibel level, rose to an annoying crescendo, and shut off. I heard Lo’s whistle, set my Colt on the parking lot surface, and knelt with my fingers laced behind my head. At a suspected murder scene, the officers arriving keep it simple – handcuff everyone still moving. I was cuffed immediately before being brought to my feet. At least when I turned, I recognized my two acquaintances from past mishaps: Officers Jamile Crosby and Terrance Stanley.
“Oh my God, Rick, Captain Staley told us you returned from overseas alive instead of in a body-bag,” Terry said. “Did you have to make our precinct one of your first killing field stops?”
“Sorry, Terry.” I wasn’t, but in a situation where I’d like to stay out of the tank, I have to at least appear meek and mild mannered. “Lo is getting the HD video from our security cameras. They should show you exactly how it went down.”
“We have the EMT’s on the way,” Jamile said. “I’ve seen enough of your shooting incidents to know we won’t need them. I can see from here they were all armed. Stay here while Terry and I take a closer look.”
“I won’t move.”
Terry and Jamile were no dummies. They drew their weapons, and approached with caution, kicking away the weapons near the bodies. I saw Jamile crouch near the two that still had their heads. He shook his head at Terry. They bagged the weapons before returning to their suspect – the allusive and sneaky Rick Cantelli. It was then the adrenaline rush began wearing down. I felt my side leaking into my pants.
“No survivors again, killer,” Terry said. They shared a laugh until Terry noted I was keeping my arm clutched against my side. “Shit… you’re hit, you stupid fuck! Why didn’t you tell us?”
I started to try and get words out, but I dropped to my knees, cursing the damn darkness rushing into my head. It felt better down there. Unfortunately, the last thing I remember was the parking lot streaking towards my face, and hands reaching out for me. I came awake in an EMT vehicle with a bag dripping plasma into my arm. Stacy and Jim stared down at me like I was dead. The good part being I wasn’t handcuffed to the gurney.
> “Hey… how’d we do?”
“Rick!” Stacy cried out with a sob before she buried her head in my chest. Jim grinned down at me, covering the hand I’d flopped across Stacy’s back.
“We did good, Pa! I knew you’d be okay. Does it hurt?”
I chuckled which turned into a wheeze for a moment. “It’s a lot like… being branded with a red hot poker, kid. Once the adrenaline drained out, it left the pain behind to keep me company. Do I have to go into the tank tonight after they put a Band-Aid on my boo-boo?”
The EMT riding with us laughed, and then stifled himself remembering he couldn’t react in a politically incorrect way without triggering a lawsuit in this day and age. “You’ll be fine, Sir. We stopped the bleeding. The bullet tore a groove out of your side, hence the blood loss, but you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” I replied while holding onto Stacy. She did seem to actually care about me. I admit I was glad in an abstract way. I somehow didn’t want Jim to think his G-ma didn’t give a crap whether I lived or died. It looked like the beginning of at least a lifetime friendship. “Stace… it’s okay. I’m good… in a non-moral sense. Before we left the scene of my crime did Lo, Trish, or Jadie give the cops some video evidence which would leave me a free man?”
Stacy sat up, wiped her eyes, and gripped my wrists. “I…I’m so sorry for this, Rick. I know this was-”
“Forget it, babe. I’m okay, and I’ll wager the three soldiers were Dane Ramos’s guys. Their appearance could have been part of our firm doing security at ‘Godfather’s Cell’. I’m grateful you and Jim didn’t catch a stray bullet from those idiots.”
She grabbed my left hand, kissing it next to her face. “I…I love you, Rick! I’ll make this right with you somehow.”
“You’re not on the pad for this, babe. You, me, and Jim are a team from now on. Our future may be a little goofy, but we’ll face the rest of anything coming our way together.” I hugged her to me again. “I love you too, babe. I never did stop.”
“Yes!” Jim pumped an arm in the air. “You two are for real! I’m never going back into foster care.”
Stacy grabbed him into her arms. “If you do… it will be because Rick and I are dead.”
I watched the two of them, and plotted the deaths of many more to guarantee what Stacy promised. Yep… there was no turning back. It is what it is. Anyone getting in the way of our joining would have a very bad day… a day which would prove so costly, no one in their right mind would attempt it. Best of all… I knew I had backup of a caliber the bad boys only dreamed about. “Hey… enough of this downer talk. I’m still here, and if…” I checked out the nametag of our EMT host – Carson, “Mr. Carson will let us regroup at the hospital, and be on our way without getting too many doctors involved.”
EMT Carson met my eyes. “No way they let you out without an overnighter… Sir.”
“They’ll not only let me out, but I will accompany my two family members to a restaurant meal, my friend. At my age, we have to grasp what is possible, rather than what is safe. Don’t worry. I will not hold you to blame… and that’s for sure.”
Stacy sat straight. She clasped my hands in hers. “Will it always be like this, Rick… with you covering my stupid shit forever?”
She should know I don’t cover for anyone. I make pointed sarcastic comments. I looked at Jim, who was getting a little worried. “Jim… help me out here. Your G-ma is getting ready to abandon our team. She thinks we can’t take the heat.”
Jim grabbed hold of Stacy in a bear hug. “G-ma! Listen to Pa! He’s not afraid and neither am I. You’re with us now forever.”
Stacy looked startled. “Jim… if only it were that simple. I’ve done so many bad things I can’t explain… even I don’t know how many guys are out there like those three.”
“Don’t worry about all that stuff, Grandma. I always knew… I knew if I could survive… like in the TV shows… I could find you. Now I have! You’re stuck with me.”
“Oh my God…” Stacy muttered hanging onto Jim for dear life, “it’s you that’s stuck with me. We have to find a way to keep Pa alive though.”
“Let me worry about that. Did you see anyone bring the police a reason for leaving me alone?”
“I saw Jadie giving the police a USB drive, and she showed them the video on her iPad. Lois gathered your bag up, and listened in to the conversation. She said the police are satisfied; but you’ll need to report in at the precinct whenever you can, and she’ll have your GMC delivered to the house.”
That’s good news. “Mr. Carson… is it okay if I sit up. I’m feeling a lot better.”
He didn’t look too thrilled. “Sure… I guess it’s okay. If you feel off at all though, I want you back down.”
“Will do.” I sat up, contemplating the missing info on what exactly happened tonight. It was hard to believe Ramos would send three soldiers out to collect Stacy. I never look at Stacy with rose colored glasses since our first reunion when she tried to deal me to two killers for her own life. The fact was she had only been released from prison a short time ago – not a short enough time they couldn’t have already nailed her ass though on the way to work. Maybe Ramos had to work out the Garibaldi connection before he moved on her. By the time he did, she was with me. None of that mattered now except for self-defense, and protecting Jim.
Stacy sighed, while gripping my hand. “I can almost feel you trying to work this out in your head, Rick. Whatever conclusions you’re coming to are right. It will have to wait until we get home though… okay?”
“Sure, Stace. If I have the facts, I can clean this up. We’ll get through it, but I need to know all the details.”
“No worries there, Rick. I’m with you and Jim here forever. If you can help me past this, maybe everything good today can make it past the dream stage.”
“Pa can do it. I know he can,” Jim said with a certainty I think neither Stacy nor I felt.
Screw it. Like Stacy said… we’re together forever. I’m thinking maybe Dane Ramos believes he’s invincible as he sends his minions out to butcher his opposition. I truly hate to disagree, but I’m thinking of putting a .50 caliber wakeup call through his head. And yeah, maybe the grandson thinking Pa can solve everything has displaced my common sense.
“We’ll peruse the details later. For now, I’ll simply take pleasure in not being handcuffed to the gurney. That counts for something… right?”
Stacy patted my hand, her eyes softening as she looked into mine. “You’re the whole package, Rick. I wish I’d had enough sense to realize it way back when. I follow your lead from now on… no matter what.”
I grinned. “We were too young to know shit, Stace. Like the old song you mentioned before ‘Nightmoves’, we were working on mysteries without any clue.”
She laughed while nodding in agreement. “We sure were.”
I could see Jim was taking too much interest in the conversation and changed the subject. “Did you overhear anything else while they were loading me up?”
“Those guys didn’t have any ID’s on them, so they’re not sure who they were exactly. Lo had some little bald headed guy by the back of his neck like he was her own personal sock puppet. She marched him into action while you were unconscious. He listened intently to all the conversations.”
“That’s our lawyer, Cleaver. He’s an okay guy. He makes a lot of money from our firm, and Lo has him on the pad for something. He’ll help us make sure Jim doesn’t have to go back to the foster care home while we straighten things out. Did Bill Staley show up?”
“Yes. He…he actually came over to talk with me, and meet Jim.”
“I liked him, Pa. When he didn’t know anyone was listening, he walked over to the other two policemen and asked ‘okay… how many did he kill this time’. Aunt Lo grabbed him by his ear, and said a bunch of hushed stuff to him. That’s when he came over to meet us. He was real nice. Captain Staley said I could come down to the police station with you anytime you let me.”
“He is a good guy. We try to stay out of his precinct station as much as possible. He usually comes to our Casablanca Night dinners. If you can take your eyes off Temple for a few moments, you may get a chance to talk with him.”
Jim grinned and nodded his head in agreement. “I want to sit next to Temple if she doesn’t mind.”
“We’ll see. It’s a good thing we acquired more clothes for you and G-ma. Although not required, everyone usually dresses up for this. If you get bored we’ll leave after dinner.”
“No way I get bored next to Temple,” Jim stated to his grandparents’ amusement.
Chapter Six
More Intrigue
Stacy helped me into my white Casablanca Rick coat over my holstered Ruger 9mm. No way I was going anywhere unarmed. The doctor in the emergency room had to do some internal stitching before applying an outer set of strips and bandage to close the outer layer. Because of the downward angle, the gouge was nearly five inches long. He tried to sell me on an overnighter, but thought my vitals checked out well enough to release me as I asked. We were only running a few minutes later than I normally left for the restaurant. Bone ordered a limo for us all, and would be arriving in ten minutes. With a few 800mg aspirin in me, I felt pretty good. My side was of course sore, but nothing requiring pain killers. I’d decide on those tomorrow morning. Tonight, I wanted to sip a few. Jim was getting ready in his room, so I figured now would be the time to see what Stacy had hinted at.
“Ramos first sends thugs to my house to back me off from ‘Godfather’s Cell’. Then three more merry men pop out from around my GMC to collect you. You hinted at knowing what connected these events, Stace. What is it?”
She looked gorgeous… at least to an old geezer who shared younger days and younger love with her once upon a time. Stacy wore a spaghetti string burgundy dress which hugged her tightly to where it ended at her thigh. Her hair, dyed blonde, and past shoulder length lay in casual sultry waves. Other than laugh wrinkles, her complexion was much less lined than mine.
Rick Cantelli, PI: Into the Darkness (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 3) Page 13
