The rain was coming down hard upon the shadowy street as only an air filled trash bag broke the stillness that engulfed the entire darkened area. The howling wind carried this air filled empty bag up and swirled it around within the strong winds of the vacant street in a mesmerising display. The rain soon reclaimed the flying bag as it finally succumb to the rains will, forcing it dramatically back down upon the wet street and in front of a vacant and boarded up building.
Ness sat uncomfortably across from this building within a silent unmarked morgue wagon as he curiously watched it, slouched-down and with his overcoat collar pulled-up. His fedora hat was pulled down and he was actively attempting to look inconspicuous in the shadows that engulfed the silent street. Next to him was a scared looking coroner Gerber whom was also attempting to look inconspicuous but having limited success in doing this whilst he held his trusty Gladstone bag uncomfortably up against his dry lips. All the frightened coroners’ clothes where now completely soaking wet with sweat because the last few hours had exerted more anxiety within him than he had used within his entire solitary lifetime.
Gerber had been begging Ness to take him on one of his “crime-busting” trips since he had come to Cleveland and earlier that day Ness had surprisingly finally relented but only on the condition, that Gerber had given him a desperately needed prescription of opium. A desperate Ness had stated he required it for the surveillance purposes and possible anxiety that may develop due to the very real possibility of violence which may occur that very evening. The eager Gerber was only too willing to help him if it meant that he would have the honour of accompanying him tonight on his mysterious mission into this ominously dark and sinister location.
The alert Ness looked through the harshly persistent rain at his quarry, the closed down infamous Harvard Club which used to be a notorious gambling-den owned by the Mayfield Road Mob and its new boss Alfred “The Owl” Polizzi. Polizzi had skilfully taken over the establishment soon after the previous boss, Milano had run off to Mexico to avoid tax evasion charges from Ness’s friend, county prosecutor Frank Cullitan. Although many suspected that the absent Milano was still in charge of the mob’s operations, Ness secretly knew that the new and ambitious Underboss, Polizzi was almost in complete control of the Mayfield Road Mob.
Only a few months ago Ness had arrived at The Harvard Club with Cullitan by his side because the frightened prosecutor had previously tried to gain entry to the establishment but had had a gun rudely thrust into his face by the defiant doorman. The mobster goon had then told Cullitan too simply “Clear off!” and so he had taken this opportunity to call Ness and entice him there with the promise of good press coverage of his every move. Ness had then brought a small, well-armed group of loyal, trustworthy officers whom he called his “Unknowns” as well as a small contingent of the Cleveland press and simply walked into infamous Harvard Club unopposed. Ness, Cullitan and the Unknowns then raided the crooked established while the press looked on in awe, just as he had done so successfully back in his Chicago days with Capone’s bootlegging operations. They made a few minor arrests and closed the club down and it was in all the newspapers in glorious detail for all to read. This increase in positive press had not only made Ness extremely happy but also made the safety director look positively unstoppable within the eyes of the on looking public.
But now here he was again in the middle of the night and covertly surveying the very same Harvard Club that he had helped seal up with wooden planks only a few months earlier. Closing such a profitable establishment so publicly was not what Polizzi wanted and so after the Unknowns had closed it on the 10th January, the mobile club had simply reopened at 4209 Harvard Avenue and even defiantly expanded its gambling facilities. Polizzi arrogantly arranged for a fleet of hired limousines to collect loyal customers for free downtown pickups and the club then continued to operate its lucratively illicit business in one form or another, regardless of Ness’s publicly advertised closer.
Ness sniggered to himself quietly as he thought about his ironically triumphant photograph with Cullitan in the newspapers months ago, standing in front of the boarded up Harvard Club with a sternly handsome look edged upon his face. As he continued to amuse himself with humorous thoughts of his flirtatious behaviour with the ravenous press, the abnormally high volume of the opium that Gerber had so willing prescribed to him only a few hours before, started to take hold. The smirking Ness then slouched further down within his seat as he looked across the wet street at the other unmarked accompanying Ford of detective’s Merlyo and Zalewski.
They all seemed to be waiting and watching in intense anticipation for something to happen as the relentless rain and wind pummelled both surveillance teams. The mysterious reason they were all there within the dead of night was because Ness had one of his “gumshoe hunches” as he liked to call them. These so called hunches where usually helped by some valuable bit of information that he had neglected to tell anyone else about through fear of losing his precious source to the unseen criminal elements that still infested his department. Even though he had cleaned up most of the department of corruption, to him this was always an ongoing process which required his full attention and to be ever vigilant.
Ness suspected that one of Alfred Polizzi’s men, and perhaps even the man himself, would return to the club tonight to in order to obtain some important financial documentation that his predecessor had secretly stashed away. Ness and his team had not confiscated this particular piece of important documentation after their initial raid because he did not know about its secretive existence until only a few hours ago. These valuable legal documents where well hidden somewhere within the sealed off establishment and instead of using much manpower to search the building again, Ness had cleverly opted to simply allow Polizzi’s men to go in and take it. He had already advertised that he was going to re-enter the club in the morning with a group of his loyal Unknowns in order to search for these documents in the hope that the Mayfield Road Mob goons would come here tonight and do the hard work for him.
A well paid informant had obtained this incredibly valuable piece of information for Ness with a little help from the ever persuasive “Uncle Sam” in combination with some vague threats of jail time within the uninviting Cuyahoga county jailhouse. Polizzi’s renewed interest in these financial documents of his ex-bosses investments where because of a variety of complex legal factors which both Ness and Cullitan had recently discovered. Milano’s investments where currently legally tied-up in some off-shore tax havens in the Caribbean and Polizzi wanted to claim them with the documents to solidify his position as the undisputed Mayfield Road Mob’s new boss.
Ness pondered the internally cannibalistic nature of the Italian mobs power structure as his occupied mind then finally noticed movement within the heavy rain ahead. He struggled to see through the barely visible blanket of rain as he squinted his eyes until he saw a 1934 dark yellow Chrysler Airflow slowly pulling up outside boarded up Harvard Club. The impressive automobiles lights where turned off and two sinister characters then got out of the Chrysler before it had even fully stopped within the rain. Both the shadowy individuals wore fedora hats which shielded their shadowy faces from view and long flowing double breasted coats which occasionally would reveal their expensive suits underneath. They immediately ran towards the abandoned Harvard Club’s door and proceeded to violently open it with a steel crow bar that one of the men taken out upon leaving the slowing automobile. One goon appeared to be a lookout as he shined a light on his fellow crowbar wielding goon, frantically looking around the bleak environment to ensure that they were not being observed.
After a few moments of violent banging the pair easily gained access into the sealed building and disappeared into its shadowy interior. Ness suddenly felt the opium deep within his system being overridden by the power of the pure, raw adrenalin that was now naturally being injected within himself. He then looked at an apprehensive Gerber in excitement, his glazed eyes where wide o
pen and a sly smile started to develop upon his previously expressionless face. This look however was not reciprocated by the now petrified Gerber whom fearfully clutched his Gladstone bag even tighter with his sweaty palms.
Gerber was sweating so profusely now that his round spectacles where continually almost slipping off his nose as he constantly had to push them back up, fearing he would lose them and possibly even his life tonight if a suspected gun battle ensued. He already regretted accepting Ness’s conditional offer to join him here tonight and also regretted offering up his beloved county coroner’s morgue wagon to help in the surveillance of the dead Harvard club. He had simply wanted a little excitement out of his mundane coroner’s office position which he had found to be incredibly claustrophobic and disturbing of late, especially with all the recent unsolved dismemberment homicides that had been taking place.
All these macabre murders had even made him feel increasingly sick over the last few months and he felt that he needed to escape his stifling office and all the premature macabre death that now disturbingly lay within it. He now felt like he was stuck in a motorized tomb of terror of his own devising, similarly reminiscent of his workplace whereby he had recently felt so restrictively confined. The only thing that made him feel more relaxed in this extremely intense environment was his trusty Gladstone bag which he held tightly next to his chest, only it and the twin grim secrets within, kept him relatively sane.
His palpable feeling of dread then increased as he saw a smirking Ness grab the steering wheel in front of him with both hands, anticipating the imminent reappearance of the two shadowy men. His deductive reasoning was then justly rewarded as the two men then frantically left The Harvard Club with their precious quarry, a bundle of documents within a large file. A confidently smiling Ness then quietly spoke “Now watch this!” to which a worried Gerber then tentatively looked out into the dark street ahead. A large spotlight then instantly illuminated the darkened street from the detectives Ford as they both then heard the familiar shouting voice of Zalewski shouting “FREEZE! CLEVELAND POLICE! HOLD YOUR HANDS UP AND…”
Zalewski’s sentence was suddenly cut short as a flurry of gunfire flashed from the mobsters towards the detectives Ford, filling the street with a barrage of colourful flashes as the rain illuminated the frantic violent exchange. This was then instantly followed by return flashes of gunfire from the detective’s as the mobsters Chrysler suddenly roared into life and screeched away in a frantic panic. Ness immediately turned on his lights, spotlight and siren in an attempt to draw some of the gunfire away from his two besieged men and confuse the mobsters. It worked as gunshots now reigned down upon the ducking Ness and Gerber which penetrated the thin metalwork and hit the radio, causing it to spark whilst half the front window shattered.
Sparkling glass, rain and wind all now rained down upon the two cowering lawmen as the barrage of gunfire continued and the Chrysler made its speedy getaway. After the initial flurry of gunfire slowed down the now hatless Ness then accelerated whilst he kept his head low because he could hear that the firing mobsters where getting away. He then took a hard left through the rain which caused a wave of dirty accumulated street water to impact The Harvard Club’s exterior and raced after the escaping Chrysler. He then shouted at his scared passenger whilst he turned his head to him in order to prevent the rain water from saturating his face “Shit! Hold on and keep your head down!”
Rain and wind mercilessly infiltrated the wagon’s interior the faster he went, causing both men to squirm back within their seats as the twin cold elements punished them. The wagon’s bonnet then sparked as bullets ricochets off its steel exterior causing both men to cower down again beneath the protective engine in the hope that it would be strong enough to repel the numerous bullets that now rained down upon them. After a few seconds chasing after the escaping Chrysler, Ness was then relieved to see the detectives accompanying Ford quickly closing up behind him, silently acknowledging to him that both men were probably not wounded judging by how quickly they re-joined in the pursuit. He was surprised at how quickly the recovering veteran detectives Ford came up behind him but he managed to keep ahead of them and was right on the tail of the chaotically weaving Chrysler.
The occasional flash of gunfire caused him so slow down but he was determined not to let some small time mobsters scare him when the big fish himself, Capone could not achieve such a feat back in Chicago. The rain punished all three speedy automobiles within the restrictive darkened streets as its merciless assault seemed to increase with the more violence that occurred. A terrified Gerber suddenly shouted out emotionally to the preoccupied Ness as they roared down the turbulent street with their siren wailing “Perhaps we should let the others take the lead!?” The terrified Gerber then sank deeper into his seat and held on for dear life as he eagerly awaited his answer, his knuckles white with fear and flinching every time there was a flash of mob gunfire.
An elated Ness kept his head down while he excitedly shouted his reply “Are you kidding me!? Are you some kind of a pussy!? I love this shit! Reminds me of Chicago! Hahaha! Check this out!” The traumatised Gerber could not believe what he was hearing as he looked in horror at the elatedly laughing Ness, his mad eyes glaring back at him as multiple flashes erupted over his lowered head. Ness then lifted up his hand whilst his other hand loosely gripped the steering wheel and showed the cowering coroner his trusty fedora hat with his finger poking out of a hole in the top of it. Apparently one of the initial bullets from the mobsters had come so close to his head that it tore a hole straight through his hat and now the amused Ness simply laughed as he spoke, thinking that his brief encounter with death was thoroughly amusing “Hahaha! Shit! That was close call huh? Hahaha!”
Gerber suddenly realised that Ness was either one of those secret adrenaline junkies whom lived for fear or he was high on the opium that he had prescribed to him earlier that day and he suspected it was the latter. Gerber then tried to bury himself yet deeper within the wagon’s floor and wished that this was all some terrible nightmare that he would soon awake from but the harsh reality kept on bringing him back with every gunshot that was fired. Rain water now liberally filled the back seat of the struggling wagon because of the shattered front window as water was being funnelled in by the wind directly into its unprotected interior. The merciless rain and wind buffeted against the battered automobile, causing it to swerve from side to side which had the unwanted negative effect of not only filling the wagon with unwanted water but also considerably slowing it down.
Ness struggled with the less aerodynamic and less controllable wagon as he finally dropped his amusing hat and placed both hands upon the heavily vibrating steering wheel in a determined attempt to regain control. Gunshots pounded the automobiles metal frame again until a slight smoke started to emanate from its bullet riddled bonnet. This in turn caused yet another troublesome element to infiltrate the wagon’s interior, further hindering Ness’s already limited ability to pursue his determined quarry. All this however did not deter him and only enhanced his eagerness to catch the violently fleeing mobsters, secretly infuriated at their determined attempts to elude him.
The petrified Gerber then watched in horror as Ness menacingly developed a mad smile as he excitedly lowered his head to look at him closer, unwittingly further scaring the already terrified coroner. Gerber was more alarmed at this demented reaction than he was about the mobsters whom were attempting to kill them because it expressed an unrealistic interpretation of what was actually occurring in the real world around them. Another flurry of gunfire flashes then erupted around them, shattering what little there was left of the front window and covering the floor and seats in yet more hazardous shattered glass.
The grinning Ness tirelessly persevered to retain control of the unruly automobile as it violently swerved from side to side, occasionally crashing into a discarded trash bag along the way and covering the wagon within its unsightly waste. The scared Gerber then clutched his bag even
tighter as he saw Ness proceed to hastily take out his standard issue colt official police revolver from his shoulder holster and point it out of the driver’s side window. The fearless Ness then took few random shots of his own back at the escaping Chrysler with his newly acquired weapon, eager to inflict some damage upon the fleeing mobsters and relishing the drama that was unfolding around him.
There was a sudden and ferocious return of gun fire towards Ness’s driver seat location and Gerber then emotionally screamed in fear as the nozzle flashes lit up the Ford’s interior like the fourth of July “AHHH!” Ness briefly lost control as he ducked under the new barrage of bullets whilst the Chrysler unpredictably and suddenly slowed down, touching the wagon’s front bumper and causing it to swerve hard to the left. Then the imperious Chrysler took a sharp turn right and Ness suddenly found himself dropping his revolver and turning the steering wheel hard to the left in a fruitless attempt to stop his wagon from uncontrollably spinning. As he turned into the spin he found himself uncontrollably spinning upon the wet surface and aquaplaning across the thin layer of liquid that covered all. The smoking wagon uncontrollably glided across the tarmac as Ness’s determined efforts at control failed and they spun a few more times until finally coming to a gradual standstill.
After a few stationary seconds whereby Ness took a few deep breaths in to calm his shattered nerves, they both then heard the accompanying Ford’s waling sirens pass them and dissipate into the rainy evening night. The shaking Ness then asked Gerber a question whilst he ran his fingers through his chaotically wet hair “You ok?” but before the terrified Gerber could even answer, he immediately revved the engine and started the second chapter of their hot pursuit of the mobsters. The determined Ness turned the steering wheel and powered the smoking wagon directly towards the street they had just dramatically left, taking a sharp left as they got back on to the road and grinning whilst he once again focused upon the road ahead.
The Noir Evil Page 18
