Hard Case IV: A Violent Life (John Harding Series Book 4)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Agreed. I think I’ll have a couple glasses of wine on the cruise. Come, Dannie, let’s head back to the Bay. Remember the golden rule of helping on our mission.”

  Danessa followed Clint and Lynn toward the van. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”

  “That’s the one.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dealing with Old News

  Lynn and Clint were on the bridge of The Lora. My job was cleaning up the rear deck. I had finished depositing our Syrian chum into the waters. Although we sailed quite a ways out, we always seemed to attract a goodly number of our finned disposal units. They always took their work very seriously. We only had to wait less than half an hour after the water started churning. I finished, and joined the bridge monster club as we cruised slowly back to port.

  Lynn waved her iPhone at me. “It’s a firestorm! Syrian citizens were found mysteriously shot in the head only a couple miles from the Islamic Center. Two other Syrians are missing. Senator Penebaker has received the evidence of Zaki’s kidnapping of her nephew, and has called on the Syrian government to recall Zaki. His passport was taken the moment he arrived in Washington. Heads are supposed to roll over this.”

  Clint handed me a beer. “Thanks for the help. It’s beautiful out here for nearly December. Did Denny hear anything about our side mission? Sam deadpanned the call just now, so we couldn’t tell if he was happy or not. He and Janie were the ones who confiscated Zaki’s passport the moment he got off the plane. They met it right after delivering Robert to his Mom. They were rather surprised about Zaki surviving.”

  I sat back, watching the lights of our still far off port. “Denny loved it. He figured no matter what Reeves claimed, you two were going to get dumped on if Zaki would have went bye-bye too. This way, we have good reports from the Mom, the Senator, and the Imam at the Islamic Center. The mystery about Zaki’s henchmen will get buried in a day or two. Bad news on the home front though. My in-laws are heading home tomorrow.”

  “Oh no!” Lynn hid her face as if in anguish. “I can see you’re devastated, Cheese, you unfeeling dark knight of the Sith.”

  “I’m thankful you two came to get me for the cruise. I spent all day escorting them around the Pier 39 area after riding the ferry over from Oakland. I thought I’d be trapped inside all night with them too. My entertainment battery ran out of charge Friday.”

  “We needed a body porter, and someone to clean up, because you know how Cruella is about mundane chores. It’s a happy coincidence we found your morose butt ready to go on a short disposal mission.”

  “On a serious note, Alexi received word City of Hope will be ready to leave port a week from this coming Monday. We’ll leave for Yokosuka next Friday. Once the City of Hope leaves port, Laredo will fly us on board after the ship leaves Japan’s territorial waters. We expect to get word as to when the meeting with the container ship will happen, and at what coordinates, at that time.”

  “This mission has all the makings of a huge cluster fuck.” Clint poured himself a shot, and handed me one. “We need to spend a month up in the wilderness at my cabin, brother. After Lynn has the baby, and your match is in the past with the snake, we’ll all go up and spend a couple weeks there or more. We’ll backpack in on a trail for a couple days. I know of a great trailhead near the cabin. We’ll have to bring Dannie with us on the trip though, because Cruella probably won’t be able to do anything other than moan and groan.”

  To my surprise, Lynn smiled, pointing at her husband. “He’s been like this all day. Everything is a disaster, even a future vacation, which sounds real nice. Dannie did so good undercover today, we’re thinking of letting her do even more. She loved it, and she knows the score. I put down our two shark food boys while she was talking to Clint. Dannie glanced back, but went on talking. We want her vetted for work like Jafar and Samira were.”

  “I can do that. What she’s done up to this point to earn your trust is enough for me. With the Spawn of Satan, it may take a little extra time. Dannie would be an extra woman on our crew we could sorely use, and she has street smarts. How far do you want to let her go?”

  “As far as she wants. Hell, I’m not her Mommy. Shit! That’s right… Laredo’s dating her Mommy. Let me get back to you on that, Cheese. The whole damn family knows where we live. We don’t want any mistakes, ending up with a dead Dannie, and us holding the bag with Laredo’s honey, Sybil. We’ll play it by ear. If something comes up like today’s gig, we’ll let her do it. Sybil just got her daughter back. I don’t want her dying on one of our dicey setups.”

  “In any case, I’ll get her vetted through Denny so he has cover with the people who think they run our operation.”

  “I trust Denny… at least more than I ever did,” Clint said. “He’s okay.”

  “I guess those shots you’ve been throwing down erased the fact you just drew on him yesterday.” I thought a little perspective was in order.

  “Yeah, well you surprised me. Were you really going to snap Quays’ neck?”

  I gave Clint my dark knight of Sith stare. He laughed.

  I shrugged. “Denny gets under my skin sometimes. Alexi Fiialkov is a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of guy. I wanted the drama ended. Now, it’s back to business. I saw the tell in Denny’s eye. You guys did great. He was going to shoot Alexi in the head.”

  “Yeah, he was,” Clint agreed. “I like Alexi. Shooting him, even over this anthrax threat would have been short sighted. You did clear the air with that move.”

  “I would have shot Denny,” Lynn admitted. “I love Maria. She’s the best friend I’ve ever had other than knucklehead over here. She knows everything, and she doesn’t care. For some damn reason, she loves Denny. I’m glad you guys didn’t have to shoot him.”

  “In our defense, we would have only wounded him.”

  The three of us laughed for a time at that supposition by Clint. Denny would have been so dead if he’d drawn on Alexi. To me, this horrific cruise was just business. We had problems to dispose of, and this was a creative way of dealing with them. Interactions with Denny were deep, and sometimes hard to follow. He’d have to be watched whenever he was around Alexi. This mission on the ocean would be a solid statement one way or the other.

  “Hey… Denny made up to Alexi by garnering a meeting with the Rattler. That seemed to mean they had reached an understanding to some extent.”

  “Trust me, Cheese.” Lynn reached over to pat my arm. “Denny would kill Alexi in a heartbeat. There’s something between those two.”

  “I do trust you on it, Lynn. Maybe when this anthrax shit ends, it will ease the tension between them. Right now, the three of us have Laredo, Lucas, Casey, and Jafar. It doesn’t get any better on a black op. I would add in Denny without a qualm when it involves our lives.”

  “Agreed. We’re in the soup, brother.” Clint smiled over at Lynn. “I’d say something like that’s why girls don’t do it… but some do.”

  “We watch each other’s backs. That’s what we do,” Lynn replied, reaching over to clasp Clint’s hand. “Crabby here is visiting another dimension for the day, where everything turns to shit… except it doesn’t… and then he feels unfulfilled.”

  “It’s true,” Clint admitted. “The only time I felt like things were right was when those two idiots rammed us and I shot them in the head. I actually felt like everything was in order after that happened. Until then, I kept getting a nagging feeling we were screwed. It’s a relief being here on the boat with you two. I can tell you that. Don’t let me forget to pick up our canine crusader from Jafar’s house. I’m sure he was happier with Naji since Dannie was going out after we got back. Lynn bought Dannie a new Toyota Corolla. The guilty conscience creeps up on her once in a while.”

  “She needed something dependable for college.” Lynn turned defensive. “Besides, I’d have to have a conscience for it to feel guilty. We have so much money now we don’t know what to do with it. I could have bought her a Ferrari, but I showe
d some restraint. Instead, I bought her a Corolla and a Triple A card.”

  That broached another subject. “Good one, Auntie Lynn. I wondered if you two had given any thought to the fortunes we’ve accumulated. With care, we could all disappear without a trace. Ever think about it?”

  “We considered it. Laredo showed us all it’s tough to disappear, even with a fortune,” Clint replied. “The other more important fact is we wouldn’t be able to go on doing what we do. We’re killers, and Lynn has a talent she couldn’t practice anywhere on earth but in your crew.”

  “Let’s face it,” Lynn added. “We’re doing good. We’re having a ball, and when we want something, we get it. Hell… I’m going to be a Mommy. That was never in the program. What I don’t understand is you getting your head busted open in a cage. It’s not that you’re not entertaining, but damn… that is kind of stupid, Cheese.”

  “No. What’s stupid is letting Tommy order me to swim with sharks while some sadistic bitch pokes me with poles. Now that’s stupid.”

  General hilarity ensued after my statement of fact.

  * * *

  We reached our dock, tied up The Lora, and headed for their Toyota. I had hitched a ride with them since Lynn volunteered to be the designated driver. She reminded us of that fact once every hour. Her ringtone announced a call with the theme of the old Twilight Zone TV show – no mystery there. Lynn greeted the caller’s voice with a smile. The conversation then took a serious turn if the suddenly grim aspect flowing over her features was any indication.

  “You did exactly right. Stay where you are. We’ll be over in a few minutes.” Lynn hurried her pace, as did we. “It’s Dannie. She stopped over at her old roommate’s place for a couple hours. When she left, an old white Buick she recognized followed her. There’s a bunch of guys in the car, so Dannie figures they’re following her to find out where she’s staying. She stopped at the Fruitvale Station store complex. She’s in the Starbucks there. Are you two sober enough for discouraging a bunch of gangbangers?”

  Figures she would hit on that item. “I knew there was an insult coming our way in the description. “It’s only nine. I can stay out a bit later. Did she mention how many?”

  “Five of them. Of course they’re wearing the gangbanger uniforms of the day. This is what happens when the courts get a hold of these assholes after they agree to a plea deal. The damn court probably set them to community time or something instead of jail because Rose didn’t end up dying in that stupid ‘knockout’ shit. How do we handle this, Cheese?”

  “First an insult, and now advice, huh? The only nonviolent way I can think of is make them strip off the hoodies, and get their mug shots. We can start by contacting Earl and ‘Rique. They probably don’t even know these clowns were released. We check and catalogue anyone we don’t already have on the list.”

  “Then we explain what will happen to them and everything they know if Dannie even gets the flu,” Clint added. “I like it. Of course they probably won’t want to strip out of their gang banger uniforms for pictures.”

  “That’s when the fun begins.” Lynn started the Toyota Rav we had just slipped into. “I didn’t want to make another trip out on the Bay. It’s getting cold. I wish we would have had time to call Dev and Jess.”

  The hell with that. I’ve got time. Dev answered on the first ring. He knows I don’t call unless something’s up.

  “You’ve used a phone, Cheeseburger. You never use a phone.”

  I put him on speaker. “We have a situation over at the Fruitvale Station stores. They’ve dealt the ‘knockout’ gang back on the street. They followed Danessa, trying to find out where she lives when she visited her old roommate today. Want a piece?”

  “How much of a piece can I get?” Devon sounded doubtful.

  “We were thinking pictures and threats. I’m thinking smash and dash now.”

  “Hell yeah! I’m grabbing Jess and a couple masks. I have the action van. I picked it up over at Pain Central after Lynn and Clint got back to get a buddy of mine to do the repairs on it. Where do we hook up?”

  “One block up on 9th Street, same side as the Starbucks building front over there. We’ll be in Clint’s Toyota Rav.”

  “Leaving now. Thanks, brother. Going to get me some.” Dev disconnected.

  “Oh gee, Cheese, that sounded like a rather violent discussion. What the hell happened to the mug shots and shit?”

  “I promised Dev we’d do these guys if they ever got out. I don’t break my word, Lynn. I know you two have masks on board, right?”

  “Yeah, we have an emergency monster pack. I don’t know if we have a mask that would fit the Cheese, do we, Lynn?”

  “We’ll make do. No talk, just action, huh?”

  Yep, and deadly. “When you mentioned Dev, the visions of all the judicial nonsense necessary in releasing these assholes stabbed me right between the eyes. Do you think Dannie’s up for a little baiting in the parking lot over there?”

  “Once we get into position,” Lynn answered, “I’ll have her walk out to her car. We’ll probably know where the shitheads are parked by then. This is kind of a gamble. We think they don’t want her dead, so she can lead them back to where she lives. They may have been waiting for dark to shoot her.”

  No doubt about that possibility. “Good point. What do you have in the monster kit for extra backup?”

  “We have a Ruger 9mm carbine with a thirty shot clip,” Clint answered.

  “Want to back us up, Lynn? We’ll have Dannie run for the van the moment we have them close. She dives on board, we beat the living shit out of them, and you watch for guns with weapons free.”

  “I’m good with that, Cheese. If this all goes down well, I think we need a day off.”

  I reached up front to grasp her shoulder. “Amen to that. You two have taken nonstop action to the Promised Land. I thought this would be a simple bag and tote, shark feeding at sea. Here we are now getting ready to do something Denny would definitely not approve of. Where are your predictions of doom, Clint? This is your gloom day, right?”

  “Keep talkin’, Cheese. I won’t give you one of the lead pipes I have in the monster kit. Hey, babe? What do you think, knife-hand strikes only for the Cheese?”

  “Yep, it’s the only way to go. I best get good reports, Cheese, or it will mean extra pole shots in the water when we start training. That’s tomorrow… isn’t it?”

  “Oh… you no good rotten… sadistic bitch!”

  “You understand you’ve just increased the likelihood of deaths by knife-hand strike, right babe?”

  Lynn shrugged her shoulders while steering. “Such is life in training the big Cheese for a death match. I have my responsibilities which cannot be overlooked. It’s a carrot and stick approach to get him ready, Clint. God knows… I will do my part… no matter how it hurts me inside.”

  “Nothing hurts you inside!” I was of course drowned out by intense enjoyment of my upcoming training regimen. “Perhaps it would be a good idea to at least focus on the task at hand… not to mention a horrific anthrax threat mission right on the horizon. Hey… you two are pissing me off here.”

  “God… it will be so good with you in the water this time,” Lynn blurted out.

  “It’s official… I’m retiring from cage fighting. I’m done. No more training. No more abuse. No more swimming with sharks, and especially… no more sadistic attacks on my person by people who are supposedly my friends.”

  “Keep talkin’, brother. She’ll call Tommy tonight, and find some excuse to force you into the Bay by Monday. They know you. We’ve all seen you do the ‘Robot’ on the big screens in the middle of you getting your ass kicked into the next dimension. It’s in your blood, you pain freak. Denying it will only further your agony when the Bay regimen begins. Embrace the pain, my brother!”

  Damn it! “That was just mean, Clint.”

  * * *

  Lynn busily checked and loaded the Ruger carbine while glancing out the front window
of our van while Clint drove by the parking lot. Danessa’s Toyota was parked in the left most space under a tree, third row back across the parking lot entrance way. An old white Buick parked next to it blared rap we could hear from the van. The Starbucks’ building and other storefronts across from the parking lot blocked observation from traffic moving down 9th Street. The huge tower sign and bushes along the parking lot front perimeter nearly hid the parking lot from opposite side traffic. Dev had blacked out the license plates before arriving.

  “That’s nice of the idiots to sit on her Toyota, grab-assing around, scaring the hell out of people. They have the music so loud, no one will hear shit, even if I have to fire the Ruger,” Lynn observed.

  “I’ll circle back, drive into the parking lot entrance, go by them, and do a quick u-turn, halting right behind the Toyota and Buick,” Clint offered. “We go out, make a statement, and throw the tuned up ‘bangers in the back. We’ll still be able to take mug shots of any survivors. Then we can dump them in the dark at Clinton Square Park over on East 12th.”

  I liked it. There were grunts of acknowledgement from my cohorts in the back. We all had masks in place, gloves on, aluminum baseball bats, and nightstick stun guns. We were there for a life lesson, not a conversation. “That’s perfect, brother. Let’s do it.”

  Clint drove back around, turning left into the entrance way, and passed the Toyota with attached ‘bangers. He swerved inside the row the party was going on in, sped up, and skidded to a halt, blocking the rear of the vehicles. We were on them before they could react. They reached for weapons way too late, so none of them died by Lynn’s hand. Clint boxed them in from the left. Jesse rounded to take the rear, while Dev and I waded into them with no holds barred. No, I didn’t do anything juvenile like practice knife-hand strikes. Me and Dev went in for short strokes and pokes with the bats. Clint stun-gunned the one on his side to the blacktop, and Jesse hit a home run across the chest of the only guy smart enough to run for it.