The Way of Things

by Tony Milano

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Hotel

  As time went on John had earned Michael's trust and he allowed John to use an apartment in the city. The two had seemed to be getting close to each other and Michael would often confide in John. For John a sense of normalcy was starting to come into focus, still he was plagued by the memories of Victoria and Lucy. The day Lucy was born was the happiest day of his life. He had to fight his way through traffic to get to the hospital, but nothing was going to stop him from seeing the birth of his little girl. Lucy gave new life to John's and Victoria's marriage, they were inseparable, at least until John set his eyes on the Triads.

  John's cellphone that he got from Michael finally rang, "I need you to check the mailbox at 1st and Main. Your next target is waiting." John's stomach started to turn. "Okay I'm on my way." He picked up the keys to the crappy Buick that Michael had stolen. It was John's now. He made his way to the mailbox on 1st. Michael had told John that if he had a new client he would find an envelope under that mailbox. Just like he was told, it was there. A part of him had hoped that this was just a test and that there was not an envelope. John pulled the envelope from the bottom and took it back to the car. Inside was a photo with the words The Excelsior Hotel main entrance at 2pm. The Excelsior Hotel was a three and a half star hotel at best. It was on 81st street near Central Park.

  It did not take long for John to get to the hotel. After looking at the entrance he decided to go inside a small coffee shop across the street. He got a table near the window so he could see the hotel front door and more importantly see everyone that goes in and comes out. John ordered several coffees while waiting patiently for the time to pass. Finally it was almost 2pm and he could not take his eyes off of the front entrance. As he focused his attention across the street he saw Spiderhead come from inside of the hotel and start walking down 81st street. John's heart started racing, he wanted to chase after him, he would never forget Tommy dying in his arms. He would never forgive Chung for sending him down this path and now he had the chance to catch Spiderhead and make him pay for killing Tommy. But he could not just leave, not now, he had a job to do. What would Michael do to him if he missed his client?

  John stood frozen at his table staring at the entrance to the hotel, meanwhile Spiderhead was getting further away from him, he was missing his chance. He checked his watch, it was 2:01pm "Fuck me." John ran out of the coffee shop and down the street after Spiderhead, after running a few blocks there was no sign of him. John had lost him, again. "Shit." John ran back to the hotel hoping to catch his client but he did not know if he missed him or not, he looked inside the lobby of the hotel, it was empty. He had missed his client.

  John's phone rang, it was Michael. "You missed the client." John was frustrated and his adrenaline was off the charts. He yelled back at Michael "I did not ask for this shit!" There was a silent pause on the phone, then Michael said calmly "Relax and tell me what happened." John told Michael about seeing Spiderhead come out of the hotel. Michael knew exactly how important this was for John and he had to play it just right if he wanted to keep John on the team. "John, do you know where he might be?" John did not have a clue, that trail was cold. "Yes, I do." It was a total bullshit lie, but he did not want to lose this opportunity. "Okay, I will handle the client. I will give you two days to deal with Spiderhead. Then it is back to work, do you understand me?" This was John's chance to avenge Tommy and maybe get some info about Chung. "I understand." He said.

  Michael hung up the phone in his office. He was sitting at an old office style desk in a rundown room in an abandoned building. There was a large metal gun case on his desk, this was not something you could buy at a store, this was a work of art only to be rivaled by the custom high-powered rifle in it. Michael opened the gun case and stared at the rifle with the same look a mother would look at a newborn baby. He ran his fingertips over the rifle and smiled. Then the look on his face turned to seriousness. "Shit." He threw a photo into the gun case and closed it. The phone on his desk started to ring. Michael paused to look at the phone and after a moment he looked back at the gun case and picked it up by its handle. He let the phone continue to ring as he walked out of the building.

  Michael drove across town to a park where there was a small carnival going on. The carnival had Elephant rides and a Ferris wheel as well as games and food vendors. Michael went into a building across the street so he could get a better view of the park. He took the elevator up to the 6th floor and he picked the lock on a room facing the park. He went straight over to the window and closed the curtains so that only a sliver of light could be seen. Then he pulled out his rifle and assembled it. The rifle was split into several pieces and each piece was a work of art to look at. It took only seconds for the expert marksman to put it together and then he mounted it up on a writing desk near the window, he slid the muzzle just outside the window and looked through the scope. He had a perfect view of the carnival in the park. Michael placed the photo on the table next to him and took a good long look at it. He glanced at his watch, it was almost time. He looked through the scope again and leaned into it.

  Michael was scanning the carnival for his client. There he was, an old man in his 70s wearing a dark blue suit with a red tie. He was in the middle of the carnival buying a Strawberry ice cream cone. The man started to walk away smiling while taking a bite of the ice cream, then he stopped and looked around. He had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. All he could see was a crowd of people laughing and having fun. He started to walk and then he stopped again. A young girl about seven years old was standing in front of him, she was staring at him, something did not look right about the man. She started to scream. It seemed like nobody turned to see what was wrong with the girl. Except for the girls mother. "What's wrong with you?" her mother yelled at her while she pulled on her arm. Then the mother looked at the old man. Blood was dripping from his forehead, as she watched it started to drip faster and faster. It was not until the mother started to scream that the crowd turned to see what the commotion was about. The old man's ice cream cone hit the ground at the same time as his body did. One shot, one kill. That was just the way Michael liked it.

  None of the people in the crowd had seen anything. Michael had just killed a man in the middle of a crowded park and he had gotten away with it. This was not his first kill and it would not be his last. For the first few years Michael had been keeping count of all his kills in a small black book, but he has been doing this for most of his life and once he filled up all the pages in the book he saw no point in counting any more. For Michael killing was as just as easy as breathing.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Rooftops

  John was running out of time, Michael had only given him two days to find Spiderhead. The only lead that John could think of was The Green Dragon restaurant in Chinatown. The Green Dragon was the very place that Tommy had been killed, it was a complete long shot, but it was all he had to go on. John went there trying to get a lead on Spiderhead or maybe, if he was lucky some information about his boss Chung. One big problem about China Town is that nobody will willingly talk to the cops. However, this time around John was not a cop anymore, things were different. He was not afraid to use force to get what he needed and with a little persuading and a few bloody knuckles he was able to get a solid piece of information from one of the waiters at The Green Dragon.

  He dragged the waiter out back into the alley. This was the same alley where Tommy bled to death. At first the waiter did not want to talk to John, that was okay with him, he was in the mood to knock the shit out of someone. John punched the waiter until he broke his nose. Then he slammed him against the trash dumpster until he could not stand up any more. It took about four minutes for the waiter to give up the information that John needed. So much for China Town loyalty. The waiter said that Spiderhead was staying at a flea bag hotel nearby. "This better be the truth, if I have to come back here you're not going to make it out of this alley." John had a way with peo
ple sometimes.

  The hotel was a pay by the week dive where hookers and drug dealers hung out. The desk clerk sold out Spiderhead for twenty bucks and the continued use of his legs. John walked up the four flights of stairs to get to the hotel room. John stood outside room 4B with two Glock nine millimeter handguns drawn and ready for action. He heard laughing from inside the room, so he kicked the door open and saw Spiderhead laying on the bed with a naked blonde on his left and a naked redhead on his right. Spiderhead charged at John slamming him against a wall. The hookers were yelling at John. "Die you fuck'n cop." The redheaded hooker grabbed a lamp and tried to hit John with it as Spiderhead climbed out of the window onto the fire escape. John put his big knuckle dragger palm on her face and pushed her back onto the bed with the other hooker. "Stay!" John pointed at the bed, he did not have time to play with them. He climbed out onto the fire escape and headed up to the roof of the building.

  Spiderhead was barefoot and in boxer shorts, but he was not letting that slow him down. He was fast and now he was running for his life along the rooftops of buildings. John was able to get close enough to shoot at him, he let out a shrieking scream after John shot him in the leg. John was not going to let him die yet, he wanted to talk to him first. Spiderhead fell onto a small ledge, yelling in pain. John stood there for a second looking at him. "It hurts doesn't it?" John was enjoying the moment. "Fuck you cop!" John almost giggled at the thought. "Your in luck, I'm not a cop anymore." Spiderhead realized that John was going to kill him and he tried to crawl away, but there was nowhere to go, he was stuck on that ledge. "What the fuck is your name anyway? I've been chasing you so long and I never knew your real name." John checked the bullets in his guns, while Spider yelled "Screw you cop!" He was in agony from the gunshot to his leg, but it was nothing compared to the fear of what John was going to do to him. "It doesn't matter anyway." John jumped down to the ledge and stepped on Spider's leg. He screamed in pain even louder than before. "My partner's name was Tommy James." John put the barrels of both guns to Spider's head and pulled the triggers. Blood splattered all over John's clothes and face. He did not care, this was for Tommy.

  Later that night John was at a bar near his apartment drinking, when he decided to call Michael. "How's the client doing, Michael?" There was a pause before he answered the question. "He's happy, John. Did you get the meeting you had hoped for?" John was enjoying his little bit of happiness. "Yes, I did Michael, I'll call you tomorrow." John hung up the phone and finished his drink before walking home. It was almost as if this one event had made him forget the pain of losing his family. He had avenged his partner, but there was a bigger goal that he needed to reach. He did not know if he would ever get that chance. It was burning inside of him like a cancer ripping away pieces of his soul. If he could somehow persuade Michael to let him find out where Chung was hiding out so he could kill him, that somehow everything would be better with John and then they could move on to more glorious task like ridding the world of the evils it possessed. Those evils that roamed the earth, like Erick. But first he had to deal with Chung. By the time he got back to his apartment the Bourbon had kicked in and he started to sink back into his depression. Nothing accept vengeance for his wife and kid would ever satisfy his thirst. Not even Bourbon was strong enough to do that.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Story

  The next day John and Michael met at a local coffee shop to talk. Both men sat quietly drinking and staring out of the window. They barely said a word to each other. John decided to break the silence and he asked Michael how he got started doing the governments dirty work. In a cold monotone voice, Michael told John the story of how his life was changed forever. He mentioned that his father was a government official back in Russia. "He was nobody special mind you." He wanted John to understand that he was just a man doing his job for his country. Just a man trying to support his family.

  His father had the final say on all new construction contracts at the Kremlin. It was a lackluster job, that payed only slightly better than a trash collector. After a few years his father had made some friends, the kind of friends that know how to make things happen and can make you very wealthy if you know how to keep your mouth shut. Michael's father started to grow close with his new friends and he quickly left the Kremlin and worked his way up a new type of ladder. "I was just a kid, my father had done some bad things and he hurt a lot of people." Michael finished his coffee. "John, you know the people we chase?" John nodded his head. "My father would have been one of them." Michael waved at the waitress for the check.

  "One day a man named Gabriel came into our home and killed my mother. My father had no choice but to sit there and watch. And when he was done with her, he killed my father and forced me to watch." Michael handed some money to the waitress for the check. "John, He gave me a choice, Come with me and know what it is to live or stay here and know what it is to die. That is what he said to me." "So you went with him?" "Yes, I went with him, and I became him." Michael paused for a moment as he thought about the past, then he placed an envelope on the table and slid it over to John. "I'll see you John." John picked up the envelope and started to walk away. He was focused on the story he had just heard. "John, that is why I recruited you." Michael pointed at the envelope.

  When John got home he was nervous about opening the envelope. What was the reason that Michael had recruited him? What was he about to face? John sat on the couch and opened the envelope. Inside there was information on Chenglei Chung, the Chinese mob boss that had ruined his life. The way John saw it Chung was responsible for the death of everyone he had gotten close to, everyone he had loved. His wife and daughter, his partner, the only partner he had ever liked. Finally, karma had come full circle and he was back at the beginning. Only this time John would have the upper hand, he knew where Chung was, he knew his routine and more importantly Chung had no idea John was coming. John tossed the info on the table, leaned back and smiled with approval.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Payday

  The next day John was up early. He had a busy day ahead of him and he was already sitting outside of Chung's hotel. The information in the envelope said that Chung lived in the penthouse of The Royal Star Hotel. Of course he did. This guy thinks he is untouchable. John went around back to the service entrance. He knew that it would be the easiest way to get into the hotel without attracting to much attention. There was a guard in the delivery dock and service area, but he was watching television instead of the cameras. Lucky for him The Today Show was more interesting than doing his job. John slid right passed him and into the laundry room in the basement. John was fumbling through the clothes until he found a room service attendants uniform, it was just what he needed.

  The hotel kitchen was just down the hallway. He figured that he could swipe a food cart and make his way up to Chung's. John stood by the kitchen door to see if there were any orders for the penthouse. He was in luck, Chung had just ordered breakfast. He quickly grabbed a loaded food cart and hopped into the private service elevator headed for the penthouse. This was sudden death for John. He knew that if he missed Chung he would not make it out of that hotel room alive. He estimated that Chung had no more than six bodyguards with him at all times. That puts two thugs with automatic weapons next to the door and four more thugs scattered throughout the room. Chung might be armed, but it really doesn't matter if John gets close to him, it is all over for Chung.

  The elevator opened and John was facing two armed bodyguards. Sometimes you need to go with the flow, so he played his role. "Arms up." John allowed himself to be searched without a fight. No weapons were found on him so they allowed him to pass. Good thing, those bodyguards were big, bigger than he had planned on, he would have to shoot them, he could not waste time with a fist fight. He pushed the food cart into the penthouse doorway, but he was stopped at the door by a very large bodyguard, bigger than the two near the elevator, he started to mess with the covered trays on the cart. John had to buy some time so
he put his hand out for a tip. The bodyguard smiled at John "Hang on" and he went into another room to get some money for him. Through the glass patio doors John could see Chung sitting in the pool talking on the phone.

  John knew this was his chance. It was not going to get any better than this. He stepped inside the room and locked the door behind him. The bodyguard returned with the money in his hand. "Get back in the hallway." John flipped a silver tray at the bodyguard and pulled his two Glocks that he had hidden in the food cart. Two bullets hit the bodyguard in the chest dropping him to the ground. John watched as blood was pouring on to the floor, no vest for him. Another bodyguard came from the back room. "What the hell?" He never knew what hit him. John put two bullets into his head before he could finish his sentence. One of the bullets went through his head and shattered the glass patio door behind him. That got Chung's attention, he was trying to get out of the pool but he was moving slow and now the guards from the hallway were banging on the door. It was just moments until they would break that door down. John had to move faster. Another thug was yelling from the back room and he came in firing. John jumped behind the couch as leather, wood and feathers flew around the room. The thugs machine gun locked up on him and stopped firing. He threw it down and pulled out a dagger from his waist. John was on his feet again, but not for long as the thug jumped on him slicing his shoulder with the dagger as they fell onto the floor. The thug had his dagger at John's throat. They were struggling back and forth until the thug suddenly stopped and stared at John. His face started to change color as blood started to drip from his mouth. John had shot him in the gut. He rolled the thug out of the way and he headed to the pool area to get Chung.