Trigger Pull

by Mike Ryan

  “Yeah, I walk, talk, and everything,” Haley said, making a joke of it.

  They continued small-talking for a little while, at least until Haley’s food came. Once he started eating, they got down to business.

  “So, what brings us here today?” Vincent asked.

  “Nowak,” Recker answered.

  “I kind of assumed as much.”

  “We think we might have a plan to stop her. Or at least pay her back for some of the nonsense she’s put us all through lately. And you did mention that we should work together the next time either of us got anything.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  Recker then told Vincent the plan they’d come up with so far, hoping that he’d have something to add. Vincent kept quiet as Recker explained everything, but by the continuous nodding of his head, it seemed to Recker and Haley like he was on board with it. After he’d said everything, Recker turned it over to Vincent for his opinion.

  “Well that’s it in a nutshell,” Recker said. “What do you think?”

  “I think it has a lot of promise. I do question whether it will actually lead to our end goal of eliminating Nowak though.”

  “It’s unlikely that she’d actually be there, much like you wouldn’t be there if the tables were reversed. But it could be a serious shot across her bow.”

  Vincent rubbed his hands together, processing it some more. “There’s no doubt about that.”

  “Think of how disorganized you would be if Malloy and three or four more of you tops guys were taken out,” Haley said. “Even if it doesn’t lead to her directly, she’s gonna have some serious reorganizing to do.”

  “And I think it’s either going to make her crawl back into the woodwork or it’ll make her more vulnerable,” Recker said. “‘Cause if she loses a bunch of her top guys, her best guys, her most loyal guys, she’s either going to have to promote from within and risk guys not able to do the job, or she’s going to have to go recruiting. Either way, it’s going to put her behind the eight-ball.”

  Vincent put his index finger on his cheek and the others on his lip, with his thumb resting underneath his chin, looking past his two guests as he thought about their plan. Recker and Haley looked at each other as Vincent deliberated. Though it would have been nice if Vincent threw his weight behind the plan, it wouldn’t have changed anything for them. They were still going to go through with it whether Vincent got behind it or not. It may have been a bit more difficult, and perhaps taken a little longer, but Recker and Haley were going to embark on it regardless of Vincent’s decision.

  After thinking for a minute or two, Vincent took his hand off his face and put it on the table. “What do you need from me?”

  “Does that mean you’re in?” Recker asked.

  “Let’s just say that I am.”

  “We would need a place to lure them in. It’s gonna take more time for us to set that up ourselves. If you already have a place we can use, that would be more ideal. It’s gonna have to be something that’s private. A place they don’t know about yet. If they know it’s owned by you it’s gonna be a tough sell. They’d probably think it’s a setup or something. Preferably, it would be something we’re able to draw them in, then contain them without them being able to escape.”

  “You have a place like that?” Haley asked.

  Vincent nodded, not taking long to answer. “Yes, I do.”

  “You OK with it getting shot to pieces?” Recker asked.

  “I’m not worried about that. What else would you need?”

  Recker looked at Haley, before turning back to Vincent. “Men. As many of your boys as you can spare.”

  “You’ve got them. As many as you want.”

  “And Malloy. I don’t wanna be giving your men orders.”

  “They’ll take orders from whoever I tell them to.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” Recker said. “I would just prefer not to be bossing around men that don’t work for me. I’ll work with Malloy and he can tell them what to do from there.”

  “Done. What kind of time frame are we looking at here?”

  “Well, as soon as you give us access to the spot, we can start setting up. So, the sooner the better.”

  “You can get in as soon as today if you want.”

  “That’ll work,” Recker replied. “We need to make it look like an actual office, like something we’re actually working out of.”

  “I’ll have some of my men start clearing things out for you as soon as we’re done here.”

  “Good. Then it might take a day or two to get word to Nowak from our informant we got lined up. So, with any luck, we’ll be able to start knocking some heads around within a few days.”

  Vincent smiled, liking the plan better the more he thought about it. “Excellent. Let the bloodletting commence.”

  22

  Recker, Jones, and Haley arrived at the property Vincent owned off of State Road, near the Pennypack Creek and the county prison. It didn’t look like much, but then again, it wasn’t supposed to. It had been used mostly as a trailer storage facility for semi’s, though it hadn’t really been active for over a year, which was right around the time Vincent purchased the place. He had plans to renovate the property, but with other matters taking up most of his time since then, he never really got around to it.

  For Recker and the team, though, it pretty much suited their needs perfectly. There was a little office on the corner of the property, with close to fifty trailers in front of and next to it, almost making the small building invisible from the street. The entire property was fenced with a ten-foot-high wired fence along with two gates, one for the entrance, and one for the exit. Once they got Nowak’s men into the property, they should be able to trap them there.

  Once Recker and company arrived at the trucking facility, both gates were already open, in anticipation of their arrival. They drove right in, stopping in front of the office building. Though nobody was outside to greet them, the team got out of their car and started walking around the property to inspect it.

  “What do you think?” Jones asked.

  Recker looked around, sizing everything up in his mind. “I think it’ll work. Chris?”

  “Yeah, looks good to me,” Haley replied.

  “All these trailers around here could have an adverse effect on our efforts,” Jones said. “We wanted to be the ones hidden, but it could create the opposite effect on our intentions and hide them as well.”

  “I think it’ll be fine,” Recker said. “Remember, we can move these things around however we need to and put them where we want.”

  “That’s true.”

  They continued discussing their options for the next few minutes, trying to figure out where they wanted Nowak’s men to enter. Malloy came out of the office area, heading straight for them as they talked by the trailers. He shook hands with each of them, interjecting himself into the conversation.

  “We were just talking about these trailers,” Jones said. “You have a truck that can move these if we want?”

  “Absolutely,” Malloy answered. “Consider it a blank canvas. Whatever you want, we can do it.”

  “We were trying to figure out where they’re likeliest to come in at,” Recker said.

  Malloy then pointed to the fence, drawing attention to the wires on top of it. “Well, considering it’s got two strands of barbed wire, and it’s electrified on top, I doubt they’re coming over it.”

  “No, they’d either snip through the fence somewhere or just break open the gate.”

  “They wouldn’t do that the first time they’re here though,” Haley said. “They’ll observe from a distance to make sure we’re really here. They wouldn’t risk cutting through the fence until they’re ready to strike.”

  “Yeah, if they cut the fence to get a closer look, and we found it, they’d have to think we’d fly the coop before they’re able to get back again with a bigger team to take us out.”

  “We’ll need cameras along the
entire perimeter,” Jones said. “Or at least something that gives us a wide view of it.”

  “And don’t forget, some have to be visible or they’ll know something’s up.”

  “No worries there.”

  “Come take a look at the office,” Malloy said. “See if that works for you.”

  “As long as it’s got four walls it should work for us,” Recker said. “We don’t really plan to spend much time in it. The rest of the property’s the bigger deal.”

  “Well, let’s take a look at it anyway.”

  They followed Malloy to the office area, finding it completely empty. Malloy and his team had spent the last couple of hours removing whatever furniture, boxes, and items had been left there from the last owners.

  “What do you think?” Malloy asked. “This work for you?”

  The team looked around, with Jones finally speaking up after a minute. “Yes, this will do. We don’t really need to do much. Just put in a couple desks, some computers, monitors, a few cork and dry erase boards, maybe some newspaper clippings, just to make it seem like it’s being heavily used. I don’t know whether they’ll actually check out the office or just stay outside the gate, but if they do find a way in, we need to make it believable.”

  “We can take care of that.”

  “Excellent. Are all those trailers outside empty?”

  “Most of them, why?”

  “Because we could use one of them to set up in,” Jones answered. “The office can be a dummy space. I can put a couple computers in the trailer and monitor the cameras that I put up so we can see our friends enter the premises.”

  “Yeah, whatever one you want.”

  “Good. How long will it take you to set up the office?”

  “Should only take a couple hours,” Malloy replied.

  “Good. While you’re doing that, I can be setting up the cameras.”

  “How many will you need?” Recker asked.

  “Oh, let’s say about twelve,” Jones said. “I’ll use four for dummies, two on the outside of the office, and one on each gate. Then the other eight I’ll conceal in various places along the fence as well as on the office that way we’ll know where they are at all times.”

  “We have enough?”

  “No, I’m going to have to get more.”

  “You want me to grab them?” Haley asked.

  “No, I’ll do that myself,” Jones answered. “I know what I’m looking for.”

  The four of them stood around, continuing to talk about the plan for the next few minutes, making sure everyone knew what was going on.

  “OK, while you guys are busy with the office and the cameras, I guess we’ll start planting the seeds,” Recker said. “Should we make it for tonight?”

  “I would set it for tomorrow,” Jones replied. “I still have to get the cameras, then install them. That might take me most of the day to get everything the way I want them. Plus, I have to test them and get equipment inside the trailer and make sure everything is working properly.”

  “OK. Tomorrow then.”

  While Recker really wanted to get things started as soon as possible, he had to fight the temptation to call Jerome. They spent the rest of the day helping Jones get everything he wanted and needed, while Malloy and his men took care of the office area. By the end of the night, they had everything set up just the way they wanted. The office looked like it was actually in use, one of the trailers near the front gate was used as an area for Jones to monitor the cameras, and they determined where everyone would be stationed. If Nowak’s men came in, they certainly would never come out.

  The following day, with the plan ready to be put into action, before Recker called Jerome, they stationed Haley at the trucking facility. They wanted him to remain there the entire day so he could observe any activity in case Nowak’s men got there sooner than they anticipated. They figured Nowak wouldn’t get there until well after dark, but just in case she threw a curveball, Haley would be watching the monitors from inside the trailer that Jones had set up. It was about six o’clock when Recker finally called Jerome, waiting until just after the sun went down.

  “Hey, it’s Recker.”

  “Oh, hey, what’s up?” Jerome said.

  Recker thought he picked up some noises and voices in the background. “You someplace you can talk?”

  “Uhh, yeah, gimme a minute.” Jerome was at a local bar, hamming it up with some of his friends. He stepped outside and away from a few people smoking, going around the side of the building. “OK, I’m good.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. I was just having a few drinks. I’m good now.”

  “OK. It’s on. I want you to call your contact.”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to tell them that you got a lead from one of your contacts about the location of our office. I’ll give you the address.”

  “That’s it?” Jerome asked.

  “That’s it. I want you to make it sound big, like you got something really huge, ask for a lot of money for the info.”

  “No sweat, man, I’ll just make it sound like I usually do.”

  “No, it’s possible that they won’t believe you,” Recker said. “If that’s the case, I want you to tell them you actually checked it out last night and saw it for your own eyes, that you saw me going into this place.”

  Recker then gave him the address, which Jerome wrote down on the back of a napkin he had in his pocket. “And what if they just balk at everything? What if they say they don’t care or don’t want it?”

  “Then tell them you’ll just flush the address down the toilet and forget about it. Believe me, they’ll go for it.”

  “All right, I can do that. When you want me to do all this?”

  “Preferably within the next hour. And call me back to let me know when you do and what they say.”

  “OK, will do.”

  “Think you can manage this?”

  “Please, man, you know how long I been working the streets? Pfft, like taking candy from a baby.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  Jerome didn’t waste any time in calling Nowak’s men. As soon as he hung up with Recker, he called Milton’s number, who picked up after two rings.

  “Hey…”

  Jerome couldn’t even get two words out before being admonished. “What are you doing calling this number? I told you never to call me again. Our business is finished.”

  “Yeah, well, I got something really big I thought you might wanna know about. I mean, this is really big.”

  Hearing the excitement in his voice, suddenly Milton wasn’t so irritated about the call. “Oh yeah? How big?”

  “It’s huge, man, but if you’re not interested…”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Just tell me what you got, and I’ll let you know if I’m interested.”

  “Well, first off I heard about what happened at that jewelry store the other night,” Jerome said, trying to set things up for him. “Figured you were trying to get The Silencer and maybe things didn’t go the way you wanted to.”

  “You got something for me or not?”

  “Maybe. It’ll cost you though. Fifty large.”

  Milton couldn’t contain his laughter. “Fifty gees? Are you f’n kidding me?”

  “It’s big.”

  “Yeah, well, for fifty gees you better be offering something up on a silver platter for me.”

  “Maybe I am.

  “Just spit it out,” Milton said, tiring of the small talk, especially since he didn’t want to be talking to him to begin with. “I got things to do here.”

  “All right, man, all right, cool your jets. One of my informants on the street said he got a line on where The Silencer and his team is setting up shop.”

  Milton hardly knew what to say at such stunning news. If true, this really was a big find.

  “You think that would be worth fifty large?” Jerome asked.

  “OK, maybe. Maybe we got
something to talk about here. For that type of money, I’m gonna have to run it by a few people.”

  “All right, that’s fine. When you think you might know?”

  “Give me an hour. How reliable do you think this information is?”

  “Oh, it’s legit, my man, it’s legit. I actually verified it myself before calling you ‘cause I knew you were gonna ask.”

  “You really know where they’re at?” Milton asked.

  “Yep. Spot in the northeast. I staked the place out myself last night. Saw The Silencer himself going into the place.”

  “How do you know it was his place? Maybe he was just visiting somebody. Or maybe he was working on something? Just because he was there doesn’t mean anything.”

  “I dunno, man, I sat there for close to three hours. I saw him unlock a front gate, then go in. Then an hour later I saw his partner do the same thing. Then two hours later I saw the both of them leave together. They weren’t in no hurry, I didn’t hear any gunshots, they looked as cool and calm as could be. Seemed to me like they belonged there.”

  “OK, OK,” Milton said. “Let me run it up the flagpole and I’ll get back to you.”

  Jerome waited about twenty minutes and was just about to call Recker to let him know he was just waiting on an answer, when Milton called back.

  “Yeah?”

  “All right, it’s a deal,” Milton said. “I can only go up to twenty gees though. That’s our best offer.”

  “All right, man, I’ll take it. When will I get my money?”

  “We gotta check it out first. If it’s legit, and they’re setting up shop there, then I’ll make sure you get your dough. If we go there and it’s empty, and it doesn’t look like they’ve been there, or maybe they were just whistling Dixie, then I’m not giving you jack.”

  “All right, all right, I feel ya.”

  “We’ll go check it out and I’ll let you know.”

  “Within the next few days. I’ll get back to you.”

  Before getting off the phone, Jerome spilled the address that Recker told him to say. A smile came over his face, knowing that he did good. He then called Recker back to let him know everything was good.