On my computer, there was no information of relevance. Failure to locate this Harry character meant that once again, hope was lost. I knew what I had to do. It was just a matter of working up the courage to do it and to finally come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t do it alone.
Chapter 5
‘3-6-1-9,’ was the number that started my revenge. One phone call is all it took to land me in an underground location that wreaked of old paint and fresh champagne.
‘Man cave, huh?’ I turned to Adam who still had his hands wrapped around Jones. My voice prompted him to let go.
‘Yeah. This is what my man cave looks like. Though, I must say, I don’t get to use it quite as often as I should.’
He hadn’t changed a bit since I’d last seen him, years ago, except for a few wrinkles that had set in at the corners of his eyes. ‘The wife won’t allow it?’ I asked, unable to determine if this notorious bachelor had finally managed to find someone who kept him home.
‘Wife!’ The crooks of his mouth bent into a smile. ‘You know. I can’t say I’ve been lucky enough to fall in… whatever it is you people like to call it.’
Jones toned in. ‘Love,’ he answered, rolling his eyes over dramatically. ‘I’m afraid to say, you’re the only on Joe. Half of us are too scared to- you know- find ourselves in situations like the one you’re in and the other half just enjoy the freedom of… well, the freedom of being free.’
‘This could have happened to any of us,’ I warned him. I could tell that Adam didn’t quite agree. The way he pressed the glass of champagne against his lips for more seconds that it took to take a satisfying gulp was enough clarification. ‘Spit it out.’
‘The champagne?’ he laughed, revealing his jagged teeth.
‘No Adam. Whatever it is you want to say. Just spit it out.’
He ran his hands through his bleach blonde hair, nodded and then began. ‘People hire us, they don’t threaten us. In training, we were forbidden to have families. You know that. The half of us who aren’t orphans didn’t mind disappearing from the lives of those they knew. We weren’t trained to care and so, there’s no one that they could grab that would cause me to bat an eye or lose a second of sleep. I like things that way. It’s easy.’
It was a terrifying thought; one that didn’t matter much to me before, but now, with Lila gone, consumed my entire existence. Both my parents died in a car crash when I was just eighteen years old- eighteen years ago. As an only child, I didn’t have anyone and thus, NW45 found it easy to recruit a guy like me. And I, found it somewhat easy to let go from the nothingness that life had to offer and hop on to whatever adventures they had in store. Granted, no information was divulged before we’d signed our souls away. But the harsh training told me we’d be doing more than tossing teargas and pointing guns.
‘Shit happens man,’ I said, trying hard not to show how torn up I was. They didn’t understand. These men followed a pact. They weren’t here because I was some buddy that they’d missed. The truth was, though we got along quite well with each other, we didn’t have the connection that regular friends did. We were trained not to develop that form of connection. If-when on the job- one man fell, we were trained to look the other way and ensure that the duties outlined by our president were thought about first and the wounded last-if at all. For the most part, I’d followed this rule. But during the time that I’d spend with these men, I’d developed a bond with them. And so, I didn’t leave their backs uncovered when we were in danger. But I also didn’t carry the wounded over my shoulders.
‘Where are Iron and Tony?’ Jones asked, changing the topic.
‘They should be here any minute now.’ Adam looked at his watch.
‘They’re coming together?’ I asked confused.
‘I think so,’ Adam replied. ‘They started working together and had a job to complete before they could stop by.’
The look on Adam’s face told me that Iron and Tony weren’t busy typing up documents while sitting behind a desk. ‘What is it that they do?’
Adam was definitely happy I asked. He traced his fingers against the stubble on his chin, glanced at Jones who looked just as interested to hear about Iron and Tony’s endeavors as I was. ‘Well. Let’s just say they haven’t strayed too far from home.’
‘Hits?’
‘Eh.’ His head waved from side to side. ‘They dabble in that too, yes. But it’s more of a trade kind of thing. The guys they’re taking down are turning them into some very fucking important fellows.’
‘How so?’ I asked, slightly irritated that Adam wouldn’t just spill the beans already. He hadn’t changed one bit, trying to draw up suspense where there should be none.
‘They influence the stock market. They work with some guys on Wall Street who key them into who should be taken out and who should have some minor or sometimes major tragedy fall upon them and then they have fun while watching their investments surge.’
‘So they kill for money,’ Jones said, unimpressed.
‘It’s not just killing for money, it’s killing for millions.’ Adam seemed a bit irritated by our lack of excitement.
I left the conversation, and walked over to a table that was complete with all the finger foods a man could ever want. I picked up a plate and topped it with a few mini pizzas and some weird take on Bruchetta. It had been a while since my appetite kicked in and I knew that even though I’d rather skip breakfast, lunch and dinner, I would need the energy if I was going to pull off what I had planned.
The dogs that guarded the front door, from the inside, started to bark, alerting us that the other two men had finally arrived. Those who wished to enter Adam’s bunker needed to do so with a dog whistle- one blow and the dogs would start barking like crazy. There were no door bells or doors to knock on. From the outside, it simply looked like a manhole cover- though a bit suspicious considering there was a manhole deep in the woods.
I greeted Iron, who had obtained his alias due to his inability to show expressions. ‘How you doing, man?’
‘Long time no see,’ he replied, keeping the neutrality on his face. If I guessed that he was excited to see me, I may have been wrong. If I said he was indifferent when it came to seeing me, that may have been more accurate.
Tony, on the other hand, was a talker. Always on a high, he smiled from ear to ear. ‘Look at you. Look at you. Man, I thought you’d just dropped off the face of the earth and into some far away galaxy.’ He reached out a strong arm, complete with bulging veins and pumped up muscles. I took his hand and shook it firmly.
‘It’s good to see you too,’ I smiled- less enthusiastically than he did.
‘So, what are we here for?’ he got straight to the point.
Adam pushed his way between us. ‘Joe’s wife.’ He raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips and nodded fervently.
The two stared at each other for a while before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. I glanced at Jones who didn’t seem to find the situations as humorous as they did. A part of me felt as though there was something up with Jones. The Jones I remembered was a lot more carefree, a lot gigglier.
‘Nah,’ Tony replied. ‘Don’t mess with me like that.’ Tony and I had worked side by side for the entirety of my career with the government. And though I could understand his disbelief, I found his laughter annoyingly obnoxious. ‘You mean, to say’ he continued, ‘my buddy over here done got himself tied up. Don’t tell me you have kids too. Little Joe’s running around with their AK 47s and shit.’
Again, laughter bounced from section to section in the room. This time, Jones joined in. Iron’s chest moved up and down, mimicking laughing motion- though his face stayed as unreadable as usual.
‘Okay guys. Enough of that. Can we get started here?’ I looked from person to person, ensuring that they noticed the firmness on my face- the one that said I meant business.
Everyone gathered around the long stainless steel table that took up the entire center of the room. I’d created files
for them to examine. Files that contained information on Derrick Shaw as well as the miniscule amount of information I could gather on Harry Peterman. In addition to all this, was a photograph of my wife- something that was necessary as they all needed to know who we were fighting for. I’d spent hours scavenging through photographs; trying hard to pick the right one- a photo that would pierce their hearts and instill sympathy into their rough souls. Of course, these men were soulless, but still, I held onto the hope that the right photograph would ascertain that they fought their very hardest.
I dished the files out to each member of my team, sliding it easily across the table and watching as their hands smacked down on the paper.
‘Inside those folders are pictures and information on the guys we’re after as well as a photograph of my wife Lila. The first guy, with the five-hundred year shadow is the one who took my wife, Harry Peterman. The second photo is of Derrick Shaw, who I’m sure you all remember. And the third and final photo is of my wife, Lila Chandler.’
‘Hold up a minute,’ Jones interrupted. ‘What does your wife have to do with Derrick Shaw?’
The room filled with chatter in an instant. Whispers and guesses-right before my eyes- of what connection my wife had to Shaw, was the main thing in discussion.
‘Guys!’ I pounded my fist on the shiny silver table. ‘She’s a victim. She’s innocent. The people we need to be talking about are Derrick and Harry. Now, may I continue?’
Everyone nodded.
‘The Harry character that you see on the paper, is Derrick Shaw’s brother.’ I noticed a few eyebrows furrow in confusion. ‘They share the same mother. So DNA bound, womb bound, that kind of sibling. And Harry wants him back.’ Iron’s hand flew in the air like a middle school student who was trying to work his way to teacher’s pet. ‘Yes Iron.’
‘Why don’t we just get him from the cell and deliver him to Harry Peterman.’
‘Because,’ I paused. ‘We’re talking about Shaw. Derrick Shaw.’
‘The president’s already moved him,’ Adam intruded.
Iron nodded, knowing just what this meant.
‘But how soon before he uses him?’ Tony asked, tapping a pen forcefully on the picture, directly against Shaw’s face.
‘Hopefully not very soon. But, that’s what we’re here to find out. If I’m lucky, we’ll be able to do all this before the president’s ready for him.’
‘Sorry,’ Jones’ voice took on a less than optimistic nature, ‘but you do know that the president doesn’t keep them in Block 8 for more than two weeks. So, I guess what I’m asking is- how much time do we have?’
Chuckling came from the far end of the table. ‘What is it, Adam?’ I prompted.
‘Not that I’m at all inclined to say no to any plan that you muster up but you don’t really think we’ll be able to pry our way into Block 8, do you?’
‘No,’ I answered firmly. Of course, I’d considered this option, but knowing how well guarded the place was, I decided that against it.
‘Good, cuz the president would eat you alive. I’ve got to ask though. Wouldn’t it be easier if we just took Peterman out?’
‘I can’t risk it.’
‘But you can risk getting on the president’s wrong side? You know he has people like us working for him right? Except their stronger, younger and probably more fucked up in the head.’
‘I can risk it, because I have reason to believe that my wife’s sitting on pounds of dynamite and Peterman won’t hesitate to blow the living shit out of her if I piss him off. Plus, I know just how to appease the president’s appetite. Once we get Peterman, we’ll have more to give than we took.’
‘Alright,’ he raised his hands in the air, his palms facing me- a sort of surrender. ‘However you want it.’
‘So,’ I went on, ‘the plan is to figure out when the president will be having Derrick Shaw moved from Block 8 to the Presidential Cleaning location and interrupt them there. Seeing as no one has ever tried what I’m planning on doing, my guesses are that he won’t see it coming, which gives us a slight advantage. Tony, I’m going to want you to get in touch with your people and gather information on all the private planes that come into DC in the next couple of days. Figuring out when the Mexican President, Russian President, UN Secretary General and the Director of the CIA are all in town at the same time will give us a better idea of when shit’s going down. Ever since we’ve been working for the president, these guys have never missed a Cleaning. So, I think this will be the perfect cue. Iron, I’m gonna need you to hand out phones to some people on the streets who can keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Hobos, junkies, anyone who can be bribed into being reliable. The president will be using one of four locations and so, we need to cover all of them, just to make sure. Adam and Tony, you’re gonna help me to set up the rest of the plan which you can find in the back of the folder. Now, guys. We’ve got to move quickly. As soon as we get word that all the right figures are in our neighborhood, we need to be ready to move. There’s no time to fail. Because one downfall will lead to the failure of the entire operation.’
We went over the plan for another two hours, ironing out the details and safeguarding that everyone understood the role they were expected to play. Though nothing would have been better than not having to deal with such a situation in the first place, it was uplifting to know that I could count on these guys. Like me, they had the necessary degree of training to get the job done.
Once all was said and done, we decided to kick back a few drinks for old time’s sake. Tony spoke a million miles per hour, telling us just how great business was going for him. He still loved killing, perhaps more than before considering now, it came with more dollar signs attached to it that he could have ever dreamt of. Iron, as always, remained relaxed, not seemingly overjoyed by the success that he was a part of- though even if he were, his impassive face wouldn’t allow us to know otherwise.
Adam and Jones were living pretty much regular lives- detached from anything emotional and serious, but as regular as one could expect from them. The only thing missing was the fulfillment they got from being a part of NW45. They craved the kill, the rush of adrenaline they would feel chasing after the bad guys and serving them their own form of justice. Me, I’d been okay without it. The life I once lived was a life I no longer yearned for. Sure, it may have been nice brushing shoulders with important people who didn’t realize how insignificant they were about to become. There certainly was a charm to carrying out off the record duties for the president, duties that would create a dystopia out of the United States of America, if the citizens knew just how much evil hid in the shadows of the mighty. However, regardless of how cheesy it all sounded, Lila was all I needed. She was my adrenaline, my rush. She replaced my old life in a way that couldn’t be compared with.
‘So guys,’ I raised my glass, bringing them away from laughter and side conversations. ‘I just want to say thank you for- you know pitching in and agreeing to help me out.’ Not that they had a choice. ‘I truly, truly appreciate it.’
‘To working together again,’ Tony chimed in.
‘To working together again,’ everyone agreed and our glasses clanked together, with drinks of beer, champagne and rum tipping over the edges and onto the dark wood flooring.
I pushed the glass against my lips, titled my head back and swallowed the last drops of my drink.
‘I think I’m going to call it a night now. So folks, I’ll see you when I see you.’
***
The hike back to my car was long, cold and dirty. As I maneuvered my way through stray branches and under masses of bush, I felt like I was back in a time where stakeouts were a common part of my day. Especially in the heavy darkness that lay before me and the absence of the moon and stars, wiggling around in unchartered territories was no easy task. However, I’d made it through, albeit in a longer period of time than it took me when I was traveling through the woods in the daytime. My car, parked across the street in a hardw
are store parking lot was easy to spot. I looked around- ensuring there was no one to see me- before I made my way to my feet and dashed across the lonely streets. I fiddled around in my pocket, pulling out the keys to my Audi A5 and speeding off into the night.
Upon entering my home, the loneliness of life struck me. No Lila. A messy apartment- filled with paperwork rather than dirty plates. I flopped down on the couch and stared at the nothingness of the ceiling. Though I had a plan in action, there was no removing the awful feeling that had taken hold of the pit of my stomach. However, now, I had at least the smallest bit of info to give to Harry when he called. Info that would hopefully prevent him from introducing my wife to aggression that I would need to repay him for. And then it struck me. I’d smashed my phone to bits and though finding my home number was definitely no problem for him-considering he knew just where I lived- he’d called on my cell. What if he thought I was avoiding him? What if he thought I just didn’t care what happened to Lila? I jumped from the couch, much more quickly than I’d landed in it and sprinted my way down the stairs.
‘Joe. You alright,’ asked my neighbor Erica, who had her hand lightly placed on my shoulder.
I caught my breath. ‘Yeah. You know, considering…’
‘Well, if there’s anything at all I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to come knocking. Lucas is out of town for a few days, so you really can come talk anytime you please. I’m here for you Joe. Everyone in this building is here for you.’
I smiled politely, trying hard not to believe what I knew was true. The subtle smile, nice gesture and hands where I didn’t want them was done with an ulterior motive. She was flirting. There were no two ways about it. My already achy stomach turned at the gall on Erica. She knew just what I was going through and found it fit to try to make a pass at me. Not to mention the fact that she was married. Of course, it wasn’t hard to tell that her relationship was a ruse. Girl in her twenties married to a man who could be her father, or grandfather for that matter.
Presidential Cleaning: A Psychological Suspense Novel Page 3
