Bullet Trap

by Mike Ryan

  “Maybe this is one of those times he’s letting someone else handle it,” Mia said.

  “No. Not without me. He wouldn’t risk only taking out one of us. It would be all or none from his standpoint.”

  Jones rubbed both sides of his head. “As much as it pains me to say it, Mike has him pegged accurately.”

  “Plus, if he didn’t want to deal with me, he could just take out Phillips, and continue with Chris. There’s no animosity there. He wouldn’t have to take him out too.”

  Jones sighed again. “Mike is right. It’s not Vincent. It’s someone else.”

  “But who?” Mia asked.

  “I know who my money is on at the moment.”

  Recker looked at his friend, getting the feeling he knew what he was implying. “Jerrick?”

  “He’s really the only other major player in town. And he’s got a known hatred for us.”

  Recker continued pacing around the room as he thought about it. Jerrick would certainly have made a lot of sense. But there was something about it that seemed off to Recker.

  “I don’t know.”

  “What’s the hesitation?” Jones asked.

  Recker took a deep breath as he came to a stop. “I’m not sure. Jerrick’s a loud, obnoxious, boastful kind of guy, right?”

  “Seems to be.”

  “There’s been no one who’s stepped up and kind of claimed their victory, right?”

  “Not as far as I can tell.”

  “With how much Jerrick hates us, and how much we’ve butted heads with him already, if he was the one that did it… don’t you think he’d be taking credit for it? Bragging?”

  “Perhaps. But perhaps this is also a new side of him. One that is much more low key, plays things close to the vest. Maybe that’s his new strategy.”

  “Well if it is, it’s working.”

  “It’s also possible we may never find out who’s responsible for this.”

  “We will. I guarantee if it’s the last thing I ever do… we will.”

  9

  The team slept in the office, though none of them really got much sleep. Mia went out to grab them breakfast. Once they finished eating, they started thinking up more questions than they had answers to. And none of them were easy ones.

  “What am I gonna do about work?” Mia asked.

  Recker had a confused expression on his face as he looked at her. “Huh?”

  “I do have to get back to work at some point.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I know you well enough by this time to know that you’re not exactly going to be thrilled with that.”

  Recker still wasn’t sure what she was getting at. “So?”

  “What she’s getting at is the fact that she’d be at the hospital alone, while we’re doing our thing,” Jones said. “And with everything that’s going on, are you going to be OK with that?”

  “Of course I’m not.”

  “So what am I gonna do?” Mia asked.

  “You didn’t tell the hospital that you’re back yet, did you?”

  “Not yet.”

  Recker shrugged. “Well then I see no reason to do anything. As far as they’re concerned, nothing’s changed.”

  “Then what do I do all day?”

  “As far as I’m concerned, you can play a major role in helping things get straightened out around here.” Recker glanced at Jones, not wanting to say out loud in front of him what he really meant.

  Mia didn’t get it, though. “What?”

  Jones sighed. “What he means is that he would rather you stay here all day and help me from getting depressed and try to lift my spirits if he’s out of the office.”

  “Oh.”

  Recker made a face. So much for trying to keep it secretive. He looked at Mia and gave her a half-smile. “Yeah. Something like that.”

  Jones had something else on his mind that he’d been thinking about. “You know, while we’ve been busy praying that Chris makes it through this, and trying to figure out which of our enemies might have done it, we’ve neglected to put any thought into another problem.”

  “Which is?”

  “What happens to Chris if he actually pulls through? He’s now under police custody. He’s not just walking out of there.”

  Recker started pacing around the room.

  “Wait a minute,” Mia said, thinking she had a solution. “Doesn’t Vincent have police officers on his payroll?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So couldn’t he make a suggestion to a few of them to put the right officers on the door?”

  Recker shook his head. “It’s not that easy. First of all, getting enough people on board with a plan like that is challenging enough. And I don’t know how much pull Vincent has with them.”

  “From what I’ve seen, he’s got enough,” Jones said.

  “The police don’t like looking bad. And having someone just walk out of a hospital under their noses while they’re supposed to have guards on the door… that’s not exactly an image they’d like to have.”

  “If there’s enough of an incentive, anything is possible.”

  “Now you’re talking about payoffs.”

  “For Chris’ safety, I’d talk about anything.”

  “As would I.” Recker gave it some more thought. “But that would also put more trust in Vincent.”

  “Well you said you could trust him,” Mia said.

  “I said I didn’t think he did it. That doesn’t mean I want to rely on him. If we need to use him for this, that’s one more debt we gotta repay.”

  “And like I said, that’s a debt I’d gladly repay,” Jones replied.

  Recker nodded. He would too. But there was still a better way. He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts.

  “What are you doing?” Mia asked.

  “Finding a better way.”

  Mia looked at Jones to see if he knew what her boyfriend was doing, but he just shrugged at her. He wasn’t sure either.

  Whoever Recker was calling didn’t pick up. It went to voicemail. “Hey, it’s Recker. Call me as soon as you get this. It’s important.”

  After Recker put his phone down, the others waited for an explanation.

  “Would you mind telling us who you’re calling?” Mia asked.

  Recker looked briefly at the two of them. “Oh. Michelle Lawson.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t forget, we still have a get out of jail free card we’ve never played.”

  Jones’ face lit up. “Ah! I’d forgotten about that.”

  “I haven’t. I wanted to wait until we absolutely needed it, and there was no other option. Looks like this is it.”

  Recker’s phone rang. He looked at the ID and answered it. “Thanks for getting back to me so fast.”

  Lawson laughed. “Well, when Mike Recker says something’s important, I get the feeling that it is.”

  “Hope I didn’t take you away from anything.”

  “Oh, you know, just a few terrorist organizations, the ten most wanted, things like that. No big deal.”

  “I need your help.”

  “With?”

  “I take it you haven’t heard about what’s happened here?”

  “Sorry, I’m a little out of the loop. With all the things I’m doing right now, I’m not paying too much attention to local matters. What’s going on?”

  Recker then spent the next minute or two telling her everything that had gone down with Haley.

  “Ouch. That’s rough. Have you heard anything lately?”

  “Last we heard he made it through surgery,” Recker replied. “He’s still critical, though.”

  “So what do you want from me?”

  “If you recall from our deal that sent us over to the U.K., one of the things you agreed to was getting us out of a predicament if we needed it. Right now Chris is in police custody while he’s in the hospital, and will be if he ever gets out.”

  “And you don’t think you ca
n manage it?”

  “Listen, if I go in there, innocent people are gonna get hurt. You know I don’t want that. And we do have that card you promised us in our back pockets.”

  “Well, yeah, but I assumed that would be freeing you from jail, not a hospital.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “More paperwork,” Lawson said. “Seriously, though, it’s not a good idea if I do it right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if I free him now, he’ll still be in the hospital. That means he’s gonna be in there with no protection if whoever did this wants to try again.”

  Recker sighed. “That’s a good point.”

  “And I know the next thing you’ll say is you can put someone on the door. And you could.”

  “But?”

  “But that means you’ll likely still have the police coming around asking questions. I can get him out of custody. But I can’t keep the police away if they get a bug up their ass about being pulled off the case. I assume you wouldn’t want to stand on the door, or stay inside the room as detectives come in and hound you?”

  “Doesn’t sound appealing. So what do you suggest?”

  “Wait until he’s out of the woods and well enough to leave the hospital. Then I can pull the strings, then he can walk out of there, and not have to worry about anyone else bothering him, or you.”

  Recker didn’t like leaving Haley there, but he now knew that was the best option. At least for now.

  “Does that sound like it’s doable?” Lawson asked.

  “Doesn’t seem like I have a choice, do I?”

  “Sure you do. If you want me to free him now, I can do it. I’m just not sure it’s the best plan.”

  Recker sighed. “No, you’re right.”

  “My suggestion would be to keep on top of it, like I know you will, and let me know the minute he’s well enough to get out of there.”

  “Problem is, once he’s well enough to talk, they’ll start grilling him, and he’s got nowhere to go. Because they’ll keep him for a while after that. That means he’ll be subjected to days and weeks’ worth of questions.”

  “Like I said, monitor things, and when you want him out, let me know, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “How soon after I let you know will you be able to flip that switch?”

  “Listen, I’ll make sure that it’ll happen fairly quickly. We made a deal, and I’ll make sure it’s honored.”

  “Never really doubted that you would.”

  “Especially if we ever had hopes of you doing another job for us, right?”

  Recker snickered. “That’s right.”

  “Don’t worry. When you give the word, I’ll put the wheels in motion almost right away. So when you let me know, hopefully it won’t take more than a few hours.”

  “OK, thanks. I’ll let you know. Just make sure you keep your phone on at all hours of the night.”

  “Only for you.”

  Recker got off the phone, and by the look on his face, Jones assumed it was bad news.

  “She can’t help?”

  Recker glanced up at him. “No, it’s not that.”

  “Then what?”

  “Just this whole situation.”

  “She is going to be able to free him, is she not?”

  “Yeah, she just said to wait a little bit until he’s actually well enough to leave there. No use in getting him out of custody if he can’t actually leave the hospital. Then we’d have to still protect him, and the cops could still come around and ask questions.”

  “That makes sense.”

  Recker sat down on the couch and put his hands on his forehead. “Yeah.”

  Mia came over to him and sat down next to him, putting her hand on his knee. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “I hope so.”

  “You will. Everything’s new and your head’s spinning, thinking of a million different things, but once it starts to settle down, you’ll figure it out.”

  “Speaking of figuring things out, what are we gonna do if an actual case comes up?”

  Jones slightly threw his hands in the air. He wasn’t sure either. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the right thing is. Do we put all our efforts into finding who’s responsible for this and letting everything else slide? Do we continue on like it’s business as usual?”

  “There isn’t anything normal or usual about this.”

  “You know what I am saying.”

  “I gotta be honest. I’m not sure I could concentrate enough on anything else if something comes up. Not while we don’t know whether Chris is gonna make it or not.”

  Jones nodded, completely understanding his point. “So we’ll push everything else to the side then?”

  “Well, I don’t want people who need help not to get it. But if I’m thinking of Chris instead of whatever case I’m on, I might wind up joining him in that hospital.”

  “And we definitely don’t want that. We can’t afford it either.”

  “Can’t you kind of shuffle things towards the police if they come up?”

  “I can certainly try.”

  “That should at least help us in focusing on this, so we won’t feel pulled in different directions.”

  Recker’s phone rang again. He quickly checked the ID, then answered. “Yeah?”

  “Yo, how’s it going?” Tyrell asked.

  “It’s going.”

  “Any word on Haley yet?”

  “Still critical.”

  “He’ll make it, man. He’s a fighter.”

  “Yeah. So whatcha got?”

  “Well, you told me to check in with you, so that’s what I’m doing.”

  “I hope you’re checking in with some news.”

  “The only news I got is no news.”

  “You’ve got nothing?”

  “Hey, it is what it is. I’ve been peppering every contact I got, every person I know, and nobody’s got nothing for me.”

  “How can two people, who have the kind of profile that we do, get gunned down, and nobody knows who’s responsible for it? How does that happen?”

  “I don’t know,” Tyrell replied. “I just don’t get the feeling that anybody knows anything. And if they do, they definitely ain’t talking.”

  Recker sighed, and shook his head. If anybody had a pulse on what was going on in the city, it was Tyrell. If he couldn’t find out what was going on, Recker wasn’t sure that anybody could.

  “You’re not getting any feelers or anyone? Vincent? Jerrick? Some outsider? Nothing?”

  “Listen, I’m telling you, I ain’t got a handle on this thing yet. If I was a betting man, which I’m not, this don’t seem like Vincent’s style. Plus, I thought you guys were good with him, anyway?”

  “We are. Phillips wasn’t.”

  “Yeah, I heard about those issues. Even still, I can’t see Vincent doing this to Chris. Not unless it was a mistake. And we both know Vincent don’t make many of those. Especially not mistakes like this. He might make a mistake about which restaurant he’s going to for lunch. But he ain’t making a mistake on who he’s killing.”

  “Yeah, I just had a talk with him. I don’t get the sense that he’s good for it.”

  “And I agree.”

  “What about Jerrick?”

  “Same deal, man. Not hearing it.”

  “If there’s a likely candidate, he’s it.”

  “And I agree again. But again, I haven’t heard anything to confirm it.”

  “Who else would it be?”

  “I don’t know, but if it’s Jerrick, he’s not taking credit for it yet. And that’s surprising.”

  “I thought the same thing.”

  “And listen, you know I’m not a fan of the man. After all, he did try to kill me, so you know how I feel about him, but if I’m being honest, I don’t get the sense that it’s him either.”

  “Why not?”

  “Like I said, he’s not claiming it. And if there’s anything I know about t
hat man, if he killed one of you, he’s sure as hell gonna brag about it and let everyone know what he did. But he’s not.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “Which leads me to believe that it’s someone else.”

  “An outsider?”

  “Or an insider that’s been keeping it quiet.”

  “If they’ve been around, someone would've heard about it,” Recker said.

  “Not necessarily. But even if that’s true, maybe it’s someone you’ve done business with before, but hasn’t been around for a while. Maybe someone you ran out of town.”

  “Most of the people we’ve run out of town have left in caskets.”

  “I hear that. But there’s one other thing you gotta think about on this.”

  “What’s that?”

  “And I know you ain’t gonna like it, and you won’t wanna hear it.”

  “Say it anyway.”

  “There’s always the chance that this was some random thing, not planned. Maybe there is no high-profile name behind it. Maybe it wasn’t some evil concoction somebody cooked up. Maybe you guys weren’t targeted. Maybe it’s just something that happened for no rhyme or reason. Maybe that’s why nobody’s taking credit for it. Because the people that did it are just as scared and wanna get out of here before they’re found.”

  “You’re right. I don’t like it and I don’t wanna hear it. But I also don’t believe it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because when Chris checked in with David, he mentioned there were a ton of people there. He had to get through a lot of people to get to Phillips.”

  “So?”

  “So that indicates to me that there was a plan in place. And someone had a lot of men to implement it. I mean, regular people just don’t go around with twenty people, all holding guns and taking people out. That’s a gang. And that gang’s got a name and belongs to someone.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”

  “So now we just gotta figure out the name of that group.”

  “That might be a tall order.”

  “Might be. But I’m sure gonna fill it.”

  10

  After spending another night at the office, Mia went back to their apartment to gather a few things. Though Recker wanted to come with her, she insisted that he stay in the office and work on things. She didn’t need his protection just to grab the things she wanted. Once she got to the apartment, everything seemed fine. Until she actually reached the door.