by Mike Ryan
Recker smiled. Thrower was good.
“So which is it?” Mia asked, hoping it wasn’t the first option.
“It’s the second.”
“You want his help?”
Recker nodded. “If he’s willing.”
Thrower didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even need to hear what it was. “I’m in.”
“You’re in? You haven’t even heard what it is yet.”
“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you need… I’m down.”
“Can you at least let us tell you what we have in mind? It could be dangerous.”
Thrower smiled. “Does it really look like that’s something that changes my opinion?”
“I just don’t want you to think it’s expected or you have to. It’s not what you were brought here for. It’s your call.”
“Hey, whatever gets this pretty lady back to doing what she loves, and doesn’t have to worry about these jerks anymore… I’m for it.”
Mia smiled. “Thanks. But I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way for me.”
“Putting myself in danger is part of the job description. But, if you wanna tell me the details first, it won’t make any difference, but go ahead.”
“Well, we know that Slater’s been hitting this business hard in the last week. A place called Rico’s Trucking. I’ve got word that he’s going back there in the next day or two to see if he can get any new recruits.”
“We’d like Nate to go down there, make himself visible when they do,” Jones said.
Mia had a mix of confusion and concern on her face. “I don’t understand. They know him. Isn’t that like suicide for him?”
Jones shook his head. “No. Mike volunteered for this first, but he is absolutely known. The only ones that know Nathan are no longer among the living, isn’t that correct?”
Thrower nodded and grinned. “Yeah. Except for Slater.”
“In order to do this, there’s no one else,” Recker said. “At least no one that we can trust enough, and someone we know is tough enough to defend themselves if it comes to that.”
“What about Vincent’s men?” Mia asked.
“Way too well known. Everybody in this city knows who they are. As soon as they show up somewhere, it’s game over.”
“I still don’t get it. If you know Slater’s going to be there, why don’t you just wait out of sight somewhere? Why do you have to put Nate in there?”
Thrower answered for them. “Because they’re not sure if Slater’s the one that’s actually going to show.”
“That’s right,” Jones said. “In fact, we’re assuming that he won’t. Tyrell told us that he thinks one of his men will probably be the one there.”
“Tyrell thinks there’s only eight or ten men left,” Recker said. “So Slater really needs to get some new guys in there. And he needs to get them quickly.”
Thrower seemed to know what they were asking of him. “They want me to go in there, poke around, then when one of Slater’s men come around… I’m gonna get myself recruited.”
“That’s the plan. You up for it?”
“I’m assuming I’m supposed to try and use my influence to get a meeting with the big boss right then and there?”
“That’s the idea. Now, Slater could be in a nearby vehicle, waiting to talk to whoever comes back. Or, he could be somewhere else altogether. You’d have to be ready for anything.”
“What do you think?” Jones asked.
“Already said I was in. Nothing’s changed that.” Thrower did still have a few more questions, though. “That being said, what exactly are you guys gonna do in all this?”
“We’ll be watching,” Recker answered. “And you’ll have an earpiece, so we’ll hear everything too.”
Jones reached into his pocket and removed a watch. “And you’ll be armed with this.” He handed it over to Thrower.
Thrower looked at it for a second, not sure how that was going to help him. “Is this a bonus or a going away present?”
“Neither. There’s a GPS chip inside, which I’ll be tracking, so if they take you somewhere, we’ll know exactly where. So we won’t have to worry about losing sight of you, or traffic, or following too closely.”
“What if they make me take the watch off?”
“Then we’ll hear it and we’ll make sure we step up the pace.”
“If you’re worried about it, we can figure out something else,” Recker said.
Thrower shook his head. “No, I’m good.”
“What if Slater shows up instead?” Mia asked. “He’ll recognize Nate on sight.”
“Well, if he does happen to show, you’ll likely be on your own for a few seconds,” Recker replied. “But the rest of us are right around the corner, so you won’t be on your own for long.”
“I’ll make due,” Thrower said.
“Who’s the rest of us?” Mia asked.
Recker smiled at her. “Not you.”
“You and David?”
“Hardly,” Jones answered.
“I’ve already got Malloy and some of his friends on it,” Recker said. “They’ll be waiting in an SUV on the next street over. As soon as they get word from me that you’re on the move, they’ll start following. Then we’ll be right after them.”
“And if they take me somewhere, what’s the plan once I get there?” Thrower wondered.
“Nobody moves in until you’re inside. If you’ve still got your earpiece in, we’ll be able to hear you talking to Slater. If you don’t have it in, then there’s also a button on that watch, that if you click it, we’ll still be able to hear.”
“And if I have neither?”
“Then you just gotta stall for a few minutes, because we’re not waiting long to come in. I’m not gonna hang you out to dry. And if that’s the case and we move in without knowing whether Slater’s there or not, we’ll just have to hope that he is. If he’s not, then we’ll just have to worry about him another time.”
Thrower nodded. He didn’t look worried about anything. “What about these other guys?”
“Malloy? We know him. He’s reliable. You don’t have to worry about him.”
“If you say to trust him… I’m not worried.”
“We just figured if Slater has eight or ten men left with him, it’ll help to even the odds a little instead of it just being me and you.”
“Hey, the less work I have to do, the better.”
“Well, once Slater sees you, he might know it’s some sort of trap, so you might not have a lot of time. Especially when the shooting starts. You’re gonna have to be fast.”
“I’ll figure it out. I always do.”
“Just make sure that you do,” Recker said. “I don’t wanna be worried about another grave.”
Thrower smiled. “Don’t worry about that. It’s not my time yet.”
24
Recker and Jones were sitting in their vehicle, watching a feed on a laptop from a camera planted on the front of the Rico Trucking business. They just saw Thrower walk past it.
“Vincent flexing his muscle on this thing really helps,” Recker said.
“It certainly does. How exactly did he make it happen, again?”
“Told him what we were doing, said he’d have a chat with the owner to get our guy in there and walking around without any problems. I think Vincent told him it would be in his best interest if he allowed this to happen and get Slater away from his guys and business.”
“Well, certainly can’t argue with that.”
“And it’s a lot easier to watch from the car instead of worrying about getting spotted somewhere.”
“As well as Nate walking around freely.”
“Yeah.”
They continued watching the video feed, though Recker looked at the time. They’d been sitting there for about three hours at that point, and hadn’t seen a sign of Slater or his men. He hoped this wasn’t one of those assignments that would take days. He’d grown more impatient over the years. While he use
d to not mind waiting, now, it was just taking away time he’d rather spend on something else.
Unfortunately, the rest of the day wound up being uneventful as well. They came back at it the next day, though, with the same exact setup. A few hours went by, and they were hoping this day wouldn’t be a wash, either.
“Are you sure it’s wise leaving Mia alone in that hotel room?” Jones asked.
Recker took his hands off the steering wheel and threw them up in the air. “I don’t know. What else can we do? I mean, I left a gun with her just in case. Besides, she’s not alone. Tyrell’s there.”
“Yes, but Tyrell is not you, or Chris, or Nate.”
“No, but he can handle himself if he needs to. And what other choice was there? She refuses to take one of Vincent’s men, and Tyrell’s the only other guy she trusts. It was either that or really leaving her by herself.”
“I just hope we haven’t made an error in judgment.”
“Everything will be fine,” Recker said. “As long as these guys show up soon.”
“You’re more impatient than you used to be.”
“I know. But I’ve got more things to lose now than I used to.”
“Such as?”
“Time. Mia. Time spent with Mia.”
“I know it was rough at the beginning, but I’m glad you found each other.”
“I’m not sure if I deserve her, but…”
“Sure you do. You’ve always had this opinion that you’re not deserving of good things because of the things you do and have done. But your entire life has been dedicated to helping people, saving people, and there’s nothing more honorable than that.”
Recker glanced at Jones and smiled. “Maybe so.”
“I can’t help but wonder, though, now that you’ve had a taste of the life outside of this, what are your feelings on it?”
“You mean am I ready to retire now?”
“It’s a tempting decision.”
Recker nodded. “It is. I enjoyed my time out there. I did. There was nothing to worry about except how many men I was going to have to beat away from Mia.”
“But?”
“But after all this, I’m not sure I’m ready for the good life yet. Don’t get me wrong, I know I told you before that Mia deserves better than this, and she does, but I’m just not ready to walk away completely yet.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know. I can tell you this, though. I’m closer to the end than I am at the beginning. I think I’ve got another year in me. Maybe two. I’m not sure any more than that would be fair to Mia. And I can’t, and won’t, keep putting it off forever.”
“Wouldn’t be fair to you either.”
“How do you mean?”
“You still have a lot of time left in this world. After what happened with Chris and Paxton, you should be able to enjoy the rest of it with the woman you love, without fear of either of you not making it home one day. As much as I hate to continue this without you one day, I know it would be the best for both of you.”
“Well, hopefully…” Recker’s concentration was broken when he looked at the laptop and saw a strange car pull into the Rico’s Trucking parking lot. “Wait… who’s this?”
“Not a car that we noticed yesterday or today so far.”
“This might be it.”
They looked closely at the feed coming through on the laptop, eventually seeing two men get out of the car. They looked the part of Scorpions. They were big, and tough-looking. Not even thirty seconds later, they saw Thrower appear on the screen.
“Nate’s going to work,” Recker said.
They continued looking at the camera, seeing Thrower engage in a lengthy conversation with the two men.
“Maybe it would be better if Nate gets rejected here,” Jones said.
“Why?”
“Well, even if he gets left behind, we can still follow the car, see where it goes.”
Recker nodded. “That’s true.”
“And it would leave Nate out of danger.”
“But there’s also the possibility that the car leaves without him and doesn’t lead us to Slater, even if we do follow it.”
“Yes, I guess that is a possibility.”
“Then we’d still be nowhere.”
“I just hate that we’re putting Nate in a dangerous situation like this. Especially when it’s not even his fight, really.”
“Nate knows what he’s doing,” Recker said. “I almost hate to say this about someone I just met recently, but I kind of like him.”
“Why do you hate to say that?”
“I dunno. Maybe because he reminds me of me. Except without the emotional baggage.”
“Maybe we could persuade him to join the team after all this is over.”
“I don’t know how interested he would be in that. He’s got his own thing going on.”
“Well, all we can do is ask. Even if he says no, it would be nice to know we always have a friend we can call in if the need ever arises again.”
Recker then pointed to the screen. “Look. Seems like it’s getting animated.”
“Should we move in?”
“No, let it play out. Whatever happened to hearing what was going on?” Recker threw his arms up as he looked at the laptop. “What’s going on here? What was the point of giving him an earpiece if we can’t hear anything?”
“Just a minute.” Jones hit a few buttons on the keyboard, then they were hearing Thrower’s voice loud and clear.
“There we go.”
They listened for a few minutes. “What do you think the odds are that Nate will convince them?”
“Good. He’ll get it done. May take a while, but…” They then heard what sounded like an agreement, then Thrower got in the backseat of the car, as the other men got in the front. “Or it may happen sooner.” Recker turned the car on, then looked at Jones. “You got that GPS on?”
Jones held up a tablet. “Working perfectly.”
Recker kept his eyes on the laptop until the car was no longer in sight. Then he looked at the entrance, waiting for the car to pull out. The car emerged a few seconds later. They kept eyes on it until it got to the end of the road.
Recker immediately got on the phone with Malloy. “Black sedan with tinted windows coming your way. License plate ends in PMJ. You should be seeing it any second now.” Recker put the car in motion to follow.
“We got it,” Malloy replied.
“We still have the GPS signal, so drop out if you think it’s getting too close. We can pick it up.”
“Will do.”
As Recker and Jones pursued the car, they could hear the conversation Thrower was having. It was mostly him just trying to play the part up, asking questions about the type of work involved, pay, anything to make it seem like he was really looking for a job and an opportunity.
“Where do you think this is heading?” Jones asked.
Recker shook his head. “I dunno. But I guarantee we’re not going to the mall.”
They drove for close to an hour, eventually going over the bridge into Trenton, New Jersey.
“I have to say I didn’t expect this,” Jones said.
“Why not? Jersey and Delaware were where this group started, wasn’t it? Heading back to their home turf.”
“Yes, I suppose. The question is where does this end?”
They drove for a few more minutes before the lead car finally turned into the parking lot of a building. “Looks like it’s ending here.”
At this point, Recker was right behind Malloy’s car, and they both turned down the street just after the building that Thrower was led to. They would wait off to the side for a few minutes, until they thought Slater was near.
“What is this place, anyway?” Recker asked.
Jones pulled up the information on the laptop. “Looks like a used furniture store.”
“At least it’s not a warehouse. I’ve had my fill of those.”
“I’m just thankful they ne
ver asked for his watch.”
As Thrower was led into the building, he looked around, surprised that nobody was already there waiting.
“Take a seat,” one of the men told him.
Thrower looked to the side and saw a recliner, and plopped down. “What are we doing here, meeting the head man?”
“Just wait.”
Thrower sat there, the driver of the car standing behind him. He glanced at everything around him, checking to see if there was anything he could use if things got out of hand. It was a big place, and all the furniture was lined up in rows. Thrower was sitting in the chair section. If anything happened, he could at least get behind one of the chairs if someone started shooting at him. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing, or a wide open building with no protection at all.
The other man went all the way to the back of the building, eventually disappearing from sight. Thrower thought he detected some light coming from there, so he assumed there was an office back there somewhere. It didn’t take long for the man to return. But he did so with Ronnie Slater, and six other men following behind him.
Thrower put his head down and put his hand over his mouth. “Slater’s coming,” he whispered.
“There we go,” Recker said, Malloy’s men hovering around his vehicle. “Move!”
He immediately got out of the car and started advancing toward the building. Malloy’s team was right behind him.
Thrower kept his head down, mostly to prevent Slater from recognizing him too quickly. If he did, he might assume it was a trap, and start some violent tendencies before the help arrived. As the men got closer, Thrower put his hand on his forehead, and started rubbing it.
“This is the guy I was telling you about,” the man said.
“So you wanna work for us, huh?” Slater asked.
Thrower cleared his throat, then removed his hand from his head. “Yeah, I’ve had a change of heart.”
Slater didn’t look pleased to see him. “Mr. Thrower. What are you doing here?”
“Well, like I was saying, I thought about what happened the other day. And, I think we got off on kind of a bad foot.”
“You’re dead. Kill him.”
“What? Wait, hold on. I wanna join up with you.”
“Like I’d trust you? This is probably some kind of trick.” Slater looked back to a couple of his men. “Go over to the door, making sure no one’s coming.”
