After The Fall (Book 4): Undercover

by Nees, David

  Later Jason got out a map of Charlotte and found city hall. He’d have to pay the FEMA guy a visit sometime soon if he was going to find out more. He had to assume the man was uncomfortable being used as a puppet for the mob, but would he have the nerve to tell Jason anything? And could he trust the man not to blow his cover?

  A week later Jason left his apartment by the back door.

  He had told Tony he was taking a few days off to explore the world outside of the city.

  “You were so rushed to get into Charlotte, now you want to leave?”

  “Not leave, just going to take a hike around the area. I’m used to hiking and camping. That’s what I had to do when on the road.”

  Tony shook his head. “Never understood people who wanted to sleep in tents. That’s not civilized. Why you want to be uncomfortable on purpose?”

  “Hell, I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe being a bit uncomfortable makes things in the city seem better. I know it clears my head.”

  “I don’t get it. You are one strange character. Maybe we should call you ‘Camper’, or ‘Mr. Natural’, make that your nickname.”

  Jason gave a short laugh. “Most people wouldn’t get it. Not like ‘Ears’.”

  “Yeah. That one’s easy to understand.”

  That night Jason went down a side street towards the central part of the city, keeping to the shadows. It was well after midnight and no one was about. When he got close to the barriers, he headed away from a checkpoint to an unused minor street. They’ll be a way through here. He inspected the vehicles that were jammed in the street along with a rough concrete wall. The barrier was not manned. It took only a few minutes for Jason to climb over the vehicles and then he was on the inside.

  He made his way to city hall and found a place to hide for the remainder of the night. He was in an overgrown park, nearly a block in size, surrounding a municipal building that looked unused now. The park provided good cover, having returned to its natural state. He nestled down in the underbrush and tried to get some sleep. The night was cold, winter was coming, but at least it wasn’t raining.

  He was across from the city-county government building. When morning came, Jason unpacked his clean clothes and put them on. He wore slacks and a suit jacket that Tony had arranged to have made for him by a tailor. The man was skilled and cut down a suit that had been saved after the attack. The mob not only had collected the immediately necessary items of food, fuel, ammunition, and medicine, they had also locked down clothing and other goods stored in various warehouses around the city.

  Jason was on edge. The meeting could be dangerous. He’d have to assess whether Daniels was a willing participant in the mob’s activities or a reluctant hostage and front man. How courageous was he? Would he use Jason’s visit to score some points with the mob leadership? If the man reported Jason’s visit, he’d have a hard time explaining his action.

  When people started entering the building, Jason emerged from his hiding spot and casually walked over to the entrance. He had left his 9mm behind, hidden in the bushes with a bedroll he had brought with him. He hoped he could pass for just another post-EMP bureaucrat going to work.

  He entered the building without incident There was no security other than a metal detector at the door. Once inside, he headed for an escalator in the lobby, now inoperable and functioning as a staircase. Once on the mezzanine, he asked a worker where Daniel’s office was.

  The man gave him a questioning look.

  “I’ve been asked to bring him a message. It’s from an assistant to Mr. Nicoletti.”

  The mention of Joe’s name triggered immediate helpfulness.

  “He’s on the sixth floor, room 635.” The man pointed to the far end of the mezzanine. “Take the stairs over there.”

  Jason smiled and headed off.

  Once on the sixth floor, he quickly found the office. There was a receptionist inside.

  “I need to speak with Mr. Daniels this morning. I have some information for him. My boss, who works for Mr. Nicoletti, asked me to come here and deliver it.”

  Again, Nicoletti’s name seemed to work.

  “Wait here a moment,” she said.

  The woman got up and went into an inner office. In a few minutes she came out.

  “Mr. Daniels can see you.” She said, pointing to the inner office door.

  Jason took a deep breath and went in.

  Chapter 16

  ___________________________________

  T he man behind the desk stared at Jason with a bespectacled, near-sighted look. His face was screwed up into a question mark. Jason walked in and took a seat across the desk from him without it being offered.

  “Do I know you?”

  “No,” Jason said. “But I’ve learned a bit about you and wanted to meet you.”

  “You said Joe sent you.” This came out almost as a question.

  “Not exactly. I’m more here on my own. I’m new to Charlotte and work for people who work under Mr. Nicoletti. I’m new to the town so my visit today is to better understand the power structure and where you fit into it.”

  “So, Joe didn’t send you.”

  “I told you, no.”

  “I’m not sure I should be talking to you if Joe didn’t send you.”

  “You can talk to me. I work for Vincent Bonocchi and, like I said, I’m new to the job. I want to learn more about how things run here in Charlotte. Don’t worry, Vincent knows I’m curious. Let’s say, he indulges me because I’m good at what I do.”

  “And what is it you do?”

  “I’m part of the collections crew.”

  At that Daniels flinched.

  “I’m good enough at it that I can be persuasive without using much force. Vincent sees the advantage of a softer touch.”

  “I don’t know what I can tell you that you haven’t already been told.”

  “My visit is to fill in the gaps. First of all, how is the city organized? I understand the group I’m with,” Jason avoided using the word ‘mob’, “does the collecting of taxes, but who makes the rules? Who decides what the city is doing or going to do next?”

  Daniels was silent, as if considering his answer.

  Jason continued, “Do you or the mayor have any say in what the city does? I’m sure there are a lot of rebuilding projects going on. You’ve gone beyond what most of cities have done in getting a power plant back online.”

  “Yeah, that’s quite an accomplishment isn’t it?”

  “Did you do that?”

  Daniels shook his head. “No, I made a few suggestions but that was Albert Tagliani’s idea. The mayor and I helped round up some of the technical people to make that happen.”

  “I imaging they were pretty special, with skills like that. They must have been heroes to the town.”

  Daniels smirked. “You’d think that wouldn’t you?”

  Jason paused to stare at the man. “That wasn’t the case?”

  “Let’s just say, they did their job and were happy to be done with it. Others are now used to keep things going.”

  “So, what do you do? Are you in touch with other FEMA offices?”

  “Not really. You know there’s no communication over any distances now. I don’t do much of anything. I wasn’t trained for anything like this.” He turned to look out of his window at the overgrown park across the street. “We can barely hold off the chaos of nature, let alone that of humans.”

  “What’s the plan for Charlotte? What’s Mr. Tagliani trying to accomplish?”

  Michael Daniels turned back to Jason. “They don’t tell me much. So far, it’s just to bring more order to the city. They’ve done a lot to pacify it and restore services.”

  “That’s it? Just maintain order? Doesn’t seem like much of a goal for the group.”

  “There are rumors,” Michael almost muttered to himself.

  “Tell me.”

  “You should wait to hear it from your boss.”

  “That’s just it. I don
’t get to talk to my boss that often, just my crew boss, Tony, and he doesn’t know much.”

  “Then why should you know more?”

  “It’s in my nature for one thing. For another it’s for my safety. I’m new here, remember. Also, I can keep secrets. That’s one of the ways I’ve made it so far.”

  Daniels seemed to be thinking about Jason’s words. “It’s just a rumor. I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard some discussion of the families joining together to organize the whole east coast, Boston to Charlotte.”

  “That’s impossible. How could they do that?”

  Daniels shrugged. “Who knows? The government stood by and allowed them to pacify Charlotte and now they’re in power. Maybe like that?”

  “It seems a bit fantastic.”

  Daniels nodded. “Ambitious isn’t it? Charlotte is sort of the southern anchor. The group in Atlanta doesn’t have much power. It’s a FEMA regional center. They have a lot of assets and so civic order didn’t break down as much there. Anyway, the way I understand it, the plan is to connect the cities and create a unified control structure under the organization from here up to Boston.”

  Jason sat there stunned. “But how? From what I’ve seen, the crew I work with wouldn’t be much good at conquest and control. Collecting payments, yes, busting heads, yes, intimidating, but not taking over other cities and territory.”

  “That’s what a militia’s for. We’re building a large one here. Organized, well trained. They got some military guy to run it and he’s doing a good job.”

  “And then they’ll send it out? What about the army, our own military? This sounds crazy.”

  “It’s only a rumor as far as I know. Maybe just a dream. Maybe the families think this is the best way to preserve their organization. Who knows? The feds may be aiding them, or at least not standing in their way, figuring this is a good way to restore order. Remember, the government has worked with the mafia in the past. Think about Cuba for instance.”

  “And that didn’t go well from what I read.”

  Daniels held up his hands. “I’m just an observer and as far as I know it’s only a rumor. But I do hear that the other families are busy working to gain control in a number of cities. Charlotte is pretty far along compared to the others. I heard Joe talking about New York. He said it was still chaotic with different gangs fighting each other. You have the Mexicans, the Columbians, the Russians, the black gangs. The mafia families there are trying to align with the Feds who are struggling to create some order. Together they may be able to stamp out the other gangs, or at least tamp them down. That might put them in charge in the end.”

  He got up and walked to the window.

  “All I know is I’m glad I’m not in New York or Boston.”

  “In the meantime, you don’t really do anything?”

  “Nope. Just write up an article now and then about rebuilding projects. All aimed at keeping people encouraged and happy with things as they are.”

  “And the mayor?”

  “The same.”

  His voice sounded sad, defeated. There seemed to be little else Daniels could tell Jason. He stood up.

  “I appreciate your candor, filling me in.”

  “Not sure what you do with the information.” Michael gave Jason a discerning look. “You’re not a member of the gang, are you? Not one of them?”

  Jason shook his head. “It shows? No, I’m not. I doubt I’ll ever be.”

  “Not cut from the same cloth. There’s something different about you. I can’t imagine you beating up innocent people.”

  “You mean ‘civilians’? That’s the word the mafia uses.”

  Daniels winced and nodded. “You have another purpose for being here? You’re not just an itinerant gun for hire, are you?”

  Jason smiled. “Let’s just say, I’m someone who might be of some help to you down the road, if you help me.”

  “And how do I do that?”

  “Let me know what you hear. If important things are going to happen, I’d like to know about them early on.”

  “That could get me in trouble.”

  Jason gave him a stern look. “Mr. Daniels, if things progress as you outlined to me, how long do you think it will be before someone wonders what use you are to them? I suppose they pay you pretty well for your PR work, but what about when they don’t need it?”

  Daniels face clouded over.

  “What I’m saying,” Jason continued, “is I may be of help to you when that time comes.”

  “If we’re going to help each other, how will we keep in touch? I assume you didn’t just wander through a checkpoint. Most people at your level need permission to get in.”

  “I’ll find a go-between. Someone who can navigate back and forth. I’ll have them get in touch.” Jason reached out and shook Michael Daniels’ hand. “Thanks for your help and thanks for keeping this meeting off record. Is your receptionist okay about this? Can she keep a secret?”

  “She’ll be fine.” He smiled. “This has been an interesting morning.”

  Jason turned and left.

  Chapter 17

  ___________________________________

  T he next day Jason asked Tony if he could meet with Vincent.

  “What do you want to bother Vincent for?”

  “You know Frank Russo, the meat guy?”

  “Yeah, what about him?”

  “Well you know how good his product is. I was thinking if Vincent could get him a pass into the inner part of town, he could go once a week, maybe, and set up a street stand. Sell more product, make more money.”

  “What good does that do us? We only get to collect a certain amount each week.”

  “Maybe we take a cut off of his extra earnings. He’ll still net more after he pays his taxes. It’s a win-win, for him and for us.”

  “You talking about skimming from Vincent? Pocketing the extra take?”

  Jason shook his head vigorously. “No, no. I get that’s a bad idea. It’s extra kicked up to Vincent. He may give us, you, some of that, but he can do with it what he wants. In any case it makes our crew look good because we increase his earnings.”

  They were in a bar having a beer. Tony smiled and looked out the window to the street as he thought about it.

  “Whether Vincent wants to kick the money up is his call. We don’t want to get involved with that.”

  “Damn right we don’t,” Tony said.

  “I’m also guessing this is something Vincent would have to do. Hell, Tony, I don’t know who issues those kinds of passes. I’m still trying to figure things out.”

  “I think you’ve got a lot of things figured out.” He took a swig of his beer. “It’s a clever idea. I’ll take it to Vincent.”

  “You want me to come along?”

  “No, I’ll do it. You keep doing what you’re doing. I like the idea, but don’t get thinking you’re a mastermind. Vincent won’t appreciate it.”

  Jason lifted his glass to clink against Tony’s. “Well, let me be the one to work it out with Frank. I haven’t told him yet. I wanted to see if it could fly first.”

  “Jesus, Jason. Get your ass over there and get Frank on it. If Vincent gives it his okay, Frank’s gotta do it. Otherwise we’ll look like idiots. If Vincent says he likes the idea, Frank ain’t got a choice. You let him know.”

  He waved his hand to indicate Jason should leave and get on with setting things up.

  Jason sat down with Frank and his daughter in the back room of their shop. Ramona kept an eye on the front door in case a customer came in. After explaining the idea to both of them he sat back with a smile on his face, thinking he had scored a victory.

  “I don’t know,” Frank said after listening to Jason. “I make more, I just have to pay Tony more.”

  “You do pay him some more, but it’s a cut off of the extra you make. Your weekly taxes don’t change, so you’re money ahead, even after giving Tony a cut. You said you needed to save up money to fund an esc
ape for you and Ramona. Here’s your chance without risking getting beat up. Hell, they’ll be protecting you if your adding to their income.”

  “How do we know they won’t change their mind and just take all the extra we make?” Ramona asked. “They’re not very trustworthy.”

  She seemed to have finally gotten over Jason’s treatment of her father. All his subsequent visits had proven peaceful. She also seemed happy because Jason’s visiting meant the other members of Tony’s crew didn’t come around as much. They always were hitting on her. Gino in particular seemed to be the creepiest. She was afraid of him.

  “I can’t guarantee anything with the mob, but it’s not in their interests to make this deal not be economically viable for you.”

  “You realize I have to purchase more to do this?”

  “I do. But you’re a businessman. You invest in the materials, make a product, sell it for more than your cost, and take home your profit. Increase your sell-through and you increase your profits.”

  “The initial step forward to higher volumes is the hard part. It’s front-loaded with costs before I sell the first sausage. And the hams are a longer-term investment when you consider the curing time.”

  Jason smiled at Frank. “I get all of that. But in the end, it works.” He leaned forward. “Look, things may get crazy around here in the near future. Don’t ask me how, but you need to maximize your income now. An upheaval may be coming.”

  “What do you know?” Ramona asked.

  Jason just shook his head.

  “I’d start with the sausages. They’re special. And raise the price. The people in the inner city have more money. They can afford it. That should help cover you upfront costs.”

  The conversation went on into the evening with Frank and his daughter finally coming around.

  “Why do you want to help us so much?” Ramona asked.

  “First of all, you’re good people. That’s reason enough. Second, I need something in return from your father.”

  “Here it comes,” Ramona said with a harsh tone in her voice. “I knew there’d be a price to pay.”