After The Fall (Book 4): Undercover

by Nees, David

  Jason smiled, shook his hand, and left. He’d go back to his gear and wait for dark. The guards posted overnight would present a problem. He wasn’t sure he could get Ernie out without dealing with them. Got to do what’s necessary.

  He settled down to wait. Always the waiting. Jason closed his eyes and listened to the clink of tools accompanied by the eerie silence of no voices.

  Chapter 29

  ___________________________________

  B y evening Tony had moved from annoyed to concerned. Neither Jason nor Gino had shown up. No one had seen or heard from them. None of the civilians they would have dealt with during the day had seen them. Something was up. Something not good. Something he didn’t relish telling Vincent about. Give it some time.

  “What do you think, boss?” Rocco asked. They were sitting in the back of Tony’s favorite bar. “Where could those guys be?”

  Tony didn’t tell Rocco that Gino had planned to follow Jason the night before, to see what he was up to.

  “Hell if I know,” Tony said. “Maybe they decided to go to the beach together.”

  Rocco let out a short laugh. “Not likely. Gino don’t like beaches and he don’t like Jason. He wouldn’t go anywhere with him.”

  “I was joking, dumbass.”

  “Sorry boss.” Rocco looked chagrined.

  Tony got up. “I’m gonna visit some of Jason’s customers. You can wait here, but I doubt I’ll be back.”

  “Gino and I were going to go over to that club on Summerset. Have few drinks, get a lap dance.” He shook his head. “Can’t believe he’d miss that. I’ll be over there. He might show up.”

  “You do that.”

  Tony left the bar. He headed over to Frank Russo’s sausage shop. If he hurried, he could catch him before he went home. Frank had been friendly to Jason ever since he had gotten Frank the opportunity to sell in the downtown area and increase his income. Maybe Frank had heard from him.

  Tony arrived just as Frank was locking up for the night.

  “Frank, take a minute. I need to talk with you.”

  Frank looked at Tony, then back at Ramona. “You go on ahead. I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

  Ramona gave Tony a sour look and walked off. Frank opened his shop door and he and Tony went inside.

  “What do you want?” Frank asked after they sat down in the back room.

  “You seen Jason today?”

  Frank shook his head.

  “When’s the last time you saw him?”

  “What’s up?”

  “Just answer me.” Tony’s voice showed his irritation.

  Frank thought for a moment. He came by here yesterday, in the afternoon.”

  “Did he say or do anything unusual?”

  Frank hesitated. Tony noticed the pause. “Don’t hold back on me, Frank. I helped with the plan for you to sell downtown. You owe me on that. You get to keep a pretty good part of the extra income. Don’t make me regret helping you out.”

  Frank sighed. “He didn’t say anything but he bought me out of sausage. All the smoked and pre-cooked ones. Some ham’s too.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He didn’t say. He just bought them all. It was a nice bump in income for this week, but now I’ve got a shortage of product.”

  Tony sat there. What the hell would Jason want all that meat for? Was he feeding a family? People Tony didn’t know about? Jason didn’t seem to be one to keep a family on the side, hidden like that.

  “Did Gino come by as well?”

  Frank shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen him for a week.” He looked at Tony. “You know Ramona doesn’t like Gino. He gives her the creeps.”

  Tony gave Frank a hard look, his eyes cold and unfriendly. “Frank, I don’t give a crap what Ramona thinks. You keep her in line. She goes around bad-talking me, Gino, or anyone else in my crew, she’s going to have problems. You got that?”

  Frank nodded.

  “I didn’t hear you,” Tony said, his voice cold.

  “I got it. Don’t worry about Ramona. She keeps her opinions to herself…except for me.”

  Tony got up.

  “You hear from Jason. He gets a message to you or comes by, you come and tell me. You know where to find me.”

  “Okay. But I doubt I’ll see him again.”

  Tony stopped. “What makes you say that?”

  “I don’t know. Just his tone and attitude.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “Nothing in particular. It was just like I said. Something in his tone. He told me to not mess around with you, play it straight. It was like giving me a last piece of advice.”

  Tony looked long and hard at Frank.

  “And that’s it?”

  Frank held up his hands and nodded.

  “Well, if he shows up you tell me, right?”

  Frank nodded his head.

  Tony left the store. Did Jason just stock up for a long trip? Was he bugging out? Hell, he’d just gotten a big promotion. It had pissed Gino off and was going to put pressure on Tony and the rest of his crew. Did Jason find out what had happened to Nino and decided he didn’t want any part of that? If he didn’t show by tomorrow, Tony was going to have to go to Vincent who’d have to go to Joe. Better to let his boss know. He didn’t want to keep him in the dark if something was wrong. Gino was another issue, but Tony had the feeling that both of them being missing was somehow related.

  After Jason had left the camp, Todd wrote a short note and handed it to one of the young men in the tent.

  “Get on your bicycle and take this to Joe Nicoletti.” He gave the messenger another note. “This will get you into the inner city. Go to the city-county office building and tell them you have a message for Joe.

  The boy nodded and ran out to his bike. He liked the opportunity to get away from the depressing atmosphere of the camp. He didn’t find riding his bike fifteen or twenty miles a hardship. He bicycled before the EMP attack as a little kid and, now four years later, was even more skilled at it, having grown strong with the steady routine of exercise.

  He got to the office building while it was still daylight but he’d be riding back to the camp at night, in the cold. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do, but then he could take his time. And maybe Joe, the boy knew he was an important boss, would offer him a meal, or give him some money to buy one.

  He was frisked by a guard and allowed to enter. After telling the person manning a counter on the main floor his instructions, he was directed to the top floor. The courier grew more nervous with each floor he climbed. When he got to the office, his voice was shaking when he told the receptionist why he was there.

  She picked up her phone and spoke into it. Then she ushered the boy into Joe’s office after knocking on the door.

  “You got a note for me?” Joe said looking up from his desk.

  The boy nodded, afraid to speak. He held out the note and Joe took it from him. After reading it he jotted down a response and handed it back to the boy.

  “Don’t lose it. Get this back to Todd tonight.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Joe waved him out of the office. The boy left, disappointed that he wouldn’t be getting a free meal. As he passed the receptionist, she called out to him to stop.

  “Did you get anything to eat?”

  The boy shook his head.

  She reached into her drawer, took out some bills, and gave the boy a small wad.

  “Get something to eat before you head back to the camp. That’s a long trip. Did you walk?”

  “No ma’am. I rode my bike.”

  “Good for you.” She smiled. “Anyway, treat yourself before you go back. You look like you could use a good meal.” She smiled at him and he turned to go.

  Night fell. Jason felt more energized after having some rest. He ate some food and drank some of his water. Ernie won’t have a way to tell time. I’ll have to get closer and watch for the shift to end. Ernie’s work shift was now in action.
He would be at it, under lights, for eight hours. Around four in the morning, he’d go back to his tent to sleep. Jason couldn’t act until then.

  He wrapped himself in his jacket and curled up. The night was getting colder. Sleep wouldn’t come, but he continued to rest and conserve his strength.

  After the messenger had gone, Joe sighed and got up. He went out to the receptionist.

  “Call the car around. I got to go see Vincent.”

  She nodded and Joe headed downstairs. He’d let Vincent know Jason had gone to the camp, getting a head start on his job. Vincent probably wondered where he’d been all day. It showed initiative, even if it was odd that he’d told no one.

  Joe and Vincent were eating dinner in one of the hotels in the central downtown. There were four that survived with limited menus. They worked because of the introduction of the scrip money. The chefs, happy to not be reassigned to some other tasks, worked hard to prepare tasty dishes from the variety of meats available to them, rabbit, chicken, venison, wild boar, duck and geese, with the occasional pheasant or quail thrown in. The fact that these establishments served the power elite ensured they had a good supply of food even if the rest of the civilians got by on a more limited fare available to them.

  “That explains why I haven’t seen him all day. But why the hell not tell anyone?” Vincent asked after Joe told him where Jason showed up.

  “Maybe he figured you wouldn’t give him permission,” Joe replied.

  “Maybe.”

  “It shows initiative. He wants to make this work. Good for him, good for you as well.”

  “You think he heard what happened to Nino?”

  Joe shrugged his shoulders. “Hell if I know. It doesn’t matter in the end. He’s the one now has to do the job.”

  “I was beginning to think he’d disappeared, left town. That maybe he’d heard the story and didn’t want any part of that.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  Vincent related what he’d been told about Jason’s visit to Frank Russo.

  “And Gino’s missing as well. Haven’t seen him all day.”

  “What the hell does that have to do with Jason?”

  “He said he was going to follow Jason. Told me yesterday. He was sure Jason was up to something. The man had visited a woman and her kids. She said he was going to help her get her husband back. He’s in the coal camp.”

  “Maybe he had two reasons for going out there. But I still don’t see what Gino has to do with all this.”

  “I don’t either. But something in my gut says they’re related. And that may not be good. If Jason whacks a made man, that changes everything.”

  “You telling me you think that’s what happened?” Joe asked.

  “Anything’s possible. They didn’t like each other.”

  Chapter 30

  ___________________________________

  A round 2 am Jason headed for the camp. He worked his way through the trees next to the road. He’d wait near the latrines. From there he’d be able to see when the shift changed. There had to be men going to the latrines all through the night which would give Ernie an excuse.

  As he got closer, the smell wafted over Jason when the breeze shifted. He was glad of the cold; it helped to tamp down the noxious odor. Waited in worse places, but not by much. Again, he huddled under his jacket.

  The latrines consisted of a series of long tarps arranged as canopies over pits dug into the ground. They were in four parallel rows that stretched away from the housing tents. They had a look that indicated they could be uprooted and moved to a new location easily. Probably do that every once in a while. Bury the crap and start all over again.

  There was a guard posted at the latrines. He walked around the entrances for each of the four rows. No one could get past without him seeing. At the far end of each latrine, a tarp was staked down. It kept the men from leaving at the rear without having to do something overt, like cutting the tarp. Such an act would be seen as the equivalent of trying to escape which Jason figured would have severe consequences.

  Ernie’s going to have to slip under the back flap or else I’ll have to deal with the guard. He had no desire to kill the guard who was likely someone culled off the street and probably didn’t want to be there any more than the workers. But whatever it would take. The guard might suffer from being on the wrong side of things before the night was over.

  An hour after the change in shift, the camp had settled down, deep into the late fall night. Aside from the muted noise of the never-ending work, everything was dark and silent. As Jason watched a figure emerged from one of the tents. A moment later two smaller figures emerged from an adjacent tent and joined the first. What the hell?

  Now Jason was unsure if the first figure was Ernie. He’d have to wait until they got closer.

  When they approached the latrines the three were stopped by the guard. Jason could only hear murmurs of the resulting conversation. Then the three figures entered one of the latrine rows. The guard watched and then walked off to place himself at the path leading back to the tents. A few minutes later, when no one emerged, the guard walked back and peered into the dark latrine row.

  Probably can’t see inside much. Jason watched and then saw the three figures emerge from the back of the latrine. At the same time the guard, either seeing the three go under the flap, or suspecting that had occurred, ran around to the back and confronted them.

  He had his rifle up and aimed. Jason crept through the trees and emerged into the tall grass behind the latrines. He crept closer. The guard’s attention was focused on the three. Jason could now see that it was Ernie and two boys. He crept closer to get within striking range.

  “What are you up to?” the guard asked in a surly voice.

  Ernie didn’t answer. Neither did the two boys.

  “You thinking about escaping?”

  “No,” Ernie said.

  “Then why crawl out through the back?”

  “I just wanted to see what was back here.”

  The guard gave a short laugh. “I doubt that.” He shifted his rifle to point directly at Ernie. “I’m going to walk you three to the guard’s quarters. You can explain yourself to my boss. I don’t know what you’re up to, but it don’t look good. In fact, it looks pretty stupid. You think I wouldn’t notice you going out the back?” He shook his head. “Pretty dumb.”

  “Please don’t take us to the guard’s quarters,” the taller boy said.

  The guard ignored him, keeping his focus on Ernie. “And what’s up with the boys? You trying to do something with them? That’ll get you into more trouble. Nobody gets to do that.”

  “I wasn’t trying to do anything with the boys. I’ve taken care of them. I don’t let the other workers harm them and I keep them away from the guards who might abuse them. I’ve got a son of my own.”

  “Tell it to my boss. But from what I see, you’re going to get time in the box. Now let’s get going.”

  Jason had been inching closer during the conversation. Now he sprang from behind. He slammed into the guard’s back grabbing the man’s trigger hand, blocking any pull. They fell to the ground; the guard’s face pressed into the dirt. He gave out a grunt as the wind was partially knocked out of him. Jason flung the carbine aside. The man squirmed and Jason punched him in the kidney.

  He took out his sheath knife and put it to the man’s neck. With his knee in the guard’s lower back, he leaned close to him.

  “One sound out of you and I’ll cut your neck open, he whispered. “Grab his rifle,” Jason said to Ernie.

  When the rifle was in Ernie’s hands, Jason turned back to the guard.

  “I’ve got two choices. The safe one is to kill you now and dump you in the woods. The less safe one is to tie you up and leave you to be found in the morning. If you make any noise or cause me any trouble, I’ll take the first option. Got it?”

  The man nodded.

  “Jason—”

  “No names,” Jason said in
a sharp voice.

  “Sorry. Please don’t kill him.”

  “If he cooperates, he’ll be fine. He won’t be found until his shift changes. Help me take off his jacket and we’ll use the sleeves for a gag.” Jason leaned down again from behind the guard and spoke to him. “Don’t do anything foolish. You make a sound and I’ll take the easy way out of this and kill you on the spot. I’m going to take the knife from your throat, but I can slice you open in an instant if you try to call out. Stay quiet and you’ll live.”

  Ernie and Jason wrestled the guard out of his coat while the two boys looked on. When they had it off, Jason cut one of the sleeves into strips. One he bunched up and jammed into the guard’s mouth. With another he tied the gag in place.

  “Now for his arms,” Jason said. “Take off his belt.”

  Ernie removed the guard’s belt. Jason pulled the man’s arms behind his back and tied them with the belt.

  “Pull his cap over his eyes,” Jason said. The man was wearing a wool watch cap. Next he had Ernie remove the man’s boot laces.

  “We’ll use them to tie his ankles and then pull them up to his arms in a hog tie. That will keep him secure until he’s found.”

  The guard mumbled something in protest.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be found. They’ll do a search and you’re in the woods close to the fence. You’ll be uncomfortable and cold, but that’s all.”

  Jason looked around. The camp was silent. If there were sentries posted along the fences, or in the corners of the fields, they couldn’t have seen what had taken place. Being behind the latrine, they were effectively screened. Now, crouched in the grass, they were even less visible.

  “Let’s get him back into the woods,” Jason said.

  They all crawled forward on hands and knees with Jason leading. Ernie held the guard to keep him from falling over. After they got in the strip of trees, Jason tied the guard’s ankles and pulled them up to his back. The man could only squirm on the ground. He couldn’t move and couldn’t make a sound heard more than ten feet away.