Final Target

by Jack Young

  After she took a sip of her beer, Jamie set the can on the table. “I take it the store isn’t the only place you work. What else is it you do?”

  “Not something that pays enough if I had to hang on to that job at the store as long as I did.”

  “So, what is it you do then?”

  “I do occasional dirty deeds others won’t do.”

  “What does that mean?” Then she thought about it. “Oh my God. Do you kill people?”

  Davy looked her in the eyes as he took another drink. Jamie could see the answer in his eyes. This didn’t seem to scare her though. “I trust you, Jamie. You and my brother. But, he’s too obvious of a connection to me and this money. Those who want it back would go after him.”

  “And you want me to make all that cash disappear? Why me?”

  “Like I said, I trust you.”

  “Won’t they come after me, too?”

  “Maybe. You okay with that?”

  She put a hand on his arm. “Yeah. It’s okay. I’ll do it still. I’ll begin first thing tomorrow. I’ll even leave town to do it. I’ll buy those cards at a bunch of places in Billings and work my way to Butte. I think I can get a bunch filled and then work my way around the state. I can do this.”

  Davy smiled and took her hand. “Um, you know I, um, I do care about you. I know we said no-string attached to whatever it is we’re doing, but…”

  She cut him off and kissed him. “I do, too.” She pointed to the table. “So, the money has something to do with what you do on the side?”

  “Yeah. I ran into trouble the other day. You hear about that shit at Target?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Someone is trying to take me out because they know I took the money. Well, half of the money. I split it with this other guy. They already tried to take him out, but ended up just killing his pregnant girlfriend. I don’t like it when people try to kill me and this guy wants to get those who killed his girl. I told him I’d help because I know these guys.”

  “You know who’s coming after you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Does whoever know you guys are coming after him?”

  “I’m sure he does.”

  “Then, if he knows, you won’t be surprising him.”

  “Yeah. I was just thinking about that when you startled me.”

  Jamie took another drink of her beer. “Smoke ‘em out.”

  “What?”

  “Ever have a snake or rodent problem?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ever do anything to get them or did you just wait around for them to show up again?”

  “I’d leave cheese on those glue traps for mice.”

  “There you go. Find a way draw these guys out and put you and this other guy in a spot where you’d have the upper hand. What’s the other guy’s name?”

  “Paden.”

  “Payton?”

  “No. Paden. It rhymes with maiden. Spelled a little different though.”

  She giggled. “Ok. Paden. You and this Paden gotta figure out some way to smoke these guys out then.”

  Davy smiled at Jamie. “Smart girl.”

  Jamie shrugged. “I watch a lot of movies.

  He went to the fridge. “Want another beer?”

  “If you’re having one, then I’ll have one.”

  “I am.”

  He grabbed two more cans from the fridge. When handing Jamie hers, he grabbed her by the waists and pulled her into him. He lowered his head and kissed her. She kissed him back. As he began steering her body towards his bedroom, she tried to set her can of beer on the kitchen table. Davy stopped her. “Bring it. For after.”

  Davy sat at the kitchen table cleaning the weapons. He had a pot of coffee brewing in the machine. Although the shade was pulled down, there was enough light shining through the window to allow him to see what he was doing. He wondered if this was going to be his last sunrise. He and Paden couldn’t wait any longer if they were going to do this. Today had to be the day.

  When the coffee was ready, Davy poured himself a cup and continued cleaning. His thoughts turned to that of Paden. He barely knew him, but he trusted him more than most. Probably, because the guy was so mission-oriented at the moment and that spoke volumes to Davy. He meant it when he told Paden he felt partly responsible for his girlfriend’s death and wanted to help. Now that they knew Sean Brady was behind the hit, Davy was more than happy to help take him out.

  Davy drank two cups of coffee while cleaning weapons. When that was completed, he washed his hands and rummaged around the kitchen looking for something to make for breakfast. He had a few slices of pre-cut and packaged SPAM, bread, and cheese, and with that he made SPAM and cheese on toast.

  “That smells pretty good.” Davy turned to see Jamie walking into the kitchen. She wasn’t dressed like in some movie where the next morning the woman would be wearing one of the guy’s old t-shirts that went halfway down her thighs. Instead, she was still wearing the clothes she arrived in, her uniform for the store. Her hair was fixed in a pony tail and she wasn’t wearing makeup. She never wore much anyway and still looked pretty damn good.

  “Hope you’re hungry. I made plenty.”

  “Oh yeah. I think you may not have made enough. Have you ever seen me eat?”

  He had and although she didn’t look it, she could keep up with any hungry man in the room. Her appetite was something their co-workers teased her about often. She wasn’t pencil-thin, but she also wasn’t carrying any extra pounds.

  When Jamie came up next to Davy, he felt it was natural to pull her in for a “good morning” kiss. There was no resistance from Jamie and a feeling surged through his body. It was a feeling he’d only had once before. That was about ten years before, but his work for Big John kept him busy to where he was hardly around to try and make it work. The girl dumped him and moved away. Now, on what he kept telling himself could be his last day alive, those feelings were coming back. He wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to express these feelings to Jamie. In the end, he decided against it.

  Davy poured Jamie a cup of coffee as she grabbed a couple of sandwiches. He set her coffee next to her and moved the weapons in the living room. He left a loaded pistol on the table with them as they ate. Each had two helpings in silence which was broken by Jamie. “Today the day?”

  Davy saw her mouth move and heard what she asked, but having someone else mention it took a moment for him to process. “Yeah. I think so. I just have to connect with Paden. I know there has to be a hit on me in the works. We thought we fixed that, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be another one. I told him I’d help him with what he wants to do. Plus, this is something Big John has been planning, too. He wants to be the boss and to do so, I need to take out his boss. Paden is helping with that.”

  “But, you could end up dead, too.”

  “Yeah, but that’s something I’ve had to live with since I was thirteen.” He then told Jamie about how Sean Brady helped guide him to kill Connor all those years ago and how Brady wanted Davy to kill Trudy. Big John swore he had nothing to do with it, but the girl died anyway. He didn’t want to, but at that moment he began to wonder if Big John lied to him.

  “Geez. No wonder you sometimes keep to yourself.”

  “I did what I thought needed to be done for my mom and Orrin. I was young and never thought out the consequences of my actions. Between what I stashed for you to handle and what I gave my brother, I could’ve took off and lived comfortable for a long time.”

  “So, why the job at the store?”

  “The extra money, I guess. After the Trudy thing, I told Big John I needed to take a step back for a little bit. Remember how I all of a sudden started working there more often? That’s because I only took jobs if I absolutely needed to. Most of the time, they were small jobs: breaking and entering, roughing someone up and things like that. The Target thing was my first big thing in over a year.”

  “And now, you’re gonna help this Paden guy get his reven
ge?”

  “We did that already, but Big John has us doing this other thing. I want to do this. I don’t know if I cared about Nan to where I was in love, but I did care about her enough that her death still pisses me off and I want Sean to pay.”

  “So, why did you take the Target job?”

  “To help my mom and brother. I wanted to get them some money to ease things up. I was thinking I’d leave town after it.”

  “Where were you planning to go?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno. Just away from here.”

  “And now you have to finish this, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Are you leaving still?”

  “One way or the other.”

  “When are you hooking up with Paden?”

  “As soon as I hear from him.”

  “Could be minutes or it could be hours?”

  “Could be.”

  Jamie stood and grabbed his hand and pulled at it. Davy stood and she led him back to the bedroom. “I may never see you again. Paden can wait.”

  A couple of hours later, Davy’s phone vibrated on the nightstand next to his bed. He reached for the phone and saw it was a text from Paden: Where are you?

  Davy: Home

  Paden: Be there soon

  Davy: OK

  Davy looked over at Jamie who was still sleeping. He carefully stood and dressed. Before he left the bedroom, he bent down and kissed her on the head. He didn’t know how the rest of his day would go, but he knew he would try his best to come back to her.

  29.

  Joe was sitting at the kitchen table reading a Harlan Coben paperback he began the night before when his phone vibrated. It was a little past six as he opened the text from Jacobs: Forensics came back

  Joe: OK. I’ll be in soon

  Joe didn’t hear any moving around from upstairs yet and it was still a tad too soon to get the kids moving, so he refilled his cup of coffee and continued reading his book. The forensic reports weren’t going anywhere and he didn’t want to leave the house without at least saying goodbye to Darcy.

  He sat at the kitchen table reading his book and became so immersed in it that he didn’t hear Darcy come down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Mornin’, babe.”

  He watched her walk to the coffee pot and pour herself a cup. Her hair was damp and she wore a robe he’d bought her a few birthdays before and after all the years of marriage, he knew she was naked under it. “Mornin’. How did you sleep?”

  She spooned in some sugar and turned to face him. “Joe, you don’t even know. I must’ve been so exhausted that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.”

  “I could tell. You were snoring within a couple of minutes. Just going to town, too.”

  She laughed a little. “Whatever. You know I don’t snore.”

  She was right. She didn’t snore, but when she was in a deep sleep, Darcy would breathe deep into her nose and let it out from her mouth. It was cute and he always loved it.

  Joe put the slip of paper he was using as a bookmark in his book. “Nelson just texted from the station.”

  Darcy blew on her coffee. “Does he ever sleep? Seems like he’s either always at the station or he wakes up earlier than you…and you wake up early.”

  “I think it’s a little bit of both.”

  “What did he want?”

  “Off the record, forensics came back from that thing we went to yesterday before hitting the deer.”

  “That’s it? He texted you this early just for that?”

  “Yeah. I told him to text me when he heard something and he did. I told him I’d be there as soon as I could.”

  “Well, you can go ahead and go if you need to. I’ll get dressed and get the kids up and moving.”

  “You sure?”

  “Oh yeah. We’ll be fine.”

  He swallowed the rest of his coffee and stood. “Thanks, babe.” He walked over to her and kissed her. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  “See you when I see you.”

  “We’ll be here when you do.”

  That was their usual thing they said to each other when Joe left for work. Joe hopped into his car and pulled out of the driveway. Once in the street, he straightened out to drive. He took one more look at his house and saw Darcy in the window blowing him a kiss. He blew one back and drove away.

  He thought about his career as a cop. Joe had over twenty years in and most as a detective. He could retire soon and receive his full pension, but all three kids were still in school and college bound over the course of the next few years. Jacobs would be retiring soon though, leaving Joe as one of the old guys in the department. There were a couple of others who were a little older, but Joe had started before they did and next to Jacobs and the chief, he had seniority over all of them.

  Joe had another option that had been offered to him several times over the last three years. The police academy had been offering him an instructor position in which the hours and pay would be better. He visited with Darcy about it several times and she only told him that, although it would get him off the streets which would make her relax better everyday, it was his decision and he should do whatever makes him happy. He knew the hours, pay, and less risk would do wonders for him and his family, but he wasn’t sure he would be happy. He was a cop, not a teacher. He belonged on the street putting bad guys away. Plus, taking the academy position would mean relocating everyone to Helena and he didn’t believe it was fair to them. In one of their many discussions on the topic, Darcy expressed how everyone would adjust. She could get a job at the Helena newspaper easily. She had an old college classmate who was now an editor there. Since it was ultimately Joe’s decision, she rarely brought it up until he did.

  Joe snapped out of his thoughts as he pulled into the station. It was still before seven, but he saw Jacob’s car in the parking lot as expected. He put his recent thoughts on hold to focus on the current cases. He couldn’t take that teaching position yet anyway and leave his partner to deal with all the shit by himself. He let out a deep breath. “Okay. Here we go.”

  ***

  Jacobs wasn’t at his desk when Joe entered the station. This wasn’t unusual though. Jacobs was twenty years older than Joe and needed to use the bathroom more often. Joe smiled thinking that was probably going to be him when he was older and then he wondered if he’d still be working as a detective that long.

  Joe had the highest respect for his partner. He knew Jacobs from before he was a cop. He went to school with one of Jacobs’ daughters Priscilla. They weren’t friends, but were active in the same clubs in which sometimes parents were involved. Jacobs often came to the schools to present a “Don’t Do Drugs” presentation and worked with individual classes. Joe always admired the way he presented himself and in the eighth grade, he knew he wanted to be a cop like Nelson Jacobs. He never imagined he would be partnered and mentored by him. Jacobs was like an uncle to him and he would miss being his partner when that day ultimately arrived.

  When Jacobs finally appeared, he wasn’t returning from the bathroom but from the chief’s office. “Oh. Good. Look who finally decided to show up for work.”

  As usual, Joe knew he was teasing him. “Yeah, these damn bills I have are a bitch. I figured I better go to work so I can pay them.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  Joe went and poured himself and Jacobs a cup of coffee and, as part of his routine, put another dollar in the can next to the pot. He handed Jacobs his cup and chin-pointed to the chief’s office. “What’d the boss want?”

  Jacobs shrugged. “Eh. He just wanted an update. Says the bodies are piling up and we need to quit fucking around and nail these guys.”

  Joe smiled and nodded. “I’m sure you reminded him that this was a process and we are getting close to putting it all together.”

  “Oh yeah, but you know the boss. Anything but instant results means we’re not working hard enough.”

  “We got forensics
back from the farmhouse though, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Anything good? Anything that puts either Evans or Carlyle or both there?”

  “Maybe. Ballistics came back showing both guys were shot with guns used in some previous murders. Older ones, you know. Some are ones Carlyle has been connected to, but nothing good to nail him with.”

  “Really? Which ones?”

  “Remember that big Indian fella we found three years ago along the river?”

  “Yeah. The guy was from Browning, right?”

  “Yep. That guy.”

  “And why were we looking at Davy for it?”

  “The guy stole a whole truckload of goods from Sean Brady.”

  “Oh yeah and then he scrapped it out with Davy the night before in a diner over on Central.”

  “And we know, but can’t prove yet, that Carlyle has been doing hits for Brady over the years.”

  “None that could stick from what the reports say.”

  “Right. So, the bullet found in the floor and the casings lying around were from the gun that killed Davis. He was sitting on the couch and shot in the back of the head. The bullet came from the same gun that killed the Indian from Browning.”

  “Okay, what about the other one?”

  “That one goes farther back. Fifteen years at least. It matches to a gun used to kill a guy named Connor Jones.”

  “I don’t remember that one.”

  “Jones was shacked up with Dottie Carlyle back then. David Carlyle’s mother. Jones was a drunken asshole. You ever get called to their house?”

  “Oh shit. Yeah. He would beat on her and she’d call the cops. I went there a couple times.”

  “Well, his body was eventually found in a shallow grave by some Elmer Fudd-like hunter… a bullet in his head.”

  “And you think Davy had something to do with that? He was, like, twelve then.”

  Jacobs shrugged. “Twelve is old enough to shoot someone who was beating up your mother. I had my suspicions then, but had nothing concrete. Over the years since then though, I’ve seen him around with John McIntosh who I know is capable of that shit.”