The Random Affair

by James H Roby

  Jordan’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as he exited the John C. Lodge Freeway. Physically he was merging onto the Ford Freeway eastbound, but in his mind, he was back in a Miami alleyway. Until now, Cody Random was a distant memory that tapped on the door of his consciousness once in a great while. Now the spectre of Random had return.

  I don’t need this. Not right now. It was bad then.

  ~

  Then.

  At least the Miami courtroom was empty, saved for the necessary parties of the attorneys, judge, recorder and bailiffs. The Defense Department’s request for only the most necessary persons be present was honored. It would do Jordan Noble and Eric Manning little good to be paraded in a public trial given the classified nature of their work.

  Reporters protested as did the defense team. But as Cody Random was afforded his constitutional right of a speedy trial, an open forum was not a requirement.

  Jordan and E-Man wore the monkey suits – Service Dress of the US Air Force complete with tie and jacket filled with ribbons and metals. It was part of the show, of course. As the two came in from a side entrance, judge and bailiffs all sat a little straighter in the presence of a couple of ‘America’s heroes’. Far removed from Cody Random’s prison orange with accompanying wrist and leg irons. Jordan didn’t know much about ‘optics’ but even he knew this looked bad.

  The plan was for the Air Force personnel to deliver their testimonies in the course of one day. The court would, the following day, reopen its doors to the general public. That was the plan.

  Things started normally. The judge began with some housekeeping items, a recap of the prior day’s events. And a wholly unneeded explanation of the closed-door session. The Representative for the People, a sharp dress blond woman with impressive credentials had been fully briefed, to an unclassified level, of Jordan and E-Man’s involvement. The Defense, a fattish man named Clark from a pool of public defenders, huffed and puffed but was likewise knowledgeable of covert operatives among them.

  The session began. E-Man was called forth. He testified to the operation beginning in Germany at Ramstein Air Base. That Random was distributing a controlled substance out of the enlisted quarters. This substance, Random dubbed crush was a variation of cocaine and no less dangerous or profitable. Really, more so on both accounts. When the profit margin was cut, due to an airman whose room Random operated demanding a bigger cut, Random killed him.

  E-Man might as well had been talking about the weather to judge Random’s reaction. The wild-eyed blond inspected his nails, shifted in his seat and at one point, yawned silently. His counsel leaned over to whisper something to which Random sucked air sharply through his teeth.

  E-Man was released and Jordan was next. He was sworn in.

  “Please state your name,” Clark asked.

  “Jordan Noble. Captain, United States Air Force.”

  “And what do you do, captain, for the Air Force?”

  “Objection, Your Honor.” The People’s Representative said coming to her feet. “The records show that the witness has been vetted and given the nature of his work within the military-”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” Clark said. “Withdrawn.”

  The next ten minutes was a repeat of the questions directed at E-Man. Eventually, they got to Miami.

  The fat lawyer rested his arm on the rail around the witness stand. “So, captain. As I understand it, you and my client were alone in the alley at,” A pause as he consulted his notes. “Miami and First.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jordan said.

  “How long?”

  “Sir?”

  “How long were you and my client alone in the alley?”

  Jordan paused but didn’t move. His eyes locked on the lawyer’s. Jordan liked to think it freaked him out a little. “I would say, two, two and half minutes.”

  “Plenty of time to assess the situation for danger.”

  “I don’t follow, sir.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “And I’m sure, if I say I don’t follow, then that is the case.” Jordan gave Clark his ‘fuck with me if you want to’ stare.

  “Your Honor.” The blond was on her feet again. “Is there a question here?”

  The fat lawyer whirled to the blond, then back to Jordan. “How’s this: Captain Noble, how many times have you been in mortal danger?”

  Jordan sniffed. “A few.”

  “Enough to recognize it?”

  “Once is enough for that, so yes.”

  The lawyer put his hands behind his back and wandered in a slow circle. Probably something he saw on “Law & Order”. “So, since you are capable, by your own admission, to recognize an immediate threat to your person, it is fair to say you were in no danger in the alley.”

  “Initially.”

  The lawyer turned back to the witness. “Initially?”

  “Yes, as in ‘at the beginning’.”

  “I’m aware of the meaning of the word. I’m curious as to how a man of your talents, an expert as it were, did not detect a threat to your life in the alley.”

  Jordan sighed. “Sir, I don’t-”

  “I’m curious why you shot Michael Random, the client’s brother. Maybe it wasn’t because you were in danger at all.”

  “That’s crazy. Michael Random was hiding.”

  “Was he?”

  “Of course, he was. Why else would I fire?”

  “I’ll ask the questions, captain. But since you asked, I’ll tell you. You fired because you had no case. The evidence connecting my client to Germany was laughable at best. But, if you tie him to an attempted murder, especially to a fine officer like yourself, you could ‘take down’ my client.”

  “What? I’m not even a cop. I don’t take down anyone!”

  “Yet you shot my client’s brother!”

  “Are you kidding me? The guy had a gun on me. Pointed at my back – not the actions of an innocent man.”

  “Captain Noble –”

  “Liar!” The entire room switched vision from the witness stand to Defense table. Cody Random was atop the table, on his back, rolling over it. A pause passed through the room as no one could believe the shackled man was flipping over the desk. Random got to his feet and rushed Jordan Noble. The man literally growled. Jordan rose to the feet and prepared for an assault. The judge banged his gavel. Before the attack happened, two bailiffs wrestled Random to the floor. The scene slipped further into the surreal.

  “I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you.” Foam flew from Random’s lips. He reached over and bit one of the guards. “I had you. I fucking had you, you bastard. You should be dead! Not Michael. You! You!”

  The guards got Random to his feet. They dragged him from the room, legs kicking in every direction. Screaming and crying of a madman sounded until the bailiffs pulled Random through a door. It slammed and silence returned.

  “No further questions,” the lawyer said.

  ~

  Now.

  Jordan jammed the shifter into fifth gear and the Vette roared accordingly. The car’s speed hovered close to ninety mph through the early afternoon traffic. Cars were reduced to blurs of color. Jordan rotated the wheels this way and that. The tires screeched and the other drivers sounded their horns.

  “This reminds me of that time in Cairo,” E-Man said.

  Jordan turned to his passenger. A part of him forgot he wasn’t alone.

  E-Man rolled his head over to Jordan. “You know, that time when those terrorists were chasing us.” Jordan flipped his vision between E-Man and the vehicles heading his way at close to a hundred miles an hour.

  “Terrorists were always chasing us.”

  “Not always.”

  Jordan blew a long sigh. He knew E-Man was trying to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, he liked his mood nice and dark.

  “‘Sup?” E-Man said, his head lazily rolled on the head rest.

  “You’re screwing with me, rig
ht?” Jordan turned to his passenger a second too long. E-Man pointed through the windshield. Jordan followed the finger and turned the wheel sharply to miss a Buick.

  “I saw it.”

  “Sure. Again, what’s up with you?”

  Jordan muttered a curse. It went unheard over the roar of the engine. “E, some guy out there is trying to kill me. Excuse me as I get moody on you.”

  “So?”

  “What do you mean ‘so’?” Jordan dropped the Vette into fourth and zipped across three lanes to exit the freeway. “Assassination ain’t on my schedule. I’m still financing half the equipment in the office, I got more paperwork and licensing to deal with and I still have to go furniture shopping.”

  “Don’t forget Jerome.”

  The shifter was forced back down into second. “And I gotta deal with your shit, too.”

  E-Man pointed to the gearbox. “You gonna mess up your transmission like that.”

  Jordan brought the sports car to a halt at a traffic light. His face was tight while E-Man’s mug couldn’t be more relaxed. He sent a finger E-Man’s way. “Yo, man, what’s the matter with you? You’re being a real ass right now!”

  E-Man held hands up to fend off the verbal assault, “Chill out. I just don’t know why you trippin’. Hell, as much as we used to jump into crap, I thought you got off on that kind of stuff.”

  Jordan’s first mind was to defend himself but he considered the truth. He hadn’t exactly lived a ‘safe’ life. Things were bad enough when he and E-Man were intelligence operatives. But now as private detectives, they still crossed paths with danger. So far, nothing that compared with international terrorist networks, but the principle was the same. So now, Jordan had to ask himself, why was this particular incident bothering him?

  “It’s just…” The words came out haltingly, “It’s just that I thought this matter was closed and done. I can’t help but wonder how many more people are out there in the wings, waiting for a chance at me.”

  E-Man punched Jordan’s shoulder. “Hell, bruh, I knew that’s what was bothering you.”

  Jordan flashed a look of false spite. “You Dr. Phil now, huh?”

  Before E-Man could answer, a horn sounded from the car behind them. Jordan looked up to see the light had changed to green. The pair were en route to Don Ross’ house on Nottingham. It was over on the city’s east side off the Ford Freeway. It was a good guess Don and Malcolm Ewing, the two remaining UrbanKnights would be at Don’s.

  Jordan tried to contact them before leaving the office. But all attempts directed him to answering services. The next action was to track the pair down to their most likely location. Jordan felt a little guilty for cutting their day off short, but he had a feeling he’d need the pair’s talents before this case was over.

  Jordan made a right onto Nottingham. The neighborhood had really gone downhill since the days he and his friends were kids. Don had inherited his boyhood home after his parents split. It was Jordan’s secret wish Don would just walk away from it. With the ridiculous amount of money he was paying his team, Don could easily afford something better.

  “It just makes you wonder,” Jordan said, “is all this worth it. I mean, it’s not right. We catch this guy and that’s supposed to be it. Game over. But, oh no. Cody Random’s got to escape and start this all over again.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, does this mean everyone we ever caught is going to be coming for us?”

  “‘Us’?” E-Man said, a laugh behind his word. “Where you get this ‘us’ stuff?”

  “You know what I mean,” Jordan said. E-Man’s attempts at humor wore on his nerves.

  E-Man nodded. “Look, man, I do know what you mean, but hey, what you gonna do? I mean, this truth, justice and the American way is your gig. Don’t look at me like that, you know it is. You could have done anything when you left the service, so don’t go actin’ like this murder and intrigue shit is too much for you.”

  Jordan pulled into the driveway of Don’s house and stopped the car. “Yeah, but still. I do what’s right, and I got to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”

  “Bull,” E-Man said. “You’re feeling guilty for killing Random’s brother.”

  “Yeah,” Jordan said. It wasn’t until that moment did he actually admitted it.

  E-Man gripped Jordan’s shoulder. “That the price we pay to do what we do. You know, instead of watching and complaining like everyone else.”

  Jordan nodded.

  “Besides, you don’t have to look over your shoulder ‘cause I got your back.”

  The two men smiled. Men like them didn’t spend time expressing their feeling. Years of shared exposure to dangers worldwide was expression enough.

  “How many guys can there be out for you, anyway?”

  Jordan felt a chill at these words. How many, indeed?

  “You coming?”

  Jordan looked up. E-Man was out of the car and made his way to the porch. Jordan followed him. He took two steps at a time as he mounted the porch. The house was an old brick two story structure Detroit was once known for. A perfect home for the middle class emerging after World War II on a street of similar houses. Now however, all of that was distant memory. Few houses had lawns still green. Half the houses on the block were abandoned or descended upon by squatters. The other half were on their way to the same fate.

  E-Man raised his hand to knock on the door. Before he could strike, Jordan touched his arm.

  “Look, E, this Random is a pretty dangerous dude. He could eat Don and Malcolm for breakfast.”

  A pang of guilt. Jordan knew Don and Malcolm wouldn’t be anywhere near this if he hadn’t hired them. A year ago, when Jordan formed the UrbanKnights, all the detectives had some sort of law enforcement background. But when it came to the Special unit, he filled it with persons who, besides E-Man had no discernable skills at the more violent nature of the business. They had never been in the service or, to Jordan’s knowledge held, let along fired a weapon. Their only qualification was they both knew Jordan for years. True, Don had skills with computers that would make half of Silicone Valley jealous. And Malcolm, he was funny. He was like Jordan’s own local informant. But dealing with violent criminals…

  “OK, I see.” E-Man said. “You want to face off with Cody Random alone. You’re desperate to separate yourself from Malcolm and Don – hell, you’ll probably try to kick me to the curb. Alone, Random would eat you for breakfast. Well, it ain’t happening.”

  “E -”

  “No. Look, man. If we gonna do this, we gonna do it right. It’s all for one and one for all and all that crap. We knew what we were getting into when we signed up. All of us.”

  Jordan shook his head. “E, I don’t think this is something I have to do alone. I don’t always go through the hero complex when something like this happens. But the CIA is involved. This is serious. I just think we don’t need to have Malcolm and Don bumping around more than they have too.” “No moves like in Italy,” E-Man said.

  “Italy?” Jordan asked. He stopped to recalled the event from his memory. “Wait a minute. That was the time -”

  “That’s not important.”

  “OK, OK. But Italy was your own damn fault.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Jordan’s eyes widened. “I told you she was the ambassador’s daughter.”

  “Hey,” E-Man said. “That’s not important.”

  “Fine. In any case, if you want in on the Random case, you got it. But Heckle and Jeckle, are strictly sideliners.”

  “Bet,” E-Man said with an air of finality as he knocked on the door. “You know, you got to stop saying things like Heckle and Jeckle, though.”

  “What? Too immature?”

  “Too mature. Don’t nobody remember that shit.”

  Chapter Four: An Unlikely Pair

  “Where the hell are these guys?” Jordan craned his neck to look into the window. Grime dati
ng back to the turn of the century prevented a view within. E-Man leaned over to see into the driveway running along the house.

  “Car’s in the drive.” E-Man reported of the red BMW he saw.

  Jordan and E-Man exchanged worried glances. They knocked three more times and still no response. A sense of dread clutched at Jordan’s heart as he expected the worse. Cody Random was clever. It wouldn’t have taken much for him to find out about Jordan’s new partners. Almost without thought, the Heckler & Koch P7M filled Jordan’s hand as E-Man welded his Beretta Px4 Storm. The men took positions on either side of the door. Jordan scanned the street to see if they were attracting any attention. It was Detroit, but still, two black men with guns tended to catch people’s eye. Fortunately, the early-afternoon street was devoid of life. Jordan turned to check on E-Man’s progress. The thinner man fished in his pockets for the door key Don had entrusted to him. The key slipped effortlessly into the hole. The door swung open with a creak. Jordan and E-Man peeked in and saw the foyer was empty. Jordan gestured for E-Man to enter. E-Man went into a low crouch. Jordan, at full height, was a second behind him.