High Velocity

by Mike Ryan

  Little put his hands up to dispute the facts. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I haven’t sold guns to anyone. And I don’t know who this Vincent fellow you’re talking about is.”

  Recker could appreciate the fact he wasn’t willing to spill the beans just yet. He didn’t figure Little would at first. He assumed he’d have to break the man down to get there. But Recker really didn’t want to take too long to do it. Recker reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper with Vincent’s contact and slid it across the table.

  Little picked it up and read it. “Am I supposed to know this man too?”

  “Yep. He’s the guy Vincent had a deal with. He brought some people to Vincent with a weapons deal and the thing went sideways. Vincent’s men were killed in the process.”

  “Don’t know anything about that.”

  “Well, I think you do.”

  “Guess we have a fundamental difference of opinion then.”

  Recker looked unconcerned. “Guess we do. Maybe I should bring Vincent here to include him in this chat of ours. He might be interested in what’s said.”

  Little’s confident look slowly eroded. Up to now he assumed the man in front of him wasn’t any kind of major player since he didn’t recognize him. Recker took out his phone and scrolled through the numbers until he came to Vincent’s. He slid his phone across the table, so Little could see he wasn’t bluffing. He figured that once Little saw he really did know Vincent personally, maybe his tone would change, and he would be more receptive to answering questions.

  Little looked at the phone without picking it up. “Am I supposed to call someone.”

  “No. Just pick it up. You might be interested in what’s on it.”

  Little was a little hesitant to do so but did comply with the request. He picked the phone up and saw Vincent’s name and phone number. He recognized the number. He also knew it wasn’t something Vincent handed out readily. He knew if this man in front of him had it, he was a much bigger player in the game than he assumed him to be.

  “So, who might you be?” Little asked.

  “Let’s just call me a concerned third party.”

  “If you want answers, then I need to know who I’m dealing with.”

  “I’m known on the street as The Silencer.”

  Little’s face was now one of curiosity and caution. He obviously had heard of Recker’s reputation as most in his line of work had.

  “So, what role do you have in this turn of events?” Little asked.

  “Vincent’s lost a couple of his men. He wants to know who’s responsible for it and he’s run into dead ends. So, he’s asked me to help him look into it.”

  “Interesting. I didn’t know The Silencer got involved with those who fly under the respectability of the law.”

  “Vincent and I have helped each other over the years,” Recker replied. “We have a respect for each other and basically avoid each other’s interests.”

  “I see. So, what do you want with me?”

  “My investigation has led me to you.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with that situation,” Little said.

  “I beg to differ. Now, you can either tell me and be done with it or I can call Vincent to include him in this little discussion we’re having.”

  “He doesn’t know you’re here?”

  “Not as of yet,” Recker answered. “That can change rather quickly though.”

  Little stared at his visitor for a few moments as he considered his options. Though he really did not want to admit his role in anything, the last thing he wanted, or needed, was Vincent showing up at his house asking the same questions.

  “So, what is it you would like to know?” Little asked.

  “Just your role in what happened?”

  Little sighed, not happy about coming clean. “If I admit to anything, I would like your word it doesn’t leave this table.”

  Recker grinned. “Don’t want it getting back to Vincent I take it.”

  “Something like that.”

  “As long as you weren’t the one that killed his men, I don’t think he needs to know every little detail,” Recker said. “At least he won’t hear it from me.”

  A slightly relieved look came over Little’s face. “You must understand that I do business with Vincent. If he knows I’m also doing business with other people who might be looking to take him out that would look very bad upon me.”

  “Probably wouldn’t do much for your future either.”

  “Yes, well, I guess you can understand my concern.”

  “I’m not interested in your business dealings other than the situation we’re talking about,” Recker said.

  Little threw one of his arms up, resigned to the fact he might as well tell the truth. “Why not? As long as what I tell you stays between us.”

  Recker nodded, indicating it would.

  “Very well. A group of men approached me several weeks ago about procuring weapons,” Little said, remembering their initial meeting. “They said they were looking to start up operations around here.”

  “Did you know they were looking to challenge Vincent?”

  “They didn’t mention him by name, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were up to. I mean, if you wanna start making a name for yourself in this city, odds are you’re going to be going up against Vincent at some point.”

  “So, how does that lead up to what happened with Vincent’s men?”

  “Well, I got them an initial shipment to start them out with. Everything went very smoothly. Then they started inquiring about Vincent and asked if I could set up a meeting.”

  “So, you did?”

  “They paid me very handsomely to do so. Double my normal fee.”

  “And you didn’t think that was strange?” Recker asked.

  Little shrugged. “I am not paid to think. I am paid to facilitate transactions and bring parties together. That is all that concerns me. What happens with those parties after that is not of my concern.”

  “Well if all the parties wind up dead that will bring your little empire to a screeching halt, won’t it?”

  “Maybe, if they were the only warring parties in the universe,” Little replied. “But we all know no matter what happens, no matter who dies, there will always be someone to replace them. Always. That’s the way the world works. There will always be someone who is looking to take more… and do so in a forceful and violent manner.”

  “So, if what happens in these deals doesn’t concern you then why did you use several fake names to make sure it didn’t come back to you?”

  “Because we both know Vincent’s reputation.”

  “I think you’re lying out your ass,” Recker said. “You know what they were planning or else you wouldn’t have bothered using other names. All you cared about was the money. I’m good with it. It don’t bother me. Just say so.”

  Little sighed again. “Fine. I had a pretty good idea they were planning on using the meeting to ambush some of Vincent’s men. I didn’t really like it...”

  “But the money was too good to pass up.”

  “Yes. OK? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Recker answered.

  “If you wanna keep this out of Vincent’s lap, then I need to know names, places, phone numbers, the works.”

  “You’re asking me to betray a client’s confidence,” Little said.

  “I don’t care what you call it. You give me what I want, and I guarantee your name will never cross Vincent’s ears. He is a rather big client of yours, is he not?”

  “Yes. And if these other people find out I led them to you, what then?”

  “They’ll most likely be dead before they find out it was you and have a chance to seek revenge against you,” Recker said.

  Little was still apprehensive about handing over his information but knew he really didn’t have other options. The man in front of him was in complete control of the situation. Little wasn’t the violent
type, that’s why he employed guards, or else he would consider trying to take matters into his own hands. There was a small black bag sitting on the table which contained many of his secrets. He started to reach for it but was interrupted by Recker before he actually got to it.

  “Before you pull anything out of that bag, I would hope you’d understand I’m probably a much better shot than you.”

  Little looked at him and gave him a wry smile. “It never even entered my mind.”

  “I know it didn’t. You’re much too smart to do something that stupid. I mean, why get yourself killed over something I could just take anyway?”

  “Exactly.”

  Little pulled the bag closer to him and unzipped it. He looked inside and saw his notebooks, a phone, and a gun. He took another glance at Recker, who by reputation, and by his own observations, didn’t appear to be a man anyone wanted to mess with. Little bypassed the gun and gently removed the notebooks and phone so as not to make Recker nervous. Once they were plainly seen on the table, Little pushed the bag away. He started rooting through one of his books, getting to the page that had the information of the guys Recker was looking for. Little tore the page out, handed it to Recker, then closed his book. Recker eagerly read what was on the page. It was the name and phone numbers of three men.

  “These it?” Recker asked.

  “Those are the only three who I talked to.”

  “Do you know how many men are in this operation they got going on?”

  “That, I couldn’t say,” Little answered. “They were understandably tight-lipped about their organization activities. And as far as my business was concerned, it wasn’t on my need-to-know list.”

  “Are these three the top dogs or are they messenger boys?”

  Little shrugged. “Who knows? They spoke like they had decision-making authority. They talked in a forceful manner. My impression was they were high up in the food chain. How high? Anyone’s guess I suppose.”

  “Is this it?” Recker asked, holding the paper up.

  “That’s all I know. Don’t know exactly who did the killings, don’t know anything about how this group operates.”

  “You have any other business with them lined up at the moment?”

  “Haven’t heard from them since that day.”

  “Possible they don’t wanna lean on you and rely on you too much, knowing the relationship you have with Vincent. Might think you’ll have second thoughts and turn them over to him.”

  “Possible,” Little replied.

  “All right, thanks.” Recker pushed his chair away and stood up.

  “I don’t suppose you hire out, do you? I could use you in certain situations.”

  Recker smiled. “Not to the likes of you.”

  “Fair enough. I don’t suppose we’ll be seeing each other again.”

  “I dunno. Knowing what you do, I wouldn’t bet against it. Oh, and uhh, just in case this is a load of crap...”

  “It’s not.”

  “Well, a word of warning, if it is… you’ll be seeing me again.”

  “I’m not worried about it.” Recker started walking past the man, but Little sought further and final reassurance on their agreement. “Remember, not a word to Vincent as per our deal?”

  “Not a word.”

  Little smiled as Recker walked back into the house, closing the sliding door behind him. Little went back to reading his newspaper as if nothing happened. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Recker being in his house unsupervised. He assumed Recker would be leaving as quickly as possible before anyone else showed up. Recker didn’t bother looking for anything else in the house. He had everything he needed. He didn’t get the sense Little was lying to him or fed him bogus information. As Recker walked to the front door, he saw the man lying on the floor against the wall. He was starting to move around again. Recker wanted to leave something to remember him by and forcefully kicked him in the head, knocking him out again.

  “Oh, sorry about that,” Recker sarcastically said.

  Recker then reached the front door and unlocked it, stepping outside onto the porch. Both men were still out cold. Recker stepped over them.

  “You guys really need to stop laying down on the job.”

  6

  After visiting Little, Recker went straight back to the office. He wasn’t about to tell Vincent anything yet until they’d thoroughly checked out the names on the list and knew what they were dealing with. Telling Vincent the names without them checking them first was a dangerous proposition he thought. When Recker got back to the office, Haley was back from his assignment and talking to Jones about it. They broke off their discussion when they saw Recker walk in.

  “How was your conversation with Mr. Little?” Jones asked.

  “Went about as well as it could go, I guess,” Recker replied.

  “What did you learn?”

  Recker took the paper Little gave him out of his pocket and handed it to Jones. “I imagine this might help.”

  “What is this?”

  “Names and numbers for the guys Little dealt with.”

  “Anything else?” Haley asked.

  Recker shook his head. “No, that’s all the information Little had. He said they weren’t very willing to go into details on whatever enterprise they got going on.”

  “Stands to reason,” Jones said. “Nevertheless, this should do nicely. It should at least give us a launching point.”

  “Let Vincent know yet?” Haley said.

  “No, I don’t figure he needs to know anything until we’ve got something worth sharing,” Recker answered.

  “Before I start working on these, should I ask if we’re going to be in the news for anything?” Jones asked.

  “Such as?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, dead bodies or anything?”

  “What do you think I am, a haphazard violent person who goes around shooting everyone in my way?”

  Jones looked at Recker and batted his eyes, thinking it was as loaded a question as he’d heard. He then looked at Haley, then around the room as he thought of how to answer. “I’m not sure I am the best person to answer that question.”

  Recker laughed, knowing he set one up on a tee for him. He was actually a little surprised Jones decided to strike out on the opportunity. “No, there are no dead bodies. Some injured ones, but not dead.”

  “He have guards?” Haley asked.

  “Three. Not much of a problem really.”

  As Recker and Haley talked about their latest assignments, going over strategy details, Jones started plugging the names into the computer. Gabriel Hernandez, James Milton, and Jamar Teasley. It didn’t take long for the hits to come back on the computer. They all had lengthy and violent criminal histories, though none of them were originally from the Philadelphia area. Hernandez was from the Baltimore area, Milton from New York, and Teasley from Boston. There was no immediate connection on why they were now seemingly working together. And there was nothing in their pasts at this point to indicate they had crossed paths with Vincent at any time. As the team read their histories, they started throwing some theories around.

  “Just because it’s not obvious what the connection is to Vincent does not mean they don’t have one,” Jones said, cautioning them to not abandon that idea yet.

  “It also doesn’t mean they’re the brains behind this operation either,” Recker said. “Could be someone higher up the food chain who was aware of these three and brought them into the fold.”

  “Or it could be these three have a connection to each other and saw an opportunity here to take some territory for themselves,” Haley said. “Start up their own gang with them at the top.”

  “Simply too soon to tell right now,” Jones replied. “Any of the aforementioned scenarios could be realistically possible.”

  “How ‘bout we tap into their phone records and see exactly when they hit town?” Recker asked. “Then we can start piecing things together from there. Maybe see some common
denominators. Work backwards.”

  “Sound idea. Why don’t you guys go take a break for a couple of hours while I get started?”

  “You trying to get rid of us?”

  “Not at all. But you both have lives outside of here.”

  “I do?” Haley asked, not knowing what other life was being referred to.

  “I think he’s trying to give you a hint,” Recker said.

  “Oh.”

  “I’m not doing anything of the sort,” Jones replied. “I’m just saying I don’t need help with this and I can do it quite capably on my own. And probably faster.”

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I can take the hint,” Recker said.

  “Why don’t you go have dinner with your better half or something? I’m sure she would love to see you.”

  “She’s working a double.”

  “Maybe I should go out and get a girlfriend,” Haley said.

  “Please, no,” Jones replied. “I’m not sure I can take both of you having a girlfriend at the same time. Do me a favor and wait a couple years first.”

  Recker and Haley laughed and joked around for a few more minutes before finally leaving the office and allowing Jones the solitude he was requesting. Haley decided to go home and relax for a couple hours, while Recker went straight to the hospital to see Mia. Though he knew she probably wouldn’t be on break for another hour or two, he figured he’d wait, like old times before they actually got together. He went right to the cafeteria and found the table they used to always sit at as he waited. As Recker sat down, he sent Mia a text message to let her know he was in the building. He didn’t wait as long as he expected, as Mia’s pretty face showed up only an hour later. She was surprised he was there but very happy to see him. She grabbed a few things to eat on a tray then joined him at the table, giving him a big hug and kiss.

  “So, what do I owe this big surprise?” she asked, sitting next to him.

  “Had some time to kill. Figured I’d spend it with the most beautiful girl I know.”

  A wide smile overtook Mia’s face, happy to hear the sweet words. She leaned over and gave him another kiss, a little longer than the first one. “You sure know how to melt a girl’s heart.”