High Velocity

by Mike Ryan

  “But...he’s still armed,” Milton said, not comfortable leaving her alone with such a dangerous man, who still had guns on him.

  “Oh, is he?” Nowak asked, looking back at Recker seductively. “Well… everyone should live dangerously at some point.”

  “Ms. Nowak, I don’t feel...”

  “I don’t pay you to feel anything. I pay you to do what I tell you.”

  Milton didn’t look pleased at following her orders but eventually did as she asked. He looked at Teasley and nodded toward the door for him to follow him out. Once the two of them were outside, Nowak looked at Recker and touched him on the chest.

  “Thanks for coming.”

  “Curiosity gets the best of me sometimes,” Recker said.

  “Follow me, so we can talk. I can change at the same time.”

  “I can wait out here for you. If it won’t be too long.”

  “Oh nonsense,” Nowak said, grabbing his hand. “Come into the bedroom with me. I won’t bite. At least, not where it shows.”

  Though it was against his better judgment, Recker let her lead him into the bedroom. Once in, she directed him to a chair in the corner of the room. He sat down, expecting Nowak to duck behind a screen or into the bathroom off the bedroom. He was a little stunned she dropped her towel right in front of him, exposing her plentiful assets. She was thirty-seven, but still had the appearance of a woman who might have been ten years younger. She swore it was due to all the spa treatments, creams, and lotions she religiously used. With her youthful face and good body, she hardly looked the part of an organized crime boss. And she wasn’t shy about using it if it helped her get what she wanted.

  Standing there in front of Recker in all her glory, Nowak sure didn’t rush to put any clothes on. She put on an act of not being able to find what she wanted to wear, all in the hopes of maybe seducing the mysterious man. Recker put his elbow on the arm of the chair and put his hand up to his face as he continued looking at the naked woman in front of him, studying her every movement. But Recker wasn’t watching her with a lustful eye as most men in that situation might have done. With a beautiful woman of his own waiting for him, he had no interest in desiring somebody else, no matter how good they might have looked. No, he kept his eyes on Nowak because he knew the tactic she was trying for. It must have been something she’d tried, and succeeded with, on other men. He kept watching to see if she was planning on some type of diversion. The old watch her body while she pulls a gun, or somebody comes from a different room he’s not watching trick. Nowak continually looked over at her visitor, and after a few minutes, realized her plan wasn’t going quite the way she hoped. She slowly started putting her clothes on, not getting any reaction out of Recker.

  “So, do you have a first name or does everyone call you The?” Nowak asked.

  Recker laughed, finding some amusement in the question. “My friends call me Mike. My enemies call me Mr. Silencer.”

  This time it was Nowak’s turn to laugh. She really enjoyed his sense of humor. Standing there in black lingerie, she hoped Recker was beginning to change his opinion on what might happen, though she had a feeling she was failing with her objective.

  “So, before I get fully dressed is there anything you’d care to do or discuss before we get down to business?” Nowak asked, a slight seduction in her voice.

  “I can’t think of a thing, can you?”

  Nowak looked extremely disappointed in his lack of interest and continued dressing, which consisted of pants, heels, and a revealing blouse. Once she was done, she walked over to the bedroom door.

  “Well, if there’s nothing else you can think of doing in here, would you follow me out to the main room?”

  “I’d be delighted,” Recker said.

  Nowak stopped in the middle of the room and turned around to face him. “Well, if I can’t interest you in anything spicier, can I offer you a drink?”

  Recker put his hand up. “No, thank you.”

  “Do you always play everything straight down the line?”

  “Only in the presence of strangers.”

  “I was hoping we could get to know each other more deeply and in more detail.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m told you have a large, looming presence in this city,” Nowak answered. “And considering I’m planning on being here a while, I figured you and I should get to know each other more intimately. You wouldn’t have a problem with that, would you?”

  “Some people might.”

  Nowak rubbed her finger across Recker’s chin briefly before making her way to the bar area. “So, you have a girlfriend, do you?”

  “A good man doesn’t kiss and tell.”

  Nowak smiled. “Fair enough. You’re obviously devoted to her. Like a good man should be.”

  “I don’t mean to rush things along here, but I really didn’t come here for you to analyze me. I heard you were looking for me, so here I am. How ‘bout we just stick to the business aspect of this?”

  “Well if you would rather be boring about it,” Nowak said, walking from behind the bar to a chair. “I always like to mix business with pleasure.”

  “Not me.”

  “So I’m gathering.” Nowak pointed to a big white chair across from her. “Come sit, so we can discuss… business.”

  Recker complied with her wishes and sat. Up to this point, he wasn’t very intrigued and was beginning to think he’d made a mistake in coming. He wasn’t sure there was anything she could tell him that would have made him think otherwise.

  Nowak took a sip of her drink. “So, why do you think I asked you to come here?”

  “I assume you want me to help you get rid of Vincent.”

  Nowak smiled, not very surprised at how perceptive her guest was. “I can offer you a great deal.”

  “I’m sure you can. Is that it?”

  “Of course not. As I’m sure you know, I have not been in town very long and I’m still figuring out the game here. Now, I already know pretty much all I need to know about Vincent. I know what he’s into, the people in his pocket, and the things he does.”

  “You sure about that?” Recker asked, not believing she did, knowing Vincent as well as he did. “I’ve found he’s a man you really can’t count on for knowing anything about.”

  “Well, I may not know every single little detail about everything he does, but I know what I need to know. What I don’t know is how you fit into it?”

  “I don’t.”

  “Oh, well that’s fantastic, because I’ve heard from some of my moles on the street you and he have a very close relationship.”

  “In a few instances our business interests have aligned,” Recker replied. “We’re not friends, we’re not partners, we are not anything together. I do my own thing.”

  “I’m delighted to hear it.”

  “Why? Planning on making me an offer?”

  Nowak grinned. “You are well-versed in the game, aren’t you?”

  “I didn’t just graduate hitman school yesterday.”

  “So, since you two aren’t intertwined at the hip, as they say, would you be interested in a proposition?”

  Recker smiled. “Never on the first date.”

  “I’m sure if we were to come to some type of agreement, I could make it extremely worth your while.”

  “Why does that not surprise me? And just what type of agreement are you looking to make?”

  “Well...”

  Recker didn’t mind engaging in an evasive question and answer session from time to time, especially since he was used to it in talking to Vincent, but he wasn’t interested in continuing it this time. “Instead of this runaround conversation we’re having, why don’t you tell me what you really want?”

  “Tell me, is it all business with you all the time?”

  “Mostly.”

  “Your reputation paints you as one of the best,” Nowak said. “Somebody who’s not to be messed with. They say if there’s a fight on your hands, you want
The Silencer guarding your back.”

  “Well I don’t know who ‘they’ are, but my cooperation in any matter depends on a variety of factors.”

  “Which are?”

  “I have my own criteria which I choose not to divulge,” Recker answered. “I also don’t get involved in disputes between rival crime families.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing to hear. May I ask why?”

  “Because I’m not interested in choosing sides. I’m not here to help you or him exert your power or influence or help you make money. I’m here to help prevent innocent people from getting hurt by people like you.”

  “What are you? A saint or an angel or something?”

  “Hardly. Just someone who tries to do the right thing.”

  “Sometimes the right thing can be influenced by a sizable check,” Nowak said.

  “Not with me. Don’t give a hoot about money.”

  The two talked for a few more minutes, Nowak continually trying to break him down into at least considering joining her side. The more they talked though, the more she began to realize it was a worthless pursuit. Nothing she did or said seemed to interest him. She couldn’t interest him with her body or her money. He was quite the unusual man in her estimation. Since he had shot down everything she had to offer so far, and since she badly desired his help, Nowak figured she’d basically let him write his own check.

  “How about we do this? You tell me what you want or what interests you, and I’ll see what I can do?”

  “Just like that, huh?” Recker replied.

  “Why not?”

  Recker was silent for a few moments, trying to think of an answer for her. There was nothing he could come up with though. “I’m afraid that’s a question I can’t really answer.”

  “You can take a few days to think about it if you wish. I aim to please.”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s just there’s nothing you could offer me that would persuade me to join your side or get involved in this conflict at all.”

  Nowak flashed a smile, though underneath it was a temper she was beginning to lose. She was able to control it though. “So, tell me, if you’re not interested in anything I have to offer, or anything I have to say, why did you agree to come here?”

  “I’m always interested in meeting new people I might come across one day.”

  “So, you’re leaving the door open to us working together at some point?” Nowak asked.

  “Nope. I’d say it’s unlikely. I’ll just give it to you straight. After today, I hope I never run into you again. And whatever your plans are for being in this city, I’d like to stay out of them. I’m here for one reason and one reason only and that’s to protect the innocent. Whatever game you have going on with Vincent or any other criminal doesn’t really concern me.”

  “Straight down the line.”

  “If we ever see each other again, it’s likely because you knocked over the neighborhood grocery store or worked over an old man walking down the street or trying to intimidate a law-abiding person into doing something illegal that benefits you. If any of those are the case, then we’ll be seeing each other again real soon.”

  Nowak nodded, finally seeing the man in front of her couldn’t be bought with anything she was trying to sell. “So, you’re trying to tell me you and Vincent have come to that same understanding?”

  “Vincent and I have learned to stay out of each other’s way. I don’t get involved in any of his dealings as long as innocent people aren’t caught up in it, and he doesn’t do anything that might cause me to stop it.”

  “A nice, neat arrangement.”

  “Has been so far.”

  “So, maybe you and I could come to that same arrangement,” Nowak said.

  “I don’t see why not. I’m not looking to make enemies, just telling you how things are here.”

  “I understand. I only hope my relationship with you will eventually be a little closer than the one you have with Vincent.”

  Recker looked at her with a sharp eye and grinned, wondering if she ever stopped with the double entendres. In his view, she was obviously a woman who wasn’t used to hearing the word no. He figured she was used to men doing whatever she wanted, for whatever the reason, and jumping at the chance to please her… in any situation. But she was learning he was someone who stood with his own convictions. In analyzing him, Nowak assumed he was someone who would rather go down with the ship than to do something against his own principles. Those were the types of people that usually gave her trouble. She knew she would have to keep her eyes on him and stay guarded.

  They conversed for another twenty minutes, Nowak continually probing him on more personal questions he kept evading. Recker knew her game. She was trying to find out everything she could on him in the hopes of using something to her advantage against him. Anything she could find that she could potentially use in the hopes of luring him to her side of the equation. But with his background of working in the city the last few years, plus his time in the CIA, he was well-versed in this kind of information gathering. He was easily able to brush her inquisitions aside.

  “You know, I get the impression there’s more to you than meets the eye,” Nowak said.

  “Now what gives you that idea?”

  “You’re a mysterious man. You stick to a certain set of ideals and don’t deviate from them. You have a demeanor about you that suggests there’s something else that lies beneath that rugged exterior.”

  “Everyone has a past and skeletons in the closet.”

  “Indeed, we do. But some are more interesting than others. What did you do before coming here?”

  “What makes you think I did anything?” Recker asked.

  “Because everybody was something else once.”

  “It’s nothing worth mentioning in my case.”

  “I can’t believe that to be true.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll just have to leave it at something that’s for me to know and you to find out. You seem to like playing games enough to do that.”

  Nowak smiled. “I think we’ve got a good understanding of each other. At least to start with.”

  “I would say so.”

  “Perhaps we could meet again under less formal circumstances,” Nowak said, sticking her chest out to give Recker a better view of it.

  Recker wouldn’t take the bait though. “No, I don’t think we could.”

  16

  It’d been several days since Recker’s meeting with Stefania Nowak. The city was a relatively quiet place since then, at least as far as gangland business went, as nobody had turned up dead yet. That was about to change, though, and in a big way. It was release day for Jimmy Malloy. He was finally being let go from Dr. Luke’s care, and since he was the number one man, Vincent was showing up personally to welcome him back. Unbeknownst to him, Malloy was going to get another welcoming party, a larger and more unfriendly one.

  Dr. Luke helped walk Malloy out of the back of the building, with Vincent on the other side of him. There was a black Cadillac parked only a few feet away and the driver got out the car to assist Malloy into it. As the driver scurried around the back of the car, another car zoomed in, screeching to a sudden stop. Vincent looked wild-eyed as he suspected what was going on. Only a second later, the windows of the car went down and guns appeared in its place. The automatic rifles opened fire at the bunch, not seemingly aiming at a specific target. Vincent pushed Malloy down to the ground and stayed on top of him as the driver began to return fire. Dr. Luke started to run back toward his office but was hit in the back with several shots, dropping him to the ground long before he got there. Vincent’s driver was able to hit the car with a couple of shots, though he did no real damage, and he didn’t hit any of the occupants either. As the exchange of gunfire continued, the driver suddenly went down, a barrage of bullets entering his body. Once he was out of the way, the mysterious car squealed its wheels and turned around, going out the same way they came in. Vincent saw their attackers
leave by observing the vehicle underneath his own car. When he knew they were out of the picture, he finally got back to his feet, and helped Malloy up to his.

  “You OK?”

  Malloy brushed himself off and checked for new holes in him. “I think I’m good.”

  “You sure? Anything hurt or anything?”

  Malloy held his rib cage area, but mostly because it was still sore from the previous slugs taken out. “No, just a little sore. I’ll be all right.”

  With him taken care of, Vincent then turned and saw his driver lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood. Vincent knelt, not seemingly caring about getting blood on his pants, and touched the head of his former employee. The man had been with Vincent for almost ten years and was a valued member of his organization. He would be missed. Malloy then tapped his boss on the arm and pointed at Dr. Luke. Vincent was saddened at the sight of the fallen doctor. Vincent got up and walked over to him, hoping by some miracle he was still alive. Vincent observed three bullet holes in the doctor’s back and knew no miracle would be arriving on this day.

  “What do you wanna do?” Malloy asked.

  Vincent got on his phone and made a call to the police department and one of the detectives on his payroll. He wanted to make sure it was one of them who rolled on the call. He didn’t want to be dealing with a lot of unnecessary questions that would accompany a detective who didn’t have that relationship with him. He was sure somebody probably heard the shots and called it in to the cops already, and though he didn’t plan on sticking around at the scene, as soon as the driver was identified, somebody in uniform would be showing up at his door. He hoped to avoid that whole predicament.

  Once he was done with his phone call, Vincent helped Malloy into the passenger seat of the car. Vincent then hopped into the driver side and left the area, only a few minutes before a patrol car showed up. Silence filled the car for several minutes as the two men steamed over the loss of the two men they left behind. Both were valued and trusted men. It was something Vincent would not let pass as easily as he did the first hit against him.