Dead Man Walking (Jerod's Fourth Tale Part 8)

I woke to being poked in the shoulder. “Yo, boss, your watch.”

“Huh,” I blinked. After a moment, “What fucking time do you call this?”

“Two am, boss.” I blinked again and Kane came into focus. “I assume you’ll want an early start so wake me at 6.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll find fresh sheets,” I pulled myself reluctantly out of bed.

He shook his head. “No thanks, sleeping in your bed is too weird for me. I’ll just doss on the couch. Don’t go outside, don’t do anything stupid and don’t get yourself killed in the next few hours, ‘k boss?” He headed out of the room.

I pulled some clothes on, then tried to decide how to spend the next 4 hours. I finally walked out of the bedroom, picked up the laptop and went back in. Kane was already asleep and snoring.

I checked email, put in a few bids in online auctions and then went to SimBook. A couple of hours past easily as I went looking through albums from my friends, checked some recommended links, and played truly mindless stupid games.

It was about 5:30 when my laptop flickered as it changed from the power supply to batteries. I closed the laptop and left the room. Light was flooding in the windows, in spite of the hour. I heard Kane stir as I walked past to look out the window.

The light was coming from some emergency flood lights mounted around Marta’s house. I assume Ted didn’t like being left in the dark last time and enough light angled toward my place that my front was fairly well lit.

“S’up, boss?” asked Kane rubbing his eyes.

“Our amateurs cut the power for the second time this week but next door has installed emergency lights. So they don’t have the cover of darkness this time.”

“For fucking god’s sake, get back from that window. Suppose they start shooting?”

I moved back a few paces. “I wish they would. That I can understand.”

He shook his head. “I’d just as soon they didn’t. Harder to guard against.”

My cell rang. “Yes, Ted, we are awake.” “No, we haven’t seen anything.” “I don’t think my body guard would appreciate it if I wandered outside to see if anything was happening. He’s already ordered me back from the windows once.” “No, I’m not going to tell him to go look either. I’m pretty sure that your lights would have ruined their plans. We’ll have a look around before we go and pick up the list you promised me.” “Around seven thirty, give or take a little.”

I turned to Kane. “If you think you can sleep more, I’ll wake you around 7.”

He nodded, “Worth a shot for more shut eye. I don’t think the amateurs will do anything now. Wake me if anything suspicious happens, right?”

“All right.” I watched as he settled back on the couch. I went and grabbed the laptop again. I kept busy until nearly 7. At that point, I went into the kitchen area and starting making pancakes. I didn’t have to wake Kane, the aroma of the pancakes woke him.

“Breakfast? You cook?”

“Cook, clean, and take care of the kids.” I laughed. “I have my faults but caring my for family isn’t one of them. Pancakes, coffee and juice, take what you need to get you through the morning.” He nodded, then grabbed a plate and a cup. We ate quietly. Tania rang me at precisely 10 past 7. No news of note, for which I was thankful. News, in this case, simply couldn’t be good.

“Time to go pick up the list. I’m sure Ted’s finished with it by now.”

“Let me go start the car.”

“No need, Ted’s just over there.” I nodded in the general direction of the house next door.

“I thought you said Marta lived there?”

“Marta took Ted in after his leg was broken. I don’t know if they have a relationship beyond being friends but that’s not my business. They are both friends of mine and good people as long as you aren’t their target.” I shrugged at Kane. “Probably true about a lot of people in the profession.” It seemed true about Kane, thankfully.

We walked next door and Ted gave me his printout. “I’ve organised the list by their map locations.” He spread a map on the table, each location circled in red. “I’ve done a complete list but it seems unlikely they’re in one of the houses in town. The odds of a neighbour noticing something would be very high. We are very nosey around here.”

I studied the map. There were more red circles on it than I would have believed given the size of town. Then again, a lot of people left when they finished school, hoping for a better life somewhere bigger. “Thanks Ted, I knew I could rely on you.”

“You better be fucking careful. Your family needs you.” Ted glanced over at Kane but made no comment. We had survived the night and were still in each other’s company. That alone said a lot.

I circled part of the map with my finger. “We should start with these as they are closest to the house, quick to get here. If that proves fruitless, we can search the lots over here,” I circled another area, “in the direction of the amphitheatre. If that doesn’t work out, we can search on the other side of the river. I hope to hell that’s not where they are, there is a lot of swamp and hiding would be simple. It would take a week to do a half decent search.” Kane and Ginger nodded.

Kane pointed at the map, “You’ve left out this bit.”

“True, but that’s our wealthy section of town. It’s hard to imagine that people could camp out there without being noticed and having the police summoned.” I looked at Kane then Ginger. “We can look but it doesn’t seem worth it.”

They nodded and I gathered up the map and list. “Later, Ted.” He just waved vaguely as we left.

As we walked toward my car, Kane said, “I’m not really sure about this plan. If they are following us, it won’t take long for them to work out what we are up to.”

“I don’t know. It seems as though they mostly watch the house for opportunities to do something annoying. Us being out of the way may just suit them.” I looked back at our modest home. “Besides, right now, I can’t stand being there. I need to be doing something.”

“Right, boss,” he said as he shrugged at me.

Taking the car only turned out to be moderately useful. We parked a safe distance away from each target and walked the rest of the way each time. Which meant we did nearly as much walking as we would have without a car.

At each location, we’d check for signs of recent activity. Mostly looking for if there had been a car around and if it looked anything around had been used. Three out of four places we checked had no sign anyone had been there for months. The fourth would have tyre marks or enough of a path to warrant a closer look. But none looked currently occupied.

It was both a tense and tedious activity. Tense as you approached a vacant house, lot or park - not sure of what you might find. Tedious as you check the area, slowly and carefully. After finishing each one, I’d tick the location off Ted’s list.

We had just looked at the eighth location for the day and were returning to the car when Kane coughed quietly. “Boss, can we have a break?” he asked.

I was about to say no when I glanced at my watch. It was already 1:45 and we’d not stopped for even a short break yet today. My feet hurt and I was hungry. “Yeah, we’ll have lunch and give our feet a rest. I hadn’t realised it was this late already. You hungry?”

“Yes, boss, but if you want to keep going I will.”

I shook my head. “Why the fucking hell wouldn’t Sophie cut you a break? You seem like an ideal partner. Yet I saw her rip into you several times in just a few hours. I actually thought you were going to hit her at one point.”

“I wanted to tear her into pieces but that’s not what I was paid to do. It was tempting though.”

We drove over to the local diner. Kane ordered their largest steak. I had grilled chicken. The food at the diner wasn’t the best but it would do.

We were nearly finished when my phone rang. I glanced at the display as I opened it up. “Tania? Something wrong?”

“So, the hellcat does have a name,” replied a male voice. “I assume you want your wife back, Mr Shrimpton, in one piece and not several. If you do, you will listen very carefully to what I tell you to do.”

My heart started racing. They had Tania. He hadn’t mentioned the toddlers but I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign. “If you hurt her, you are a dead man.” Kane’s focus snapped to me, his eyes wide. “Let me talk to her.” Fucking shit, this was not part of my plan.

Ashes to Ashes (Jerod's Fourth Tale Part 7)

We walked along a little used path that went behind the homes on my street. “Not bad,” said Kane. “I’ll have to remember this.”

“Twinbrook has a lot of small paths away from the roads. It’s useful to explore, wander around the back ways. But don’t wear good shoes.”

“Why not?”

“There are a lot of small boggy patches around, and some of the paths just go through them. I was walking along fast one afternoon and went into a bog. One foot got wet, and the next step, I tripped over a tree root. Face first into the muck.”

“Dude, seriously?”

“Yep, and getting wet wasn’t the worst of it. The water stank. I swear it took three days and god knows how many showers before I knew I didn’t smell like swamp.” I laughed and Kane joined in. It wasn’t funny at all at the time but it’s hilarious now.

“Anything you care to tell about the locals in The Company?”

“I’m not really up to date with the crew. Marta Tomasi leads the thieves. Ted Ginger organises the other operations. They both run the important stuff in other towns, so the cops don’t see much crime here. Just enough petty crimes that it’s not entirely quiet but nothing big. You’ll be part of Ginger’s crew. Don’t screw him over, he is a bastard. Follow orders and you’ll get a fair share. He’s a demon on the computer, if it’s anywhere online, he can get it.”

“That’s it?”

“Ted’s more than a bit paranoid about someone trying to take over his position. His limp is from the last try. Don’t give him any reason to think you might be ambitious or hanging out with someone ambitious.”

“Sounds fair.” We arrived at Red Rendezvous and stopped in the small entryway. “You wait here. If I’m not back in a minute, it’s safe for you to come in.”

I shrugged. Kane was doing his job and I couldn’t fault him for that. Though even amateurs should know better than taking someone out at one of the neighbourhood bars. There would be witnesses. I waited, doing my best to look like I was waiting to meet up with someone. I let a couple of minutes go by before I wandered in. I walked to the bar, straight past Kane who was sitting at a dimly lit table facing the door. The drink in front of him looked like a soft drink.

“Hey, Trey, I need a drink.” The bartender started pouring me my favourite brew then brought me the mug.

“Tania was by, I tried to get her to played a few numbers. She didn’t though. We need to set up a gig, been too long since her guitar brightened up the joint.”

I nodded. “I’m supposed to fly to China next week, but maybe the week after? I think we might be able to set up something then.” Assuming that all goes well. He handed me my drink and I nodded my thanks.

I drank the first quickly then called for a second. Trey brought me another and this one I sipped slowly.

I started with the positives. At least I had a bit more knowledge and some professional backup. But I still didn’t know enough about the enemy motives or their ultimate goal. They knew some things about me, but how much?

Fucking damn it. I can’t make a proper plan with so little to go on. I finished the brew and called for another.

“One more and I’m going to have to take your keys,” warned Trey.

“Don’t worry, there’s someone here who can drive me home if I’ve had too much,” I replied. “He won’t mind.”

As I sipped at the mug, I realised part of my problem was that I hadn’t a clue where I could find them or how I could contact them. I’ve never had that as a problem before. How to contact them was going to stay a mystery until they told me. But where to find them was something I could work on. There were several vacant properties around and a number of parks big enough to camp in.

Oh my fucking god, I hadn’t thought of that before. That they might be camping, suppose they were using the same park as Tania and the kids? I reminded myself that I’d called them earlier and all was fine. They weren’t after my family, they wanted me. I just had to be sure they could find me. Better though would be if I found them.

I pulled out my cell. “Hey Ted? Could you print me a list of all the vacant homes in town?” “Yeah, but if you wanted to stay in a town for a few days, would there be a better place?” “Well, yeah. That’s actually what I think Kane and I will be doing tomorrow. Checking to see if anyone is camping in either a park or a vacant house.” “So far, he’s fine. I don’t think he’s planning on murdering me in my sleep but if I don’t pick up the list tomorrow…” “Seriously, he still seems very sincere.” “Hey, I learnt to trust you, didn’t I? Eventually.” I hung up after a promise to have the list of vacant homes by early tomorrow.

The only other possibility that I could see was that they were staying with someone in town. That seemed remote but why not ask a bit? “Hey Trey?”

“I warned you, another drink and I need your keys.”

“Nah, I’m good. Just wondered what the gossip around town was. You heard anything good?”

So for the next ten minutes, I heard an earful about who is definitely cheating, who is suspected of cheating, who has been promoted recently and other local gossip. I made the appropriate noises as Trey told me the various things.

“Anyone new in town?”

“Actually, there’s a dude sitting over there, he’s pretty new. I hear he married one of the Greenwood girls,” Trey nodded toward Kane and I glanced that direction.

“Big dude, wouldn’t want to make him angry, would you?” I commented as I turned back.

“You got that right. Mind you, making people angry is bad for business so I try not to.” Someone further down the bar called for a refill and Trey went to serve them. I dropped a decent handful of coins on the counter and slowly ambled outside holding my car keys loosely in one hand.

“Which car,” said Kane softly as he snagged the keys while walking past.

“Blue one, just across the street.”

“Wait till I’ve started it, then get in.” He moved quickly while I ambled on. The only reason he’d want to start the car without me would be…fucking hell, that’s insane. The only reason I can think of is car bomb and he’s just taking that risk.

Or maybe he’s being devious? Back in the day, I would have assumed any ‘threat’ Ted found was one he had created. Well, my gut still tells me that Kane is playing it straight. He’d started the car, so I popped into the passenger seat.

“Dude, what you just did. Would you classify that as brave, thorough or just plain dumb?”

“If those are the only allowed options, then thorough. I’m supposed to be keeping you breathing. So I will do what I have to.” He glanced over at me as we drove up the street. “Any conclusions from the thinking?”

“Tomorrow, we are going to hunt around very cautiously and see if we can find their base of operations. There are some vacant houses and several parks that have facilities for camping.”

“I like the word cautiously,” he pulled the car up outside the house. He got out and went inside. He was back in a minute. “As far as I can tell, it is safe but…”

I found out the ‘but’ the moment I entered. My house stank, something partly decomposed and partly burnt. It didn’t take long to find the source. There was a still smouldering pile of rotting fruit and veg just outside of the back door. I found the shovel Tania used for the garden and buried the pile at the corner of the yard. Kane stayed inside, opening all the window to let fresh air in.

“See what I mean? Minor harassment. Annoying as all shit but not actually painful in any way.”

“I hate fucking amateurs,” he growled. “Give me a pro any day.”

“So, if we search for the culprits tomorrow, we need sleep tonight. Do you want to sleep now or later?”

He looked me over. “You sleep now. I don’t like the odds of you waking me up for my turn. And you going without sleep for a day is not going to help anyone.”

He was probably right about that. My mind kept going in circles and I might not wake him under the general theory that at least one of us was sleeping. “I’ll try but it’s probably not going to work.”

“You mean to tell me that you don’t have some sort of sleeping pill, knockout drop or anything else around here? You shock me, boss.”

I had to smile. “You know, there’s a good chance I could find something like that. Just never anticipated using it on myself.” I took a couple of pills and hit the hay. What does it say about my life that I’m going to sleep when I know damned well the only other person around was involved in an attempt to kill me?