Life on Mars (Jerod's Fourth Tale - Part 6)

It didn’t take long to buy the replacement cameras. I found what I needed, paid and walked toward Kane. He nodded as I past, then started walking behind and off to one side. When we were close to the car, Kane moved faster so he could open the door. He casually glanced in but since Ted had never left the car, it wasn’t much of a look. He held the door for me again, then climbed in beside Ted.

“Aren’t you so posh now that you have hired help?” Ted asked laughing slightly.

“None of that backtalk, just drive home, Jeeves,” I replied with my best posh accent. Ted flipped me the bird and set off for home. I leaned back against the seat. There was so little point in worrying about the future just now.

A few minutes later and Ted was pulling up outside my house.

“Locked it?” asked Kane.

“Yep, I always do,” I replied.

“Keys then. Let me check before you go in.”

“Kane, these are obviously amateurs. What do you expect to find?”

He gave me a strange look. “I don’t know. They are fucking amateurs. Professionals, we’d have some idea of what they might do. The two I saw, who the fucking hell knows what they might do?”

He grabbed the keys and disappeared into the house. A minute later, he motioned for me to come in.

“Where’s the family?” he asked as I came in.

I shook my head. “Not your business. I’ve moved them out for the time being. They are hiding. They should be safe.”

Kane nodded. “Fair enough. It will be hard enough for me to keep you safe. Add in more people and the job would be impossible.” He suddenly looked at the ground. “I appreciate you giving me this shot. I know it can’t be easy for you, given Egypt. I really do want to stay in this town and staying here means coming to terms with The Company.”

“Assuming I survive, I’ll make sure that The Company does right by you. If I don’t, well, that’s no longer my problem.” I pointed at him. “If you fail, you will have to deal with my widow, children and their godfather who happens to be Ginger. I suspect they will be very peeved.”

“Seriously dude, I will do what I can. If I’m the only bodyguard, there will be times when I’m asleep and you have no protection.”

“I should be able to protect myself when I’m awake. But Ginger is right, I will need sleep. I will need to eat. And there’s no telling how long they plan to just do small stuff.”

“Small stuff? What have they done so far?” Kane pulled a small pad of paper and a pencil out of a pocket. He started scribbling quickly on the pad. I told him about the note, the paint, and the broken easel. He stopped scribbling on one page and flipped to another.

“Fucking amateurs, I hate them,” he growled. “Why send you a fucking note to let you know someone hates your guts? What’s the fucking point about that easel?”

“The heads up was useful from my point of view. I don’t know why they want me to stew over their threats but at least I knew something was coming. But why bother with all this harassment? Painting the house might get the attention of the neighbours, I will grant you. I don’t think anyone noticed besides my poor wife and next door who happen to be Company too.”

Kane stopped scribbling and flipped back to the previous page in the notebook. He then tossed it at me. “They are really rough but those are the two that asked me about Pesce.”

The first picture was a male, youngish but not too young. The second was a younger looking female. “Not bad work. You have some talent in drawing.” I flipped back and forth between the pages, memorising the two faces.

“No fucking talent, just a lot of fucking practice. My mother was an artist and demanded we do a certain amount of it every damned day. By the time I left home for good, I’d done one fucking hell of a lot of drawing.” He shrugged, “It does come in useful from time to time.”

“I appreciate this,” I said tapping on the notebook. “Now I have a clue who to look for.”

“That should actually be completely unnecessary. I have seen them after all,” he replied. “So, could you tell me how the fucking hell you got out of that pyramid? Sophie had me drag this big arse statue to block the door. I don’t see how you managed to move it.”

“I didn’t go out that way. It was the Great Pyramid, damn thing is riddled with hidden doors, secret passages and traps. Oh my fucking god, does it have traps.” I shuddered at the memory. “The room you left me in had concealed door which I eventually found. It took me two damn days to find a fucking way out. I nearly died of thirst and from springing a couple of traps. So that plan had very nearly worked. I’ve been a lot more cautious when I travel since that.”

“You definitely do not want to end up in prison in Egypt. That was the most disgusting fucking place I’ve ever been.”

“I don’t plan on prison ever. I’m not officially a member of The Company. Around here, I’m a legit business man, specialising in importing foreign goods. When I’m overseas, my contacts may not be quite as legitimate. So I’m a bit more flexible about how to get things done. But I am always careful.”

“How can you not be Company? Like, isn’t that Ginger dude the local head?”

“Yes, and he took over that position when I quit. My business has ties to Company, but they’d be hard to trace. Ginger makes certain of that.”

“Why the fucking hell would you quit?”

“Believe it or not, to avoid shit like this. I thought once I quit The Company, I wouldn’t have to spend my life watching my back. Then Pesce makes it necessary for me to go to Egypt to straighten things out. I get back and get an offer that I couldn’t turn down.” I sighed. “Now my family is in hiding and I’m waiting to find out who exactly is responsible for this.”

I looked at my watch and found it was time to ring Tania. Damn, I forgot to remind her to leave the phone on vibrate. I punched the button to speed dial her and walked into our bedroom shutting the door behind me.

“Hey Sweetheart. Everything going okay?” I listen to Tania explain how hard it was to settle the kids once the tent was set up. “I wish I could help. Hell, I wish that all of you were home. I’m sure that the kids will adjust soon.” She sighed then asked me about how I was coping. “No, don’t worry about me. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself. Ted is lending me a guy as a body guard so all should be well.” “I miss you so much. You ring me tomorrow morning 10 past 7. All right?” She agreed. “Love and kisses to you and the kids. Be careful.” Then we hung up.

I came out of the bedroom to find that Kane was on the phone. From the sounds of it, he was talking to Jade. I went back into the bedroom, leaving the door slightly open. I waited until all was quiet before I came back out.

“Kane, time to head to the Red Rendezvous. I need a drink.” He shot me a look. “Hey, I think best with a drink. Or walking around which would be even riskier than the pub.”

He nodded. “Right, fine. How the hell do we fucking get there?”

“My car should be parked outside the joint. We’ll have to walk there, unless you want to do the cab thing?”

He sighed loudly, “You are fucking determined not to make this easy for me, aren’t you?”

“Look, honestly, I’ll try not to make it that hard. But I need to think. My first plan didn’t include the possibility of having someone else around. And you would really hate that one.”

“Why?”

“The plan was approximately, ‘Neh, neh, you can’t catch me.’ Really deliberately try and draw the opposition into action. Making damn sure that they went after me and didn’t go looking for my family.”

“A quiet drink at the pub does sound better,” said Kane. “But can’t you get a drink here?”

“Without my family, it’s too quiet. I need some buzz to distract me. Just one other person won’t do.”

He shrugged and started to head for the front door. I shook my head, “Let’s not make it that easy for them. I know a back way.”

Slow Burn (Jerod's Fourth Tale - Part 5)

There was a car horn. I looked out the window to see Ted in his car, he waved to me and motioned that I should get in. I cautiously opened the door, walked past the wreckage of my easel and climbed into the car.

“Got a call from someone wanting to join the company. I was thinking that you might need some distraction.” He grinned at me. “And I’ve found Kane.” His eyes flickered to what was left of my easel and painting but he didn’t mention the obvious.

“You’re right about needing a distraction. Fucking oath, a few days of this and they won’t have to do anything more. I’ll be stark raving mad.” I settled into the seat. “So, you found Kane already? You are a freaking wizard, how did you find him that fast?”

“I have my ways.”

We sat in silence until Ted pulled into a long driveway. “This is the place that Jade chick lives. She was the one who gave us the clue where to look for you.”

“Jade just married. It’s her new husband that we are here to see. Jade isn’t home but he should be.” Ted told me as we climbed out of the car.

Ted walked up to the door and rang the bell. I was a few paces behind when the door opened. I realised who the fucking hell it was about the time he noticed me.

“You?” we both said at the same time. It was Travis “Dread” Kane standing right there. Fucking shit, how long as he been living in town?

Kane looked at me then at Ted and sighed. “Look, could you do this some place other than Jade’s house. She doesn’t need to find the body when she gets home.”

“Body?” Ted asked.

His gaze went from Ted back to me. “I assume you are here to kill me.”

“I am here to assess you as a potential employee of The Company. Jerod is here to ask you a few questions. You’d have to have some really bad answers to end up dead.” He paused until Kane nodded. “Now, why are you here looking for a job?”

“Well,” he said. “I failed my last assignment. I ended up in prison and my partner disappeared. The Family bribed a few prison guards to get me out, then paid my tickets back. I was given no new work at all, they ignore me for weeks. Then finally they contacted me to tell me to leave Family territory within the next two weeks. Well, I vaguely remembered that Sophie was targeting supplies that were meant to ship here. That meant it was a Company town.”

“So you moved here?” asked Ted.

“Yeah, and then I met Jade. We dated a couple of times, then I asked her to marry me. So now I have a lovely wife and no income. That’s how I came to find you, this is the only job I really know. I’m usually damn good at it too.”

Ted nodded and took a step back. He’d probably already looked into Kane’s records enough to know how good he was at the job. I stepped forward.

“Before you say anything, dude, that stuff with the pyramid? That wasn’t my idea and it was strictly business,” Kane told me. I nodded. That would have been Pesce’s idea and Kane just did the heavy lifting.

“Right, and the extra strong drink served by a 15 year old who happens to look 19 was also just business,” I replied. “Though you stepped into that trap on your own.”

“You set that up?” I nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t nearly cautious enough. I thought we were home free,” he grimaced. We stared at each other for a minute. He broke first. “You had a question?”

“Has anyone asked you about Sophie Pesce recently? Someone who isn’t in the business?”

He frowned in thought. “Yeah, two people did. Guy and girl came by my old place while I was packing up. Asked a bunch of questions about that trip and when I last saw Sophie.”

“Did my name come up? Did you ask their names?”

“Yeah I told them your name, but I didn’t tell them you were alive. Fucking hell, I didn’t even think you might be alive. I thought you’d bought it in the pyramid. Don’t know their names, they didn’t say.”

So, Kane knows two people who were asking about Pesce. No names and he didn’t tell them I survived but a trip to Egypt with enough cash and they’d find out. They asked the right people in that tiny town, I was seen on the day she died taking someone back to camp. So who gave a damn about that bitch?

“Is that it for your questions?” I nodded. “So Shrimp, if you were still boss of this outfit, would you give him a job?” Ted looked at me. “You have better instincts about people.”

I looked at Kane and thought about that Egypt trip. How he behaved even when being provoked by Pesce. “No booze, no women when you are working, right?” I asked him.

He nodded. “I learnt that one. Definitely no booze when on the job, that’s for when I’m off work. As for other women? Don’t need that now.”

I had been watching his face, his body language and he was coming across as sincere. “Yeah, Ginger, I’d hire him. Good muscle can be hard to come by.”

“Right, so your first assignment in The Company is to be his body guard,” Ted told Kane pointing at me.

“Ginger, you have got to fucking be kidding!” I shouted. I wasn’t ready to trust him that far.

“Shrimp, you are going to need someone to watch your back. Most of my crew are on a heist a few towns over. Marta would but she’s sure that Crooks knocked her up and she’s not well. I have a ton of things I have to do, including watching Marta’s little girl. And you just said you would hire him.”

Ted had a point. If there were two of them, they just could wait me out. Eventually I was going to drop my guard, I couldn’t stay alert 24/7. I looked at Kane who was very calmly watching me. “You’ll back me up, whatever I ask for?”

“You want a clever plan, don’t look at me. You want someone to make it happen, tell me what to do,” he said. “I know I’m the muscle, that’s what I’m good at.”

I sighed. Not an ideal backup but if that’s all Ginger has to offer, then I really had no choice. “All right. He’s right, I need someone to watch my back. Don’t fail me.”

“If he fails, I’ll tie him up and leave him as a present for your bitch. We’ll send the bigger pieces back to Jade for burial,” said Ted with a wicked smile.

That was an interesting idea. I wonder what Tania would do if faced with that? Certainly not carve Kane into pieces, I don’t think she’d ever walk that far on the dark side. “You better leave a message for Jade. Until this is over, you’ll have to stick with me.”

Kane nodded and sat down with a bit of paper. He scribbled a few words, crossed them out, wrote down more words, then scrunched up the paper. He grabbed a new piece of paper and tried again. That one suffered the fate of the first and finally on his third piece of paper, he must have found something to write that he liked. “I said I’ll call later tonight. That is okay, right?”

“Sure, that will be fine.” Not like someone was after them, he could call as much as he liked. I really hate that I have to keep away from my family.

“Where to now?” asked Ted. “Company headquarters, your place, somewhere else?”

“Electronics store then my place. I have to replace my cameras, they’ve been destroyed. I’d really like to catch this pair on camera, see who I’m dealing with.”

“I know what they look like,” Kane pointed out.

True enough, he’s seen them. “Let me know if you spot them, Kane. So if we are going to be working together, what do you prefer to be called?”

“Sophie loved calling me shit-for-brains, though sometimes it was idiot, moron or imbecile. Even ‘oy, you’ would be a nice change. So whatever, boss.”

“Right, for the moment, Kane it is. Let’s get moving.”

Ted led the way to the car. I was about to get in when Kane made a stay hand gesture. I stopped. He opened the back door, double checked the inside of the car then held it open for me. When we arrived at the shop, he got out first, looked around then opened my door. He led the way to the shop, then blocked me from coming in until he’d had a chance to look.

Conclusions, he was taking it seriously and he knew what he was doing. Both of those things were reassuring.

Without You (Jerod's Fourth Tale - Part 4)

“Tania, you are brilliant. Dump that loser and marry me,” said Ted.

“Sorry, Ginger, mine all mine. Brilliant and beautiful. And Tania, if someone steals the bag, I’ll buy you lots more clothes. You deserve it.”

“What happens if this takes more than a week?” asked Tania.

I frowned. “I think, I talk to my brother and tell him to expect his sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Sunset Valley is far enough from here that you’ll be very safe.”

When Tania left the room to start packing, Ted moved closer so he could quietly ask me, “I know that making the family safe is a priority but what did you expect to do after that?”

“Track down Kane. He might still be in prison but someone may well have paid his way out,” I replied.

“I told you leaving him alive would have been a mistake.”

“You said that yesterday, which was a little late given that I dealt with him months ago. And that dude is fucking huge. If he wanted me dead, he could do it with his bare hands. That’s what I would expect him to do. None of this hinting around, I’d just be dead.” I paused. “But if I were looking for information about what happened to Pesce, I’d start with him. He was her last known partner. The locals all hated her, she was arrogant, self-centred, pushy bitch. They wouldn’t say anything.”

Ted nodded. “I’ll see what I can dig up on him. He probably isn’t in prison in Egypt, but I’ll see.”

“I’ll appreciate that. You can do more in a couple of hours on the computer than I could do in a couple of weeks.”

“In the meantime, I’ll let Wyatt what we need for him to do. I take it that we are the only ones to know the final destination?” asked Marta.

“Of a preference, yes. The fewer people that know I hid my family and where, the safer they’ll be.” I smiled at Marta. “You and Ted I will trust. Wyatt, Sinbad and the others, no.” Ted and Marta returned next door.

I started pacing back and forth. Was there anything more I could do for my family? I honestly couldn’t think of anything to do that we could do in the time we had available. The best I could do was be the walking target, keep the enemy focused on me. That part of the plan, I was not going to tell Tania.

That also meant that I wasn’t going to be able to go near my family until I knew it was over. Brief phone calls or messages, yes but visit them? I could lead the enemy straight to them.

As promised, it wasn’t long before Tania came back out with her guitar case slung over a shoulder and one larger bag in hand. Using the guitar case was a nice touch, she’s quite devious when she wants to be. “Shrimp, if they find us, use the knives?”

“First line of defence would be run for it. If we can leave you a car here,” I pointed on the map, “grab the kids and bolt for the car.” She nodded.

“Even if you can’t run, don’t pull out the knives. Great for general intimidation, but not very lethal if you aren’t in close range. It takes a lot of practice to hurt someone when throwing a knife. If you have to stand and fight, grab a tree branch. Hit them hard on the leg and they will slow down. Hit them hard in stomach and you may wind them. Hit them hard in the head and you might knock them out. You might also kill them that way.” I looked hard at her. “Do not threaten them with your weapon. Either swing hard and do your best to hurt them or don’t pick up the branch. Threatening is a good way to lose your weapon and the fight.”

“I think I understand. If I threaten, the odds that they can grab it go up.”

I nodded. “That’s basically it. If you just hold it, taking it from you is a lot easier. Swing it hard and even just stopping the blow will hurt.” I hugged Tania tightly. “Be careful. Listen for any cars slowing too much or footsteps nearby. Be ready.”

“You be careful too. Though I guess I needn’t bother telling you that. Careful isn’t what you do best, is it?” She smiled at me. “What are your plans?”

“Once I know you’re safe, I’ll have to start worrying about that.”

Tania looked into my eyes. “Liar. You do have some plans.” I was worried that she was going to start demanding the details. “But I’m probably better off not knowing them. I have a job that I have to do. I’ll have to trust you to do the one you’ve set for yourself.”

“I adore you. You do know that?” I said.

“You damn well should adore me,” she winked. “I’m the best wife you happen to have.”

“And the sexiest, whether you are being you or channelling your inner bitch. Turn that phone on at 6 tonight. We can have a brief chat.” I pulled her close for a kiss. “But I think you have to go. Ted will have had plenty of time to get in place by now. And this is not going to get any easier.”

Tania nodded and went to collect the kids. Two bags, one toddler under arm, the other following along. Given that after this, Tania was going to have to manage on her own, I didn’t offer to help with any of it. I did open the car door for her, watch while she got the kids settled.

Before she got behind the wheel, I gave her a light peck on the cheek. “Have fun practising at Red Rendezvous, see you in a couple of hours.”

She smiled and waved as she back the car away. Yeah, in case they happen to be close enough to hear, I want them to think Tania is just out for a few hours.

Once the car was out of sight, I moved my easel to the front yard and began a painting of our little tree out the front. Usually once I grab a brush, the rest of the world fades away. This time, I had maintain an awareness of my surroundings, just in case. Standing out there, I really did feel like a target. Still, better me than the family.

After a couple of hours of painting, I realised I was hungry. I wandered inside, made myself a sandwich and grabbed a cold drink from the fridge. It struck me as I sat down that the house was very quiet. I couldn’t remember the last time I was the only one at home. I was more often the one home with the kids, since I didn’t have a regular job.

So I was instantly aware when I heard the sound of snapping wood outside. If it had been from behind the house, it could have been Tania’s garden or our outdoor bar. Since it was the front of the house, the sound must have been my easel, new painting or both.

Caution meant I didn’t bolt from the table and rush out the door to see what happened. It would be too late to save my art from its fate and really stupid to run out the door when I know someone has it in for me. I finished my sandwich and my drink. I also thought about what the enemy was trying to accomplish. How long were they going to keep up this minor intimidation phase?

I then tried to check the most recent output from my security cameras. Unfortunately, there was only a black screen. Fuck, I forgot to check the damned cameras before. They probably broke them when they had cut the power. It would have been nice to have my first look at who was involved. I did look out the window at the sad wreckage of my easel. It was never going to be useful again.

So painting was out. I couldn’t practice drums, way too noisy. Listening to music was out for the same reason. I washed my plate, then started cleaning the counter and then started cleaning the rest of the house. If Tania has a fault, it’s that she doesn’t clean. If the mess bothers me, then it’s my job to do it.

One thing about a small house, I did a good clean of the whole place and it took 2 hours. Only 4 in the afternoon, two long hours before I’m supposed to ring Tania. Fucking hell, all this waiting was going to kill me. I wish I had a target to go after.