Reprisal in Black Read online

  He had taken only one bag from the back of the SUV. It contained two full changes of clothes one of which had a workman like appearance, the usual toiletries, a satellite phone, a laptop and a Glock pistol fully loaded with four extra seventeen shot magazines. There was also an eight inch hunting knife that you could shave with. After checking everything and setting up the phone and laptop he sent a few secure e-mails. One in particular went to his Spanish team headquarters in the wilds of the western province of Extremadura to give them a situation update.

  It was now six p.m. He would rest for an hour, shower and change before having dinner somewhere else other than the hotel restaurant. It was not paranoia to try to avoid even the off chance of being randomly recognised. It’s what kept people like Steve alive. Many who wouldn’t make that extra effort now had the occasional flowers in vases on their gravestones.

  At seven forty-five p.m. he exited the hotel via a fire exit door onto the rear car park with the collar of his coat jacket up and the baseball cap’s peak angled down over his forehead and eyes. He turned left and walked towards West North Avenue which he’d seen from the internet had a number of bars, cafes and restaurants. He fancied a Chinese meal for a change and had seen one advertised which should be about three hundred yards beyond the next left turn. He ate well and got back to the hotel for nine-thirty p.m. He checked his mails and finding nothing of any great importance, turned in for the night. He wanted to be up at six a.m. and in the area around Janice’s apartment by around seven. He needed to drive around the area first then have a good look on foot. He’d ring Janice about a quarter to ten when he had found a suitable place to meet.

  After half an hour’s investigation the following morning, he’d driven around everywhere he thought necessary and wanted to dump the car somewhere discreet in case it was recognised by anyone nosy. Having parked it at the back of a shopping mall in amongst loads of similar vehicles, he made sure he was tooled up for the day and that the extra secure locking mechanisms on the ‘Company’ SUV were switched on. When that was done, he began a meandering walk towards Janice’s apartment block just listening and looking for anything out of the ordinary. At about nine a.m. a couple of streets away from Janice’s he noticed a flash car pull into a driveway fifty yards or so ahead. The car was big, new and looked pretty expensive. Probably a Cadillac although Steve was not that well up on new cars. It was well out of place in this depressed neighbourhood. The two guys in it were out and out thugs.

  You could smell them a mile away. Scalp and neck tattoos, almost shaven heads, a few facial piercings and probably weighing the best part of three hundred pounds each of which a lot was fat and not muscle. Steve crossed the road and took refuge behind a parked delivery van. He had a better view from there. The guys got out of the car, slamming the doors. When they stood upright they were a good six feet two or three inches. They were hard and rough men. The driver had a short ginger goatee beard. Maybe he was hiding a weak chin.

  They pounded on a ground floor apartment door ahead of them, waited a moment and then did it again with increasing frustration. After several goes at this an old small black woman opened the door. They didn’t want her and pushed their way past into the condo. After a couple of minutes they came out shaking their heads. They stopped by the old woman who had sat down on a low wall to recover from the shock of their visit. The driver gave her a hard smack across the mouth which split her lip and made her cry. Blood dribbled down her chin and onto the flagstones. Steve couldn’t hear what he said but he guessed it was to give a message to someone else in the family that they wanted their money or else they would pay a return visit. Steve was raging inside but he held it together. He hoped that somehow these guys were involved in Janice’s stitch-up. He would enjoy dealing with them. They certainly wouldn’t.

  The guys got back in the car, reversed quickly onto the road and took off with the mandatory amount of tyre squeal. Steve memorised the number plate and within a minute was talking to an old friend asking him to call him back with the details of the car owner and their address.

  By now it was nine-thirty a.m. and time he found a place to meet Janice, so he carried on towards her place until he found a small children’s playground inside a secure fence with swings and slides. There were other people there already. It was the perfect place for a clandestine chat. He called Janice and told her where to meet him. Steve then wandered off around the corner just out of sight of the playground and waited for Janice and the two kids to arrive. The children wouldn’t recognise him. The oldest was just a baby the last time Steve saw him and the youngest wasn’t even born. Come to that he hadn’t seen Janice since Chuck’s awful funeral but he’d always thought her an attractive woman.

  When Janice and the kids arrived a little after ten o’clock, Steve gestured for them to enter the park first. He followed a few yards behind, together but not together. She sat the kids on the roundabout and stood watching them. Steve came up and stood a couple of feet to the side of her so she could hear without him shouting, but not close enough to draw undue attention.

  He asked if the loan scum had been in touch. She said yes and they were coming to the house on Friday morning for the money. At that she burst into tears. Steve noticed the bruise high on her cheek and a little swelling on the eyebrow above. He didn’t comment but it burned him up inside. Today was Wednesday, forty-eight hours to sort this mess. He said ‘I’ll be at your house for seven a.m. on Friday. I’ll be wearing a suit.’ She looked surprised as he put a finger up to his lips and indicated it would be a surprise. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort this once and for all’, and then added, ‘describe the people to me.’

  Janice hesitated for a moment, as if recovering from a nightmare, and said, ‘Normally two very big men. Tattoos, shaven heads.’

  Steve nodded, ‘I’ve already seen them on their rounds this morning. I have things in motion already. Keep the faith’, with that he blew her a kiss and left indicating that he’d call her soon. She’d be in no danger until Friday. She really was an attractive woman and the few years since he’d last seen her had done nothing to change his opinion.

  Steve went back to the hotel and paid up until Friday in cash. He then went to his room and removed the ‘Do Not Disturb’ tag from the door handle. He carefully unlocked the door and waited a moment, listening intently. When he was sure he slowly opened the door and checked his view ahead. No sign of entry, the corner of the rug was still turned up and the curtain was still held out a little by the chair. He then pushed the door open hard and it bounced off the wall. There was no-one there. After checking the bathroom and a couple of other tell-tale signs, he relaxed and turned on the laptop, connected the sat phone to it and checked his communications. There was one from Langley referring to a recent payment to the team’s Swiss account.

  He checked his phone for messages and there were none. He was hoping he’d have heard back about the car registration number but he decided on a shower first and then he’d call the guy again. As he stepped into the shower and wet his hair, Sod’s Law came into play and his phone rang. He jumped out of the shower laying warm puddles all over the cheap laminate floor and threadbare bedroom carpet. He grabbed the phone and waited for the caller to speak. ‘Steve, sorry it took me so long but this one was a bit tough, the car belongs to an outfit called Loan Enterprises Inc., but they’re not registered. However, I picked up on another link and the guy in charge is Ronnie Banks. He’s got form as long as your arm. Mostly petty stuff, but he did do five to seven for being peripherally involved in an armed robbery a few years back. He must have got the minimum, must have kept his nose clean.’

  Steve thought maybe he bribed somebody and then asked, ‘Where’s he based or where does he live?’

  ‘He keeps a small walk in office off West Potomac Avenue in Humboldt. I’ve no information on where he lives, but it could be the apartment above the office.’

  Steve asked, ‘Any known associates?’

  ‘I haven’t got that f
ar yet but it’ll be a few more bucks if I do.’

  ‘Just do it, now, this is important, a friend is in danger’, said Steve as he disconnected.

  He rested awhile and walked himself through his plan for the evening, the part after it got dark. Having had a late lunch of spaghetti and meatballs at a little Italian diner, he drove the long way round to Blackpool Street. He parked up a couple of hundred yards away, under a streetlight, switched his phone to silent, and then walked on the opposite side of the road to the junction with the street. He loitered in front of a discount store for a few moments and surveyed the area, waiting until someone came out of the office and then walked down towards it. There was a small driveway between the buildings and sure enough the flash car was parked in there. That meant the thugs were home.

  Steve had a dilemma, he could go into the office, pretend to be looking for money, and then sort them all out but he didn’t know who else would be around, or whether they were armed or not. It was too risky. He looked around and noticed a ‘To Let’ sign above a hardware store almost opposite the office. It could be an empty apartment and if it was it would be a great place for some covert surveillance. He crossed the street careful to keep his face and contours away from the office window. He tipped his head down a touch and hunched his shoulders. Not so tall or well-built that way.

  He crossed the road and found the back alley with a stairway access to the apartment. There was no obvious sign of life. He rapped on the scruffy and dilapidated door but there was no reply. He tried again and waited for a good minute. He then put his ear to the door and listened. Nothing, no TV, no voices, no dogs. He casually looked around and seeing no-one fished in his pocket for his pick set. The place was not secure. It took all of twelve seconds to get in.

  When he’d opened the door he waited a moment and then carefully made his way down the corridor avoiding the accumulated rubbish of newspapers and fliers. There was nothing in the dirty and disused kitchen or in the bedroom opposite. It smelt like something had died in the bathroom, but there was nothing visible. The corridor opened into an open plan lounge and dining area. All the rooms had cheap, old and filthy furniture but no-one had lived there for a while. The large window onto the street had shabby vertical blinds with enough gaps to see out of without moving them.

  Steve grabbed a rickety dining chair, flicked the dust of it, spun it around and sat by the window. He aimed his small military option ten by fifty binoculars across the street and focused first on the office and then on the upstairs apartment. The large clear glass office window to the left of the doorway had a big banner sign for Loan Enterprises Inc. and a number of questionable endorsements.

  There were no bars in front or behind the glass. If they kept any cash in there it was probably in a heavy safe. Maybe they felt tough enough to be arrogant and kept it in a drawer. The guy with the goatee beard came and stood at the window looking out into the street. Steve nicknamed him Pinky and his mate Perky because they were pigs. Pinky had his hands in his pockets and seemed relaxed. He turned his head occasionally as if talking to someone else, probably Perky.

  Steve then focused on the upstairs windows. The first one had some kind of thin curtain or net and he couldn’t make out anything inside. The one directly over the office he could see straight through. He caught the flicker of a TV just out of sight and what he thought was someone sitting in an armchair at the far side of the room.

  A youngish blonde woman then approached the window with a vase of flowers and a cloth. She wiped the sill and then placed the vase in the centre and moved the flowers around until she was happy. She was quite pretty, well stacked, not thin but not fat either. Pleasantly rounded might have been a good description.

  Someone came up behind her and put their arms around her waist. She turned her head a little. The man who was neither Pinky nor Perky, then moved his hands and cupped her ample breasts. She then turned towards him and pushed him away. A few moments later she appeared in the office downstairs and put her coat on by the window.

  Steve scanned the upstairs again but no-one was in view. He then left the apartment quickly and pretty well ran down the back stairs and round to the street corner. She was coming out of the office and walked in the opposite direction towards the main street or the shopping mall. He waited until she’d gone fifty yards or so and followed her. She was in no rush to get anywhere and didn’t look back. She obviously felt secure and protected even if she was not too happy with the happenings of a few moments ago.

  Steve maintained the gap and followed her on the opposite side of the road, cap peak down, shoulders hunched, and pretending to talk into his mobile. She hadn’t got a clue he was there. She stopped at the end of the street and went into a General Store. Steve followed and saw her pick up bread and then cigarettes from the counter. The Asian guy at the till looked uneasy. She took the bread and cigarettes and left without paying. The Asian guy said ‘see you later Mrs Banks’ and shrugged his shoulders. Steve picked up some gum, paid the guy and left. He looked towards the office and she was on her way back there.

  So Mr and Mrs Banks were upstairs, with Pinky and Perky in the office. There were obviously stairs between the office and the apartment. There was no easy way to breach the office without being vulnerable to anyone upstairs. Steve went back to the vacant apartment and resumed his surveillance.

  Some hours later at nine o’clock that evening the office light went off and Pinky and Perky came out of the front door and went round to the car. They got in and reversed the car onto the road and backed up in front of the office. Ronnie and Mrs Banks then came out of the office door and stood while he locked it. He looked up and down the street but seemed happy enough and they got into the back of the car. Pinky drove and they accelerated to the end of the road. Perhaps they were going for a beer or a meal or the movies, maybe something else. They moved too slowly and casually for anything urgent.

  They could be gone for a while. Perhaps it would be enough of a while for Steve to look inside their office. He waited ten minutes and went down the alley behind their office and found a passageway at the back of the building. There was a back door. It was dirty and cobwebbed up. Not used very often. He peered through the half glass and saw nothing but lino and a few old boxes.

  He checked around for nosy neighbours and when satisfied the coast was clear used his pick set and was inside in a few seconds. The occupants were either extremely stupid or had the neighbourhood frightened to death. No normal business had such lax security. Steve pulled his pen light from his trouser pocket and slowly looked around. There was nothing but rubbish in the hall.

  The door into the office was closed but not locked. It opened with a slight creak of the hinge. The office smelt of stale tobacco and raw sweat. There was a big safe on the back wall. Steve noted the make and model. There was a counter, a couple of desks and chairs with laptops, and a bank of filing cabinets against the side wall. He guessed they contained the records of their customers. He now had a plan.

  He got back to his room at the hotel around eleven p.m., called room service and asked for a chicken club sandwich, French fries and a couple of beers. When it came he shoved twenty dollars under the door and told the waiter to keep the change. When the footsteps had disappeared down the corridor he opened the door and retrieved his snack. He checked his phone and got two missed calls, one from Janice and the other with hopefully more info on Ronnie Banks’ associates.

  He spoke to Janice first worried that she was upset. She just wanted to thank him but there was something else in her voice. He said he’d see her at seven a.m. on Friday and would call her tomorrow to make sure she was okay. He then called the other number.

  ‘Hi, have you got some problems. Those guys are nutters, psychos. I got a photo of Banks at some do with those two standing near him in the background. I enhanced the shot and mailed it to a friend. He confirmed them as Roderick Pearson Young and Dexter Webb, both 35 and both escapees from the Torvik High Security prison in Texas a
s of five years ago when there was that big riot that burned half the place down. Big hunt failed to find them.

  Their records would fill a book. You would not believe the shit they went down for. Both took a plea for manslaughter and got ten to twenty. They’re both into martial arts and are very close if you get what I mean. You be careful. Banks works on his own, I can’t see him attached anywhere else.’

  Steve said, ‘What about her?’

  ‘She’s an ex hostess which says it all. Name’s Amanda. Usual fee?’

  Steve said ‘Fine, it’ll be wired with a bonus, thanks’ and disconnected.

  Steve showered and turned in for the night. He had a lot to do in the thirty-six hours before he got to Janice’s place on Friday morning.

  Chapter 9

  Chicago - continued

  Steve was up and showered by seven a.m. on the Thursday morning. He checked over his equipment to make sure he’d not forgotten anything and then thinking it wasn’t too early, called an old friend in New York. It would be an hour later there. The phone answered with a yawning voice, ‘Hello, who is it?’

  ‘It’s Steve.’

  ‘Oh, hi’, the voice said with hesitation.

  Steve said ‘it’s okay you don’t owe me any money’, and laughed.

  ‘What can I do for you then?’

  Steve said ‘I want some info on an old safe like how do I get into it.’

  ‘Okay, what is it?’

  ‘It’s a Renton Fireproof, with a number of F400. It’s about four foot six inches high and about two foot six inches wide and the same deep. It just has a keyhole. There aren’t any code pads or combination dials.’

  ‘Okay, leave it with me a couple of hours and I’ll get back to you.’

  If Steve’s plan, or one of them, worked he wouldn’t have to open it himself, but better be safe than sorry, and then winced at himself over the bad pun. He took breakfast in a greasy spoon diner around the corner from the hotel and leisured over an extra coffee. He was dressed as for work, the cap peak down over the eyes as always. After finishing up and leaving a small tip, sufficient for the smart waitress to be happy with but not enough to make her rich, he walked to towards the SUV checking around him and looking for anything out of the ordinary. As he was about to cross the road, Pinky and Perky flashed past in the Cadillac completely oblivious to anyone or anything. Steve swore to himself and clenched his fists.