Little White Lies (41 page)

“I wanted the three of you to take on the man of your choice to show you how inept you all are. You don’t have a chance against one of our people, let alone our entire staff. If something happens we will be sending more than one out to get you. And make no mistake about it… we will get you.

“I know you probably think you’re good and what happened here was all a big mistake. On your way home you will get to talking and you will make up all kinds of excuses why our man got the best of you. Before you arrive back in the city you will have convinced yourselves that the next time things will be different.

“Now let me tell you the way it is. Most of the people here have been to war… a real war, not the kind of bullshit you guys do with drive-by shootings and other chickenshit stunts. You think you know guns… you can’t imagine the firepower we have, know how to use, and can’t wait to put to work on the likes of you assholes. You carry knives. We love knives. The net is: it would be boys against men… I’d have trouble holding these guys back.

“You want to change your life for all time… make trouble for the Jacksons. Just don’t think we’ll call the police and ask for help. Once we get started, you will be calling for the police. We won’t. It will be personal and you will pay dearly. Since we have already warned you, we will take any offense very seriously. In other words, if we come calling, your next stop won’t be a hospital… it will be the morgue.”

I pause to let the message sink in.

“Any questions?”

Rumble looks up and sneers in contempt. “Fuck you!”

This reply earns him a solid shot in the nose by Max.

“Not the right response, asshole,” Max instructs him quietly.

“I’ll ask again,” I continue in the same tone as before. “Do any of you have any questions?”

The three men look down sullenly, but no other response is forthcoming.

“It looks like the lesson isn’t over,” I state in a weary tone.

The three heads turn as one.

“We understand,” Lightning Fast blurts out. “At least I do.”

“Me, too,” Dealer adds.

“You made your point,” Rumble mumbles through his swelling lips.

His nose is bleeding and tears are running down his cheeks from the last blow Max delivered. He’s not crying, Max just activated his tear ducts and the water is flowing unbidden down his cheeks. Probably embarrassing.

“Take those two out of here,” I instruct two of our men who are standing off to the side. “We’re going to have to spend some more time with Mr. Rumble here.”

Rumble comes around a little more quickly this time.

“You don’t have to do anything more with me,” he says with a bit more sincerity. “I got the picture.”

I try to not look convinced. I continue to look at him with doubt written all over my face.

“No, really,” Rumble says earnestly. “Nothing will happen, I swear. It was all a misunderstanding.”

I let him stew for a while and then appear to be reluctantly convinced.

“Better be sure,” I add. “We’ll come for you first if anything happens.” I pause again before continuing. “I don’t like you, Rumble. I didn’t like the shit you pulled when you came here and nothing you have said or done since has changed my mind. You tough guys are all alike. You’re real hard until you run into someone besides children or old men and women. I might as well be honest about it… if anything happens. you’re going to go down. Another thing I want you to know… it will be personal… you and me.”

Rumble smiles and nods, “I’d like that. I’d love to take a shot at you without all your protection around.”

Before I can reply, Steve Marshall speaks up.

“Rumble, I don’t know you personally, but I’ve heard of you back in the hood. I know you’re tough. Right now, bro, you don’t know what you’re talking about. This man will eat your lunch and make you shit it. I’ve seen how you all give Bear plenty of respect… for good reason. Mr. Richards took Bear and didn’t even work up a sweat. You want an early grave. take on the man. But you’d better bring an army. One on one, you got no chance… and that’s the straight line.”

Rumble gives Marshall a look of infinite patience, and then returns his gaze to me. Still not convinced.

“Tell you what, Rumble,” I begin, “let’s get this over with now. I don’t trust you and you don’t seem convinced. We’ll leave the house and go somewhereout in the fields, away from any help for either one of us. Your friends can go home. You won’t be joining them… now or later. We’ll fight to the finish. No weapons.” I pause to allow him a little time to mull it over. Then, “Tonight you’re going to die.”

I walk to the door and turn to our team.

“Get him ready while I change my clothes. I’ll be back in two minutes.”

I go to my room and quickly change into military style utilities. The clothing is loose and comfortable. I take a moment to do a few quick stretches and relax before the upcoming battle. I don’t feel anything emotionally. I’m not excited or scared… that will all come later.

I return to the gym and see Rumble standing off to the side.

“Would you like to say good-bye to your friends?” I ask. “You won’t be seeing each other for quite a while. Like never.”

Rumble laughs.

“You got some line of shit, man.”

I smile in return.

“We’ll see.”

“Why can’t we get it on here? Why all the drama?”

“Because. That’s all the answer you get: because. Let’s go. You’re not afraid of the dark are you?”

We turn to leave, but Rumble stops at the door.

“I don’t think I want to do this,” he says. “I think you’re crazy. This whole thing is crazy. You want to fight, I’ll fight. But I ain’t going out there.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to fight. I said I didn’t like you. I said I was going to kill you, because I’m not convinced you understand how you screwed up here. In my book, you’re a cowardly piece of shit. I’m not going to wait for you to try something… I’m going to take you out now. be done with it.”

Rumble continues to glare at me, but he isn’t moving either.

“I ain’t going anywhere. You want to get it on, get it on here.”

I walk up to Rumble. “Go ahead, take your best shot.”

Rumble’s hands clench and he suddenly draws his hand back to throw the punch.

This guy might be good on the street against untrained opponents, but he’s not quite in our league. He offers a number of options, but the best is usually the simple, straightforward approach.

I step back and easily block the well-telegraphed punch. I immediately counter with a knife hand to the throat and a kick to the groin. I grab his lowering head and bring my knee up, smashing his nose for the second time this evening. It wouldn’t have been fair even if I had been his first opponent of the evening, but some lessons are harder to learn than others.

“I’ve changed my mind,” I say to his cronies. “I’m going to let him go home with you if he manages to keep his mouth shut for a while.”

We look at Rumble’s inert body.

“Get them out of here before I change my mind again. These people make me sick.”

The security staff team escorts the men to their waiting car. It’s slow going, for Lightning Fast isn’t very fast any more. He can barely stand and he needs assistance from Dealer to walk. Our guys refuse to help. My guess is he will need some serious therapy on his knee before he’s finished, perhaps even surgery. It’s really unfortunate. At my request, our people follow their car for a few miles down the road to impress upon them the seriousness of our intent. I return to the gym and spy Max who is continuing his workout.

“Enjoy your evening so far,” I ask with a smile.

“Yeah, thanks, boss,” he replies. “It’s nice to have a break and workout with a real person once in a while. I get tired of these old punching bags all the time. And it’s nice to actually throw a punch without pulling it at the last second. ‘Course, the fact they deserved a good ass kicking didn’t hurt either.”

I give Max a light pat on the shoulder as I turn to leave.

“Nice work, Max,” I say and then turn to the three also-rans. “Looks like Max saved your collective asses again.”

“Yeah, lucky us,” comes a dejected reply. “I feel like a fuckin’ wallflower,” says one.

Max laughs gleefully.

I walk back to the library to find A.J. He’s sitting on the sofa looking towards the window in apparent contemplation… probably reviewing the day’s events.

“So much for the old friends from the neighborhood bit,” I offer, trying to make light of the moment.

I can only imagine what a disappointment this must have been for him. A.J. looks at me and shakes his head.

“I shouldn’t be surprised. Tigers don’t change their stripes. They were just doing what they have been doing all their lives. Trying to take advantage of other people. But I still hoped it might be different this time.”

He slowly shakes his head in weary resignation.

“Thanks for jumping in. I didn’t know what to do. I thought I was going crazy. I couldn’t think of any way to put a stop to it. We can’t start down the road making payoffs, but I would never be able to get my parents to understand the danger either… that is, until it was too late. I was sort of paralyzed. My mind was going a million miles a minute and getting nowhere. You know… lost bigger than shit, but making good time.”

“I understand. It’s always a gamble, but this way we have dealt with these guys on their own terms… in a language they understand. I told them if anything happens to your parents or other members of your family, we will come for them first… and we will not be as gentle as we were this time around.”

A.J. smiles at the thought, “That should do it. Unfortunately, they don’t really know you and what you’re capable of. They probably think you’re just another honky jerk with a big ego and nothing to backit up. They should have talked to Bear before cooking up this idea. He might have set them straight… but I doubt it. Some people have to learn the hard way.”

He sits lost in thought for a moment and then continues, “You know… I wonder if I really know you. You get a weird look on your face when this shit starts. It’s scary. I asked Hudson about you one day… he didn’t say much. He just smiled and said the only people who knew the other side of you aren’t with us anymore.”

I choose to ignore his ramblings.

“A.J., I honestly don’t think they will try anything with your family. They have to believe we will come for them… and I promise you, we would do exactly that. I thought about finishing it tonight, but I think they got the message. I promise you, if there is even a hint of trouble with your family, we’ll put an end to it… and them.”

A.J. laughs.

“You know it’s funny. A man with your background and you’re probably worse than any of the gang leaders I knew as a kid. If people only knew…”

“Well, let’s let this be our little secret, shall we?”

I walk to the bar and take out two bottles of water.

“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.”

I think any romantic notions A.J. may have held onto about his past have finally crumbled to dust inthe aftermath of this evening’s events. Free at last.

***

An entire week has gone by and there’s still no word from Karen. I called on several occasions, leaving messages, but so far no return calls. I finally reached her Friday, but it turned out to be a waste of time. She was cold and distant and there are no signs of an early thaw. The phone call didn’t last two minutes.

Things with Jennifer have remained pretty much the same as before. I like to spend time with her when the opportunity presents itself, but I have been buried in work. Fortunately, Jennifer doesn’t seem to mind. Today, for instance, is a good case in point. I have been away for almost a week. She left a message to call back… when convenient. I have a pile of mail and messages staring at me, but the nice tone of Jennifer’s message puts her at the top of the list. Also, I neglected to call when I was away so I had better get on the stick or I’ll lose all my hard-earned good behavior points.

She picks up on the second ring.

“Hi, it’s Philip. I just walked in the door about two minutes ago and I saw your message.”

“I hoped you would call before you made any plans for this evening. If you are not too tired from all your travels, I would like to have you come over as soon as you can. And, by the way, don’t I rate any calls for a whole week?”

“You mean as soon as I shower and get all this airplane grime off me. I feel like I have a coat of oil on my body… and it’s not the good kind. And, yes, you do rate calls during the week and it won’t happen again… promise.”

“No, I don’t want you to get cleaned up or anything. Bring a change of clothes with you… something casual. I would like you to come over right now… can you make it? I accept your apology, if that’s what it was.”

“You mean right this minute? Thank you. Yes, that’s what it was.”

“Yes, right now. You’re welcome.”

This is beginning to sound more like a problem than an invitation. It would be worth accepting her invitation if only to get this double conversation over with… it’s giving me a headache. I agree to leave immediately and I’m on my way within minutes.

I find her waiting at the top of the steps when I arrive. There shouldn’t be a lot of traffic here today, so I pull directly under the portico and park the car.

“Hey, what’s this all about?” I ask as soon as my feet hit the ground.

We meet in the middle of the steps where she puts her arms around my neck and kisses me so softly and with such feeling that I almost forget about all the mystery.

“Hi,” she says softly.

“Hi, yourself,” I persist. “What’s going on?”

She takes my hand and leads me up the steps and into the foyer.

“I missed you and I wanted you to know it.” She looks down at the small bag I have in my hand. “Good. I see you brought your change of clothes. Follow me, please.”

The last said with the air of a well-tipped bellman. She turns and tugs at my hand and I follow obediently. We cross the foyer and walk towards the back of the house. I have never seen any parts of this mansion other than the living room area. We take a left and walk along a wide hallway, passing various darkened rooms. Large double doors close off the end of the corridor. We stop and Jennifer turns to me without opening the doors.