LITMIR.BIZ

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know the bar is sleazy, but just for having a beer?”

      “It was more than beer,” Jack said, then hung up.

      Connie stared at the telephone still in her hand. Tell me again it was a dead end ... lying son of a bitch.

      Jack picked Jenny up on schedule and explained that they were going to meet her mommy at the hospital.

      The trip was uneventful as Jenny tried to impress Jack with everything she knew, including her ability to count and to sing nursery rhymes.

      They were just pulling into the hospital lot when Jenny asked, “Are you going to be my new daddy, now?”

      Jack felt a pang of guilt, then said, “No, I’m married to another lady. But if your mom says it’s okay, I could sort of be like an uncle to you.”

      “What’s a dunkle?”

      “Not ... never mind, there’s your mom now.”

      Locked cars were something that Jack was experienced with. It took him only a few seconds to gain entry.

      “Why do I even bother to lock it?” asked Holly.

      “Keeps the honest people out,” replied Jack.

      “Not that. I mean it’s just a piece of junk. No decent car thief would want to be seen in it.”

      Jack made a quick examination under the hood and discovered that the battery was as old as the car. He told her that she would just need a boost and that he would call a tow truck. He suggested that Holly and Jenny wait in the hospital. It was rush hour and the tow truck might be a while.

      Jack sat briefly in his own car to use his cellphone. A tow truck would be along in an hour, as soon as the new battery was charged. He gave them his cell number and told them to call when they arrived.

      Jack met Holly in the reception area and they went to see Charlie. Jenny clung to her mother’s leg, sucking her thumb as they walked.

      Jack heard Charlie before he saw him. He was under enough medication to stop him from crying, but not from whimpering.

      Tears filled Holly’s eyes. She desperately wanted to pick him up and hold him, but he was still too fragile. Instead, she held his hand in hers and tried to soothe him. It was the longest hour Jack ever endured. He felt ashamed at his relief when the tow truck arrived and he hurried out ahead of Holly to look after the matter.

      He was embarrassed further when Holly demanded that she pay for the boost. Jack accepted the fifteen dollars that he told her it cost.

      When Jack arrived back in his own apartment parking garage, he shut off the car and sat for a moment, then reached for the sun visor. He removed the picture that Holly had given him at the hospital when she told him about Charlie’s paralysis. It was Charlie taking his first steps. Will you ever walk again? He placed the photo back in the sun visor and went to his apartment.

      Natasha wasn’t about to let him retreat into his own thoughts. Dinner had barely started when she looked at him and said, “Okay, what the hell is going on? Are you upset with something I said or did? Talk to me!”

      Jack looked at her and said, “It’s not you.”

      “Then what is it?”

      Jack’s anger flooded his brain. Doesn’t she appreciate what I’ve been going through? He put his fork down on the table and said, “Let me tell you about what has happened in the last week and a half! A husband is murdered because he had my name. I take down a bunch of speed labs and an old man is murdered because the price of speed went up! I help catch the guy who did that but let another fellow get his skull bashed in the process!”

      Jack paused and returned Natasha’s stare. He felt the anger drain. “It seems that the harder I work, the more grief I bring on everybody,” he added, quietly.

      Natasha was accustomed to grief and sorrow. Anger too. It didn’t matter that Jack was her husband, the man she loved. She was a professional, as was her response: “Consequences are not always easy to predict. Could you ever have predicted that Holly’s husband would be murdered?”

      “No, but...”

      “But shut up and listen!”

      Jack opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. “So that was not your fault. Do you think whoever did that should get away with it?”

      “No.”

      “Good, because that person is a psychopath. Hope you stop him before it happens again.”

       Me too. Stop him dead.

      “As far as the labs go, how many kids might be dissuaded from taking the drug because the price has gone up? Can you tell me those consequences of your actions?”

      “Of course not.”

      “Now, letting a man get his skull cracked open is a little different. You told me before that you might have been able to stop it — so why didn’t you?”

      “I was angry. Angry that people like him sexually exploit young girls.”

      “Makes me angry as well.”

      “Still don’t know if what I did was right.”

      “Do you want to take a poll? Maybe half the world would say you were wrong. Maybe they all would. That doesn’t really matter. It’s what you think that counts. It is what you have to live with that is important.”

      Jack thought about it for a moment, then said, “That’s not true. Your opinion counts a great deal.”

      Natasha smiled slightly and said, “And it damn well should. I know you see the world in all its ugliness. Violent, unpredictable, unfair, and often unjust. You’re a really compassionate guy. You base your actions on your own experiences ... through your own eyes. I have faith that you will continue to do what is morally right. You’re a turkey, but you haven’t let me down yet.”

      Jack looked down at his plate and reflected upon her words, conscious that she was still staring at him. He looked up, gave a grim smile, and said, “Thanks.”

      Natasha smiled back and then said, “Now, want to ask me about my day? Being a doctor in a clinic on the east end ... a pansy like you wouldn’t last ten minutes!”

      It was early Friday morning and not yet light when Jack and Danny met Lance in the cemetery.

      “The next ship arrives Tuesday,” said Lance. “One metric tonne. I’m in charge of stashing it.”

      “Details,” said Jack. “Precise.”

      “Well, as I told ya before. We already paid $3 mil U.S. up front. That was on the first boat. Carlos put that toward this shipment when they lost the other one in San Diego. When this one arrives, Brutus and a couple of strikers will make the second half of the payment.”

      “Where?” asked Jack.

      “He hasn’t picked a spot yet and I might never know where. My job is to see that the dope is stashed. Tomorrow I’m gonna talk with one of my guys and tell him to rent a storage locker. On Tuesday, we’ll have an Econoline van at the dock. Once it’s loaded, I’ll have three guys take it to the storage locker and stay with it overnight. Next day it’ll be split up and sent out on deliveries.”

      “Who will you order to get the locker?” asked Jack.

      “One of the strikers. Maybe Silent Sam or Dragon.”

      “John Dragonovich?” asked Danny. “I thought he had his full patch.”

      “Not yet,” replied Lance. “He’s only been striking for a year and a half. He’s got at least another six months to go, and that’s if he’s lucky.”

      “Use Silent Sam,” said Jack. “He’s the one who was busted with the labs. If there is any heat, they’ll be looking

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