Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 14

 

 

Glenn was waiting outside the station house when Joey got off his shift. Joey instantly panicked because Glenn had never done that before. But if it was an emergency he’d have called he told himself. It didn’t really help. Glenn must have seen it in his face because he pulled Joey into a hard hug.

 

Joey leaned back to look at him in shock. “What are you doing?”

 

“Just letting you know you’re part of my life everywhere, not just when no one’s looking. Does it bother you?”

 

“Hell no!” Joey grinned. “And in case you haven’t picked up on it, which maybe you didn’t because you don’t come into town that much, it’s not really a secret anyway. But…”

 

Glenn cocked an eyebrow when Joey paused.

 

“I have the sneaking suspicion there’s more to this than just proving I’m yours, and vice versa.”

 

“Aren’t you the clever young man.”

 

“Occasionally.”

 

“Usually.” Glenn slid his arm around Joey’s waist, hustling to his car. When Joey balked, pointing out he’s brought his own car, Glenn nodded. “And we’ll come back for it later.”

 

“So what’s going on that we can’t talk about at home, which I suspect it the reason you’re kidnapping me.”

 

“I’ll tell you when we get where we’re going.”

 

Knowing he’d get nothing more until Glenn was ready, Joey got into the car. When they headed out of town he was doubly puzzled, but still didn’t ask until Glenn pulled off the road onto a narrow lane much like the one leading up to their house. This lane however ended at a small grassy area with a stream running through it.

 

“We’re having a picnic,” Joey quipped as they got out of the car.

 

Glenn chuckled as he led the way to the edge of the stream. “Nope, but only because it didn’t occur to me.”

 

“Either you’re feeling romantic, or this is going to be a very serious discussion and you don’t want anyone overhearing it.”

 

“The latter I’m afraid.” Glenn sat, waiting for Joey to join him. “Okay, first off you’re not to get pissed at me.”

 

“Not an auspicious start. What did you do, or not do, or are planning on doing that would piss me off.”

 

“Two things. First I’ve done all I can to make the hitman come after me on my terms, which means drawing him to the house if I’m lucky.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Joey nodded. “And I can guess the second thing. You were planning on making sure I was out of the picture when that happened.”

 

“I was, until I talked to a very smart woman who pointed out I was being stupid.” Glenn smiled, though barely. “I wasn’t going to tell you the second part since I’d changed my mind, but I knew I owed it to both of us to be honest about it.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 13

 

 

“You want me to what?” Joey’s mother, Miriam, stared at Glenn as if he’d lost what few marbles he had left.

 

“I want you to get sick. So sick you can’t go into work. That way Joey will have to step in since he knows how to run the coffeehouse almost as well as you do. Mary can take days like always, he can take evenings after he gets off his shift.”

 

“Glenn,” Miriam growled, “pardon my English but what the hell is going on?”

 

“It has to do with what happened to Nate. You have heard he was found I hope.”

 

“Yes, Joey called me. Probably right after calling you.”

 

Glenn chuckled. “Or before.”

 

“I doubt it. Now, tell me why you want to keep him busy, although I’ve got a feeling I can guess and I don’t like the idea.”

 

“I want to keep him safe. I think, in fact I’m pretty certain, the man who took Nate is a hired killer. I talked to Harv and he says as far as he knows no one in town has any sort of real grudge against anyone else. Would you agree?”

 

Miriam didn’t reply immediately. Instead, from the look on her face she was giving his question serious consideration. Finally she nodded. “People are people, they get angry with each other sometimes, but I can’t think of anyone who would go so far as to hire someone to kill the person they’re upset with.”

 

“I thought as much. And yet the man is here for a reason.”

 

“Glenn, how would he know where to find you, because I think that’s what you’re saying, or implying?”

 

“As I told Joey, nothing is written in stone. I’ve done the best that’s humanly possible to keep my presence here a secret from anyone who might be looking for me. Even the people I work for now don’t know, other than the man I report to. And no one knows my real name outside of this town other than him. If I had my way only your family would know but that’s not possible, obviously. To the rest of the world I’m someone else. Several someone else’s actually.”

 

“But you still think this man is here because of you.”

 

“I do, which is why I want Joey down here where it’s safe, or at least safer. Harv’s letting it out that I’m interested in finding where the perp got the car he used to kidnap Nate, since I’d be willing to bet he stole it from around here. Again that’s just a supposition but a logical one. I want my name linked to the search for him in a way that makes him able to find out where I live. My guess is all he has is a description and nothing more than that. And he’d have to have gotten that from one of the very few people I used as middle men back when.”

 

“You guess, you suppose, you think, but you don’t know.”

 

“No, Miriam, I don’t know. I do know there’s a hitman out there looking for someone and I intend to stop him before he kills them.”

 

“So whether it’s you or… who knows who, you’re making yourself the target.”

 

“That’s the plan.”

 

With a sharp shake of her head she said. “Glenn, if you keep Joey out of this, if you try to protect him, you’re going to do so much damage to your relationship…” She sighed deeply. “He is not a kid any more. He’s a trained peace officer who knows what he’s doing. If you treat him like a kid you’ll be right back to where this all began, with his thinking that you think he’s too young, too naïve to be trusted. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

 

“But damn it, Miriam, if he gets hurt…”   

 

“He could get hurt breaking up a bar fight, or stepping in to stop a robbery. It’s all part of what he is, of what he does. This is no different. A potential killer has to be caught. That’s his job as much as it is yours, if for different reasons. Don’t deny him the right to be by your side when you do this. Not if you really care about him as a person as well as someone you love.”

 

Glenn scrubbed a hand through his hair then paced across her office to the window, staring out at the blank wall across the alley. She’s right, but… He turned when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

 

“Two heads are better than one,” she told him softly.

 

“I know, I know. Alright, I’ll talk to him and tell him what I’m planning and let him make his own decision.”

 

“You know what it will be.”

 

“Yeah I do, damn it!”

 

Miriam chuckled. “He’s stubborn, just like you.”

 

“Worse than me. He believed in us when I didn’t and made it happen.”

 

“And you don’t regret one second of it.”

 

Glenn smiled. “Not even, not ever.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 12

 

 

“Thank goodness. That’s one less thing to worry about,” Glenn said when Joey called to let him know Nate had been found and was going to be alright. “Did he see the perp?”

 

“No. He said he glanced up from where he was standing in the street and saw something on the edge of the parapet that looked like a rifle barrel to him, just like we thought. He was going to sneak up the stairs to the roof to see who was there but the perp must have seen or heard him because he surprised Nate at the bottom of the stairs, hit him over the head and that’s the last he remembers until he came to in the basement. He tied him up ‘like a Christmas turkey’ according to Nate, and left him in the dark. He tried to get to his phone but couldn’t so he just lay there and hoped someone would find him before he starved to death.”

 

“Okay, so I’m still working blind.”

 

“Glenn, this isn’t your job. Now that we know Nate’s safe the chief’s got us all on the lookout for the man with the Ranchero. He’s sending some of the guys back to checking the rest of the vacant properties outside of town.”

 

“Joey, this is anyone’s job that has the skills and the know-how, and I’m one of them,” Glenn retorted.

 

“Yeah, but…”

 

“I’ll be fine.” He paused for a second. “You did good. I’m proud of you.” Before Joey could reply he hung up and then turned his phone off.

 

So either you’ve been in town for at least a few days, to know that house was empty at the moment, or you’re working for someone here in town. I’m betting it’s the former.

 

He wasn’t certain why he thought that, mostly instinct he figured. If the man had been around for a few days he’d have cased the area for a safe place to go to ground until he’d finished the job. Obviously he wasn’t staying at the house where he’d left Nate. From what Joey had said the cops went through the place and found nothing to say he’d done more than dump Nate there.

 

For sure you didn’t drive around after you took him looking for a vacant house. You headed straight there, got rid of him and then… Where did you hide the car? Not too far away I’m betting. It’s too distinctive. Why the hell did you...?

 

Glenn snapped his fingers. Stupid, stupid. Turning his phone on again he called Harv.

 

“You’ve got the in,” he said as soon as Harv answered. “You said you’d never seen the Ranchero before, but what if someone had it stashed away. You know, like working on it, or just some relic from their past?”

 

“Possible…” Harv replied slowly. “It’s more likely someone had it in their garage, just storing it. If they were working on it they’d have noticed it was missing. I’ll make a couple of calls and see what I come up with. You want me to tell Chief Leades what I’m doing?”

 

“No. I want the word to sort of leak out that I’m the one interested in the information, not the cops.”

 

“Hang on a second. You taking this on on your own?”

 

“Yes. My gut says this guy’s after me. I want to draw him to the house, not have him taking potshots at me here in town where other people might get hurt. If he knows I’m getting close, hopefully he’ll do his best to find out where I’m living.”

 

“What makes you think he doesn’t know already?”

 

“If he did he’d have already shown up there. I suspect whoever sent him knows my general location but that’s it. Our perp could have been in and out of a lot of the towns around here before he hit on this one. Chances are he got lucky and saw me when I came into town a couple of days ago and now he’s winging it more or less.”

 

“Joey’s going to kill you when he finds out you’re going all ‘lone wolf’ on this.”

 

“Hopefully he won’t know until after it’s over.”

 

“Right,” Harv said with a small chuckle. “Okay, I send out feelers and make it unobviously obvious you’re behind them.”

 

“Thanks, Harv.”

 

Now I have to figure out how to get Joey out of the house long enough to make this work. And that is going to be the biggest problem of all.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 11

 

 

“Ready?” Eck asked, taking the keys when Joey handed them to him.

 

Joey nodded, standing to the side of the front door while Eck unlocked it, his gun to his side. Two more deputies were stationed behind the house. He wondered if they felt as nervous as he did. Probably not. They’ve been cops for a lot longer than I have.

 

Eck inched the door open first, then shoved it the rest of the way, dropping to one knee, his gun at the ready. Silence greeted them and Joey felt foolish. Then they heard a muffled sound which seemed to come from the basement.

 

“There,” Eck mouthed, pointing to a door they could barely see through the arch to the kitchen.

 

They inched forward, the crepe soles of their shoes silent on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. When they reached the door Eck tested the handle then opened it slowly. With no lights on, they could barely see the flight of stairs leading down.

 

Eck signaled for Joey to stay where he was and then, testing each step, he went down to the basement. Joey’s finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. He forced himself to relax even as he waited tensely, certain that at any second he’d hear gun shots.

 

Instead, a few minutes later, Eck called out, “Found him. He’s alive.”

 

Somehow that didn’t ease Joey’s fears as he raced down the stairs, almost tripping over the last of them, realizing as he did he should have turned on the light. Alive doesn’t mean he’s alright.

 

He saw an open door to the right, a dim light showing. Taking a deep breath he entered what looked like a small storage room. Eck was kneeing over a prone form, hiding most of it from Joey’s sight.

 

“Call it in, and get an ambulance out here.”

 

Stepping to the side so he could see, even as he made the call, Joey sighed with relief. Nate looked like hell, blood caking his hair and one temple, but his eyes were open and when he saw Joey he smiled weakly.

 

“Remind me next time I get nosy to ignore my instincts to see what’s going on,” Nate murmured.

 

Joey chuckled. “I have the feeling Rory’s going to tell you that more times than you want to hear it.”

 

By then Eck cut had the ropes binding Nate’s wrists and ankles. When Nate tried to sit up Eck put a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You don’t move until the EMTs tell you it’s okay. Got it?”

 

“Can he talk?” Joey asked, kneeling down beside Eck, brushing Nate’s hair back off his forehead as much as the dried blood would allow.

 

“Depends. If you want him to tell us what happened, no. I think that should wait until the bigwigs are around to take his statement.”

 

“Alright. I just wanted to know,” Joey looked at Nate, “did you see who did this to you.”

 

“No.”

 

“That answer’s that.”

 

There was the sound of sirens and moments later the EMTs came down, turning on the lights on the way. After checking Nate over they loaded him on a stretcher and got him upstairs and into the ambulance to take him to the clinic. Once there, the doctors would make a decision whether he needed to be transported to the county hospital in the next town.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 10

 

 

“Any word?” Harv asked, looking up from his desk when Glenn walked into the office at his garage.

 

“Not that I know of, no.” Glenn leaned against the edge of the desk, glancing out the window across from him at the interior of the auto repair shop. “Have you heard anything?”

 

“Not ace-duce and trust me I’ve been keeping my ears open. Nate’s disappearance is the prime topic of conversation but no one has mentioned seeing anything out of the ordinary.” Harv chuckled. “Believe me if they had they’d have said something. Nobody’s happy about the idea he could have been kidnapped, or worse. We don’t get things like that happening around here. Well except the thing with Joey’s father and that was almost three years ago.”

 

Glenn nodded, his thoughts going back to where he’d set up surveillance if he was here on a job. So far, and he’d only walked half the downtown area, he hadn’t spotted anywhere he’d even consider using except the rooftops.

 

As the silence lengthened, Harv shoved the bills he’d been working on into a pile and stood up. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s got you off in the stratosphere. I’ll leave you to it.”

 

“No, wait. I need to know if there’s anyone in town who might be holding a grudge against someone else. One bad enough they’d act on it if they thought they could get away with it.”

 

Dropping down in the chair again, Harv shrugged. “This is a small town so most everyone gets along pretty well on the whole. Yeah there’re spats sometimes but nothing major.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“The usual. Someone’s dog making a nuisance of itself and the owner doing nothing about it, a neighbor cutting a limb off a tree where it’s hanging over his fence. Mr. Hawkins down the street had two kids arrested for shoplifting. That didn’t sit too well with their parents. They though he should have come to them first.”

 

Glenn smiled slightly. “Typical small stuff, and nothing more major than that?”

 

“Not that I’ve heard, and I would have I think. You can always check with Miriam. She might know something I don’t. Doubtful, but…” He grinned.

 

“Yeah, I will.” Glenn pushed off the desk. “Thanks and…”

 

“If I hear anything you and Chief Leades will be the first to know.”