The Merger – 25

 

"Here's what we have so far," Mike said when Josh came into his office half an hour after they had returned to the office. "It's not good."

Josh studied the information Mike had found on Frank Nowell and the building from which he'd placed the call to Osborne. "Who is this Charles Comstock that he works for?"

"A reputed gangster with his fingers in a lot of pies—drugs, prostitution, you name it."

"Reputed?"

"Nothing has ever been proven against him, which doesn't mean a damned thing." Mike rapped his fingers on the desk. "Why the hell would he delve into tiger kidnapping?"

"Obviously to force Osborne to give him access to a great deal of cash, plus whatever's in the safety deposit boxes."

"Maybe…" Mike nodded. "Maybe there's something in one of the boxes that Comstock wants and the rest are just added goodies."

"Possible," Josh agreed. "Not that we'll find out. Our job is to rescue the girl."

"And that means finding Nowell and hoping he leads us to where they're hiding her."

"Finding him will be the easy part," Josh replied, tapping the laptop screen. "This is where he lives."

"Now all he has to do is go home while we're staking it out. Or we can track his movements via his phone."

"That's a no-go. I checked when we got back here. He must have shut it off right after calling Osborne, afraid it could be used to track him if Osborne had gone against his orders and brought in the police. He's probably already dumped it in a trash bin somewhere. The address he was at when he called turned out to be a vacant lot, so it's not where he's got Bethany."

"Well, shit. Okay, let's pay a visit to his apartment building and hope he shows up there." Mike printed out the mug shot he'd found for Nowell then they took off after Josh picked up the carrying case that held his tools from his office.

*****

"Got him," Mike said over the wireless microphone when he saw Frank Nowell leaving the apartment building. He was stationed at the back of the building while Josh watched the front. "He's driving a dark blue, two-door 2012 Honda with a dented rear fender."

"On it," Josh replied.

Mike waited until Nowell started down the driveway to the street before getting into his car, which was parked in the far corner of the lot. He took the alley to the side street, asking Josh which way the man had gone.

"He turned right, toward Parker Avenue. I'm two cars behind him. He's taking another right, onto Parker."

"I'll stay one street over," Mike replied. "We'll switch off in four blocks, unless he turns again before then."

Nowell stayed on Parker Avenue for ten blocks before pulling into a deli parking lot then going inside.

"Of course," Josh grumbled through their communication system. "I'm starving and he gets to eat."

"I'll go in and pick something up for us."

"Mike, don't. I was kidding."

"But I'm not," Mike replied. "I want to see if he's meeting someone. There's no reason for him to know me, but just in case, I've got the ubiquitous baseball cap." He put it on, pulling the bill down to shadow his eyes, then went inside.

The place was busy enough that it took him a moment to locate Nowell at the take-out counter. Mike waited until the man had placed his order and moved to the pick-up line. Then, Mike ordered two pastrami-on-rye sandwiches, figuring they wouldn't take long to make, before going over to one of the cases to study the selection of breads and rolls. He used the case as a mirror to keep his eye on Nowell. When Nowell paid and left, carrying a large bag of food, Mike said quietly into his mic, "Follow him. I'll catch up." His order came up a minute later. He paid then returned to his car in time to see Nowell's vehicle half a block away and Josh pulling out of the lot.