With Friends Like These....Part II

[Robbie C.]

Stanly Switek blinked when Rico gave him the news. “He wants me to bring Biggs back?”

“Joo got it, meng.” Rico grinned. “The whole thing. And he says you can draw any support you think you’ll need. That includes Gina if it’s cool for bikers to bring their old ladies to deals.” He chuckled. “Not my social circle so I don’t know for sure. Draw it up and drop it by his office sometime today if you can.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Stan nodded. It had been a while since he’d done serious undercover work. Before he’d have taken it as a slight, but the new Sonny just wanted to make sure he had everything covered. It was a good change, and long overdue, but he still had to remind himself about it now and then. Larry’s death still hurt.

There was a typewriter in the back recesses of the Tech Room, and he headed there with a handful of paper. “Mind the store, Lester. I gotta do some planning.”

“You got it, Stan.” Lester shook his head. “Going under again, huh?”

“Looks like it, old pal. Means you gotta watch the comms and make sure everyone’s tied in.”

“You got it, Stan.”

Stan nodded, knowing that would take some of the sting off. He’d seen the hope in Lester’s eyes, and much as he wanted to bring him in he knew the man wouldn’t fit well with the identity he’d crafted for Biggs. Randy, on the other hand, was a natural for the part. And depending on the informant Gina wouldn’t hurt, either.

Stan kept his informant notes on index cards locked in the Tech Room’s document safe. Pulling them out, he flipped through until he found the three tabbed for Biggs. He laid them out on the small table and stared at them, letting the names flow to faces in his mind and matching that information with times and places.

Most of them came from biker bars on the outskirts of the city, places where the gangs stopped on their way up the coast or back down before heading to the strip clubs deeper in Miami. They weren’t quite clubhouses, but one or two came pretty damned close. Skaggs he discounted right away. Assuming the big moron wasn’t locked up somewhere he was too unstable to use in a deal like this. Skaggs had ties to a couple of the neo-Nazi clubs in South Florida. “Might have been useful when we were going after that Holmes character, but not now,” Stan muttered, putting the card back with the others.

That left two. Either one might work, so he started sketching out a plan for each. Leo was a bartender at The Outlaw, one of the bars on the edge of nowhere catering to bikers. The other was a big guy everyone called Stretch. His real name was Jackson Tatum, and last Stan knew he was an up and coming member of the Mongols. He’d have to run Stretch first to see if he was even still on the street, but he was damned sure Leo wasn’t going anywhere. He’d be the easiest, but also the least likely of the two to have much insight on the coke trade.

Bikers always took their old ladies to The Outlaw, so Gina would fit right in there. A part of him also wanted to see her in biker chick attire. But that would have to be Plan B. Stan shrugged as he read his own notes. Leo had been more connected to the speed dealers, including a few of the home brewers working out in the swamps. He might have upped his game in the last couple of years, but Stan doubted it. Leo lacked many things, and ambition was one of them.

Picking up the card, Stan walked over to Trudy’s office. Gina looked up from the computer workstation and smiled. “Fancy seeing you here, handsome.”

He grinned. “Wish it was a social call. Could you run a guy named Jackson Tatum? Goes by the nickname Stretch.”

“You got it, honey.” Gina’s fingers flew across the keys, and she hit enter with a smiled. “Now if this thing doesn’t freeze up…and we got a hit. Your man Stretch is doing five to ten in Radford for possession with intent.”

Stan shook his head. “Well, ya can’t win ‘em all. But you, sweet thing, get to be a biker babe for a day or two.”

“Seriously?” Gina turned and smiled, her eyes sparkling. “They get wear the cutest next to nothings. You did this on purpose, didn’t you, Stanley?”

“Well…uh…not exactly. But it did work out. I got two biker informants. You just told me the best of them is locked up. So that means we use Plan B. And you win an all-expenses paid trip to the shithole called The Outlaw as Biggs’ old lady.”

“Well…it’s your cover. I’ll model some outfits for you tonight and you can tell me which one fits.” She smiled and batted her eyes.

Stan felt his cheeks getting warm. “I’ll do that. And I’ll tell you which one will work for the cover. They ain’t gonna be the same thing.”

“That’s what I was hoping.” She smiled again. “Now I’ll stop distracting you so you can finish that plan for Sonny.”

Stan was still grinning when he settled down behind the typewriter. He still felt like pinching himself some mornings when he woke up next to her. And the best thing was she said she felt the same way. Allowing himself one last smile he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind and started typing. Leo might be a chump, but The Outlaw attracted some rough characters. He wanted his plan to be solid before he handed it in.

Sonny looked up from one of the bust files when Stan walked in. “How many of your sources are still good?”

“Just one, lieutenant. The other’s doing a stint in Radford.”

“Come on, Stan. Not you, too. Just call me Sonny. That lieutenant stuff makes me nervous.”

“Ok, Sonny.” Stan set the sheets of paper on Castillo’s desk. “What sucks is he was the better informant of the two. But there’s a chance Leo either upped his status or knows someone who has. I tried to cover both in there.”

Sonny nodded. “I’ll look through it and sign off before the end of the day. But I gotta know your gut on this one. You’ve got damned good instincts on this crowd, Stan. Better than mine, because you know them. Rico and I don’t have squat aside from Moreno, and I really don’t want to pull him back in. But if we have to we will.”

“My gut tells me there’s a fifty-fifty chance Leo’s a bust. The guy’s a damned slug when it comes to ambition. But some of the guys who pass through that place aren’t as lazy. You get everything from suits playing Hell’s Angels to real Hell’s Angels moving through that bar. Leo might not know, but it’s even money he knows someone who does.”

“Give me a thumbnail.”

“I’ll roll in as Biggs.” He rubbed his chin. “The beard’s almost long enough, and I can play it off by saying I had to shave to dodge some heat. The line is I need some product fast to settle a debt. Leo won’t ask questions about that. I’ll bring Randy along for back-up. And Gina. The Outlaw’s an old lady bar, too. I’d look out of place if I didn’t have one. Or they’d think Randy was my old lady and that’s a whole other set of problems we don’t need.”

Sonny laughed. “I won’t tell him you said that. Comms?”

“Lester’s ready to run that whole show on his own. We can use those watch microphones and he’ll pick us up so long as he’s within a mile or so. And there’s plenty of roach-infested dumps out near The Outlaw. No one would notice him.”

“Sounds good. And no buy money?”

“No. This is a meet and greet at the most. I ain’t gonna give Leo no ideas. He’s not ambitious, but he is stupid. I don’t want to tempt him into trying a rip job.”

“Good thinking. I’m saying yes right now, but we’ll get the formalities done by the end of the day. You might want to let Randy know so he can pick up a ride from Impound. You, too.”

Stan grinned. “I already got the hog marked, Sonny. Used it a time or two before when I used Biggs. They keep the bike stashed for me down at the lot.”

“Let me know if you need anything. Nice work, Stan.”

Stan was still grinning when he stuck his head in Randy and Dave’s shared office. “Hey, Randy. You wanna go pick out a hog?”

The deputy marshal looked up from the issue of Guns and Ammo he’d been reading. “Say what?”

“You heard me. We gotta get you a bike and a good name to go with it. Half of Team Elvis is going undercover!”

 

Sonny smiled as he heard the two men talking on their way out of the office. Without really reading it he scrawled his signature across the bottom of the last page of Stan’s ops plan. He’d skimmed, and it lined up exactly with what Stan had told him. And that’s what he cared about; not what was on the paper but what was in Stan’s head.

There was risk. But there was always risk in undercover work. Stan had the edge of not being undercover much, limiting the number of people who might ‘know’ him as someone else. He also tended to vary his roles, either being the rube from Iowa or a burly biker like Biggs. Almost no social overlap. He did worry about Rico, since his various Coopers and Prentiss did move in similar circles. He avoided the problem by sticking to one cover. But that had its issues as well.

With a flick of his wrist he sent the plan into the out basket, knowing at some point during the afternoon Mindy would fax it over to the deputy chief so they’d have a copy to file. So far the set-ups had been roughly two weeks apart, with the most recent coming three days ago, so they had time. Also, no one had been killed. Yet. It was the end game of whoever made the calls that had him wondering. Why take out middle men unless you wanted that job for yourself? And if you did, when would you move on it?

Burnett had cornered transportation, figuring no drugs moved without it. Whoever this was seemed to be looking one step higher in the food chain. But to what end? A middleman was still a middleman; someone brokering the deals and not standing to make too much profit. Unless there was a particular market they were trying to corner.

Rubbing his eyes, Sonny turned to look out the wide windows at the muddy blue sky. Summer’s heat was fully in now, and he had no desire to leave the office. But there was a part of him that worried about Jenny. He knew she’d tell him what was wrong when she was ready, but that didn’t stop his mind from working. He wanted to head back to the marina. To be with her. But he also knew that was a bad idea.

A knock on the open door snapped him out of his thoughts. “Boss? You got a minute?”

Even without turning he knew the voice. “Sure, Mindy. What’s up?”

The red-haired deputy marshal came in, her eyes lowered. “Can I shut the door?”

“Sure.” Now he was worried. “What’s up?”

“It’s…” She looked up and sighed. “Can I sit down?”

“Make yourself comfortable.” He smiled, trying to set her at ease. He’d come to understand his own intensity and was working to moderate it. Part of being in charge, he’d learned the hard way, was knowing when to slow down and listen to the people around him. “No hurry.”

“It’s about Rico.”

“What about him?”

“Him…him and me, really.” She looked down at her pale hands. “I need to know he’s for real.”

“He is, Mindy.” Sonny leaned forward. “Look, I know he comes across as intense one minute and full of jokes the next. But Rico’s the most real person I know. We’ve been partners for years, and they don’t come any realer.”

“I’ve been…hurt before. And I know he’s got history.”

“He does. Him and me both.” Sonny tried to gather his thoughts and translate what he was thinking into words. It wasn’t easy. He was a doer, not a talker. “Look, I’m not good with words so ya gotta bare with me. Rico’s had bad luck with the ladies. So he’s careful. Me? I never was. I’d fall in love at the drop of a hat, realize I’d made a mistake, and then make a mess of it trying to get out. Then Caitlin came along. And another of my mistakes caught up with me and ended that. Rico? He had one long mistake with one lady and a short one with another.”

“Valerie and Angelina. He’s told me a bit about them both.” She looked up, blinking back tears. “Mine was with a chief deputy at my last posting. The whole ‘I’ll leave my wife for you’ line. And I fell for it.”

“Well, if Rico’s got any wives hidden away they’re a mystery to me, too.” Sonny smiled, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mindy. That was an asshole thing to say. It’s what I do when I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But Rico’s real, and I know he cares about you. He’ll have a hard time admitting that, mostly because of Angelina. Valerie…hell, I’ll be blunt. He wanted her more than she ever wanted him, and it took him a long time to figure that out. And not knowing about his son? That messed with his head for years.”

“But now he knows.”

“Yeah. Now he knows about them both. I think he’s had time to work through that, but only he can say for sure. But he cares. I know that.”

“And I care about him, too.”

“Good. All I can say is give it time. For both of you. Granted I’m the last one anyone should come to for relationship advice. My track record sucks.”

She smiled. “Believe it or not you’ve been a big help, boss. I just wanted to be sure he was real.”

“Oh, he is. And he’s got the biggest heart of anyone I know aside from Stan.”

Sonny waited until she was gone to let out a long sigh. That was another part of being the boss he wasn’t used to. Maybe tonight he’d ask Jenny about it. He could count on her to tell him if he’d fucked up or not. But it took some effort to force his mind back into work mode. To get where he needed to be to figure out what was going on with this Bolivian coke and whoever was bringing it in. Maybe he’d reach out to Lauderdale and see if they had anything. Coke of that quality usually left a trail of some kind.

His contact in Lauderdale PD wasn’t much help. “Wish I could give you something, Sonny,” Sergeant Atkins said with a sigh. “But I got nothing up here. With all that crack coming in we’re up to our necks in that. Coke ain’t even on the radar now.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yeah. It’s cheaper than coke and packs a bigger punch. That and the assholes out in the swamps figured out how to cook it. But anyone bringing coke through here now picked a damned good time. We just don’t have the resources to hit both.”

“Shit.” The single word hung in the air after he hung up the phone.

“Why’s that, partner?”

“Because, Rico, someone’s moving that stuff through Lauderdale in the middle of a crack storm. They’re so buried by crack they aren’t even tracking coke right now.”

“So maybe they were running up there and had to look for a new market?” Rico sat down in the chair Mindy had vacated minutes before. “From what I hear about crack, they ain’t even gonna compete.”

“That’s what Atkins said.” Sonny shook his head. “It still doesn’t feel right. Let’s hope Stan can shake something out of that bartender of his.”

“What’s buggin’ you about the whole thing?”

“It’s the why of it. I know what they’re doing, more or less anyhow. And we got a solid picture of the how. But why? And the method. We got that, too. But why? Coke you usually move fast and in bulk. More profit that way considering the risks involved. Better to run two or even three loads by go-fast instead of one smaller load on something stealthy and small. Unless…”

“Unless it’s all you’ve got.”

“But then why rat out the buyers? If you’re looking to upgrade you need repeat business. And by now whoever it is would have enough to buy two or three go-fasts and up their game.”

Rico shook his head. “You got me, partner. I just grin and flash the cash.”

“I know. And I’m gettin’ too deep. But as Burnett I always wanted to know the why. Once you know that you can break all the rest and anticipate their moves.” He sighed. “Without the why we’re just chasing their tails and letting them call the shots.”

“What would Castillo do?”

“Look up, glare, and tell us to get to work.” Sonny chuckled. “No, he’d do what we’re doing now. Except he always did it in his head.” He turned, looking out the big windows again. “Nice view outa here. Can’t say I like the headaches that come with it, though. I can’t wait for next week when they’re back.”

“You think they’ll come back?”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah, I do. Marty still feels there’s things he needs to do, and he won’t leave until he’s finished whatever it is he needs to finish. Trudy’s got unfinished business of her own, I think.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. And they aren’t the kind to leave business undone.”

Sonny nodded, but his mind kept wandering back to Jenny. Finally he got to his feet and walked to the window. “How did we get so disconnected from it, Rico? Time was we were wired in tight. Knew every player. Every drop. Now…”

“We’re payin’ for giving up a year. I don’t regret it, and I don’t think you do, either. But there’s a cost with that kind of thing, partner. And now the bill’s come due. You’ve been workin’ the streets like I have since we got back, but they’re different now. Small players gettin’ pushed out by bigger organizations. And crack…that’s busy changing everything.”

“That and how we ran at OCB don’t work no more.” Sonny grinned at his reflection. “Our cowboy act would get us killed now. Most days I think I’ve got it down, but then something comes up and I know I’m still learning the rules.” He turned back to the desk. “Getting Stan back in the game is the right call. He didn’t take a year off so he knows how the streets have changed.”

“What about Gina?”

“We’ll see how she does this time out.” Sonny shook his head. Rico had said what he’d been thinking. “I don’t think her heart’s in this side of the Job anymore. Which is cool. But we need to move her off the streets if that’s the case.”

“I get it, partner. You don’t want anything happening to her on your watch.”

“No, I don’t.” Sonny thought back to Larry Zito and what that had cost everyone but him. “It’s her call unless she’s too close. Then I’ll have to make it for her.”

“I got your back. No matter which way it goes. Stan will understand so long as you take the time to explain it to him.”

“I will, Rico.” A beep from the desk interrupted his thoughts, and Sonny was conscious of the heavy 4506 under his arm. “One of these days I am gonna shoot that damned thing.”

“Speaking of shooting, wanna go do some grain therapy? At least that’s what I think Dave calls it. They start talkin’ guns and it’s like me talking jazz to them.” Rico chuckled. “It’s been a few days since I’ve been and honestly I could still use the time with that Walther.”

“Why not? My new 4506-1 still has the new smell on it. That and there’s a new drill Randy was talking about I want to try.” Grinning, he left the fax machine spewing paper. “At least that damned thing can’t fax the car phone.”

“Not yet. Give it a year or so.”

 

The sun was still a red ball above the ocean when Sonny pulled into his spot at the marina. Pete had given them the formal go-ahead for the operation, and he knew Stan wanted to spend the evening getting Gina ready for her role. He’d come back late that afternoon with a grinning Randy and two Harley-Davidsons breaking every noise ordnance in the underground garage. He’d read the plan back at a briefing in the morning and go over everyone’s role.

The range had been good. Rico was getting better every time with the Walther P-88, and Sonny had finally settled in with the latest 4506. The Dash One took out some of the sharp edges on the earlier 4506 and 645, and was the smoothest-shooting pistol he’d ever carried. He was confident Randy’s new drill had shaved close to a second off his time between drawing and getting off two aimed shots, something that was becoming even more important now that the drug gangs were up-gunning.

But tonight wasn’t about that. He hadn’t been able to shake his unease about Jenny, even when he was deep in the drills or later going over last-minute adjustments with Stan. He’d half-expected to come back and find Vellamo gone. When they’d fist met she’d been smuggling stolen art, and was gone for days at a time on those runs. He was afraid she’d just disappear now. But her boat still bobbed at its spot on the dock, and he could just see a candle in the stern of the Dance through the red of the setting sun.

She was there, but Elvis wasn’t. That took some getting used to, but it had been the right move. The gator was getting older, and Sonny wasn’t around often enough these days to keep him in tuna. So he’d finally done what he should have done years back and taken him to one of the gator sanctuaries popping up along the coast. They’d been happy to get a gator his size, and Sonny felt better knowing Elvis was back in the swamp where he should have been all along. Jenny agreed. “He looks so happy,” she’d said as the workers undid the loading sling and the big beast scuttled off into the muck.

But it was more than that. Elvis was really the last piece of his past. Of the old cowboy Sonny. The overgrown frat boy who actually thought he could keep a big gator on a sailboat. And the boat was his now, too. Not impounded property loaned to the overgrown frat boy so he could play his role. By turning the gator loose, he’d also cut ties forever with that part of his life. The part that had hurt so many people.

Jenny was sitting in a folding chair on the bow, looking out over the water. She’d gathered her thick hair into a ponytail, and he could see she was wearing another thin t-shirt and those impossibly short shorts. Her long, slender legs were stretched out in front of her, and she didn’t move when he came forward. “How was your day?”

“Nothing exciting.”

“I can smell the shooting on you. The range?”

“Yeah.” He fished a crumpled pack of Lucky Strikes out of his blazer pocket and lit his third of the day. Another thing from his past he found he didn’t need as much now. “Rico wanted to get some more work in and needed company.” He sat down next to her on the cabin roof, admiring the way her tanned skin seemed to glow in the waning light from the setting sun. “How was yours?”

“Nice. I went and talked to Angie for a bit. You were right. I should have done it before. She’s so easy to talk to. And she told me more about you and Caitlin. I really wish I could have met her in person.”

Sonny nodded, remembering her first trip to Caitlin and Will’s graves. They’d gone back twice since, each time at Jenny’s request. “I want to let her know how we’re doing,” was all she’d say. “Did she think you could help?”

“Yes. She told me to thank Blondie for sending Little Blondie to help.” She giggled for the first time. “I guess that’s me.”

“Yeah. I’d say so. Angie has a thing about using names. Don’t know what the hell’s up with it, and I ain’t gonna ask her.” He smiled, touching her thigh. “Did she have ideas?”

“She said one of the doctors wants to do some kind of sailing thing. Show the girls they can do things on their own, I guess. I know it helped me.” She looked over at him and smiled. “I want to refit Vellamo and give her to them. If I can…”

“You can stay with me as long as you want. Like I said before, we’re together now. I want you in my life as long as you want to be here. And the Dance has never had anyone else living on board. Cait was always at the house or on the road.” He shook his head. “But you can always just loan them Vellamo, too. I know she means a lot to you. Make the modifications and rent it for a dollar a year. That’s what I did for Angie with the house before all this came to be.”

Her smile grew, and she covered his hand with hers. “You don’t know how happy this makes me!”

“Not as happy as you make me, but I can try.”

“Oh, Sonny! Don’t say that! I’ve never been happier in my life! Ever!” She jumped off the chair and fell into his lap, her arms snaking around his neck in a tight hold.

“Neither have I, baby,” he said, meaning every word. “Neither have I.”

Later, after dinner, they sat in the stern watching the moon rise. She’d carried the happiness through the meal, but he could sense her worry gathering like distant clouds over a calm ocean. So he decided to distract her. “Mindy came to me about Rico today.”

“That’s good. She trusts you.” Jenny smiled, but her eyes were elsewhere.

“Yeah. She wanted to know if he was real.”

“They’re a great couple. Really. She’s so much smarter than she lets on, and Rico’s got a heart almost as big as yours. I’m glad he found someone who deserves it.”

Sonny took her hand. “Look, babe. What’s eating you? It’s making me crazy. And I don’t know why. But I want to help. Even if it’s just listening.”

“I…” She looked away. “It’s a feeling.”

“I listen to your feelings. After what happened with Marty the whole team listens to your feelings and trusts them.”

“They do?”

“Yes. No question.”

“They don’t think I’m crazy?”

“No. Mindy had a relative like you, I guess. She’s in total awe of you.” He took both her hands and pulled her close. “You have people who care, baby. And me. Let me help if I can.”

She looked out over the water for a time, and then turned back to him with tears glittering in her eyes. “I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it out there. Something from my past. What I was before.”

“I checked today. That ex of yours is doing Federal time.”

“It’s not him. I knew that. This feels…different. I had some people who said they were friends then, but I also had enemies. I was good at what I did, and some of them didn’t like that.”

“Yeah. We see that all the time with dealers.”

“Some of them thought the rich girl shouldn’t mess with their trade. Others just didn’t like their customers leaving them for me because I was better than they were.” She smiled, though tears still streamed down her cheeks. “It’s something from them. I just don’t…”

Reaching up with a finger, Sonny dabbed the tears away. “I’ll do anything I can to help, baby. Just let me know. I won’t push, but just know I’m here if you need me.”

“I…I’ve never had that before, Sonny. Thank you.” She kissed him, but it was a different, softer kiss. One full of both passion and vulnerability. She’d never kissed him that way before. “I love you so much,” she whispered in his ear. “Let’s go below and I’ll show you how much.”

Sonny woke with the rising sun, feeling Jenny settled in next to him. Her breathing was regular and a soft smile still played around her lips even in sleep. He didn’t want to move, almost didn’t to breathe, out of fear of waking her. With her thick blonde hair draped around her face she looked more beautiful than ever.

“You’re watching me.”

He hadn’t seen her eyes move. “Yeah, I guess I am. You looked so beautiful I didn’t want to wake you.”

She kicked the sheets down and smiled. “More beautiful than now?”

“Now you’re cheating.” He kissed her neck, drawing a giggle from deep in her throat. “But I gotta get ready to go in. Stan’s got an operation to brief and I don’t want to freak him out by being late.”

“Say hello to them for me.” She smiled again and stretched, showing every curve of her body to its best advantage. “I might talk to Angie again today.”

“You know Gina’s involved in this too, right?”

“Yes. But what I’m working on won’t involve her. Angie and I talked about that, too.”

He got out of bed, walking to the small head to brush his teeth and shower. He was about to turn on the water when he felt her warm body pressed against his back. “Let me help you,” she whispered in his ear.

[mjcmmv]

NICE! Love this one so far!

[Robbie C.]

Still don't know how long it's going to be. That's the only problem with Task Force stories. They never quite want to stop.

[vicegirl85]

Yikes, I thought I'd commented on this chapter already!  It's another winner, and just keeps drawing me in deeper and deeper!  Poor Mindy and Rico--both of them have been hurt so deeply they are afraid to trust again.