Hard Case VII - Red Waves (John Harding Series Book 7) (41 page)

“Let me explain, Nick.”

“There’s really no need. When Deidre wants to go somewhere with Jean and Sonny, I’ll chaperone.”

Away went the jovial smile. Ron moved into Nick’s air space. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’ll make sure the kids are never left alone when I say I’ll be with them every minute. That’s all.”

Conyers grabbed Nick’s shirtfront. Nick plucked his hand away at the wrist, turning and bending it to put Conyers on his knees. He allowed Ron to figure out he couldn’t move unless Nick let him. Then he leaned down near Conyer’s gasping face. “I’m glad you didn’t do this upstairs. My dog Deke would have ripped your hand off. I’m going to release you. We’ll then go upstairs and have some pizza. There’s no need for anyone to know about our discussion here. Can you be a gentleman about this, Ron, or should I throw you through the doorway and you can wait for Deidre in your car?”

Conyers hesitated but then nodded. “I’ll come up.”

Nick released him and gestured for Conyers to lead the way. “After you, Ron. You know where my deck is.”

“Dad!” Deidre embraced Conyers as he walked in with a small wave of his sore hand.

“Hi kid, sorry about not being able to hang around. I heard you had some trouble.”

“Come sit down and have some pizza, Ron,” Rachel urged. “Would you like a beer? I have to refill Deke’s anyway.”

“Ah… sure. Thanks, Rachel.” Conyers sat down next to his daughter with Jean and Sonny across from them, already eating some pizza.

Nick noticed Deke didn’t like the looks or aura of Ron. “I’ll get the beers, Rach.”

Nick served Ron a beer before fixing Deke with a refill, making sure to pet the dog to reassure him everything was okay. “How’s the pizza?”

“Great, Dad,” Jean confirmed between bites. “Where’d you go, Mr. Conyers?”

“I…I had an unexpected appointment.” Conyers bit into his pizza and swallowed half the beer in front of him. “Are you okay, Sonny?”

“Yes Sir,” Sonny replied with respect. He had a father who rarely showed up when promised too. “I had to get a few stitches. I think we interrupted a robbery.”

“Mr. McCarty had to… ah…”

“Discuss the situation at the hospital with some of the unruly teens there being treated,” Nick finished for Deidre.
There was no use in opening that can of worms
. “Have you been able to keep Quinn awake after his nap, Rach?”

“Yep.” Rachel jiggled Quinn on her knee. “He’s going to sleep all night, right cutie?”

Quinn babbled something and Rachel gave him a small piece of pizza breading with sauce. The baby’s face crinkled at first and then he smacked his lips while holding his face up with mouth open, very much like a baby bird. Rachel laughed and fed him another tiny bite.

“He’s eating solid food finally,” Nick noted. “That’ll get him all the way through the night one day soon.”

“He eats all the time,” Jean said. “He’ll be Kong sooner than I expected.”

“What did I tell you about calling my baby, Kong?”

“Chill, Mom. You’ll see. Quinn’s going to be as big as Cracker will be. His Kong tag will fit perfectly.”

“I don’t want to be Cracker,” Sonny complained once again to much amusement.

“I like your codename, Jean. That is so cool being able to throw knives and have a tag like Viper,” Deidre said. “Jean can throw knives on target like a pro, Dad.”

“She can? When does she do that?” Conyers didn’t look enthused about that bit of information. “That’s a damn dangerous hobby, Jean.”

“Not when I do it,” Jean replied. “Besides. I’m only allowed to do it when Dad’s around. Sonny throws as accurately as I do.”

“It’s great for hand/eye coordination,” Nick added.

“Can I have a codename too?”

“Sure, Deidre,” Jean answered. “What one would you like?”

“Anything but Deedee. I hate that. How about Deadra?”

“Wow… that’s pretty dark but I like the sound of it,” Jean replied. “What do you think, Cracker?”

“It’s better than mine. Mr. McCarty… can I stay the night? I don’t want to explain everything to my folks tonight.”

“Sure. I’d rather not talk about your stitches tonight either.” Nick agreed. “We’ll call them after the pizza fest.”

“The Salvatores are friends of my wife and me,” Ron said. “I would appreciate it if we could keep this an unfortunate accident.”

“Yes Sir, I can do that. I’ll keep the explanation focused on the gangbangers.”

Sonny knew how the game was played. No blood, no foul.
Nick smiled over at Conyers. “Sonny’s as good as his word, Ron. I back his play one hundred percent.”

Conyers looked away. “Thank you.”

* * *

“What really happened at the hospital, baby,” Conyers asked. “Were you in danger?”

Deidre remained quiet, thinking about how to explain what happened at the hospital. “After Mr. McCarty got to the hospital I was never in danger, Dad.”

“It sounds like he made quite an impression on you.”

“He’s dangerous, Dad. He says he consults with the US Marshals and FBI, but I think he does a lot more than that.”

“I do too,” Conyers agreed. “What did he do to make you think he’s dangerous?”

“He put down four gang-members like they were campfire girls, and…and he acted like he’d just had a milkshake.”

“I’m sorry about leaving you. I won’t ever do that again. I think it would be a good idea to never make a promise to Nick McCarty and not keep it.”

Deidre nodded in agreement, reaching across the car center console to grip her Dad’s hand. “Me too, Dad.”

Chapter Fifteen

Pre-Mission Loose Ends

Nick watched Sonny and Jean practice their knife throwing in the ways he had outlined and demonstrated, taking turns with passionate concentration. He marveled at the expertise and dedication the two kids put into a skill he never pictured would be of interest to anyone else. Nick was still considering the request they’d made about more training with long range shooting. He trained Jean and Rachel in spotting and shooting while they were on the run, but not as comprehensively as Jean wanted now. His iPhone pinged. It was Denny.

“Hey Den, how’d your acquisition work out?”

“Excellent, Nick. The total story is on your message drop. Uncle Moe passed away with Dr. Deville in attendance. He told the good doctor about a very good friend in charge of an at sea excursion happening soon.”

“All good news. Uncle Moe had too long a life anyway. He was a burden on everyone around him. I’ll look over your new message with interest. Any friend of poor old Uncle Moe is definitely a person to contact when the opportunity is right. Thank Dr. Deville for me. Her kindness as always is appreciated.”

“I will. We have some loose ends in New York to tie up. Cheese wondered if you’d be interested in a joint business venture before our vacation together.”

“Absolutely. Include all the details. If I have a question, I’ll message you back. Expect a blank acknowledgement if it’s all golden to me. Shall I bring the family to New York too?”

“Yep. We’ll make all the first class arrangements. Laredo will fly us to New York. Cheese will come pick you up in the King Air Propjet we have in our fleet. It’s a beauty.”

“Great. I’m looking forward to an accounting with our competitors.”

“So am I, Nick… so am I. There are some people in authority who may think they have the power to ‘Benghazi’ this vacation. That ain’t happenin’, my friend.”

Interesting
. “That is indeed good news. I’m in for the finish no matter how this vacation progresses. I’ll bring my bathing suit because it’s going to get wet.”

“I hear you. Let me know if you like the details.” Denny disconnected.

Nick sat back in his chair, absently stroking Deke’s head while watching Jean switch hands in midair and plant her knife dead center on target. Sonny followed with exacting detail down to the strike on target. The two kids high fived and looked over at him.

“Exceptional,” Nick said with conviction. “I’ve decided to do the more intense sniper training. You two kids are freaks, but I can’t think of anything else to keep you out of trouble until the military scoops the two of you up like long lost relatives.”

“Yes!” Jean pumped her fist. “Mom’s head will explode of course.”

Nick sighed. “Life is give and take. Sometimes the currents and tides project a pattern no one can ignore. You two have disrupted the cosmic balance. I have no choice but to try and calm the waters and waves as much as I can. Keep learning with your eyes wide open. You two learned a valuable lesson about unintended consequences today.”

“When will you go after the guy in the hospital, Dad?”

“Never you mind about the guy in the hospital, Viper. Are we clear?”

Jean saluted comically with a smile. “Yes Sir!”

* * *

The abandoned warehouse without lights or anything other than empty broken down shelving and litter on the floor served as the meeting place for the dozen gangbangers still clear of jail after the attempted roller-skate arena heist. They passed around a joint with an ice chest full of beer for refreshment. Four electric lanterns provided light for the impromptu meeting.

The young man from the hospital who made his acquaintance with Nick in a very painful way, seethed with a rage felt intimately by Nick’s parking lot hoodie group. They were still vibrating from the stun-gunning received from Nick. Faces broken out in reddened masks of Mace rash, crinkled in their own personal rage, highlighting their features.

“Dude got us bad in the parking lot, Jay!”

“What do we have on him?” Jay leaned forward. “He didn’t come out of nowhere. Those fuckin’ kids he picked up screwed us! We had a decent haul at the rink guaranteed!”

“He’s some local,” the hoodie with Mace rash covering his face said. “He lives in Pacific Grove. I’ll get more tomorrow.”

“He goin’ to pay bigtime,” Jay said just before the flashbangs thrown into their midst put them all down, writhing in agony.

The gangbangers rolled around, their shaking hands holding heads, and covering ears while bleeding out of facial orifices. Jay held on tightly to the sides of his head, trying to lessen the loud ringing in his ears. Vision swam blurrily through squinted eyes as he noted the black clothed, masked figures moving amongst his brethren. As his sight cleared a bit, Jay saw the three masked men were injecting something into his friends. Then the one in a horrific clown mask noted Jay watching.

“He’s awake, Muerto,” the clown mask said, pointing at Jay.

Jay cringed as the other masked man the clown called Muerto walked over to crouch near him. He waved at Jay.

“Jay Parks. I’m El Muerto. My two associates are Payaso and El Kabong.”

“The…the dead one?”

“Yep. That’s me. I saved you for a little while because we know you’ve been leading this bunch of bottom feeders, harassing people, extorting money from business owners in Monterey, and generally making a nuisance of yourselves. You’ve intimidated anyone brave enough to complain to the police. Your merry band skated along through the cracks in our justice system until now. We’re the justice system no one talks about and never wants to be judged by. We need to ask you a couple questions.”

“I ain’t tellin’ you shit. I want my lawyer. You dudes don’t scare me with your fuckin’ fright masks. I know you’re a cop thinkin’ to get me talkin’.” Jay got a chill when the three started laughing. “Glad you think this is funny. I’ll own this city after what you did. Black lives matter!”

The clown Jay heard El Muerto call Payaso tore off his mask to reveal a very dark skinned angry face just before he kicked Jay in the side. Jay screamed.

* * *

“Easy, Payaso,” Nick urged.

Gus bent down and smacked Jay in the face. “Your punk ass don’t matter to anyone. You’re going to answer our questions or we’re going to toast your nuts off like this.”

Gus stun-gunned Jay’s groin.

John grinned at his partner. “Hey, Payaso, we didn’t get a chance to ask him anything yet.”

Gus straightened. “He’ll stop squeaking in a few minutes and answer us. I’m sick of that racist crap. Did we get everyone else, Muerto?”

Nick looked around at the unmoving bodies. “Jay’s the last. It was nice of them to all come here together in one spot. The police only have three in overnight custody. We can deal with the others down the road if they start back up again. I’m surprised these punks didn’t ping our radar before. They’ve been terrorizing Monterey for a while now. I think Jay’s coherent enough to answer. He doesn’t seem like a kingpin of crime.”

“He sure as hell doesn’t,” Gus said, kicking Jay again. He then leaned down and fired another arc from his stun-gun. “The preliminaries are over. Are you ready to answer our questions or would you like me to warm your nuts again?”

Jay tried to scramble away. John held him in place. “Yeah… what is it you want?”

“We know you’re too stupid to be getting away with all this shit,” Gus replied. “Who runs your outfit in reality?”

Jay hesitated. He saw the bodies of his friends no longer showed any signs of life. Knowing he was a dead man no matter what he said or did, Jay understood the only thing he could avoid was pain. “Fernando Carone.”