Tommy Vercetti was forced out of a deep sleep by the ringing of his phone. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked at the clock. Eleven a.m., late for some and early for others. The phone was still ringing.
"Hello."
"Tommy!" an excited, yet jittery voice came from the other end. "It's Ken. I hear you went to yet another of the colonel's parties last night. How was it?"
"Fine, what do you want?"
"You need to come over to the office. I have word on something that will make both of us a lot of money." Ken listened for a response. "Did you fall back asleep, Tommy? You need to come over here!"
Tommy was still trying to shake the cobwebs from his head. "Relax, I'll be over in a little bit."
* * * *
Before long, Tommy was standing out front of the Ocean View Hotel. He could see the beach full of sunbathers and the ocean full of surfers, and it made him jealous. If Ken did not have something important to say when he went over there, he would kill him then join the surfers. Rosenberg did have a knack for making something out of nothing, and it was starting to push Tommy's buttons.
A whole month in Vice City and Tommy still did not have a vehicle of his own. That did not bother him much because it was easy to borrow one, as long as the cops looked the other way.
He walked down the block a bit, always looking behind and to the sides of him. Tommy was a paranoid man, and for very good reason. Paranoia was a good trait to have in this city.
Tommy reached the corner and stopped as if he were going to cross the street. The light was turning red and a freeway motorcycle was coming to a stop. He reached to the small of his back and pulled a colt python from his belt. His arm swung up as he stepped to the chopper.
"Get off the bike and you can keep your life." Tommy was calm as the man reached to the side of the motorcycle. Before the man had a chance to completely respond, Tommy grabbed the man and yanked him to the ground.
"I told you to get off the bike. Next time do as I say!" Tommy pulled the trigger and blood splattered from the man's shoulder. Screams came from both sides of the street as well as the man.
As Tommy lifted the freeway off of its side he saw what the man was going for, a black stubby shotgun. Everyone was strapped in this city. Tommy smiled as he twisted the throttle and rode off. He knew that the gun would come in handy at some point in time.
Tommy pulled up to Ken's office building and parked the bike on the side of the street. He removed the stubby shotgun and walked upstairs. Ken was sitting behind his desk when Tommy came in.
"Whoa, Vercetti, what's with the firepower?" Ken exclaimed as he raised is hands, half in jest, half because he was truly scared of Tommy.
"Relax, I found it on the way over here." Tommy tossed the gun on the couch. "Now why the hell did you call me over here? And it better be good."
"I got a heads up from one of my contacts that a very valuable package came in through Escobar yesterday. Now it is pretty sneaky the way they did this, a secu-"
"Who are they?" Tommy interrupted.
"I am not sure of that yet, but they paid a security guard to pick up the package and deliver it to a hiding place. I figure if you get the package we can make some serious cash from it."
"How do you know the package is not gone already?"
"That is why we have to move fast. I was not able to find the guards address, but I know that he ends his shift in about an hour. His name is Owens. Kurt Owens."
"Fine, I'll play hide and seek today, but this better be good, or I'll come back and beat the shit out of you for wasting my time."
* * * *
Tommy sat on his newly acquired freeway outside of the employee parking lot of Escobar International Airport. Security was surprisingly relaxed and he was never looked at twice while he waited. Ken was able to supply Tommy with a photo of Kurt, so he knew who he was looking for.
It was not long after shift change that the guard came strolling to his car. Tommy got off his bike and walked casually along side of him.
"Hello, Kurt." He said without drawing any attention to them.
Kurt looked startled and suddenly became nervous. "Wh - What do you want?"
"The package."
"Hey, I delivered that package just like your guys told me. It is there man."
Kurt thought that Tommy was working for the group wanting the package. That could work in his favor, so Tommy played on that angle. "Change of plans, they want you to take me to the package."
"What? Right now?" Kurt tried to act confident, but he stunk of fear.
"Yes, now lets go." Kurt entered the driver's side door of an old oceanic. Tommy hustled to the passenger side before the guard could drive away.
Kurt had a nervous jitteriness about him as they drove across town. Neither man spoke a word, but Tommy had his gun in his hands the whole time. He caught Kurt glancing at it a couple of times, but knew that he was not going to try to take it from him. Not if he was smart anyway.
Before long the car was driving toward the south end of Ocean Beach. Tommy glanced over and was able to see a portion of the Ocean View Hotel. Ironic that he was blocks from the package this morning. The car pulled off of the road and slowly weaved toward the lighthouse. Once the car was in front of the entrance, Kurt put the car in park and looked at Tommy.
"Well, here we are. You are not going to need a lift back too are you?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Either way you are going to get the package and bring it back to the car." The two stared at each other for a moment, and Kurt finally turned to the door.
Tommy glanced around the surrounding area as Kurt walked toward the lighthouse stairs. No one was around except for an older couple walking from the pier. Kurt stepped to a thick set of bushes to the side of the lighthouse and looked around before reaching in for the package.
Tommy heard a car coming in the distance and looked behind him. He saw a cuban hermes pulling slowly up the path. The Cubans? They are the ones looking for this package. Tommy slid into the drivers seat as he saw Kurt running for the car.
"Give it to me." Tommy had the gun out of the window and the car already in reverse. Kurt passed the package through the window, and Tommy pulled the trigger. Kurt jerked backwards as a storm of red blew from the back of his head. Tommy reached out of the window and fired three more shots at the car as it sped up toward him.
He slammed on the gas and the back of his car slammed into the hermes. He pulled the car into drive and stomped the gas again. The car fishtailed as he jerked the wheel hard to the left, then cut it back to the right. He fired his last two shots as he drove past the hermes. One hit the side of the car and the other found its way into the drivers arm.
Tommy turned right when he got to the main road and sped past the hotel. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw the hermes pulling off the path and in his direction. He quickly turned left, then right sliding the car into an alleyway. He drove through the alleyway for a block then turned right. Another right and he was back on the road racing toward the cubans.
"I could really use that shotgun I left at Rosenberg's." he said out loud. He was heading right toward the hermes, playing a deadly game of chicken. At the last second the driver of the hermes turned away, but it was not soon enough. Tommy drove right into the back of the hermes, sending it into a tailspin.
Tommy slammed on the brakes as the hermes spun onto the sidewalk. He re-loaded his gun and got out of the car, package in his left hand, the gun in his right. He ran to the hermes before the passengers had a chance to right themselves. He could see as he reached the car there were only two people inside.
The driver was bleeding from his arm and the passenger was reaching under his seat for a gun. Tommy fired three shots into the passenger's head and the interior of the car was redecorated with red splatters. He fired another three shots into the driver, then he ran toward an alleyway as screams echoed from up and down the street.
He heard police sirens in the distance as he approached the back entrance of the Ocean View Hotel. No one ever noticed him come in that way, but when you flash enough green people tend to ignore things. He quickly went to his room and threw the package on the bed. He dialed the phone as he looked out the window.
"Ken Rosenberg's office." Came the voice on the other end. Ken was a cheap lawyer and the fact that he never hired a secretary proved that.
Tommy saw police cruisers race past the front of the hotel. "Ken, I have your package, and it was not easy at all. I have to lay low now while the cops do their thing."
"Great, and I got some good news." Ken voice began to pitch with excitement. "Word is that one package is worth well over ten grand and not only that, but there are at least a hundred of those packages in or on their way to Vice City!"
"A hundred! What the f--!" Tommy slammed the phone down and walked over to the bed. He was exhausted and Ken got him into another fiasco. He plopped on the bed, the package bouncing next to him. "A hundred." Tommy whispered to himself.
-the end?-