Wednesday

"Are you sure you don't want a vacuum
cleaner to go with that danish?" asked Jack as he watched the pastries he
brought for his friend Abe disappear in a cloud of crumbs and teeth.

Abe looked at him incredulously, "Napkin! What for? Parabellum will take care of any mess." As if on cue Abe's parakeet hopped over and started pecking at the crumbs on the cluttered counter.

Jack couldn't help but smile. As long as he had known his pear-shaped friend he had been a creature of habit and he wouldn't change without a fight that Jack just did not feel up to. "OK, point taken, enjoy...the both of you! Any new stock I may be interested in?" asked Jack as he looked around the cluttered, yet deserted sporting-goods store.

"Oye...do I have something for you, come with me!" Abe hopped (more like slid) off his stool, almost knocking over his pile of papers he went through every morning. "Come on, don't mind the store, nobody wants for sporting supplies these days anyway."

The started down the stairs to the shop's true source of income for it's owner, arms of every imaginable size, age and variation. "More brass nucks in the back with the new throwing knives" Abe mumbles as he waved a pudgy arm in the general direction of a corner Jack knew all too well.

"Not this time Abe, I need something with a little more stopping power than usual, I am seeing some pretty strange things and it is getting harder and harder to 'fix' these things if they won't go down"

"Don't tell me we have Rakoshi again!" a
wide-eyed Abe shot out.

"No, nothing like that...yet, but with things going like they are with the Adversary as they are you can never be too sure. I was contacted yesterday by a young lady that wanted me to find her husband." explained Jack as he hefted a new crossbow to check the weight.

"For that you need stopping power? Sounds like a spy camera and a trip to the red-light district is more fitting for a job like that!"

"That is the strange thing, he is not missing, well...not really, she has seen him on the streets of the city near Central Park a few times, but he acts like he does not know here and is in a stupor like he is on drugs." Jack pointed to an oddly colored knife on the wall "What is that hideously green thing?"

Abe's eyes sparkled, "I got that in just for you, it is the special Zombie Apocalypse edition K-bar. I thought you would appreciate that with your current infatuation with older zombie movies."

Jack picked up the knife, opened it and read the blade 'Heads will roll'. "I appreciate that, I got the urge to watch the Romero originals when everyone started gushing about that new Walking Dead series. I heard it is great, but there is nothing like the originals in my book."

Abe rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time since Jack passed the first danish his way "You and those movie marathons, will you break down and get cable already?"

"You know how I feel about TV Abe, there is nothing worth watching but the news and that is on the free channels. Cable just gives officialdom another chance to get you. Besides, if I really want to watch something I will just go to Julio's."

Julio's was the shabby bar Jack used as an office because of the dark, unpopulated atmosphere it had. The proprietor, Julio made a point of making hippies and 'new blood' feel unwelcome and furthered the idea with the dead plants in the window to turn away curious eyes.

"Oye...have it your way then, I will leave you to the old TV and VCR you still use. So, what is this about a 'not really disappeared' husband?

"This lady called my machine the other day leaving a message about her husband being gone for a few days, but having seen him near the park. It sounded unusual enough I figured I would give her a listen. She met me at Julio's and she did not fit in, she obviously has money."

Abe looked up, "Aha! It always boils down to greed, he empty out the accounts on her?"

"That is another strange factor, he hasn't touched any money at all, not even to buy clothes or food from the way she said he looked. She saw him the morning she called me and when she ran up to him he just kept walking...actually shuffling according to her...past her with a vacant look. It hadn't looked like he had eaten or changed for the time he had been missing."

"Sounds interesting, but I don't see the part that caught your interest, you are not that easily impressed. Here, take a look at this .500 S&W Magnum cartridge, this is the cartridge that separates the girly men from the real
men. You want to stop something, stop it this will! Try them out with the Model Smith & Wesson
500 revolver made for just that size cartridge."

"Sounds good, I will let you know how it works. A little larger than I usually like to carry, but I may need it for this job." Jack turned to the stairs, "Catch ya later Abe, and thanks a lot."

"Wait just a second there, what is all this stopping power for?" Abe exclaimed " A husband gone astray with a vacant look to him?"

Jack thought about it a second but decided he did not want to explain too much of his idea about this yet, almost like verbalizing it would make it real. "Not yet Abe, got some research to do before I can say any more, just a feeling I have. Want to be safe."

"Fine...don't tell me! Don't come running to me when you get killed and decided you needed a bigger gun." Abe muttered while looking busy to hide his disappointment at not being let in on the gig.

"Thanks Abe, your the best. I will fill you in later, promise!" Jack yelled over his shoulder as he dashed up the stairs fast enough that Abe couldn't try to milk more information out of him than he wanted to give.

At least that was easier than dealing with Gia earlier. He stopped by to see the two women in his life before swinging by Abe's shop. Vicky threw herself at him and begged him to stay for breakfast. He could never deny that bright twelve-year old smile. He did not discuss this new case and kept it quick because he did not want to worry Gia or have to answer too many questions. It killed her inside already knowing the risks he took, and he did not want to burden her any more than she already was.

Turning a quick left, right, right and then a couple more lefts he took the long route home to lose any tail he may have. He knew he probably did not have one now, but it was when you thought you were safe you wound up in trouble.

Finally! A break before the real work starts! Jack slumped into his overstuffed recliner and started flipping through a new catalog of collectables more wasting time than actually looking for something specific. Jack had just purchased a schmoo wristwatch and decided to take a break from searching for a while and enjoy his new acquisition (maybe it had something more to do with needing to find a place amidst all his collection's clutter for it though). Either way, it served as a distraction for his hands and eyes while he pondered the past 24 or-so hours.