TITLE: BAD INFLUENCE
AUTHOR : AMY JONAS
EMAIL: adjonas2000@yahoo.com
RATING: PG
SUMMERY: A friend of jimmys visits and puts the LGM and Yves in
A bad situation.
The man on the video surveillance monitor wore leather motorcycle boots, ripped
blue jeans, a dark blue tee shirt and a faded denim jacket. He also wore a pair of very dark sunglasses that matched his scowl. While Byers was deliberating as to whether he should answer the door; the man leaned over and pushed the buzzer
again, this time holding it down for thirty seconds. Frohike ran over, "Answer the damn door, we're going deaf here!"
Byers hesitated and then unlatched the numerous locks on the door and cautiously
opened the door.
"Its about freakin time." The man complained, walking into the warehouse. He
stopped when he saw Byers. "Nice Suit." He said scornfully. Byers and Frohike
both stared at him and soon Langly strolled up. "Hey, who's..." He saw the man,
"..at...the...door."
"May we help you?" Asked Byers politely.
The young man sneered at The Lone Gunmen, "I'm looking for Jimmy Bond."
"Jimmy?" replied Byers dubiously.
"Bond, Jimmy Bond." He said sarcastically "About yea high..." his hand went up
a little higher than his own head, "Spiked blond hair, football fanatic, not real bright, and a sucker for the down trodden."
"He's on an errand, but he should be back shortly. Would you like to wait Mr...?"
Asked Byers.
"Its Jake." Said the man, "Jake Harker." Harker suddenly grinned, "Jimmy and I
went to school together. I'll wait outside. Except for the old guy, you're a couple of nervous nellies." With that, he stepped back outside, and Byers closed the door
behind him."
"Was he making a crack about my hair?" Demanded Langly.
"Langly, shut up about your damn hair!" Exclaimed Frohike.
"You shut up DOOHICKY!" Snarled Langly.
"Hippie Jerk!" muttered Frohike.
"Enough already!" shouted an exasperated Byers, "We have work to do." They
headed back to the workstations. "I do find it difficult to believe Jimmy is friends with that man."
"Hey." Said Langly, "Jimmy picks them up everywhere. Remember Charlie
Muckle? Then there was Spike the cockroach guy, and don't forget Drooling
Harry. None of his friends are normal." Langly stopped typing on his computer
and looked up. "Did I just insult us?"
"Don't go there, man." Replied Frohike.
About fifteen minutes later, the door locks unlocked and Jimmy and Jake stepped
in. Jake was animated while Jimmy had on a smile as he listened to Jake. "...So I told the guy if he didn't like it he could shove it up his..." Jimmy's smile widened when he saw the guys. "Hey guys, this is Jake. Jake, these are my friends Byers, Langly, and Frohike." He pointed to each one in turn.
Jake grinned, "We've met dude."
Jimmy cocked his head and Jake laughed, "Man, you've got to check out my bike.
She rides like a dream." He looked at The Lone Gunmen, "Want to check it out
with us?"
Byers came from behind one of the shelving units, "No, thank you Mr. Harker.
We have a lot of work to do, but it was good meeting you." Byers held out his
hand and Harker looked at Byers and then shook his hand. Harker looked at
Langly and Frohike. Langly had lost interest and returned to his workstation.
Frohike perked up and said, "Sure."
As Frohike passed Byers, Byers whispered, "There's something off about this
guy." Frohike nodded his assent and followed the two younger men out of the
warehouse.
The motorcycle was a sleek black Harley-Davidson. Jimmy walked around it and
said, "WOW."
"Wanna take her for a ride, Dude?" Jake asked.
"Yeah." Jake handed Jimmy the keys and Jimmy hopped on the bike and fired the
engine. His eyes shone as he revved the engine. "Hey man, don't forget a
helmet." Advised Frohike.
Jimmy nodded and reached in the back compartment for the helmet while Jake
sneered. With the shiny black helmet on, Jimmy gunned the engine and then
released the brake. The bike shot forward into the ally, where it stopped and then Jimmy turned around, gunned the engine and raced down the opposite end. Just then, Yves' silver BMW came rolling into the ally. To avoid hitting each other,Yves swerved her BMW right, while Jimmy did a hard left, losing control of the bike. The motorcycle crashed, spilling its rider and sending him rolling into the warehouse wall.
"Oh damn!" Exclaimed Frohike, running toward Jimmy.
"Wow!" Whooped Jake, "That was excellent!" To Frohike's thunderous glare, he
responded, "Well it was."
Yves climbed out of her car, which narrowly missed hitting the wall. She was
visible shaken, but ok. She was also furious.
"What the HELL are you idiots doing? Someone could have been killed!"
"Its Jimmy," Frohike told her, helping Jimmy to sit up than helping him take off
the helmet. "Hey kid, you ok?"
Yves features immediately softened and she knelt next to him. She touched his
cheek, letting her hand linger before pulling it away. "Jimmy?"
"Yves, are you ok?" Jimmy asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, I almost hit you?"
Yves nodded, a smile touching her lips, "Yes, What about you?"
Jake moved in between them, "Come on man, you've had harder hits than this
when we were playing football." He helped Jimmy stand up, then steadied him
when he almost fell over. "Easy man." Jake looked at Yves and smiled at her
black leather outfit, "Hey catwoman, I have an itch that needs to be scratched." He chuckled at the withering look he received. Frohike shot Yves a look, almost
expecting her to deck the jerk, but it was Jimmy spoke up.
"Jake, stop." Jimmy's voice had a warning to it.
Jake sighed, "Jimmy, don't be such a Pollyanna."
Yves glanced at Jimmy, who suddenly looked uncertain, both physically and by
the comment made by the jerk. Frohike looked like he was hoping she would hit
the guy. Yves probably would have, she didn't take crap from any jerk, but
Jimmy's unusual acceptance of the creep stopped her. Instead she said, "I think
I'll go see what the grown ups are doing." She spun on her heels and headed
toward the warehouse, but not before she caught Jimmy's apologetic look.
When Frohike entered the warehouse, he found Byers and Yves hovering over
Langly who was typing away furiously at one of the computers. Frohike walked
over to them and asked, "What's going on?"
Yves looked impressed for once, "Your two friends are tracking down Jake
Harker."
"I used the fingerprint glue that Mulder gave me. When I shook his hand I got a
perfect set of fingerprints."
"Jimmy had tried to use that stuff to find our deep throat during Senator Jefferson's campaign." Langly told Yves. "He screwed it up."
"We put the fingerprints into a national database." Continued Byers, "He has a
record. Two arrests that resulted in one conviction for breaking and entering in
Long Island. He got 12 months but was out in 6 for good behavior. The second
arrest was for assault with a deadly weapon, but all charges were dropped."
"Dammit, what is Jimmy doing with this guy?" demanded Frohike angrily.
"Calm down Frohike," Soothed Byers, "We will tell him what we found out..."
"Harker talked Jimmy into going to a club called ZOOM. This just feels real bad." Said Frohike.
"Zoom." Said Yves, a look crossing her face.
"You know that club," Said Langly, "That's the same look you had on your face
when we mentioned Bouille Behavioral Laboratory that time. Spill it Spider
Lady."
Yves sighed, "Yes I know of it. It's the reason I am here in the first place. I've been hearing that a crack cocaine pipeline was going through that club. I thought you four would be interested in the story."
Frohike eyed her suspiciously. "What were you going to do? I can't see a reward
being offered. Planning on running off with the drug money?"
"I wouldn't touch the stuff." Said Yves distastefully. "But I did plan on going
undercover with Byers."
"What." Said Byers.
"You have the right look that's needed." Replied Yves, "I have the outfit you'll
wear in my car."
Twenty minutes later, Frohike and Langly were waiting for Byers and Yves to
come out of the bedrooms with their undercover outfits. Yves came out first,
wearing pretty much the same skintight leather outfit, except a form fitting plunging black tank replaced the leather top and she was wearing a black choker with studs. She also had a thin braid in her hair. Langly wolf whistled and when Yves threatened to painfully pull out his long blond hair, he backed up and stuttered an apology. Frohike nodded his approval.
"Guys." Called Byers, "I don't think I can do this."
"Just get your ass out here, Byers. Remember the junior gunmen is hanging out
with drug traffickers." Called Frohike.
"Here I come." Said Byers in resignation.
Byers came out wearing black leather boots, skin tight black jeans and a tight black tee shirt with a black denim jacket. He also had black fingerless gloves and dark mirror ray ban sunglasses.
Frohike's eyes went wide and Langly burst out laughing so hard he fell off the
chair he had been sitting on. Frohike nudged Langly in the side and Yves went up to Byers and gave him the once over before nodding her approval.
Byers looked uncomfortable and turned to Frohike for support. "You look."
Frohike searched for a fitting word, "different." That sent Langly into another
spasm of laughter, "Byers man, really, you look good!" Langly gasped.
"Langly." Hissed Frohike. Yves watched the Lone Gunmen in amusement. Langly
suddenly jumped up, "I gotta pee!" and he ran off to the nearest bathroom still
laughing.
They had parked the old VW bus outside of ZOOM; Frohike was working the
surveillance camera. "There are a few motorcycles, but most of the vehicles are
sports cars. There's Jimmy's Trans Am."
"Are you sure?" Asked Yves.
"License plate M-O-D-I-V numero 8." Said Frohike.
"Let's go." Said Yves, sliding open the van door and stepping out, followed by a
reluctant Byers. "I think Frohike would play the part of a biker much better." He whispered.
Yves pushed open the club door and whispered to Byers and to Langly and Frohike
through her hidden microphone, "These guys are different. They are professionals
who have decided to indulge in a lucrative side business of crack cocaine. They
have managed to use their influences and respectability to side line any police
investigations. On weekends they play the dangerous felons, but remember that's
exactly what they are.
The club was actually more a bar than a club, it was dark and smoky with a long
bar at the far left end lined with stools and then the rest of the room had booths against the wall, with a smattering of tables. A jukebox was against the far right wall with a small dance floor. There was another room off the jukebox that contained four pool tables and a couple of tables around the walls. The main bar room was a little over 20% full and no one was on the dance floor. One of the pool tables was in use with only two of the tables occupied.
Yves and Byers had stopped just inside the door surveying the scene. "There,
inside the pool room. They are at a table on the left near the corner." Whispered Byers.
They walked around the dance floor and entered the poolroom. Jimmy and Jake
had a pitcher of beer between then that was half full. Jimmy's glass was three
quarters full while Jake's was almost empty. They were both staring at their
glasses; Jimmy was deep in thought, his forehead scrunched up and his features
etched in sadness. Jake was working on getting drunk.
Yves touched Jimmy's shoulder, "Jimmy."
Jimmy looked up at Yves and his eyes went wide, then he saw Byers and his jaw
dropped nearly to the floor, a look of disbelief on his face. He didn't say anything;he just kept looking at the both of them. Yves sat in the chair to his left and Byers sat down in the last chair.
"It's Byers and the catwoman." Said Jake. He raised his glass and took a swallow
and then set the glass down with a thunk. He grasped the pitcher and poured more into his glass sloshing a little on the table.
The barmaid came over looking tired, "What'll ya have?"
"We will take two glasses and help our friends finish this pitcher." said Yves.
"Sure," said the barmaid, "Maybe you can liven these two sad sacks while I get
those glasses."
"Jimmy," said Byers, "What are you doing here?"
"We're shelebrayn old times." Muttered Jake. "To football!" He raised his glass
and took a long swallow.
Jimmy looked at his friend, worried compassion filling his eyes, then he turned to Byers and Yves, "Byers, what are you doing?"
"Jimmy," Byers whispered harshly, "Your friend has a record for assault with a
deadly weapon." Jimmy looked at him blankly, "He beat a man with an iron pipe."
Clarified Byers.
The barmaid came back with the glasses and her, Byers and Yves exchanged
pleasant smiles before she left. Jimmy looked at Jake in shock, "Jake?"
"Awe man, don't look at me like I just ran over your dog." Any buzz Jake had
quickly left. "The guy had it coming. Remember what I told you Jimmy? You do
it to them before they do it to you. You have to look out for yourself cause no one is going to watch your back.
Jimmy looked down at his hands, "Jake, there are good people .."
"Name me one.." Jake shook his head, "No I can name one, but he's a nieve
idealist who trusts people who don't deserve it"
Jimmy looked Jake square in the eyes, "I can name four good people."
Jake sighed, " I wish you could Jimmy, but at this point I don't care." Jake didn't sound entirely convincing.
"What don't you care about, Jake?" Came a deep voice from behind Byers. They
turned around to see a heavy set man wearing faded blue jeans and a mesh shirt
with gold chains around his neck. He had piercing blue eyes and doughy cheeks.
"Mr. Kirkwood!" Said Jake standing up.
"Jake, you stole $325,000 of my money. Is this how you repay me when I helped
you get a job in my organization as a courier, take you in and treat you like
family?"
Byers had disliked the obnoxious young man when he first met him. He had no
sense of morality and had an air of indifference about him, but now he felt a
change due to the newcomer. Byers took that as a bad sign. He saw Yves tense up
and knew she felt the same thing. Byers glanced at Jimmy and realized Jimmy
also had caught the shift. This was bad indeed. Jimmy stood up, not really sure
what to do, but concerned for his friend.
"Jimmy!" Hissed Byers.
"Sit down." Muttered Yves. She had hoped they could extricate Jimmy before they
set up the sting, but it definitely wasn't going to happen. She looked around and picked out several people who were watching them that could be trouble. Yves quickly calculated the odds, she was pretty sure she could take down one of the people. Byers though, wouldn't be much good in a fight and she didn't think
Jimmy would hurt anyone intentionally.
Kirkwood was looking at the group; "Jake and I have business to discuss. If Jake has brought you here to do business with me, I'm sorry to say Jake has proven himself less than trustworthy at this time. Sit back down young man, have a drink while I - sort a few things out."
Yves seized the opportunity when Jimmy didn't move. "Mr. Harker led us to
believe we could do business with you that would be mutually beneficial.
Unfortunately, it seems your house has problems we would rather not be involved
with at this time." Yves stood up along with Byers.
Kirkwood had made some sort of signal, and Yves mentally kicked herself for
missing it. Two rough looking men appeared from the main bar, one moved to
stand next to Yves and the other positioned himself between Byers and Kirkwood.
Byers shot Yves a worried look, but he straightened up, a determined look settling on his face. Jimmy looked confused but followed Byers' lead as he too adopted a determined stance, straightening his 6'3 frame.
Kirkwood shook his head, "Jake has stolen money from me. He's smart, but not
smart enough to pull it off alone. I think he had help. I want answers and I want them now." He made a subtle gesture Yves almost missed and she was sure Byers and Jimmy missed altogether. Thug number 1 moved toward Yves, but she
stepped back and whirled, kicking the guy in the head. He went down like a sack
of trash. So much for brawn, thought Yves. The second guy must have had little
in the way of brains, as he went after Byers and managed to hit Byers in the jaw, knocking him down. Jimmy jumped the guy, tackling him to the floor, holding him down with his arms pined behind his back. Yves was right, Jimmy wouldn't hurt another person intentionally. The man was subdued, but he still posed a threat. Yves rushed over and injected the man with a high powered sedative, effectively knocking him out for the rest of the night.
Byers had managed to stand back up, rubbing his jaw and looking questioning at
Yves, silently asking her where she had managed to hide the injector. Yves gave
him a mysterious smile before turning to Jimmy. He was smiling that smile and
Yves' heart skipped a beat. She had to force herself to remember Kirkwood.
"Don't move." Warned Kirkwood.
Byers, Jimmy and Yves looked up. Kirkwood had backed up and was holding a
gun on Yves who was closest.
"Gun." Muttered Byers for Frohike and Langly in the van.
"Very good observation." Praised Kirkwood. "No, No. Stay where you are."
He told Jimmy who had moved closer to Yves, trying to shield her. Jimmy knew
Yves didn't need him to protect her. She could take care of herself, she had proven that many times over, but she didn't have to do it by herself. She wasn't alone. He and Byers were there and he knew Langly and Frohike were somewhere nearby,probably in the Mobile Command Post. Langly would be recording everything and Frohike would be 3 steps ahead of everyone else. They were a team...
Jimmy looked around for Jake, worried. He found him at the entrance to the main
bar looking like he would bolt. Jimmy cocked his head, knowing his friend had
gotten into something he didn't know how to get out of. Jake lowered his eyes
unable to meet Jimmy's intense gaze. Kirkwood was speaking again and Jimmy turned his attention back to him.
"....any chances with the lot of you. Jake, how would you like to redeem
yourself?"
"What?" asked Jake, moving closer to Kirkwood.
"Do this one favor for me and I'll clear the slate." He held out the gun to Jake. "Be a part of my team, Jake. Kill them."
Jake looked at the gun, then looked at Byers and Yves, avoiding Jimmy. Yves had
a sneer on her face while Byers looked scared while trying not to look scared. Jake took the gun from his boss's hands and stepped away. He pointed the gun at Yves, but Jimmy moved so that his body covered Yves.
Jake thought he heard Jimmy say, "Do the right thing." but he wasn't sure.
"I don't know what that is anymore," He said softly. He turned and fired the gun. Kirkwoods' face registered surprise before he fell to the floor.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Frohike and Langly simultaneously in the
headsets. Byers and Yves were stunned while Jimmy was horrified. "Jake, no."
said Jimmy softly. Its to late thought Byers, its been done. There's no taking this back. Jimmy should be able to understand this action couldn't be fixed.
Jake looked at the trio, one of which was his friend. Jimmy was shaking his head
and saying something, but it was too far away to hear. The other two were looking at Jimmy as if he had lost his mind. Jake looked down at the gun and seemed to realize he still had it in his hands. He looked at Jimmy, "See you on the playing field." He raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
Two days later, The Lone Gunmen were admiring the newly printed edition of the
paper. The headlines proclaimed:
POLICE BUST YUPPIE DRUG RING AFTER MURDER, SUICIDE
Byers put the paper down and sighed. He looked around, "Where is Jimmy?"
"Outside." said Langly, "Hey man, stop clucking over him, he's been around dead
bodies before. He handles it ok."
"This is different." Said Byers. "The guy was his friend and he killed himself in front of Jimmy. Jimmy is an open book with his emotions, but its like he's shut down. He hasn't said one word in the last two days."
Langly wasn't sure how to respond, but Frohike who had been listening intently,
stood up. "Come on, we're going to get him to talk to us." Byers and Langly
followed after Frohike. They didn't have to go far, they found Jimmy sitting on
the top steps outside the warehouse. He was sitting in the same position they had found him when he first joined them. Byers went down the steps and sat on one of the lower steps. Langly stood standing behind him. Frohike sat down on the steps next to him and Jimmy moved over to make room. Frohike didn't say anything, waiting for Jimmy to talk when he was ready.
Jimmy looked down at his feet, then looked out at his Trans Am. Frohike thought
he was studying his license plate MODIV 8 and wondered for the first time what
meaning it held for the kid. When Jimmy finally spoke he was very quiet. "When I was a wide receiver on my college football team, about half way through the first season I got tackled from behind on an end around running play and tore my
ACL."
"ACL?" asked Langly.
'Anterior Cruciate Ligament." Said Frohike. "Ouch"
"Yeah, totally messed up my knee. I couldn't play again until the next season. The next year I played I was drafted by the New England Patriots. About three quarters through the first season I got tackled from both sides and tore the ACL in the same knee. I had restructive surgery, but the doctor said there was damage and I couldn't play football anymore."
" Jimmy, I'm sorry." Said Byers.
Jimmy smiled sadly, " I was thinking about the other night at the bar, when
Kirkwood had the gun. I was thinking of us and how we are a team." He looked at
Frohike as if for confirmation and Frohike saw the deep well of grief in the kid's eyes. Frohike smiled and nodded.
Jimmy swallowed, "I've always been part of a team. High school, college, the
Patriots," Jimmy hesitated, "even at P.O.E. N-not the Belamarisks, but-"
"The blind football team." Finished Frohike gently.
Jimmy nodded, "..a-and now with you guys. When Kirkwood told Jake he would
be a part of his team if he killed us......I wish you could have known Jake when he was part of a good team."
Jimmy swallowed as tears ran down his cheeks. "Thanks guys, for letting me be
part of a good team." Jimmy started sobbing openly and when Frohike put a hand
on his shoulder, Jimmy leaned over and buried his face in Frohike's shoulder. The Lone Gunmen sat there on the stoop offering their emotional support and
friendship to the youngest of their group.
AUTHOR : AMY JONAS
EMAIL: adjonas2000@yahoo.com
RATING: PG
SUMMERY: A friend of jimmys visits and puts the LGM and Yves in
A bad situation.
The man on the video surveillance monitor wore leather motorcycle boots, ripped
blue jeans, a dark blue tee shirt and a faded denim jacket. He also wore a pair of very dark sunglasses that matched his scowl. While Byers was deliberating as to whether he should answer the door; the man leaned over and pushed the buzzer
again, this time holding it down for thirty seconds. Frohike ran over, "Answer the damn door, we're going deaf here!"
Byers hesitated and then unlatched the numerous locks on the door and cautiously
opened the door.
"Its about freakin time." The man complained, walking into the warehouse. He
stopped when he saw Byers. "Nice Suit." He said scornfully. Byers and Frohike
both stared at him and soon Langly strolled up. "Hey, who's..." He saw the man,
"..at...the...door."
"May we help you?" Asked Byers politely.
The young man sneered at The Lone Gunmen, "I'm looking for Jimmy Bond."
"Jimmy?" replied Byers dubiously.
"Bond, Jimmy Bond." He said sarcastically "About yea high..." his hand went up
a little higher than his own head, "Spiked blond hair, football fanatic, not real bright, and a sucker for the down trodden."
"He's on an errand, but he should be back shortly. Would you like to wait Mr...?"
Asked Byers.
"Its Jake." Said the man, "Jake Harker." Harker suddenly grinned, "Jimmy and I
went to school together. I'll wait outside. Except for the old guy, you're a couple of nervous nellies." With that, he stepped back outside, and Byers closed the door
behind him."
"Was he making a crack about my hair?" Demanded Langly.
"Langly, shut up about your damn hair!" Exclaimed Frohike.
"You shut up DOOHICKY!" Snarled Langly.
"Hippie Jerk!" muttered Frohike.
"Enough already!" shouted an exasperated Byers, "We have work to do." They
headed back to the workstations. "I do find it difficult to believe Jimmy is friends with that man."
"Hey." Said Langly, "Jimmy picks them up everywhere. Remember Charlie
Muckle? Then there was Spike the cockroach guy, and don't forget Drooling
Harry. None of his friends are normal." Langly stopped typing on his computer
and looked up. "Did I just insult us?"
"Don't go there, man." Replied Frohike.
About fifteen minutes later, the door locks unlocked and Jimmy and Jake stepped
in. Jake was animated while Jimmy had on a smile as he listened to Jake. "...So I told the guy if he didn't like it he could shove it up his..." Jimmy's smile widened when he saw the guys. "Hey guys, this is Jake. Jake, these are my friends Byers, Langly, and Frohike." He pointed to each one in turn.
Jake grinned, "We've met dude."
Jimmy cocked his head and Jake laughed, "Man, you've got to check out my bike.
She rides like a dream." He looked at The Lone Gunmen, "Want to check it out
with us?"
Byers came from behind one of the shelving units, "No, thank you Mr. Harker.
We have a lot of work to do, but it was good meeting you." Byers held out his
hand and Harker looked at Byers and then shook his hand. Harker looked at
Langly and Frohike. Langly had lost interest and returned to his workstation.
Frohike perked up and said, "Sure."
As Frohike passed Byers, Byers whispered, "There's something off about this
guy." Frohike nodded his assent and followed the two younger men out of the
warehouse.
The motorcycle was a sleek black Harley-Davidson. Jimmy walked around it and
said, "WOW."
"Wanna take her for a ride, Dude?" Jake asked.
"Yeah." Jake handed Jimmy the keys and Jimmy hopped on the bike and fired the
engine. His eyes shone as he revved the engine. "Hey man, don't forget a
helmet." Advised Frohike.
Jimmy nodded and reached in the back compartment for the helmet while Jake
sneered. With the shiny black helmet on, Jimmy gunned the engine and then
released the brake. The bike shot forward into the ally, where it stopped and then Jimmy turned around, gunned the engine and raced down the opposite end. Just then, Yves' silver BMW came rolling into the ally. To avoid hitting each other,Yves swerved her BMW right, while Jimmy did a hard left, losing control of the bike. The motorcycle crashed, spilling its rider and sending him rolling into the warehouse wall.
"Oh damn!" Exclaimed Frohike, running toward Jimmy.
"Wow!" Whooped Jake, "That was excellent!" To Frohike's thunderous glare, he
responded, "Well it was."
Yves climbed out of her car, which narrowly missed hitting the wall. She was
visible shaken, but ok. She was also furious.
"What the HELL are you idiots doing? Someone could have been killed!"
"Its Jimmy," Frohike told her, helping Jimmy to sit up than helping him take off
the helmet. "Hey kid, you ok?"
Yves features immediately softened and she knelt next to him. She touched his
cheek, letting her hand linger before pulling it away. "Jimmy?"
"Yves, are you ok?" Jimmy asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, I almost hit you?"
Yves nodded, a smile touching her lips, "Yes, What about you?"
Jake moved in between them, "Come on man, you've had harder hits than this
when we were playing football." He helped Jimmy stand up, then steadied him
when he almost fell over. "Easy man." Jake looked at Yves and smiled at her
black leather outfit, "Hey catwoman, I have an itch that needs to be scratched." He chuckled at the withering look he received. Frohike shot Yves a look, almost
expecting her to deck the jerk, but it was Jimmy spoke up.
"Jake, stop." Jimmy's voice had a warning to it.
Jake sighed, "Jimmy, don't be such a Pollyanna."
Yves glanced at Jimmy, who suddenly looked uncertain, both physically and by
the comment made by the jerk. Frohike looked like he was hoping she would hit
the guy. Yves probably would have, she didn't take crap from any jerk, but
Jimmy's unusual acceptance of the creep stopped her. Instead she said, "I think
I'll go see what the grown ups are doing." She spun on her heels and headed
toward the warehouse, but not before she caught Jimmy's apologetic look.
When Frohike entered the warehouse, he found Byers and Yves hovering over
Langly who was typing away furiously at one of the computers. Frohike walked
over to them and asked, "What's going on?"
Yves looked impressed for once, "Your two friends are tracking down Jake
Harker."
"I used the fingerprint glue that Mulder gave me. When I shook his hand I got a
perfect set of fingerprints."
"Jimmy had tried to use that stuff to find our deep throat during Senator Jefferson's campaign." Langly told Yves. "He screwed it up."
"We put the fingerprints into a national database." Continued Byers, "He has a
record. Two arrests that resulted in one conviction for breaking and entering in
Long Island. He got 12 months but was out in 6 for good behavior. The second
arrest was for assault with a deadly weapon, but all charges were dropped."
"Dammit, what is Jimmy doing with this guy?" demanded Frohike angrily.
"Calm down Frohike," Soothed Byers, "We will tell him what we found out..."
"Harker talked Jimmy into going to a club called ZOOM. This just feels real bad." Said Frohike.
"Zoom." Said Yves, a look crossing her face.
"You know that club," Said Langly, "That's the same look you had on your face
when we mentioned Bouille Behavioral Laboratory that time. Spill it Spider
Lady."
Yves sighed, "Yes I know of it. It's the reason I am here in the first place. I've been hearing that a crack cocaine pipeline was going through that club. I thought you four would be interested in the story."
Frohike eyed her suspiciously. "What were you going to do? I can't see a reward
being offered. Planning on running off with the drug money?"
"I wouldn't touch the stuff." Said Yves distastefully. "But I did plan on going
undercover with Byers."
"What." Said Byers.
"You have the right look that's needed." Replied Yves, "I have the outfit you'll
wear in my car."
Twenty minutes later, Frohike and Langly were waiting for Byers and Yves to
come out of the bedrooms with their undercover outfits. Yves came out first,
wearing pretty much the same skintight leather outfit, except a form fitting plunging black tank replaced the leather top and she was wearing a black choker with studs. She also had a thin braid in her hair. Langly wolf whistled and when Yves threatened to painfully pull out his long blond hair, he backed up and stuttered an apology. Frohike nodded his approval.
"Guys." Called Byers, "I don't think I can do this."
"Just get your ass out here, Byers. Remember the junior gunmen is hanging out
with drug traffickers." Called Frohike.
"Here I come." Said Byers in resignation.
Byers came out wearing black leather boots, skin tight black jeans and a tight black tee shirt with a black denim jacket. He also had black fingerless gloves and dark mirror ray ban sunglasses.
Frohike's eyes went wide and Langly burst out laughing so hard he fell off the
chair he had been sitting on. Frohike nudged Langly in the side and Yves went up to Byers and gave him the once over before nodding her approval.
Byers looked uncomfortable and turned to Frohike for support. "You look."
Frohike searched for a fitting word, "different." That sent Langly into another
spasm of laughter, "Byers man, really, you look good!" Langly gasped.
"Langly." Hissed Frohike. Yves watched the Lone Gunmen in amusement. Langly
suddenly jumped up, "I gotta pee!" and he ran off to the nearest bathroom still
laughing.
They had parked the old VW bus outside of ZOOM; Frohike was working the
surveillance camera. "There are a few motorcycles, but most of the vehicles are
sports cars. There's Jimmy's Trans Am."
"Are you sure?" Asked Yves.
"License plate M-O-D-I-V numero 8." Said Frohike.
"Let's go." Said Yves, sliding open the van door and stepping out, followed by a
reluctant Byers. "I think Frohike would play the part of a biker much better." He whispered.
Yves pushed open the club door and whispered to Byers and to Langly and Frohike
through her hidden microphone, "These guys are different. They are professionals
who have decided to indulge in a lucrative side business of crack cocaine. They
have managed to use their influences and respectability to side line any police
investigations. On weekends they play the dangerous felons, but remember that's
exactly what they are.
The club was actually more a bar than a club, it was dark and smoky with a long
bar at the far left end lined with stools and then the rest of the room had booths against the wall, with a smattering of tables. A jukebox was against the far right wall with a small dance floor. There was another room off the jukebox that contained four pool tables and a couple of tables around the walls. The main bar room was a little over 20% full and no one was on the dance floor. One of the pool tables was in use with only two of the tables occupied.
Yves and Byers had stopped just inside the door surveying the scene. "There,
inside the pool room. They are at a table on the left near the corner." Whispered Byers.
They walked around the dance floor and entered the poolroom. Jimmy and Jake
had a pitcher of beer between then that was half full. Jimmy's glass was three
quarters full while Jake's was almost empty. They were both staring at their
glasses; Jimmy was deep in thought, his forehead scrunched up and his features
etched in sadness. Jake was working on getting drunk.
Yves touched Jimmy's shoulder, "Jimmy."
Jimmy looked up at Yves and his eyes went wide, then he saw Byers and his jaw
dropped nearly to the floor, a look of disbelief on his face. He didn't say anything;he just kept looking at the both of them. Yves sat in the chair to his left and Byers sat down in the last chair.
"It's Byers and the catwoman." Said Jake. He raised his glass and took a swallow
and then set the glass down with a thunk. He grasped the pitcher and poured more into his glass sloshing a little on the table.
The barmaid came over looking tired, "What'll ya have?"
"We will take two glasses and help our friends finish this pitcher." said Yves.
"Sure," said the barmaid, "Maybe you can liven these two sad sacks while I get
those glasses."
"Jimmy," said Byers, "What are you doing here?"
"We're shelebrayn old times." Muttered Jake. "To football!" He raised his glass
and took a long swallow.
Jimmy looked at his friend, worried compassion filling his eyes, then he turned to Byers and Yves, "Byers, what are you doing?"
"Jimmy," Byers whispered harshly, "Your friend has a record for assault with a
deadly weapon." Jimmy looked at him blankly, "He beat a man with an iron pipe."
Clarified Byers.
The barmaid came back with the glasses and her, Byers and Yves exchanged
pleasant smiles before she left. Jimmy looked at Jake in shock, "Jake?"
"Awe man, don't look at me like I just ran over your dog." Any buzz Jake had
quickly left. "The guy had it coming. Remember what I told you Jimmy? You do
it to them before they do it to you. You have to look out for yourself cause no one is going to watch your back.
Jimmy looked down at his hands, "Jake, there are good people .."
"Name me one.." Jake shook his head, "No I can name one, but he's a nieve
idealist who trusts people who don't deserve it"
Jimmy looked Jake square in the eyes, "I can name four good people."
Jake sighed, " I wish you could Jimmy, but at this point I don't care." Jake didn't sound entirely convincing.
"What don't you care about, Jake?" Came a deep voice from behind Byers. They
turned around to see a heavy set man wearing faded blue jeans and a mesh shirt
with gold chains around his neck. He had piercing blue eyes and doughy cheeks.
"Mr. Kirkwood!" Said Jake standing up.
"Jake, you stole $325,000 of my money. Is this how you repay me when I helped
you get a job in my organization as a courier, take you in and treat you like
family?"
Byers had disliked the obnoxious young man when he first met him. He had no
sense of morality and had an air of indifference about him, but now he felt a
change due to the newcomer. Byers took that as a bad sign. He saw Yves tense up
and knew she felt the same thing. Byers glanced at Jimmy and realized Jimmy
also had caught the shift. This was bad indeed. Jimmy stood up, not really sure
what to do, but concerned for his friend.
"Jimmy!" Hissed Byers.
"Sit down." Muttered Yves. She had hoped they could extricate Jimmy before they
set up the sting, but it definitely wasn't going to happen. She looked around and picked out several people who were watching them that could be trouble. Yves quickly calculated the odds, she was pretty sure she could take down one of the people. Byers though, wouldn't be much good in a fight and she didn't think
Jimmy would hurt anyone intentionally.
Kirkwood was looking at the group; "Jake and I have business to discuss. If Jake has brought you here to do business with me, I'm sorry to say Jake has proven himself less than trustworthy at this time. Sit back down young man, have a drink while I - sort a few things out."
Yves seized the opportunity when Jimmy didn't move. "Mr. Harker led us to
believe we could do business with you that would be mutually beneficial.
Unfortunately, it seems your house has problems we would rather not be involved
with at this time." Yves stood up along with Byers.
Kirkwood had made some sort of signal, and Yves mentally kicked herself for
missing it. Two rough looking men appeared from the main bar, one moved to
stand next to Yves and the other positioned himself between Byers and Kirkwood.
Byers shot Yves a worried look, but he straightened up, a determined look settling on his face. Jimmy looked confused but followed Byers' lead as he too adopted a determined stance, straightening his 6'3 frame.
Kirkwood shook his head, "Jake has stolen money from me. He's smart, but not
smart enough to pull it off alone. I think he had help. I want answers and I want them now." He made a subtle gesture Yves almost missed and she was sure Byers and Jimmy missed altogether. Thug number 1 moved toward Yves, but she
stepped back and whirled, kicking the guy in the head. He went down like a sack
of trash. So much for brawn, thought Yves. The second guy must have had little
in the way of brains, as he went after Byers and managed to hit Byers in the jaw, knocking him down. Jimmy jumped the guy, tackling him to the floor, holding him down with his arms pined behind his back. Yves was right, Jimmy wouldn't hurt another person intentionally. The man was subdued, but he still posed a threat. Yves rushed over and injected the man with a high powered sedative, effectively knocking him out for the rest of the night.
Byers had managed to stand back up, rubbing his jaw and looking questioning at
Yves, silently asking her where she had managed to hide the injector. Yves gave
him a mysterious smile before turning to Jimmy. He was smiling that smile and
Yves' heart skipped a beat. She had to force herself to remember Kirkwood.
"Don't move." Warned Kirkwood.
Byers, Jimmy and Yves looked up. Kirkwood had backed up and was holding a
gun on Yves who was closest.
"Gun." Muttered Byers for Frohike and Langly in the van.
"Very good observation." Praised Kirkwood. "No, No. Stay where you are."
He told Jimmy who had moved closer to Yves, trying to shield her. Jimmy knew
Yves didn't need him to protect her. She could take care of herself, she had proven that many times over, but she didn't have to do it by herself. She wasn't alone. He and Byers were there and he knew Langly and Frohike were somewhere nearby,probably in the Mobile Command Post. Langly would be recording everything and Frohike would be 3 steps ahead of everyone else. They were a team...
Jimmy looked around for Jake, worried. He found him at the entrance to the main
bar looking like he would bolt. Jimmy cocked his head, knowing his friend had
gotten into something he didn't know how to get out of. Jake lowered his eyes
unable to meet Jimmy's intense gaze. Kirkwood was speaking again and Jimmy turned his attention back to him.
"....any chances with the lot of you. Jake, how would you like to redeem
yourself?"
"What?" asked Jake, moving closer to Kirkwood.
"Do this one favor for me and I'll clear the slate." He held out the gun to Jake. "Be a part of my team, Jake. Kill them."
Jake looked at the gun, then looked at Byers and Yves, avoiding Jimmy. Yves had
a sneer on her face while Byers looked scared while trying not to look scared. Jake took the gun from his boss's hands and stepped away. He pointed the gun at Yves, but Jimmy moved so that his body covered Yves.
Jake thought he heard Jimmy say, "Do the right thing." but he wasn't sure.
"I don't know what that is anymore," He said softly. He turned and fired the gun. Kirkwoods' face registered surprise before he fell to the floor.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Frohike and Langly simultaneously in the
headsets. Byers and Yves were stunned while Jimmy was horrified. "Jake, no."
said Jimmy softly. Its to late thought Byers, its been done. There's no taking this back. Jimmy should be able to understand this action couldn't be fixed.
Jake looked at the trio, one of which was his friend. Jimmy was shaking his head
and saying something, but it was too far away to hear. The other two were looking at Jimmy as if he had lost his mind. Jake looked down at the gun and seemed to realize he still had it in his hands. He looked at Jimmy, "See you on the playing field." He raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
Two days later, The Lone Gunmen were admiring the newly printed edition of the
paper. The headlines proclaimed:
POLICE BUST YUPPIE DRUG RING AFTER MURDER, SUICIDE
Byers put the paper down and sighed. He looked around, "Where is Jimmy?"
"Outside." said Langly, "Hey man, stop clucking over him, he's been around dead
bodies before. He handles it ok."
"This is different." Said Byers. "The guy was his friend and he killed himself in front of Jimmy. Jimmy is an open book with his emotions, but its like he's shut down. He hasn't said one word in the last two days."
Langly wasn't sure how to respond, but Frohike who had been listening intently,
stood up. "Come on, we're going to get him to talk to us." Byers and Langly
followed after Frohike. They didn't have to go far, they found Jimmy sitting on
the top steps outside the warehouse. He was sitting in the same position they had found him when he first joined them. Byers went down the steps and sat on one of the lower steps. Langly stood standing behind him. Frohike sat down on the steps next to him and Jimmy moved over to make room. Frohike didn't say anything, waiting for Jimmy to talk when he was ready.
Jimmy looked down at his feet, then looked out at his Trans Am. Frohike thought
he was studying his license plate MODIV 8 and wondered for the first time what
meaning it held for the kid. When Jimmy finally spoke he was very quiet. "When I was a wide receiver on my college football team, about half way through the first season I got tackled from behind on an end around running play and tore my
ACL."
"ACL?" asked Langly.
'Anterior Cruciate Ligament." Said Frohike. "Ouch"
"Yeah, totally messed up my knee. I couldn't play again until the next season. The next year I played I was drafted by the New England Patriots. About three quarters through the first season I got tackled from both sides and tore the ACL in the same knee. I had restructive surgery, but the doctor said there was damage and I couldn't play football anymore."
" Jimmy, I'm sorry." Said Byers.
Jimmy smiled sadly, " I was thinking about the other night at the bar, when
Kirkwood had the gun. I was thinking of us and how we are a team." He looked at
Frohike as if for confirmation and Frohike saw the deep well of grief in the kid's eyes. Frohike smiled and nodded.
Jimmy swallowed, "I've always been part of a team. High school, college, the
Patriots," Jimmy hesitated, "even at P.O.E. N-not the Belamarisks, but-"
"The blind football team." Finished Frohike gently.
Jimmy nodded, "..a-and now with you guys. When Kirkwood told Jake he would
be a part of his team if he killed us......I wish you could have known Jake when he was part of a good team."
Jimmy swallowed as tears ran down his cheeks. "Thanks guys, for letting me be
part of a good team." Jimmy started sobbing openly and when Frohike put a hand
on his shoulder, Jimmy leaned over and buried his face in Frohike's shoulder. The Lone Gunmen sat there on the stoop offering their emotional support and
friendship to the youngest of their group.
