Chapter Four: An Evening's Strife
I get up at around eight-ish and take in as much coffee as I need to function. I make my way down to the precinct. Pretty busy today. See, our larceny detective, this guy named Atmey, was recently brought in for blackmail charges, so I've been picking up his slack. Half the stuff I looked into today was stuff that isn't even my department. It's a huge drag. But anyways, I put in the request to set up the stakeout at Tres Bien. Commissioner didn't seem too keen on it, but he let me go anyways. I guess it's just my rugged good looks and sparkling personality. I head out around six, swinging around to pick Maggey up. I have a brief chat with Armstrong to make sure everything is still go, and get set up.
Maggey and I are set up on the roof of the restaurant. We have a good vantage point. We can see the alley where the deal is going down, and there's a fire escape we can just slide down if we need to get to the bottom in a hurry. The meeting's taking place in the alley behind Tres Bien. I have a camcorder handy, and I set up a bug in a dumpster down below, so I can hear what they're saying. The bug was sort of a last minute decision, but I thought it might be useful. I also gave Maggey some binoculars, so she can tell me if I'm missing anything. Thing is, we have no idea what the exact time is that they'll show up, so we're basically playing a long waiting game up here.
About an hour goes by. At first, I basically try to play it serious and quiet, in case the perps show up. But after waiting that long, I eventually start talking to Maggey.
"Cold?"
"Oh, God, yeah. I had no idea that it could get so cold on top of a roof."
"You want my coat?"
"Nah, I'll be fine."
About six seconds go by.
"OK, I've changed my mind. Gimme that coat."
Took me a while to give her the coat, because I had it fully buttoned, something I almost never do.
"Better?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Awkward silence.
"Man, how long have you had this coat, anyways?"
"Oh, jeez, I dunno. Maybe six years."
"I'm hoping you've washed it at some point."
"Har har har. Very funny."
More awkward silence. This time it's my turn to break it.
"It's a good coat. Flame retardant."
"Why the hell would you need a flame retardant coat?"
"They were on sale."
"Oh."
Yeah, I'm a stellar conversationalist. Another half hour goes by. Maggey pulls out a pack of M&M's.
"You're eating M&M's during a stakeout?"
"Problem?"
"Yes, 'problem!' Gimme those!"
She just looks flat-out pissed. But she gets this really weird look on her face when I give her the bag back.
"I get the red ones."
And so we basically waited there until the sun went down. It was actually pretty nice to see the sun set from the roof of a building. But around 7:30, something starts going down. Armstrong walks into the malley. I get the camera ready. Suddenly, about two or three goons go up to him. I turn on my dumpster bug so I could hear what they're saying.
"Who are you? Vere is Caverdini?"
I must admit, I kinda thought that Caverdini would show up herself. That would've made things go a lot more smoothly. Oh, well. I can make it work.
"Caverdini's not here, chump. But we're here to deliver a little message for her."
Bingo. That's what I wanna hear. Now the goons are zeroing in on Armstrong.
"Vait! Vat are you doing?"
And then they started beating the shit out of him. I get some awesome footage. I wait a minute or two before I decide to intervene. When one of them pulls out a knife, that's when I decide to break it up. I slide down the fire escape ladder, which made my hands hurt like a sonovabitch. The thugs run off, and I start to chase after them. They've got their car parked just outside the alley, and they're long gone by the time I get there. No plates. Dammit.
I head over to the squad car I'd hidden under a tarp and put out an APB for a car with no plates, and sent for some medical help for Armstrong. I take a look up at the roof to see if my camera's still set up. I see Maggey. And she's not alone.
Some perp in a suit is sneaking up behind her. I don't think she knows he's there. I give a shout to warn her, but it's too late. The guy wraps his arm around her mouth. Waste of time. Maggey's not the screaming type. She works herself loose and punched him in the jaw. Kinda figured that might happen. But then the guy pulls out a bottle of chloroform. Doesn't put it on a towel or anything, just splashes the stuff right in her face. That's freakin' cheap. She goes down, and the guy scoops her up in a fireman's carry. I'm about halfway up the fire escape at this point. Figure he can't leave with me blocking the only way out. I get to the top, and all I can see is one of those grappling hook dealies. Bastard scaled the wall. I go to the other side of the wall, and see him stuff her into the car and drive off.
The whole thing was a setup from the start.
Maggey's gone.