The Gun and the Guitar
Part 7: Ramon
Both K and Ark were still riding the adrenaline plane from the meeting at Oxnard. It was just after midnight. Everything that had just happened was making a grand realization in their heads, what new adversaries did they have to face?
Also, the locker number kept flashing in K's mind like quotes from the stock market. He wondered if it would lead to where they were keeping Michael and Hiro. But it was a do-or-die situation; either he got to Union Station, to that locker before the cops did, or risk having them sticking their noses further into this. He felt as if he were so close, his instincts told him so.
But he knew he was in trouble, he knew how pissed off the cops would be. He'd totally gone against their advisement and brought Ark to the scene, armed and whatnot. And now he was on the run again to do his own work.
It was a long drive into the heart of Los Angeles, to Union Station. K pondered why Ramon would have picked such a regular place, a place always bustling with people. Maybe it was to seem imperceptible.
Ark had changed back to into his regular civilian clothes while in the car. His lip was still puffy but not bleeding anymore. He was lucky not to have any loose teeth.
When K parked the car in the lot, he followed K into the train station.
"You know I bet they have surveillance, I wonder if they'd have the original person that used this locker?" Ark questioned his more knowledgeable friend on these matters.
"Let's see if we find anything first," K offered but Ark had made a good point. He'd consider looking at their security tapes.
The long wall of lockers was massive. But near the back almost in a corner was 1001. K held his breath as he spun the dial 4-7-8, the locker opened. Carlos hadn't been lying. Inside was one fat manila envelope. K plucked it out. Peering inside locker to make sure there was nothing else, he placed the envelope in his inside pocket.
"Wow, there was something in there," Ark said, he wore a surprised look.
"I guess the Sanchez brothers weren't to smart, they should have taken this and hidden it," said the blonde as they hurried back to the car so they could read the contents.
"Yeah, I hope Michael and Hiro will be alright. We've sort of put a stopper in their plans," Ark said with concern.
"Better be or there's gonna be a phone-booking at the police station tonight," K grumbled, picturing Miguel and Carlos being retained at the cop shop.
"Do they still use phone books?"
"Hell do I know."
"I bet the police stations order them by the double."
"Ark!" jeered K and actually laughed at his friend. "I'm sure the police don't beat up people using phone books…that much."
Smiling, Ark knew his joke would lighten the mood. Slamming the car door shut, K flicked on the overhead light and pulled out the yellow envelope from the inside of his coat. He ran his fingertips over the words "Confidential" on the front.
K fished out the contents and his eyes widened with astonishment. There were pictures of Michael, Hiro and himself obviously taken at the house in Beverly Hills recently. Worst of all, there were profiles about each of them attached to the pictures with a paper clip. Their ages, their hair colour, their height, where they lived etcetera. Their entire lives were right here in his hands. Even K's history about being in the Army, as a mercenary, Secret Service, his time with Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck. Every detail of his comings and goings, he stared at everything and a deep scowl came to his face.
"What the hell?!" K spat, "What the fuck is this?"
Ark looked on incredulously. "Where would Ramon get such saturated information? I thought your records were super confidential by government order?"
"It's supposed to be," whispered K as he filed through more papers, there was even photos of Judy and Ark. He glanced at his best friend. "What's going on?" he wondered completely stupefied, "This stuff is really specialized. This goes way beyond Ramon's capabilities."
"I think Ramon is working for someone else, someone with serious connections," Ark shared his thoughts. "Plus, Ramon wouldn't think of going this far."
"I guess they needed to know where to find me. Who ever they are, they have some amazing people working with them, or…we're dealing with something bigger." K scrubbed over his tired eyes with his hands and sighed. He continued to look through the papers and photos. There was even a print-out of his flight records and credit card transactions. They'd been trailing him ever since he left Toronto!
K got out of the car, much to Ark's surprise, and opened the back door. He rummaged through the bag with the stuff he'd grabbed from the Secret Service. Picking up the junction detector he turned it on and started sweeping the car.
Ark got out to watch, were there bugs?
The machine, using microwaves to detect transmitters, blipped quietly as K scanned it over areas of the car. And the thing sang when K got near the rear left tire. K knelt and ran his hand over the underside of the car above the tire. His hand found purchase with a small device.
"Tagged like a fucking target!" he cried, eyeing the still running transmitter. It was a device easily attached to metal using a magnet. He was about to smash the thing on the ground when he had a thought. Looking around he placed the transmitter on the car parked next to them, above the right rear tire.
"Wait Claude, before you do that…what if someone is watching us already? They already know what car we're driving. And how did they know I was on the rooftop? And how do we know they haven't bugged Judy's house? They could have been listening to us the whole time! Which means our meeting in Oxnard was fucking lucky," Ark explained heatedly, "I bet having all those cops in the vicinity was the only reason we got out alive."
K was about to lose his mind!
This was getting way more complicated. "Damn, we're going to have to go back to the house. We have to get rid of any surveillances or bugs. We're going to have to face the cops now, aren't we?" It wasn't really a question but more of a haggard comment. K suddenly felt very open to the elements, exposed, he felt the hairs rise on his neck. He scanned the parking lot wondering who was watching them, following.
"Let's not say too much, maybe they are listening to us," Ark mentioned and started to dig in his pockets carefully.
K watched his friend, realizing he was looking for more transmitters. K too rummaged in his coat pockets, all he felt was a grenade, car keys, one of Michael's Yu Gi Oh cards and lint.
Oh? But wait!
His fingers brushed over a tiny hard thing and he pinched it between his thumb and finger. He pulled out a small round metal spherical bug!
"They have known our exact location the whole time," K said disbelievingly, he knew now how they had found Ark on the rooftop. He watched his friend pull out a bug from his jacket pocket.
"This means someone was in my apartment. Someone is working very hard to get to you, Claude," Ark exclaimed, looking at the bug in his hands. "We could use these things to our advantage. But if they are after you then we better be careful, we need some answers now. We have to be fast, go 'black'—get my drift?"
K knew what Ark meant. It meant they had to stay lost, be as covert as possible. But that would be so hard if they returned to the house. They had to! Thankfully there were cops hanging around the house…though, K wasn't sure he could trust anyone right now, even them.
"I have an idea, get in the car," K said dropping his pocket transmitter and crushing it under his foot. He replaced the other transmitter back on his car.
Ark crushed his small bug under his shoe and got into the car.
K sped off, driving crazily, fast, and through tons of different neighbourhoods, pushing the limits of the Ferrari. He didn't stop until they found a guy, alone standing outside of his dingy, plain grey Ford Corolla in a dark alleyway. K got out of his car and approached the man.
"Hey buddy, I want to trade cars. Your egg-beater for this Ferrari, no games," K said coolly.
The man simply gaped at him before he cried, "Say what?!
K handed the man the keys to the Ferrari, "Merry Christmas." He took out the stuff from the backseat and put it into the back of the Ford.
The man simply held out his keys in a daze to the small four-door. He didn't say a word as K and Ark got into his shit-box and drove off.
"There," K said and smiled at Ark, "Now they'll be following him. We did that in less than two minutes easy. I doubt they have any idea we traded cars until they find that guy. I'm sure they won't hurt him."
Ark laughed. "I hope that guy takes them on a ride."
K chortled and pictured that Ferrari zooming all over the city, clocking over 200km/s. "Yup, I bet he'll give them a good chase."
"Great, now they have no idea where we are…the cops are all over the house, so Judy and the guys should be ok. What do we do next?" Ark questioned.
"We find, Ramon," K said tightly.
"Where?"
"Café del Mar," the blonde replied, tossing a piece of paper with the address on it onto Ark's lap. K had gotten it off the matchbook the police had found.
Ark and K drove to Compton, the south-eastern part of downtown Los Angeles. Café del Mar was easy to find, even if it was located in one of the most dangerous inner cities in the United States.
They hunkered down in the car, hopeful not to get spotted by anyone, glad they sat in a dilapidated car, and scanned over the outside of the place. It was a seedy looking establishment, with an ugly red neon sign and peeling white paint on the walls. There was graffiti all over the building and it had no front windows. It was like a crusty white cube. K couldn't tell if anyone was inside the business, and like hell was he going in.
"Damn, this could take awhile," complained K.
"Let's just hang around for a bit," Ark suggested, "This is all we have. If we find Ramon, we can get the location of Michael and Hiro, hopefully he can tell us who else is behind this shit—"
K's cell phone rang and the blonde grabbed for it before it rang twice. "Hello?"
"Claude K. Winchester?" went a scrambled voice.
"Who is this?!"
"We won't be letting your son and friend go until you're dead…and trust me, you will be. Payback is a bitch."
They hung up and K clapped his phone shut. He felt his guts twist, damn who was playing this game with him?! Quickly he took the back of his phone off and removed the SIN card. He snapped the thing into two pieces, destroying their chance of tracking them via GPS—Global Positioning System. He should have thought of that sooner.
"Who was that?" Ark asked with alarm, watching K destroying his phone.
"I don't know…but apparently Michael and Hiro are safe until I'm dead," he answered solemnly.
"I see…"
"They probably already know we're in this area—"
"Look, there he is!" Ark said disbelievingly, cutting K off.
Quickly grabbing a bag, K urged, "Come on, we have to hurry!"
They got out of the car silently and followed Ramon. He was already a block away from the café and thankfully no one was around.
Ramon was too pissed off about his brother to realize he was being followed, until two hands grabbed his shoulders. He spun around and his eyes widened, "Oh shit!"
"'Oh shit' is right," K growled at him, "Angry about your brother, Ramon? Ha! You're pathetic." He shoved Ramon down an alleyway, his gun pressed to his back.
Ark was right behind them.
"Up the stairs, asshole," K told Ramon when they got to the fire escape of a shabby four story apartment building.
"You know, no matter what you do to me, you're still dead!" Ramon spat at K, but went up the stairs, up to the rooftop.
"Let them try," the blonde said calmly. "Ark, get out the duct tape."
Ark fished the tape out of the bag they'd brought with them. He knew where K was going with this, he smiled…this was going to be fun.
They shoved Ramon up against a small brick chimney. K stood holding his gun on him.
"Ok, tape him up." K grinned evilly and watched Ramon's eyes widen with alarm as Ark ran the tape around him. "You must remember I don't play by the rules, Ramon." He laughed roguishly.
"You'll never find your kid or your lover boy, you fag," Ramon jeered mockingly.
K punched the man in the face for that comment. Ramon sent daggers at him, spitting out some blood. K just rubbed his smarting knuckles.
"You're working for someone else, who is it?" Ark questioned as he completely immobilized the man by taping him flush against the small brick chimney.
Ramon struggled, he couldn't move or kick or anything.
"Start talking!" cried K.
"Fuck you both. You can beat the crap outta me…I got nothing to say!" Sanchez said defiantly.
"I'll do more to you than beat you up. You like explosives, Ramon?" K asked all sweet and concerned like.
The man inhaled quickly, his eyes went even wider than before. He didn't answer; his dark eyes just stared at the crazy blonde.
"I sense that you do, Ramon." Sniggering, K fished in his pocket. He pulled out a grenade and said, "Open wide," and shoved the grenade in Ramon's mouth. "Ark? Could I have your assistance, please?"
"I'm on it," said Ark and pulled his gun on Ramon, holding it steadily between the man's eyes—his other hand holding the grenade in the guy's mouth.
K holstered his firearm and retrieved the duct tape from his friend. With it, he taped the explosive to Ramon's mouth. When he was done Ramon was almost whimpering and K leaned in close. His nose was almost touching Ramon's. K spoke with a deadly tone, "Who are you working for?"
Ramon was mumbling something, but K decided to torture him some more. Laughing in Ramon's face, K dragged his finger over the pin gently. "You know, this is a fragment grenade. Do you know what that means?" K purred in Ramon's ear.
He man squeezed his eyes shut and moaned in fear, he nodded yes he knew.
"That's right, tiny pieces of metal—shrapnel—are inside this baby and when it explodes it will tear your face to shreds." Tugging lightly on the pin K settled a cool stare on Ramon. There was a safety handle on this grenade so he could pull all he wanted and the pin wouldn't come out.
K gave the grenade pin a good yank.
Ramon was screaming behind the grenade. K yanked the tape off painfully and waited to see if he'd talk.
"It's the Secret Service!" Ramon cried almost immediately.
K blinked and said, "Name?"
Ramon grumbled, "I need protection, these guys can do anything! Probably kill me and no one would ever know."
"I can do the same," K promised gravely, "I want a name."
Ramon sighed, "Agent Price."
K closed his eyes and cursed softly. He knew there was something wrong with that agent, but he didn't think he was one of the people trying to get him killed! It explained a whole lot. But what did Agent Price have against him? They didn't even know each other...
"Where is my kid and my friend?!" K hollered. "Tell me now! I have no problem killing you right here, tell me, and you might just live."
"Twenty-seven, Richmond Street. Santa Monica," Ramon said with a sneer. "I don't know who owns that place. I assume it's them."
"Damn, K…" Ark breathed, clearly astonished by all this information.
"Come on, let's get out of here," K suggested.
They gagged and tied up Ramon, and Ark went to get the car. K tossed Ramon in the back of the car and they drove to Ark's apartment. They didn't see anyone lurking around the building, and K made sure to clear out any bugs that might have been in Ark's home. Hiding Ramon would bring out the true baddies and give them the chance to try and get into the house that Michael and Hiro were being held at. Parking inside the garage they hauled Ramon up to Ark's place and sat him on the couch.
"I'll watch him, you go get Michael and Hiro," Ark offered.
"Ark…"
"Go on, they didn't see us take Ramon, so no body knows he's here," explained his friend.
"Alright, but it could take awhile, maybe another twelve hours…what if he pulls anything…"
"I'll feed him bullets," Ark said and grinned evilly at Ramon.
"Ha, ha, not so tough now, are ya?" K tossed at the filthy pig that helped kidnap his son and Hiroshi. "You're going to regret fucking with me, Ramon."
Ramon said nothing.
K left and went back to Beverly Hills. He parked the car on a street that was near the back of Judy's property. Instead of going around the front way, where someone could be watching, he walked through someone else's backyard, climbed over a wall and entered Judy's backyard.
As if he were some kind of fugitive, K entered the backdoor and stayed clear of the windows. He'd brought the junction detector with him, hoping to clear any and all bugs that might be placed in the house.
"K?" Shuichi murmured when he spotted his manager lurking in the shadows.
All heads looked his way. He put a finger to his lips and whispered for them to close the curtains…all the curtains to the windows in the house.
Judy looked beside herself with anger.
But Sakano and everyone else were closing the curtains.
"Did you find him?!" she cried looking at K. "Where is Michael?" She asked scanning all around, expecting to see him.
"He wasn't there and they didn't take the money," K offered holding up the duffle bag with the load of cash. "I hope you have a safe around until we can put this back in the bank."
Judy got up and slapped K hard across the face. "WHERE IS MY LITTLE BOY?!" she wailed, eyes flaring, she was going to hit him again but stopped.
Bad Luck glanced at K who looked taken aback, his lips a thin tight line, his eyes cast to the left. They could see a blossoming red handprint forming on his cheek.
"Calm down, I found out where they are," K assured.
"NO! I WON'T CALM DOWN! FIND MICHAEL…YOU FUCKING COPS FIND MY BABY!" Judy screamed at the throng of police in her house. Everyone was quiet from her outburst.
"They didn't bring Michael and Hiroshi then? You said you know where they are?" asked Yuki, eyes taking in the red welt on K's face.
"No, they didn't and we shouldn't say too much yet," K advised to a bunch of puzzled faces and held up the junction detector.
All eyes blinked at the contraption as the telephone rang. K picked it up as the recorder started.
"Do not leave the house again until I get there!" hollered Detective Rose when K answered.
"I won't," K promised and sighed, he knew that was coming.
"I'm not sure if I should have you and your friend arrested for the endless number of violations you two pulled tonight," she barked at him.
K calmly hung up on her and began his sweep of the house. Everyone followed him as he went from room to room. Their eyes widened each time he found a bug.
"Damn…" murmured Suguru.
"It's like one of those movies with government agents and conspiracies or something," Shuichi whispered.
K scoffed at that remark.
After about an hour search and a handful of bugs, K dropped them on the ground and crushed them with his shoe. "They won't be too suspicious about the loss of these, they'll figure the cops did a sweep," he explained to the group.
Even Judy stood looking on amazed. "Why would they bug my house?" she asked.
"I can't explain why just yet," K answered. "But trust me, as long as the cops are here…you should be fine. It's me they want, not you." He dug into the bag he'd brought with him and held out another small device. "This is a scrambler, it will make any listening devices around you defunct, so we can talk and no one will hear us," K explained and placed it on the coffee table, switching it on. "Use it. Plus, I will have the police do a search for any recording devices…we have to be careful for the next few hours. Do not trust anyone, except Detective Rose."
Everyone stayed silent.
But just then Detective Rose barged through the front door. She stood almost snarling when her sights landed on K. He looked at her calmly and crossed his arms, watching her with his blue eyes. "Detective," he said nonchalantly.
"I want a full report on what happened down at the docks!" she yelled and glared at him.
"I don't have time for that now," was all K said.
"You know, I'm being lenient because this is your son and friend that are missing. I know you're keeping information from me. Did you learn anything from those guys you so generously left for us?" she asked watching the blonde man carefully.
"Only this," he reached into his coat and pulled out the manila envelope. He handed it to the cop.
"What's this?" she wondered and looked over the fat envelope.
"4-7-8 was a locker combination. They gave me that much info—I picked it up after the meeting in Oxnard. As you know they didn't have Michael or Hiroshi with them…instead, they intended to kill me," K said. He wasn't going to tell her about Ramon just yet, or the address he had given him. Not until he checked it out. If Ramon's men knew cops where around, they might move Michael and Hiro again, K couldn't have that.
"Oh…" went the detective. "Thanks. I want a full report on all of this—"
"No problem. But not right now…please, just trust me." K hoped it was enough to pacify the woman so she'd leave him alone.
Rose nodded, "This goes way beyond protocol you realize that?"
K did.
She sighed, "I could get into big trouble for this…but, you're not just some average guy—ex-Secret Service, just find your boy and your friend, ok?"
K gave the woman a salute and a wink. "That, I fully intend to do." Then he turned around to face Bad Luck and his ex-wife. He sighed, "I'm sorry to have dragged you all into this."
"We're behind you K," Suguru offered.
Shuichi, Yuki and even Sakano, nodded.
K gave them a light smile. "Thanks guys…I'll get Michael and Hiroshi back. I just don't know when." He changed the topic, "So, you're all staying here then?"
"Yeah, Judy offered to let us stay," Shuichi commented.
Hrmph, K was surprised Judy had been so generous, he chuckled to himself knowingly. "Well great, I guess you all met my ex-wife, the movie star," K said teasingly.
Everyone nodded again, all stealing a glance at her once more.
K laughed at the looks on their faces, "Ha! Now you know some of my secrets. I guess that makes us one big happy family now." He continued to chortle. Actually in some ways he didn't mind them knowing a little more about himself. It had to happen sometime he guessed.
Bad Luck watched their crazy manager; at least he was having a good laugh. They chuckled along with him but Yuki only shook his head and mumbled, "Idiots."
Shuichi and Suguru seemed more relaxed now that K broke the ice.
"Come on I'll show you where you can sleep tonight. It's damn late," K told them and he showed them some spare rooms to take. They had to be tired, hanging out here most of the day with his distraught ex-wife, the joy… "Goodnight guys and listen, make yourself at home got it?"
Bad Luck smiled. Shuichi, Sakano and Suguru went into their rooms. Yuki stayed back in the hallway and put his hand on K's shoulder, "Don't get yourself killed out there, I know you'll get your kid and Hiroshi back. If you need our help, just ask," the blonde novelist said in one of his rare moments of genuine concern.
Surprised K nodded, "I'll do whatever it takes. Goodnight, Yuki."
Yuki mumbled something and disappeared into his room.
K went back downstairs…he still had to go to Santa Monica. Judy was standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him.
"Where's Ark?" she questioned.
"He's busy…" K looked away.
Judy clucked her tongue. "'Busy' doing some kind of dirty work I presume?"
"He's helping us get Michael and Hiro back," K retorted.
The woman softened a little, she sighed. "Please, just get our boy back," Judy begged.
"I promise I will get Michael back."
Like a man on a mission, K left the house. He went the way he came and returned to the Ford Corolla he'd parked away from the house.
Hiro had urged Michael to try and sleep, it was late. No body was really bothering them, they just had to sit here and wait. The boy finally relented, resting his weary head on a pillow and asked Hiro if he would rub his head.
The boy needed comfort, reassurance that no one would hurt him, and hesitantly, Hiro did what he asked. Even long after the boy fell asleep, Hiro was still petting the over the boys' soft hair. He was lying next to him, completely comfortable now playing the parental role.
Hiro sighed deeply, he heard raunchy music coming from somewhere in the house. Ramon and his gang sounded like they were having a party. The brunette scowled at their blatant disregard. Here they were stuck in some room and they were having a party. He scoffed. There were women's voices too and he rolled his eyes. The bastards were carousing like this was just an everyday thing.
Where are you K? I hope you're alright…please!
There wasn't anything else to do and Hiro rest his head down on the pillow next to Michael and watched the boy sleeping. Before he could stop himself he leaned over and kissed the boy's temple, tenderly. The realization of how much he'd come to adore this child stuck him like a brick to the head.
He had to be strong for Michael.
He had to protect him until K came to get them. Hiro wondered if this is what it felt like to be a father, suddenly he envied K. He smiled and closed his eyes and thought of all the special moments with K as he fell asleep.
K would come to get them…he just had to wait.
