Better Call the Bird Lawyer
Chapter 10
"Law Pursuit"
Some Year between 2017 and 2021
The Month of September
Day 10
Omaha Mall
4:15 PM
"If you ever try to cross me again, and I know you probably will. I got guys everywhere throughout the country." said Mike nonchalantly
"But.. but.. but.." muttered Jimmy
"Hey, even if you manage to kill me. My guys will be there long after me." continued Mike, nonchalantly
"You mess with my operation again Jimmy, that will be the end." said Gus to Jimmy, as the flashbacks continued, Jimmy starring off into space as Mac and Charlie stared back at him, puzzled.
"Mike! Mike!. Oh my GOD. Mike's guys got to me. They finally got to me. I knew I should have listened to my vacuum guy." thought Jimmy, snapping out of it, as Mac and Charlie continued their mindless chatter
"Oh my God dude, this guy can totally use our services."
"I know right."
"No, seriously, but let me do the talking..."
Mac and Charlie's chatter continued as they talked over each other, but grew quieter and quieter, eventually barely audible and Jimmy zoned them out and everything started to blur
Jimmy is zoning in and out of the conversation, as his heart begins to pound; fighting off a panic attack.
"Excuse me, how much for the muffin." said a customer, temporarily snapping Jimmy out of it, as Jimmy meekly handled her order, before going to the back
"Excuse me guys, I have to check on something." said Jimmy, making an exit to the back as another customer walked in
"Excuse me guys. Something came up, a family emergency. Could any of you take an extra shift and cover the rest of the day." said Jimmy to his employees, as they looked mildly annoyed at the request, also giving each other the 'not it' look.
"I'll pay $5 an hour bonus, plus regular pay, any volunteers?" asked Jimmy, as one of the worker's hand went up.
"Ok, great, see you tomorrow." said Jimmy, making his exit through the back, trying not to panic, as his employee went to handle the customer.
"Hey, did you notice, that guy was kinda rude." said Mac
"I know right." said Charlie
"And I mean I am not talking about like regular rude, which he is. I mean like extra rude, more rude than usual, you know." added Charlie
"Also, not only just rude. But dude, that was kinda sketchy." said Mac
"Oh totally. Yeah, he was all sketchy when we told him about our private eye services. Tell me I am not the only one who noticed he was acting kinda strange just now." said Charlie
"I know right. Who does that." said Mac
"Dude, he's totally up to something. My PI instincts are on full alert." added Mac
"Oh definitively. Oh yeah man, its like he hears that we're a private detective and a lawyer, and suddenly he gets nervous and disappears into the back." said Charlie
"You thinking what I am thinking?" asked Mac
"Yeah, totally, we should go to the food court and get something to eat cause I am hungry. And then we'll discuss how to handle him and give him our business card." said Charlie
"No dude. No, I mean we should totally follow him." said Mac, as he noticed Jimmy nervously making his exit from a distance.
"Oh that. Yeah, I am with you man." said Charlie
"We should like do a citizen's pursuit." said Mac
"What, I don't think thats like a thing." said Charlie
"No, dude, totally. I've learned it in private detective school. Its like a cop can legally follow any suspicious person, but for private citizens." said Mac
"Oh yeah, I heard of that. I mean like theres this thing called a citizen's arrest, so this is like similar." said Charlie
"Yeah, exactly dude. Its like a PI pursuit." said Mac
"Well, no, I was thinking it be more like a law pursuit thingy." rebutted Charlie, "Dude, trust me, I know my lawyerings, I don't need to be corrected"
"Well, ok. We need to totally get him." said Mac, as they wasted time arguing, while Jimmy got a 2 minute head start
Jimmy quietly exits out the back door, ignoring the "fire exit, do not open door" sign. Luckily, no alarms actually went off as he slowly walked across the parking lot to avoid suspicion. Meanwhile, Mac and Charlie ran like manics running around the long way, until they see him from a distance.
"Dude, are you sure he's running away. Maybe he's like just going for lunch or something." said Charlie
"No dude, trust me on this." said Mac, as they quietly tail him and get into their car. At this point, Jimmy's car is parked near the top level. Due to his old age, since he can't run like he could in his younger days, Jimmy figured even the slow, aging elevator would get him there quicker. Mac and Charlie's space was two levels below Jimmy, and their running speed outpaced the elevator so they ran up the staircase. Eventually, Jimmy made into his car and took off as another car got behind him. The two cars passed Mac and Charlie, as Mac drove out and started the pursuit.
With the other car between Jimmy and them, the three cars slowly made their exit out the mall parking garage. Jimmy swiped his magnetic monthly parking pass card, doing his best not to fumble it and drop it out his car as his hand nervously shook. Mac and Charlie, still new to the system, struggled with the payment system.
"Dude, this machine just Jewed us out of $5." said Mac, realizing they overpaid from not knowing how to use the system.
"Dude, you can't say that." said Charlie
"What, Jew? Dude, thats what they call themselves. Hows that racist." said Mac, as he tailed Jimmy with two cars between them.
"Dude, you should like totally pass those cars up and be right behind him." said Charlie, as another car randomly squeezed between Jimmy and Mac's car
"No dude, trust me, I know what I am doing. You're supposed to have like two cars between your suspect, so they don't see you. I've learned this in PI school." rebutted Mac
"Ok, whatever. But I am telling you man, you can lose him if you don't ride right behind him." said Charlie
Jimmy looked at the car behind him, realizing its not Mac and/or Charlie. Then, suddenly, he remembered one of Mike's lessons about looking several cars down. Jimmy maneuvered his car slightly to the left and looked in his rear view mirror. Looking the car directly behind him, then one after that- no Mac or Charlie. Then the next car down, and there they were. Mac clearly tailgating him, with Charlie as his passenger. Jimmy plotted all the possible ways of losing them, with no avail. He made an exit off the highway, maneuvered though light traffic, and got back on a different highway. He tried this method on and off, creeping through off beat access roads, abandoned gentrified industrial zones, downtown areas; and back to zipping through major highways, making a full circle at one point. "These guys are experts." thought Jimmy, "No way am I outsmarting them, they must be thinking at least 10 steps ahead of me"
"Dude, I am thinking maybe this guy is lost or something." said Mac
"Dude, I am getting hungry. I am thinking we should stop by and grab something to eat. I am sure we can catch him later." said Charlie
"Well, ok, lets follow him for another 10 minutes and head back." said Mac, as they've been tailing Jimmy for nearly 30 minutes by now.
"I wonder whats his deal is." said Charlie "I mean I can understand why you would drive like this if you're being chased or something, but this guy clearly doesn't know we're right behind him. He's acting real odd."
"Dude, maybe he just went senile. I've heard about this." said Mac
"Well, in that case, I think we should keep tailing him. I mean clearly at this point he lost his mind. I think we should keep following him just for his own good. You know, keep an eye on him." said Charlie
"Exactly. We're doing a public service here." said Mac, as Jimmy realizes that he's running low on gas
"Oh shit man. My gas light just came on. I better just get back to my apartment and hope for the best. Maybe I can quietly notify my neighbors." thought Jimmy, as he made a sharp exit crossing four lanes of traffic, getting off the interstate, with Mac doing the same not far behind him.
Jimmy continued driving his normal route back to his apartment, adrenaline pumping as Mac and Charlie were behind him, as the other cars eventually drove elsewhere. "Jesus, these guys aren't even trying to hide that they're tailing me. They're letting me know they have me. Oh God oh God." thought Jimmy, as he approached the gate. Trying to hide his key entries, he put in the pin to open the gate. "Oh who am I kidding. They probably know the pin already. They already know where I live. These guys are profession killers. They might even have a guy waiting for me at my apartment." thought Jimmy
"Dude, I thought you said you need like a car or two between the suspect." asked Charlie
"No dude, he clearly doesn't know that we're tailing him. We need to get behind him so that we can see what the pin is to get through the gate." said Mac, as Jimmy entered and the gate closed behind him.
Jimmy zipped through the parking lot, and found a spot. He then nervously walked into his apartment, as he closed his eyes and step in. "Please don't have Mike's guys in here. Please don't there be a Mike's guy in here." prayed Jimmy
"Dude, whats like the pin. Did you see what he put in." asked Mac
"Dude, I think it was like an 7. No wait, it could like be a 4 or also an 8." said Charlie
"Ok, it was probably a 7, but the next number was definitively a 3." said Mac, as another car passed them up and put in the pin, while Mac tried making out his entry of the other car
"Dude, I don't think the pin is the same for everyone. " said Charlie
"Shut up, I know what I am doing." said Mac, as they continued arguing, then both looked at each other as they had the same thought.
Mac floored the gas, as they simply tailed the previous car before the gate closes. The gate started to close, but then stopped, and opened back up as their car activated the motion detector. Once inside the apartment complex, they drove around the parking lot in circles unable to find Jimmy until Charlie spotted Jimmy's car, and then the duo parked next to Jimmy's car and got out. They still had full daylight, as the sun just slowly began to set, as they looked around the large apartment complex.
Jimmy continued panicking even after he opened his eyes and no Mike's guys. He went into his closet and grabbed a wad of cash, whatever he could stuff on his clothing. "Shit, I can still make it out of here and drive off. What am I saying. I am low on gas, I am better off on foot." thought Jimmy as he peaked out the window, plotting his escape. Peeping out the window, he could clearly see Mac and Charlie, looking in his directing, pointing right at him. Jimmy could clearly see Mac saying "he's over there" reading Mac's lips. Jimmy then went towards the back picturing himself escaping from these professional contract killers out through the fire escape like he would do in video games, or a character in a movie. But alas, this isn't the movies or games, its real life. There is no fire escape in the back, looking out the window. Just a window AC unit halfway between me on the second floor and the ground. "I can still make that jump, and then the second jump from the AC unit to the group." thought Jimmy, as he looked out the other window seeing Mac and Charlie walking towards him.
"Dude man, he could be anywhere in any of these buildings. I think we should just call it a day." said Charlie, as he and Mac looked around for Jimmy, unable to locate him
"Well, ok, but at least lets check it out to make sure he didn't go senile and forgot which apartment is his." said Mac, pointing towards the three buildings he wants to go look around first. "I think he might be somewhere over there." Mac continued
"Well, ok, lets look around, but if he's not there, lets just go home." said Charlie
Realizing he has no choice, Jimmy opens the window and jumps onto the AC window unit. Surprisingly, he somehow managed to make the jump, almost losing his balance along the way. As he regained balance, Jimmy planned out his next jump towards the ground; then suddenly **snap**. The AC unit could not support Jimmy's weight and snapped, falling to the ground. Jimmy, along with the AC unit, landed on the ground at a slight angle, as he lurked forwards and face planted the ground.
**bang**
"You hear that, we got to check it out." said Mac intensely, as the duo walked over between two apartment buildings towards the noise. There, they saw the broken AC unit crashed on the ground and Jimmy lying down on the ground, unconscious.
"Dude!" said Mac