Taking a Dip

Jack woke up. Somehow he found himself at the construction site once again. It was that same construction site for that subway project near Chinatown.

Why he was there was the main question on his mind.

"Jack? Jack!" the sound of a man's voice grabbed Jack's attention. He and Shadow went right to the source.

Oddly enough, the trenches and the rest of the layout had widened a lot more than before. The voice continued to call out Jack's name as he and Shadow ran right for it.

BANG! BANG!

Gunshots were heard. The shots came from a distance. Jack ran right to the source. It was the entrance to the subway. Once again, he found his father's body laid out.

"Dad? Dad!" Jack yelled in attempt to get through to his father. But it was no use. He was gone.

"Don't do anything stupid, Slate." That same sentence went through Jack's mind. It was the one thing that had stuck with him since that night. Hennessey was the one who said it.

Out of nowhere, Jack found himself back at Iron Point Penitentiary. He walked around the halls and in each cell, there was another version of himself in there, saying things out loud.

"I should have listened to Hennessey," Jack 1 said.

"Why couldn't I have been there when Dad got shot? Why?" Jack 2 said in another said. "Why didn't I save him?"

Another version of Jack sat in a cell and looked down at the ground with a look of determination mixed with burning rage.

"I'm going to find whoever killed Dad and make them pay!" Jack 3 said.

"Hey, Slate." The voice of a prison guard grabbed Jack's attention. "You have a visitor."

The guards guided Jack to the visitor area. He went and sat in front of the window. Hildy was there to visit him.

"Jack, how are you doing? Are you safe?" Hildy said. "I'm praying for you, Jack. I know that things got bad before you got in but I want you to know that I still care about you. Stay strong, Jack."

Suddenly, Hildy changed to Chris.

"Shit has been getting bad, man," Chris said. "Hennessey's been badmouthing you for a while since you got locked up. He thinks you killed Blatz and acts like you're a fucking murderer, bro. Some of the people at the station are on that asshole's side. Can you believe that?"

"Chris, I don't know what to say," Jack said.

"I know we have killed criminals before, but it wasn't in cold blood," Chris said. "I hear you're getting the chair. Hang in there, man."

Suddenly, Chris turned into an older man with a balding hairline that had some gray in it, and had a mustache on his face. Jack looked at the man like he saw a ghost.

"Dad?" Jack said.

"Hello, Jack, I just wanted to tell you something," Frank said. "I know Hildy told you that I kept it in the dark about my case before I was killed."

"Dad, I wish I could have been there to save you," Jack said. "Who shot you?"

"That's not important right now," Frank said.

None of this felt real. Jack thought.

Frank continued to speak. "What's important is that you need to find a way to reach Gloria Exner. The election is coming up and she is in grave danger."

"Hold up, Dad, can you at least tell me who shot you?" Jack said.

Right before Jack's eyes, Frank's body started to fade a bit.

"I will tell you soon," Frank said. "Right now, I want you to go reach her. Finish what I started."

"Please, Dad, tell me who shot you!" Jack said.

"Soon," Frank said as he started to fade some more. "Soon…"

As soon as he faded away, Jack stood and stared at the empty chair in front of him.

"DAD!" Jack yelled.

It didn't take long until Jack's eyes opened a bit. He noticed the twins, Shadraka and Meeshaka restraining his feet against something. Shadraka was the one with the halfway zipped-up jacket that showed her top a bit, while Meeshaka was the one with the open jacket showing the crop she wore.

I woke up rested, despite some freaky dreams involving that night my dad dying, and him visiting me while I was in prison. Hildy and Chris came to visit me. Chris had told me some shit about Hennessey getting a lot of the precinct on his side about me. What did it all mean?

But what stood out was my dad visiting me, telling me about how I should finish what he started. Why didn't he tell me who shot him? What's crazy about all of this was that Eve was killed before my very eyes. I couldn't save her if I tried.

The last thing I heard before I was out was something about Fahook from one of those twins. What is his deal in all of this? Did he have something to do with Sanderville being killed? It only meant that there was more than I thought.

Suddenly, Jack saw that he was being hoisted and that he was now hanging upside down.

"Wake up, Mr. Slate." A deep voice drew Jack's attention a tad. This man had an accent, but Jack wasn't completely awake yet. "Nap-time is over."

Jack saw the man. He was muscular, had a man-bun, a snake-skin jacket that was open that bared his pectorals and abdominals, as well as a large tattoo that went from his chest down to his stomach.

Fahook Ubduhl was supposedly the prince of some oily country on the other side of the globe. Rumor has it he was involved in nearly every kind of crime that went down in Grant City – robbery, kidnapping, vice, you name it. But he kept himself private mostly, granting the occasional exclusive appearance only to those he felt were "worthy."

"I said wake up!" Fahook said and delivered a hard slap to Jack's face.

I guess I should feel honored. Jack thought.

"You are the subject of many troubled discussions these days, Mr. Slate," Fahook said.

Now that Jack was fully awake, all he could see was Fahook standing before him, as well as his twin bodyguards walking up and standing on both sides.

"What do you want, Fahook?" Jack said. "Where am I?"

"Not important," Fahook said. "Many great powers wish desperately to see you silenced, you know. Do you have any idea why?"

"I give up, why?" Jack said.

Fahook turned his head and started walking a bit. "You mean to suggest that through all of your snooping and violence, you still don't know what is happening here. I find that hard to believe."

"Hey, look, you think I'd be here if I had any answers?" Jack said.

"A man seeking vengeance rarely carries with him logic," Fahook said. "I will return in an hour. Please, do not die before we have a chance to speak again."

Fahook then approached Meeshaka and Shadraka and said something to them in Arabic.

["Make sure Slate is finished before I get back. I got some business to attend to right now."]

["We will, Fahook,"] Meeshaka said.

["This shouldn't take long,"] Shadraka said.

Jack hung upside down. All he could see were the twins, as well one man in a suit walk out, as well as Patch. The man in the suit was none other than Dutch. It turned out that Dutch was now working with Fahook. Sanderville didn't lie about how his two top men betrayed him. Jack knew Palmer was working as Hennessey's snitch, but Dutch was now going to the new player in town.

"Okay, what do you guys want from me?" Jack said.

No one said a thing. The only thing that answered his question was Shadraka pulling a lever, causing the crane that held Jack up to lower him into the water tank.

Jack was now underwater. The water was cold. His hands were restrained or he could have tried to swim up to float above the surface. It wasn't the case. All he did was hold his breath. After 30 seconds, the crane pulled him up out of the surface.

"You forgot the apples," Jack said. He took a deep breath after being pulled up.

Dutch walked up to Jack while he hung there.

"Jack Slate, we meet at last," Dutch said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jack said.

"The name's Dutch, you killed my boss tonight," Dutch said.

"Sanderville? Now you're just talking out of your ass," Jack said.

"You got a mouth on you," Dutch said. "I got to admire that. Too bad you won't live long enough to use it."

"Yeah, and your boss sent all he could at me, but you can't keep Jack Slate down," Jack said.

"Right, but I would have thought that you would have taken down the rest of Sanderville's men," Dutch said. "It appeared that only one man was not found at Sanderville Heights nor was he found at the manor."

"I don't know who or what you're talking about," Jack said.

"That doesn't matter, my little nuisance won't last long," Dutch said. "He doesn't have a lot of options anymore. But it's unfortunate that Sanderville didn't live long to have his nephew's death avenged."

"So you were the one who called in the hit on your boss," Jack said.

"Maybe, maybe not," Dutch said and looked towards the lever where Shadraka was standing, as well as Patch. He gave the two a signal.

Once again, the crane dropped Jack into the water tank. Dutch stood there. Patch went ahead and approached Dutch.

"This is brilliant, mate," Patch said.

"I knew you would like it," Dutch said.

"It's a shame that I couldn't kill Eve Adams myself, but one of the birds did the job for me," Patch said. "That bird wasn't worth my time anyway. But Slate being killed, it's something that I should have done, but the money you paid me for bringing him, it's worth it to watch him to die."

Meanwhile, Jack held his breath. The water was cold. He was held underwater for a little longer. It was almost for a minute. So much oxygen ran low, he was only in a white tank-top. The water temperature didn't help matters, either.

SPLASH!

Once again, Jack was lifted as a lot of water dripped into the water tank. Jack took a deep breath, coughed a bit, and looked a little dizzy.

"Now if you could just fill this with beer, we'll be in business," Jack said.

A smile grew on Patch's face. "You got quite a sense of humor, Mr. Slate."

The British accent caught Jack's attention.

"Patch, I'm surprised to find you here," Jack said.

"It's moments like this that I wish I had killed you that night, or last night when I had the chance," Patch said.

"What's stopping you from doing it now?" Jack said, and coughed again.

"Shooting you would be too easy," Patch said. "You deserve to die much slower."

"That didn't stop one of those two from killing Eve," Jack said looking towards the twins.

"Now that, I was a little disappointed, but Ms. Adams was not worth my time or energy," Patch said. "But you, you are a different story."

"Just know this, Patch, you and I have unfinished business," Jack said. "You could have killed me that night when you killed Augie Blatz. Who hired you to set me up?"

Jack noticed that Patch's lone eye shifted towards one of the twins and gave a slight nod.

"You will never know," Patch said.

SPLASH!

For the third time, Jack was dropped into the water. He held his breath. The time went a slightly longer this time around. It went for a minute, then extended by 10 seconds. The amount of oxygen had decreased because he needed to breathe, but being underwater made that impossible. If he so much as opened his mouth, the water would make its way into his system.

And also for the third time, he was raised and took a deeper breath before and coughed harder. The cold air made matters worse after being lifted from the water.

Jack coughed. "Thanks, but usually in this country we take showers."

Dutch and Patch smiled and chuckled in response. Although the twins had masks covering the lower half of their faces, they couldn't help but laugh. The same was said about the mercenaries that oversaw the torture take place. Whether they found what Jack said humorous or laughed at how defiant he was despite the possibility, if likelihood that he'll die from submersion in one of the next times he would be dunked underwater.

Suddenly, static was heard coming from an intercom nearby. It sounded like it was from a male Russian accented-voice.

"Meeshaka, Shadraka, Fahook requests your presence right now."

Meeshaka walked up to the intercom. "Where is he?"

"He needs your presence in one of the warehouses. It's where the special meeting is going down."

"We'll be right there," Shadraka said.

"What about Slate?" A mercenary asked Meeshaka.

"Give him a break for a bit," Meeshaka said. "My sister and I aren't done with him yet."

"I'm about to leave," Patch said. "I have to go meet with Gofer about fixing up Sanderville's murder, but first I need to speak to Fahook about the job he hired me to do soon."

"Come with us," Dutch said. The twins, along with the two men walked out of the room while Jack was left there hanging. Jack knew that they weren't done, but what was to stop any of the mercenaries from trying to drown him for real this time?

Inside a warehouse at Dock 765, Fahook stood before a group of women who knelt. Not like they were kneeling before him out of respect, but rather out of fear. They all had bruises on their faces, some even bled a bit. Hildy was at the end of the line and looked on in concern and fear for these women. Right next to her was her friend Dominique, who trembled a bit and looked like she had been crying a bit.

"Ladies, there is nothing to be worried about," Fahook said. "From this day forward, you will work for me. Whether it will be overseas or here in Grant City, you will all be paid for your services."

All Hildy could was remain calm in this situation. She was brought here against her will. One of the Volkoff brothers knocked her out with chloroform and as soon as she woke up, she tried to fight back, but was threatened into being taken to this meeting. The question on her mind was why Ruby was involved as well. Was she on the bad guys' side, too?

"I don't want to do this, I have kids!" one woman said.

"Then don't," Fahook said.

Shadraka stood behind the woman, drew a pistol, and BANG! The woman dropped as soon as she was shot in the back of her head. All of the women jumped from the gunshot, but all Hildy could do was look on at the woman's lifeless body being dragged by Dimitri and Shadraka as blood and brain matter smeared on the floor.

Hildy also saw that Dominique looked down at everything. She wanted to help her friend, but after seeing that woman get shot, she knew that Fahook and the twins weren't messing around.

Hildy looked up and saw one man give all of the women a rather unsettling smile. It was the type of grin that would make any person, be it man or woman, uncomfortable. It was Boris. Hildy knew that this man was a pervert, but to what extent was what she wondered.

Dominique didn't look up. She knelt there. She was fragile. It made Hildy wonder if someone had assaulted her friend in some way. She only suspected that there was one form of assault that they did to her. Hildy saw how Boris looked at her, and then at Dominique with the same creepy grin. Dominique looked up, a tear had run down her left eye and shook her head at the man.

"No, please," Dominique said. Her voice cracked. "Not again."

Hildy knew what she meant. It confirmed her intuition all right.

"Boris, this is not the time," Fahook said. "This is business, and you shouldn't be doing that to the ladies, either."

"Okay, Fahook," Boris said.

"Dimitri, keep an eye on your brother," Fahook said.

"Yes, boss," Dimitri said. "How about we go check on our other problem?"

"Not the time, the twins gave him a break," Fahook said. "They will go and take care of him in a bit."

"Sir, I have more of a reason to kill Slate," Dimitri said while Boris stood there with him. "In fact, we both do."

Hildy quickly looked up when she heard Dimitri utter the name, "Slate."

Jack's here? Hildy thought.

"That man killed our brother," Dimitri said.

"I did not forget, and some former associates of yours took our shipment!" Fahook said. "Besides, our problem with Slate should go away soon."

Fahook saw the twins. ["Ladies, you two should go check on Slate right now. Finish him off."]

["Right away,"] Shadraka said.

["We'll take care of him,"] Meeshaka said.

The twins walked away. Fahook told the two brothers that they should come along if they wish to see Jack drown before their very eyes. Fahook shot Boris a death stare because he knew that he couldn't be trusted around the women. The Volkoff brothers had no choice but to comply, especially if Dimitri had to keep an eye on Boris.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Everyone in the warehouse, from the kidnapped ladies, to Fahook, to Dutch, and also as the twins and the Volkoff brothers walked off, the gunshots caught everyone's attention.

"It came from over there," Meeshaka said. All four of them ran towards the area. It was close to the water tank.

Inside the warehouse, Fahook got out and told Dutch to keep an eye on the ladies. Hildy knelt there as Dutch stood there with some of Fahook's mercenaries.

Hildy turned towards Dominique and whispered, "Dominique, are you okay?"

Dominique took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Did that guy…well, you know?" Hildy said.

Dominique didn't want to answer, but all she could say was, "He touched me in different places."

"He didn't, man, I can't say it," Hildy said.

"No, he didn't go that far, but I saw that he wanted to," Dominique said.

"Listen, I'm going to find a way for us to get out of here," Hildy said. "You have to trust me on this. I want to get the other women out of here."

"How will you do that?" Dominique said.

"I will think of something," Hildy said.

Shit, I'm all out of ideas. Hildy thought.

Back inside the room with the water tank, Jack hung there and saw all of the mercenaries there.

"Hey, do you do everything your boss tells you to?" Jack said. "Let me down and we can talk this out."

Some of the mercenaries laughed at Jack's comment.

"I don't know why those two girls just decided to leave me hanging like this," Jack said. "I would have thought that one of you would have dipped me one more time, get it over with."

"What an idiot," a mercenary said.

"I'm just telling it like it is," Jack said.

Another mercenary said, "I have a better idea."

The mercenaries drew their AK-47s and pointed them right towards Jack, while he still hung upside down over the water tank.

Oh shit, I'm fucked. Jack thought. He closed his eyes and was ready to seal his own fate.

Several gunshots went off. A few more went off. Jack opened his eyes and saw the mercenaries laid out in a bloody mess right before him. He looked up and saw a familiar dog crawling.

"Shadow!" Jack said.

But that wasn't all, as he saw a woman in a red jacket walk in, except it was open revealing a black shirt and wore black pants. The red hair made him even more confused.

Fuck me, am I seeing a ghost? Jack thought. "Eve?"