Finishing what was Started

An hour had passed. Jack replayed the messages from that tape that Eve had provided more than once. All that was on his mind was that message from Ruby to the late John Sanderville. However, earlier that evening he had been told by Gloria Exner about the budgetary issues with the subway's constructions. But Hildy had told him that Exner had something against Mayor Pinnacle and funding the Grant City Anti-Crime Unit, who enforced martial law and used excessive force in their methods.

But what troubled Jack more was that Ruby was getting in too deep with some really bad people. Although Ruby was Jack's criminal informant during his days as a cop, the two got close and had a relationship. Their relationship was mainly based on sex, but there was some more to it than just that. When Jack spent the night with Hildy, she had mentioned that Ruby had helped her escape a bit. Something told Jack that there was something off about it. Whether it was the right thing to do, she had said something about taking something from Fahook Ubduhl to deliver to Sanderville. Fahook was one person you would not want to cross.

I was at a loss. As much as I wanted to get to the bottom of the case involving my dad's murder and to figure out what he was looking for that night, the thing with Ruby caught my attention much more. When Hildy told me about her freeing her and other women from Fahook's operation, what was her endgame in all of this? How did she get involved with these types of criminals?

I will deal with her soon, but the first thing I had to do was talking to Gloria Exner. I hope she made it out to the cabin safely.

The phone that Jack had been using was within reach as he had dialed the number to call Exner.

"Hello, Ms. Exner, this is Jack Slate. Listen, did you make it out there safely? Good, good, I need to talk to you soon, but I can't do this over the phone. Where are you staying? Okay, I will be there in the morning."

Jack had gone to get some sleep, as did Shadow. This whole case was far from finished, but if Jack felt that there was more than met the eye, with his most recent ex-girlfriend involved, then it shouldn't be too long until he would close this case.

It was now morning. Jack went to take a shower and then put on some clothes and put on a hat and sunglasses and signaled to Shadow to join him. They went down the elevator into the parking garage and took off in the car that Jack had been using. They were about to take a little trip to the outskirts of Grant City, Cold Rock Creek. At least this cabin was miles away from Dock 765, the place where Jack had been to twice this week.

It had been more than a half hour. Jack, along with Shadow, rolled up to a cabin that was in the middle of nowhere. At least this was far from where any criminals or assassins out to kill Gloria Exner would be, or at least would try to find her. Exner had given Jack a number to the cabin she was staying in. He and Shadow got out of the car and walked up to the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Who is it?" a female voice said.

"It's Jack Slate."

"Okay, come on in."

The doorknob turned. In walked Jack and Shadow. "Hello, Ms. Exner?" Jack said.

"I am in here," Exner said.

Exner walked out from the kitchen area. She wore pajamas.

"You made a stop at your house?" Jack said.

"No, I bought some clothes at a second-hand store that was close to here," Exner said. "I didn't have time to go back to my house. Remember, I could have been killed last night."

"I know," Jack said.

"Anyway, you said you needed to talk to me," Exner said. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's sit down first," Jack said.

The two went to a table. Shadow followed them. Jack had packed some doggy treats along and gave one to Shadow to eat and told him to go sit somewhere. Shadow obeyed his master's orders.

"Okay, Ms. Exner, I'm going to lay it down for you and I want you to tell me what had been going on," Jack said. "You told me that there had some budgetary problems with the subway's construction, but something told me that there was more to it than that."

"What are you talking about?" Exner said.

"This old friend of mine, she was working for my dad at the time of his death. She had told me that you had something against the Grant City Anti-Crime Unit, and that you wanted my dad to see if the funds, whether they were for GAC or the subway, were being misappropriated and misused. The thing was, my friend told me that my dad kept her out of this whole case he had been working on. In fact, I was there the night he was killed. Whether I could have saved him or not, that's on me to find out, but what have you heard? I know that the subway had been built in Chinatown in the time I was in jail."

"Oh, yes, I do remember now," Exner said. "Okay, regarding the subway, at least the subway system that I had Frank scope out, there had been issues with the city's budget. But oddly enough, Pinnacle had some other financial sources to help fund that whole project, but there was something fishy about the operation. Being that Pinnacle's family is one of the wealthier and more powerful families in Grant City."

"Like the Temple family," Jack said.

"Yes, but this isn't about the Temple family," Exner said. "Anyway, like I was saying, I had heard something strange about the secret funds to the subway project, as well as GAC, whose methods I don't agree with. But Pinnacle, something tells me that there was something he had on the side."

"The mayor has his own construction company and owns a hotel," Jack said.

"I know, which is why this whole thing was fishy," Exner said.

"Why didn't you turn to the feds for this? Why my father?" Jack said.

"I don't trust a lot of the authority in this city," Exner said. "This city is corrupt as it is, with so much crime everywhere, it makes me wonder if someone has the Grant City Police Department in their pockets. Shit, I had heard Pinnacle has a hand in the crime element in the city. As for your father, I know that Frank was unfairly misjudged, which was why I never believed that he murdered someone. He was one of the few honest cops this city had left and I figured that he could get the information I needed to show what Pinnacle had been up to."

"Now that you mention it, when I helped out my father that night, Shadow found something I never would have expected," Jack said. "He found some gold in one of the caves."

"Gold?" Exner said.

"Yeah, gold, it's hard for me to believe," Jack said. "In fact, I wonder if that has anything to do with all this shit that's been going on. A few nights ago, I went over to the Sanderville Heights and it turned out that there was some gold for him."

"Sanderville? As in John Sanderville?" Exner said.

"The same, but the man is dead now," Jack said. "I couldn't tell you what the deal with that gold was, but it seems that there are some other honest politicians in the city. Recently I had Senator James Copeland call and warn me about any danger coming my way. I don't know how he knew that I was there, but it seems he might know more about all of this bullshit that's been going on."

"Maybe you should talk to him but now that I think about it, I wonder who wants me dead so badly," Exner said.

"That is one thing that I need to figure out as well," Jack said.

"What if you don't find out? Am I supposed to be on the run forever?" Exner said. "I'm scared, Jack."

"I'm going to find out sooner or later," Jack said. "If Senator Copeland is more than willing to help me out, he must know a lot about all of the corruption here in Grant City. There must be something that's keeping this city on lock. I will see what I can find."

"Be careful, Jack, you're still a wanted criminal out there," Exner said.

"Don't worry about me, I'll call if I find something," Jack said. Jack whistled for Shadow, who then started following Jack out the door of the cabin.

Once outside, Jack opened one of the doors to let Shadow into the car. Jack then got into the driver's set, sat there and looked down at the steering wheel.

Could Pinnacle have had anything to do with the attempt on Exner's life? Could Pinnacle have had anything to with Dad's murder? So many questions on my mind. I must find a way to get to Mayor Pinnacle soon, but first I need to find Ruby. The fact that she's gotten mixed up with some really bad, it won't be long until she reaches the end of her usefulness.

I need to make an important call first, though.

Jack drove to a payphone in front of a general store. He left Shadow in the car and had some change on him and slid a couple of quarters into the slot of the phone and then punched in the number.

"This is Officer Jones." The voice said on the other line.

"Chris, this is Jack. Listen up, I got so much shit on my plate, I'm going to need your help.

At the police station, Chris sat at his desk and looked around to ensure no one was listening or looking.

"Okay, Jack, what's going on?" Chris said.

"I need you to look for Ruby, find out where she lives or where she could be," Jack said.

"Jack, as your friend, I need to tell you this, you need to move on," Chris said.

"This is not about our old relationship or anything like that," Jack said. "I think she's in deep shit. Someone gave me some evidence that she's been getting involved with some really bad people and I think she's in over her head."

When Chris heard his friend say that, a look of concern rose on his face. The sound of Jack's voice sounded determined mixed with concern. Not because Jack wanted Ruby back, but more that she will likely be killed unless Jack finds her. That message on Sanderville's answering machine was evident that might have been trying to screw over Fahook Ubduhl, which would mean she was as good as dead if Jack doesn't find her. Could her freeing Hildy that night have been a factor in screwing over Fahook? Jack knew that those two didn't like each other. Maybe Jack needed to check with Hildy again to see how it went down.

"I see," Chris said. "Okay, I will see what I could do. I will try to track her down."

"Okay, keep me posted, let me know by tonight," Jack said.

"Will do," Chris said. He hung up. However, a few behind him, Michelle looked at her partner with a look of suspicion on her face.

There was not a lot of time left. Jack could only think of a few places to find Ruby. But he knew he would need some help on this. There was another person he had to call. He punched in the number on the payphone.

"Hey, Eve, listen, what are you doing tonight?"