Justice or Revenge?
The time was now. Jack was ready to get answers from Augie Blatz, the man who Jack suspected ordered his father's murder. Jack knew about his father's issues with Blatz, but what could be the reason to murder Frank? Jack was about to find out.
It had been hours since he went to HQ to talk with Hennessey about going back to work. It was not like Jack was suspended, but rather on leave because of Frank's death and needed time to grieve, even though he went through some problems of his own in that time. It was an autumn evening in the middle of October. Frank's murder occurred on September 21st. That night will forever be ingrained in Jack's mind.
Jack sat in his apartment. Shadow sat close to him. Jack had fed Shadow as he needed his second and final meal of the day. Jack had the TV on as a news program was on. He had a couple of pistols in front of him, as well as magazines in case he needed to reload. He wasn't sure if he was going to go in shooting, but in his case, you never know. He had on a pair of slacks and a blue long-sleeved button-down shirt. If he was going to a club, he would need to blend in somehow. He just won't wear the shirt tucked in. He even looked at his badge, even though he was going off the books here and doing things on his own. But he needed it if he was going to verify that he was a cop.
"In other news today, mayoral candidate Gloria Exner announced that if she wins the upcoming election, she plans to lower a lot of the corruption in Grant City," said Kip Waterman, the news anchor on the TV. "Grant City's current mayor, William Pinnacle had this to say."
On the TV, a rather stocky man with a pinstripe suit and black hair and a handlebar mustache appeared. It was the mayor himself.
"Citizens of Grant City, I am well aware that there is a major crime problem on our hands," Pinnacle said. "But at the moment we are doing everything we could about it. Currently, Grant City's Anti-Crime unit has been making progress in helping bring down the crime element."
"Bullshit," Jack said to himself. It wasn't long until the mayoral candidate appeared on TV, as it displayed a woman with sandy blonde hair and wore a gray suit.
"I've been witnessing a surge in crimes lately," Gloria said. "More innocent people are getting murdered. Drugs and illegal arms getting trafficked on the streets, and I don't doubt that some people are being trafficked themselves. Something needs to be done soon."
Jack realized that this woman was the one whom his father was doing a job for. Frank was a private investigator and because he was working for the mayoral candidate, there had to be something big enough that a political candidate enlisted his services for this. But what was it? Could it be linked to the murder? He was determined to figure it out.
Pinnacle said that the GAC unit has been doing their part in bringing down crime? That's the biggest load of shit I've heard. Jack thought. Grant City Anti-Crime tries to be a new breed of SWAT, but from I've seen they use excessive force. As for Gloria Exner, she must know something, but first things first.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Jack looked up. Someone was at the door. He got up and gripped a pistol just in case.
"Who is it?" Jack said.
"It's Hildy."
For the second time this week, Hildy decided to come by and check on him. Nevertheless, Jack opened the door for her to walk in. It was evening, so it could probably be just a quick visit before she took off to work her bit at The Den of Iniquity.
"You should have called first," Jack said as he let her in. She was wearing a coat with a black turtleneck crop top and pair of dark jeans.
"I was just in the neighborhood and being that you had been, well, you know, I just thought I'd drop in before I head to work," Hildy said.
"At that strip club?" Jack said with a touch of derision.
"Come on, the money's good," Hildy said. "Besides, I make a lot of money in tips and the checks. I just came by to see how you're doing."
"I'm doing better now, thanks," Jack said. "After I went to a biker bar and got jumped, I realized that I needed to move forward. I could have gotten killed if Chris didn't come in and save my ass."
"How lucky you were that your partner and best friend came in," Hildy said. "I know it's been hard to deal with your dad's death, but those bikers could have killed you. Shit, Jack, you took off to a fucking biker bar! You know damn well that cops are not welcome at those places."
Jack sat there and said nothing. Hildy stated the obvious, but it wasn't hard for her to see that that was the point after all.
"Well, the good news is that I'm going back to work," Jack said. "I can't let this shit bother me."
"That's good," Hildy said. "After your behavior the other night, I got really worried about you."
Jack looked up at her dead in the eye. While he was appreciative that she checked in on him, as well as the fact that he was no longer grieving in dangerous ways, he was still determined to get some answers soon, really soon.
"Tell me something, Hildy, since Augie runs the Den of Iniquity and the Flaming Mamba Lounge, where would I find him?" Jack said.
Hildy shot him a look of fear and concern, like she knew what he was about to do.
"You can't be serious," Hildy said.
"I have to know if he had something to do with my father getting shot that night," Jack said.
"I understand your motivation, Jack, but this is crazy," Hildy said. "I know that you were still mourning your father's death when you went to that biker bar, but Augie has bodyguards all around."
"I have my ways," Jack said. "I'll manage to get by them."
Unease flowed through Hildy's veins in that moment. She would be rather supportive in Jack's choice in the matter, but the fact that he was going against a crime boss in Grant City was something really steep.
Hildy sighed. "Okay, Jack, I just hope you're careful with this. The thing I will tell you is that Augie has his own office just up above both of the clubs. The Flaming Mamba Lounge and the Den of Iniquity are connected because he owns both places, but your best bet would probably be the Flaming Mamba Lounge."
"I know," Jack said. "Just one more thing, Hildy."
"What's that?" Hildy said.
"If I don't make it, I would like for you to give Shadow a good home, if that's okay," Jack said. "Otherwise I can always check with Chris to see if he could do it."
"I wouldn't mind that," Hildy said.
"Thanks," Jack said and packed his pistols in a black jacket that he would wear over his shirt. Hildy still looked at him like she was unsure about all of this, but nonetheless, she leaned in and gave him a hug, and also told him to be careful. It wasn't long until she left the apartment.
Jack turned and looked towards Shadow. He looked at the dog dead in the eye. Normally he would need Shadow's help on this, but he couldn't bring Shadow inside of a nightclub. However, if anything else were to go down, he would always need his trusty pet and attack dog along with him.
"Come on, boy," Jack said. Shadow barked and followed him out the door.
It was a busy night in Downtown Grant City. The nightlife was booming with the bars and clubs packed with a lot of clientele getting their drink on and getting down, maybe also in the hopes of bringing home someone they meet. Right now, my mind was only on getting Blatz to talk. I know it wouldn't be a smart mood to carry my guns into the club, but I could try getting in through another area to blend in. But right now, all that mattered was trying to get in.
Jack had sat in his parked car with Shadow in the backseat. He looked around and saw a long line of people outside the Flaming Mamba Lounge, which was just across the way from the Den of Iniquity. This would be the first place to check out, and maybe the Den of Iniquity if Blatz was not at the dance club. The only other option would be the Blue Fly Club, which was only a few blocks away from there.
Jack told Shadow to sit tight and that he'll be back. He had to search for an alleyway to see about getting in through another way. He found one just to the right with an open gate. It was time to get some answers. Jack got out of the car. He had his pistols holstered so he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention and didn't want to put any patrons in harms way if he didn't have to. Plus, he was a policeman, so it was his duty to make sure any patrons just have a good time and not get hurt. He reached the open gateway, looked to his left to ensure the bouncers didn't spot someone trying to sneak in.
A long alleyway was right in his line of sight. All Jack could do was go down the way and hide if he saw any bouncers or even any of Augie's fellow soldiers just having a smoke and/or hanging out in the cool autumn weather in the evening. Whenever Jack spotted a bouncer, he quickly went up and grabbed him in a sleeper hold just to knock him out. It wasn't long until he found an open door through the back. He looked around and saw some other bouncers just hanging out, even with some of what appeared to be Augie Blatz's bodyguards as they were wearing suits and other professional clothing, like long-sleeved shirts with ties or without ties but also wore slacks.
In the dark hallway, Jack saw a light at the end. In fact, there were multiple lights, ranging from green to hot pink to red to blue. In fact, the door led to a hallway that was near the entrance of the nightclub. There were green lights shining on the walls and going upwards near a flight of stairs where the VIP section was and then in the opposite side with red lights on the other wall. Jack walked around while "Believer" from BT blared over the speakers. He finally made his way onto the checkered dance floor with lots of people dancing, as well as people hanging out by the bar.
"Hi there, handsome," an attractive Asian-American woman said as she stood close to Jack, who looked up right at her. "Want to dance?"
"Not right now," Jack said as loud as he could with the music blaring all over the club and the red and blue lights glaring over the clientele.
Jack continued to struggle to move through the crowd until he saw what looked like an elevator that had a sign that read, "DO NOT ENTER: STAFF ONLY."
Has to be it. Jack thought. Even with all of the patrons getting down on the dance floor, whether it's drinking, taking some Ecstasy, or even just dancing, Jack managed to make to some steps that led to the elevator. He didn't care. He just went right for it and pushed the button to go up.
From a distance, a bouncer looked on the other end of the club whether the elevator was, shoot a look that made him wonder if someone was using the elevator. He quickly got out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.
"Everyone, upstairs, we have a trespasser going up there," the bouncer said. "Make sure you deal with the problem."
"Roger that, copy," a voice said in the speaker.
DING! Jack reached the third floor. A hallway was seen with lights glaring on the walls and arched doorways. Jack was going to be very quiet about this. Some bodyguards were seen hanging out in what looked like the lounge area with a coffee table and a couch. Jack hid behind the wall. The number of guys was three. Out of the door walked two familiar faces. In fact, they were the Volkoff brothers, Boris and Dimitri.
What the hell are those guys doing with someone like Blatz? Jack thought. The brothers were known for importing knock-off clothing, as well as being bodyguards. Of course, Jack busted Dimitri for something unrelated to knock-off clothing.
"Hey, have you seen anybody around here?" Dimitri said.
"No, why?" one of the soldiers said.
Boris added, "One guy downstairs said that he saw someone come up here. We got to check it out."
Shit. Jack thought. Jack looked ahead and saw that they weren't drawing weapons or anything like that. But Jack remembered that he was heated as well. The moment anybody even tries to get close, maybe it would be a good idea to make a move.
The Volkoff brothers walked with the bodyguards to search for the intruder.
"Intruder, come on out," Boris said. "We promise we will not hurt you and take you back down to the club."
Jack kept quiet. At least they are generous enough to just take an intruder back down to the club. For all they know, I'm just a drunk patron who came across the elevator and went the wrong way.
He kept his back against the wall near a corner. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pistol. It took maybe a few seconds until the left side of his peripherals saw a shadow and then a bit of face. Jack acted fast and drew his handgun and pointed to the side of his head.
"Freeze, asshole," Jack said.
Behind the man, the others went to a stop. Knowing that they were going to react and that he was outnumbered and were likely to kill him on the spot, Jack quickly grabbed the bodyguard, wrapped his left arm around the man's neck and pulled his body against his and pointed the pistol to the right side of his head.
"Fuck, it's Slate!" Dimitri said.
"Shit, it's that fucking cop!" Boris said.
The Volkoff brothers drew their weapons, as did the other two bodyguards.
"You guys come any closer, I will blow this guy's head open," Jack said. "Where the fuck is Augie?"
"What the fuck do you want, Slate?" Boris said.
"Answers, I want to speak to Augie now," Jack said and pressed the barrel against the man's head, finger on the trigger ready to pull it.
Some of the other bodyguards had their weapons drawn ranging from pistols to shotguns, pointed right at Jack, as if they could try to get a shot at him. But Jack was too smart as he moved the man's body around. Even then, the ones wielding shotguns don't have the right weapons as even if they would so much get a shot, some of the buckshot would land on their cohort.
"I promise you, I will fucking kill him unless you tell me where Augie is," Jack said.
"You won't do shit," Boris said.
"What makes you think that I won't?" Jack said.
"You're a cop, Slate, and don't cops follow rules?" Boris said.
Dimitri, being the more level-headed one than the others in the moment, decided to speak up.
"Everyone, please calm down," Dimitri said. "I'm not going back to jail and I damn sure won't take part in killing this cop. So please, let him pass."
Boris looked to his brother with an annoyed expression. "Dimitri, why are you doing this? He arrested you, remember?"
"Exactly, Boris, I don't want to go back to jail," Dimitri said. "He said he wants to speak to the boss, so please, just let him do it."
Boris sighed and turned to look at Jack in the eye. "You win this round, Slate. You took my woman, you kicked my ass, and you threatened to arrest me. I will get you one day."
"Ruby's got nothing to do with this," Jack said. "I assure you that I just want to speak to Augie. That's it, nothing more."
Boris started to chuckle. "If only you knew what Ruby does sometimes."
"What?" Jack said. "Never mind."
Jack, not trusting that those guys will start opening fire the moment he lets the guy go, continued to hold the man in a human-shield position and at gunpoint. He walked backwards towards the door continuing to look directly at them. However, the one thing on Jack's mind was what Boris just said about Ruby. What did he mean? Now was not the time to get to that. It was time to talk to Augie. As soon as Jack saw the doorknob, he quickly let the man go as he shoved him away and quickly grabbed the knob and quickly went inside the room.
Inside a large office were three men at a table playing poker. Two men close by, whether they were playing the game or just standing guard, that wasn't important. The one person dead in the center, wearing eyeglasses, a brown leather jacket, and a red button-down shirt with brown shoulder-length hair was the one man Jack came to see. It was Augie Blatz himself. The office was dimly lit, with a desk in the back of the room, a ceiling fan above the table, and some paintings on the wall.
"Well, hello, Officer Slate," Augie said. "What brings you out on a night like tonight? So you're the intruder that one of my guys downstairs told us about. You want to join us, a hundred dollar ante, or is that too rich for a cop's salary?"
Augie and some of the other guys around started laughing at that comment. Jack was unfazed by the comment. He smirked a bit. Rather than be angry, he was just calm about this, knowing that this guy was messing with him as if he tried anything, the guys in this room or in the hallway nearby would mess him up or worse.
"It's real simple, Blatz, you lie, you die," Jack said. "There is one thing that I want to know, though. I want to know why your boys knocked off my father a few weeks ago. I have a feeling you had something to do with it."
"Whoa, whoa, hey, I know your old man's dead, but come on," Augie said. "I'm not going to lie that I was shocked to hear your old man dying a few weeks ago."
"Shocked, my ass, I know you had something to do with it," Jack said.
"You really think I would have my boys follow your father and try to kill him like that," Augie said. "I know your old man and I had our battles, but give me a fucking break. You think I'm going to waste my fucking time on a private detective?"
Augie stood up and scoffed at everything that just happened.
"How the hell did you get past my security?" Augie said. "None of that shit matters. Take him out, boys!"
Augie took off running towards a door in the back of the room. Without any hesitation, the other bodyguards in the room quickly drew weapons. A couple of them even had shotguns. Jack wasted no time in jumping near a coffee table and a couch as he ducked in front of the sofa for cover. The other men quickly opened fire.
Think fast, Jack. He heard one of the guys fire his shotgun. It blew off a few pieces from the top of the couch. What was even worse was that buckshot was to his right. Could he have been hit? He was not about to find out. He got lower and crawled out into the surface. He pointed the pistol towards the shotgun-wielding guy, who happened to be wearing a ballistics vest on the outside for some reason.
BANG! The man with the vest howled in pain, as he got shot in the leg. Jack knew that he was in a "do or die" situation and also a "kill or be killed" situation. Jack went forth and fired a slug right into that man's dome. Another had a pistol and quickly dropped as Jack pumped four shots into the man's chest from both of his pistols, with blood splattering out from the chest and back. The blood continued to drip as the body lied on the floor. The same could be said as the man who took the slug to the head.
The final two, however, were wielding Kalashnikovs. Jack knew that if he left himself wide open, he would be down if they let out at five shots to him with those being automatic rifles. Jack was open enough as he hid under the poker table. Sure, it could be as simple one of them either ducking down and opening fire, or even firing through the table and the bullets going through.
Nonetheless, Jack quickly jumped up, knocking over the table with all of the cards and poker chips falling and scattering all over the place. He jumped and dove, with one pistol pointing at one guy and the other pistol pointing at the other guy.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Jack kept firing and firing letting out any bullets on the two men. It didn't matter where they landed, just as long as they hit the men. There weren't a lot of options for cover in such a small space. Blood spilled out from any of the areas where the bullets landed. Both men fell to the ground. Jack quickly picked up one of the assault rifles and also the shotgun. Both weapons had straps, in case he wanted to switch them. Right at the corner in the back was the door where Augie made his escape. Jack went and opened it and found a stairwell that went upstairs and downstairs.
You can run but you can't hide, Augie. I will find you. Jack thought and went out the door. Not long after gunfire ceased, the others from the hallway went inside and found the corpses of their fallen comrades.
"Shit, did Slate do this?" Boris said.
"That cop doesn't mess around, brother," Dimitri said.
The other guys came in and saw the mess and then saw the barely closed door.
"That cop must have gotten out of there," one of the bodyguards said. "The boss isn't here, though.
"Let's go after him," Boris said. "Come on, boys."
Jack had finally made his way outside. He was in an alleyway, the same alleyway where he had to sneak into the club through. At the very end, Augie stood there, probably awaiting his fellow bodyguards in case they got the job done. But he was wrong. Augie saw Jack, as he had a look of relentlessness on his face ready to finally get to the bottom of everything.
"Oh, fuck me," Augie said and pulled out a pistol and started to open fire, causing Jack to duck as the shots missed him.
"Fuck this shit," Augie said and took off running. Jack wasted no time and started running after him. His car was parked nearby and clicked the doors unlocked and quickly got Shadow out.
"Come on, boy, let's go," Jack said.
Jack and Shadow continued to run as Augie was in their line of sight. Augie was far from them, but not far enough that Jack and Shadow couldn't see him. As Augie ran, he saw some other guys of his on the street, probably out walking for a break or to patrol areas of any questionable activity.
"Help, someone get this crazy fucking cop off my ass!" Augie said.
The nightlife was crazy in this part of town. There were so many people out just having a good time. But not in these parts, as they reached a darker area, probably close to Chinatown. Any other soldier that was around was ready to be on the lookout for anybody running quickly had weapons drawn. Knowing that he was still an officer of the law, Jack let out a shot to a man's leg and arm, causing him to drop to the ground close to an alley.
Some mobsters were smarter than to try to kill someone in public like this. Augie ran through an alley with more mobsters strapped, ready to shoot to kill. In fact there were two men ready to kill Jack if he got any closer to their boss. One guy held a shotgun and cocked it, ready to open fire and ducked behind a dumpster, while the other guy hid behind a trash gun wielding a Mac-10. As Jack and Shadow got closer, both soldiers popped up ready to fire their weapons.
Shadow quickly emerged and pounced on the shotgun-wielding gangster and got him down to the ground and started biting him in various areas of the man's anatomy, causing to scream in pain.
"AAAAAHHHH! MY FUCKING BALLS!" the man screamed.
Before the man with the SMG could try to fire at Shadow, Jack put away his weapon and slowly moved in a sneaking motion. He looked to Shadow and shook his head to him, to which Shadow complied. Jack quickly went to the man's side and rushed him, grabbing him from behind, punching him and elbowing him a couple of times and moving right in front of him and grabbing him by the neck, delivering a stunner move of some sort, taking the man down.
I could try to kill these guys, but I'm a cop, and I have my own agenda to worry about. Jack thought.
Both Jack and Shadow looked up and at the end of the tunnel, more lights were to be seen. They both ran to the very end. One thing that caught Jack's attention was the Bay Bell Tower, one of Grant City's prime hotels in the city. Blatz had a penthouse suite. It was time to end this.
The two ran as fast as they could to get to the entrance of the hotel, which had some posters on the windows of "Vote Gloria Exner for Mayor 2002," even though the election was not until the following year. They entered the hotel lobby as soon as they could, with all of its bright gold and yellow layout near the front desk and immediately went to the farthest elevator on the left side of the corridor, with that one likely reaching the top floors of the hotel. They quickly got in and went up.
They reached the top floor, where the suite was. They went down a hallway and found a door that with a sign saying "PRIVATE PROPERTY" on it. It had to be the place. Jack reached for the doorknob and opened the door. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't locked. It didn't matter, Jack had Augie right where he wanted him. The room was dark with windows overlooking the city, artwork on the walls, and a piano.
"End of the line, Augie," Jack said. "Why don't you do us both a favor and go for your gun?"
Jack slowly went into the room and found something that he didn't expect to see: Augie Blatz tied and gagged to a chair.
"What the hell?" Jack said.
BANG! A gunshot was heard, let out, and hit Jack in the back. The question was who made the shot.
From behind, a flamboyant-looking man with a purple dye-job on his hair, an eye-patch covering his right eye, a purple jacket, and of course, holding a golden Ruger Mark IV caliber pistol stood there and watched as Jack fell from the shot. The man was an assassin known as Patch.
"You're welcome to fall at anytime," Patch said with a British accent.
Jack dropped face down, still with the pistol in hand. Patch walked up and kicked Jack's body onto his back and then delivered a swift kick to his side. Patch reached for Jack's pistol and grabbed it.
"Why thank you," Patch said. "You make the creative process so much easier for me."
Patch walked up in front of Augie, who was squirming and trying to scream for help even through his gag. Patch, however, fired a round into the man's forehead, finally doing Blatz in. The blood splattered all over the couch and the carpet, and also some got on the wall behind him.
Patch turned towards Jack. "Good shot, officer. Well I'm amazed that Mr. Blatz was able to squeeze off a round in self-defense."
Patch went and picked up Augie's gun that was on the floor and put the gun in his hand. He also found a rag to wipe the grip of Jack's pistol and put the pistol back in Jack's hand. Though the shot wasn't fatal, Jack was a bit disoriented, especially from the shot he took in the back.
"Your sketch is complete," Patch said as he got out a cellphone to make a call. "You are certain the second subject is to be of still life. What have you like, it's your gallery. I'm just the artist."
Jack lied there, still disoriented, listening to what this flamboyant assassin was saying. He looked at this profession as art. Whatever the case was, he must know something.
For some reason, Patch squatted before Jack as he still lied there.
"Just relax, officer. Hopefully the ambulance will arrive in time. Unfortunately, they'll be bringing in many, many more cops, but what can I say? You probably don't realize how much skill it took not to paint the floor with your brain matter, but my client wants you alive. Wouldn't be my choice, but he says killing cops is bad business. Oh, and because you might find it of interest, Augie Blatz did not kill your father."
Lucky for Jack, that gunshot was not fatal. But it turned that things were about to take a turn for the worse.
I'll remember what that guy looked like and what he said. He used my gun to kill Augie, which means I am fucked. With that being said, I know I'm on my way to Iron Point. This is only the beginning. I also wondered what Boris meant about what he said about Ruby.
It wasn't long until Grant City police officers and EMTs went up to the suite to go take Augie's body, and also Jack away. Patch was long gone by that point. Jack told himself that he will remember that guy. Even though he was on his way to prison, he was planning on finding that guy again. With the way how the justice system worked in Grant City, charges probably won't stick and he will be out of Iron Point in no time. But would be allowed on the force again, that was the question.
Author's note: This was a pretty lengthy chapter and I planned for it to be this way. I thought about splitting it, but I thought that it would have been better if I did it this way.
In the original game, Jack went and shot a bunch of people but with him being a cop, I deviated it a lot to show that cops have rules. I'm even doing the same thing in my True Crime story, but I also have some bits where the cops do kill if necessary. Besides, as noted before, this story is an alternate continuity story and a bit of a divergence because the original game's story is a mess and had a lot of problems, especially with the writing and the characters.
Oh, and if the ending of this chapter didn't already say it, this is only the beginning.