Chapter 5 Welcome to the Team
Tom and Doug both raised their hands in the air. The automatic weapons trained on them were making Tom extremely nervous.
"Hey, hold on guys. We're here to pick up a package for Vinnie." He kept his hands raised as he watched the gunmen eyeing them from the boat. The silence in the air could be cut with a knife as the men stood at a standstill. Slowly the guns were lowered and the man at the front of the boat began to laugh.
Tom and Doug stole a glance at each other and Doug let out a nervous laugh.
"You guys must be Tom and Doug."
"Uh, yeah, that's us." Doug said.
"Come on, we have a package for you." The man said, stepping aside for the officers to make their way onto the boat. "In here." He said, stepping into the cabin. He led them over to the table where four large cases rested. "Vinnie expects you guys to take good care of his property."
"Don't worry, they'll be safe with us." Doug said. "I promise."
"You'd better make sure or else Vinnie will hunt you down and make you suffer in ways you'd never thought possible." The man said with a smile.
Doug looked at Tom and raised his eyebrows. He remembered the photos that he had seen of Vinnie's victims back at the chapel. He had no doubt in his mind that Vinnie would do as he promised.
"No worries man. We'll get it delivered safe and sound." Tom said, stepping forward. "You've got my word on that."
"For your sakes, you'd better."
The four armed men picked up the cases and made their way down to the classic mustang parked at the end of the dock. Tom opened the trunk and watched as the cases were placed inside. Once finished, he closed the trunk and turned to face the armed men. The leader of the crew stepped forward and jabbed a finger into Tom's chest.
"Don't screw this up." He said, a look of pure evil crossing his face.
Tom stood his ground and looked back at the man before him. His face was serious as he answered back. "Don't worry, I don't screw up."
The man let out a laugh and dropped his hand to his side. "Well, then, I guess we don't have nothing to worry about then, do we?"
Tom shrugged, "No, I guess we don't."
"Good, now I think you boys need to be somewhere very soon. We'll be keeping tabs on you both. Don't get any bright ideas. Do as your instructed and everything will be fine."
"Okay then. We'll see you around." Doug said, opening the door and climbing in. Tom followed suit and climbed in behind the wheel. He put the keys in the ignition and put the car in reverse. As he backed out onto the road, he let go of the breath that he had been holding. "Okay, I'm glad that's over with. Now, let's get this to Vancouver and get this over with."
"I'm with you." Doug said. "I wonder what's in the cases?"
"If I had to guess, automatic weapons." Tom said.
Doug let out a whistle and nodded his head. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." He leaned his head back against the seat as he sunk down, trying to relax. "So, you think we'll have a problem getting across the border?"
Tom shook his head and said, "I really hope not. I'm not in any mood to screw around with border patrol tonight."
"Oh come on Tommy, where's your sense of adventure?" Doug said with a smirk.
"I'm not 18 anymore Doug." Tom said sarcastically. "I just want to get this done with so I can go back to the apartment and get some sleep."
Doug just laughed and shook his head and continued to watch out the window as the skyline blurred by.
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Tom slowed the mustang as he approached the Canada/ United States border. Doug sat up in his seat and couldn't help but tense as they neared the checkpoint. He watched as an armed border patrol agent stepped towards the blue car.
"How are you boys doing this evening?" the agent said, peering into the car.
"We can't complain." Tom said casually.
"Can I see some ID please?" the agent asked. Tom and Doug pulled out their wallets and handed him their driver's licenses. The agent took them and checked them out thoroughly. He took a look back inside the car and then handed the ids back to the two passengers. "You guys are all set. Be careful in Vancouver." He said with a wink.
"Ah, yeah. Thanks." Doug said. "We'll do."
Tom put the car into drive and pulled away from the checkpoint, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well, at least we can count on Alex and Ethan."
Doug nodded in agreement. "At least that's two people here we can trust."
The two officers drove in silence for the continuation of the trip. Tom steered his car into a rundown section of town after Doug looked over the map.
"Why do they always have to choose the run down deserted area of town to do their business in?" Doug asked, looking around suspiciously at their surroundings. "I think that's our address, up ahead."
Tom slowed the car and then stopped outside a small two-story house that looked as though it had seen its better days. He shut the ignition off and looked around. "Doesn't look like anyone's around."
"Yeah, a little too quite if you ask me." Doug said. He stepped out of the car and waited for his partner to do the same.
"Let's go take a look around." Tom said, starting to make his way up to the house. Doug followed, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Quietly they stepped up onto the front porch and made their way up to the front door. Tom tried the handle only to find it locked. "Let's go check out back."
Doug and Tom carefully made their way around the side of the house. An eerie quiet fell around them as they made their way to the back yard. Tom walked up to a window in the back and peered inside. He thought he saw a movement from inside the house and was about to say something to his partner when he heard a sound behind him.
"Show me your hands and turn around slowly." A deep voice commanded. "And no funny stuff or your friend here gets to eat a bullet."
Tom cursed himself silently and placed his hands out to his side. Slowly he turned and was shocked to find a man holding a gun to Doug's head while maintaining a firm grip on his arm.
"What the hell are you two doing on my property?" the man asked.
"Okay, just calm down…no need for the gun." Tom tried to reason with the man.
"I'll say if I need the gun or not. I'm the one holding the gun, so I'd say that I'm the one in control here, wouldn't you?" he asked. "Now I'll ask you one more time. What the hell are you doing on my property?"
"We're here to make a delivery for Vinnie. We didn't see anyone around, so we thought we'd take a look around. No harm done." Tom said. "Now, how about letting my friend go and we can work this out."
The man looked over Tom for a moment in silence. Then a smile crossed his face and he let out a laugh. "You must be Tom and Doug. Vinnie told me to be expecting you tonight." He released his grip on Doug's arm and lowered the gun. "Well, do you have the goods?"
Doug spoke up first. "Yeah, in the car."
"Okay then, let's get them unloaded and you guys can be on your way. I'll let Vinnie know that you passed the test." Tom and Doug followed the man out to the car and helped unload the boxes into the house. They stood aside and watched as the man took a crowbar to the box and opened it carefully. He carefully reached in and pulled out something from inside. Tom and Doug glanced at each other as the man pulled out a very large and very dangerous automatic rifle.
"Nice. This will work out very nicely." He said, running his hand over the weapon. "Welcome to Vinnie's team boys."