After sleeping like a prince in his castle, except for a few terrifying Joker nightmares, I decided to find out what happened with the drug house after I was kidnapped. I promised Robin I would avoid trouble, not find out about others trouble.
Doozie's house was rundown and filthy. Sometimes drug ring leaders are rich so they live in big houses and have nice cars. According to Doozie, this was just a cover so the cops wouldn't get suspicious, but I suspect he spends all his drug money on beer, which would explain his beer gut.
I knocked on the wooden door that looked as if it had been splitting for around twenty years. Doozie answered the door slowly, creaking the door open and peeking through the crack. With his job, you never know when someone's coming to take you out.
"Vince!" he shouted, opening the door completely. "You're alive! We thought you were a goner!"
"Almost," I replied.
"What happened? Oh, come in, man, come in." That was supposed to be a nice gesture, but with the condition of his place it was hard to consider it that. The inside had stained walls, with holes through out. Dirty carpet with a few beer cans on the floor. Some smashed, other just tossed to the side. The coffee table was covered in papers and paper plates and beer cans. A nasty couch sat behind it with torn upholstery and stains. The house reeked of mold, beer, sweat, and only God knows what else. It was safe to safe Doozie's living conditions were revolting. "So what happened that night? Nobody knew nothin'. It was like ya just disappeared."
"I don't know if you know, but Jimmy had nothing to do with the missing drugs," I said, avoiding questions after sheepishly taking a seat with him on the couch.
"How do ya know?"
"That night I saw the Joker stealing from the stash. It was his whole gang, no one from yours."
"Well, Vince. Wish I woulda heard that sooner," he said.
"Why, what happened?"
"I let Jimmy go." I knew what that meant. Jimmy's probably at the bottom of a lake. "Glad you're alright, though, man. Things ain't been the same since ya went off. I been losin' around fifty grand a week. I couldn't pin point the thief, so I been lettin' men go left and right. I woulda never guessed it was that clown creep. What does he want with my stash anyways?"
"Joker's a pretty unpredictable guy. I don't have an answer."
"I was hopin' you knew more than that."
"I don't, man."
"Well, I gotta another job for ya," he said coming off of his couch and walking to a small table. He opened the drawer and started rummaging through it. "Gotham Docks." He threw a picture to me. "Find this creep. Take him out." The picture was of a typical Gotham criminal. Scarred, tired face. He also had tattoos on his chest and neck and thin hair that had been greased back. This looked like a mugshot.
"What's his problem?" I asked.
"His name is Robert Spidds. Carmine Falconey is his boss. Carmine and me don't see eye to eye, but we made an agreement. He stays away from me and I don't blow his head off. Here lately, this guy's been givin' some of the guys trouble. He cut up Martinez a few nights ago. Every time I send someone to get some dirt from him, he chops 'em up. I been findin' bits and pieces of my guys all around the city. You're the only one I got left, Vince."
"You just want me to kill him? You don't want to know anything?"
"He ain't gonna spill nothin'. If you get somethin' outta him, great. Just make sure he's done for after which. Got it?"
"I'll let you know tonight," I said heading for the door.
"Hey, you be careful. I better see's ya tonight," Doozie said.
"No promises," I smirked, and then left his house.
I returned to my apartment and Robin came at around midnight. I was in my bedroom when I heard him knock on the window. I opened the window and leaned on the window seal. He clung to the brick wall from his grapple cord.
"I have something you might be interested in," I told him, pulling the same picture Doozie gave me from the pocket of my leather jacket. "His name is Robert Spidds. He works for Falconey."
"I know who he is," Robin replied. "He set his girlfriend on fire when he was younger and served some time. Not enough in my opinion."
"I don't know about his past, but my boss wants me to kill him."
"You're already back in your gang?" he asked.
"I just wanted to know about what happened with drug house problem. I was sent to see who was stealing from my boss when the Joker kidnapped me."
"How did the Joker get a hold of you there?"
"The Bat didn't figure it out?"
"He heard on the street you had been kidnapped, he never knew why. Joker's spontaneous, you know?"
"Joker was having his men take drugs from my boss's warehouse," I said.
"Since when does the Joker have an addiction?" he questioned.
"I don't know, man. What do you want me to do about Spidds? If I don't kill him, I have to give my boss a good reason why."
"What's the whole mission?" he asked.
"Kill him. If I get any information out of him, still kill. He wants him dead. He's been screwing around with my gang."
"What will happen after you tell your boss?"
"Depends. If the guy has anything good, we may find out who's taking my boss's drugs. If not, then there's one less nuisance."
"I'll go with you, which is…?"
" To the docks," I answered.
"Get what you need from him and I'll take care of everything else."
"You're going to help me fulfill a gang mission?"
"I'm gonna figure out what's happening on the docks, have a few criminals put behind bars and possibly shut down some drug trafficking. You're mission is the least of my problems right now and if you're helping me out, too, I suppose you're doing better than what you were."
"Are you sure you can handle this guy?"
"Oh, please," he scoffed adjusting his cord and beginning to climb the wall. He reminded me more of a monkey than a bird. "I knocked out Bane once."
"Bane? That guy that nearly blew up the city a few years back?" I asked, looking up at him as he ascended above my window.
"That's the one."
"You didn't knock him out, did you?" I teased.
"I sure as hell came close," he smirked at me.
"Meet me there at three a.m. got it?"
"You meet me at three a.m. Vince," Robin teased back.
Damn kid.
