Chapter 6
Nicki was startled by the first rays of sun that peaked through her window, her heart pounding rapidly after realizing that she had fallen asleep. She was stiff and sore and moved slowly as she lifted herself up off her bed. It was still early, but she needed to talk to Jake. She made her way to his room, surprised to see that he was wide awake.
In fact, Jake had never gone to sleep that night. His concern for his friend had kept him up, trying to figure out what he should do next to help him. He had come up with a few ideas, but they all seemed a little bit impossible. His thoughts had him frustrated and his eyebrows were drawn together as he concentrated on the problem at hand. In the still quiet of the early morning, just the slightest sound was enough to startle him as well, and he nearly fell out of his chair when he saw Nicki poking her head around the partially opened door.
"Jake, we need to talk," she said quietly. She moved into his room, shutting the door behind her. Her parents did not need to hear what they had to say. She stayed standing near the door until Jake nodded and motioned for her to sit on his bed. "I was there last night" she started to tell him. Jake just sighed and shook his head slowly. He knew that she wouldn't stay away from Tony, no matter how much he warned her to. Now she knew that Tony was in trouble, and he knew that there was nothing that would stop her from trying to help him. Immediately Jake decided that he needed to help her do just that, but they would do it his way.
They talked and they talked for what seemed like hours. By the time they were done talking, Jake had convinced her to keep in the background. He told her that she could do more to help if no one knew that she was involved. They were down to very few options. Tony had warned Jake that he could not go to the police, because he believed that they could not be trusted. So Jake and Nicki both agreed that the men dressed in black could be the key to helping Tony. But all they had were questions about them. Who were they? Why were they there when Tony was found? Why would they want to help him? How could they help him? Worst of all, they had no idea how to find them so they could help him in the first place. But that fact alone did not keep them from trying. It took nearly two weeks of driving around, searching for black trucks or the guy with the easily recognizable tattoo, before they had any luck. And it only happened because as luck would have it, Jake's mom was in a hurry that day and made him pick up her dry cleaning for her.
As soon as he turned onto Hamilton Avenue, Jake spotted the big black truck. It was parked next door to the dry cleaners! Jake hurried and grabbed the clothes and then sat in his car, keeping an eye on the truck. He looked around, wondering where the guys from the truck would be. He looked up and down the street. Besides the dry cleaners, there was a used bookstore with 'grand opening' banners, an Italian deli, a bail bond office with advertising plastered all over the front windows, and a very pink beauty parlor. He didn't have to wait long for his answer. Two guys dressed in black walked out of the bonds office. Jake didn't recognize either of them, but he felt that it was more than just a coincidence that they were dressed in black, and driving a black truck, so he followed them, just hoping beyond hope to be able to find the guy with the teardrop tattoo.
"Dude," Vince motioned to the rearview mirror as he directed Brett's attention to the car so obviously following them. "We've got company."
"Let's have a little fun with him," Brett replied. And they laughed as they led him on a wild goose chase. They didn't actually want to lose the guy. They just wanted to change the dynamics so that they could find out who it was. At first the car kept up with them, but after a few of Vince's clever turns and maneuvers, and a run down an alley, they pulled their truck up behind Jake as he was stopped at a red light. Now they followed him a short way until he finally noticed that they were there and pulled over into a parking lot. Brett and Vince got out to walk toward the car and were surprised to see the young kid, as he opened his door and turned to confront them. They looked at each other in disbelief when he actually started to walk up to them. They thought that he should be intimidated by them, most people were, but this kid looked like he wanted to talk to them. As he approached, they stopped him, attempting to be in control of the situation. But he just looked at them as if they had something that he needed.
"I am looking for a guy with a tattoo under his eye," the kid said. And before they could say anything, he continued. "It's a teardrop tattoo." He looked directly at them. "I need to talk to that guy, do you know him?"
Vince was already on his phone, and after a moment, he looked up at the kid and nodded. "Come with me," he said.
Hector met them in the front entrance of the building. There was a small office down one hall, and he motioned for the kid to follow him. He did, with Vince and Brett following behind him. Again Hector motioned to him, and Jake sat down in the chair across from the desk in the small room. He sat slightly forward in the chair, his hands gripping the arm rests so tight that his knuckles had turned white. That was the only indication he gave that he was nervous. His eyes were alert and not moving from Hectors face. Hector sat at the edge of the desk, extending his legs in front of him, crossed at the ankle, and his arms folded across his chest.
"You wanted to see me?" Hector finally said to him. The kid nodded. And Hector gestured with a slight raise of his chin, giving him permission to talk.
Jake didn't waste any time or words getting his question out to this man. "A kid was picked up in an office building a couple of weeks ago." This statement got Hector's attention. Jake kept on talking. "I heard you say that the kid needs help." Hectors eyes opened wide, he had heard him say that? Jake continued, "Can you help him?"
The next hour was spent finding out just how much the kid knew. Jake answered all of their questions and he volunteered a lot of information so that they would have all of the facts that they could. He told them all of what he knew, and a lot of what Nicki had told him. He wanted them to help Tony, and he needed them to hurry, it had already been close to two weeks since the arrest. Tony was being held in Juvenile Detention, and he was not allowed visitors.
Again Jake asked "Can you help him?"
Vince poked his head in the door and looked at Hector. "The kid checks out," he simply said and he left.
Hector turned back to Jake. He looked at him hard for a full minute. Then he spoke. It was now his turn to share what they knew about the gang and their operations. He told Jake that Tony had been their 'fall guy' because he was the newest member, and they were testing his loyalty to the gang. Jake was getting upset from all that he was hearing. Tony was in big trouble all because of a family loyalty thing that got him dragged into the gang. He never would have joined a gang on his own; it was his uncle putting pressure on him that led him to make that decision. And he did it to protect his stupid cousin. To find out that, in essence, he had been set up by the very person that he was trying to take care of was one of the worst sort of ironies.
Hector understood his frustration. "Together, we can help him," he said. Jake nodded. For some reason, these guys wanted to help Tony. And now that he had found them, Jake was relieved. This was the best way he had to help his friend. He couldn't wait to tell Nicki about this. She would be as relieved as he was that they now had a way to help Tony. They would have to sit down and go through anything and everything that she had related to the gang. Hector had told him that any detail, no matter how small could be very important. Jake liked Hector, and he trusted him. And he wished that he didn't have to pretend that all of Nicki's information was his. He didn't like that it would look like he had been lying to them if they found out.
But Nicki had to stay out of this mess no matter what she might think. Jake just couldn't let her be involved. And from what Hector had told him, he needed to be very careful, now more than ever. He would just have to memorize everything that Nicki had seen and heard. It was up to him to help Tony, and she had promised that he could do it his way. If only he could believe that she was going to keep that promise. Jake wasn't sure.
As was her custom now, Mary Alice had made her rounds in the comm room. She had greeted all of her friends with high fives and smiles. This was one of her favorite places to be, and Albert loved watching her confidence and personality grow. He made a mental note to bring Valerie over so that she could watch M.A. in action. Their little girl was so happy here. With Hank in tow, she was headed toward the elevators when Hector turned into the hallway.
"Hola Hector, como estas?" she smiled at him, and nodded. They were teaching Spanish in school and she loved having someone 'real' to practice with. In the cultural part of the class she had learned that in Mexico people greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek, and ever since she found out that Hector's family was originally from Monterrey, she wanted to share in that custom with him. It was now their special thing and Hector bent down on one knee so that she could reach his cheek.
"Hola Chiquita, estoy bien," Hector answered, as she ran to him and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. And just like always, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug. "Mucho gusto en verte." Hector said. He was careful to use the Spanish as he knew it was being taught to a beginner. She stepped back from him to look into his face.
"El gusto es mio," she grinned. He could see how proud she was to be able to carry on this much of a conversation with him. And he returned her grin.
"Ah, muy bien nena," he nodded. "Your accent is very good," he told her, and her eyes gleamed. With one more quick little kiss she turned to catch up with Hank who was standing near the elevator.
"Ya me voy," she said as she waved goodbye over her shoulder and disappeared as the elevator door closed. Hector waved back as he stood up. Okay, so he had taught her a few phrases that were not out of her text book, but she was a fast learner and so excited to share the language with him. A smiled lit his face, M.A. brought a special kind of joy into the lives of the men here at RangeMan, and they all looked forward to her visits.
He turned and quickly moved toward Albert's office. At the end of the hall he heard papers rustling, and books being banged around. Albert rarely strayed from the office that Stephanie had set up for him. Hector watched as Albert searched for some piece of information, as if his life depended on it. Hector had to admire his intensity. Albert was a man on a mission. And Hector had a missing piece of the puzzle. When Albert noticed Hector standing there, he had this deer in the headlights look, that almost made Hector laugh. Albert's mouth was slightly open like he wanted to say something but couldn't think of what it would be.
"We have a witness," Hector said. The look on Albert's face transformed in an instant. He knew how much this could change things. Hector pulled a chair close to Albert's desk and they started talking about Jake, and the information that he had that could help Tony.
The Mayor's Annual Reception was a Who's Who of Trenton and the surrounding communities. While some people are required to attend, many consider it a great honor to receive an invitation to this big event. Jake and Nicki patiently waited for their parents to finish getting ready to leave. They had received their invitation to the Reception nearly two weeks ago, and had been preparing for it from that moment on. Finally they walked out the door and Nicki waved them off.
"Enjoy the dinner," she said with her best fake smile. She couldn't wait to close the door and run to the office. They had been trying to use the printer for days now, and this was the first opportunity they had with their parents out of the house so they wouldn't have to answer any questions. Jake was already downloading the photos from Nicki's phone onto his laptop. By the time she sat down, he was looking at the screen, trying to figure out what they could do with these pictures. Jake raised an eyebrow, it was obvious that the subject of all of these photos was Tony. He was in every single one. Nicki was keeping uncharacteristically quiet, waiting for Jake to say something. Finally he looked at her asked her to fill in some details.
"Tell me about what was happening when you took these pictures," he said. She nodded and quickly described the circumstances surrounding each scene. She even checked with the notes that she had taken. Just to be sure she remembered everything, very conscious of the fact that every small detail could mean a lot. Finally they printed out the pictures and spread them out all over the desk. Silently they both stared at them, wishing that they knew what they should be looking for. Almost in the same instant, they saw it. Somehow laying them out side by side like this made them see it all differently.
Tony was in every picture, but so was another person. He appeared to be older, but none of the shots of him were very good. It was hard to tell who it was unless you looked closely. "Who's that guy?" Jake asked. Nicki could only say that he seemed to be one of the guys in charge. He left the kids a lot, usually showing up only when it was time to present his instructions, or to send them out to carry out one of his plans. She said it looked like he received a lot of respect, but that no one seemed to like him very much. She looked over her notes again. They had both realized that this guy was important to the gang, and it would have been nice to know who he was. Her notes did not help, and Nicki was starting to feel guilty about not having more detailed information. What if he was the key to helping Tony?
If Jake had looked into her eyes at that moment, he would have known what she was planning to do, her eyes showed her determination to fill in the blanks in the information that she had gathered. He would have been able to stop her, but she had turned away, and he had missed that look. By the time he knew she was gone, it was too late to do anything about it. He was angry, he was worried, and he was pissed that she had broken her promise to him.
He got the call at about 3am. It was Hector. He said they had found a girl that claimed to be his sister. She had begged them to call Jake, and no one else. Then she passed out. It seemed like the best idea would be to take her to RangeMan so that Bobby could check her out. She was there now. "Come out," Hector told him. "I am just down the street from your house, I'll take you to see her." Jake rushed out of the house as quietly as he could. He had been awake, waiting all night for Nicki to come home. And he just knew that something bad had happened to her. The thoughts that had gone through his head, all of the possible scenarios that played out in his mind made him sick to his stomach. And now that he knew that she had been hurt somehow, he couldn't decide whether or not to be worried about her or mad at her.
"Do you know what happened to her?" Jake asked as he climbed into the truck with Hector. "Is she okay?" Jake's concern for his sister was all too evident, he was panicking as they drove to RangeMan. Hector gave him as much information as he could about what happened tonight. There had been regular surveillance assigned on the known gang hideouts. It just happened to be Hector and Brett that were scheduled to be out early this morning. They had done the rounds and were nearly ready to leave when they spotted movement in the alley way.
A tall girl with long dark hair tripped out into the street and collapsed. Brett reached her first and she just stared at him with her dark eyes, but when Hector knelt down beside her, she smiled and asked him to call Jake. She became agitated and begged for them to only call Jake. And then she fainted.
By the time they arrived, Bobby had checked for injuries and had done everything that he could to make her comfortable. She had not regained consciousness yet. Jake sat down beside her and took one of her hands in his. "What did you do?" he wondered silently. Then he spotted her bag. Looking inside he found her phone, immediately he looked through her photos and found a perfect shot of the man they had wondered about. He held the image up to Hector.
"Does anyone know who this guy is?" he asked. And then he watched as the men in the room all exchanged glances. This new information would blow the case sky high. Yeah, they knew him; he was one of Trenton's finest. And now they wondered who else from the TPD was involved.
It had been one of the hardest calls he had ever had to make. The attorney insisted that Albert come in to his office, he would prefer to present him with the information in person. It was not something that he wanted to do over the phone. While he had indicated that here were a few legal issues that needed to be resolved concerning his father's death, the attorney had used all of the legalese that he could to not say anything at all. Albert had no idea what issues there would be. And even less of an idea how they could possibly be connected to him, since he hadn't even seen his father for nearly 20 years. But he set the appointment. He would be going into NYC tomorrow.
His heart was heavy. Again he felt like the ten year old boy who had lost his father. His hopes and dreams once again ripped away from him, and there was nothing he could do.
He hadn't planned on telling Valerie about the appointment. He didn't talk about his father much. And all Val knew about his family was based on his mother's rantings. It was those ugly little visits, that happened today, that made him change his mind.
Almost like clockwork, his mother would show up at their house. The routine was the same, she would be sweet for a few minutes, asking about how the girls were doing, and gushing over little Lisa. But then everything would change. She would go on and on about how ungrateful Albert was, how he never visited with her anymore, how he was an awful man. She would turn to Valerie and tell her that she had better be prepared, that one day Albert was going to walk out on her.
These visits were always so upsetting for them all. And while he was trying to console his wife and apologize for the behavior of his mother, Valerie saw that something was bothering him.
She knew that the big gang case he was working on with Stephanie had had a break through so she didn't think he was upset about that, but there was definitely a problem that was bothering Albert. So she ended up comforting him, as he told her all about the day that his dad left. And then he told her about the appointment with the attorney.
She wrapped him in her arms. He hugged her tight. She whispered words into his ear, his eyes became moist with tears. Albert knew that he was the luckiest man in the world. Oh how he loved Valerie. She was perfect and he knew that he would always thank God that she was in his life, and he would marvel that she loved him too.
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You are all terrific, thank you so much for your reviews! I love knowing that we are on this journey together. Dreamer