Chapter 22

We stood in the hallway. Dillon finished locking up. I knew we were going to have to be very careful leaving the building. At each end of the hallway, there was a large window that overlooked a walkway below. The window closest to us led to a room that held two washing machines and two dryers. I knew from experience that it was better to just wash my clothes at my mother's house than fight for the machines the building had given us. Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Helm were the laundry room bullies. They were always there, washing clothes. I think their mission in life was to wash. They stood outside the doorway to smoke cheap cigarettes and tell anyone who walked up with a bushel of clothes that the machines were all in use. I have been turned away by those two so many times I lost count. If it's not them, it's Mrs. Garcia. She must wash her entire family's clothes in those machines. When I say her entire family, I mean generations of people who live all over the city. I asked Dillon about it once. He said he watched her lug two baskets of clothes from her apartment everyday at eleven in the morning on the dot. She never missed a day, including Sunday.

The window at the other end of the hall, gave the view of breeze-way between this building and the next. Cal stood at one window, Ramon at the other. We were on the third floor, giving them a bird's-eye view of the sidewalk below.

"All clear." Ramon said, walking quickly back over to us.

Cal made a final check on the walkway and building below. "Clear." He said as walked back and stood with Ramon behind Dillon and Connie. Their guns were drawn; no one was taking any chances. It was starting to get dark outside. The goal was to be safe at RangeMan as soon as possible. Now that we had the tapes, we were the targets. I was nervous.

When I glanced over at Connie, I knew she felt the same vibe as I did. She looked over to me and whispered, "Do you think the guy who is after the tapes will be here?" She held her gun tight against her body. Her finger was dangerously close to the trigger.

I had a feeling that the person or persons who shot those guys at Vinnie's probably followed us. But I didn't want to make her any more nervous than she already was. I was afraid her gun would go off if I stopped to fast in front of her. I began to worry more about Connie's itchy trigger finger than about the bad guys. When in doubt, bluff.

"Nah, these guys are just cautious." I said. I was trying to act calm, which was hard to do when my voice kept shaking. "Nothing to worry about."

Tank turned his attention toward her. "Do you have a safe place to stay tonight?" I was standing kitty corner behind Connie. I glared at Tank, giving him the "don't freak her out!" look. I saw me and tried to fix his approach. "I mean, just in case, as a precaution." Connie wasn't an idiot. She clutched her gun even tighter.

"Do you think they will come after me?" Her voice rose up a little. I knew Connie was tough, but sometimes you have to work up to it. "I was going to go home, but maybe I should go to my uncle's." Connie said quietly."Maybe it would be safer. He is going to want to talk to me in person anyways. He is pretty pissed that this someone killed two of his best guys.

Tank glanced over at Cal. "Take the SUV. Make sure she gets inside the house before you leave. Meet us back at RangeMan. I want to get these tapes off the street as soon as possible."

Cal nodded and stood closer to Connie. Now she was his responsibility. I think he took all his assignments seriously. No one argued with the team leader. It never happened. If Tank would have told Cal to shoot himself in the foot, I think he would have done it without even flinching. That is loyalty. I didn't know if I could ever be that loyal, I value my feet.

Tank opened the stairwell door. He motioned for us to start moving with a sweep of his hand. Quickly, we ran down the concrete steps. Tank held his gun out in front of him. The lobby door was in front of us. We stopped and waited while Dillon went past us to the basement apartment. He looked at me before heading inside to enjoy his pizza and beer. "Girl, you so owe me for this. Don't shoot anyone on the property, dig?" He smiled. See you soon." He turned and went into the apartment, locking the door behind him. Tank opened the lobby door slowly, looking around. I took a deep breath, hoping we could get out of here without shooting anyone. Not only was there a threat of immediate death, but my mother was sure to find out about it. I wanted to keep this as quiet as possible.

All of us entered the lobby with our guns drawn. It was clear, and I was grateful I could put my gun away. I didn't see any one lurking in any corners. As far as lobbies are concerned, this one was pretty generic. I think most apartments that were built in the 1960's had the same basic look. It had an elevator, two entrances and a set of mail boxes. The carpeting was early eighties mauve and green. Well worn, but still in okay condition. Dillon had put a small bench next to the mailboxes. Many of the people in the building were elderly. He knew they may need a place to rest while they opened their mail or waited for a taxi to come and pick them up. I thought it was very sweet. Dillon was a good guy.

The entrance through the front of the lobby was a single door. It was heavy glass and difficult to open when it was cold outside. The back entrance exited to the parking lot. It had two large plate-glass windows and double doors. The double doors were there for anyone dumb enough to bring extra-large pieces of furniture into the building. Dumb because the doors to the apartments were unusually small. Most big pieces of furniture sat in the lobby until someone could take them apart to get them through the door. If that didn't work, a free sign was attached and the furniture would go to the first person to come along with a truck and a couple of strong backs to move it. Once, there was a pool table in the lobby. It sat here for two weeks before someone claimed it. It was unfortunate too, because I think Dillon was about to fold and let us start using it.

All the windows and doors at both entrances had metal bars attached for security. To make them look less threatening, they were painted white. Dillon painted them every couple of years. He would have to do it again soon, too. Rust was starting to show through.

The front and back entrances had security door locks, the old kind that required a key to get in. If you lost your key, it would cost fifty bucks to have it replaced and it took two weeks to get it. I had lost my key five times. That's two hundred and fifty bucks I handed over to get into my apartment building. Dillon said I lost my keys so many times, he would have to start buying the keys in bulk.

Tank stood in front of the glass window, surveying the parking lot. It was dusk. It was hard to see anything at this time of the night. The lot had four bright lights that had been installed for the safety of the residents. It was a measure that I had voted on at the annual building maintenance meeting. Although it was a good idea, I realized now, that there were more shadows at this time of night because of the lights. What usually is a pretty safe place to park seemed overly dangerous as the sun set and the day turned into night. The lights played tricks on your eyes. It was hard to see anyone who was hiding in the shadows.

Tank glanced over at Ramon. He nodded. They must have communicated with E.S.P because they didn't say a word to each other. They probably went over a plan before I came downstairs this afternoon. This type of teamwork is why they were still breathing. You have to work as if you are one. You had to think alike and with quick fluid actions. You need to know what they are going to do before it happens. They need to be part of you. I didn't think Lula and I would ever share that kind of team thing. Lula did her own thing, and I flew by the seat of my pants. I never had a plan.

Cal stepped outside with Ramon. He pulled out his gun from the holster and held it up to his body. Ramon did the same. I saw them disappear into the darkness. I crossed my fingers, hoping no one was out there waiting for them.

Behind us, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. We all turned towards it. I moved in front Tank, my gun drawn, as if I could protect the evidence he held. An old woman with a silver walker started to emerge out of the elevator at a snail's pace. Her walker had bright yellow tennis balls attached to the bottoms of the legs. She picked up the walker and moved it forward. She moved her right leg forward, her left leg dragged behind it. The walker pushed forward an inch, then her right leg, then her left leg. I was mesmerized. The doors began to close. It was Mrs. Gerardo. I knew her, and I knew her husband. He was standing beside her; his hand caught the elevator doors so they would not close. She moved the walker slightly forward, then the right leg again. She had on house slippers, light blue slacks and a light blue and white-flowered blouse. He had on light blue slacks, and matching blazer. They were always color coördinated; I remembered that the Gerardo's came down to the lobby every day to collect the mail. They would get their mail in the late afternoon, and then make the journey back up to the fourth floor. I wondered if this routine took them all day. I think it might. I breathed a sigh of relief and put my gun back in its holster.

"Why are you standing in front of me, Stephanie?" Tank growled from behind me.

I turned my head. "I'm protecting you. You have the tapes."

"And you think you could help by getting in the way?"

"I'm not in the way… You have the evidence. I need to keep you safe."

Tank looked at me as if he was astounded that I thought he might need protecting.

"If you get shot because of me, I'm dead anyway. Ranger would probably kill me. Just stay behind me. I'll take my chances with people in the elevator."

I would have argued with him, but both of us turned our attention to the problem at hand. Ramon and Cal. They had walked out of the building. I couldn't see them anymore. "Where are they?" I said, searching for them.

Tank put his hand up to his ear. "They are already in the vehicles. They are making a sweep, checking for bombs." Tank had his earpiece in his ear so he could talk to both Ramon and Cal.

It was taking forever. But, I suppose if the trucks blew up, we would be pretty much up shit creek. I turned back to the Gerardo's. They weren't out of the elevator yet. They were concentrating on moving the walker. Neither of them paid any attention to what was in front of them. I was grateful. It would have been hard to explain. All focus was on getting the walker out of the elevator. I thought their day would progress a lot faster if she was in a wheelchair. Just imagine how much more time they would have for doing other things.

I was afraid that If someone started shooting at us, they would be in the way. I didn't want them to get hurt. Cal and Ramon needed to hurry the hell up. I was happy now with my decision to leave the apartment building. These people deserved peace. So far, I didn't think my life had been all that peaceful.

The lights from the trucks went on. I started to feel less afraid once the trucks pulled up next to the back doors. When they stopped, Tank had us wait while he double checked the van and the SUV to make sure they were safe. I thought he was being a little over the top, but I was thankful anyway. Connie got into the truck with Cal and I got in the van with Tank and Ramon.

Before I could properly sit down, the van took off. I was thrown backwards as I tried to close the van door. I grabbed the seat before i was knocked on my ass. "Jesus, Ramon!" I screamed, trying to sit down before It happened again. Tank leaned back and shut the door. I hastily put the seat belt on, glancing back behind us to see the SUV turn the opposite direction and head out to Connie's uncle's house. I watched to see if anyone followed us. I knew someone was watching, and I knew they probably knew exactly where we were taking the tapes. They didn't need to follow us.

The van barreled through the city. Ramon drove like a crazy person. Note to self. Don't drive with Ramon if there are other options. Tank sat next to him and slid his belt on as we turned the corner and headed for RangeMan. I think Ramon was trying to beat the killers to the building. He knew they would follow us home.

"What I don't get," Cal said. "Is why this guy decided to kill the two men Connie's uncle sent over. That doesn't make sense to me. Why piss of the mob. It was a bad move if you ask me." He said, scratching his head.

We were at the boards on the third floor. RangeMan's security deck. None of us had taken our eyes off the surveillance cameras since we got back.

"Maybe they were waiting for Connie to show up, standing out back having a smoke." Hal said. His eyes were on camera four. A red light had come on. A leaf blew by.

The lights had been turned on the exterior of RangeMan. Any movement outside would trigger the camera and a red light would come on. Then the focus would be on the cameras with the alarm. Tank would ask the men outside to check on the area that had the alert. We watched closely, waiting for someone to walk up. Of course it was premature. It was unlikely that we would have visitors this quickly, but no one was taking any chances. We had been back for less than fifteen minutes and no one had taken off any of the equipment we had brought with us.

Cal came in a few minutes earlier. He had dropped Connie off and made sure she was safe before heading back. Nothing suspicious had happened. I was grateful that he had watched over her.

Cal continued with his theory. "The guy shows up, sees them waiting and knows that he wouldn't be able to get near Connie. He might have thought they were after the tapes. If this guy is paranoid, he could have panicked."

I leaned on the desk, trying to imagine the back of Vinnie's. "Isn't there cameras or something back there? Isn't there a way to find out who did this?"

Tank nodded his head "No, Vinnie doesn't have any surveillance equipment. We asked him if he wanted it, and he politely declined. Ranger thought he might throw one up anyway, to keep you safe, but it never happened. I don't think the mob was keen to the idea of us monitoring. None of the buildings around there have it, either. Unfortunately it is a known traffic area for making shady deals.

"Vincent Plum bail bonds looks good from the front, but he has a reputation. He has never run a totally legit operation." Ramon said, looking at me. "The police will assume it was gang or mafia related. It happens all the time."

"If these guys had a gun pointed at them, they probably told him that the tapes were inside the office." Hal said, jumping in. "They may have given him a location to search. They figure, the guy will just let them go. Tell them to get out of there. But, because they have seen his face, they get shot. One right after the other. They didn't even pull their weapons. Their guns never left the holster's. This was done quickly. He may not have asked questions first. He might have just wasted them. That's cold. He could be a pro."

"So, after he shoots them, he searches them, looking for the tapes." I said, adding to Hal's theory. "He comes up with nothing. The alarms from the outside never went off. He could have had the codes for them. He gets inside to search for the tapes while he waits for Connie to show up with me. Maybe, he thinks Connie has the tapes on her, or they are in the office. He starts to search, not knowing that Vinnie had put in a new alarm on his private office door and on the cage for collateral merchandise."

"Right," Ramon said. "Then the alarms go off. He panics. He doesn't want to get caught inside the office. Hell, he doesn't want to be anywhere near there when the cops show up. He decides to fall back, maybe watch and see what happens from a distance. He can't afford to leave. He needs to know where the tapes are, so he can get them later. He decides to wait and see which one of you leaves with them. Then he can follow."

That scenario freaked me out; I was supposed to meet Connie by myself. If I would have gone, we both might be pushing up daisies now. The thought gave me goose bumps.

"When Connie was out front waiting, why didn't he just grab her? He could have made her tell him where the tapes were." Lester asked.

"It was probably too risky, or he didn't know she was out front until after the alarm had gone off." Tank said.

"He probably thought I would come alone." I said. "He was counting on it."

Cal nodded. "Exactly."

The tapes were still in the pack we retrieved them in. They sat close to Tank. Hector was bringing over equipment to have the tapes copied, but it was taking a while. It was hard to get that kind of equipment after office hours. We all watched the building. The flood lights had all been turned on and a team of armed guards were patrolling. The entire building was lit up like a Christmas tree. Although we were protected by so many people, I still felt on edge.