St. Clair Ch. 04: The Angel

"You left out the part about it not really being our problems and would we kindly fuck off and let the professionals do their job."

"That's the part that started with 'We appreciate your professional concern.' Isn't it?"

"That'd be it."

"My eyes kind of glazed over at that point."

"I hope they have their shit together."

"Me too."

Shannon flipped another paper over. "Any ideas on the sugar maple thing? Miss Charlotte's blamed everyone from high school students to the Freemasons to alien invaders. She's just about hysterical. Too many suspects. There's hardly anyone for a hundred miles that hasn't crossed her path in a bad way."

TJ held her hand up helplessly. "We've done our best. I'm guessing a tree company was paid to remove a tree, got the wrong address and never figured it out. Or, if they did, they're keeping their mouths shut rather than pay her for the tree. The whole thing was removed and cleaned up, a vandal would have just cut it down."

"That's as good a theory as any. I'm not ruling out the space aliens though."

###

Jefferson City, Missouri

###

Cooper sat down across from the tattooed man. He'd forgone his usual suit and tie and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. The mid-grade steakhouse was perfect for the meeting; lots of dark corners and few customers in the mid-afternoon. Cooper was under no illusions - as much as he'd like to believe he was a player as a state Senator, he knew the hipster hostesses and waiters were more likely to recognize almost any obscure Seattle Indy music artist than someone who could and frequently did directly impact their lives.

After ordering, Senator Cooper sat back. "I found your girl."

"Where at?"

"We'll get to that. First we need to talk about a deal. I want something too."

"Don't you want the recordings?"

Robert Cooper smiled in a way that made it clear he was just as much a predator as Ramon. "And take your word there are no copies? Bullshit. We do this, it's a long-term deal. I know who you are, Ramon. I could have had the police here to roll you up. Once I had the girl's name it was easy to figure out. The FBI really wants to talk to you. But I think we can avoid that trouble."

Ramon tried not to glare at the man. It'd always been a risk, but he really wanted to get back in the game, back in the big leagues. "What do you want?"

Cooper tossed an envelope down on the table in front of Ramon, wondering for a moment if Ramon picked up on the irony that it was the same envelope he'd used. "That man and his wife need to die. They live in the same county as your ex-wife."

A bearded old man stared back at Ramon from a picture. Probably a copy of a driver's license picture. "Why?"

"Does it really matter?" He shrugged. "It's a family issue. He killed my father, and nobody ever proved it." He didn't mention the other men his uncle had said went missing with his father. It probably wasn't important.

Ramon shrugged, glancing at a map with an address. "This should be simple."

"You could kill him first, then kill your wife. He lives out in the woods away from everybody. She's a cashier at the grocery store during the day. Make her death look like a robbery gone wrong. Just keep it as simple as possible."

"That would work."

###

Cooper was mildly annoyed that Ramon had ordered prime rib and stuck him with the bill, but would've been really annoyed had he heard Ramon and Levi later that afternoon.

"You get everything lined up?"

Levi nodded absently, chewing his way through a cheap hamburger. "They're not pros, but my guy says they're solid. Bosnian gang out of Saint Louis, coming up. He's used them to protect product and sometimes as back up for serious stuff."

"I don't want to work with a bunch of kids. Or ragheads."

"We don't have the money for pros. We need a car, a couple extra guys to cover us and that's it. They're not religious types anyway. Second generation, no interest in all that bullshit. Just want a chance to make money."

Ramon frowned. "We need a couple more guys, reliable ones, and another car. Cooper wants a guy taken out and I'm not driving all over the place knocking off people."

Levi looked at him in confusion. "What's it matter what he wants?"

"He ID'd us, he can bring heat. It's an easy gig anyway, just an old man and his wife living out in the boondocks. Maybe we can work this into a long-term connection, expand sales out this way. Give us something else to bring to Gutierrez."

"That'll cost extra."

"They should be cheap. A fucking street gang. That's pretty fucking sad. We can pay them off with some of the meth."

Levi kept his mouth shut for a second. Stealing the drugs to try to set up on his own had sounded like a great idea at the time, but it had been a total disaster. He knew Ramon was paranoid, but figured he would believe the shortage was on the shipping end, and he'd just have the drugs cut more to avoid problems. Gutierrez showing up had ruined that completely. Levi'd been relieved but shocked when Ramon turned on Amy. He repeated himself. "My guy says they're solid."

"A fucking street gang? Christ."

###

Chillicothe Correctional Center, Missouri

###

"Tammi said you wanted to see me." TJ watched Angie through the glass.

Angie smiled, not a smile that Tammi ever saw. A predatory smile. "Just wanted to talk to you for a little bit. Did she tell you I'm going in for the experimental surgery in a couple days?"

"She did." TJ leaned back. "But it won't make a difference, will it?"

"I might live."

"That's not what I mean. I know, Angie. Not everything, but enough."

Angie raised one eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that it was never the tumor that made you this way. You've been this all your life, or at least most of it. You've been hiding it from everyone. You even lied to me about when it started, and you were planning on killing me. The skeleton under the tree wasn't Buck." She saw a flicker of quickly suppressed rage cross Angie's face. "The man was at least thirty, besides the grave was way too old. You must've been a lot younger, maybe even sixth grade. A long time before the doctors think the tumor started growing. The marks on the ribs show you didn't really know what you were doing yet. You kind of hacked your way through the bottom ribs."

Angie's smile tilted a bit and her lip curled. "He thought he was going to get a helpless little girl. He got dead instead."

TJ nodded. "I figured it was something like that.There were some pretty savage tool marks on the pelvic bone."

"So is this where we talk about how the mental trauma of it turned me into a horrible monster?" Angie's voice sing-songed mockingly.

"I don't think so. I don't have any proof, but I think you lured him back there on purpose."

Angie got a slightly dreamy look. "You should have heard him scream."

"You know, I could be recording all this."

Angie sniffed a short laugh. "They're never going to let me out anyway. Even if I live. Besides, I'm crazy, why believe me?"

TJ rubbed her eye patch. "You also planned to get pregnant, didn't you? Swede said you told him you were on the pill, but I searched your place. There were no birth control pill packs anywhere, but I found a half dozen unused pregnancy test kits in a drawer, that made me look harder. I found your Clomid. It's a fertility treatment."

Angie shrugged. "I found out about the tumor and knew I didn't have much time. It's the only immortality we have TJ. I know, really know, that everyone dies. All we have is our legacy, our children. Swede was perfect. Big as hell, strong as an ox, healthy and smart. Sex with him wasn't exactly a chore, you know? He's a gorgeous man. Not that you'd really appreciate that."

"Maybe not the way you do, but he's actually a good guy, Angie. I appreciate that."

"He's not like us, is he, TJ? He's the real thing, a really good person. He's too good. He'd always do the right thing. That's why I had to ask Tammi to get you here. I have to know."

"Know what?"

"What are you willing to do? One way or another, I'm leaving you with our girls." Angie's face went dead serious. "What are you willing to do for them?"

TJ sensed that the question was almost infinitely important to Angie, but all she could do was answer honestly. "They're all I have, Angie. They're everything to me."

Angie studied her, then smiled with real warmth. "That's what I thought. Swede would do the right thing for them." Her smile widened a bit more, just a hair too much. "But you? You'd do anything."

###

Bevo Mills, Saint Louis, Missouri

###

"This is a really bad idea." Luka watched the two guys get into their beater car and pull away, the engine stuttering awkwardly. Coming out of retirement had been a really bad idea. Not as bad as making that huge bet on a bad horse that forced him to look for work in the first place, but bad, nonetheless.

Tarik shook his head. "David says these guys are big time. The real thing, they just need a bit of muscle right now. You want to be a player, don't you?"

"Didn't look big time to me." Luka. "Bald guy looked like a fucking tweaker. I don't trust tweakers. And most of the pay is in meth, you'll have to move that to make this worth anything at all."

Tarik grinned. "I have a plan." He held a finger up. "We'll need some vans, Dino and Adem to drive. Hamza, Emil, Petar, and that cousin of his, Filip."

Luka frowned. "What for?"

"It's a little not-shit town, but it has a bank. The banks in those little towns have to be easy targets. You, me, Hamza, and Emil hit the bank. Petar and Filip guard the vans, and watch for cops. We'll be in and out in a couple of minutes."

"Really?"

"You and my uncle did a bunch of banks, you can make sure we know what we're doing."

"What about the old man and his wife?" Luka felt a migraine starting.

"Josip and Mustafa."

The migraine blew into full flame at the mention of the two enforcers-for-hire. "They aren't giving us enough to pay those two."

"We'll have more than enough from the bank."

"What about the cops?"

"There's only a sheriff's office. Probably three deputies on duty at most, a couple of jailers maybe. We'll be gone before anybody can respond. What could go wrong?"

With that Luka's migraine seemed to take on a life of its own.

###

One week later. Scenic Overlook, Route 63, Central Missouri 6:30 AM

###

"What the holy fuck? I don't remember saying this was a fucking school field trip." Ramon glowered at Levi. "'Solid?' There are of ten of them. And don't get me started on the fucking vans, I'm not even sure how those pieces of shit are running." He hissed it as quietly as possible. Two more guys had showed who obviously weren't part of Tarik's gang. These two were a little older, clearly steroid users, and looked almost as annoyed as Ramon felt. They'd already insisted on taking their own car to deal with the old man and his wife, and wanted nothing to do with the rest of the plan. The flashy track suits marked them as guys that had "worked" in Eastern Europe; their accents had Ramon pretty convinced it'd been pretty recent, though their English was certainly good enough.

The meet-up at the scenic overlook had gone pretty smoothly, all things considered. With Ramon and Levi coming out of Jefferson City, and the Bosnians coming out of Saint Louis, meeting at the right time seemed a bit of a stretch, but everybody showed up on time, and no sightseers were around to invade the privacy of their preparations. Two vans and a car with eight wannabe gangsters and a couple real hitters pulling up was a shock. Tarik's "plan" - if it could be called that - had come as a real shock. Ramon managed to keep a straight face while all the kids stood around nodding and grinning like fucking idiot bobble head dolls.

Tarik was handing out guns to his buddies. He had a pile of them in the back of one of the vans, mostly battered Glock 19s; cheap, reliable, and no confusing thumb safeties to complicate things. He even had a couple old AK-47s that he handed out to Luka and one of the others, a jittery, nervous-looking guy named Petar. The Luka guy was the only bright spot; he seemed competent and was obviously a lot older than the rest.

"Look, let's just get this done and get out of here. Their plan isn't that bad. It'll be a good distraction, everybody will just assume Cindy got killed as a bystander."

"That kid probably had to YouTube how to shoot the AKs. Besides, what if these idiots get rolled up by the cops?" Ramon wondered if maybe he should just cancel the whole thing and just go down and pop her. This was way more complicated than he needed.

"They won't say anything. There's nothing to gain by it. Get rolled up for bank robbery then give the excuse that it was part of murder-for-hire? Doesn't make any sense." Levi checked the Mossberg 500 shotgun reflexively, keeping it below the car door.

Ramon eyed the two enforcers. They looked like they could be trouble if Ramon tried to call it all off. They'd still want to get paid, and Ramon just didn't have the cash for it. He was pretty sure he could take them with Levi's help, but that would probably mean trouble, and who knew what Tarik's gang would do if shit went sideways? The enforcers were pros too, low level, but pros. They'd even brought their own guns and surgical gloves. If the Tarik kid fucked up the bank robbery, then it'd be his fault.

Despite the sick, queasy feeling in his gut, Ramon decided to go with it. But half an hour later, Ramon was still fuming over Tarik's plan. He decided he'd have Levi stay with the bank crew to make sure they didn't fuck up, while he dragged the Hamza kid with him to deal with Cindy.

###

Saint Clair, Missouri 7:15 AM

###

"One coffee, one hungry man special." Ellie slid the cup, then the oversize platter in front of Don.

"Looks good. Is that an extra strip of bacon there?"

"Sure is. Gotta take care of my best customer."

"I knew I was your favorite. It shows." He patted his gut. "Right here."

Ellie gave a mock-distressed look. "You sendin' that bacon back?"

"Hell no." Don took a sip of his coffee. "You drive Harlan's farm truck in today?"

"You saw that in the lot?" Ellie grimaced. "I had to. Harlan took the car to Saint Louis for a meeting and the van's down at AJ's getting the brakes done. I know the truck doesn't have any plates, but you know how it is. Had to get the kids to school."

Don nodded. "That qualifies as an emergency. Besides, I already accepted the bribe." He held up the slice of bacon. "I just have to eat the evidence before Shannon gets here. He's walking down here to pay for the cooler of sweet tea for the barbeque."

"Why's he walking down here?"

"He's been trying to get exercise lately. Doctor's orders."

"Well, if he walks here, at least he won't see the truck."

"You can't bribe him with bacon. Doctor's orders." Don sipped his coffee again. "We had all those car break-ins for a while, you lock your truck up?"

Ellie nodded. "Harlan's deer rifle is in there. Hate to lose that. He doesn't need an excuse to buy another one."

"Pretty sure it was Elvis, taking ashtray change from unlocked cars mostly, and he has another two months in the can for the Great Post It Note Heist, but you can't be too careful."

"'Can't be too careful?' That's what the world's come to, isn't it?"

"Sometimes."

Ellie twisted her mouth in a pensive grimace, then waved dismissively. "We can't do anything about that. We can't fix the world, but we can enjoy the extra bacon."

"Very wise." He held up another slice of bacon. "This will probably be the high point of my day."

###

8:00 AM

###

Josip rubbed his eyes. "I can't turn left here. There's no fucking road."

"That's what the GPS says."

"I don't give a shit what the GPS says. Use the map."

"The map doesn't even show the goddam road we're on." Mustafa waved the map helplessly.

Josip yanked the map from Mustafa's hand and began tracing their route from the interstate. "Shit."

"I told you. That's why I was using the GPS. Fucking middle of nowhere. Nothing but trees."

"Tarik is going to pay extra for this shit."

"You sure he has the money?"

"If he doesn't, I'm using a blowtorch on his skinny ass." Josip began to turn the car around. "I may do it anyway. This is like driving into the movie Deliverance, I can practically hear the fucking banjos. Figure out a route on the map. I'm headed back towards the Interstate. We'll start over."

###

Tammi guided the little brown car around another pothole. "County needs to get this road patched. Been what? Almost two years?"

TJ glanced up in the visor mirror and watched Courtney. She'd lasted five minutes gnawing on her little bear before falling asleep; she always fell asleep quickly on car rides. "It's on the list. Just a lot lower than the bridge repairs."

"Mmmm. Yeah, Angie's little tidal wave did a number on the bridges over the Big Bramble. I had no idea bridges were so expensive." Tammi weaved around another crater.

"The Board is supposed to vote on some funds for fixing up some of the worst potholes this month, especially the ones this close to town. At least the ones that might swallow a semi. One of the State Troopers blew a tire on a cruiser during a pursuit last week, so they'll probably approve the money."

"I'd think they would. Just glad it wasn't you."

"That's why I still drive the Beast."

Tammi smiled. "I thought it was just for the fun of picking up the drunks."

TJ chuckled. "Let's see, we need cabbage, vinegar and celery seed..."

###

The truck hummed eagerly, bound for the FOB, a few short hours away. The one place they could really rest. Not for too long of course, the dreams, the nightmares, always followed if they stayed in one place too long. But Marina and the truck knew that, for a single night at least, Staff Sergeant James could stand guard for her.

###

"Maybe you should just move in completely." Swede said it easily enough, but he knew as well as Jenny did how loaded that statement was. She could hear it in his voice.

Jenny winced inside. She'd known it was coming; she'd walked right into this one herself. Complaining about the cost of her apartment. Swede made perfect sense. She was all but living at his house along the river full time anyway. Her clothes were there, most of her books, pretty much everything. Swede was great, he didn't even complain when she took over half his closet. Still, Jenny was waiting; it was probably just a matter of time before it all came apart. It always did. Every boyfriend or lover she'd ever fallen for had betrayed her. Logically she knew she'd just had a rash of bad judgment; in her gut though, she feared her mom's claim of a family curse.

"I'll think about it." She noticed his jaw set as she gave her usual answer. His patience was wearing thin, it had to be. Even Jenny felt like she was in first gear when she should be in third. She knew Swede was only putting off proposing to give her a little space. He'd made a point of asking if she wanted to walk through some jewelry stores while they were shopping and seeing a show in Saint Louis. Worse than that, her own feelings were starting to get unmanageable. She could see the way Swede looked at her when they had Courtney; like he was thinking of what she'd look like carrying their baby. Instead of making her uneasy, that made her feel like she was going to melt. It was really starting to scare her.