Chapters 36 &37 Unmitigated Greed

Chapter 36

Frank’s flight back to D.C. from Chicago felt smoother than his trip out was partly due to less turbulent air, but mostly because he had eliminated a potential problem without anyone getting hurt. Now he would have to wait and see if the pesky mechanical problems vanished. If they did, than Chicago was permanently good to go.

Tuxedo was his next problem to be reconciled. Frank had deliberately not contacted Mike because he needed to see how well his new hire could handle the job on his own. Similar to Chicago in the middle of the country, the D.C. location was a linchpin location for the Eastern Seaboard. Having strong leadership there was a must and Mike seemed to check all the boxes. He would soon find out.

Frank landed on time and his car was waiting for him at the Avis lot. Outbound traffic on New York Ave. was surprisingly light and he found himself pulling into Monument Tours lot in under half an hour. What he saw pleased him. The pump trucks were finishing draining the contaminated fuel from the last of the coaches and Mike was talking to them about how much gasoline residue might still be in the empty tanks. The two new hires were sweeping the rubble from the fire off the paved lot. It appeared Mike had everything under control.

Frank parked, gave everyone a brief wave, and walked into the office where he was greeted by two very enthusiastic ladies.

Frank, welcome back! I hope everything went well. We’ve really been making progress on getting this place up and running and Rita has some great news for you.”

“Okay Rita, what do you have for me?”

“We just landed a great paying contract to provide shuttles a convention starting in two weeks.”

“That’s great, Rita and the timing is perfect. The money we get from this job will help rebuild this place. If you find a couple more like this we can start rebuilding the rest of the company as well.”

Frank turned and was heading to his office when Mike came in. Before he and Frank could exchange greetings, Brenda motioned for them to both follow her to Mike’s office. Once inside she closed the door and began speaking.

“Frank, while you were gone Mike asked me to try and retrieve cloud footage from the night of fire. I wasn’t sure it was possible, but I guess modern tech is much better than I thought. This is what I found.”

Brenda turned the screen so everyone could see it and pressed the play button. Two men entered the lower left side of the screen and opened the gate wide enough for a third man to drive their car through. They popped open the trunk and each man grabbed a five-gallon gas can and headed for the row of parked buses. Each man took two buses dumped half a can of gas into each coach. When two of the men were done they brought the empty cans back to the car grabbed what looked like small propane torches and headed for the office building.

The third man emptied the remnants of his gas can in the fuel tank and then tossed it by the back bumper. He must have had some basic knowledge of buses because his next move was to activate the air pressure so he could open the door. Frank and associates watched as the vandal slashed seats and smashed windows.

From the far end of the screen came a bright flash as the office and garage went up in flames. Before the camera went black two faces were illuminated by the fire, they belonged to Angus and Connor. The third arson remained in the shadows, but Frank already knew who he was.

“I said I didn’t trust those two, Frank. We need to get the police here now.”

“Not so fast Mike. What we need to do is send a strong message to who ever it is these clowns work for first. Then we can have the cops arrest what’s left.”

“Just what do you have in mind? I know you’re pissed, but as much as you want to kick some ass, it needs to be done legally. You don’t want to jeopardize everything you’ve built do you?”

Brenda spoke for the first time. “I might be able to help if you let me. They filled out employment forms. We can use those documents to potentially get some information. Maybe I can see who they previously worked for if the information on the form isn’t bogus. It could be a competitor or someone with a personal grudge agenst the previous owner.”

Frank took a breath and slowly exhaled, trying his best to bring his temper under control.

“Okay, you two have a point. These men are just hired help. It’s their boss who I really want.”

“I have another idea. We could take a more direct approach. Invite them into the office, show them the video, tell them the cops are on the way and whoever tells us who ordered the hit gets a head start on their getaway. The other one gets tied to a chair and waits for the cops.”

“I like the way you think, Mike. The only thing that would make it better would be if we had a tracker to put on the car of the one that ratted on his boss.”

Brenda broke out into a soft, nefarious laugh.

“Mike, when you were clearing out the parts room did you see any boxes labeled Brick House Security?”

“Yes, there were several of them, but I didn’t have time to see what they were.”

“We install trackers on all of our equipment incase of a breakdown in a remote area or some other unexpected incident happens. Brick House makes the tracker we use. They attach magnetically and the battery lasts for three days if the device isn’t hardwired.”

“Oh, this is too good. Every bus company should have an office manager like you. What do you think, Mike?”

“I think she has a job for life. I’m going to find one of those boxes and see if the bug still works.”

“Good. If it’s functional, find somewhere on their car to hide it and let me know when you’re done. Once that’s all set, we’ll get Angus and Connor to come into the office to watch a training video. That’s when we’ll spring our little surprise. Brenda, once our subjects are in the office I need you to call Sargent Smith and tell him we have one of the firebugs in custody. I’m sure he’ll be happy to stop by.”

Mike and Brenda stood to leave but Frank gestured for Mike to remain for a moment more.

“Mike, I doubt these guys are just going to through up their hands and say you got me. Do you have your gun with you?”

“Don’t leave home without it, as the saying goes. How about you?”

“Same. I hope they’re not necessary, but you never know. I just want to say thanks for your help.”

Mike nodded his head and left the office. While he was looking for the tracking device a feeling of sadness washed over him. There had been other covert jobs where he had felt a slight closeness to a suspect, but nothing like the bond he had formed with Frank. Mike decided then and there that this would be his last undercover job.

It didn’t take long for Mike to locate the boxes labeled Brick House. He opened one, flipped the switch to on, and the device immediately buzzed to life. It was small, so he slipped it in a pants pocket and headed for the car parking lot. Frank watched as Mike casually walked to Angus and Connor's car and briefly dropped out of sight to place the tracker. When Mike popped back into view, Frank told Brenda to get Sargent Smith on the phone.

Mike walked over to where the two men were working and called out to get their attention.

“Hey guys, time for a break from the dirty work. Frank brought back a new training video that he wants everyone to view. I know most of these tapes are really boring, but I found this one quite enlightening. Tell me what you think after you see it.”

The three of them walked into the main office where Brenda and Rita were standing next to the coffee machine. As soon as the men went into Frank’s office and closed the door, both ladies quietly exited the building.

Frank sat behind his desk and turned his computer so that the two men could see the screen clearly. Mike stood with his back agenst the door. When everyone was settled Frank addressed the men.

“Gentlemen, Mike and I came across this video and wanted to see what you had to say about it.” He pressed play.

The men’s expressions went from bored to interested to oh shit all in a matter of two minutes. Their eyes pivoted from Mike to Frank, and back to Mike, who was now standing with his pistol lowered in front of him. Angus slowly moved one hand toward his wrist holster on the other when Mike simply shook his head no.

“You don’t really think that derringer is a match for this automatic do you?”

Angus slowly moved his hand back toward his side. With Mike covering both of them Frank removed the small pistol from Angus and a straight razor from Connor. Then he zip tied both men before resuming his chat.

“Let me fill you boys in on what’s going to happen. The cops are already on the way. Whoever answers my questions first gets to leave before they get here. The other one gets to go for a ride in a police car. So, question number one, who hired you to torch this place?”

“You’ll get nothing out of us. You have no idea who you’re dealing with, you stupid bastard. The law may put us in jail for a couple of years, but it’s a whole lot better than being dead. That’s exactly what will happen if we rat out our boss. Right, Connor?

“That’s right! This fire was just a friendly warning. If you bring your organization into our turf there will be blood and not just yours, but your families as well. Think on that.”

Mike and Frank exchanged glances before Frank spoke again.

“Mike, give me their phones.”

The two thugs looked confused, as Mike went through their pockets and handed over their cells.

“I’m going to let you both go on one condition; you need to deliver this message to your boss in person. We need to meet face to face by tomorrow evening to work out a truce or it’s all out war. It’s a war he can not win. Connor, stand up and face Mike.”

Connor did as instructed. With lightning speed Frank opened the straight razor and sliced the mans little finger off. Connor howled in pain as he wabbled unsteadily trying his best not to pass out. Frank placed the severed finger in Angus’s shirt pocket.

“This seems to be your boss’s preferred method of communication so you can tell him message received and answered. Now get out of here before the cops show up.”

Mike tossed Connor a towel to absorb the blood as they scrambled out the door.

Chapter 37

As Angus and Connor were scrambling out of the office and into their car, Brenda and Rita, startled by the scream of pain they heard coming from Franks office, pushed into the room to see if everyone was all right. What they saw was Frank with blood spatter on his shirt and Mike sopping up a blood-smeared desk.

“Oh-my-God Frank, are you all right?”

Mike answered for him, “he’s all right. This looks worse than it is. Showing them the video evolved into a fist fight. Bloody noses tend to spray blood if their hit hard enough. They got away but we still have the tape and the tracker. We’ll get them.”

About five minutes later the police arrived. Smith was disappointed that he had no one to arrest, but was pleased to have a video of the crime.

This video is all the D.A. will need to put these two away for a very long time. It’s a shame we didn’t get a clear picture of the third guy, but I’m sure one of them will roll on him if he’s offered a lighter sentence.”

Frank had no comment since he already knew the ending to that story.

Sergeant Smith left with a copy of the video and instructed everyone to contact him if they came up with anything else. Mike walked him to his car and thanked him for the quick response. Frank waited until everyone was back in the office and then addressed the three of them.

“This has definitely been an eventful afternoon. I want to thank each one of you for helping expose these creeps for the criminals they are. It’s already Friday afternoon so let’s call it a day and start fresh Monday morning. Enjoy your weekend everyone.”

Mike hung back as Brenda and Rita headed for their cars.

“Frank, do you want me to hang back and see if I can pick up the tracker.”

“No, you’ve done more than your fair share already. Time to spend some quality time with your girlfriend.”

“Okay, just know that I’m only a phone call away.”

Time for everyone to check in with someone.

As soon as Mike left the bus yard he gave Bill a call and updated him on the day’s events.

“This sounds like the start of a very ugly turf war, Mike. Do you need me to send in some back-up? They can be cleaners or mechanics, whatever you need.”

“I think you’re right, but I’m not sure how big this other organization is. The severed finger might be the end of it, but somehow I doubt it.”

“Me too, Mike, me too. Be careful and stay in touch.”

Mike wasn’t the only one making a call to his boss. At least this time Frank’s call was being received in the early evening instead of the dead of night.

“North America, I assume all went well in Chicago.”

Fuchs wasn’t much for small talk. Why waist time asking how someone was when all he really cared about was how much money they made or cost him.

“Chicago has been managed without any lingering issues. D.C. is where it’s about to get ugly.”

Frank described all the events that took place earlier in the day from discovering the surveillance tape to severing one of the oppositions fingers. He let Fuchs know about the tracking device on their car and how it was now parked in front of Five Stars warehouse.

“Frank, I told you not to get involved in a turf war. There are other cities we can set up operations in.”

“Yes sir you told me that, and I have done my best to avoid this war, but they are the ones that keep escalating things. First they burn down our shop and sabotage our buses, then they send the men that set the fire to come work for us and attempt to create more havoc. How much of this are we supposed to take before we take action?”

There was such a long silence on the other end of the phone that Frank started to wonder if he had lost the connection. Finally, Fuchs issued his instructions.

“Don’t take any further action until you hear from me, and I mean nothing, understood.”

The order was given with such a firm, direct tone that Frank could only respond with a simple, “Yes Sir.”

++++

Angus and Connor parked in front of Five Star’s warehouse and hesitated before getting out of the car. Connor had managed to slow the bleeding to a trickle, but the pain was still excruciating. They had considered driving to a neighboring state and then looking for help at an emergency clinic, but that would only compound an already bad situation. No, their best choice was to face Quinn and deal with his vile temper. They each took a deep breath to steady their nerves and walked into the building.

“What in the bloody hell happened to you two.”

They had video of us setting the fire, Boss.”

“Video! You two lame brains didn’t destroy the surveillance cameras?”

“We did, but they have everything stored on in the cloud. There was nothing we could do about it.”

“And you, Connor, you’re bleeding all over my floor. What the hell happened to you?”

“Frank Mason is what happened.” Angus answered as he reached into his shirt pocket and removed Connor’s severed finger. “He told me to tell you, Message received and answered,” as he tossed the finger on Quinn’s desk.

Quinn could no longer contain his furry. Using one arm, he swept the finger and everything else on his desk to the floor. With the other hand he drew his pistol and fired two shots striking each of his subordinates in the forehead. Quinn stared at the still bleeding bodies for a minute then holstered his gun, grabbed his coat and headed for his car muttering, “It’s like my father always said, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.”

++++

Valentine Fuchs was not the kind of man to act on impulse or allow his temper to get the best of him, but there comes a time when enough is enough. He took out an encoded satellite phone, pushed a single digit and waited for his call to be answered.

Declan Connelly had just returned home from an enjoyable supper at a popular Dublin restaurant with his wife. He didn’t get to enjoy many evenings out with her because work always seemed to get in the way. Being the founder and CEO of Five Star Transportation didn’t give him a lot of time for the finer things in life. Just when he thought tonight might be one of those rare exceptions, his work phone rang displaying an encrypted number. Declan knew only one person would be calling on that line, Fuchs.

“Valentine, my friend, it’s been a while. What can I do for you.”

“You can do something about your man Quinn, that’s what. He is hell bent on destroying my D.C. location. Do you know about the fire?”

“Fire, no, I hadn’t heard. Quinn and I haven’t spoken in a couple of weeks.”

“Not only did he torch one of my facilities, but he also tortured and killed one of my long-time employee’s grandson. My North American overseer wants him gone. The only reason I haven’t given the okay is because of our arrangement.”

“Honestly, Valentine I had no idea about any of this. I sent that fuckup to the States hoping he would get in less trouble than if he stayed here. The only reason he’s still breathing is because he happens to be my brother-in-law.”

“That explains a lot. Our organizations have co-existed for many years without any major problems. It didn’t make sense to blow this arrangement up over a turf dispute. We are making too much money. He’s your man, how do you want to handle this?”

“Give me a little time to contact him and see what other stupid things he’s done, then I’ll get back to you. No matter whether one of your people does it or one of mine, I don’t think Quinn will be a problem for either of us for much longer.”

“Sounds like we’re on the same page, Declan. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

The men terminated the call. On the surface they both appeared to agree on what needed to be done and to whom. Internally both men were working through multiple scenarios involving how this negative situation could be converted into a positive one for them alone. It was all about strategy, control, and most importantly—money.