Stray Bullet (11 page)

“Where is Vinny?” she asked.

“He’ll be here later, but we’re not staying one more minute, so the hell with him!” he stated, wanting to remove her from the club without delay.

She felt warm and wet with Jack. He had a self confidence that she didn’t see around the family. They all walked on egg shells around the Don, all except Jack. Jack was also unlike the others in that he was a gentleman. He seemed to actually care about her feelings. He wanted to shade her from the grim realities of the real world, she felt secure…

“Mr Shaw, are you going already?” asked a bemused George.

“Yes, if you could tell Vinny I’ve taken Natasha home.”

“But what should I tell Brett?” asked George.

“George, another time perhaps,”
he said and he ushered Natasha out of the club.

They didn’t talk much in the taxi, as Jack was running through the evening’s options in his mind. It would be hard to resist Natasha if she made a move on him. He had fantasised on many occasions about making love to her. But he felt it would jeopardise his future in the organisation. Better simply to see how the evening turned out and allow her to take any lead.

“So, what possessed the Don to send you to meet me there?” he asked tentatively, wondering whether the Don actually had any clue as to her whereabouts.

“Oh don’t be silly, Jack. He knows we are in love.”

Jack almost choked on his own saliva and tried to change the subject
.

“Why doesn’t he allow you in the casino then?”

“He feels that gambling is an addiction for weak people. You live above the casino in Tony’s old pad don’t you?”

Jack, although used to dominating women, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the feeling that he himself was being pursued.

“You know exactly where I live. Let’s go and shoot some craps and then I’ll take you home,” he said ignoring her advances.

“No.  Let’s go up to your apartment and drink some champagne,” she said leaning towards him and stroking the side of his cheek.

“Natasha this is ridiculous. I’m going to take you home.” he said attempting to assert some authority on the situation.

“Papa wouldn’t be happy to hear that you treated me this way,” she replied with a mischievous look that Jack felt might spell trouble.

“Okay, one drink!” he said adamantly.

“Oh, Jack. I’ve never seen you angry before,” she giggled moving up close to embrace him.

God give me strength,
he thought out loud as they continued on to the casino. He could see the taxi driver smirking in the rear view mirror having followed the whole conversation, like a soap opera.

Benny nudged Greg, who had fallen asleep reading The Phoenix’s file. He orientated himself and, showing his embarrassment, quickly closed the file that lay open on his lap.

“Lucky you’re not flying commercial really, isn’t it?” said Benny smugly looking at the file marked TOP SECRET in large red letters.  “We’ll be landing soon, so you’ll need to buckle up again.”

Benny moved across to Harvey
.
“Come on, Harvey. It’s time to land.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said. Rubbing his eyes he looked over to Greg who was frantically shuffling papers into his case and smiled as if to say, glad you’re in the land of the living.

“You’ll be met by the FBI as we land. I’m afraid you don’t have clearance to enter the hangar,” Benny remarked.

They hadn’t been told the destination airfield, but clearly they would be landing at a military airfield. Neither would have imagined the VC10 would be taking them to the notorious and secret airbase, namely, area 51.

The clunk of the landing gear being lowered signified their final approach and the tannoy crackled.
Gentlemen, I’m glad to say we’re now in contact with the airfield and will be landing shortly. We hope you’ve enjoyed your trip with us.
Wing Commander Ferrous sounded tired and would find himself a bed soon after landing.

Within minutes they could see the nine large hangars of the airfield that guarded the latest weapons of stealth technology.

The VC10 made a sharp banking turn into its final approach and not before long, they felt the bump as the wheels made contact with the tarmac. The noise within the aircraft increased dramatically as the captain began slowing down the plane to a halt.

Ferrous took instructions from the air traffic control tower and rolled the plane slowly on to its allotted, spot on. Harvey watched from his seat through the small oval window as an array of cars with flashing lights chased across the airfield to meet them.

“Here comes your escort,” said Benny peering out of the window.

Greg and Harvey both got up from their seats and gathered their bags together.

“Is it okay to go up front and say goodbye to the lads?”
Greg asked Benny.

“Sure, go ahead. It will take me a few minutes back here to crank open the door.”

Greg and Harvey made their way to the cockpit to thank the crew for the flight, promising to buy them all a drink if they saw them during the detachment. It was little more than polite lip service though as they would both be travelling on to Chicago.

They soon returned to the main door where Benny was waiting, enjoying the fresh warm Nevada air that had started engulfing the cabin. He was conversing with a suited man who had climbed the steps and was waiting at the door.

“Mr Walters, Mr Bickley.” The man nodded his greeting. “Good evening. Would you follow me please?” It wasn’t a question, more an instruction.

They looked at Benny. 

“Thanks for all your help,” said Harvey and Greg nodding.  “Yes.  Cheers, Benny.” And they followed the FBI man out of the plane towards the awaiting cars.

“You look like you’re perking up a bit,” Harvey said.

“Just glad to have my feet back on the ground,” replied Greg still feeling ashamed at his lax in security on the plane.

“Okay, we’re going to get you to Chicago and start the briefing from there,” said the anonymous man anxiously.

“Do I sense a problem?” asked Greg.

“You might say that. Everything’s on hold. Our latest plant, Brett Smith, was murdered earlier this evening. We think we may have a mole.”

“Shit…” said Harvey. The stark reality of the danger he had volunteered himself into suddenly hitting home. “What went wrong?”

“We have no idea. His story and record were unquestionable. We think there must have been inside information somewhere.”

Greg slumped back in his seat, now alarmed by his own security breach.
Thank Christ I was on a military plane,
he thought to himself.

“Well if you think you’re sending me in until you’ve got this sorted, you’ve got another thing coming!” said Harvey clearly unnerved by the news.

“We’ve changed the travel arrangements. We’ll be travelling on by car from here. It’s a twenty eight hour straight drive. But it’s better that way rather than running the risk of being spotted by the Giordano gang’s scouts around the airport. No one will know we’re coming,” said agent Jim Forbes attempting to put Harvey’s mind at rest.

Greg looked at Harvey not relishing the thought of an additional twenty eight hours sitting in a car. Harvey responded with a shrug.

  “Well if it’s going to keep the operation under wraps, then I’m all for it. But we’re going to need to get changed first,” he said looking at his military green flying suit.

“That’s no problem,” replied Jim. “We’ll travel casually. I’m going to take us to a motel now so we can freshen up. Rob, that is agent Rob Clancy, is going to commandeer a camper truck for us to make the journey slightly more bearable.”

Harvey and Greg once again traded looks, seemingly impressed with the agents’ efficiency.

They travelled in two cars; Jim taking Harvey and Greg, Rob travelling separately and quickly disappearing in the opposite direction to hire the camper.

They arrived at the twenty four hour motel and Jim went ahead to hire a room. He returned with the keys to a single room in which they would quickly change and freshen up before Rob caught up with them and their new mode of transport.

“Throw of a coin to see who gets the shower first?” Greg asked looking at Harvey.

“Yeah, tails never fails,” said Harvey.

Greg flicked the coin. 

“Corny… Heads you lose!” he cheered.

The room was simple enough with its single bed, a small table and chair and a television. The bathroom was basic with a mini bath that doubled as a shower.

Back in the main room, Harvey took up residence on the bed and began flicking through the television channels. Jim had arrived with his newspaper and was demoted to the table where he started thumbing through the pages for any interesting news.

“So what do you think really happened?” Harvey asked Jim.

“It’s hard to say. There have been so many gangland killings since we put away Gotti. Everybody has been juggling for position.  Suspicions are running high on all sides. I don’t know what you’ve been briefed, but we were intending to put you in as high profile as possible. But the thought at the top has changed and we may be better long term getting you in less conspicuously. We can still help you along in building your reputation with you on the inside,” said Jim looking at Harvey unenviably. “But last thing I heard was, it’s all gone to review. We may in fact be taking you to a non-starter. Let’s wait and see, eh?”

“Two days travel for a non-starter? God I hope not!”

“Your safety will be highest on the list of priorities when they make their decision, Harvey. You got any family?” asked Jim.

“Yeah, wife and two kids. You know, the average bundle,” said Harvey.  “How about you?”

“Divorced.  But my two boys are going through college right now,” said Jim sadly. “How do they feel about you doing this job?”

Greg walked back into the room right on queue for Harvey to body swerve any more questions. 

“Okay, it’s all yours, buddy,” he said feeling refreshed.

“Right, I’d better get on with it,” Harvey said looking across to Jim.  He was relieved at having an excuse not to reply to Jim’s question.

“Any sign of Rob yet?” Greg asked.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be along soon,”
replied Jim watching as Harvey manoeuvred towards the bathroom.
Poor bastard,
he thought.

Harvey got on with it, aware that time was of a premium.  Ordinarily he would have preferred to take a long hot soak to revive his aching muscles, but given the time available and on seeing the size of the bath he opted for a shower. Standing under the piping hot jets of water, he began thinking of what Jenny, Rob and Chloe might be doing at that moment. Harvey’s mind was still working on UK time.  It would be about two a.m. at home. He wondered if Jenny would be having a sleepless night, the first in a long time that she had to sleep alone… the first of many.

“Harvey,” Greg yelled from the other room. “Rob’s back with the camper. Makes the old Volkswagen Camper look like a Mini Coupe.”

“Be out in a minute,” Harvey replied reaching out of the shower for his towel.

“Right, Greg. What’s all the fuss about?” asked Harvey as he came back into the main bedroom.

Greg pointed outside towards the parking lot.

“Look at the size of that thing,” he said in astonishment.

Harvey looked out at the huge camper. 

“Wow, I guess maybe this trip won’t be so uncomfortable after all!” he said in awe of the huge wagon astride two parking spaces at the front of the motel.

“Rob and I will have to share the driving so it’ll be necessary for us to get our heads down between stints,” said Jim pre-empting any scramble over his position for one of the bunks.

“Is it a surveillance truck?” asked Harvey looking at the array of aerials. Rob laughed. 

“No. That’s for the satellite television.”

“Don’t see anything like this in the UK,” replied Harvey as they exited the motel room and went across the car park to meet with Rob and board the camper.

“Enough about the wagon, gentlemen. It’s nothing special. Let’s get on with it,” said Jim impatiently climbing aboard.

They all followed suit; Greg and Harvey opting to explore while the two agents took their posts as driver and navigator in the front.

Down the back, Greg and Harvey looked at each other like excited children discovering new toys.

“Will you just look at this,” said Harvey in amazement looking at his new surroundings. The 1985 Honey Honey was an impressive vehicle by UK standards, but fairly run of the mill as an American tourer. At the rear end of the cabin stood a large double bed. Harvey’s eyes scanned the interior past the kitchenette with all its mod cons.  There were two full length sofas which, they would discover, doubled as beds and an array of electronics from the state of the art satellite TV to music systems and some form of CB radio. Even the front seats could swivel 360 degrees to extend the main cabin area.

“Christ,” said Greg. “It’s nicer than my apartment back home,” he exclaimed opening a door to reveal the on-board toilet facility.

“It would do wonders for the morale of the lads doing stakeouts in something like this, don’t you think?” laughed Harvey, imagining proposing this idea to the bosses at the acquisitions department back home.

“Just a little bit conspicuous, Harv,” replied Greg enjoying the banter.

“Listen. Why don’t you two children get some shut eye? This is going to be a long haul,” sounded the thundering voice of Jim at the front, clearly wondering what all the fuss was about.

Greg and Harvey exchanged smirks before regaining their composure; “So what are we in UK time, Harv?”

“Hmmm…about three a.m., I reckon. In fact, I could use some shut eye.”" He started arranging the cushions on the sofa in preparation for some sleep, his mind slipping back to the UK, again wondering whether his family would be sleeping soundly in his absence.