As he took in the building surrounding him, he noticed the two structural columns he’d barely missed on either side. He hadn’t even seen the concrete wall in front of him. His brakes stopped the car less than a foot before he would have plowed into a concrete loading dock.
Wade didn’t know where he was or how he got there. He looked around the large building and thought, Who could possibly be open at this late hour?
He shut off his engine and got out of the car in one fluid movement. The car was still rocking from the sudden stop. Warehousemen in blue coveralls holding boxes stood frozen in place with their mouths open in disbelief at the sudden intrusion and near collision.
A sign across the top of the dock area read “Standard Import — Export.” He grabbed the pipe railing and raced up the concrete stairs to the loading dock. Slowing to a brisk walk, Wade moved toward the center of the dock, now realizing he had his gun in his hand.
A middle-aged man stood at a warehouse podium in a short-sleeve shirt and tie, checking off items as they were unloaded. A printed form was attached to a clipboard. When the man saw Wade approaching with his gun, the pen curled over his forefinger and dropped to the clipboard. The rest of his body remained motionless.
Workers looked back and forth at each other, waiting for a sign from their foreman. Packages in their hands remained suspended in midair. The men didn’t know whether to put their packages down, their hands up, or run. Wade approached the podium with a calm but urgent look on his face.
“My name is Wade Hanna. I’m undercover NOPD. I’m being followed by two mob guys, and I need to use your phone.”
“Our offices are closed, sir. We’re just finishing a late night shift. We’ll be unloaded very soon. You got a badge?”
“I was off duty when this happened. I work for Detective Jake Pisano of the NOPD downtown division. I don’t have time to stand here and discuss this. I need to get into your offices to use the phone to call for help. Just show me where the phones are.”
The man paused, looking into Wade’s eyes for some confirming sign of truth. He definitely saw conviction in Wade’s face, but wasn’t sure about truth or what this crazy man might do. He knew his job and his life might soon be on the line if he guessed wrong.
Seconds passed as the two men stared at each other in silence. Wade slowly raised his weapon, and placed his hand with the weapon on the podium. The manager briefly glanced down at the well-used weapon. It didn’t look like police issue to him.
Wade could tell he had to be convincing. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I can arrest you if I need to.”
The man looked Wade hard in the eyes. Neither man’s expression changed. The barrel of Wade’s gun was less than a foot away from the foreman. The foreman had to think quickly for himself as he looked into Wade’s eyes. He’s definitely got conviction. Conviction isn’t always ‘truth,’ but it will have to do for the moment.
The foreman finally broke the silence. “I’ve heard the name Jake Pisano on the news before. Come with me.”
They briskly walked to a door leading into the darkened office building. The foreman reached for the long chain of keys hanging from his belt and opened the door to dark offices.
“I’ll turn on the lights for you.”
Wade noticed a line of dim safety lights along the baseboard used for hurricane emergencies. “No, leave the lights off. Just tell me where the phones are.”
“Go down that hall and make the first turn to your left where all the accounting desks are. They’ll all have phones on them.”
“Have your men close those outer doors until the police arrive. By the way, what’s your name?”
“I’m Mike Cusso.”
“Thank you, Mike.”
Still fearful of what he done, Mike tentatively extended his hand.
“My pleasure.”
Chapter 4
Wade quickly moved down the darkened hall to the accounting desks, picking up the first receiver he found to dial Pisano. The extension button at the bottom of the phone glowed in the darkness — not very strongly, but enough for Wade to see the surface of the desk.
While Jake’s line rang, Wade slid the breach of his gun back to confirm he had a shell in the chamber, before resting his gun back on the desk. Jake was accustomed to getting late night calls from his men. He had his phone calls transferred to his home when there was an operation in progress. This evening, though, he was just working late. Finally Wade heard the familiar voice: “This is Detective Pisano.”
“It’s Wade. I’m being followed by two guys with bad intentions. I pulled into a warehouse on Camp Street next to the Confederate Museum. The building just happened to be open. The car following me was a late model black Ford sedan. I think they could be Lugassi’s boys.”
“Stay put. I’m on my way.”
Wade looked around the darkened room, thinking about upcoming arrivals. There was a dim light at the other end of the large room. When he removed the telephone headset, the small extension lights came on at the base of the phone. He moved the phone around and used the light to check desk drawers. Nothing in the first desk appeared helpful.
He moved to the next desk and picked up its phone, using the light to check the drawers. Again, nothing helpful. He repeated the same procedure on the third desk. In the bottom left hand file drawer, he found what he was looking for-a small flashlight.
Using the flashlight, Wade quickly scanned the layout of the room. There was a door to another room halfway down the line of cubicles to his left. He went to that door, opened it, and checked the wall panels. That wall didn’t have what he was looking for.
He spotted another door across the room near the elevators. Flashlight in hand, he ran across the room, opened the door and found a wall with the electrical box and breaker switches. He scanned the labels next to each switch and turned off all the breakers for the first floor lighting.
Wade knew the darkness would likely slow down his tail, who wouldn’t be expecting it. Darkness was his friend, and any hesitation he could create might compensate for his out-gunned position.
Now he had to find the best location from which to confront his adversaries. He ran to another door, which opened off the main hall to the employee lunch room. He beamed his light across the lunch room, over chairs and tables, to another door. That one opened into a storage room. Though he found the storage room door unlocked, it could clearly be locked from the inside, keeping out anyone in the lunch room. Wade liked what he saw.
The storage room was lined with partially-filled shelving. Another door in the storage room opened to the dock area and could also be locked from the inside. He liked the option of a second escape route to the dock. He flashed his light around one more time before deciding that was the place he would make his stand.
A position behind a shelving unit and heavy boxes offered some protection. He moved the boxes around and opened a small space between them for a shooting platform. Wade locked himself inside and took his position in the dark room. Checking his watch with one last flash from his light, he estimated another fifteen to twenty minutes before Pisano arrived.
The next few minutes in darkness seemed like hours. Tension gripped Wade every time he heard the slightest noise. He had never realized how many noises an old building made throughout the night. At one time he thought the building was breathing in a rhythm not dissimilar to his own, creaking as it stretched tired old bones.
The next sound Wade heard wasn’t from inside the building; it was someone pounding on the outside of the metal roll-up door. Wade listened carefully. A loud voice penetrated the outer steel roll-up door.