Sadly, I’m involved…
We pull up across the street and look over. The entrance to the lobby has guards either side of the door, and a front desk just visible through the glass. I can just about see three men around the desk, but there will likely be more inside.
Darkness has descended, and the rain has started to fall at a steady rate. High above us, clouds rumble in preparation for a storm.
“So what’s the plan?” asks Josh. “Basement? Service entrance? Disguise?”
“I was thinking front door,” I say.
“You mean the well-guarded, very public, glass front door over there?” he counters. “Of course you do…”
I shrug. “They’ll already have received word about their boss’ demise, if not from one of their own, then from the national news. They’ll be disorganized and running scared, which means they’ll be easy prey.”
Frank taps my shoulder and points down the street at two black vehicles approaching the building. “Who’s this?” he asks.
We look on as the doors open on the first vehicle and four men step out. One of the guys who were traveling in the back looks like a prisoner. I’ve never seen him before. They escort him over to the entrance to Trent Towers and stand, waiting. After a moment, the doors on the second vehicle open. As before, four men step out.
“Shit,” says Frank, pointing to one of the men who have climbed out of the back. “That’s Duncan, one of Trent’s two personal bodyguards.”
I look over at him. He’s a big guy, very well built and he certainly looks intimidating. Not someone you’d take for granted in a fight. I watch as he walks around the vehicle and opens the back door nearest the curb.
“Is that…?” asks Josh, looking on.
“Sure looks like him…” I confirm.
We watch as Duncan grabs Jimmy Manhattan by his arm and leads him to the front door. But before he gets chance to open it, another man comes out to meet him. He’s of similar build and height, and judging by his tense and nervous body language, I figure he’s heard about his boss.
“That’s Bennett,” Frank informs us. “Duncan’s partner in crime, and Trent’s other personal muscle.”
“Those two guys are enormous,” Josh observes.
“I did some research on them — both former cage fighters who got banned from the independent MMA circuit for excessive violence and persistent breach of health and safety regulations. They went from working the doors to protecting Trent pretty quickly.”
I study them both with a professional eye. I’m no slouch in a fight, but I know I can’t take any chances with these two, should I ever confront them.
They talk for a moment, and I watch as Duncan’s body language changes to match that of his colleague’s. Then they both drag Manhattan and the other prisoner into the building and out of sight.
“What you wanna do, Boss?” asks Josh.
“We wait.”
“For what?” Frank asks.
“Just playing a hunch. Give it half an hour, and then we’ll make our move.”
I hate being right. Not all the time — especially when I’m arguing with Josh. But when I trust my gut about how bad I think a situation might get, I definitely don’t like it when I’m dead on.
As the rain pours down, and the night sky periodically lights up with lightning, the loud wail of police sirens drifts across the city, gradually getting louder like a crescendo of broken justice. After a few minutes, pretty much the entire Pittsburgh Police Department descends on the building. There must be over twenty cruisers, blue lights flashing, blocking the road and the entrance to the building. Cops pour out, covering the street outside the entrance and blocking the road off, side arms in hand, taking up position behind the cover of their open car doors.
“Shit,” I say.
“You figured they’d call in every corrupt cop they’ve got?” says Frank, more of a statement than a question.
I nod silently, formulating a plan in my head that would get me to the top floor without getting shot. Or, at least, I’m trying to…
“We need to get rid of them if we’re to stand any chance of getting inside there,” says Josh.
“What you thinking?” I ask.
“Well, those cops might be more bent than a boomerang factory, but they’re still cops… If there’s a big enough crime reported, they’ll have to respond, surely?”
I shake my head. “No one would dare commit a crime that Trent didn’t orchestrate himself in this town, and all those cops know it… No, we need something else.”
We fall silent again, and I lean against the window and look up at the building that towers over the street. We need to get to the top floor, and the only way in or out has the entire police department guarding it. If only we can…
“Sonofabitch…” I say, piecing together a new game plan in my head, somewhat annoyed at myself for not thinking of it sooner.
“What?” asks Frank, skeptically.
I smile. “We need to think bigger.”
I’d called Oscar Brown, to make sure he was still in the city. Luckily, he was. He’d been surprised to hear from me again so soon after my last purchase, but said he was happy to help.
Frank’s driving. I’d told him to head back over to Oscar’s place and asked Josh to pull together some of our newfound fortune, ready to spend. As we approach Oscar’s warehouse, Josh appears behind me.
“I’ve moved one point five million into one of our accounts,” he announces. “I’ll move more if Oscar applies any insanity tax — which I’m sure he will, because this idea of yours is fucking crazy, Adrian. Even for you.”
“Just playing another hunch is all,” I reply.
We arrive at the warehouse facility, screeching to a halt in front of the entrance. I step out into the pouring rain and glance around. The other buildings are all quiet and look completely deserted. Only Oscar’s has a light on in the main office, which floods out through the open door, where he’s standing, leaning against the frame waiting for us.
“Back again?” he shouts over to us. “I could get used to this — you’ll be putting my kids through college at this rate!”
“Hoping I’m about to give you the means to buy your own damn college,” I reply, smiling.
Josh and Frank appear next to me, and we all stop just outside Oscar’s door.
“Guns all you got?” I ask.
He goes to reply but stops himself, taking a moment to regard me with more curiosity than usual. He shifts almost nervously on the spot before answering. “What makes you ask that?”
“Just the fact that all those warehouses over in Allentown, and those two of there, appear empty — but if they were, and you were the only show in town, you’d have moved into one front and center by the entrance, not tucked yourself away in the corner. Also, I say appears because there are fresh tire tracks in the mud by those two units, so there’s definitely something inside them. I figure, seeing as you probably own this entire estate, you got more than guns in some of these other warehouses.” I look behind me and gesture at them with my thumb. “I’ve got close to two million dollars to spend on what I hope you’re hiding over there.”
Oscar eyes each of us in turn before stroking his chin, as if in deep thought. He bursts out laughing.
“You ain’t as dumb as you look!” he says. “Just like ol’ Jimmy told me. Lemme just get my coat and I’ll give you the tour.”
As he disappears into the office, Frank nudges my arm. “What’s going on?” he asks. “What do you think he’s got over there?”