I knew with football season underway things would be in full swing. In the middle of the room were several chalkboards with spreads written on them. To the right, sitting behind a long table, were three guys. They all had computers and phones in front of them. Each of them was staring at us with total bewilderment. One of them was on the phone and I could see his mouth drop as he gawked at us.
'What the hell's this!' one of them yelled. I recognized him from years ago. I couldn't place his name but I knew he'd worked for Manny from almost the beginning. He had always been this fat greasy slob with badly pockmarked skin. Now he was fatter, greasier, and with worse skin. He got up and started towards us. The other two were trying to hide from the camera.
'What the hell all of you doing here?' he demanded. He was moving quickly, heading towards Tina with a clenched fist. I intercepted him, spinning him around and pushing him to the floor. He made kind of an oomph sound as he hit the deck.
'You assholes are in trouble,' he hissed as he lay on the floor. 'Big trouble! Just wait 'til I tell-'
I stepped down on the back of his neck. He let out a high-pitched yelp and then shut up.
Eric took video of the chalkboards and moved to the two guys who were now trying to hide behind their chairs. Tina stood frozen as she stared at me while I pressed my foot down on the slob's neck. He squirmed red-faced on the floor as I put more pressure on him.
'Are you going to just stand there,' I asked, 'or are you going to do your job?'
'What are you doing to that man?' she asked, horrified. 'Don't worry, he'll be fine. Come on, we don't have all day.'
She shook herself out of whatever stupor she had fallen Into and moved so she was standing next to the chalkboards. She was still shaking, but Eric took video of her as she pointed out the football spreads and the computers and phones on the long table. He followed her as she moved over to the two jokers who were still trying to hide themselves.
'Are you under the employ of Manny Vassey Jr.?' she asked both of them.
Neither of them said a word. They just looked like idiots as they tried to squeeze themselves behind their chairs and out of sight of the camera.
'Are you taking gambling bets?' she asked.
'Get the hell out of here and leave us alone,' one of them moaned.
We had taken enough time. I wanted to get to the crystal meth lab while we still could. From where the dumpsters were located I had a pretty good idea where it was. I went across the room and checked a door there and found it unlocked also. It was so damn careless of them. I swung the door open, and sure enough the lab was right there in plain sight. Two kids were working in it. My guess was they were both probably chemistry majors in college. They looked annoyed when I walked in, and then both went wide-eyed when Eric trailed behind with his camera. Tina squeezed past Eric. She had more color in her face now.
'Who are you guys?' one of the kids muttered.
'We're with WVRT news,' Tina announced as she held out her microphone in their direction. She moved towards them so Eric could take video of her sticking her microphone inches from their faces. Are you manufacturing crystal meth here?'
'Yeah,' one of the kids answered. He looked shell-shocked. I guess it hadn't quite dawned on him what was happening until it was too late. When it did hit him, I could see the color bleed out of his face. H^e turned his back to the camera, trying to shield himself from view. His friend was already covering his face with his shirt.
'Are you working for Manny Vassey Jr.?' Tina asked.
'Leave me alone,' he begged.
'Can you please answer my question?'
He didn't move or say a word.
I looked out the door and could see one of the guys talking frantically on the phone. I grabbed Tina by the arm. 'Let's get out of here,' I said. 'I'd like to ask them more questions,’
‘We better get out now.'
She was going to argue with me, but I swung her towards the door and something about the look on my face told her she'd better listen. Eric followed, muttering to himself how unbelievable the whole thing was.
The slob had picked himself off the floor and was standing off to the side, glowering at us as we passed by. I should've paid him more attention. All of a sudden I heard Eric yell out. I turned and saw the slob trying to wrestle the camera away from him. I moved fast, got behind the slob, and pushed my foot hard into the back of his knee, and at the same time dug my forearm into his throat and twisted my body. His face turned purple and he let go of the camera so he could claw frantically at my arm. I let go of him and he tumbled to the floor, gasping for air.
All three of us got out of there then, with me trailing behind to make sure none of the jokers we^1 were leaving tried any more tricks. By the time we got outside both Tina and Eric were giggling, more from nerves than anything else.
I got behind the wheel this time and told Eric I'd drive. He didn't seem to mind. He was still shaking from the adrenalin rush of the last few minutes.
'That was, what can I say, fucking unbelievable,' he said, his body still shaking. 'It sure beats shooting video of foliage or a moose wandering around downtown Burlington. Damn, I felt like a real newsman in there.'
'I thought I was going to puke,' Tina volunteered.
'So, chief,' Eric asked, 'where next?'
I checked the clock on the dashboard. Kelley's would be just opening, but I wanted to wait until after their lunch crowd. I also didn't want to hang around Bradley any more than I had to. I had a feeling that Junior and his goons would be looking for us.
'Why don't we head back to your station? We can drop off the video, grab some lunch, and then head out again.'
I could see he was disappointed. He was still caught up in the rush of the moment, but he saw the sense in what I was saying and didn't argue. The ride back to Burlington seemed shorter. I guess we were all caught up in our own thoughts. I kept playing back in my mind Tina announcing the station call letters when we busted in on the crystal meth lab. It made me a little sick thinking about it. Even though the call letters were in big bold print on the camera, most likely none of them had the presence of mind to notice it. I couldn't see any good coming from giving Junior that information. The more I thought about it, the sicker I felt. All I could hope for was that he was in the middle of eating something like a sausage sub when he heard the news, and that it made him choke on it.
When we got back to the station Eileen was waiting for us. She looked tense when she asked Eric how things went. He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.
"This guy was unbelievable,' he said. 'You should've seen him in action. God damn, it was something.'
'His information panned out?' she asked, her eyebrows rising in both relief and surprise.
'Oh yeah, I'd say so. Let me show you what I got.'
I took a seat while the three of them crowded around a video monitor. A few other people in the office joined them. When they were done, Eileen walked over to me. 'So far so good,' she said.
I shrugged. 'Have you heard from anyone about this?’
‘No. Will I?'
'I don't know. Your reporter yelled out your station's call letters while we were there. I wish she hadn't done that.'
'You think Vassey will come here guns a-blazin'?' she asked, her lips curving into another thin smile. I didn't bother saying anything.
'I heard things got rough in there,' she said.
'Not really.'
'Not really? I understand you almost choked a man to death.'
I made a face while I shook my head. I think your people got a little too excited. All I did was disable one of Vassey's boys while he was trying to wrestle the video camera away from your cameraman. He was fine when I left him.'