Gunslinger - A Jessie Carr Novel #2 Page 15

  Suddenly I needed to be in two places at once. I couldn’t just leave Rachael and run to New York; then I had an idea. I grabbed my local cell phone and called Shelby “Hey, I need some help.” Shelby asked “Ok, is Rachael ok, what’s up, you need me there?” I though it over, I need to do this “Here’s the deal, I need some way for you and one other person to legally carry a weapon in Jefferson Parish, what can you think of?” I could almost hear the wheels turning, “I mean the best is a licensed security guard, on the job. A security guard can’t just carry a weapon anytime; they need to be on a job or traveling to and from a job. I need to do a little checking, how rushed is this?” I laughed, “How about yesterday.” Shelby laughed, “I should have known, no doubt our New York friend. So I know a guy, but it might cost, I assume money is no object?” I was nodding my head, “I don’t care how much it cost, see what you can do and call me back, oh one other thing. I need to be in New York tonight, I don’t care how late; can you get me a flight and hotel, Manhattan, Times Square Area?” He said ok and we disconnected.

  There was an uncomfortable silence between Walter and myself, he wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure how I would react. “Walter I know you are curious, and this does involved you. There is a threat to us, your mother included. If you want to walk away now, I understand, if you stay, you life could be in danger.” Again he looked insulted, “That’s my mother in there, and I’m not going anywhere.” I smiled, “Good, it’s almost time to see her again, let’s go.”

  Chapter 66

  We stayed almost fifteen minutes with Rachael; I was elated; she had squeezed my hand. The nurse said she had actually opened her eyes for several seconds, all signs of progress, we hoped.

  Back in the waiting room my mood was elevated. Could this actually be something promising? We sat for another hour, but neither discussed the problem, only the hopeful signs Rachael showed. One hour and fifteen minutes after I had called, Shelby called back. I hit the speaker phone; I figured Walter should understand what he was getting himself into. “Hey, what you got.” Shelby answered “Ok, long story short, I knew a corporate lawyer from back in the day, kind of shady guy, but effective. We made a few calls and found something interesting. Seems a CEO of a security firm got caught with one hand in the cookie jar and the other on his secretary’s ass, well, he needed help, bad. For a meager 1.6 million American dollars we just bought controlling interest in Black Talon Global Security and Protective Services, based out of Dover, Delaware. I paid an extra two hundred thousand to the secretary to forget the gropes, and another three hundred thousand to grease the skids; you with me so far?” I hoped this was going somewhere that would help us, so I let him continue. “Well anyway, we now own this company, its assets and its debts. Debts are minimal for a company this size couple hundred thousand, but the assets are nice, a warehouse full of equipment, just the equipment, not the warehouse. But most important thing for us is their database and their certifications. We have the ability to issue certified training certificates for weapons training and issue carry permits to our employees. You got that?” Now I understood “Oh yes, I got that, and we own it immediately, is that correct?” Shelby laughed, “You bet ya, lock stock and barrel, our attorney has faxed all the necessary paper work, and the new CFO, that would be me, signed them. I made a wire transfer to the necessary parties, signed sealed and delivered.”

  I knew if anyone could do it, Shelby could. “That’s great, so how quickly can we get the necessary paper work here for our agents?” Again he laughed, “I can have everything we need overnighted, to us. Oh yes, we have a secretary, I paid her off and paid her salary, so she now works for us. She is one happy camper. I have already spoken to her and told her to draw up a job for Jefferson Parish, a protective position for Mrs. Rachael Carr, so we will be officially on the job. I just need the name and Social of the other agent. Oh I almost forgot, I doubled her salary, didn’t think you would mind.” That I had to laugh at, he was smooth; “Good job Mr. CFO, the name of the other agent is Mr. Walter Kleinberg, formally of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.” Shelby laughed; “A fucking Limey, what’s up with that? Oh anyway, I’ll do it. Paper work in the first AM. Oh yes, 7:45 PM Delta Airlines, going into LaGuardia, Marriott Marques, I made it for a week, didn’t know how long you needed it.” I was shaking my head, “Shelby, you are fucking amazing, ok, one other thing. Take Jasmine to a hotel, assumed name, you know the drill. Then come up here and we can talk, oh and be packing when you do.” Shelby said ok and we disconnected.

  Walter was sitting with his mouth open, shock registering on his face. “You just spent over two million dollars.” I nodded “Who is Shelby, and where did you get that kind of money, I don’t understand?” I could see the confusion on his face “Shelby is a friend, a good friend. He’ll be here in a little bit. You heard about all I can tell you for now. Just take my word for it, we could be in danger. What I need is for you and Shelby to work together, set up a schedule to be here with Rachael. Now Shelby was a pilot, a damn good one and one of the bravest men I have ever seen, but he wasn’t a ground pounder like you and me. He doesn’t know tactics. I need to make sure this place is secure; bad guys don’t always look like bad guy, take nothing for granted. The men I’m concerned about are pros, so stay alert. Oh shit, I almost forgot, I didn’t ask if you wanted to work for Black Talon Global. Let’s see, you will become my Senior Field Agent, making, let’s say two hundred fifty thousand a year, that sound ok?” I thought he was going to faint. “That’s um, ok.” We shared a laugh.

  I knew there was a couple of more items I had to deal with, I called Carl first. “Carl, we got an issue, Rachael is fine, but we need to get back to New York. I’ll give you details later, but I hope you don’t mind, I need you to take the drive alone, I have some scouting to do.” He answered as I knew he would, “No problem, I assume I should bring some equipment?” I nodded “Yes, the usual gear. Take a couple of days, don’t kill yourself, we will be in the Marriott Marquis. Give me a call when you get close.” That’s all the information Carl needed, he had an assignment; he would get instantly to it.

  I made the next call to Detective Cheryl Manning; she answered “Manning.” I smiled; she just made me do that, too damn nice to be a cop. ”Hi detective, before you ask, Rachael is ok, we had a few hopeful signs.” I could almost hear her smile, “That’s great Jessie; so what can I do for you?” I hesitated slightly, “I have gotten word that there could be a threat to Rachael, so I took the liberty of hiring a Protective Service to stand guard.” She came back immediately “What word did you get, and I got cops I can put there.” I smiled “No offense Cheryl, but your cops didn’t exactly instill confidence with their actions for our boy Big D.” I didn’t want to make her angry and it didn’t seem to “You got me there, we blew that big time, by the way, they found some kind of bad ass poison in his system, running a check on it now; looking at the cameras in the hospital see if we can identify anyone.” I smiled again; I knew Carl would never be photographed unless he had a way of covering his face; “Well good luck with that. I just wanted to give you a heads up on the Agents that will be here. So please tell your guys they will be duly licensed to carry a weapon and use deadly force if necessary. Oh, and also, please tell Thibodeaux not to come in here shooting, he might get hurt.” She had to laugh “Ok, so what kind of threat and from whom.” I had said all I could “Just a rumor really, nothing reliable, but I need to leave for a day or two, so I hired this company.” I knew she didn’t like it but I didn’t feel safe otherwise.

  Shelby arrived around 4:30 PM. I introduced him to Walter and told him he was Rachael’s son, his mouth fell open and he was speechless, a first for everything I guess. We chatted about Rachael for a few minutes and I was ready to head to the airport. Shelby had the inventory of the Black Talon Warehouse that had been faxed to him. I looked it over and immediately saw something I liked. The inventory contained a Unique Alpine TPG-1 Sniper Rifle. I had never seen one, but had read that this rifle in
300 Winchester Magnum was top of the line. I wanted it in New York, just in case. It was heavy and long, but broken down it fit into a protective travel case. The case wasn’t marked as to its contents. “Shelby, do we have anyone onsite that can ship something overnight to that hotel?” He thought for a second “My lawyer guy is just a few miles away; he’ll do whatever we ask, as long as we pay.” I smiled. “Good; have him wrap this and ship it to the Marriott, overnight.” He made the call and was given the ok. It would be there by 10AM the following day. It was time for me to leave. I visited with Rachael one more time; I spoke to her and explained I had to leave for a few days. I had no idea if she could hear or understand, but she did squeeze my hand again.

  As I was about to leave I asked Shelby if he was good with everything “Shit Jessie, you know I am, our boy Walter here ain’t bad for a Limey.” I laughed “You two play nice now, and take care of Rachael, oh one more thing Mr. CFO, what is my title in this place.” He smiled, “Well janitor was already taken, so I made you the Chief Operating Officer and Carl is the Chief of Field Operations. Sounds impressive, but I handle all the money.” I laughed and headed out the door.

  Chapter 67

  Shelby and Walter sat in the waiting room, Walter was shaking his head. Shelby looked at him and smiled “Ok Walter, what’s on your mind, you got that look?” Walter nodded “I guess I’m just overwhelmed. I mean, my mom spoke of Jessie often, I know she loved him since High School. She talked about his medals and bravery, but never mentioned he was rich.” Shelby cracked up laughing, “Oh is that all, Jessie, Carl, and I made some smart investments. We kind of pooled our money and, well, are pretty rich.” Walter nodded, “he told me you were a pilot, but he never mentioned a Carl.” Shelby measured his words “Let’s just say we are a team of sorts, kind of an all for one, one for all thing; Jessie, well he’s the tactics guy, works out the details, sends out the marching orders so to speak. Carl; well is the foot soldier, and the best one there is. He gets the job done, no matter what; Now me, I kind of the jack of all trades. I know people and I do a little heavy lifting. So we all contribute, but Jessie, he is the driving force behind us, that’s for sure.

  They sat for several minutes and Walter spoke, “You know I came here to kill him, now I’m working for him.” Shelby laughed; “yea well, he has that effect on people. He can just kind of get you to do what he wants. I don’t know how he does it, but he does it. Kill him, what the hell is that all about and does he know that?” Walter chuckled, “Yes, I told him, he didn’t seem to care, told me he wasn’t going anywhere. I blamed him for my parent’s problems, stupid, I know. But I guess I needed to blame someone, so he was available.” Shelby nodded “You wouldn’t be the first wanted to kill him, that’s for sure. Him and I have been knowing each other for a long time, he just has that effect also.” They both were laughing when Detective Cheryl Manning walked in.

  She looked at Shelby “Hey Shelby, I thought a couple of Agents were going to be here.” Shelby smiled “You lookin at them. Cheryl Manning meet Walter Kleinberg, this is Rachael’s son.” Manning’s mouth dropped open “I didn’t know she had a son, nice to meet you Walter. Where the hell is Jessie?” Shelby answered “He had to take an unexpected trip, should be back in a few days.” She was shaking her head “I don’t guess you know anything about this supposed threat, and what the hell company was he talking about?” Shelby was still smiling “All I know is Walter and I are Agents for Black Talon Global Security and Protective Services. Our credentials are being overnighted as we speak. We have been assigned to protect Rachael, sorry, that’s all I know.” She was shaking her head, “Bullshit too, so I suppose you two are armed.” They both lifted their coats to show their weapons, Shelby spoke “As you can see we are both armed, you have my word we will not leave this waiting room armed until our credentials arrive tomorrow morning. We have no reason to be anywhere else, is that suitable?” She nodded, “Ok, I don’t know why, but ok. You assholes are gonna get me in trouble or worse.” They were both laughing when the nurse told them they could see Rachael. Shelby let Walter and Cheryl go in to visit.

  Chapter 68

  It was 9 AM and I was sitting in the Carnegie Deli on 7th Avenue. The breakfast here are wonderful, in fact, everything here is wonderful. It was 9:20 when O’Shea walked in. He saw me immediately came to the table and we shook hands. He was scowling “Fucking traffic, now I see why I got the hell out of Manhattan.” I smiled, “Nice to see you too.” He laughed “Same here, I’ve been in a car, on a train and on a subway for three hours, so I’m grumpy.” I smiled back “Well have some breakfast; food always helps.” The waitress came and he ordered breakfast and coffee. He put the menu down “Place is more expensive than I remember, anyway, we need to talk. I just been feeling, I don’t know, fucked up I guess. I can’t get Guzman off my mind; this shit is eating at me. This mother fucker has been having anything he wants for too long, it’s time this shit ends.” I was startled, “Shit man, calm down, you gonna have a heart attack. Guzman ain’t the problem, the systems the problem. The cards are stacked against the good guys; it’s always been that way. Too many fucking rules, can’t do this, can’t do that, but man, that’s your world, your rules; you can’t change that.” He was shaking his head “Not my world anymore, I’m tired of it, if I don’t do something soon I’m gonna eat my gun. I’m sick of just watching fuckers like him getting rich off the backs of others, fuck him.”

  I was shaking my head “Man you got it bad, worse than me even. So what you want to do, blow his ass away, that the answer to all your problems?” He nodded, “Maybe it is, maybe it ain’t, but I gotta do something. Anything is better than nothing.” I was still trying to argue him down “I thought that too, look where it got me, hunted like an animal. It’s not worth it; go back to your office. Get a girlfriend, a boyfriend, anything, but this won’t solve your problems.”

  The waitress brought his breakfast, we ate in silence for a few minutes then he spoke. “No, I can’t just go back. I thought about the consequences, and the alternatives my mind is made up.” I sipped some coffee and looked at him, time to lay it on the line. “Ok, that’s what you want, fine. I got a partner on his way here now with some equipment. He and I have been a team for a long time, we work together; you want in; you join the team, or get out of the way.” He put his coffee cup down and nodded “I’m in, what can we do?”

  I shook my head and smiled, “What we do first is finish our breakfast, cost too much to waste. Then we share information, I need to know what you know. Then we scout the location you mentioned and come up with some kind of plan. That’s pretty much all we can do for now. I’m not into suicide, so this ain’t no frontal assault. I plan on going home when this is over and I suggest you do the same.”

  We ate for a short time then I figured it was time. “By the way, my name is Jessie, Jessie Carr. My friend coming to me us is Carl Rome; like I said a team, gotta know your team strength and weaknesses. I’m a scout, I usually come up with some stupid plan and Carl executes it, he just does. He can pull off pretty much anything. Carl is a shooter; we called them a long gun in Vietnam, sniper to you. But we can both work up close and personal also. I guess our only weakness is, neither of us have a death wish, so if you do, you’re on your own.” He shook his head from side to side “I don’t have a death wish, I just want to get something done I never have done before, accomplish something. My weakness, I never killed anybody, shit I never even shot anyone. I don’t know if I’m proud of that or disappointed in myself, not sure.” I nodded, “Not something to be proud or disappointed in, just something that happened or didn’t happen. Luck of the draw I guess. So let’s talk about our friend Guzman’s habits.”

  Chapter 69

  Detective Cheryl Manning and Ryan Thibodeaux were at the Blue Light having a drink. Manning had been quieter than usual so Thibodeaux tried to lighten the mood “So what’s up, I know you ain’t pregnant, you told me that; your time of the month or what?” She looked at him an
d shook her head, “I swear you are an asshole Thibodeaux.” She had to laugh “Crap, I’m getting like you, some days I just want this job to go away. Oh, I went to see your buddy Carr’s wife today. She is moving her hand a little bit and the nurse said the opened her eyes once. Not sure if it’s just a reflex or a hopeful sign, too soon to tell. Anyway, any improvement is good I guess.”

  Thibodeaux ordered another round “I guess so, so how is my friend?” She smiled “I don’t know, he was gone when I got there, had something out of town to do.” Thibodeaux was startled “That’s surprising, never left for all those days then heads out of town, seems strange.”

  She took a swig of her beer, “He called me today, told me he had hired a security company to protect his wife. Said there was some rumor or threat or something, I tried to get more information, but got nowhere. Anyway, his buddy Shelby and Rachael’s son was there, armed. They working for a company called Black Talon Global. I called the company and confirmed they did work for them and had a contract to protect her. Their creds are coming overnight. Strange, the company was just purchased by some holding company out of the Cayman Islands, some kind of shell company; still trying to find something out about it. It’s all legit though, the company has been in business for a while and has contracts around the world.”

  Thibodeaux was skeptical “Sounds strange though, and what does Carr have to do with it? I mean, how is this related to anything?” Manning was shaking her head, “Nothing makes any sense where Carr is concerned. It all looks legit I guess, I will go check their credentials tomorrow morning, if they good, I’m getting out the line of fire.” They both laughed and ordered another round.