Originally posted April 3, 2011
((I'm not exactly sure I like how this story turned out. I like the changes from my original idea the occurred between parts two and three. I felt they played more to Chance's social connections more than the technical solution I had worked out at first. Over all, I find the story too even in the telling. Not enough build.))
I'm not shinobi level stealthy. I've trained with Arasaka Corp insertion and surveillance teams. Those people make stalking cats seem loud. When compared to me, I might as well tie tin cans to my ankles. Still, I know enough to sneak into a gang warehouse during a small party and then blend in to the low hanging rafters to watch and listen. The dark colors help.
The fortitude to keep watching and listening required a totally different type of training and more than a few deep, cleansing breaths. The costume couldn't do a thing for me here. I watched the party ebb and flow, listened as $500 bottles of champagne popped. Lord of the 14th Street Kings, Big T navigated his minions, smiling, slapping backs, shaking hands with gestures and motions akin to a complicated dance routine.
A huge smile stayed on Big T's face the entire evening. With all the irregularities around his trial, the judge had retired for a few days to weigh the possibilities of a miscarriage of justice. A mistrial would take the gang lord off the hook. In a year of budget cuts, the DA could not push through a repeat effort, an effort with a high chance of failure.
Eventually, the mid and higher level soldiers moved out, leaving Big T with two stragglers. His grin stretched even further as he settled his arms around Xavier and Leticia Diego. I threw up a little in my mouth.
"I'm going to miss you Xavie," Big T's baritone echoed in the now empty space. "You're a man of true genius."
"I had to offer you something, T. Hernandez's wanted a shot at you for years. He couldn't say no to a test of loyalty without giving you a reason for having him killed. Getting arrested for 'murder' at your command will remove any doubt that he's true to the Kings."
"And," Big T added as he settled the siblings on a battered leather couch before turning back to look for something among the half empty bottles on a nearby table, "if necessary, Max could always suffer an accident in lock up, removing the problem permanently without a tie back to me."
"T," Xavier swallowed, "I don't think you want to be telling me this."
"Why not?" the gang lord snorted as his lifted a magnum of Crystal. "Now you disappear."
Deadman nodded, turning towards his sister. "For helping out the Kings with Max and for not testifying against Big T, he's going to give us some money and help us get out of town. We'll never have to worry about the gang or the Feds coming after us. The cops think I'm dead and the Kings think it's cool I came back to make things right with the boss."
"Another stroke of genius," commented Big T, his back still turned to the two. "Now people will be more willing to come forward when they fuck up. I lose a ton of money when soldiers try to hide shit." T's broad shoulders slumped as he sighed. "I'm really going to miss you."
Xavier smiled and turned his attention back to the large man. "You can call me, T. I know who my family is. I'll help out when I can." He grinned, squeezing his sister's hand.
"No, no, Xavie. You and your sister need to disappear completely. I can't have you showing back up in a few years, trying to extort more cash. Even if you don't," he said turning, a large, blue steel revolver in his hands, "I don't like spending money when I don't have to."
Having watched and heard enough, and with a recording of the whole thing, I dropped from the shadows.
---
It took Eddie two days of cooling off before he came to visit me. I watched as the bald, middle aged detective entered my restaurant and slowly walked to the bar. I poured two pints of Negro Modelo and waited for him to get comfortable on a stool. I own the place. I get to have a drink with friends when I work.
We raised our glasses and touched the rims. "Salud." It took a moment after his first drink before he said anything. "You should have told me about the plan, socio."
I nodded. There's not a lot anyone can say after a statement like that. Any counter sounds pretty much like a lame excuse.
"I could have helped you. I could have talked you out of it." I nodded again, tilting my head side to side in the Japanese equivalent of a shrug. I didn't think he could have talked me out of it. I tend to latch on to my hair brained ideas with all the firm stubbornness of a bit bull.
I gave my longtime friend a few more moments with his beer before asking, "¿Que bola? What's up, socio?"
Eddie took another sip before answering in the weakest of the four languages I speak. He was going to make me work for it. "The DA's dropped the case against Big T for the murder of Cesar Vasquez," Detective Alejandro told me in Spanish. "He feels he can't get a conviction in the case, given the irregularities."
"Two faked murders," I said in Spanish, smiling. "That's damn irregular." Eddie chuckled and took another sip before continuing.
"Both Xavier Diego and Max Hernandez are cooperating with the police. I don't think Xavier liked how close the Kings came to killing his sister and Mr. Hernandez fears an accident in the lockup." He chuckled again. "All of them are in protective custody. Big T's looking at two or three counts of attempted murder, right now. The DA is hoping for more as Diego and Hernandez really start talking."
I smiled. "The staff tell me the Kings are in disarray."
Eddie nodded. "They don't know what happened. They're leaderless and sloppy. The MCPD is having a field day. The regular divisions are making all sorts of arrests, taking tons of drugs off of the streets." The bald detective finished his beer and wiped the foam from his goatee. "You should have told me, hermanito. We could have worked on this plan together."
"Be patient with me, Eddie," I said, holding his glass under the tap and grinning with the news. It hadn't worked out how I hoped, but the plan had worked out. I handed him a new pint. "I'm sure I'll come up with another stupid idea to fight crime soon enough."
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