The next morning found me still sleeping on the couch when Brenda came in to get ready to open up.
“Morning Sunshine.” She kidded me , as I slowly woke up.
“OH, Hi, Sorry, It was late, and I didn’t want to go home last night. Was that chevy still outside this morning?” I asked getting up and replacing my guns in their hosters. And Kissing her.
“Yes it was They came back not long long after you called.”
While she did paperwork, I told her about my adventures yesterday.
“So you don’t know who the guy in the caddy was?”
“NO. I have some ideas of what he his. a Mob boss. But as to who he actually is, no. I think he has at the place I was at a couple days ago. I trailed them out north of LA, It was the same back roads As before. I just know he’s the key to this whole thing. “ By now we were in the kitchen making breakfast. We ate breakfast in the office.
“So now what?” Brenda inquired.
“Not sure, I’m going to see Bob, But I can’t meet at the station, to obvious. So I’ll have to catch him on the street. “
I grabbed my jacket, and coat, and got ready to head out again.
“Thanks Honey”I said as I kissed her cheek goodbye, and headed out the back door to my car.
Once in my car, I sat and rethought my next moves. Going directly to Robert was dangerous. Whoever was behind this knew, we worked together, and would expect me to meet him right away. Possibility putting both of them in more danger. I remembered a couple of the names in Wanda’s file. Hell, I knew one of them already. Time to bust some chops, and get answers.
A few minutes later I pulled into a gas station. filled up and asked for Manny. The attendant pointed to the office. I went in to pay for the gas.
“Manny, How you doing?”
Manny was surprised to see me standing in the door.
“Here's for the gas.” I tossed the money on the desk.
“I need more than gas, Manny, I need information”
Manny was afraid of me, We had tangled before. he knew what I would do to him if he didn’t come across. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a picture of Wanda.
“Know her?”I demanded. I didn’t tell him I’d shot her two nights ago.
“I’ve seen her around, but not in a few days.”
"Where’d you see her, and when?”
“Downtown, in the theatre district. she was hanging out with some fancy dresser. They was riding in a caddy.”
“What kind of caddy, Manny?” I demanded. About then I spotted the calendar on the wall. It was a cadillac calendar. I reached over and grabbed it. Pulling it from the wall. “Here, show me.” Shoving the calendar on the desk in front of the big man. I knew the one I saw last night was a new one. Manny nervously picked through the pictures. “Here this one.” pointing to a picture of the same model as I’d seen. I took the picture from the calendar. “Now about the man. know who he was.?” I pulled the colt from under my jacket, and went out to the bay. There several cars sat waiting to be worked on. Manny followed me out.
“I need a name, Manny” Pointing the gun at the nearest car. “Who’s car is this?” I asked calmly . Taking aim at the side mirror. I released the safety on the gun. Manny was beside himself scared. He didn’t want me shooting up a customer’s car.
“You’ve got five seconds, and you’ll be replacing his mirror.”
“Five, Four Three Two One.” The gun barked. The flames came out the barrel, and the mirror went flying a dozen different ways. The crack of the gun in the bay was deafening, to both of us. neither could hear after that. I looked over at Manny. There was a wet line down the front of his pants. I smiled. It was worth it to be deaf now for the next few hours. The sight of Manny peeing himself, was priceless. “I still need a name” I shouted to make himself heard over the ringing in our ears. As I said that I went to the other side of the car. Pointed his gun at that side mirror. “A Name” I blew the second mirror off the car. Again the gun was deafening the the bay.
Manny finally found his memory. and voice. “Here” he barely squeaked. He went into the office and wrote down a name on a sales slip. I took the paper, looked at it, folded it and put it in my pocket. “Thanks” and I calmly walked out of the garage, gun still in my hand. Once I reached my car, at the pumps, I got in and started it, and carefully pulled away. I had no qualms about what I just did, hell, I’d done far worst to military prisoners in the war.
Suddenly I felt much better. Better than I had in a couple of days. At least now I had a name. I said it to myself. And I knew what kind of car he drove. So I headed for the theater district. I had a pretty good idea, of where he might be. I kept a careful eye for for anything out of place. I half expected to see the old chevy show up behind me again. Would not have surprised me. I decided I should risk getting in touch with Robert. So I found a pay phone. Called his desk. He was there. Knowing it was bugged, I left a message I hoped he would understand. Robert got the message.
An hour later we met downtown in the library. Once we were sure we were safe from prying eyes, and ears. I filled him in on my adventure with Manny earlier . I handed Robert the name and picture of the car, along with the information from last night. I then told him about following Steve Clark to the warehouse. And the money and reports. So Steve was definitely dirty. Who else was dirty do? That was the question. Robert said he’d carefully check out the car, and the name. We arranged another meeting later. As we didn’t know who in the police station was watching him, Robert thought it best if I didn’t come back unless absolutely necessary. Plans set, we took off in different directions. Robert had some calls to make for other cases, and I stayed at the library. I headed for the city reference section. there I looked up the name Manny had given me. I found his address in the citywide cross index listing. and then I headed for the newspaper archives. Looking back over the papers from before the war, and well into the war, I found several references to him, being charged, arrested, and eventually let go. So he is well known. I wasn’t surprised by what I’d found.
Outside in my car, I sat for several minutes. Thinking. What was the best way to get to this guy? I decided to check out the warehouse he was at the night before. Once I started getting into the district, I slowed down, and carefully watched everyone I saw. As I got closer to the the place, I reached into my jacket and loosened the Colt in its holster. The front lot where I’d been watching was clear. I parked out of the way, and sat and watched the warehouse for several minutes. Much to my surprise, I saw Steve Clark's car come up from the other side of the building. It went in the open garage door. The cadillac from last night soon appeared again. It too went into the warehouse. Another meeting so soon? I decided it was too risky to try to get close. so I sat and waited. Soon enough I was rewarded for my patience. Another car pulled up. This time the old Chevy, I’d been following the other day. They dragged someone out of the back seat. For a second he couldn’t tell who it was, Then using the bainconclours I kept in the car,
I had a closer look. It was Robert!!! This changed everything. I had to get close to see what was happening. Leaving the car, I went around and opened my trunk. There in a built in rack sat a Winchester Lever action, and a pump shotgun. along with more ammo for both of his guns. I grabbed a couple more magazines for My colt .45, and some more .38 special. and deciding the shotgun was probably most effective tool for the job. I also loaded up on 12 gauge slugs and buckshot, loaded the shotgun and closing the trunk. I surveyed the situation.
My years in the war, had taught me the value of preparation, and not to go charging in. Most of the time, the ones who charged in unprepared got killed first. Loaded down with extra ammunition for all three guns, I headed to the warehouse. I found the window I’d used the night before. Carefully climbing the crates, I was again able to peek inside.
The same men were there from last night. Plus my friend Detective Robert Clay. It was clear they had been beating up on him before they got there. His face was a mess. black eye, his mouth was swollen shut, and he had bruises, on the sides of his face. they had used him for a punching bag. I had to control my anger. I knew getting angry, and letting my emotions take over, would spell disaster. I assessed the situation. There were at least six armed men in there at minimum they had pistols, some may have shotguns, although I hadn’t seen any yet, I assumed they had. Working my way around to the back of the building I found a open door, and slid in. There in the open warehouse were crates on crates, of merchandise waiting to be shipped all over the country. I took a look at some of the labels as I went through the building. Finally I found one open. The label said housewares, kitchen stuff. pots and pans etc. But when I opened it it, No pots and pans. Buried in the loose coffee was bags of drugs.
I wasn’t sure exactly what kind but definitely drugs. At this point it didn’t matter. I took a small package of it and hid it. Replacing the top exactly as it was when I’d found it, I moved on. As I got closer to the office I could hear voices talking. I checked my guns, making sure their was a round in each chamber. As I got closer the voices made more sense. I could start to understand them.
“Okey, Clay, where's that PI buddy of yours?”
“I don’t know where he is, Haven’t seen him all day.”
“Bullshit, You saw him at the library this morning.”
“What does he know?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
It was clear that didn’t believe him and would continue beating on him until they got what they wanted. I knew I had to even the odds. So I managed to get into the bay where the cars were, and using my knife, I slashed as many of their tires and I could without being seen. Then working my way back to the office, I managed to get in a position to get the drop on them. Finely counting to three, to myself I stood up in the door.
“I’m Right Here !!” I announced loudly pointing the shotgun at them.
The look on their faces was priceless. The last thing they expected was to find me standing there in their office pointing a shotgun at them.
“I believe my friend and I will be leaving now.” I shouted.
“First one who moves a muscle, get a belly full of lead. Move away from him. Let's lose the guns. On the desk. All of you, that includes the auto in the the boot”, I ordered, indicating the left boot of one of the men. Gingerly , he put it on the desk with the others. Robert carefully moved away from the men. Along the way being careful to stay out of my line of fire, he stopped at desk, and unloaded each of the guns, finding his own, he held it on them, as he worked his way next to me and the door. Once we were together, we slowly backed out of the office, and out of the garage. Once we were outside we turned and ran for my car. I fired it up and tore out of there as fast as I dared. Glancing back as we rounded the corner, I saw them standing in the parking lot. Not happy at all.
We drove around for a while. Once we figured we were far enough from the warehouse, and we had no tails. I stopped the car. Neither had said anything since jumping in the car.
I finally spoke first.
“You ok?”
“Yeah, Thanks.. Glad you showed up when you did.”
“My pleasure. What happened?”
“I'm not sure. I left the library after we talked, headed back to the car, and when I got there. Theses three big gorillas, were waiting. They got the drop on me, Then the caddy pulled up, they tossed me in, and drove off.
They took me to some hole in the wall dump, beat on me for while, then they took me over to the warehouse, where you found me. I still don't know how they knew I was on to them. They must have been following me closer than we thought. “
“I know at least part of what’s going. They’re smuggling drugs either into the states, or distributing it throughout the state. Anyway, I found a crate back there, marked Kitchen utensil, it was opened, so I took a peek. Aside From being full of loose coffee, there were drugs in little packets buried in the coffee. I think there was a lot more going on than just drugs, I’ll bet they're running some kind of black market operation out of that warehouse. “
“But what was the next step? We could issue warrants for them, but by the time they were caught, the building would be empty”.
We both needed food, and Robert needed to attended to by a doctor.
“You know they won’t be surprised next time. “ Robert commented.
“Yep, they know we know, and will be waiting for us this next time. They’re going to assume I found the drugs in the back which I did, and come after me. ‘ I replied, glancing back at the shotgun lying on the back seat.
We stopped by the bar, Brenda was there. Once inside,we attended to Robert’s bruises, and cuts. and got something to eat.
“Who do your trust in your office?” I asked.
“Completely, no one. “
“Than we have to go outside your department. We know the FBI is compromised. At least this branch is. How high up it goes who knows?”
“We need to find a state office we can trust to back our play to get them. The question is who. All the local and the state cops are questionable.”
While Brenda opened the bar for business. Robert and I stayed back in the office, We drank coffee and discussed ways in which the Cadillac Man, could have been involved with Wanda. I started rethinking the events surrounding my entrance into the war, and the Marines. 1941 seemed so long ago. I could barely remember the news of Pearl Harbor . I did remember the lines of young people lining up to join the army the next day.
I was one of them. Back than I had just gotten my PI license . I had barely even started to open the business. In fact the more I thought about it I’d never even a had a client before the war. So what possible connection could I have with the mob? I thought about my time in the marines. I had been in various hell holes across the world. Then I tried to remember the officers I served with. Several stood out. All good upright men, who did justice to their uniforms. Then I remembered that there had been slackers in my outfits, guys who didn’t give a damn. These guys almost without exception didn’t last, They were either killed, captured, or drummed out completely. Eventually one name came come to mind. Col Walter Jackson, USMC. A hard nosed straight shooting officer, who was fair. I seemed to remember that he said he was from this area. Grabbing the phone book, I started looking in all the directories. After searching through a number of city directories I found him. Here in LA. I wrote down the address, and told Robert I’d be back.
An hour later I had found Walter’s address. I sat outside in the car for a few minutes thinking. I didn’t want to involve my old friend in his mess now, but I needed his help, and connections.
I finally knocked on his door. Col Walter Jackson answered. His surprise at seeing me was evident .
Two hours later after the pleasantries were long over, I had told the Col. my problem. I needed outside help I could trust. The mob had spies in the FBI, local precinct, and probably in the state police, for all I knew. Walter agreed with me. I had a big problem. But he wasn’t sure what he could do. I told him I needed another set of eyes, and guns, and a way to investigate the mob without them finding out. Walter said he knew some folks back in the Marines, and army that could do some looking without questions. As for firepower, he went to the bedroom closest came back in with his issue Colt 1911, the same gun, I was carrying.
“Where do we start?”
An hour later we were in the office at the bar. Me, Walter, and Robert, and Brenda. I had made introductions all the way around. While Brenda made food, we sat and drank beer. No one was in a mood to get drunk. Once the first beer was gone, the coffee came back and by than the food was ready. We are in silence. Each busy with our own thoughts on how to get the mob boss who’d kidnapped Robert earlier. What was his connection to Wanda Reed? and what were the files that he bought from the crooked FBI agent? These were among the questions that needed answers. Robert reported that the background check on Steve didn’t turn up any dirt, so apparently he just turned dirty, or he has friends in very high places. Walter said he’d have a friend of his in Army Intelligence look at both Steve and the Mob Boss. Robert added looking closer at Wanda wouldn’t hurt either, Walter agreed. After several more hours of planning their next moves. Robert and Walter headed to their respective places. I thought it would be wise not to show up at my place right away. So I elected to spend another night sleeping on the couch in the office at the bar. Brenda finished closing up when the bar closed. Before she left I took a careful look around, making sure there weren’t any surprises. After carefully checking outside the back of the bar, I let Brenda head home. Back inside I made sure everything was locked up tight. I had kept the shotgun, bringing it in with me. Considering the violence level these people were capable of having the shotgun didn’t seem like overkill.
“Morning Sunshine.” She kidded me , as I slowly woke up.
“OH, Hi, Sorry, It was late, and I didn’t want to go home last night. Was that chevy still outside this morning?” I asked getting up and replacing my guns in their hosters. And Kissing her.
“Yes it was They came back not long long after you called.”
While she did paperwork, I told her about my adventures yesterday.
“So you don’t know who the guy in the caddy was?”
“NO. I have some ideas of what he his. a Mob boss. But as to who he actually is, no. I think he has at the place I was at a couple days ago. I trailed them out north of LA, It was the same back roads As before. I just know he’s the key to this whole thing. “ By now we were in the kitchen making breakfast. We ate breakfast in the office.
“So now what?” Brenda inquired.
“Not sure, I’m going to see Bob, But I can’t meet at the station, to obvious. So I’ll have to catch him on the street. “
I grabbed my jacket, and coat, and got ready to head out again.
“Thanks Honey”I said as I kissed her cheek goodbye, and headed out the back door to my car.
Once in my car, I sat and rethought my next moves. Going directly to Robert was dangerous. Whoever was behind this knew, we worked together, and would expect me to meet him right away. Possibility putting both of them in more danger. I remembered a couple of the names in Wanda’s file. Hell, I knew one of them already. Time to bust some chops, and get answers.
A few minutes later I pulled into a gas station. filled up and asked for Manny. The attendant pointed to the office. I went in to pay for the gas.
“Manny, How you doing?”
Manny was surprised to see me standing in the door.
“Here's for the gas.” I tossed the money on the desk.
“I need more than gas, Manny, I need information”
Manny was afraid of me, We had tangled before. he knew what I would do to him if he didn’t come across. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a picture of Wanda.
“Know her?”I demanded. I didn’t tell him I’d shot her two nights ago.
“I’ve seen her around, but not in a few days.”
"Where’d you see her, and when?”
“Downtown, in the theatre district. she was hanging out with some fancy dresser. They was riding in a caddy.”
“What kind of caddy, Manny?” I demanded. About then I spotted the calendar on the wall. It was a cadillac calendar. I reached over and grabbed it. Pulling it from the wall. “Here, show me.” Shoving the calendar on the desk in front of the big man. I knew the one I saw last night was a new one. Manny nervously picked through the pictures. “Here this one.” pointing to a picture of the same model as I’d seen. I took the picture from the calendar. “Now about the man. know who he was.?” I pulled the colt from under my jacket, and went out to the bay. There several cars sat waiting to be worked on. Manny followed me out.
“I need a name, Manny” Pointing the gun at the nearest car. “Who’s car is this?” I asked calmly . Taking aim at the side mirror. I released the safety on the gun. Manny was beside himself scared. He didn’t want me shooting up a customer’s car.
“You’ve got five seconds, and you’ll be replacing his mirror.”
“Five, Four Three Two One.” The gun barked. The flames came out the barrel, and the mirror went flying a dozen different ways. The crack of the gun in the bay was deafening, to both of us. neither could hear after that. I looked over at Manny. There was a wet line down the front of his pants. I smiled. It was worth it to be deaf now for the next few hours. The sight of Manny peeing himself, was priceless. “I still need a name” I shouted to make himself heard over the ringing in our ears. As I said that I went to the other side of the car. Pointed his gun at that side mirror. “A Name” I blew the second mirror off the car. Again the gun was deafening the the bay.
Manny finally found his memory. and voice. “Here” he barely squeaked. He went into the office and wrote down a name on a sales slip. I took the paper, looked at it, folded it and put it in my pocket. “Thanks” and I calmly walked out of the garage, gun still in my hand. Once I reached my car, at the pumps, I got in and started it, and carefully pulled away. I had no qualms about what I just did, hell, I’d done far worst to military prisoners in the war.
Suddenly I felt much better. Better than I had in a couple of days. At least now I had a name. I said it to myself. And I knew what kind of car he drove. So I headed for the theater district. I had a pretty good idea, of where he might be. I kept a careful eye for for anything out of place. I half expected to see the old chevy show up behind me again. Would not have surprised me. I decided I should risk getting in touch with Robert. So I found a pay phone. Called his desk. He was there. Knowing it was bugged, I left a message I hoped he would understand. Robert got the message.
An hour later we met downtown in the library. Once we were sure we were safe from prying eyes, and ears. I filled him in on my adventure with Manny earlier . I handed Robert the name and picture of the car, along with the information from last night. I then told him about following Steve Clark to the warehouse. And the money and reports. So Steve was definitely dirty. Who else was dirty do? That was the question. Robert said he’d carefully check out the car, and the name. We arranged another meeting later. As we didn’t know who in the police station was watching him, Robert thought it best if I didn’t come back unless absolutely necessary. Plans set, we took off in different directions. Robert had some calls to make for other cases, and I stayed at the library. I headed for the city reference section. there I looked up the name Manny had given me. I found his address in the citywide cross index listing. and then I headed for the newspaper archives. Looking back over the papers from before the war, and well into the war, I found several references to him, being charged, arrested, and eventually let go. So he is well known. I wasn’t surprised by what I’d found.
Outside in my car, I sat for several minutes. Thinking. What was the best way to get to this guy? I decided to check out the warehouse he was at the night before. Once I started getting into the district, I slowed down, and carefully watched everyone I saw. As I got closer to the the place, I reached into my jacket and loosened the Colt in its holster. The front lot where I’d been watching was clear. I parked out of the way, and sat and watched the warehouse for several minutes. Much to my surprise, I saw Steve Clark's car come up from the other side of the building. It went in the open garage door. The cadillac from last night soon appeared again. It too went into the warehouse. Another meeting so soon? I decided it was too risky to try to get close. so I sat and waited. Soon enough I was rewarded for my patience. Another car pulled up. This time the old Chevy, I’d been following the other day. They dragged someone out of the back seat. For a second he couldn’t tell who it was, Then using the bainconclours I kept in the car,
I had a closer look. It was Robert!!! This changed everything. I had to get close to see what was happening. Leaving the car, I went around and opened my trunk. There in a built in rack sat a Winchester Lever action, and a pump shotgun. along with more ammo for both of his guns. I grabbed a couple more magazines for My colt .45, and some more .38 special. and deciding the shotgun was probably most effective tool for the job. I also loaded up on 12 gauge slugs and buckshot, loaded the shotgun and closing the trunk. I surveyed the situation.
My years in the war, had taught me the value of preparation, and not to go charging in. Most of the time, the ones who charged in unprepared got killed first. Loaded down with extra ammunition for all three guns, I headed to the warehouse. I found the window I’d used the night before. Carefully climbing the crates, I was again able to peek inside.
The same men were there from last night. Plus my friend Detective Robert Clay. It was clear they had been beating up on him before they got there. His face was a mess. black eye, his mouth was swollen shut, and he had bruises, on the sides of his face. they had used him for a punching bag. I had to control my anger. I knew getting angry, and letting my emotions take over, would spell disaster. I assessed the situation. There were at least six armed men in there at minimum they had pistols, some may have shotguns, although I hadn’t seen any yet, I assumed they had. Working my way around to the back of the building I found a open door, and slid in. There in the open warehouse were crates on crates, of merchandise waiting to be shipped all over the country. I took a look at some of the labels as I went through the building. Finally I found one open. The label said housewares, kitchen stuff. pots and pans etc. But when I opened it it, No pots and pans. Buried in the loose coffee was bags of drugs.
I wasn’t sure exactly what kind but definitely drugs. At this point it didn’t matter. I took a small package of it and hid it. Replacing the top exactly as it was when I’d found it, I moved on. As I got closer to the office I could hear voices talking. I checked my guns, making sure their was a round in each chamber. As I got closer the voices made more sense. I could start to understand them.
“Okey, Clay, where's that PI buddy of yours?”
“I don’t know where he is, Haven’t seen him all day.”
“Bullshit, You saw him at the library this morning.”
“What does he know?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
It was clear that didn’t believe him and would continue beating on him until they got what they wanted. I knew I had to even the odds. So I managed to get into the bay where the cars were, and using my knife, I slashed as many of their tires and I could without being seen. Then working my way back to the office, I managed to get in a position to get the drop on them. Finely counting to three, to myself I stood up in the door.
“I’m Right Here !!” I announced loudly pointing the shotgun at them.
The look on their faces was priceless. The last thing they expected was to find me standing there in their office pointing a shotgun at them.
“I believe my friend and I will be leaving now.” I shouted.
“First one who moves a muscle, get a belly full of lead. Move away from him. Let's lose the guns. On the desk. All of you, that includes the auto in the the boot”, I ordered, indicating the left boot of one of the men. Gingerly , he put it on the desk with the others. Robert carefully moved away from the men. Along the way being careful to stay out of my line of fire, he stopped at desk, and unloaded each of the guns, finding his own, he held it on them, as he worked his way next to me and the door. Once we were together, we slowly backed out of the office, and out of the garage. Once we were outside we turned and ran for my car. I fired it up and tore out of there as fast as I dared. Glancing back as we rounded the corner, I saw them standing in the parking lot. Not happy at all.
We drove around for a while. Once we figured we were far enough from the warehouse, and we had no tails. I stopped the car. Neither had said anything since jumping in the car.
I finally spoke first.
“You ok?”
“Yeah, Thanks.. Glad you showed up when you did.”
“My pleasure. What happened?”
“I'm not sure. I left the library after we talked, headed back to the car, and when I got there. Theses three big gorillas, were waiting. They got the drop on me, Then the caddy pulled up, they tossed me in, and drove off.
They took me to some hole in the wall dump, beat on me for while, then they took me over to the warehouse, where you found me. I still don't know how they knew I was on to them. They must have been following me closer than we thought. “
“I know at least part of what’s going. They’re smuggling drugs either into the states, or distributing it throughout the state. Anyway, I found a crate back there, marked Kitchen utensil, it was opened, so I took a peek. Aside From being full of loose coffee, there were drugs in little packets buried in the coffee. I think there was a lot more going on than just drugs, I’ll bet they're running some kind of black market operation out of that warehouse. “
“But what was the next step? We could issue warrants for them, but by the time they were caught, the building would be empty”.
We both needed food, and Robert needed to attended to by a doctor.
“You know they won’t be surprised next time. “ Robert commented.
“Yep, they know we know, and will be waiting for us this next time. They’re going to assume I found the drugs in the back which I did, and come after me. ‘ I replied, glancing back at the shotgun lying on the back seat.
We stopped by the bar, Brenda was there. Once inside,we attended to Robert’s bruises, and cuts. and got something to eat.
“Who do your trust in your office?” I asked.
“Completely, no one. “
“Than we have to go outside your department. We know the FBI is compromised. At least this branch is. How high up it goes who knows?”
“We need to find a state office we can trust to back our play to get them. The question is who. All the local and the state cops are questionable.”
While Brenda opened the bar for business. Robert and I stayed back in the office, We drank coffee and discussed ways in which the Cadillac Man, could have been involved with Wanda. I started rethinking the events surrounding my entrance into the war, and the Marines. 1941 seemed so long ago. I could barely remember the news of Pearl Harbor . I did remember the lines of young people lining up to join the army the next day.
I was one of them. Back than I had just gotten my PI license . I had barely even started to open the business. In fact the more I thought about it I’d never even a had a client before the war. So what possible connection could I have with the mob? I thought about my time in the marines. I had been in various hell holes across the world. Then I tried to remember the officers I served with. Several stood out. All good upright men, who did justice to their uniforms. Then I remembered that there had been slackers in my outfits, guys who didn’t give a damn. These guys almost without exception didn’t last, They were either killed, captured, or drummed out completely. Eventually one name came come to mind. Col Walter Jackson, USMC. A hard nosed straight shooting officer, who was fair. I seemed to remember that he said he was from this area. Grabbing the phone book, I started looking in all the directories. After searching through a number of city directories I found him. Here in LA. I wrote down the address, and told Robert I’d be back.
An hour later I had found Walter’s address. I sat outside in the car for a few minutes thinking. I didn’t want to involve my old friend in his mess now, but I needed his help, and connections.
I finally knocked on his door. Col Walter Jackson answered. His surprise at seeing me was evident .
Two hours later after the pleasantries were long over, I had told the Col. my problem. I needed outside help I could trust. The mob had spies in the FBI, local precinct, and probably in the state police, for all I knew. Walter agreed with me. I had a big problem. But he wasn’t sure what he could do. I told him I needed another set of eyes, and guns, and a way to investigate the mob without them finding out. Walter said he knew some folks back in the Marines, and army that could do some looking without questions. As for firepower, he went to the bedroom closest came back in with his issue Colt 1911, the same gun, I was carrying.
“Where do we start?”
An hour later we were in the office at the bar. Me, Walter, and Robert, and Brenda. I had made introductions all the way around. While Brenda made food, we sat and drank beer. No one was in a mood to get drunk. Once the first beer was gone, the coffee came back and by than the food was ready. We are in silence. Each busy with our own thoughts on how to get the mob boss who’d kidnapped Robert earlier. What was his connection to Wanda Reed? and what were the files that he bought from the crooked FBI agent? These were among the questions that needed answers. Robert reported that the background check on Steve didn’t turn up any dirt, so apparently he just turned dirty, or he has friends in very high places. Walter said he’d have a friend of his in Army Intelligence look at both Steve and the Mob Boss. Robert added looking closer at Wanda wouldn’t hurt either, Walter agreed. After several more hours of planning their next moves. Robert and Walter headed to their respective places. I thought it would be wise not to show up at my place right away. So I elected to spend another night sleeping on the couch in the office at the bar. Brenda finished closing up when the bar closed. Before she left I took a careful look around, making sure there weren’t any surprises. After carefully checking outside the back of the bar, I let Brenda head home. Back inside I made sure everything was locked up tight. I had kept the shotgun, bringing it in with me. Considering the violence level these people were capable of having the shotgun didn’t seem like overkill.