Thursday, June 5th
The next morning, Kathy went to hang out with Kelly to see how she made out with the forger. Jack decided to call Howie to check on his progress and when Howie said he had something, Jack told him he would be there in 20 minutes. With an extra tip and glimpse of Jack’s badge, the taxi driver had Jack on the pavement outside the building where Howie rented a few offices in 15 minutes.
As Jack walked into Howie’s office, he was met with a cup of very good coffee. Howie was smiling from ear to ear.
“You look like your love life has picked up,” Jack told Howie.
“Better,” Howie grinned. “It is sometimes good to be lucky rather than good. You won’t believe this.”
“Howie, tell me before I shoot you. It would be justified.”
“My teams found every one of your targets. Pictures of everyone they met and all license plates collected. All were stolen. Tracked all the targets eventually to where they were staying. These guys may be bad, but smart they’re not.”
“Howie, that’s really good work. Can you give me all the paper, reports, maps, etc.? Give them all a $500 bonus for such quick work. Emphasize no loose talk. This isn’t over yet. Put all the targets on a discreet 24/7 surveillance. Except for this guy,” Jack said, pointing to a picture. “No surveillance on him. No taking chances. Don’t underestimate these guys. Even dumb thugs win sometimes.”
“How come you want all my paperwork?”
“Remember when I gave you the rules? I said no paperwork. But you do deserve an answer. I don’t know what all the families of these young women have in mind. It could get mired in court work. None of the evidence you have is admissible in a court. Therefore, it is better you don’t have any in your files, in case they learn you did some work on the case. I also paid in cash for a reason. For your purposes, you handle that however you want.
“I would like to put you and some of your people on a monthly retainer. Same fee. They have to be willing to travel with a few hours’ notice and the same rules apply. Agree?”
“What’s not to agree to? I’ll put three of my best on standby. Wait a minute and I’ll collect all the paperwork.”
But Jack was already lost in thought, planning his team’s next move.
Barry Kelly | Facts and Fictions 