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3 (#uaacdfd2a-af3d-531d-b749-56123f97a246)
Chicago’s South Side
“You mind telling me what that was all about?” Bolan asked, as Pierce guided his Town Car through the seedier sections of town. The smaller man had not discussed their destination with the man he thought was Vincent Harmon. He had merely motioned to the car, fired it up and started driving. Bolan had been content to give Pierce some time with his thoughts, but his patience had its limits.
“It’s a long-standing thing,” Pierce said. “Son of a friend of the family, I told you. In syndicate circles, family is everything. If you aren’t blood, you’ve got to work twice as hard, be twice as hard, to show them you deserve to be here. And when somebody like Seb figures he should be the field commander for our street guns? Well, somebody like me, who fought his way up through the ranks over years of service... He figures I don’t rate, and I should be pushed outta the way. All because my father worked for the Corinos all his life but wasn’t a member of the family itself. The syndicate has changed, Harmon. We used to believe in loyalty.”
“Yeah,” Bolan said, unable to help himself. “It’s like a guy can’t shark loans at three hundred percent interest and then sell his clients’ daughters into prostitution to pay off their debts anymore.”
“Hey, hey, that’s not fair,” Pierce protested. “I don’t go in for any of that crap. I don’t run girls and I don’t have a hand in any of that type of thing. It’s my job to keep the other families from killing the Corinos. I run our guns and I make sure security is tight. I’m a security specialist, Harmon, not some loan shark’s leg-breaker.”
“It’s a dirty business,” Bolan said. “I’m not sure anyone can dip his hands in that river of blood and come up clean.”
“Says the guy who kills people for a living,” Pierce shot back.
“Touché.”
“Anyway,” Pierce said, “I’m not going to be doing this forever. I’ve been saving my money. I’m gonna open up my own shop.”
“To sell what?”
“It’s not important,” Pierce replied. “C’mon, let’s focus on the task at hand. You know where we are?”
“The south side.”
“No kidding.” Piece sounded annoyed. “I remember I used to walk into the room while my old man was watching television. I’d say, ‘What you watching, Dad?’ And he’d say, ‘A movie.’ Look, Colonel Obvious, this is Toretto territory. We’re way behind enemy lines down here. Keep your eyes peeled for gun barrels pointed our way.”
“What’s your plan?”
“This is your show,” Pierce said. The Corinos figure you’re the guy who can bring down the Torettos where I’ve failed. Well, fine. Show me you can do it.”
Bolan shrugged. “You don’t think we should gear up first?”
“Trunk’s fully stocked,” Pierce said. “We’ve got everything you could ever need.”
“You might be surprised,” Bolan replied. He paused, mulling over the situation. It was not the first time he’d had to think on his feet. “You don’t know where the Toretto headquarters is, but you know this is their territory. That means they’ve got business holdings in the area that you do know about.”
“Right.”
“Take us to one,” Bolan said. “Someplace where a lot of money changes hands.”
“We know the Torettos have a laundry,” Pierce told him. “But they keep the location as secret as their headquarters. For obvious reasons.”
“Doesn’t matter. Someplace that handles a lot of cash would have to have that cash laundered. We find the first, it leads us to the second, assuming we leave at least one person alive.”
Pierce stared at Bolan for a long moment before turning his eyes back to the road. “What about a numbers joint? Sammy Pinch books for the Torettos out of the back of a bar on 79th. The Rose, it’s called.”
“Numbers? There’s still money to be made with all the lotteries that offer the three-number game?” Bolan asked.
“You’d be surprised. The payoffs are larger and a bettor can run a tab. Can’t do that with the state lottery.”
“Okay. That’ll do.”
“There’s always a bunch of guys guarding the place,” Pierce warned. “A couple of cars outside and plenty of triggermen inside. The Torettos don’t screw around when it comes to their cash.”
“I’m counting on that. Just get us there.”
“So what about you, Harmon?” Pierce asked. “You aren’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“I dunno,” Pierce said. “A skinny guy in a black-on-black suit and a pencil-thin mustache, constantly playing with a switchblade. Maybe a silenced pistol in a shoulder holster. That kind of jazz.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a mustache.”
“You aren’t exactly skinny, either,” Pierce said. “You’re tall, though. I’d have to get up on my own shoulders just to look you in the eye.”
“I’ve never known a man’s height to make much difference in his ability to fight.”
“Me, either,” Pierce said. “But you’d be surprised how many of the Corinos’ own bully-boys have tried to take a shot at me over the years. They see a short guy, they figure he goes down easy.”
“But not you.”
Pierce raised his right hand and made a fist. His knuckles were massive knobs. “There’s not a knuckle in this fist that hasn’t been broken,” he said. “I drove a truck over the road for eight years before I came to work for the Corinos. My shifting arm still hits like a hammer.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Yeah,” Pierce said, laughing. “I bet you will.”
It didn’t take much longer for them to reach the bar in question. Bolan surveyed the neighborhood with a practiced eye. “This place have a back door?” he asked.
“Yeah. That alley goes all the way back to the other side.” Pierce jerked his chin in the direction of the alley.
“Park us around back. You promised me a fully stocked trunk.”
“Yeah, we got that,” Pierce said.
With the Lincoln parked to block the rear entrance, Pierce popped the trunk.
Bolan whistled in appreciation. “You do have all the toys,” he said.
“Never leave home without ’em.”
Packed away in the trunk were at least half a dozen submachine guns, loaded magazines and a couple of shotguns. A pair of AK-47 assault rifles had modular bags beside them that Bolan assumed contained 30-or 40-round magazines, and a bandolier of grenades. A couple of nondescript crates sat underneath the weaponry, which Pierce kept concealed beneath a black wool blanket. The Lincoln’s trunk was very deep, allowing a person to transport a great deal of cargo.
“All this weight, it’s a wonder it doesn’t play hell with your air suspension.”
“You know about that, eh?” Pierce said. “Yeah, it’s a pain. But I like the old girl. She has a sense of style. Show me another car that will let me haul a payload like this and still give me room to bring home groceries.”
“Do a lot of grocery shopping, do you?”
“It sounds better than saying I can still fold a guy up and fit him in there.”
“I can’t argue there.”
Pierce selected a 12-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun. A Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment—MOLLE—pouch full of shells was part of the arsenal inside the trunk. The little Mafia operative tucked the tab of the bag into his belt, giving him fast access to reloads. He jacked the first shell into the shotgun.
“Cover the rear door,” Bolan ordered. “I’m going to go around the front.” He selected an integrally suppressed HK MP-5, as well as several loaded 9 mm magazines clamped together in groups of two. Bolan took a canvas shoulder bag from the trunk, slung it across his chest and tucked magazines and grenades into it.
“You sure you wanna do that?” Pierce asked. “I just got done telling you there’s always a bunch of guys in there.”
“I like the direct approach when it’s appropriate. Anybody who comes at you who looks like a Toretto doesn’t get to leave. Anybody else is not our problem. Can you handle that?”
“I know most of the Toretto crew by sight. Shouldn’t be a problem.” When Bolan paused, he said, “Hey, look, Harmon, I don’t go around shooting just anybody. I been in this game too long to be some kind of mad-dog killer.”
“Or an assassin?”
“You said it, I didn’t.”
“Just keep that shotgun at the ready. You’re sure there are no innocents here? I don’t want to cap some guy whose only crime is showing up to work today.”
“The Torettos own the Rose, body and soul,” Pierce said. “The full-time bartender is a Toretto hire, a lifer named Jack. Has a big scar across his nose. You can’t miss him. There are a few waitresses and whatever. They’re not players, but they work for the Torettos, and they know it. No innocents in there by any definition I can speak to, Harmon. They know the score.”
“Fair enough, but just because the waitresses know who they work for doesn’t make them dirty. Just stupid. So take care.” Bolan slung the MP-5 behind his back and made his way through the alley, watchful for enemy gunners. For purposes of this exercise, he had to consider the enemies of the Corinos his own enemies. It was part of staying in role camouflage for an undercover job like this.
He would never forget, nor ever forgive, the role the Mafia had played so long ago in the destruction of those near and dear to him. It was fighting the Mafia that had propelled him onto the path he walked. Organized crime in the United States had lost considerable power over the years, but still, like a bad skin rash, the organization kept coming back. And because he was the Executioner, he would continue burning them out of their hidey-holes wherever he found them.
Despite himself, he found Pierce more than a little likable. The man had the kind of no-nonsense, down-to-earth demeanor that Stony Man pilot Jack Grimaldi had possessed when he’d first encountered the man on a mission against organized crime. Few people brought up Grimaldi’s past as a pilot for hire for the Mob, but Jack never forgot it, Bolan knew. The man was driven to atone for any early mistakes he might have made in that regard. It was one of the things that made him so brave and committed to the mission of Brognola’s Sensitive Operations Group.
Were there similar redeeming qualities in Pierce? Possibly.
Emerging from the alley, he surveyed the street in front of the bar. Pierce had said there were always a couple of cars out front. Those would be guard vehicles, with sentries posted inside. Probably something nondescript, so that sentries could sit and watch unnoticed. It was less conspicuous than posting men outside the bar itself, especially if they were typical Mob toughs. A practiced eye, including those of law enforcement, could spot a character like that from blocks away.
It didn’t take him long to find what he needed. There was an old Chrysler K-car on one side and a newer Chevy Malibu on the other. Each had a man sitting at the wheel. Of course, he couldn’t take a chance that these were simply innocent people sitting in their vehicles for whatever reason. There was an easy way to make sure of that.
He reached into his borrowed war bag, pulled out a pair of grenades and yanked the pins. He let the spoons fly free and shouted, “Hey! You guys with the Mob?” As he did so, he held the grenades aloft.
The two sentries wrenched open their doors, clawing for guns hidden under their coats. Bolan threw the two lethal eggs and then put himself to the sidewalk. The move stung, but it beat eating the shrapnel that was about to—
The grenades exploded, ripping through the gas tank of the K-car and punching into the engine compartment of the Malibu. The explosions flattened the two sentries. Bolan paused long enough to kick their guns into the burning wreckage, preventing them from being picked up and used against him. He was philosophically opposed to leaving loaded guns on the street for the neighborhood kids to find, too. Bringing up the MP-5 on its sling, he slapped the charging handle, jacking a 9 mm round into the chamber. The Heckler & Koch machine pistol was a fine weapon. It would serve him well, provided it had been properly maintained. Pierce didn’t seem like the sort to tolerate sloppy weapons maintenance.
Bolan let his foot do the talking. He kicked in the door to the bar and shouted loudly, “Anybody here with the Torettos?”
A number of people scattered, heading under the tables or out the back door. Bolan would have to trust that Pierce knew what he was doing. He was more interested in the man with the sawed-off shotgun that popped up from behind the bar. He did, indeed, have a scar across his nose.
Bolan punched a single bullet into the middle of the guy’s face. Jack the Bartender discharged both barrels into the floor as he fell backward behind the bar. There was movement on both sides of the bar as a pair of gunners tried to flank him. Bolan shot first one and then the other. The sound-suppressed MP-5 was not completely silent, but in the close confines of the bar, it wasn’t punishing his ears. Bolan was grateful for that. As much close-quarters fighting as he did, hearing loss was a real concern.
Bolan looked left then right. The bar was the best cover available. He took it at a run and vaulted over, displacing several glasses in the process. On the other side, he crouched by the body of the dead Mob bartender and waited. The sound of running feet soon reached him.
“Hi, there!” he said, popping up. The Mob gunners rushing to the front room from the back turned at his words. He shot each of them down in turn, careful this time to sweep their legs. One of them wouldn’t take the hint. He tried to fire back from the floor, so Bolan punched another few shots into him before moving carefully out from behind the bar. This time, he used the opening at the side. The spring-loaded bar top was already open.
“Don’t try for it,” Bolan warned the man on the floor. The thug was reaching for the .38 revolver he had dropped. At Bolan’s approach, he withdrew his hand and went back to clutching at his lower calf. A neat bullet hole, through-and-through from what Bolan could see, had gouged a hole in the flesh of the man’s leg.
Somewhere at the back of the bar, Pierce’s shotgun barked. Bolan tensed. There were two more shots in quick succession, as fast as a man could rack the pump. Then the bar was silent.
Bolan would need to move quickly. It would not take long for the cops to show up, even in a neighborhood like this. One gunshot could be ignored. A few would probably go unnoticed for a little while. But the twin explosions, followed by the battle inside, would bring first responders. Bolan had no desire to be anywhere near there when they showed up. He had always lived by the cardinal rule that he would not engage police officers. He was not about to start now.
Pierce emerged from the rear hallway. He had his shotgun cradled in the crook of his arm. “All clear out back,” he said. “I tagged a couple. We gotta get out of here, Harmon.”
“I know.” Bolan dragged the wounded man to his feet. “You know this guy?”
“Yeah,” the Toretto gunner said with a sneer. “He knows me—”
Pierce smashed the pistol grip of his shotgun into the man’s jaw. He reeled, and Bolan held him upright. “Shut up, punk. You don’t get to have attitude.”
To Bolan he said, “He’s one of Toretto’s numbers boys, yeah. I’ve seen him before.”
“What I need,” Bolan said to the bleeding thug, “is an address. The place where your bosses launder their money.”
“I’m not telling you—” the thug started, only to have his head snapped back by another blow from Pierce’s shotgun grip.
“I’ve got this hippie niece,” Pierce said. “She taught me about medicine bags.”
Bolan raised an eyebrow at that.
“A medicine bag,” Pierce went on, holding up one finger, “is this little cloth bag full of bits and pieces of things. Crystals. Stones. Herbs. Nonsense like that. Like a little bag full of useless little junk that hippies carry around their necks.”
“Why you telling me this, man?” the thug whined.
“Because,” Pierce said, smacking the thug in the chest with the shotgun to punctuate each phrase, “you tell us...what we want to know...or I make a medicine bag...full of your teeth.”
The mobster managed to blubber an address through the blood in his mouth.
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“This is a money-laundering operation?” Bolan asked.
“This is it.”
“This right here.”
“This right here,” Pierce repeated. He put his hand to his face. Bolan realized he was struggling not to laugh. Bolan, himself, could not help but grin.
The words “Coin Op Laundry” had been painted, many years ago, on a sign that was struggling not to fall off the ancient brick building. The street it faced was narrow even by congested Chicago standards. Trash was piled high on either side of the building, strewed in clumps across the pavement and blowing past in whirls and eddies of dust and debris kicked up by passing traffic.
“Get your shotgun,” Bolan ordered.
“How you want to do it?”
