8. Monday January 15
Time: 12:30 PM
Monday afternoon the automatic audio analyzer system alerts Jay that it has detected voices at Joe's old warehouse. She calls the other guys and patches the sound from the warehouse window transponder to their cell phones in conference call mode.
By now, she's also managed to tap into the land lines going into the warehouse as well. But now the action at Joe's warehouse is the video conference on the VPN coming in via DSL.
However, Jay easily captures and decrypts the feed at its source in St. Louis. She sees the same screen as Joe does. She transmits the streaming video signal to the other guys' cell phones in real time.
Mark and Sid are with Joe. The conference is with Jack in St. Louis. Joe, Mark and Sid, seen through the web cam, are visibly nervous.
Jack begins, "Joe, I've had enough of this fucking around. I want that place eliminated. I'm sending two guys up there. I want you to do what they say, is that clear?"
"Yes, Jack, anything you want," replies Joe earnestly.
"First, we need to know about their delivery schedule of beer kegs. Find out who their distributer is, what brands, what size kegs, how many and what days of the week they get delivered. Got that?"
"Yeah, kegs, brands, Yeah, I can get that."
"Once you get me the information, I'll be sending a van to your warehouse with some kegs that will match what's normally delivered. Be careful with these, don't bounce them around or anything. Make sure you use your best and most trusted guys on this. You got that?"
"You bet. I take it these kegs might go bang?"
"You got it. These guys I'm sending will deliver the kegs to that dance club after they attach a little arming device. You'll need to get hold of one of the beer distributor's delivery trucks for a while so my guys can make the delivery. Once the kegs are delivered, we blow the place that night."
"That'll mean a lot of people, Jack."
"At this point, I don't give a fuck. The more the better. Right now, I want this ended and I want it ended in a way that is final."
"Okay, it's your call."
"I understand that this Shea guy introduces each night's show at ten o'clock. Is that right?"
"Yeah, usually. That's what I'm told."
"Then that's when we do it. I'm personally going up to handle this one. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Okay, now get me the information on those kegs."
Jack sign's off and the video conference ends. Jay, however, continues to capture Joe's web cam.
Joe looks at Mark and Sid and says, "Well, looks like trouble. Do you guys think you can get the information on the beer kegs?"
Mark says, "Yeah, we'll get it. We'll figure out something."
"Good, get the delivery route too. I want to know where we can hijack the truck. Let's hope this ends this business once and for all."
"Any idea who he's sending?" asks Sid.
"I don't know but Jack can come up with some pretty mean characters when he wants to. Whoever they are, don't cross them. Anyone willing to blow up a night club full of kids is not someone whose bad side you want to be on."
"You got that right. But I thought he didn't want a lot of collateral damage?" says Mark.
"I guess he's changed his mind. Right now, he needs to show he's in control. After the last week, he's probably getting a lot of pressure to do something final. Things are getting complicated and that's bad for business. Okay, you guys get going, get me that information as soon as possible."
Mark and Sid walk out of the warehouse and across the street to Mark's car. The wind is picking up and the sky looks like it may snow again soon. When they're sure they're out of sight and hearing of anyone at the warehouse, Sid says to Mark, "Well, what the fuck do we do now?"
"Jack wants information, we get Jack what he wants."
"So, how do we find out about the beer deliveries?"
"Let's go get some food then park near the club and see what kind'a deliveries they get. If not, we start asking around, I guess."
Mark starts the engine, and, with the steering belt shrieking, they pull out of the parking lot, make a stop at a fast food joint and then head to the club to watch.
Back at Mo Rún Mike says, "Listen guys, you didn't sign on to this. Me and Jay are gonna clear out'a here and tell Jack we're gone. I don't want to have anything to do with bombs going off."
"I agree," says Jay. "We can't let you people take this kind of risk for us."
"No one's going anywhere," says David. "Just stay put. We'll handle it."
"Right," says Lance. "This fight is more than just about you two. It's about those kids downstairs every night. Jack's everybody's enemy. Running won't change things."
"Don't worry, Jay. They won't succeed. We've got'em nailed six different ways. They won't set off any bombs around here, mark my words. We're way ahead of them and that's ninety percent of the battle."
"Thanks guys. We just don't want to be the cause of more problems," says Jay.
"Don't worry about a thing. We can handle it," says David.
The meeting breaks up and Jay and Mike go back to their apartment. Mike says, "I'm still worried. What if something should go wrong and they actually do bomb the place?"
"I know. I think we should keep our eyes open and if things look bad, we clear out of here quick and let Jack know we're on the move. I don't want to do anything that would get anyone else hurt," says Jay.
"I agree. But if we do make a run for it, no canaries."
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that."
Time: 1:30 PM
Mark and Sid sit in their car parked a block up the street from the club eating their burgers and watching the loading dock. Several trucks arrive and off load supplies.
A little after two o'clock a beer delivery truck pulls up. The name on the side says Arrowmark Distributing. A driver with a clipboard gets out and goes in the club. A few minutes later he returns and begins offloading kegs of beer, delivering them and returning with the empties. They count the kegs, ten in all. Mark has a pair of binoculars and sees that they're all Millers, the name he remembers seeing on the taps inside. That's the house beer. Eventually the driver closes up the truck and returns to the club with his clipboard. A few minutes later, he's back, gets in the truck, cranks up the diesel and rumbles off. Mark and Sid follow.
A few blocks away, he pulls up to a bar and grill and goes inside. Mark and Sid pull up and park a hundred feet away.
Sid says, "See that? No clipboard and he locked the door to the cab. This doesn't look like a delivery. This might be our chance to talk to him. Let's go."
"Yeah, and that place is more like a restaurant. Must be a late lunch."
They hop out of the car and quickly jog up the street. Sid pretends to look at the menu in the window while Mark stays to one side. Inside, Sid sees the driver sitting at the bar with a menu. Sid says, "Yep, he's ordering food. Let's go."
They enter and head to the bar. There are stools to the right of the driver. They take off their coats and hang them on hooks near the door. Mark goes over and sits next to the driver while Sid sits next to Mark. Mark signals the bartender and says, "Couple'a beers and some onion rings?"
Sid says, across Mark, "Say buddy, is that your truck outside?"
The driver, drinking a cup of coffee looks over and says, "Yeah, it not blocking anything, is it?"
"No, no, I was just curious, how much does one of those weigh when it's fully loaded? I'll bet that beer weighs a whole lot?"
"Yep it's pretty heavy. One of those kegs alone weighs over a hundred sixty pounds. But the truck weight is limited by zoning. Usually not more than ten tons."
"Must take a pretty big engine?"
"Oh, yeah, big old Cummins diesel."
"You been driving for long?"
"No, I'm just filling in today for a guy on vacation. I normally drive a package delivery truck."
"You ever deliver to that big dance club a couple'a blocks east
of here? I'll bet they take a lot of beer?"
"Oh yeah, just stopped there. Ten kegs of Millers on Monday and Wednesday and twelve on Friday. They sure do go through an awful lot of it."
"Sure sounds that way. You say Monday, Wednesday Friday, so, is it pretty much always the same route?"
"Oh yeah. Well the truck does the same route, anyway. But I just do this on Monday through Wednesday. Some other guy does the rest of the week. But yeah, with a truck that long, you don't have a lot of flexibility. I go one route Monday and Wednesday and another on Tuesday. Not a lot of variety except when the city tears up the street."
"Yeah, I guess with a load like that you gotta know the way. Not a lot of room to back up, I guess?"
"No, that's not a good idea."
"Hey, it's been nice talking to you. We gotta run," says Mark as he and Sid finish their beers.
They get up, get their coats and head outside where Mark says, "I need to get in that truck and look at the clipboard. That'll have his exact schedule on it."
They quickly jimmy the truck's door lock and grab the clipboard that's sitting on the passenger seat. Mark scans it while Sid acts as lookout. After a few seconds, Mark says, "I got it. We need to pay a visit to Mack's Grill. It's the stop before the dance club."
They drive a few blocks away and park and go into Mack's. Once inside the nearly empty place, they sit at the bar and order two more beers.
Mark casually asks the bartender, "I'll bet the snow makes it hard to get beer deliveries?"
"Nah, they're as regular as clock work, snow or no snow every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1:30."
"I guess beer's too important," laughs Sid.
The bartender laughs and says, "You got that right."
After a while, they finish their beers and leave. Back in their car, Sid says, "Geez that was easy."
Mark says, "Right about that. Now let's go get a couple of six packs and take a break," as they head for their motel.