ran the illegal venue.
Jake cashed in the chips and said farewell to the Taylor’s for the night, with the promise to meet at another casino the next day to continue the growth in ‘donations.’
“Thanks Badger,” Jake said tiredly to the man behind the chip cage.
“Anytime yo, peace,” the chubby, bald, baggy clothed white rap ‘enthusiast’ replied.
Jake drudged up the flight of stairs slowly. The dark tired bags under his eyes were visible to anyone that glanced upon his face. He checked his watch as he exited the Green Door; quarter to four.
“Have a good night Jake,” the bouncer said casually.
“Night man,” he replied as he walked down the darkened alley. His mind was full of thoughts of what he was accomplishing. For years he had known and wanted to be a part of what Charlie and Harry were doing; they were protectors, as he saw it. People in the neighbourhood knew who they were. When they needed help, it was their names that people spoke of. He was close to being one of those names. A voice snapped him from his trance. His autopilot had brought him most of the way home. He turned to see the source of the words. A shadowy figure approached him from behind.
“You got the time?” the stranger asked.
Instantly, adrenaline began to course through his veins; his forward motion was too deliberate to be simply asking the time. “Late” Jake replied as he eyed the stranger cautiously.
“You got a smoke?” he asked.
Jake continued to walk backwards as he replied; “Nope, nasty habit.”
The man’s pace forward was quicker than Jakes going backwards, he was gaining on him.
“Spare some change?” the next question came. Darkness still enveloped the man’s features.
“Sorry,” Jake said. A chill took hold of his spine as he heard another man clear his throat behind him. Jake turned to receive a solid punch in the jaw. He stumbled backwards into the second assailant; he was grabbed from behind and held tightly. The man before him stepped forward to deliver another blow; Jakes instincts launched his foot forward into the mans torso, sending him stumbling backwards. He struggled against the firm grasp around him; with the back of his right foot he felt for the front of his attackers shin and then with as much power as he could, drove his heel down onto the mans foot. A scream filled the alley. Jake broke free and turned. He jabbed a punch against the mans nose and followed through with a fierce right hook; before the blow connected however he felt the back of his jacket go taught as he was pulled backwards. Jake fell to the ground.
Before he could rise he took a barrage of kicks to the back, stomach and every other exposed body part. He refused to scream as the sudden flurry of vicious strikes left him no choice but to curl in a ball and wait. Although his body was in the process of being beaten, his mind still functioned to a fraction of its capacity. He opened his eyes and tried to spy a glimpse of either of his attackers, but he was rewarded with a kick to the head. The dizziness of semi-consciousness took him.
The two men stopped their assault and began going through his pockets. They tried to pry Jakes hands off the envelope full of cash, but he held on tightly. “Let go!” one of them yelled as they rose to their feet and raised his boot. Jake screamed as the heavy stomp broke his grip on the money, along with several bones in his left hand. The envelope was gone. Jake rolled onto his back and choked on the pain as the hurried footsteps faded.
Charlie, Harry and Theo were sitting in their living room with a beer in their hands. The muted television filled the dark room with light; they both stared dead ahead and exchanged their ideas. “What about Jarred?” Charlie asked.
“That dealer down by the docks? I mean I hate him, but not that much. What about we check the sex offenders list online, there’s got to be someone in the area.” Harry replied.
“Have you ever seen that list? I’m sure there’s more than a handful in this street alone. But that’s not a bad idea,” Charlie replied as he put his ringing phone to his ear. Harry saw the change in his face when Charlie heard what was said on the other end.
“What is it?”
“We've got to go, Jake's in the hospital,” Charlie replied as he jumped to his feet. He and Harry rushed out and slammed the door behind them.
“I'll just let myself out then,” Theo said to the empty room.
Twenty minutes later they hurried into a hospital room to find Jake painfully sitting up on his bed. By his side was one of the hospital interns and a good friend of theirs, Michael Impanelli.
“What happened?”
“Are you alright?”
“Who did this?”
“Easy guys,” Michael intervened. “He's got a broken hand, a couple of bruised ribs. No concussion, no internal bleeding, he's going to be alright.”
“Well, aside from the obvious,” Jake held up the brand new cast around his left hand.
“Guess you're going to have to date your right instead,” Harry said.
“That's funny.”
“What happened Jake?” Charlie asked.
“I went to the Green Door with Sam and Solo and won a lot of money playing roulette, twelve grand to be exact.”
“Wait, you were gambling the donations money?”
“Yeah, well no. They have this system, but it doesn't matter now. I was walking home, it was pretty late and I could barely keep my eyes open, these guys jumped me in that alley behind Cleveland's. I don't know who they are, barely even saw a face.”
“Did they take your wallet? Your phone?” Harry asked, to which he received a shake of the head. “Then they knew you had that money with you, they must have followed you from the Green Door. That'll make it easier to find out who they are.”
“Alright, start there and find out what you can,” Charlie said to Harry. “I'll go see Ducky, he usually knows something.” They both made their way for the door and at the last minute remembered why they were there.
“You going to be alright? You need anything?” they turned to Jake.
Jake looked at Michael as if to ask if it was alright to leave the hospital.
“You can go too, just no strenuous activity, you need to take it easy for a while.” Michael said as he handed Jake a small bag of pills. “Pain killers. Enough for a week.”
“Thanks,” Jake said as he carefully stepped off the bed.
“You can rest up at our place while dad's out of town,” Charlie said as they drove away.
“Rest up? I'm coming with you, I want to find these guys,” Jake protested.
“You heard Mike, you need to take it easy. Me and Harry will take care of that, you're staying home.”
“I can handle it,” Jake said.
“I don't care,” Charlie pressed. “You're not coming.”
Later that afternoon a banging at the door woke Jake from his slumber. His blurry vision quickly focused; he sat up from the couch. The banging continued. Jake stood up, too quickly, dizziness held him for a moment. He opened the door to see Sam and Solomon waiting eagerly. “Holy shit,” Sam said.
“They didn’t say it was this bad,” Solomon added.
“Your brother told us what happened.”
“Come on in,” Jake stepped aside.
“You hurtin'?”
“Only when I breathe.”
The three of them settled into the living room.
“They took everything huh?” Solomon asked.
“All of it,” Jake confirmed.
“Damn. After all that work.”
Jake ran his hands through his hair and exhaled loudly. He was back at square one.
“So what now?” Sam asked.
“Now we think of a new way to get fifty grand. I don't care if we have to lie, cheat or steal. There has to be a way,” Jake said through a yawn. The trio brainstormed the idea.
“We could rob a bank?”
“We could rush a jewelry store?”
“We could invent something?”
&n
bsp; “How about blackmail?” Solomon said.
“Who do you know that we can blackmail for that much?” Jake asked.
They both searched the recesses of their minds for an answer, but thought of no one with that amount of money without an equally large penchant for violence. An idea flickered in Jake's mind. “Actually... it's risky blackmailing someone for that much, but what if we make the sum significantly smaller.”
“But more than just one target,” Solomon finished Jake's thought process.
“How hard could it be? I know at least three people who are cheating on their girlfriends or wives,” Jake said.
“I know a guy who likes to dress up in women's clothing,” Solomon added.
“Who?” Sam asked.
“John Hertz.”
“Haha! No way. He's a lawyer, I'm sure he'd pay a pretty penny to stop that from getting out.”
“Do you know anyone?” Jake asked Sam.
“Maybe one or two, things I promised I would never share.”
“They won't know it was you.”
“Yeah, but I would.”
“Do it for the kids,” Jake said.
“Alright,” Sam sighed. “Let's make a list.”
Over the course of the next few days, Jake, Sam and Solomon compiled a list of potential targets. They armed themselves with one camera each which Solomon 'borrowed' from a local store while a heated argument between Jake and Sam kept the clerk distracted. They followed their targets around and waited patiently for the right compromising photographs. They saw cheaters, adulterers, scum of the earth, and the outright obscene once the sun faded.
“How long does this guy use the toilet for?” Jake yawned. He had joined Solomon on the rooftop of one of the higher buildings in the heart of