The tapping of the keys was the only sound in the office. I had the door closed so Maggie had no clue. She thought I was working on the Myers report which she told me was due to her sometime today. Actually, that report was done but the cover was good for finishing the last chapter in my book. With a glance at the closed door, I grinned to myself and began on the ending.
From the cover of a stack of wooden shipping containers, he took aim, pulled the trigger and watched the first one fall. The bullet sped across the open space of the warehouse before finding its target. The silenced bullet took the lookout in the chest, slammed him back against the wall, where he slid down to the floor, peaceful like. Then all hell broke loose. Yells, screams of anger, running men every which way, combined with gunshots. Chaos! He just smiled, moved even deeper into the shadows and watched it all go down. Both sides were now convinced that they had been betrayed and they were going to make the other pay
.
Surrounded by the sounds of gunfire, Hammer made his way through the cases of plaster statues of the baby Jesus that were in reality filled with cocaine and ducked out the back door. He had enough now to turn the whole dirty business over to his contact in the FBI. They had enough to get a conviction for Simms and his gang but there was no percentage in trying to include her now. She had run as soon as it started to fall apart. He knew her well enough to know she would disappear into the masses and never be found. That was her MO. Just disappear. It amazed him that someone who looked like her could disappear, but she had done it before. She would do it now. He was surprised by the sadness that produced in his heart. He remembered her embrace and the kiss. Just that one time, but it would stay with him a long, long time. She was gone but he would remember her.
I pushed my chair back, propped my feet up on the desk and thought about it. It was done! Finally, all the hard work was over and my great novel was done. My novel, resurrecting Mike Hammer, was finished. Now what? Where did I go from here?
How did one go about publishing a novel? I had no idea. It occurred to me to ask Maggie. Maggie was the smart one. She had brains as well as looks. Why she had settled for me, I had never understood. It was certainly the first prayer I said every night of my life. "Thank you God for Maggie." Every night. I also asked God to make sure she never woke up and thought about the mistake she had made. If she did, I was toast! Well, prayer seemed to be working so far. It had been almost five years for us, five wonderful years that made my life worth getting up every morning.
It had been more than two weeks since the phone call from Bruno. I couldn't stand it any more so I finally gave in and called him. It rang twice and I cursed, expecting to get his voice mail, but just as I was about to slam the phone down, Bruno answered.
"Yeah boss. I'm here. What's up?"
"Damn it Bruno. What's going on? You call and then nothing? What the hell. I gave it a couple of weeks but no longer. Give me the story. Just lay it out."
A brief silence from the other end and then, "He's gone again. Just asked some questions, made a few contacts and then, gone. My tracker lost him almost a week ago. Out of range. Gone back to Ohio. Maybe I never told you, but that's where he went when he left. O-damn-hio. Can you believe it? Got himself a little scam going there. Nothing big, just penny anti stuff."
"And? You just let him go?"
"I have contacts there. They'll let me know. In the meantime, he was asking about Maggie and about you. Got nothing. Nothing of any value. I know who he talked to and when. They knew what to say and what not to. You got nothing to worry about boss. I've got your back. Yours and Maggie's."
"OK. For now. But you let me know if and when he comes back. This time, I'm going to make sure it's the last time. Could be I'll want you to bow out at some point. You understand?"
"Don't have the foggiest idea of what you're talking about. Any new cases going? I'm getting bored with stuff here. Need some excitement in my sorry life."
I discussed some current cases and Bruno agreed to come in sometime soon to see what he could do. I did have a couple of hot ones and I wanted to get something going on them soon. I needed the money. Maggie and I needed a vacation. I had my eye on one of those island places. St. something or other, somewhere in the Caribbean. Way the hell past the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Someplace where they spoke English and took US dollars. I was lousy at math and conversion rates just pissed me off. Seems the whole damn world ought to use dollars. Make things simpler.
I decided to send the report to my Maggie, just to prove to her that I wasn't wasting my time. Sent it by email, just like she taught me. She had been working with me on the computer so I could do other things than waste my time writing that 'fool novel' as she called it. Wonder what she'd say when I told her it was finished? Hah! Make her sorry she made fun of me. I was thinking of her face, full of pride and chagrin, when she pushed open the office door to yell in at me.
"TT! You have a visitor. Do you have time?" She asked me this sweetly, letting me know there was a potential client on the other side of the door. Otherwise, she would have just walked in to spy on me.
"Sure. I can take a break."
I rose and waited. When she returned, she had a young man in tow. He was tall, well more than six feet, sandy hair cut short, eyes so blue they were almost black, and a face that screamed innocence. He didn't look to be more than twenty at the most.
"TT, this is Mr. Norbert. He wants to talk about hiring you for some business. Mr. Norbert, this is TT Spalding."
