“Uh, Norman what are you doing?”
“Remember I said that I ordered a couple of wind turbines well, these are them. I just thought I would look everything over while you two were out and see how it all hooks up.”
“You and your toys. Come on, let's get some dinner.”
“If you don’t mind, remember I said earlier that my order with the hardware store came in today.”
“All right we can stop and pick up some more of your toys on the way.”
The women change while Norman repacks his boxes. In ten minutes the women are back in the clothes they had on before and they all head off for dinner. At eight thirty they all pull into the driveway of the remains of Wren’s house.
“If you two don’t mind putting the stuff in the container I have a little changing to do.”
As Norman and Margaret finish loading the rest of the new gear into the container the Predator steps out of the ruins.
“Dancing Owl would you mind zipping me in?”
“Dancing Owl? Norman, who is she talking to?”
“Me, I’ll explain later.”
Norman zips her up and she steps over to the Buick and sets her duffel and backpack into the trunk then crawls in herself.
“Seventy-eight hundred Watson road, when you get there pull around to the back and pop the trunk, when I close the lid leave. I’ll call when you need to pick me up. I’ll be more specific as to where when the time comes. Pick up will be the reverse of drop off pull up pop the trunk, I’ll climb back in and close it as you pull off.”
Norman closes the trunk as Margaret gets in the driver's seat. Fifteen minutes later she eases the Buick around the back of the old apartment buildings. Norman pops the trunk with the release in the glove box and almost as quickly it shuts again and they are off. The black shadow scuttling across the parking lot is only visible to those who know what they are looking for.
The Predator quickly slips in between some parked cars and dashes from shadow to shadow as she makes her way to her chosen spot. Pete’s car is sitting in front of the building as she leaps and catches the bottom rung of the fire escape. She pulls herself up and starts climbing the ladder. Once at the top she carefully checks the windows of the apartment behind her. All is dark and quiet with no sign of activity. Her back secure, she focuses her attention on the windows twenty feet away. The lights are on with the occasional sighting of a shadow flitting through the apartment from time to time as she watches. She sits in brooding silence thinking as he only briefly ever shows any sign of being there and then is it really him?
“He’s jumpy, never shows himself to a window, always lurking out of sight.”
Then he appears briefly as he shuts off the lights and slips out the door. Two minutes later the headlights of his car come on and he slips off into the darkness. Still she sits waiting for his return assuming that at eleven o’clock there aren’t too many places he can go even on a Friday night. Fifteen more minutes go by and the lights suddenly go on in the room. A man and a woman both enter finely dressed, his hands all over her body she locks the door and enters Wren's full sight. His hands are really all over her as he removes her clothes and she his. It’s at this point that Wren decides to leave assuming that Pete won’t be back anytime soon and maybe not at all tonight. Quietly she descends the ladder and heads back into the lot slipping once again from shadow to shadow as she goes. Once at the other end of the lot as far away as she can get from her lookout spot she calls Norman.
“Same lot opposite end, mission aborted, all is clear.”
Five minutes later the Buick is slowly pulling through the lot and the Predator shows herself only slightly so that only Norman would see her. He pops the truck and she slips inside silently closing the lid behind her. Once the car is moving she turns on her flashlight and starts slipping out of the Predator’s second skin. The warm air of the trunk feeling cold to her as the latex slowly peels from her body. She feels kind of like a snake molting as she changes in the confined space of the Buick’s trunk but within a few minutes she’s back in her white dress and on her phone.
“Find somewhere secluded to pull off and let me out.”
A few minutes later the car slows and the trunk pops open again. Wren emerges and gets in the back seat. The door shuts and they are off again heading back toward Margret’s apartment.
“Problem with the job?”
“Let’s put it this way I failed to acquire the target then it left and was replaced by a man and a woman. I really didn’t feel like sitting there for who knows how long watching them have sex not knowing when or if my target would return. If it’s alright with you two I’d like to get some sleep because I’ll have to try again tomorrow.
Wren snaps awake at four in the morning and slips out of bed. After a quick shower she sits down with the laptop at the kitchen table and starts scanning through her list. It is now pretty thin with only three left counting Pete. She knew where Pete was, Po was now missing with only the word of a former neighbor as any clue to finding him and then there is Clearance. Clearance the ring leader and founder, the whole reason she is where she is now. Would she find him still living at Hortense Place? She closes up the laptop and decides to find out. She grabs her riding gear from her room and slips it on in the bathroom. Leaving a note for Norman she steps out into the living room. As she turns the corner into the entry hall she finds her Mom dressed in leather and holding the spare helmet.
“Mom what are you doing?”
“Waiting on you of course, if you plan to do some more casing out, you will look much less suspicious with me along.”
“You have no idea what I’m up to.”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea so let’s go. Norman already told me you don’t make hits in the daylight.”
“It was bad enough involving you last night, you really don’t need to be any more involved in this mess.”
“I think we need to talk about this a little bit. Come on in to the kitchen table with me and we will discuss this over some coffee and rolls.”
Reluctantly Wren follows her Mom into the kitchen and sits down at the table. Her Mom taking a pan of cinnamon rolls from the freezer and sliding them into the microwave and draws two cups of coffee for them.
“Cream or sugar?”
“Both I drink it like grandma.”
“Oh yes a little coffee with her sugar and cream in almost equal amounts.”
Margaret sets the cups of steaming coffee on the table then pulls out a pair of plates and sets them down. Wren stares at hers while her mom gets out some forks and a bottle of milk. By the time she has it all on the table Norman has quietly slipped into the room and sits down across from Wren. Not missing a thing Margaret sets down another plate and fork and draws another cup of coffee for him when the timer sounds on the oven. She sets the hot rolls down on the table and herself in the head chair.
“Wren, what are you staring at?”
“I was just noticing the picture on the plate and for the first time in my life made the connection. It’s a picture of Castlebar in the old country and the family oath is around the edge.”
“I see Mom taught you the Irish then.”
“Yea she even took me over there once to show me around. I got to see the farm she was born on and the Blarney castle, it was a great trip although I found me and her spoke the old tongue more than the people that lived there.”
“It is coming back though. I have been there several times over the years. The plates were a wedding gift from your Uncle Mike. Anyway, about uncle Mike I understand he told you about how Mom and Dad met.”
“Yes he did and it was a fascinating tale. I wish Grandma could have been there, I’m sure she could have added a lot more spice to it.”
“I’m sure she would have. Did he tell you what Dad did for a living?”
“He told me Sean took over the business of supplying what I needed from Grandpa and to see him.”
“Yes he did, but early on Dad was also a hit man. He worked for the brewery in the daytime and his side work was always done at night. Mom did not like what he did but she could not stop him either and not just because of the money. You see once you start working for any organized crime group back then there was no way out. You were always bound to them and to their demands. If your spouse complained too much or made too much noise you were expected to take care of the problem or you would both be silenced. Sometimes Mom would have something to do and Dad would get a call to take care of a problem. Well there I was tagging right along with him. I saw many a soul tortured because they did not have their “insurance” premium ready or they were not keeping up their end of a deal. I never saw him make a hit though. I always knew when it would happen though because I was always left in the car and he was never gone long. I would sit in the car with the engine running and wait for him. One night when I was about eleven he came running out of a house as fast as he could with someone shooting at him as he ran. I threw open the passengers door and slid into the driver's seat one foot on the clutch one on the brake, car in gear. He jumped in and I popped the clutch I had never driven before but I did not even think about it. I guess Dad did not either because we were six blocks away when he said something. From that night on I was his getaway driver. So I already have much blood on my hands besides yours.”
“So grandpa was actually a hit man?”
“Until I was about fifteen then he moved into illegal arms. You see where I doubt it will make much difference if I tag along with you a little. Besides your car is too recognizable to your enemies where as mine is pretty non-descript.”
“So who do you two plan to scope out today?”
“I do not know, I was just going to tag along with Wren to offer her a bit of cover.”
“Clearance Murphy.”
“The gang leader? I thought you told me he would be last.”
“He is but, like some others I was planning how before I get there. I need to see if he is still at the address left in Hacker’s computer or not.”
“Okay. let me get dressed and we can go see what we can find out.”
“We can go? I don’t recall inviting either of you.”
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