Hard Target (The Silencer Series Book 3) Read online

  “There’s number two,” Gibson stated.

  “You found it?”

  “Yeah. Both here.”

  “Anything unusual? Unlocked, blood, anything?” Recker wondered.

  “No. Both locked up tight. No sign of anything else.”

  “So that means they were both taken somewhere.”

  “That’s a good sign,” Gibson replied. “Means they’re probably still alive. Otherwise they would’ve just killed them upstairs.”

  “Unless they killed them and were dumping the bodies somewhere.”

  “That’s a lot of work to go through all that.”

  “If it’s the person I think we’re dealing with then they got the history of it,” Recker said.

  “Whatcha mean?”

  “I think they might’ve been meeting the person that killed that girl we found stuffed in the trunk a few months ago.”

  “Oh man. That’s bad news then.”

  “I know. Anything else on the name? Remember where you heard it before?” Recker asked.

  “Nah, I just can’t place it. I know I never did business with him before directly or else I’d remember that,” Gibson answered. “But I feel like I met him before somewhere. Maybe he was in a group and I remember the name but he wasn’t like a main player.”

  “Well if that’s the case then who would you have met in a group that would have someone like that involved?”

  “Well, if I’m actually remembering right, then there’s only two guys that would have a crew in a group setting that I’d have done business with.”

  “Let me guess…Vincent or Jeremiah?”

  “That’s it.”

  “If this is the guy we’re looking for, sounds like an MO that he learned working for Vincent,” Recker said.

  “How you figure?”

  “People that fell victim to Vincent or his crew don’t always turn up at the same spot that they were killed. Sometimes they get moved or staged to a different area for whatever reasons. Jeremiah doesn’t usually stage his killings. He’ll just leave them where they fall.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Like, umm, that Italian dude that shot you that wound up in that alley a few months back,” Gibson said.

  “Yeah.”

  “If Simmons’s really part of Vincent’s crew, I don’t know how happy he’s gonna be if you wind up taking him out.

  “Let me worry about that.”

  “You need me to do anything else?”

  “Not unless you can find out where Clifford might’ve went,” Recker responded.

  “I mean, I can put some feelers out and see what happened, but I can’t really promise much from that.”

  “Yeah, do what you can do. I appreciate it.”

  “You got it, bro.”

  As soon as he hung up, Recker knew what he had to do. He’d have to call Vincent and explain the situation and ask for another favor. Having to ask Vincent to do another thing for him wasn’t the ideal scenario. Recker knew that at some point, he was going to have to repay the favors that Vincent had done for him. And however it was that Vincent wanted him to repay those favors, it wasn’t likely to be something that Recker would like doing, but he would have no choice but to do it. Regardless of that, Recker didn’t have any other options left. He’d have to worry about everything he owed Vincent at a later time.

  There also was a different problem that occurred to Recker. And that was if Vincent was somehow involved in the disappearance of Jones and Mia. He was sure that Vincent had no idea that they were friends of his, but the thought crossed his mind, what if for some reason Vincent ordered the killing of Susan Hanley? Recker couldn’t wrap his head around why a mob boss would want someone like her killed, but he’d seen and heard of stranger things before. If that was true, then he would have also been responsible for Jones and Mia’s situation right now.

  If Vincent had Simmons kill the Hanley woman, and Mia somehow uncovered information that indicated such, than she’d be directly in his crosshairs. Even though it all made sense, and it certainly seemed plausible, it was still a big leap to make. Recker still wasn’t sure how Hanley would be connected to Vincent to make that big of a conclusion. He figured he’d have to call and gauge Vincent’s reaction to what he told him. If Vincent denied Simmons worked for him, or that he had no knowledge of anything and played dumb, then that would indicate that Vincent was involved. But if Vincent acknowledged that Simmons was one of his guys, and he seemed concerned about what was going on, then perhaps everything was being done without his knowledge.

  Either way, Recker was going to have to call Vincent to find out. If he wasn’t working against a time deadline, and his two friends weren’t missing, then there might’ve been another way around it. Recker could’ve found out in a more discreet manner than by alerting someone he wasn’t sure was innocent or not. But that wasn’t the situation he found himself in and he’d just have to take his chances. The one good thing about his past dealings with Vincent was that Recker now had a direct line of communication with him. He didn’t have to go through third parties or other sources to get into contact with Vincent quickly. And while he didn’t have Vincent’s personal number, he had Malloy’s, and considering he was his right hand man and almost always by his side, it basically amounted to the same thing. He dialed the number as he drove, getting through on the second ring.

  “Recker,” Malloy cautiously answered. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need to talk to your boss.”

  “What about?”

  “It’s urgent,” Recker answered.

  “You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

  Not wanting to reveal specifics yet, Recker thought of a generic answer while still conveying the general tone of the message. “There’s a couple cases I’ve been working on and I need to know whether he’s involved or not before I know how to proceed.”

  “He’s not readily available right now,” Malloy stalled.

  “Well get him available. Cause if he’s not, and one of his men is responsible for what I’m working on, then he’s gonna have to worry about getting a new guy. Cause this one’s gonna be dead.”

  Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Malloy dropped the stall tactics and thought it best to get his boss on the line. “Hold on.”

  It didn’t even take thirty seconds before Vincent got on the other end of the phone. “Mike, what can I help you with?”

  “I need answers. And I need the truth.”

  “Well I’ll tell you what I can depending on the specifics of the question,” Vincent replied, not sounding the least bit concerned or bothered.

  “There was a woman doctor who was killed about three months ago,” Recker explained. “She was found stuffed in the trunk of a car which was found near the airport. Do you know anything about that?”

  Vincent took a few seconds to genuinely think about the question. “I seem to recall hearing something about that though I don’t know too much of the specifics. Why do you ask?”

  “I’ve been close to finding out the killer and I think he works for you. I need to know if you were involved and if the order came from you,” Recker told him.

  “It did not,” Vincent quickly replied. “If it was someone who works for me then it was done without my knowledge or consent.”

  “Which leads me to my next problem. Two more people, civilians, friends of this woman, started looking into her death on their own time.”

  “Let me guess…they’re now in trouble?”

  “They found this guy that I was looking at and now they’re both missing,” Recker said.

  “And you’re wondering if I’m involved in the death of this woman and the disappearance of her friends.”

  “That’s pretty much it.”

  “Considering it’s you who’s asking, I’ll help you out with your problem,” Vincent stated. “If it was anybody else, I wouldn’t give them the time of day.”

  “Understood.”

  “I will tell
you with complete honesty and the utmost respect that what’s happened, or happening, to these people…I have nothing to do with.”

  “Then that’s good enough for me. I accept you for your word.”

  “Good. Now that that’s out of the way, you said you were looking for someone who you believe is part of my crew. I’m assuming you have a name.”

  “I do. The name is Joe Simmons,” Recker revealed.

  Vincent did not immediately respond as he recognized the name instantly. He let it sink in for a minute before responding. With Vincent’s hesitation, Recker assumed that he was familiar with the name.

  “Considering you didn’t immediately say that you had no idea who he is, I take it that you do know him,” Recker said.

  Vincent took another moment to respond. “Yes, Joe Simmons is one of my men.”

  Neither Recker nor Vincent knew what else to say after that revelation and both stayed silent for a minute. Vincent’s curiosity then took hold, wondering what Recker was planning on doing.

  “How exactly do you plan to proceed now with that knowledge?” Vincent asked.

  “I plan to proceed and find Joe Simmons. He doesn’t happen to be with you now, is he?”

  “He is not. He is called when he’s needed.”

  “Oh.”

  “And if or when you do find him? What then?”

  “There’s a good chance I’m gonna kill him,” Recker answered. “Is he a high ranking member of your organization that you’d object to that?”

  “No. He’s a grunt man. He’s usually used for things that might involve a little muscle. He’s not involved in day to day matters.”

  “Then you won’t have a problem with me killing him.”

  “Are you asking for my blessing in killing one of my men?” Vincent wondered.

  “I just want to make sure we don’t have any problems or issues that arise out of this.”

  Vincent took a few more seconds to think before responding, getting a little more angry about the situation, though he didn’t let it show. “We will not. I’ll do you one better.”

  “What’s that?” Recker asked.

  “We’ll find Joe Simmons for you.”

  “I’m not asking you to do that.”

  “You don’t have to. If he’s done these things as you suggest he has then he’s operating without my knowledge or approval on these matters,” Vincent tersely stated. “And if that’s the case then he’s defying my wishes and orders.”

  “So you’ll make an example out of him?”

  “Think of it as you wish. Sometimes those in positions of power must do things that will shock and awe in order to keep the rest of the herd inline.”

  “Well that’s up to you. My main interest is getting these innocent people back safe and sound,” Recker replied.

  “We both have our own motives for finding him. It might help to know where you think these people have been or where they were taken.”

  “I believe they were taken at the Haddix Apartments. Simmons had a room there.”

  “I know the place. He had a room there that he used as a front in order to conduct some business dealings,” Vincent explained. “When did all this occur?”

  “They were supposed to meet with him about twelve,” Recker answered.

  “I assume you’ve already been there.”

  “I’m currently out of state. I was working on another case but I’m on my way back now. I had someone check the apartment though and there’s no one there.”

  “I’ll have someone check his home, though I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t have taken them there.”

  “Where would he go?”

  “There’s a few places I can think of. How far away are you?”

  “Probably about ten or twelve hours,” Recker replied.

  “Don’t rush. We’ll find him.”

  “What am I gonna owe you?”

  “We’ll talk about it another time,” Vincent responded. “Let’s accomplish our goal first. Once we locate him we’ll give you a call.”

  Recker was relieved in some fashion. At least he now knew that Vincent wasn’t involved in anything, but he wouldn’t feel total relief until he knew both Jones and Mia were safe and unharmed. Though he had total confidence in Vincent’s ability to find his employee, he still worried about whether he’d find Simmons before he did something stupid. Once Vincent ended the conversation with Recker, he turned to his right hand man to get the manhunt started.

  “We’re looking for Joe Simmons?” Malloy asked, overhearing the conversation.

  “Yes.”

  “What for? What’d he do?”

  “Recker believes he killed some doctor a few months ago and stuffed her in a trunk by the airport,” Vincent explained.

  “So?”

  “Recker also believes her friends went looking for answers and ran into Joe a little over an hour ago and haven’t been heard from since.”

  “Excuse me for saying so, boss, but what’s that got to do with us? I mean, so what? What do we care?” Malloy wondered.

  “Our reasons for caring are twofold,” Vincent replied. “One, as a favor to Recker to further deepen our relationship and foster goodwill between us. As I’ve said before, the day will come when perhaps his services will be useful to us. And when it comes, he’ll remember times like these when we helped him.”

  “And second?”

  “Secondly, I gave explicit orders months ago that everyone was to lay low and not do anything without my orders or permission. Not one person under my command has the authority to kill anyone without my say so,” Vincent angrily stated.

  “I know.”

  “Killing is dangerous business. Kill the wrong person, at the wrong time, make careless mistakes, things have a way of unraveling and coming back to you. Unless it’s under self-defense, killing is not something that’s to be done haphazardly. If it’s found out by the law or the public that Joe killed that woman, and then he kidnapped or killed these two people today…that’s bad for our business. They’ll find out his connection to me and bring unwanted attention to our operation.”

  “Understood,” Malloy said.

  “Besides all that, Joe’s a minor player in our business. As I explained to Recker, sometimes examples need to be made to show that insubordination will not be tolerated or allowed. If it was someone more important in our day to day operations, perhaps we’d be more calculated on our decisions or even let it slide. But under the circumstances, we’ll use this to further cement that my authority is not be willfully or carelessly ignored.”

  Chapter 7

  It’d been roughly an hour since Recker and Vincent’s conversation. Immediately after, Vincent sent teams of his men out into the city, scouring different buildings in search of finding Joe Simmons. Since Simmons was one of the low men on the totem pole in Vincent’s business, he didn’t always have steady employment from the mob boss, so he often did several things of the illegal variety on the side.

  Simmons knew that if The Silencer was on his tail like Mia suggested, then he couldn’t go back to his own home. He took his prisoners to a vacant one story building in the northeast part of the city that used to house several different offices. Simmons tied them each to a chair and separated them, placing them in different rooms.

  “What’s his phone number?” Simmons asked.

  “I’m not telling you,” Mia replied.

  “If you value your life, you’ll tell me. Otherwise, I’m just gonna wind up killing the both of you now and take my chances with him.”

  “That would be foolish.”

  “Yeah, well, wouldn’t be the first time I did that..”

  She was kicking herself for the situation she was now in. Not only did she put her own life in danger, she put Jones’ life in jeopardy as well. In addition to that, she knew she was going to put Recker in a tough position in regards to how he was going to handle Simmons. Not to mention the fact that she felt he was going to be furious with her for making him
drop whatever he was doing to come rescue her. Mia was so mad at herself that for a brief moment she felt like she deserved whatever Simmons had planned for her. Simmons took his phone out and held it out for Mia to see.

  “The number?” Simmons asked again.

  Mia tilted her head back and looked away as she revealed Recker’s phone number to him. Simmons gave her an evil glare, not sure she was giving him the right information.

  “It better be right,” Clifford told her. “If it’s not, I’m not trying again.”

  “It’s right,” Mia huffed.

  The number started dialing and Recker picked up after the second ring. Not recognizing the number, Recker had hoped it was one of Vincent’s crew calling him with information that they’d uncovered about Simmons’s whereabouts.

  “Yeah?” Recker greeted.

  “Is this The Silencer?”

  “Who’s this?”

  “I have the pleasure of having two people in my company right now,” Simmons answered. “I’m told they’re somewhat important to you.”

  “You’re Joe Simmons.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Are they OK?” Recker asked.

  “They’re fine for now. You’re one friend has a few knots in his head but he’ll survive for the moment.”

  “So what do you want?”

  “The girl here told me that you were on my trail,” Simmons responded. “I’m willing to do some business with you.”

  “What do you want?” Recker repeated.

  “I’ll trade their lives for mine.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I’ll let them go with the assurance that you forget about me,” Simmons offered.

  “What makes you think I can or will do that?”

  “If you don’t, then they’re as good as dead.”

  “And if I agree, what makes you think I won’t still come after you?”

  “Because I’ve looked in their wallets and seen their ID’s. I know who they are and I know where they live. You come after me, I go after them,” Simmons told him. “I’ll even leave the city. I just want your word that you’ll let me go and won’t come after me.”

  Fearing the alternative, Recker felt he didn’t have any other options but to agree to Simmons’s terms. It was actually a good offer as it’s probably one that Recker would’ve offered anyway if it meant getting his friends back unharmed. But the fact that Simmons came up with it right away and without any other strings attached basically made it a no-brainer for Recker to accept the terms.