Chapter 27 - It's the Small Things That Can Kill You - It Virtually Has a Thousand Uses

Chapter 27 – It Virtually Has a Thousand Uses

It had been hours since Happy Meadows had been invaded by two hit men from a rival criminal element which Joey only referred to as Bobby Moretti’s boys. Joey, a bit of an escape artist himself, had taken the disarmed Artie Best and placed him in a chair.  He searched Artie for more weapons and found a switch blade knife with a six-inch blade. I wandered in from outside during the search process.

Clara came back after checking on Frank and noticed the weapon. Her eyebrows shot up a bit. I picked up the weapon.

“Um Jax, I don’t think…” Clara began.

But I pressed the button. In the movies, switchblade knives seemed like they were relatively weightless and usually made a cool sound when they sprang open like cinema magic. The sound didn’t seem much louder than the clicking of a ball point pen. This knife, however, seemed larger and had more heft to it than the ones on the big screen.

When I pressed the silver button, which was nearly as large as the knuckle of my index finger, an enormous blade jumped and locked into an open position with a rather loud mechanical clack. In doing so, it leapt from my hand and fell point down. The tip penetrated the linoleum of the lobby floor. I was startled, then held my breath for several seconds.

Carmen, who was present in the lobby to direct elderly residents back into their rooms, simply rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. Clara reached down and pulled the knife from the floor. After a brief inspection of the weapon, she gracefully closed it and handed it back to me.

“I think perhaps this is an outdoors toy.” She said with a smirk. I silently nodded in agreement.

“Jax!” Said Joey. “If you are through ruining the décor of this fine establishment, I could use some help here with…excuse me, I didn’t catch your name as you were trying to kill me?” He looked at Artie, now wrapped in nylon rope, and sitting in one of the lobby chairs.

Artie remained silent. “Come now, I must call you something.” Joey implored the bound assassin.

“My name is Artie.” He said reluctantly, as if he was a third-grade offender in a grammar school  principal’s office.

“Okay Artie. Now, your hands are behind you. I want you to open them and leave them both open for a minute.”

Artie complied. Joey reached into his pocket and produced a tube of a relatively new product, called super glue. He applied it to both of Artie Best’s palms.

“Now close your palms and don’t open them until I tell you to.” Joey directed.

Clara came over to me as I was still holding the switchblade. “Now why didn’t I think of that.” She eyed my hands. I took a half step away from her and she snorted with laughter twice and then came closer and shoulder bumped me.

“You are having way too much fun with this entire situation.” I complained as I feigned a serious tone.

Artie strained to open his hands. “Hey, I can’t open them.”

“Don’t worry, it probably wears off.” Joey theatrically showed Artie the tubes directions momentarily and then squinted at them himself. “Although it doesn’t say when it might anywhere on the tube.”

Joey continued as if he were in a lecture hall. “The reason he is relatively helpless right now isn’t entirely due to the glue. You see, most human beings have highly developed finger muscles for squeezing things, but the opposite set of muscles are quite weak.”

“I noticed that you used that stuff to glue the newspaper to his partner’s fingers. Do you always travel with so much of it?” Clara asked with clinical interest.

Artie continued to struggle to get his hands to open. His head was turning beet red.

“Yes.” Joey replied. “It virtually has a thousand uses. For instance, I used it to plug the hole in his partner’s forehead. It turned an hour-long cleanup into a simple five-minute job.”

“Neat!” Clara winked at Artie. Artie quit struggling and momentarily reflected on what Joey had just said.

“Now, if you and Clara would graciously watch Artie while his glue sets, I need to check on Frank once again.” Joey said. He produced a set of handcuffs and cuffed Artie’s right hand to the chair he was setting in.

“Here Jax.” Joey gave me his pistol. Then he turned to Artie and stated. “Okay. Cooperate and you probably will live through this.”

“Tell him to be careful and not drop that gun.” Artie yelled.

He turned to Carmen who was now chatting with Phyllis. “Carmen. I would like to put Artie in the same closet that we put you in. I think maybe Zach would fit in there too if we folded him up a bit. What are your thoughts?”

“He’s not supposed to be here!” Phyllis said quite emphatically.

“We are aware of that Phyllis. We will probably put them in the utility closet.” Phyllis gave the thumbs up sign to that suggestion.

Carmen also replied. “Yes, the closet. It would be helpful. There are a few residents that say they can’t sleep. They want to stay up a bit and play cards. I think they just want to watch you work, or maybe gossip with you all.” She replied.

“Tell them that we are about done here. I need to make another phone call, but I’ll pay you for it and settle with you before we move on.”

“Okie doke.” She chirped.

Joey turned to Clara. “I need to talk to Tony again to see how far out his guys are. Then I need to interrogate Artie before he goes into the closet with Zach. I think we might have one more dog on our trail. He might know who it is.”

“How many will keep coming at us?” Clara looked over at me, and I could see now that her brave face was starting to slip.

“I don’t think Artie was the other killer that I mentioned earlier.  He obviously was just a driver or backup. Billie Touche was a sniper and always worked alone. My instincts tell me that there might be someone else. But let me worry about that. What I really need to tell you is that, after tonight, I am getting out of the business.”

“I thought that nobody could leave the organization.” She said in astonishment.

“Oh, that part is true. Nobody leaves the Accardo organization. But I’m family. I’m just going to request a lateral transfer. Tony did it himself when he was my age. He has been looking for someone to head up security for a couple of his casinos in Chicago. I’ll float the idea on the phone to him. I would be closer to both you and Frank that way.”

“What about…” Clara looked around at Artie and pointed at him and then the deceased Zach.

“We will cover our tracks when the cavalry gets here. They will disappear the bodies. Our lawyers will get involved if necessary. I’ve already bought off Carmen if we need a witness for what happened here tonight.”

Joey grinned at her. “Tomorrow after I talk to Tony, I go legit and keep my promise to you. This way, you and I can both be available to care for Frank. I can visit on the weekends, and I’ll just be forty miles away in Windy City if either of you need me.

“Don’t play me Joey.” Clara’s steely gaze softened.

“I need something better than this. So do you.” Then she hugged him.

Suddenly there was a scream from the parking lot. It was Rico.

Disregarding my duties as Artie Best’s babysitter, I went blasting out of the front door, pistol in hand.

Rico was backing up away from…what? There was a presence out in the darkness. Fenton had gone back over to the entrance. Sal had retreated to his side. They both could sense it. I could somehow feel it too.

“Rico, what the hell?” I shook him.

“Jax, he brought them with him.” Rico pointed to the hearse and the place Jerry Gonzales was sleeping off a Saturday night drunk.

“What are you talking about?” I looked about but could see nothing out of the ordinary. However, I still felt a presence. Like icy pins momentarily touching my limbs and face.

“The dead. They're here. He brought them with him!” Rico was trembling.