David Putnam - The Replacements

He shrugged and smiled.

“I’m sorry, John, the deal’s off. We can’t make a play on the Sons of Satan clubhouse.”

The smile disappeared. “Why not? The SS clubhouse? Man, that’s somethin’, really somethin’. They have that kind of money in there?”

Drago came over and again sat on the other bed, compressing his end almost to the floor. “Bullshit, we go or I go by myself, but it’s going to get done, believe me. It’s going to get done.”

“Watch your language,” Mack said.

Any other time those words would have ended in a fight, but Drago looked at Eddie and nodded.

“Drago here tells me there’s now a pole camera on the clubhouse, and the FBI’s monitoring it.”

“So?” Mack said.

Drago wanted his money enough to side with a county cop. “Yeah, I’m with the dipshit. So?” Drago must’ve thought Mack a dirty cop and that Mack wanted in for a piece of the pie.

“I’m not going to tell you again about your language,” said Mack.

“You’re both a couple of fools,” I said. “The plan was to pull up to the front of the clubhouse dressed in FBI windbreakers and use subterfuge to get in. How can we do that if the FBI’s watching the place?”

Eddie didn’t need to hear any more language that Drago couldn’t control. “We’re not going to talk about it now,” I said. “We’ll talk about it later. But I’m telling you, there isn’t a scenario that’s going to work, not under these conditions, not with these narrow parameters and the amount of prison time at risk.”

Mack came over close to the bed I sat on with Eddie. He nodded. “Hey, kid, you got any more of those?”

Eddie held out the bag. Mack stuck his hand in and came out with another package of Sno Balls and the last carton of chocolate milk. “Thanks, kid, you’re all right. You Eddie Crane?”

Eddie looked at me. I nodded, then Eddie nodded. I said, “Eddie isn’t talking right now because he doesn’t have anything to say. When he has something to say, he’ll let us know. Right, Eddie?”

Eddie nodded and took another bite of his Little Debbie.

Mack opened his Sno Balls and shoved half of one into his mouth. He opened the chocolate milk and slurped some of it down. “Okay,” he said, “I think this thing will still work.”

This wasn’t going to end easily. “Hold on,” I said, “you two come with me.” Mack and Drago followed me over to the bathroom. Drago and I went in. No room remained for Mack, and he stood at the threshold, his back to the room. I said, “Okay, go.”

“What is this, the cone of silence or something?” asked Mack.

“The kid, you idgit,” said Drago.

“Don’t call me an idgit. And you’re the one who can’t control his pie hole.”

“Children, play nice,” I said. “What were you going to say, Mack?”

Mack took a drink of chocolate milk as he looked over the top of the carton, past me, at Drago. He swallowed and said, “FBI’s spread too thin to be involved in the surveillance of the clubhouse. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Criminal Intelligence Unit is doing it for them in a joint operation.”

“It doesn’t matter; it’s still being watched by cops.”

“Look,” Mack said, “It’s not FBI, and that’s all that matters. We…I go to the Sheriff’s Criminal Intel guys and tell them we’re going to do a ‘knock and talk’ as a ruse to get in to see who’s inside. We tell them we have an informant who is going to lead us directly to some evidence that we’ve been looking for and haven’t been able to find until now. And, that we took Lex Luthor here out of custody just for the ride over, and to do the knock and talk. Then he’s going back to prison where he belongs.”

“I done my time,” Drago said. “I’m out free and clear.”

“You’re on parole, asshole.”

“I’m an asshole?”

I held up my hands between them. “Stop it, right now.” I thought about it for a minute. “That’s no good.”

“Damn straight, that’s no good,” Drago said. “You’re not goin’ in there without me.”

“Dipshit, with my plan, you are going in.”

“Huh?”

Mack raised his voice. “According to Bruno, you were never going in in the first place, fat boy. But this new way, you’re going in, but you’ll be handcuffed like our prisoner.”

I shoved one man in the chest, then the other, to keep them separated. Who was I kidding? If Drago wanted to go through me, he needed only to raise up his size sixteen shoe and squash me like a bug. “It won’t work, Mack, because you’re putting yourself up front,” I said. “When this thing goes down and they investigate, you’re done. You’ll be prosecuted. You’ll lose your job and go to the joint.”

Mack smiled. “For what?”

“Yeah, wait a minute, he’s right, for what?” Drago said. “You think the SS are going to complain to the cops that someone snuck into their clubhouse and took a million in gold? Hell, we do it right, they won’t even know what we took.”

“A million in gold?” asked Mack.

“Forget about the gold, asshole, you’re not getting an ounce, not even a gram,” said Drago.

I’d told Mack on the phone that we were going in to get the money to pay the ransom, and didn’t get into the long, drawn-out story of how the money had transformed from paper to mineral. “Okay,” I said, “what about collusion, and aiding and abetting a known fugitive? I’ll be on that surveillance tape with you.”

“Not if you wear sunglasses and a baseball cap pulled down low. And if we get in and get out without causing a big scene, then no one on our side of the fence is even going to tumble to what happened and look closely at the tape.”

“You don’t think someone will recognize me on the video?” I asked.

Drago smirked. “I don’t think so. You guys all look-”

I spun and stuck my finger right in his face. “Don’t. Don’t you even think about saying it.”

Marie used the cash I’d given her for a nice little Honda Civic, dark blue with a sunroof. She pulled up right in front of the motel room door, sideways, taking up three spots, not intending on staying long. Once any plan was decided and in place, she went after the elements, one at a time, with the determination of a bulldog to complete the task at hand.

She came in and saw John. She smiled and jumped in his arms. He hugged her. “Hey, kid, how’s it going?”

She took a step back to get a better look at him. “You look great. Wait just a minute. Your smile, the way you’re standing all comfortable in your skin-you have a girlfriend, don’t you?”

Both of our mouths dropped open. Mack looked to me. “You told her, didn’t you?”

“I haven’t had the time.”

“That’s kinda scary,” said Mack.

I nodded. “You’re tellin’ me. I have to live with her.” She laughed and gave me a playful sock.

“Who is she, and how long have you been going out?” asked Marie.

“About nine months or so now. Great gal.” I had never seen Mack smile so hugely.

“I should’ve seen it coming,” I said. “It’s Barbara Wicks.”

Marie laughed and hugged him again. “That’s great, you deserve a good woman.” Her expression turned solemn. “I’m glad you’re here to help, but I’m worried you’re going to get all caught up in this thing, especially if it goes bad.”

John turned sheepish. “Naw, not with Bruno runnin’ the op. And even if it does, I always wanted to see Costa Rica.”

Marie gave a weakly motivated smile and then turned serious as she went into a flurry, grabbing things and shoving them into a cheap, rolling travel bag. I caught a glimpse of tears filling her eyes, and it hurt in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to tear off Jonas Mabry’s head for putting us in this situation. All of us watched her, not knowing what to do. We were all men, and men couldn’t comprehend or say the right things in moments like these.