Chapter Nine: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

K.R Manns has a plan... will it backfire?

I knew what I had to do. I quickly got dressed as Harry braced himself for a fire fight, and then told him to head to one of the doors in the back of my office. Everyone thinks it's a broomcloset, but in my line of work, always having an escape plan is pretty much mandatory. ' Open it with the key in the second drawer! and then head down the trap door. It'll take you down to the alley out back! wait for me with your car ready. We're gonna need a fired up engine if I come running'. Harry's skeptical. The old guy doesn't wanna leave me behind, at the hands of these mobsters. Still, I had a plan. A plan that could save me a lot of sleauthing down the line. I remember every detail  Eyes had told me in the park that day, and I had to nail down some leads before I would start this wild goose chase again. After all, now that my pal Harry would be riding shotgun, I have to make sure I'm showing up at the right places, seeing the right people, and taking the expressway towards finding that kid.

 Or else I would be taking down one of my closest allies along with me. Harry wouldn't drop it and he  knew it. Too much excitement in this town for him, and a chance at taking down the mob and some cold war era criminals were exactly what the doctor ordered to and old hero like Harry. I adjust my dark silk tie, and place my hat neatly on my head. My long trench coat and suspenders paint the perfect private eye picture, that's for sure. I want these guys to not have a doubt in their heads that I'm me. I can buy us some time. And if not, I made sure to leave all of my notes inside Harry's jacket when he left it on my desk. I always have to have a back up plan. Always. I hear the dress shoes slam the old wood of my building. Their coming up the stairs. I exhale my cigarette smoke with thoughts of the routine I'm gonna pull on these wiseguys. They'll have the drop on me that's for sure, but if I can keep myself alive until I have the facts I need  it'll be well worth it.

 The goons don't even have the courtesy of knocking. All I hear is a big kick on the door, and my sweet little entrance gets knocked forward like an abused wife. The two suits came in wielding their standard berettas. Their slicked back hair and Italian features made me chuckle a little at how stereotypical they were. Not the most discreet muscle in the world, apparently. 'Laughing ah? at what? I don't see any comedy to your current situation Manns. See There's some real important people that wanna know some things about you tough guy. So I'm gonna try and control myself and see if you reveal some of what I'm here for'. This mobster was the older one, the made man sent in to supervise that everything goes well with their little mission. As far as I could tell, these weren't Tomassimo boys. They wouldn't have talked to me first. Would've been downright torture. The mafia doesn't get involved with anybody who didn't meddle in their affairs, and the only family I'd pissed off was the Tomassimo.

 Had my nose clean as far as the other guidos go. The other guy looks around my office, reading old newspaper articles I have spread around, detailing the cases I had solved. Criminals I had taken down. He was young, maybe twenty one, twenty two. This was the soldier. And the bald guy was either his dad or uncle. A made guy wouldn't come to see the likes of me unless he was worry his kid would screw up. 'So who sent you? just to know who ordered a bullet through my head if this little meet and greet goes sour', I say with a stern voice. It was important this wiseguy didn't see through my facade.

 'My boss. Lamberti's wanna know what's going on around town, and you seem to be around everytime the boss runs into some trouble in this town'. This confirms it. These guys have no intention of leaving me alive after our little chat. The optimistic part of me was hoping they would just want to beat me after they get their information. I would have to be careful with my words. This guy wasn't stupid like the ginger. Outsmartin' this guy and finding out what I need would be a whole other ballgame.