Chapter 7

It was midday when Pete drove into the old abandoned warehouse by the outskirts of the city, an old flour mill with a wire fence and a two security posts left vacant. Even before he entered the premises, he could spot three men in total, two by the bushes at the entrance, on opposite sides and one behind the tank inside the premises. He also estimated that at least two flagged the Senator.
When Pete rolled to a stop, he carefully tucked his handgun in his pocket, a dagger in his boots and a string around his sleeve. He sent his location immediately to Nick and left his phone in the glove compartment before exiting the vehicle.
Meters away stood Senator Thomas Evans, flagged by two men as Pete had earlier predicted, each making a show of the bulges by their hips. Sen. Tommy was a round man, with a stomach twice his size, a clean shaven large face, receding black hair and below average, his head barely reaching the forearms of his security men. His face was like a flat round clay that had been mixed with too much water and didn't dry out nicely, thus leaving holes and hollows here and there. He had a round nose, beady eyes and a wide mouth. Dressed in a double breasted plaid suit and a shoe with extra padded heels, he all but bounced to meet Pete near the tank where he stood.
"Jack my good man" the Senator said as he got to Pete and stood at arm's length, waiting for his men to do a full body check, took his gun and dropped it in a sack by the tank.
"Senator Thomas" Pete nodded at his favourite business alias.
"It's good to see you, California agrees with you I see" Tommy joked and smirked at Pete. "The girls are a different flavour here" he whispered with a sick grin.
Pete simply nodded and said nothing.
"I see you're all business. Relax Jack, I've covered all the grounds, you're safe" Tommy assured him with a proud smile.
Pete nodded to that too.
"Anyways, how's the thing doing?" He asked
"Stable. No trouble so far" Pete replied.
"I knew it, he's a peaceful one, huh?" He agreed.
"What's next?" Pete asked impatiently.
"Relax my man. Here's the actual work now. Let's take a walk" Tommy said and moved Pete away from his security men before lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Brown's wife is already distraught as it is. The more we wait, the more hysterical she gets and when we make our demands, they play right into our hands desperately" Tommy suggested with a nod as if to confirm his own brilliance.
"The whole of DC's officers are sniffing everywhere for information, keeping him is risky and you know that"
"But that's exactly why I hired you, you guys take the risk don't you? You came highly recommended too" Tommy replied with a dating stare.
"When will the paper work for our goodies be made ready?" Pete asked.
"Tsk tsk tsk, boy, no. The job before the pay remember? Get me what I want first and your goodies will be clean in a finger snap" Tommy answered.
Pete held the Senator's stare for a while before caving in.
"So no calls? The boy needs food, that's money and we can't cash any checks at the moment, we need hard cash" Pete stated.
"I had thought of that Pete so pick that up before you leave. Don't forget, no calls, let them stew in the pain for a bit, the longer, the better" he said and with a charming smile strode away from Jack with a practiced wink.
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Tracy Rose from the stool she sat, holding Moses who looked at her blankly, a cute little pout on his face, his hands wringing the bead he'd taken a liking to. Valeria couldn't look away from the boy, and the boy stole glances at her too. He was fed, his diaper dry and powdered with a sweet smelling "Baby Dust". Tracy had dropped by to say her usual Hellos, along with gossip about the neighborhood and the whole block a little before going off go wherever she did go to once her husband left for his "little paying meager salary useless job" in her own words. Valeria was wary of the robust woman and was walking on eggshells with her. Tracy was the kind of third wheel that got caught up and had to be taken out. With her wide mouth and energy, she was bound to be a loose end and loose ends died. Always.
Valeria simply smiled as she went on and on about her father in-law's prostrate enlargement, her inability to bear children and the how the cafe down the road was using goat milk instead of cow. In the short week she'd lived there, Valeria knew so much more about the woman than she did about Nick or even Pete despite being with them no less than 7 years and with Pete particularly over a decade. She knew that Tracy was unable to bear children but had lied to her husband that she didn't want to have children, something about keeping her shape and body. Frankly, Valeria doubted she had any shape to keep. She also knew that she'd once tried a foursome and her husband had passed out while at it, she'd lied at the hospital that he fell from a ladder and slumped. Simon was also her 7th or 8th cousin, she wasn't even sure and they'd met at a party, she'd liked him and he'd ignored her all through, two months later, she lied she was pregnant and they got married and have remained married for six years so far. What was endearing was her openness and sincerity, what worried her was how far and fast the news would spread if Tracy found out for any reason that Moses was Sen. Brownson's missing baby. It was her wide mouthed sincerity that stopped Valeria from accepting her offer to take care of Moses whenever they wanted to have 'adult time', despite Valeria's irritation and growing frustration with the baby, she declined the offer with a smile.
"And so I discovered my Aunt-in-law was a lesbian and her partner was my own sister" Tracy said and wore a comic expression on her face.
"Crazy yeah?" She asked with raised brows.
"Crazy" Valeria agreed with no idea what she was agreeing to.
"Look, Moses is sleep. I'll have to put him to bed and erhmm....was his clothes, make dinner and__and call my__erhmm__ny cousin. Yes, I have a lot to do" Valeria stated as she rose.
"What are neighbors for? Let me help you, I can put the baby to sleep while you get started on the__"
"I wouldn't love to bother you that much Tracy, thank you so much but I can handle it, plus Pe..my husband loves his dinner early and I have to get to that" she smiled.
Tracy shrugged her meaty shoulders and smiled.
"I'll come when dinner is ready" she joked and dropped the baby in Valeria's outstretched arms.
Valeria laughed, sincerely hoping she didn't.
"Later" She said and with that left the front door.
Valeria sighed and looked at Moses who'd not slept at all, no doubt the droning of Tracy had worn him out too. Valeria smiled at the thought and moved the boy to the couch, handing him his feeding bottle which he sucked on dutifully, his eyes on the television. Valeria had just pulled out the phone to order take out for the night when the door burst open and she had to duck, panicked, thinking how soon she could reach her gun in the bedroom drawer.
Pete entered, his eyes fiery as he strode to the centre table, snatched the remote and changed channels. The National Evening news still had the same headlines. "One-year-old baby abducted in Washington DC"
"What's happened? Do we have to go?" Valeria asked, less tensed now she saw Pete.
"No" he snapped and sat on the couch, his murderous glare on Moses. In an instant, he snatched the feeding bottle from him, smashed it on the wall and the milk flowed out.
"Fuck you" he spat to the baby.
"Hey! Stop that! You're frightening him" Valeria said and moved to pick the now crying child up.
"What do you care?" Pete asked
"I'll be the one awake all night when he can't sleep" she defended
"I'd gag him for sure this time" he replied.
"What is this about?"
"We have the entire Washington Police Department on our tail. That's what it is about"
"We knew that when we took this job, you knew it"
"The stupid old man won't let me deal this my way, the crooked controlling bastard! We're with this burden and the cops are on our necks and he's the one calling the shots? Huh?! And being darn slow at it too? At this rate it will take months to get done with this job and get our stack clean" Pete fumed.