Blood Debts: A Miami Vice Reunion
by Anne Trembley
If anything, what kept them together was their brotherhood, more than
the fight. The fight brought them together, that's true.
When that was gone, they still had that connection, that love.
And THAT is the real victory......
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 ::
Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 ::
Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 ::
Chapter 7 ::
Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 ::
Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 ::
Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 ::
Chapter 14 ::
Chapter 15 :: Chapter 16 ::
Chapter 17 :: Chapter 18 ::
Chapter 19 :: Chapter 20 ::
Chapter 21
Chapter 4
Friday 4:38 PM OCB Offices
At her
desk, Gina was carefully fitting pages into a folder. Glancing
toward the lieutenant's office and saying softly,
"Stan.
Your turn."
Arnie walked into the office furtively carrying more papers, which he put
immediately into his top desk drawer and then noticed Switek busily
shuffling papers. He leaned over Switek with a very puzzled
look. Switek was putting together papers into a thick folder.
"What are
you doing?"
"Generating
paper."
Arnie's eyebrows knit together. "You never put this kind of
bullshit in front of the Lieutenant?"
Switek
nodded with a satisfied smile. "Got it in one. Castillo would peel
my hide. Mckinnin will be spending a lot of time with papers."
Arnie looked faintly doubtful.
"He
doesn't have to go through all that crap." Waving at the file.
"He
doesn't know that."
Switek stood and headed purposefully toward the Lieutenant's office.
5:13 PM Dockside
The
car radio was playing greatest hits from the 80's. Sting sang low and
menacing, 'Every Move you make, I'll be watching you.' So true, so
true. It amused Reese. He had been careful to stay away from
Miami since his last brush with Castillo in the 80's. Now he was
back watching Castillo's people again.
The
beautiful Black woman Detective was worth watching just for fun.
But this was business. Reese studied her as she talked to the
Rental Agent who had discovered the bodies of the muscle.
The Rogue
Agent was not surprised that Menton had removed any worry of the men
talking later. Gloved and masked officers carried the body bags out
and stacked them in the Coroner's van. The mike he had focused on
her was recording into a microdisc. He didn't expect to get much
out of it, but it would help keep track of the groups efforts.
Reese was curious about Menton's private Hitman; this casual slaughter
was sloppy work.
5:14 PM Miami
Warm
scenery flowed by like a college dream vacation. Rico basked in the
heat and sunshine, hoping he'd brought enough light weight clothing, once
the new York chill had been baked out. He found himself watching
for familiar spots along the road. There were some, but a lot of
building had been going on. Sonny glanced at Rico.
"I was
gonna stop and check out Izzy."
Rico laughed,
"Time to
squeeze the rubber chicken and hope for an egg." Tubbs was thoughtful a
moment. "No. I'll let you play with Izzy. Take me to
Foxie's Car Rental, IF it's still there. I'll need wheels,
and I gotta tell you, I miss the Caddy."
Sonny snorted,
"You mean
the tank. You could have driven that thing through a wall without a
scratch."
Tubbs smiled a little.
"We may
have to, before we find Castillo."
Foxie's
was gone, replaced by a 14 story bank building. It took almost an
hour to find another car-rental. Sonny left Rico filling out
papers. Just before he walked out, Rico said,
"Wait a
second Sonny." He dug into an inner pocket and tossed Sonny what
looked like a cigarette case.
"Hey!
I don't smoke any more!"
"Modern
Times man, it's a cellphone." Sonny looked at it and sighed.
"I've been
successfully avoiding this till now." He put it in a pocket and
walked out.
5:31 PM Miami
Izzy
Moreno was worn out with indecision. Suspecting that no matter what
he did, it would turn out badly, not just for himself this time
either. He sat and stared out the tiny window mumbling a mantra to
himself, trying to work up to doing something.
"You
jus have to do it, you jus have to call." A knock sounded on
the door. Izzy flinched, "Who is there?"
The door opened and Sonny Crockett stepped into the room with a big
smile. Izzy screamed and fainted.
5:03 PM OCB, Miami
They
were all waiting for McKinnin to leave when it happened. Three men
in suits who looked like well scrubbed ex-military brothers showed up,
went to the Lieutenant's office and shut the door. Two minutes
later they came out and it was announced that the FBI was investigating
the disappearance of Lieutenant Castillo and would need the Conference
room and a great deal of current information on the entire units
activities.
At that point chaos began. Stan Switek viewed all this with
extremely cynical eyes. When Arnie asked him, "What are we supposed
to do?" With a wry look he responded, "Just give them what ever
they ask for."
"Sonny's bringing Tubbs back here tonight. How do we cover
that?"
Stan's eyes narrowed with a sudden decision. "With Ding."
"Huh?"
"We're pulling all kinds of files. I know what we need to
fix. Dings been out sick, he gets back tonight." Arnie stared
at the older detective for a second and then things clicked.
"OH. Okay. Uh, I'll tell Gina, and Trudy."
5:35 PM, Moreno Law Offices
Sonny
was taken aback, this was one response he had not expected. He
checked to make sure the Cubano was breathing, and when he woke up a few
seconds later, helped him back into his chair. The tall skinny
Cuban was sweating rivers and picked up a heavy Law book to fan himself
by opening and shutting it.
"Meng
yo give me a cardiac arrest!" The tall man shivered and
gasped, peering through huge coke bottle lenses at Sonny. The least
Hispanic looking man Sonny had ever known, with thin gray hair around a
high and advancing forehead. He was still rail thin and looked as if a
stiff breeze would blow him off a dock.
It was
surprising how little Izzy had changed. He'd seen Izzy in any
number of scams over his years in Miami. Each with a costume and a
persona to fit Izzy's skewed idea of what people expected. But now
Izzy just looked mundanely respectable, and that in itself was odd
enough. Frightened eyes looked up at Sonny.
"What
are you doin here Sonny?"
"Why I just had to come see my old pal Izzy since I'm here in
Miami."
"That's
nice." And for once Izzy was quiet. No long rambling story designed
to put Sonny off or pull him in. Nothing. Izzy looked down at
his desk and put both hands to his head.
"I
hem glad you came Sonny. There is something I have to tell
you."
Sonny was
instantly alert and no longer smiling,
"What?"
In answer Izzy pushed the crumbled picture of Castillo across the
desk. Sonny glanced down and snatched the picture. Looked at
it his face going very hard.
"Where
did you get this Izzy?"
Izzy whimpered a little
"Hits
a long story Meng."
"I
got the time, you don't. Start talking."
Dust motes
floated in the hot still air of Izzy's shabby office. Sonny stood
by the desk holding the phone to his ear.
"Yeah.
Thanks Gina, I'll catch Tubbs on his cell." Sonny pressed the
receiver down on the old rotary phone and started dialing again.
"Why the antique phone Izzy?"
Izzy
shrugged, "It was free."
Without looking up Sonny kept up a rapid fire of questions.
"No name
on the Chinese?"
"Theez was
the whole crew. I tink Gordo knows where Louis is hiding.
Louis knows the Chinese. En maybe a name."
A name hissed out between gritted teeth.
"Lao
Li."
Izzy glanced at Sonny's grim face perplexed.
"Is it
some one you know? I never heard a name."
"Yeah. Somebody who
should be dead. He was an old old man the last time I saw
him. And he was the kind who lives for revenge."
Sonny looked at Izzy thoughtfully for a second as if seeing him for
the first time.
"If they find out you turned them, you got trouble. You might
want to blow town for a while Izzy."
The shadow
of old pain showed in furtive eyes that were seldom still. Always
searching for an advantage, a way out, a way in. Now, for a long
moment Izzy's eyes were absolutely still. His reply was slow, with
none of the speed and patter that marked so much of his speech.
"Meng,
I owe him, Okay? Some debts you can't forget, no matter
what."
Sonny had
rarely seen Izzy look pensive for more than about 2 seconds. Then
it was on to the next scam without hesitation or pause. There was
always another scam, always. Now Izzy Moreno the King of Optimists
looked greenish.
"An
this? This is real ugly. Sonny trust me, you don't want to
meet these people. I know a little about them." The skinny
Cubano put his head between his knees, gasping. Sonny blinked.
"You Okay
Iz?"
"I hem a
little nauseus. Sonny. There is a man. He lives on a
boat." There was a long silence.
"What?
Izzy?"
Izzy was breathing in short gasps. His voice aimed at the floor
sounded muffled.
"Thes
man makes death look like paradise."
Sonny's face went still and harsh.
7:33 PM Gulf of Mexico
The
Gulf of Mexico offered up a sunset of unparalleled beauty, the deepening
blue sky filled with a baroque splendor of high thunderheads in heart
aching colors. Hardly a ripple marked the sea in the warm breeze,
and the big ship barely moved in the water. A small craft was tied
up, a driver sat in it ready to depart at any moment.
A Chinese
of age and status, dressed neatly in expensive western clothes, was
speaking to Emil on the deck of the big boat. A fantastic fee had
been paid for this brief meeting
Emil was bored and condescending.
"My Government does not want any possible connection
made."
"The target will die, the killer will die shortly after
that."
"You are very sure." The Chinese's voice was flat.
Emil's answer was faintly affronted.
"I have never failed, that is why your government is paying me so
very much."
7:50 PM Miami
Tubbs
decided to park a couple blocks from the Gold Coast building and walk in
to meet the others. There was still a fading sunset glow to
things. Tubbs sensed something. Turning and ready, a sawed
off shotgun raised from under his jacket. It was Edward Reese, with
a smile like a sleepy tiger. He still recognized the man after all
these years. It was NOT a pleasant memory.
"Tubbs.
What a surprise. I should have expected you." He didn't sound
surprised. "Have all the chicks come home?
Rico
Tubb's face was an unperturbed dark marble mask. His heart was
racing, he knew this man. Reese's presence here could only mean
serious trouble. Rico's voice was cool and precise.
"What
do you want Reese?"
"The
same thing you want."
"I'm
on vacation, visiting old friends, I don't know what you want, and I
don't care."
"Oh,
Good answer. Just what I expected. Now tell me where Marty
is."
"I
wouldn't tell you if you were giving Las Vegas away."
"Never trust people who work for money kid."
"People
like you."
Reese's smile was deeply amused.
"Yeah,
people like me. Ain't it a bitch. I'll be seeing you
kid."
With that
remark Reese seemed to practically vanish into the twilight, which
bothered Tubbs a lot.
"Not if I see you first." Tubbs had begun to suspect even on the plane
that there were Spook things going on. Reese was on Rico's list of
people he hoped to never see again ever. This was all looking worse
by the minute. It meant that there were people
watching, and Tubbs had felt uneasy today. But how many people were
watching, and why?
Edward
Reese cheerfully noted that he had thrown an interesting set of questions
to the Black man that had no good answers and merely added confusion to
their investigation.
8:06 PM OCB offices
Crockett
pushed through the double doors to find a small uproar going on.
Gina had told him on the phone what to expect. It looked like a
circus. Arnie moved up to him near the door.
"FBI, I
don't know what they're looking for, and I'm not sure they do
either. But we're all digging out files."
Crockett glanced at the people filling the meeting room. "Oh Goody,
I guess all we need now is the Company suits to show up." He
decided to go back to the door area to wait for Tubbs. The clever
guard arrangement was new to both of them. Sonny really liked it,
but he'd need to vouch for Tubbs. Trudy had given him a thumbs up
that meant she had started a search.
10:50 PM Gulf of Mexico
Pain
was part of the chaos, pain that ebbed and flowed like the tides of the
ocean. With that tide came words and memories, memories that were
not his own. Martin Castillo fought that tide, both the ebb and
flow of it, fought to keep from drowning in water like sweet bubbling
slime. He was losing the battle slowly as his mind descended into a
rubble of broken meanings. Still he fought to go some where, he
just no longer knew where it was he needed to go.
After an
eternity, Martin became aware of the same face as a fragment of
recollection. He knew that face. At last a bubble of memory
came closer and closer until he was somehow sucked into it.
Noisy
darkness, screaming with small life.
"Marty,
this is the only way out."
A wet
darkness, seething with small life, the rich smell of tangled jungle all
around them. He was gasping, trembling with exhaustion, starvation,
and the injuries of torture. Jack had gotten him this far.
But his rescue would fail shortly. Jack could vanish like a ghost
with no traces even here, but not with Marty as dead weight and their
pursuers so close behind. Now the only choice was to leave Martin
as dead and lead the pursuers away. If successful, Jack could
return and bring him back. If not, he would finally slip away to
death in a day or two.
Still,
life is sweet and even when the choice is between death quietly and death
horribly, one hesitates to chose. His ruined voice was a broken
rasp.
"I
know. Where...where do I go?"
"The
bamboo grove in the fog, you will remember it."
Martin
shivered with sudden fear, he was too weak. His words were only a
faint hiss.
"Don't
go yet."
Strong
hands held him, easing him to the ground, mindful of the broken
bones. Jack's voice was soft as breath.
"I
won't let you die alone Marty. I'll meet you there if anything
happens."
There were
no faces in the liquid blackness, but Marty could feel Jack's smile,
Jack's energy in the hands.
"It's
time."
To choose
death you cannot hesitate, he drew in all his remaining energy.
Even death takes energy when the body isn't ready. The pain receded
like an outgoing tide. His mind was set on a place beyond space and
time.
Just as he
saw the Bamboo grove shimmering in the fog, his body convulsed, he felt
himself dragged in half. Tearing pain brought him to a level
of consciousness he had forgotten. Jack stood at the Bamboo grove
gate.
"This
is the only way out Marty. I will wait for you
here."
Then he
was back in that place of roiling oblivion filled with pain beyond
despair and sucking greedy relief that promised something far worse than
death. The voice was there, the author of corruption. The
penetrating insidious voice binding his will to its command.
Weaving chains with drugs and pain and artful manipulation.
In that
long frozen instant outside time.
He saw it
all.
He had
been betrayed, to make a weapon for someone. Brought here to be
broken and shaped like so many others broken by Emil. But here in
this moment outside time he knew the secret held inside like a core of
chained lightening. Martin could sour the metal of this weapon,
ruin the tool with his death. The only choice left.
10:51 PM Gulf of Mexico
Emil's
rodent-like assistant saw the body arching in a seizure, gasping a word.
"Jack." Falling back limp even before the word was out,
skin turning ashen as all the monitors alarms went off. Emil
himself came in as the man opened the crash cart.
"What
happened?"
"Heart
stopped, breathing stopped."
Emil
looked angry, and shouted at the body even as he began the chest
compressions.
"Don't
think you can escape me. I own you, you will live!"
Blood Debts: A Miami Vice Reunion
