Chapter 8

The following characters appear in this chapter:

Polack

One of Tony’s men, Team leader, 6’-2’’ tall, 230 pounds, 36 years old, blond hair, hazel eyes

Duszanski

One of Tony’s men, 5’-11’’ tall, 200 pounds, 34 years old, light brown hair, blue eyes

Zelinka

One of Tony’s men, 6’-0’’ tall, 190 pounds, 30 years old, blond hair, gray eyes

Birner

Computer guy works for Tony part time, 5’-10’’ tall 190 pounds, 38 years old, black hair, blue eyes

Bender, Ricky

Drone marketer and manufacturer’s representative, 5’-11’’ tall, 200 pounds, 35 years old, brown hair, blue eyes

Schmidt

Used military equipment salesman, 6’-0’’ tall, 235 pounds, 37 years old, black hair, hazel eyes

Wenzel

Drone operator, 5’-9’’ tall, 170 pounds, 32 years old, black hair, green eyes

Previously in Chicago on the night the Demons had fooled Tony and absconded with his money, he eventually cooled down enough to start thinking coherently and smiled.

“At least, the bastards did give us a name and an address. Where the hell is Cleveland, Tennessee, Lou?” he demanded of his chief assistant. Lou shrugged in reply.

“It beats me, Tony,” he finally told him.

“Get a hold of ... what the fuck is his name? That computer guy who does work for us,” Tony demanded.

“You mean Birner?” Lou asked, as he looked to see how much Tony had to drink that evening.

“Yeah, Birner. He can figure out where it is and maybe who that guy is,” Tony told him. His three men had come out of the sleep spell the Demons had cast on them, and Lou sent one of them to find Birner. It was more than an hour later when he returned with the guy who did computer work for Tony part-time.

“What’s so important, Tony? I was busy when your guy burst in and ruined an hour’s work,” Birner told him in an upset voice. He had brought a laptop computer with him.

“I need you to locate a place and to find out about a guy,” Tony told him before giving him the information. It didn’t take him more than a few seconds to find Cleveland, Tennessee and a little longer to locate where Myles’ house was located. However, the search for information on him proved to be nearly impossible, as there was nothing on the internet under his name. After a time, he gave Tony the bad news.

“There’s nothing on this guy on the internet. If you could give me more information on him, I can try a deeper search but can’t guarantee any results. I’ll send you a map of where his house is tomorrow,” Birner told him, as he didn’t have a printer there.

“Add this to my account,” Tony told him before he left. However, he wasn’t happy about the lack of information on Myles.

“Someone like the ‘Fixer’ would be sure that there wasn’t any information about him on the internet or other places. It wouldn’t be good for his health,” Lou reminded Tony after Birner had left.

“Yeah, that’s right, Lou,” he grudgingly admitted. “We need to get him to check on both of us sometime. We don’t need any information about us on the internet either,” Tony agreed, but had more to say.

“I need to contact the guy who runs those large drones. You know the ones that the drug dealers use to deliver their stuff to the more prominent citizens who don’t want it known that they are drug users. I’ll need to call him myself,” Tony told his chief lieutenant.

“You mean Bender?” Lou asked in an unsure voice.

“Yeah, Bender, that’s the guy. I got his number here somewhere. I’ll call him in the morning. He might be busy just now,” Tony told him with a big smile.

“What are you planning Tony?” Lou asked in a worried voice.

“I’m going to send some of the guys down to this Cleveland, Tennessee to waste this Graham guy. I figure that blowing up part of his house will get him out where they can remove him,” Tony told him.

“Wait a minute! Where did this blowing up his house come from?” a confused Lou asked.

“That’s what the drone is for. We’ll need to contact that guy who can supply military stuff to get some explosives,” Tony told him. “What’s his name ... oh yeah Schmidt,” he remembered.

“Jees, Tony, you’re getting a lot of people involved in this, and it’s going to cost a bunch of dough,” Lou told him.

“Nobody gets away with killing my brothers,” Tony told him in a very angry voice.

The next day Birner delivered the printout of the satellite map that he had promised. Tony called both Bender and Schmidt. The two of them arrived that afternoon but separately and at different times.

“What’s up, Tony?” Bender asked on arriving at the apartment.

“I need to rent one of your drones for a job,” Tony told a somewhat shocked drone operator.

“Who the hell has been running his mouth?” Bender demanded in an upset voice, having jumped out of his chair.

“Come on Ricky. Word gets around. The drug dealers are using your drones for special deliveries,” Tony reminded him before he settled back onto his chair.

“You heard about my two brothers dying?” Tony asked.

“The word on the street is that they are missing,” Bender told him.

“More than missing The goddamned ‘Fixer’ killed both of them and a number of cops. I’ve learned who he is and where he is, and I’m going after the son-of-a-bitch,” Tony told him in an aggressive voice.

“The ‘Fixer’! No one knows who he is,” Ricky protested.

“I learned who he is and where he lives. I’m going to take him out, and I need one of your drones to help to do that,” Tony told him in a more restrained voice.

“What size or capacity drone? What do you need it to do?” Bender asked in a professional voice.

“I want it to drop a bomb on his house,” Tony told him.

“A bomb!?”

“I need to talk to Schmidt yet and see what he has available, but yeah drop a bomb on his house to bring him out so my guys can put finished to him,” Tony told him.

“I’ll need to know how heavy this ‘bomb’ is. I have several drones with built-in cameras that could do the job, but I need to know how heavy it will be and how far the drone will need to travel to deliver it,” Ricky told him and paused.

“I’ll also need to send a man to operate the drone. These are more complicated than the usual toys that are available,” Ricky insisted but continued.

“It’s also going to need to be high enough that it won’t be knocked out by the explosion,” he added. “Or you buy the drone,” he finished.

Tony wasn’t happy about another guy going on this job as it added another mouth that needed to remain quiet about what they had done.

“You couldn’t teach one of my guys to operate that thing?” he asked.

“No, Tony. One of my guys even goes with the drug dealers when they make a delivery to operate the drone. They know how to keep their mouths shut,” Ricky told him.

“Alright ... alright. When I talk to Schmidt and know how heavy it will be, I’ll get in touch with you,” Tony told him.

“One other thing, where is this going to happen? Is it local or out-of-town?” Bender asked. “It will affect the transportation of the drone,”he added.

“Definitely out-of-town,” was all that Tony would tell him at this time.

“I take it that this isn’t a social call,” Schmidt said in a loud voice on arriving later that afternoon.

“It’s strictly business, Schmidt,” Tony acknowledged.

“So, what are you looking for?” the other man demanded.

“I’m not sure. I want to blow up a house, but I don’t know what is available. Oh yes, it will be dropped from a drone,” Tony told him.

“What the fuck are you up to, Tony?” Schmidt demanded.

“I’m going to take out the ‘Fixer’,” Tony told him. Schmidt exhaled heavily on hearing this.

“Okay ... how big is this house? How high is this drone going to be flying?” he asked.

“It’s a suburban house with a couple of bedrooms. Bender said the drone would need to be high enough that it wasn’t affected by the explosion,” Tony told him.

“Okay, say five ... six hundred feet of altitude. Four or five sticks of dynamite or four pounds of C-4 might be better and a hand grenade. Electric detonation with a delay long enough for it to reach the house from that altitude. You’re looking at $800 to $1,000,” Schmidt told him.

“That’s a lot of money,” Tony complained.

“The explosives and the tech to make this work don’t come cheap,” Schmidt told him. Tony sighed.

“Okay. You know Bender. Get with him on how to make this work. One of his guys will be going with the drone and three of my guys who will be doing the removal once he is driven out of the house,” Tony told him. Of course, Schmidt wanted cash now to seal the deal.

That evening, Tony met with the three guys who would be doing the job at his apartment.

“Polack, you’re in charge of this job. Duszanski, and Zelinka will be going with you. Bender will also be sending a guy to operate the drone,” Tony told his men.

“Where is this job, Tony?” Polack asked.

“It’s south of here in Tennessee. It’s in a place called Cleveland, Tennessee. Birner printed out a map of the area and also a map of the route there from Chicago.”

“What are we going to be doing there, Tony? We don’t know anyone down there,” Duszanski asked.

“You’re going to be taking out the ‘Fixer’. That’s what you are going to be doing. He lives down there. Bender’s guy will drop a bomb on his house using a drone. When the ‘Fixer’ comes out, you three finish him off. Take the big SUV, the shotguns, and plenty of ammunition. It should only take you a couple of days. You’ll be leaving as soon as Bender and Schmidt get the bomb and the drone setup,” Tony told them. The three henchmen were grinning at each other on hearing this.

“Just who is this guy, this ‘Fixer’?” Zelinka wanted to know.

“He’s a guy named Myles Graham. He’s the bastard who killed my brothers,” Tony told them. The three of them weren’t so happy following that. Tony gave them the maps before they left so they could familiarize themselves with the route.

The three of them had considered going to a bar to discuss the job, but decided that wasn’t a good idea. Instead, they went to Duszanski’s house, as it was the closest.