Chapter 7

"I just don't get it! They just disappeared! No kid could do this! She had ta have some heavy help, I mean they were some of our best hitters, and they're just gone?" said Bobby 'the Bat' De Rossa to his girl friend of many years, Alice White.

"We gotta find Sonny, Bobby! I can't lose my only baby!"

"Look woman, stop your whinin'! I want to find him, too! But you know the business, it was always possible that this might happen!"

"You gotta find him!"

"I'm working on it! I got teams out all over, but we still gotta do business, or we're gonna get replaced. Do you wanna get whacked? We're already behind schedule, with so many guys out looking for Sonny's team."

"Did ya check at that place up north again?"

"Yeah, Sonny's team never made it there. In fact, nobody has been there for a real long time. What I just can't get my head around is how a little kid could just knock you out, and then disappear. What did ya do to make her suspicious?"

"Nothin! I handled it just like always, but she just cold-cocked me. I neva saw it comin."

"Well, shit!! Maybe there's another contractor out there looking ta cash in."

"That can't be! Hassan promised me an exclusive contract."

"And you believed that 'rag head'? I told ya not to get involved with that guy."

"I had ta, Bobby. He provides more 'n half of our pedophile business. He made it clear that if we didn't hit the kid's family he would take all of his business somewhere else. I can't lose that much business at my age."

"What I honestly can't believe is that she survived the crash! And now with her just disappearing... she must live a charmed life, fah sure.

"Get me another Grappa, will ya kid," he added, "and then let me think."

"Ya gotta find our boy," wailed the woman.

"Look, ol' girl, its been weeks. We are just gonna have ta bite the bullet, here. They woulda called, at least, if they were still alive," said the old Don sadly.

"Promise me one thing. Just one thing! That you will find that kid and bring her to me. I want her for myself. I will make her pay for Sonny!

"I'll get her hooked and then make her go through withdrawal, over and over again. Along with the drugs I'll pimp her out to the worst BDSM clients that I can find. That sweet pale skin of hers will be covered with welts and scars. I will make her life a living hell!" said Alice as she broke down into a weeping wreck of grief.

The Bat hugged his mistress and consoled her, as he promised to get the young girl.

Both were totally unaware that as they hunted the little red head, she was hunting them. Neither the Bat, nor his woman, could possibly conceive of the truth about 'the little kid'... as they had called Raven!

As the sun rose, its rays woke Jack. Blinking he looked around to find Raven sitting there, meditating.

"Have you been here the whole time?"

"Pretty much."

"These old bones aren't made for this anymore," said Jack as he rose.

"Young ones don't fare much better in this dew."

"Are the others still here?"

"No. Everyone went home. They said that they would return later today, if you want."

"I want! No matter what the situation is between Frank and myself, the reason that we need help is still there. You and I will just have to remain vigilant. Frank has said all the right things, but I am not ready to trust him."

"I'm sooo glad to hear that! You had me worried, last night."

"It was a hell of a shock, let me tell you. I thought that all of that was behind me... then, boom, I get hit right in the face with it!" said Jack as he opened his hand to reveal the puzzle box and its contents.

"Take me back to the truck. I want to check these out under a glass."

As the two arrived at the large van, Raven exclaimed, "Man! That's some truck!"

"Wait 'til you see the inside!"

Once they entered, Jack sat at a work bench and said, "Have a look around. I think that you will be pleased at the collection of gear here."

Raven excitedly searched the various cabinets and drawers, getting more excited with each new discovery. Jack pulled a large work light, with a big magnifying glass in its center. He brought it down, and began to study the box and the jewelry.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Jack extinguished the light, and pushed it back up into its travel clip. Raven stopped her explorations and look at Jack with a concerned expression.

"Well... They are the originals, all right. All of my secret marks are still visible."

"Is that really significant? They could have been procured in any number of ways, couldn't they?"

"That they are the originals is significant, but only to a point. As you say there are all manner of ways that Frank could have gotten them. But, and this is a big 'but', to what end?"

Raven pulled a Ziploc bag from her jacket pocket and set it before her mentor. Inside the bag were a soda can and a paper napkin.

"Well maybe this will help lead to an answer."

"Frank's?"

"Mm hmm."

"As soon as the Post Office opens I want you to send these off to this address," said Jack, as he wrote a quick note and then jotted down an address on a separate piece of paper.

"What are you going to do, while I'm doing the mail run?"

"I'm going to just sit here and think. We now have two, or maybe three problems, depending how you divide things up. They are running in tandem, and they must be dealt with at just about the same time. It's just too much for the two of us. We need help.

"Do we ask my old team? How much do we tell the boys if we do ask for their help? Etc., etc., etc. I really need to think this through."

"Ok. But let's have breakfast first. I have food, and more important, I have good coffee in my unit, here."

Jack perked up, (chortle, pun, chortle) at the mention of a good cup of coffee.

"I'm right behind you, Girl!" he said with a huge smile.

Some time later, the two returned to the house, and found Frank sitting on the front steps waiting for them.

"I know that you don't trust me yet, but after all that went down last night, well this morning... really, I need to do my Form. I thought that we all could do them together. Do you mind?"

Raven and Jack looked at each other and Jack said, "Couldn't hurt. First I need to hit the can though."

The three entered the house.

Jack made it a practice to teach his men to do Tai Chi and so Billy joined the three out on the back lawn to do Form. Jack, being the hard taskmaster that he was, had the four of them sweating profusely by the end of the session.

Frank headed home, and the three others went inside to shower and get ready for the day.

"You seem to be recovered from the shock of last night," said Billy.