‘When he brought the kids here, they came home.’ The word filled the room.
‘I go to the police, they’re going to want to speak to the kids, go to their school… you think I’m going to subject my babies to that? I’ll tell the police in good time. My good time.’
Chloe broke the silence gently. ‘Elaine, we’re here just to understand the connection to Zeb, not say or do anything that will hurt the children. We aren’t here to change any circumstances. Perhaps we could speak to them? Talking might help them remember.’
The lasers turned on Chloe. ‘Honey, I work in the mayor’s office. I deal with smooth-talking scumbags all the time. I know all the tricks in the book and those that aren’t. I know what you’re doing with your sweet-as-syrup voice. Won’t work. You aren’t talking to my babies. I’m going to make life good for them, not remind them of that worthless piece of shit, their dad.’
She glared at each of them, the dogs barking once to punctuate her.
Roger’s voice rumbled in the room, surprising them all. ‘Ma’am, we lost Zeb over a year back, and while we are moving on, the pain is still fresh. If you were in our place, wouldn’t you want to know what the connection was?’
‘Just what do you guys do? If your Zeb was that no-account’s help line, then I’m guessing you guys are up to no good too.’
Broker was unruffled. ‘Ma’am, I’m taking a leap of faith here. We are a Special-Ops unit… we do stuff that cannot be done by any government agency. Commissioner Forzini and Deputy Commissioner Rolando know us and know me personally. I can give you more references if you wish.’
Elaine Rocka studied him, thinking it over. Shawn and Lisa meant the world to her, and her rage at the way the kids had been brought up was matched by her determination to give them a happier life. Broker had mentioned those names easily, an ease that came with familiarity. The quicker she got them out of her house, the sooner she could get back to her kids and restore normalcy, and maybe it was the only way.
She got up abruptly and left the room, signaling the dogs to stay behind.
She came back shortly leading a tall, brown-eyed, brown-haired boy with her, holding his hand. The boy walked hesitantly and glanced up at Elaine, who smiled at him reassuringly.
Bwana leaned forward, a broad smile splitting his face, lighting up the room. ‘Hey, I’m a Yankees fan too. This guy here’ — he glanced pityingly in Roger’s direction — ‘he supports the Sox.’
Shawn relaxed immediately and, patting his sweatshirt, grinned in return. ‘All of us can’t be perfect, I guess.’
Bwana chuckled and exchanged high fives with Shawn. ‘Damned right.’ He apologized immediately. ‘Excuse my language, ma’am, Shawn. What can I say! These heathens with me lack refinement and try their best to drag me down to their level.’
Broker had his game face on but smiled inside when he noticed the almost imperceptible relaxing in Elaine Rocka. That was almost an approving nod.
Bwana introduced all of them, Broker last. ‘Yes, he’s really called Broker. He peddles information, so we all started calling him that, and the name stuck.’
Broker deadpanned, ‘They couldn’t remember my real name, had to call me something.’
‘Does your dad have any nickname for you, Shawn?’
He shook his head. ‘He says he wouldn’t have named me Shawn if he wanted to call me something else.’
Elaine Rocka shifted subtly in her seat, the pleasantries were over.
‘Honey, what did your father tell you about Zeb?’
Shawn’s smile faded. ‘Dad left a note along with a phone in my school bag. It said if there was any trouble and he wasn’t around, I should call Zeb. He would know what to do. He wrote Zeb’s number on it.’
‘Did he mention where he was going, Shawn?’ Chloe asked him.
Shawn shook his head, his eyes glimmering. ‘No. He worked in a garage and tended to keep late hours, but he never went away for days. He said there was some work stuff he had to attend to and got Lisa and me out of school so that we could stay with Aunt Elaine.’
He bit his lip to keep it from trembling. ‘I waited a couple of days to hear from him, and when I didn’t, I told Aunt Elaine, and she said we should try calling Zeb. We’ve been trying for more than two months.’ He looked accusingly at Broker.
Broker looked pained. ‘Shawn, your aunt might have mentioned, Zeb died over a year back. After that, I just stopped charging his phone. I juiced it up by mistake yesterday and got your call.’
He gave Shawn a searching look. ‘Your father say anything about how he knew Zeb?’
‘No. He never talked about his past. He said just once that if there was anyone in his life who he would go to for help, it was Zeb. I asked who that was, but he didn’t say anything. Is he really dead?’ His voice trembled slightly, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
‘Yes, honey, he died a while back,’ Chloe said gently. ‘Where did your dad work? Did he leave you with anything else, other than the phone?’
‘He was a mechanic in Brownsville Autos, over in Brownsville.’
The bright eyes turned to all of them, struggling to find hope in a world gone bleak. ‘I don’t know what’s happened to my dad… Lisa cries at night and asks me, and I tell her he’s gone for work.’ His hands balled into fists and angrily brushed away the tears rolling down.
Elaine Rocka crushed him in a hug, her eyes shut tight, and when they opened, she reduced all of them to the size of insects.
Chloe cleared her throat, meeting her eyes, hoping she understood, but knowing she didn’t care about their reasons. She turned to Shawn. ‘Honey, I’m sure there are good reasons why he’s been away. We’ll ask at the garage. Maybe they’ll know.’
The battle-axe broke her silence. ‘Did. They’ve shut down. Checked records.’ She nodded in the direction of One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters. ‘They’ve disappeared.’
She glanced down at Shawn. ‘Shawn, why don’t you go play with Lisa? I’ll finish up with these people and join you soon.’
He stood slowly, glancing at them, hope dying in his eyes, knowing what that usually meant in adult-speak, and turned to leave. He stopped when he saw the head peeking through the door.
They all turned to look.
Blonde curls framing her expressive eyes, Lisa asked them, ‘Will you find my dad?’
Chapter 26
‘Brownsville Autos is 5Clubs owned.’ The words hung in the air, sinking slowly in them, as Tony turned his laptop screen toward them, showing them a complicated ownership trail of the garage he’d drawn that led back to the gang.
They had driven back in near silence from Elaine Rocka’s home, each lost in their thoughts, Broker breaking the silence once to call Tony to, ‘Get off your ass and earn your money.’
They were in another café, the ‘don’t-even’ vibe around them keeping the waitress away.
‘Jose Cruz, the chapter head, was based out of the auto shop till a few months back when the garage closed abruptly. About the same time as Shattner went missing. I haven’t yet been able to find out why, nor where the gang is working from now.’
He held a hand up to forestall Broker. ‘I’m working on it, boss. Hold your horses.’
‘Did you get anything else on Shattner?’
‘Pretty much what Ms Rocka told you. An E-5, he had an ordinary service record till the time he got transferred to Iraq during Desert Storm. There, he was a Unit Supply Specialist in Iraq during Desert Storm and started selling small arms on the side. During his army trial, he said he did this out of desperation since he needed funds to fight his wife over the custody of their kids. He was discharged, but get this, he retained his pension. How he swung this is not recorded, but I suspect this is where Zeb stepped in. You know how he was.’