This is episode twenty-four of the novel, From Here To 1137. If you would like to purchase From Here To 1137, it is available on Amazon in Kindle format or paperback.
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The Darter was a little larger than a motorcycle. It was a black metallic, similar to the pod. It was cylindrical with a rounded front, and the rear was flat. As Tom approached it, the see-through canopy and a small side door opened. Tom slid comfortably inside. The door and the canopy closed.
Telepathically, he said, “Give me the instructions and skills to operate the Darter.”
He felt a slight tingle in his head, and he knew how to operate the Darter.
“Darter, shroud,” Tom commanded.
He pulled back on a lever and soared into the night sky. In a moment, he leveled the Dart and accelerated. The lights of Long Island below him became a blur.
Soon, he was over Brooklyn. The Darter slowed and flew quietly into the alley close to Rossi’s.
Tom climbed out of the Darter and hurried to Rossi’s. He dashed inside. Edgar sat across the table from Grasso.
Grasso looked up at Tom approaching. He appeared relieved to see him. Tom sat in a chair at Edgar’s right.
Edgar’s eyes shifted quickly toward Tom and back to Grasso. “Tom,” Edgar said, “what are you doing here?”
“Tell him, tell him, we made a deal,” Grasso said, distressed.
Tom glanced at Edgar. Edgar held a revolver in his hand and had it pressed sideways against his chest so that the barrel would be unnoticed.
“Put the gun away,” Tom said quietly but firmly. “I was here earlier and made a deal with Grasso.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him,” Grasso said.
“Deal, what kind of deal?” Edgar said.
“I gave Grasso enough money to pay off your debt,” Tom said.
“Where did you get that kind of money?” Edgar said. “You told me you had no money.”
“I got the money,” Tom said. “That’s all you need to know.”
“And you expect Grasso to uphold his end of the deal,” Edgar said. “You don’t understand; once these guys get their hooks in you, there is no letting go.”
“We made a deal,” Grasso said. “A deal is a deal.”
Edgar smirked at Tom. “You poor, naive farm boy.” He looked at Grasso. “He’s my younger brother and doesn’t understand the ways of the world.” Then he shifted his eyes back to Tom. “You are so out of your league, Tommy Gun. If something ain’t done with this guy now, I’ll belong to him the rest of my life. And the day I’m of no use to him anymore, it’s over for me. Ain’t that so, Grasso?”
“I think you got your brother all wrong,” Grasso said. “He came in here and threatened me with my mother and father.”
“Threats,” Edgar smirked. “Anybody can make threats.”
“Yeah,” Grasso said, “but he knew my parents' address in Boca Raton. He knew their phone number. He knew their friends. He knew it was their card night. And he knew some things I’d rather not go into.”
“What?” Edgar said, glancing at Tom and back to Grasso.
Grasso bobbed his head. “I don’t know how he knows all that stuff, but we made a deal. And if you pull that trigger, the deal is off. People will be after you.”
“Believe him, Edgar,” Tom said. “Believe me.”
Edgar shoved the revolver into the inside pocket of his coat.
“I don’t owe you anything?” Edgar asked.
“Nothing,” Grasso said.
Edgar stood, and Tom stood.
“Sorry for the misunderstanding,” Edgar said.
Grasso nodded. “You know something, Bales, I asked your brother a little while ago who he was. I mean, the guy comes in here, threatens me. I send him on a walk with a couple of my men. He’s not gone more than two minutes, and he walks back in. He sent my two boys to the hospital. I don’t know how he did it, but they’re in the hospital. So I figure I got a right to know what I’m dealing with, and after I asked him who he was, he says, ‘Edgar’s brother.’ That ought to tell you something.”
Edgar gave a slight glance at Tom.
Tom said, “Let’s get out of here.”
They turned and walked away. Tom stopped at the bar. He put a five-dollar bill on the counter. “Bartender, can you call us a cab?”
The bartender looked at Grasso, and he nodded.
They walked out into the cold, vacant street. Tom turned and took a couple of steps away from Edgar.
Edgar caught up with Tom and stood in front of him. “What is going on? What did you do?”
“You know you’re through in this town, don’t you?” Tom said.
“Are you kidding me?” Edgar said. “We’ve got something on Grasso. He’s on my payroll, now.”
“Let me tell you something, Edgar, once Grasso finds out that the money I paid off your debt with belongs to him in the first place, he’s going to react irrationally.”
“What!?” Edgar said. “His money? How stupid!”
“You are thick, Edgar. It was you who started this whole thing. You’re the one with the tit in the wringer.”
“Yeah,” Edgar said, “and what kind of future do I have?”
“At least you have one,” Tom said. “It’s just not here.”
“What am I going to do, be a small-time country lawyer like Gene Francis in his twenty-year-old off-the-rack suits? A side of bacon for a will and a bushel of apples for a fence dispute.”
Tom reached inside his coat and pulled out an envelope. “Here’s some cash. When the cab comes, take it to your place. Pack your bags and get out of the country. No exotic place. I suggest Central America. Call me when you get settled in.”
“Please tell me what’s going on,” Edgar pleaded angrily.
“I’m going to stay with you until the cab arrives,” Tom said. “You get in the cab and do exactly what I told you to do. I told you to stay in that bed and breakfast on Long Island. You had a better idea. An idea that would have landed you in prison or a landfill in Jersey. You should have listened to me. Now! Listen to me, now!”
“I didn’t know what you were doing,” Edgar said. “If you’d kept me in the loop…”
Tom interrupted, “If I kept you in the loop, if I kept you in the loop! What are you talking about? If I kept you in the loop, you would have had a better idea. You would not have responded to one single thing I said. On top of all of this, I’m getting you out of town for a while. I don’t know how this whole thing will shake out, but this way, you’ll be able to possibly keep your license. At least you can practice law, even if you wear off-the-rack suits. It’s better than planting corn and shoveling out the cattle barn.”
They stood apart for a couple of minutes, looking at the night street.
“Why aren’t you taking the cab with me?” Edgar asked.
“I’m going to walk it off,” Tom said.
“These neighborhoods can be dangerous at night,” Edgar said. He handed Tom his pistol.
“Where did you get this?” Tom asked.
“Black market,” Edgar said.
A cab moved slowly toward them. Edgar waved at it.
Edgar opened the cab’s door. “I’ll call you.”
“Be sure you do,” Tom said.
“I’m sorry,” Edgar said.
“You mean all of this?” Tom said, waving his finger around. “It was nothing.”
“No,” Edgar said. “For calling you Tommy Gunn.”
Edgar slipped into the cab, and it drove away.
Tom jogged back to the Darter and flew it back to the pod
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