THE TIMING, JOE PARENTE [ereader ebook .txt] 📗

find the whereabouts of Jeff, Judy’s brother.
Later that evening, I tried to get into my old room but found the door lock had been changed. With a little help from my right foot, the room door was forced open and I found that all my items had been taken out. Clothes, computer, briefcase and all, were gone. I carefully went back to our new room without being seen. We had to keep a low profile if we were to succeed in our plan.
I don’t think we would be as lucky this time, if we were found out. We were fortunate to have found the back staircase. With out that, we would have been caught checking the rooms, or moving about the hotel.

Bill positioned himself across the street from the hotel, reporting to me any unusual movements. He was particularly interested in those that matched Jules’s or Frank’s description that I had given him.

Early that next morning, I managed to make it out of the hotel using the service entrance. Judy, her father and I met for breakfast around the corner. We sat in a back booth of a busy merchant’s cafe to discuss the events of last night. I should say that we discussed the non-events of the previous night. We discussed the fact that we should not try to become any more aggressive than we have been. Getting caught now, would be very bad. These guys were playing rough. All we needed was a break so that we could bring Jeff home. We could then go to the police.

I took Bill’s place outside the hotel and at the same time went to a local store to get a change of clothing and other essentials to freshen up. The entire time during shopping, the view of the front door of the hotel was in sight. I watched the busy front entrance as many people left or entered those heavy glass doors.

At this time of the day the street was full. It was rush hour. Pedestrians were briskly making their way back and forth in front of me with horns blasting from vehicles that seemed to travel at the speed of a snail. A few people that tried to cross the street had a difficult time trying to pass their bodies between the cars. Some had to wait until cars moved one direction or another to make enough space so a person could pass. This whole menagerie occurred while you could hear yelling, cussing and just plain rude behavior.

New York, a great place to visit but who would want to live here!

I have never seen so many yellow painted taxicabs in one block as this one. They were double-parked, as masses of people took their turn trying to hire one. Short whistles penetrated the morning as arms flew up to try to get that cabby’s attention. This was high anxiety at its finest.

Watching this unfold brought a question to mind. If Jules was the one that picked up Jeff at the doctor’s office what was he driving. In my haste, I had forgotten to ask that question from the doctor.
I dialed his number. “Hello Irene, this is Brad, can you put me through to the doctor?”

“He is with someone right now but he is just finishing up. How is it going? Oh, he is at my desk now, I’ll connect you.”

“Hi, Doc, how are you feeling?”

“Fine, Brad, I just got a little shook up is all.”

“No success yet. The reason for my call was that I forgot to ask you a question about that fellow that knocked you down.”

“Yes, go ahead, Brad.”

“Do you remember what type of vehicle this Jules was in?”

“Why, yes, it was a taxi cab.” He cleared his throat. “Why?”

“Do you remember any thing about the driver?” I asked.

“Well, things were kind of hectic at that time. About the only thing that I do remember was that the cab driver was wearing a unique type of cap.”

“Bingo!” I took a deep breath. “Thanks doc, I’ll call as soon as we find out any more.”

Alphonso, it had to be Alphonso! My next step was to find him. I had a few questions that could lead to finding Jeff! Although Rhortec owned The Heritage Cab Company, I knew that Alphonso was not part of the cover up and deceit of Frank’s group.

He was a hard one to miss. His hat stood out in a crowd. From the telephone request to his arrival in front of shop where I had purchased new Levis. Alphonso was always on time.

“Hey, Mister Brad where we goin?” He was as enthusiastic as ever.

“Hello Rodolpho, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure, Mister Brad, what’s up?”

“Could you tell me what happened at Baetacom yesterday?”

“Sure why don’t you get in. Here sit right here.” He patted the front seat and I sat down. “I drove out to Baetacom Company to pick up a guy and I brought him back to The Walton. There was a little pushing match between some old guy and that dude you was with the other day. He told me to go the back way, you know, through the alleys. He said I should do that to avoid traffic. That guy that I picked up looked sick or tired but I didn’t axe no questions.”

I was confused. “You know who Jules is, don’t you?”

“Sure, he’s the bellman at the hotel.”

“Was he the person that was with you?”

“No, not him, the guy was the one that was with you the first time when I picked you up from here. I can’t remember his name.” You could see him thinking.

“You mean Frank?” I questioned.

“Yeah, dats the one!”

That had me thinking. “And, you brought them back here?

“Yeah.”

“Can you remember anything else?”

“Yeah, it looked like this Frank guy was forcing the other one to go with him. I don’t axe no questions because that hotel gives me a lot of business.”

“Yes, I understand that. Now I would like to ask you another question.”

“Okay.”

“Has Frank or Jules ever asked you to do anything, well, shady?”

“Mister Brad, I don’t axe no questions. I like to make money and this hotel calls me a lot for rides. As far as doing something illegal, I learned a long time ago that that’s a not a good way to go. There is one thing that you should know, anything that happens in this cab that is a little off, I don’t want to know about. Just about everyone here in New York will do things a little shady. That’s the way of life here. You gotta learn to live with it and axe no questions.

I picked my words carefully. “Alfo, I’m not talking about the everyday type shady things. I’m talking about things that a more serious, like kidnapping.”

“Holly shit man, I never been with that!”

“I know that you think you have not done that, but there is a small group of people that operate out of this hotel that have made you become part of their plan.” I could see his nostrils flare but I kept explaining. “These guys, Frank and Jules, have kidnapped my girl friends brother and have drugged him so they can take over his company.” I tried to put things in simple terms.

“Hey that really pisses me off, man.” He was visibly upset. “Since I was a kid on the street, nobody got away with that shit!”

“I was hoping you would say that. We have a plan that would get these people back but I would need your help. All I ask is that you not tell anyone about this conversation. I am afraid that Jeff, my girlfriend’s brother, will be harmed if they find out that we have talked. I need you Alfo, what do you say?”

“Will it take time away from my job?”

“All you have to do is let me know what you see and hear. Once we get Jeff in a safe place, we can tell the police about them. That’s the best way to get them back for putting you, me and Jeff’s family in the middle of this mess.”

We said goodbye as he taught me his handshake.

Frank was a conniving bastard. His deception of telling Doctor Carlisle that his name was Jules was an attempt to hide the fact that he was involved in the abduction of Jeff Foster. By this time I am sure, that Gustav has discovered that Jeff’s implant pellets have been removed. This created another problem of where they would strike next. If they realized that Doctor Carlisle was involved or held the evidence of that chip’s removal, he could be in danger. Another thought would be that they have carried this take-over of the company far enough and any more exposure would bring more attention to them. If I knew Willhelm and his company, they were determined to follow through, as if they were a bulldog on a bone, never wanting to let loose.


THE TIMING Joe Parente

Chapter 14


The three of us agreed that Alphonso was a great asset to getting Jeff safely back home. Judy had been able to check out twenty rooms. It was slow going but she continued to search rooms while pretending she was a cleaning maid. Bill was between the hotel and his office doing his part and Doctor Carlisle had been alerted to watch for any unusual activities at his clinic.

I decided to take the next step. It had only been one day since Frank found that we knew of his plan. I had felt confident that they would not try something foolish as long as I stayed in the crowd so I went to lunch at the hotel. I was greeted warmly by the restaurant staff that I was sure had no idea of Frank’s doings. There was a surprised look on the face of Jules as we caught each others glances. He was walking by the restaurant opening. He stopped immediately when he noticed my presence. This was the first time that I had seen him without that twisted smile. I pushed my way clear of the table and a half- eaten lunch; I walked over to him. I approached him with