Chapter 2 – The Hit V2.0

The next morning Johnny was up early and rode over to his father's motorcycle shop to start work. Darrell was in the office doing some paperwork. Johnny popped his head in. "Morning dad, what do you want me to start with first?"

Darrell looked up from the dented gray metal desk. "Morning son, why don't you finish the rebuild on that BMW R1200. I told the customer that it would be ready on Tuesday."

"Okay, no problem. All the parts came in the other day, should only take a couple of more hours."

Johnny did careful work and called his dad over a couple of times for an in-progress inspection; this was an expensive bike for one of their best customers. He had insisted on all new pistons, rings, valves and a few other parts. It was overkill but the man had the cash... Johnny finished up the German made bike just before noon, he ran the motor on the lift and then put it through a short break-in cycle. He then shut it down, rolled it off the lift and parked it near the shop's large rear garage door. He walked into his dad's office and placed the keys on the desk. "All done, sir."

"Great, I heard the motor, sounds smooth like a sewing machine."

"Sure is, she's ready for a test drive."

Darrell nodded. "Great, I'll take her for a spin and pick up some lunch. You take a break and then put new tires on that yellow Suzuki 250."

"Okay, no problem."

Darrell then put on his riding gear and helmet and started up the BMW. He was proud of the talent and work ethic shown by his son. Even with that confidence in the work, he did all of the test drives personally and his customers knew it.

Just as Johnny was finishing with mounting the second tire on the Suzuki, his father returned and parked the BMW in the showroom area. Johnny smiled knowing that this meant that the bike had passed his father's rigorous inspection. Darrell brought in a bag from a local deli motioned for his son to join him. They sat on the old leather couch with its duct taped patches. Johnny handed his dad a cold Coke from the small bar fridge and opened one for himself. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes and then Darrell said. "Nice job on the BMW, son."

"Thanks, dad, you taught me everything I know... well, you and Gramps anyway."

Darrell nodded in agreement, "yeah, the old guy sure did know his way around an engine..." With a sad look, Johnny answered. "I sure do miss him, you know?"

"Yeah me too, but you know in the end it was his time. I couldn't bear to see him in pain like that."

They both were silent again. Finally, Darrell asked. "Have you heard from your mother lately?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, more or less. I got a postcard last week. Didn't have a return address, but it said that she was living on a commune in Northern California; and get this, she said that electricity was destroying the planet and that she won't even use a phone anymore!"

Darrell gently put his hand on his son's hand. "I'm sorry Johnny, she wasn't always like that.  The Global Warming Alarmists just managed to scare her to death and she just lost it.  But I know that she still loves you in her own way."

Johnny shook his head. "I know, but when she left, she left us not just you. I mean for crying out loud, I was only ten!"

They were both silent again and then Darrell asked. "So...how are things with you and Kimi? Looks like you two had a pretty good time last night..."

Johnny had figured out that this conversation was going to come up again. This wasn't the first time. He'd been dating Kimi, and only Kimi for almost five years. "Dad things are great..."

"No, don't get me wrong John, I can see it in her eyes and in yours. Even an old wrench monkey like me can see what you two have."

"Thanks, she's my best friend and I love her more than anything and I know that she feels the same way."

Darrell paused and asked. "So what next?"

"Okay, I was going to tell you, I mean, no, ask you...we both applied to State for the fall semester."

Darrell smiled broadly and reached out to shake his son's hand. "That's great John, I was hoping that was what that official looking envelope was, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

With a serious look, Johnny answered. "Dad, I know how tight money is around here sometimes and if I leave, you'll have to hire somebody..."

"True enough son, but it's not like you've been working for free."

"I know, and I have saved all of it, Kimi is doing the same."

Johnny went on. "And you know how hard it has been since her father died, there was just enough life insurance to pay off the house but after they paid the medical bills they had nothing left."

Darrell nodded. "I knew it was bad, but I thought..."

Johnny shook his head. "No, the drunken asshole who hit him didn't have any insurance..."

Silence filled the room again and finally Johnny added. "And to answer your original question, Kimi and I are not going to live in the dorms, we're gonna' live in the housing set aside for older students; married ones..."

**

A couple of hours later Kimi finished her shift and was again changing into her riding gear. Becca was on a break and was sitting on the small chair in the diner's locker room/broom closet. "Mom, there's something I have to tell you..."

"You're not pregnant are you?"

Kimi laughed. "No! We're very careful in that way, but thanks for asking. I'll just go ahead and say it. Johnny and I were both accepted to State for the fall semester."

Becca beamed at her daughter. "That's wonderful dear, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, mom, you know that both of us have taken as much G.E. and other classes as we could at the Community College and I have saved all of my money. We're pretty sure that we can both graduate in four semesters plus next summer."

The still smiling Becca said. "Sounds like you two have it all figured out?"

"Yeah, all except one thing. If I leave, can you get by without working 80 hours a week?"

Becca smiled. "I have a little secret too; I have been putting in the extra hours to fund a 529 plan for you; it has almost $30,000 in it..."

"Mom! You should have told me. I don't need your money. Johnny and I have saved enough to pay our way and I will also have a little coming in from the academic scholarships I was able to defer."

They both laughed. Becca finally said. "I'll be fine Kim, and I'll cut back to five days a week okay? If I do that will you go, and don't worry about me, please?"

With tears in her eyes, Kimi said. "Yes!" As she finished dressing Kimi said. "Mom, Johnny and I will be living in the married student housing and don't you even think about spending a penny on a wedding. We are not using my college money on stupid rehearsal dinners and frilly bridesmaid dresses!"

All Becca could do was hug her daughter and say. "I love you."

At 415 that afternoon, Kimi rode her Kawasaki 450R to Johnny's house. Johnny had custom built the bike to fit her perfectly and surprised her with it on her 18th birthday; he was well rewarded. Johnny's bike was in the garage and he was strapping on two leather saddle bags to the back of his Suzuki 450Z.  She shut down the motor of her ride and watched him load in an old army blanket, some bottled water, a few snack bars and a couple of smaller items she couldn't identify into the leather saddle bag. She walked up to her friend and said. "Nice blanket, are you expecting a cold snap or are you just hoping to get lucky?"

He deadpanned his answer. "You know, in case of fire ants..."

"There are no fire ants in Colorado."

She then kissed him and he whispered. "You know the Boy Scout motto and all that: be prepared."

Johnny then raised the seat on her bike and frowned when he checked the oil tank. "A little low babe, I'll top her off."

"Thanks, how was work?"

"Good, I mean as good as work can be. My dad and I had the talk. He's on board with our plans, how about you? Any big tippers?"

Kimi laughs. "Yeah I did okay today, you know the weekend crowd on their way to the mountains are usually generous."

Johnny admired her figure from top to bottom and then said. "You know if you unbuttoned your blouse couple of more buttons..."

Kimi smirked. "You mean like Charlene, she practically flops them out onto the table!"

Johnny laughed. "I'm just saying, show a little more cleavage and who knows?"

She slapped him good-naturedly on his leather clad butt. "I love you, and thanks for the compliment, but there just ain't much cleavage to be had. The customers will just have to be satisfied with my pleasant demeanor and killer smile."

Johnny added. "And long legs that go right to Heaven!"

"Johnny Wilson, sexist comments like that will get you...whatever you want!"

They both laughed. "Okay gas and oil topped off, let's ride. You lead, I'll follow."

The two friends put on their full-face helmets, started up their bikes and rode the ten miles or so from Johnny's house to Cliff's Lake Park.  The afternoon turned out to be beautiful, warm and sunny.  They rode one after the other on the off-road trails near the Pike National Forest. Kimi and Johnny took turns playing follow the leader. Both were good riders, Kimi was on her green Kawasaki. Her long black ponytail flew in the wind from the back of her helmet. Johnny was on his red Suzuki.  Both bikes were expertly upgraded and were off-road and street legal, they were equally matched power-wise, but Johnny outweighed Kimi by about 45 pounds, so she had a distinct advantage in their unofficial competition.   He had taught her to ride her junior year, which was the year after he graduated. After an hour or so of spirited trail riding, the two friends stopped and shut down in an isolated glade about 100 yards from the lake. They parked their bikes and took off their helmets.  Johnny removed the blanket from the saddlebag and spread it on the soft ground. The two had been to this spot many times before.  It was surrounded by large Pine trees and screened from the rest of the park.  Underneath was a soft bed of Pine needles.  Over the years Johnny had removed every rock, stick and pebble from the area so they had nature's own mattress under their blanket. This side of the park had riding and hiking trails, the other side of the lake was used for boating and camping. It was peaceful, private and usually quiet.

Johnny wiped the sweat off of his brow and went to the other saddlebag and removed a couple of bottles of water. Kimi also took off her riding jacket; underneath she was wearing a tight white cotton tank top and not much else. Johnny stared for a second and then handed her a bottle of water.  He said with a broad smile "nice riding, I think you are officially better than me now."

She also smiled while taking a deep drink from the bottle. "Thanks, you taught me everything I know."

With a leer, he answered, "and about motorcycles too."

She smiled. "Yeah and that too, but I think by the strictest definitions we taught each other."

They had given their virginity to each other on this same spot more than three years earlier and had since almost never left each other's side. She moved over to his side and kissed him deeply. He responded with ardor and they helped each other out of their remaining riding clothes. Their actions were as passionate as usual. They laughed and kissed each other all over and frantically removed each other's clothes. Johnny stopped for a second to admire her body and simply said. "You are so beautiful, I love you so much." 

Kimi smiled and answered. "Less talk and more action big boy!"

To make her point, she pushed him gently to the blanket and straddled his eager body.

About twenty minutes later she moaned loudly and clawed passionately at his back.  He smiled to himself as he sensed her pleasure.  She was especially vocal when he brought her to this special place...later as the two lovers were wrapped in each other's arms and kissing each other lightly, Johnny noticed the fading light. The sun was starting to dip below the Western mountains. It was obvious that the two lovers enjoyed each other's bodies and their growing love, affection, and friendship for each other. As the sun completely set behind the mountains, Johnny looked distracted for a minute and then made a decision. He stood up, still naked and walked to his bike. Kimi whistled as she admired the view. He removed a small leather pouch from the saddlebag. He walked back to his friend, sat cross-legged on the blanket across from her.  Kimi sat up in anticipation since she had a pretty good idea of what was in the bag. After they had pretty much spilled the beans to their parents the night before some things were inevitable.  Johnny opened the small pouch and removed two plain gold rings. Johnny looked Kimi right into her beautiful gray eyes and said. "I know that this is a little unconventional Kimi, but I love you more than anything. Will you be my lover, best friend, and everything forever?"

She looked deeply into his eyes, which she has always thought were exactly the color of the summer sky.  Kimi answered his vow with one of her own. "Johnny you're my best friend, my lover and my universe, I am yours now, forever and always."

Johnny took her hand and placed the smaller of the rings on her finger. It fit perfectly. Kimi then took the other ring from his palm and placed it on his finger. They embraced passionately. He said finally with a laugh "I think that in the eyes of the good Lord we just got married."

 She laughed and admired the ring on her finger.  "But maybe not so much to the State of Colorado."

"No problem," he said, "we'll go down to the County Courthouse Monday and I'll make an honest woman of you."

All she could do was smile and kiss her best friend again.

As they started to get dressed, they heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the gravel road towards the lakeshore. Johnny motioned for Kimi to stay quiet and they finished dressing in silence.  As he started to pack up the saddlebags, a large black car drove up and parked about 50 yards away from the glade between them and the shoreline.  It was mostly screened by the trees and low brush. Two men in business suits got out of the car and then went to the trunk. They opened it and inside were two men.  Both appeared to be handcuffed and had their mouths taped shut.  The larger of the two men manhandled the first victim out of the trunk and threw him to the ground.   He did the same to the second man who struggled against his restraints and was rewarded with a savage kick to the ribs. 

Johnny and Kimi knew instantly that something was very wrong. He motioned for her to stay low and make sure that they couldn't be seen. Even though he knew how dangerous it might be,  Johnny took his cell phone, made sure the flash was off and took a couple of pictures of the car and the four men in the fading light.  He gasped silently as he recognized one of them.

Before they knew it, the large man pulled out a handgun from a concealed shoulder holster.  Johnny took another picture just as the fat man shot both of the tied up men in the head twice each; gangland style. He re-holstered the gun and the second man removed some chains and blocks of cement from the trunk of the car.  He wrapped the chains around the bodies and connected them to metal rings embedded in the blocks.  Then the two killers picked the bodies up one at a time and tossed them over the cliff into the deep part of the lake.

As the two killers got back in the car, Johnny squinted to read the license plate number and then typed it into the notepad on his phone.

As the black car drove off, Kimi whispered: "Holy shit, what do we do?"

Johnny answered back in his own whisper. "Nothin', we stay put for a while in case they come back, then we call the Sheriff, but not from here, we'll go to your house."  They waited half an hour after the car left and decided that it was safe enough.  As they started up the engines Johnny thought to himself: had to go with the noisier low flow mufflers. They rode away from the glade and took trails which stayed away from the gravel road used by the black car. As soon as they hit the paved road, they went directly Kimi's house. Becca was working late again and was not home yet, so they were alone in the small house.

Kimi sat down on the couch and started to shake a little.  Johnny sat next to her and put his arm around her. "It'll be okay babe, I promise." 

She just nodded.

Johnny took his phone from his pocket and thumbed through the pictures.  He shook his head and said.  "I've watched enough cop shows to know that what we just witnessed was a gangland hit.  Those guys were pros.  We have to be real careful."

Kimi had regained her composure and asked, "what do you mean?"

"Before we call the Sheriff, let's make sure these pictures are safe. Once we tell them what we saw, I'm sure that they will confiscate this phone as evidence."  He went on.  "Do some of that hacker stuff and hide copies of the photos out on that cloud thing somewhere." 

She nodded understandingly. "Okay, I get it.  These will be our insurance policy.  I'll make multiple backups and I'll also disguise the file type."

"Disguise the file type?"

"Yeah, I'll embed it in a document, and make one copy a .txt file.  And for good measure, I'll email the file to a couple of dummy accounts I have set up.  And I'll burn them to a disc, make it look like .mp3s and encrypt everything.  We'll stash the disc here somewhere."

He looked at her and shook his head. "That's all Voodoo to me. I fix motorcycles for a livin'."

After Kimi was done with her computer work, Johnny picked up his phone and looked at her.  She nodded okay.  He called the Sheriff.  He didn't call 911 but used the direct number to the Sheriff's cell. Johnny knew him personally because they were old family friends and his dad had a contract to do routine maintenance on the Sheriff's Department motorcycles.  It was a pretty small town after all.

The Sheriff answered the phone.  "Joe Martinez."

"Sheriff, this is Johnny Wilson." 

"What's up Johnny, everything okay with the shop?"

"Yes sir, but um, we, um Kimi and I, I think we just witnessed a murder, a double murder."

"Tell me what you saw."

"Well sir, we were up at Cliffs Park.  We rode the trails there and then were um, you know were spending some time together...then this big black car drove up..." Johnny finished the story. 

Sheriff Martinez asked, "Are you sure about this, absolutely sure?"

"Yes sir, and I took a couple of pictures with my cell, they are kinda' far away but clear enough.  You can see both men and the car, and I got the plate number too.  And sir, I recognized one of the men."

"Who was he?"

"He's Congressman Manwell's assistant.  I met him when I tried to get an appointment to West Point."

Even though the Congressman represented one side of Denver, he was really from Illinois and had a serious Chicago connection. Congressman Manwell had a nefarious reputation with lots of union money involved. His last opponent mysteriously dropped out of a tight race a few weeks before the election citing family health issues. Yeah, thought Johnny, like a promised case of lead poisoning.

"I think his name is Mr. Ezekiel or something like that."

"Okay Johnny, where are you now?"

"We're alone at Kimi's house on 3rd street."

"Okay, good.  I want you to stay put.  Call your dad and Kimi's mom and tell them where you are.  I'm going to get a couple of Deputies and we'll pick you two up and you can show us where this happened."

Twenty minutes later, the Sheriff showed up with his cruiser.  His two Deputies were in a 4x4 truck complete with a light bar, winch and rescue equipment.  Joe Martinez got out of his car just as Johnny and Kimi walked through the front door of the house. The Sheriff shook Johnny's hand and noticed how pale and scared young Kimi Bishop looked.  Right to business Joe asked.  "John, show me the pictures you took.  Johnny complied and Joe's eyes got wide at the clearest of the shots.  "You weren't kidding, that looks like a hit to me.  Let's go, and you two show me the place where this happened."

Joe motioned for the two friends to get in the back of his car.  Johnny shook his head.  "Really sir, the back where the perps sit?"

"Sorry John, regulations."

As they drove to the park, Martinez put out an APB for the license plate number Johnny had written down.  After turning off the paved road, Johnny directed the Sheriff to take the same dirt road the black car had used.  Joe then said, "make sure you tell me to stop well short of the actual spot, we don't want to contaminate the crime scene."  As they stopped and got out, Johnny pointed to the fresh tire tracks.

The Sheriff and his two deputies looked around, other than the tire tracks there is nothing to see; no shell casings or other evidence.

Joe asked. "What kind of gun did they use?"

Johnny answered. "I'm no expert, but it was definitely a revolver with maybe a silencer on the barrel."

"Makes sense, no shell casings to leave as evidence."

At that time, one of the Deputies said while shining a bright cop style flashlight to the ground..."Boss, come over here, this looks like blood to me..."

The next morning the Sheriff sent out a team of investigators to the site  They also brought in two professional rescue divers with dry suits and deepwater gear. They found the bodies in nearly 200 feet of water. The two dead guys were a union boss and his enforcer. They also found a third, badly decomposed body chained up the same way as the first two.  Nothing but bones left.  The Northern Pike had stripped it completely.  It had been there a while. As soon as the bodies were discovered, the Sheriff called the FBI.

Within about six hours, several agents and a forensics team arrived from the Denver FBI office.  The agents did a thorough crime scene investigation and looked at the photos Johnny had taken. The black car was not immediately located, but within 36 hours the FBI arrested Congressman Manwell's assistant and his driver who was the shooter in Johnny's photos.  Law enforcement had been watching the fat man for years but could never get enough evidence against him.  No one had any idea that Mr. Ezekiel was involved.          

The next day, Johnny and Kimi were called in to identify the two men in a lineup behind one-way glass at the main police station in Colorado Springs. As they ID both men, the lead FBI agent said to Kimi and Johnny. "We better put you guys into a safe house until an indictment is issued by a Federal Court and those two are denied bail.  These are tough customers, and they know people who know people."

******

Later that morning at an impromptu press conference in Washington D.C., Representative Manwell claimed no knowledge of the incident and said that he was shocked at the whole situation and pledged to get to the bottom of it.  He also stated that he would cooperate fully with the authorities, but was sure that this was a case of mistaken identity and that his good friend and long-time associate, Mr. Vincent Ezekiel was innocent of any wrongdoing.  He then used the opportunity of the press appearance to pitch his latest gun control proposal.