Chapter 12 #6
An hour later, a tractor-trailer pulled into the empty lot of a partially abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn.
Two offices in the rear were connected to a generator that provided electricity for the illicit business dealings of Bucky Barflow.
That’s where he would meet his “laundry clientele” and exchange dirty money for freshly cleaned, with no residue of drugs or fingerprints.
Vinny and Jimmy were standing outside, waiting to reveal the merchandise. Bucky sauntered out of the building like the thug that he was. There were no pleasantries. “Whaddya got?”
Vinny hopped on the ladder, gripped the latch, and gave the rolling door a yank.
The expression on Bucky’s face went from dubious to wrath when he saw a pallet containing dozens of Lego games.
Next to it were boxes of socks with funny faces.
“What is this?” he growled. Spit was spewing from his mouth.
Vinny looked at Jimmy, and then again at Bucky. He could barely get the words out. “I … I … I don’t know what happened.” He turned to Jimmy. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
Bucky grabbed both of them by the collar and dragged them inside the building. He shoved them into two metal folding chairs. “This is your idea of a big haul? Toys? Socks? You must think I’m some kind of an idiot.” Vinny could swear steam was coming out of Bucky’s pierced nose.
“No! No!” Vinny held up his hands, as if he were expecting to get smashed in the face. Again, he turned to Jimmy. “You better have a good explanation, buster.”
Jimmy’s hands were shaking. “Patsy Fazola and I went to the distribution center just like you said. He used his fake license to sign out the trailer. We hooked it up to the cab and drove off.”
“Which trailer?”
“The one in four-two-nine,” Jimmy said with a cracked voice.
“You dummy. It was space four-nine-two.” Vinny lowered his head. He knew he was a dead man now.
Bucky burst out laughing, a huge departure from his normal reactions.
“I would say you were messing with me, but this is even dumber than either of you could do on your own. Now bring back the kiddie toys and bring me the electronics. That’s what you promised, right? ” He gave Vinny a tap on his shoe.
“Yes. Okay. Okay.”
“You’ve got two days,” Bucky replied in an eerily calm voice. Vinny did not like the sound of it. “And if it doesn’t happen, add an extra ten K to your tab.”
The two men scrambled from the chair before Bucky had a chance to knock it out from under them, and they scooted out the door.
Vinny was beside himself with emotion. “How did this happen?”
“Patsy and I went to the yard. Patsy gave the guy his fake license, the guy pointed to the spot. We hooked up the trailer and drove out.”
“But you got the wrong trailer. W-R-O-N-G.” Vinny spelled it out, just in case Jimmy hadn’t yet absorbed how bad the situation was.
“I know. I know. I know. So, let’s bring this one back and get the right one.”
“Let’s hope it’s still in the lot.” Vinny hopped into the passenger side, and Jimmy got behind the wheel. “Do you still have the paperwork?”
Jimmy pointed to the visor above Vinny’s head. “It’s up there.”
Vinny pulled the visor down and looked through the paperwork. “It says right here, four-nine-two.”
“Well, this is the trailer the kid pointed to,” Jimmy said, trying to defend himself.
“And you didn’t bother to check?”
“It was dark.”
Vinny shook his head. He took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number on the paperwork. A young voice answered.
“Hey, I got a trailer with the wrong goods. We need to bring it back and get the right one.”
“Oh, yeah. A lady was here about an hour ago. I think you got her stuff by mistake.”
Vinny rolled his eyes. “Yes, Einstein. We’re bringing it back. We gotta get the one in four-nine-two.”
“Okay.” The kid hesitated. “But the trailer in four-nine-two was picked up a few minutes after the lady left.”
“Say that again.” Vinny was breaking out in a sweat.
“Yeah. The other trailer was picked up.”
Vinny turned to Jimmy. “Stop the truck.”
“How come?” Jimmy pumped the brakes just as he was turning the rig around.
“Because the trailer you were supposed to pick up actually got picked up.” Vinny paused, then shouted, “By someone else!” Vinny looked down at the paperwork again. “Get out! We need to check this load again.”
“Why? It’s toys.”
“Yeah, you knucklehead. It’s Toys for Tots! Geez, we stole toys from kids.” Vinny leaned his head against the back of the seat.
“Okay. Okay. Okay. Listen, I got a little stash. Maybe you can put it on the ponies?”
“You got a stash?” Vinny stared at him suspiciously.
Jimmy looked sheepish, then answered, “Yeah, I been doin’ a little hustle on the side.” He reached behind the seat, pulled out a duffel bag, and placed it on Vinny’s lap.
“What’s this?” Vinny asked.
“My stash. Look inside. A few hundred bucks.”
“And where did you get this stash?” Vinny had had his fill of bad news, and the day wasn’t quite over yet. He dug farther into the bag and pulled out a Santa cap. “What’s this?”
“Part of my disguise.”
“Your disguise for what?”
“My side hustle.”
“Which is what? You working at Macy’s or something?”
“Nah. Too many screaming kids and annoying parents. I knocked over a few Salvation Army kettles.”
“You did what ?” Vinny was stupefied. “You stole money from the Salvation Army?”
“Well, kinda.”
“Kinda?” Vinny yelled, his voice bouncing inside the cab. “How could you do such a thing?”
“I dunno. Seemed like easy pickings.”
Vinny was incredulous. “But the Salvation Army? What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry, boss. I figured you could use the money. Just in case.”
“I can, but not like this. This is beyond criminal.” Vinny was at a total loss. There they were, two grown men with a trailer of stolen toys and stolen money. “God is going to get us for this.” He shook his head in shame.
“Yeah. So is Bucky.” Jimmy sniffled.
Charles and Fergus were busy in the War Room in Pinewood when they hit pay dirt. The truck was caught on camera leaving the lot; then it got picked up again as it crossed the Bayonne Bridge. From there, it took Interstate 287 and reappeared crossing the Verrazzano.
“Looks like it’s headed to Brooklyn,” Fergus said as he looked up at the six-feet-wide monitor mounted on the wall.
Charles called Kathryn and asked, “Does the trailer have a GPS?”
“Yes, but only if it’s engaged.”
“Does it activate automatically when the wheels are in motion?”
“Again, only if it’s engaged, but they are most of the time.”
“Right. We’ll keep checking camera footage.
” Charles and Fergus were quite handy at hacking even the most complex and secure servers.
All they needed was the longitude and latitude, and they were in.
They got a blip on the big screen. The truck moved for a minute, then stopped again, but now they had a confirmed location. Technology was a great tool.
They quickly informed Myra and Annie. Annie called Kathryn and said, “I’m sending Maggie later today.”
“Is she alright? I caught the tail end of some news clip about SantaCon across the nation. A camera caught Maggie getting plowed over by some drunk St. Nick in D.C.,” Kathryn said.
“This SantaCon thing is the equivalent of St. Patrick’s Day,” Annie remarked.
“A license to get rowdy,” Kathryn said with a chuckle.
Annie continued. “She’ll be taking the Gulfstream, so she should be arriving around two o’clock. Pick her up at Teterboro. Charles will send you the current location, and the two of you can scope it out. Just make sure that truck doesn’t leave your sight.”
“Got it.” Kathryn was not sure what the overall plan was, but as long as Myra and Annie were at the helm, it was going to be a good one.