Chapter 5 The Meeting
Tommy drove his Jeep up to an industrial warehouse, just on the outskirts of the U.S. border. Tyler was quiet in the passenger seat, back to his serious business mode.
“I’m going to mention Toronto again during the meeting,” Tyler said. “Make sure Chase knows something’s up and to make the deal anyway.”
“Good. Smart,” Tommy agreed.
They got out of the truck and Tyler limped lightly through the large open door, past the grated broken windows. The house-of-cards warehouse invited a whistling breeze through it.
Kane Leeman sat waiting at a table in the middle of the open space. There was a bottle of top-shelf bourbon eager to be opened.
“How’s the leg, Tyler?” Kane asked smugly, getting up slowly from the chair.
Tommy’s hand mutated into a tight fist as he tried to keep his anger controlled.
Kane removed his calfskin glove and reached out his bare right hand.
“Tyler, boy,” he said.
Tyler stood in front of him and it took every molecule of strength not to kill him. His hand itched but he extended it, and shook the hand of the head of the Leeman Crime Family.
Tommy’s loathing of Kane penetrated down to his feet.
“There. Isn’t that nice? I’m so glad we can finally break bread together. Well, break a bottle,” Kane said.
The brothers kept standing until Chase showed up a couple minutes later.
He walked toward the three men in the center of the empty concrete hall.
“Gentlemen!” Chase said.
Tyler and Tommy shook his hand and the presence of their old Canadian friend warmed the icy mood somewhat.
“Chase, I think you know Kane Leeman. Our new ally and your new supplier,” Tyler presented, motioning his arm out to introduce Kane.
“Mr. Leeman. Your reputation precedes you,” Chase said, shaking Kane’s hand.
“I should hope so,” Kane replied proudly. “Let’s sit down, shall we gentlemen?”
The four men sat down at the table. Their voices echoed. A couple straggling pigeons flew out of the broken windows, leaving the men completely alone in the eerie, abandoned warehouse.
Kane opened the bottle of bourbon and poured each of them a tall shot into the four crystal glasses on the table.
“To old friendships and new partnerships,” Kane toasted and held his glass up to the three men.
They each drank it down.
“So, Chase. Like I mentioned. I will be leaving you in good hands. Kane Leeman will be your new supplier and I will make sure you get your stock delivered like I have up till now by my men, until you feel comfortable enough to have the Leemans deliver it to you themselves. We will train the Leeman boys on the way we do logistics, how we conceal the trucks, hand over our routes and border contacts gradually, and transition to a fully operational handover from the Dorien Brothers to the Leeman Family. How does that sound?” Tyler offered.
Chase looked at Tyler intently and glanced over at Kane.
“I think I may need some more of that bourbon before we continue the discussion,” Chase said with a cautious smile.
“A fine bourbon for a fine man,” Kane said, and poured them all one more round. They took the shot in one gulp before continuing.
“Mr. Leeman. You’ve been in the arms trade for a long time.
I understand you have almost the entire northern border into the east. I also understand wanting to expand, and the Vancouver Port is a goldmine.
But I didn’t like hearing about you taking a piece of it through Skarpa.
In my books, that’s treason,” Chase presented.
“Now, now, Mr. McInnis. Treason is what Skarpa did. I simply exposed the rat for the Dorien brothers to see. In my books, that is doing them a favor,” Kane slithered.
Tommy’s lava dripped down his throat.
Tyler swallowed the absurdity in its entirety and pushed the lie further.
It was Nicki that discovered that Skarpa was a rat and that you were working with him you miserable cunt. I can’t wait to kill you, Tyler thought.
“Kane is right,” Tyler said, turning to Chase.
“If it wasn’t for him, Skarpa would still be stealing from us and sabotaging our deliveries to you.
And for that, I thank him. Now that that is all behind us, we can continue business and move forward knowing who our partners and friends truly are,” Tyler finished, grabbing the bottle to pour another shot for everyone.
Chase nodded his head.
Tommy spoke up. “Moving forward, starting with the first delivery to you as early as this month, the Doriens will be ensuring the seamless transport of your guns with our logistical operation as always. But the payment will be going to Kane instead. It’s as simple as that.”
“As simple as that, eh?” Chase asked.
“You can be sure, Mr. McInnis, that this supplier transition and new partnership with the Leemans will be smooth and profitable, for the both of us. And Tyler here, can go off into the sunset and marry the pretty girl, and get out of the gun business like he wanted,” Kane said and raised his glass again.
“To marriage and new families,” Kane said.
The three men shot back the drink.
Tommy lingered, then gulped his down.
“That’s really it, eh? You’re starting a family of your own? Is the new missus not a fan of your line of work?” Chase asked Tyler with a chuckle.
“That’s it, brother. There comes a time when good things must come to an end. Like our Toronto days.”
“Ah, Toronto was something else. I think it’s best if we don’t revisit that chapter again, huh boys?” Chase raised his glass to the brothers and toasted the imaginary good ol’ days.
“So? We got a deal or what, Mr. McInnis?” Kane asked now with a louder whip.
“Under the conditions that we have just established; the first few deliveries, let’s say three, are taken care of by the Dorien brothers. No independent contractors or third parties. And, I want a five percent discount,” Chase countered.
Kane thought about the deal and surprise discount request.
“And Vancouver and the entire northern border is yours, Kane. Don’t get greedy now,” Tyler inserted.
Kane looked at the brothers intently and back over at Chase across the table. The energy was calm and Kane felt comfortable. He would get what he wanted, after all.
“Deal.”
Kane shot up and walked over to shake Chase’s hand.
All the men stood up and took one last celebratory shot of bourbon which ended the meeting faster than how it started.
Chase walked over to the brothers for a farewell hug.
He came to Tommy first and gave him an extra rough pat on the back over Tommy’s hood.
“Good seeing you again, kid.”
Chase then walked over to Tyler with a lighter slap on the back.
“Tyler, boy. You take care now, and don’t forget about that wedding invite!”
“You got it, brother,” Tyler replied.
“Tyler,” Kane said, reaching out his hand again to him.
Tyler hesitated but kept face with Chase present and shook Kane’s hand, only to feel a small film-like paper inside of it.
He took it discreetly and placed it in his pocket.
The group dispersed and the brothers walked back to Tommy’s Jeep at the far end of the parking lot.
Bourbon flavored adrenaline pumped through their veins.
Tyler pulled out the paper from his pocket as soon as he sat inside of the truck. It was a picture of Nicki, walking with her yoga mat downtown, last Sunday.
He turned the picture over. “Choo Choo!” scribbled across the back.
“FUCK!” Tyler screamed out and punched the dashboard in front of him so hard that it nearly cracked. So did his knuckle.
He handed the picture to Tommy, who could barely contain his anger any more.
He turned to his brother.
“Please tell me that when we kill Leeman, that I get to cut his fucking eyes out?” Tommy whispered, almost trembling with fury. “And we gotta get someone on her asap when she goes out without you. The crew driving her around is not enough. She needs security 24-7,” Tommy added.
“Yeah, I know,” Tyler murmured and put away the picture into his pocket, shaking his head.
They watched Kane pull out of the empty parking lot in his chauffeured limousine and Chase shortly after in his Cadillac.
The sky was dark and the entire industrial area was quiet.
Tommy raced to inspect what was in his hood.
“Check my hood, Tyler, Chase put something in my hood!”
Tyler reached in and pulled out a small, old school style Nokia cell phone.
Tyler smiled. “He’s smart. This way, he can contact us on a burner phone without Kane tapping our calls with him.”
The two brothers allowed the much-welcomed chuckle between them.
A minute later, the old cell phone rang. Tyler answered.
“Yeah.”
“Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, now what did you get yourself into, huh?” Chase asked jokingly.
“Brother. I can’t even get into it, man,” Tyler replied.
“Yeah, well, your Toronto comment is what tipped me off. That and that limp you’re trying to hide. Which is too bad, cause Toronto is actually a really good time! Hahaha!”
The brothers grinned.
“Yeah, well maybe we’ll get a chance to actually go there some time, for real. But thank you, Chase, we owe you big time. You’re just gonna have to play along for the time being, OK? While we figure out some shit.”
“Yeah, I’m not liking the sound of this, Dorien, but I’m trusting you, my man,” Chase said.
“Alright. We’ll talk soon, man.”
The brothers high fived excitedly and Tommy turned on the ignition to start the long drive back.
“Tyler, bro, great job on the quick thinking with the Toronto code word, man,” Tommy said, practically giddy now, and started driving toward the street. “Toronto and the whole wedding thing. That was a genius play,” Tommy added.
“Yeah, the wedding wasn’t a play, man,” Tyler said, smiling to himself out the window.
Tommy slammed on the breaks. “What?”
“Yeah, man,” Tyler confirmed.
He reached for his wallet in his pants pocket, wincing at the soreness of his leg as he bent.
He opened up the wallet and took something out from the small leather coin pocket.
He presented it in the palm of his hand.
Tommy’s breath seized as he saw the sparkling yellow diamond ring. He looked up to examine Tyler’s face, waiting for him to admit it was a joke.
“I’m doing it. Obviously, I’m not going to ask her yet; my leg needs to fully heal first so that I can chase her when she runs away from me, but I’m going to ask her eventually. I’m going to make her my wife and the mother of my kids. It’s done.”
Tyler looked at the sparkling ring up close, smiling at it. He shot a glance back at a silent Tommy whose heart cracked and the remaining blood drained from it.
Tyler’s words cut him like a steak knife across his wrist. Tommy’s pulse slowed as he remembered Nicki smiling up at the movie projector; her face glowing as she watched Marilyn Monroe eating potato chips and drinking Champagne.
He pictured her kissing the scars on his hand and categorizing him as a wolf—finally a label that suited him.
He remembered how it felt having his arms around her, feeding the horses baby carrots and how he wished to God he could turn back time and steal a horse with her.
Ride off down the moonlit beach with her and never come back.
No matter how much he tried to stay away from her at work, keep to himself while his brother was recovering at home, he ended up hanging around when she made coffee, waiting for her to ask for his approval signature on documents, looking out the window when she was out running errands, then scurrying away before she came to the door.
He wanted to tell her that he can’t breathe properly when she breezes into work every morning.
That he’d actually made a doctor’s appointment because he thought he needed an inhaler.
That he’s sick to his stomach whenever she cluelessly walks by him.
That he now hates strawberries because she smells like them.
He tried to convince himself that her scars made her ugly.
Which only made her even more beautiful, and brave, and a lioness.
That he once, maybe twice, discreetly licked the rim of her glass after she had put it away in the sink, just so he could taste her.
That he had lost all interest in the girls on his roster, as they amounted to nothing but airhead bimbos with precisely zero substance.
But most of all, he wanted to tell her that he hated himself for not seeing her in a deeper way first. The way his brother did from the very beginning.
His brother that took a bullet for him. His biggest regret.
“Well?” Tyler asked his brother, in a daze.
“Yeah, if she even says yes, bro!” Tommy joked, and let out a painful fake laugh.
The counterfeit smile he slapped on his face burned in his cheeks as his heart restarted and he tried to keep focused on the road.
He kept his breathing light as he braved to keep the moisture inside of his eyes. He cleared his throat and kept driving.
Tommy dropped Tyler off at his mansion and watched him limp lightly until he got in through the front door. Where she was waiting for him.
Warm in his bed.
He pulled back out of the driveway, now heading for the Compound.
And in a matter of a few seconds, in the solitude of the car, Tommy released his pent-up tears, which streamed heavily down his face.
Tyler is going to marry the only girl that either one of us has ever loved.