Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 12: Vat Do You Vant?

Chapter 12: Vat Do You Vant?

Gus Lebanchek wasn't happy, which meant Rick Joliet couldn't possibly be feeling any joy. All this sadness was understandable, given how Gus was set up and played by the Underground like a violin twice in twenty-four hours, while Rick's teams came off looking utterly incompetent in the process.

No, it was a bad day to be a Ministry agent.

Gus wanted to regroup and ordered even more agents back to the scene where the two Underground intermediaries were killed. Yet after 30 hours of sweeping and scouring the place, Gus was still convinced they'd missed something significant and decided to set up a makeshift office in the room next to the crime scene to see if he could somehow figure it all out.

Thanks to analyses from DNA trace evidence collected the day before, Gus at least had the identities of both men. As expected, they were linked to organized crime. Each had previous multiple encounters with the law. And both had done some time in the past. They weren't big fish but they led Gus to a bigger pond. He now knew who these guys worked for. So he'd asked Joliet earlier that morning to round up their bosses. He wanted to hear what they had to say about all this, if anything at all.

Gus sat at the table now serving as his makeshift desk, scrutinizing the forensic reports from the past 24 hours yet again when a knock sounded on the open door. "What?" he snapped with his eyes glued to the holographic screen displaying the details of the second iteration of the firearms report he had demanded. "I'm busy here, unless it's critical, please don't disturb me."

"Sir..."

Gus looked up at the sound of Rick Joliet's voice.

"This is Valery Stokovnik and his associate Mikhail Kolonoktev."

Joliet stepped aside to present two burly and gruff men. They had scruffy facial hair and looked like they'd just rolled out of bed. Then again, maybe they always looked like that, Gus thought.

"Well then... Thank you, Rick." Gus closed down the screens and turned his attention to Stokovnik and Kolonoktev. "Gentlemen, may I get you some coffee? We have a few boxes of Joe and, of course, a bevy of mandatory, police-issue, fried dough products on hand this morning." Without waiting for a reply, Gus stood up, walked towards the makeshift coffee-and-donut-tray station in the corner of his makeshift office, poured two cups of coffee and grabbed two glazed donuts.

The two Russian mobsters awkwardly accepted Gus' offerings.

"Gentlemen, please have a seat and set yourself at ease. We've asked you to come under friendly circumstances. We just want to talk with you and see what you might know about a series of events that transpired recently. I assure you," Gus added in an attempt to lighten the mood, "if you work with us and answer a few simple questions, we'll have you on your way in no time."

The men exchanged glances before they put their coffee and donuts on Gus' desk, pulled back two chairs, sat down and crossed their arms, each move synchronized as if they'd both been trained by the Russian swim team since birth.

"Vat do you vant from us?" responded Stokovnik with a thick Russian accent.

"Is it Valery?" Gus asked as he glanced in the direction of Joliet.

Joliet nodded.

"Good question, Valery, because as it turns out, ve know vat ve vant and ve plan to valk you through everything," Gus said with a playful smile.

The Russians stared blankly back at him.

"You know what? Since you obviously aren't into coffee and donuts, which I must say really is a shame, why don't we just cut to the chase and make this easier on all of us. What do you say?" Without waiting for a response, Gus stood up. "Gentlemen, please follow me."

He led the three men out of the room, down the third-floor hallway just outside the door marked 333.

"OK, so here we are..."

Stokovnik and Kolonoktev didn't seem impressed and simply stood there.

"Nothing?...Nyet?" asked Gus with a smile.

Finally, Stokovnik blurted out, "Look, Ministry man, vat de 'ell do you vant from us? Spit it out!"

Unfazed, Gus took a step towards Stokovnik and calmly replied, "What do I want? That's simple enough, Valery. I want to know the truth. I want to know exactly what happened here thirty hours ago. Right now, I don't know a damn thing. But I do think you or one of your bosses know exactly what happened. You see, we have the DNA from two of your colleagues who died in there and, without question, they're part of your ring... I'm sorry, part of your 'Organization'," Gus added, using air quotes.

Stokovnik deadpanned, "We don't know vat you are talking about."

Gus opened the door and motioned for the men to enter. He walked over to the desk still splattered with blood, except for a clear, rectangular area where the briefcase had been sitting. He gestured to Joliet who stepped around the table to face them.

"The identity of the two men turned out to be the well-known Tony 'Hard Head' Fiore," Joliet said, crossing his arms, "and the other was Edwin Montelban, who as it turns out, was Fiore's nephew. Both of these individuals have, well, actually had, prior criminal records and are, sorry, were known affiliates of the Russian Philly mob, or if you prefer, members of the Integrated Industries Conglomerate of Philadelphia. Of course, both of you gentlemen are also card-carrying members of this same fine Organization."

"Thank you, Rick," said Gus.

"So what? We may or may not have heard of these guys. Big deal." Kolonoktev's accent was much less pronounced than that of his colleague. "None of that tells me why we are here or what you want. Also, we think you killed our guys for no good reason. Maybe we talk about that instead."

Gus smiled. He actually was starting to appreciate these guys. No fear whatsoever and very direct. He respected that. "Sure, why not? I'd love to." Calmly he explained how he and his men did not initiate the gunfire and how he believed that the Underground assassinated their associates in order to cover their tracks.

"Cover their tracks, you say. What would they be trying to cover?" asked Kolonoktev.

Gus knew he had now hit a wall with these two. "I can't divulge that."

Both Russians shook their heads and rolled their eyes as they turned away. Gus grabbed both men from behind and pushed them face-first into the wall adjacent to the desk. Joliet stayed back.

"Look, I am willing to let the past be the past," said Gus with an intensity he had not shown previously. "And we all know that has been a very ugly past. However, all of that could change. I need your people to get me deep inside the Underground. I am certain that you were betrayed by your so-called 'Underground ally'.

"With some time, I am confident that I can prove this. They killed your men here...in cold blood. They don't want the Ministry on their tail. And trust me, neither do you. Instead, your people could have a much more powerful 'new' ally," Gus said with a smile. "Call your boss. This offer is very real but it won't last."

Gus made sure the Russians set it up. Their head boss Jack Cranston would be coming out to the crime scene and Joliet would pick him up. The two Russians, not trusting any of this, insisted that they also come along for the ride. Gus had no problem with that, except for the fact that, with Rick gone, he would have to babysit Stanley Dial himself for the next hour or so.

"Rick, wherever you've been stashing Dial, please bring him to me. We need to talk."

Soon after, one of Joliet's men returned with Stanley in tow, looking more dejected than ever.

"Look Dial, I am going to be crawling over this place again to see if I missed something. I need to concentrate. That means I can't hold your hand while I'm doing it. Are you OK to take care of yourself for a while? And by 'take care' I mean, you don't get yourself or anyone around you in any more trouble. Can you do that?"

"Yeah...whatever." Dial left room 333 to aimlessly wander along the hallway just outside.