The Boat: Part Sixteen

~ beetleypete

This is the sixteenth part of a fiction serial, in 791 words.

Just outside the town of Cambridge on a country road, Ricky pulled the Toyota over to the side on the grass. There was no traffic around and he would see the headlights if anything came along. Unhitching the trailer by the light from his phone, he let it slide onto the verge and drove away. After spending the night in the back of the car on a grassy parking area next to the Hudson River, he called Connie.

Before she could start in on him, he got in first.

“Connie, please just listen. I’m in real trouble and I need you to listen. It all went bad. I had to shoot some guys honey, or they would have killed me. I got rid of my truck, but I’m driving someone else’s now and that will have to go soon. I need to get out of the country, before the Mob guys or the cops catch up with me. I got plenty of money, enough to set us up, but we ain’t got passports, so I’m thinking of crossing over to Canada illegally, just walk across some woods or something. It would be nice to go and stay with my uncle Luis, back home in Puerto Rico, but without passports, we can’t go nowhere”.

His wife wanted to scream at him, but controlled her rage. Despite his rambling bluster, she could hear he was vulnerable, hurting. She loved him, and she was the sensible one.

“Don’t be silly, Rick. We don’t need no passports to go to stay with your uncle. But you will need ID to fly there, at least a driver’s licence. And if the cops are looking for you, you can’t use your own. You ain’t gonna get home for the baby now, no time for that. But you gotta think straight, go to a town, find a bar in the downtown area, and ask around about getting a fake driver’s licence. Don’t flash too much money about, and for Christ’s sake don’t shoot anyone else. Get the ID, then drive to JFK. Leave the car in the long-stay lot and buy a one way ticket. Once you are on your way, let me know. Then when me and the baby are fit to travel, I will fly from Florida to be with you. Oh, and Rick, dress smart, look relaxed, and just take on one carry-on bag, no hold luggage”.

She held back the tears, but Ricky didn’t. He was sobbing as he replied.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I love you so much. Don’t worry, I’ll do as you say and call you before I fly. Kiss the baby for me when it happens”. He hung up, unable to hold it together any longer. Connie didn’t make it to the bathroom before her waters broke.

Checking the map, Ricky found his gaze resting on Buffalo. It was maybe five hours west, but he could take the ninety all the way. It wasn’t in the direction he had come from, so no retracing his steps where they might be expecting him. And it was a big city, bound to have the sort of seedy district he was going to need.

——————————————————————————————-

The Feds had arrived and took over, looking at him like he was a circus clown, Patrolman Machin thought. Even the Captain was dismissed with a wave of the hand. “We’ll take it from here, it’s our crime scene now”. Special Agent this and Special Agent that in their sharp suits, a whole truck full of CSI, and the woodland shut off from the public right up to and including the Caddy in the parking lot.

He had found the two dead guys near an old Sierra truck, with shell casings all over the ground. The Captain had summed it up in seconds. “Mob hit, for sure. They made certain these guys weren’t going to the emergency room. Tell Janice to make that call to the Feds, otherwise this is gonna become a world of pain for us”.

———————————————————————————————

It was early afternoon when Ricky arrived in Buffalo and started to drive around looking for the kind of neighbourhood he wouldn’t want to bring his baby up in. He was hungry, thirsty, and as nervous as hell. But do this one last thing, and he could run off to uncle Luis and start a new life.

By five, he was getting tired of driving around and not finding anywhere likely. Then he spotted a bar on the corner with a sign in Spanish. Parking up the side, he removed some money from the bag, then hid it as best as he could under the front seat.

Before walking into the place, he slid the automatic into the waistband of his trousers.

34 thoughts on “The Boat: Part Sixteen”

  10. (1) Ricky pulled the Toyota over to the side on the grass. After spending the night in the back of the car on a grassy parking area, he began to wonder why there was so much grass in New York.
    (2) Bad citation: “Don’t flash too much money about, and for Christ’s sake don’t shoot anyone else. Just nail them to a cross. It’s a helluva lot quieter, and you’ll be forgiven!”
    (3) Overheard:
    Connie: “You need to get yourself a fake pilot’s license.”
    Ricky: “But I don’t know how to fly.”
    Connie: “You wanna be a jailbird? Just fake it!”
    Ricky: “Okay, so what name should I put on the license?”
    Connie: “Frank Abagnale, Jr.”
    Ricky: “But he was a con man, Connie!”
    Connie: “And the situation you’re in is tricky, Ricky. But you can get yourself out of it. Remember, you’re a Leo. So be strong!”
    (4) Overheard:
    Special Agent This: “What do you think? Mob hit?”
    Special Agent That: “I think so.”
    Special Agent Other: “Me, too.”
    Circus Clown: “No, silly. You three!”
    (5) I’ve never seen a water buffalo near the Truckee River in Nevada, but I’ve seen a trucker near the Niagara River in Buffalo.
    (6) David suggests an alternate ending:
    The Feds got a phone call from the forger who made Ricky’s fake pilot license. But Ricky found out about it. Not knowing what to do, Ricky went back for the boat, figuring he could escape to Canada by river. He didn’t know how to fly an airplane, but he knew how to pilot a boat! Unfortunately, after he launched the boat, the strong current drew him downstream towards Niagara Falls. When he realized there was no turning back, he regretted dumping the name Frank Abagnale in favor of George Loomis…
    Pete Johnson responds: “Now wait Just a Cotten pickin’ minute there, David! I have another ending mind!”

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  12. Oh Pete! You making us suffer here! This daft dude is going to get in more trouble. Some criminal going to steal the trailer with the $$$ and then he going to shoot someone else…too many bad possibilities! But if he does get to JFK intact, buying a one-way ticket sends up flags to the TSA..

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    1. He has dumped the trailer in the place where you photographed it, and has the money in the Toyota.
      He might decide to buy a return ticket, but you are getting ahead of the story! 🙂 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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