Not in my Job Description - Avery Clavens Book 1

Chapter 21 - Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink

I had no idea how to play my mistake. Did I go with escapee from the psych ward or level with the guy? He sounded sincere in everything he’d been saying, enough so that I’d made a mental note of it more than once.

I really wished I had a way to hear Nate’s opinion. Of course, right then he was probably saying things like, “I can’t believe the idiot I’m forced to work with,” and very likely trying to think of places to dispose of my body after he killed me.

Everywhere I turned there seemed to be someone needing a place to dispose of my body. Having thought up a list of great places only days before, I could’ve been nice and shared with those from out-of-town, but I was going to make them find their own spots.

I decided to go with my gut. “Technically, I’m not with the police, but I happen to have a FBI agent listening in to everything we say.”

“That’s great. Do you think they’ll help me? I was too afraid to go to the cops because Olaf had my sister kidnapped from school a month ago. He threatened to kill her if I did anything stupid, so I’ve been going along with everything they’ve told me to do.” I got the feeling by the look he gave me that he thought I was the reincarnation of some mighty savior.

“How in the world did you get involved with the Schwartz operation in the first place? They are really, really, I don’t think there are enough reallys in the world to stress my point that they are bad men.”

“I know that now. At first I wasn’t even aware they existed. I’ve already told you part of this when we were talking about my business. I needed some funding for a big project at work that I knew would make the company a large profit. I was having problems finding backing when a good friend of mine put me in contact with that guy I met at the deli the other day, Manny. He seemed to have the money and at the time I thought a legitimate business of his own.”

Jimmy took a second gathering his thoughts before he continued. I imagined he’d been storing up his story for a while and I was the privileged one who got to sit through it.

“As you can imagine, things went bad. The Schwartz’s needed some weapons for some big army they’re trying to create or something down in Panama, but they didn’t want to deal with the arms dealer directly and for some reason decided I’d be the perfect mark to be the middle man. I don’t know why, since I’ve never dealt in that kind of business.”

“This is bad news, how much do you know about the deal they have going on?” I asked, hoping that he was no longer on speaking terms with his “good friend”. What kind of friend would get him involved with people as dangerous as the Schwartz brothers?

“I don’t know a lot, just what Manny told me. He’s a big talker and it doesn’t take much to get him going. I know the shipment is in New York Harbor on a boat called The Santa Fé. It’s supposed to set out in the morning at two. I believe at least one of the brothers is planning on being there to oversee things, because of some mess ups recently within their operation. I haven’t seen Manny for a couple days and he isn’t answering his phone, so I haven’t gotten any updates.”

I found it interesting that he hadn’t heard about Manny’s demise. I hadn’t had a chance to watch the news, but I figured there’d been at least a mention on the news.

“That’s good information as long as they didn’t change the departure time,” I replied to Jimmy. Out to anyone listening in, I said, “Might be a good idea to get someone to the docks and see if that boat is still in the harbor.” I was sure Nate had already thought of that, but he could’ve still been cursing me for blowing my cover.

“Do you think the people you’ve been working with are going to be able to help me? I really didn’t want to get involved with this, but they had my sister. Once I have her back safe, I’m willing to give over any evidence I have, if you think you can help out my case.”