The Bicycle Part 2

Part 2: Luis

Luis opened the fridge, looking inside, faint hope dying quickly.  Yup, it was time to go shopping.  But since it was only six hours till his next shift, and he hadn't slept since his last shift, groceries would have to wait.
He pulled out a plastic bowl with some soup and took a sniff.  Didn't smell bad, and there was no mold...it would have to do.
He shoved it into the nuke box and hit the reheat button.  He hated life as a bachelor.  But when he thought about getting married, and having little snot-nosed copies of himself running around...
Okay, maybe life wasn't so bad.
With the soup in one hand, and a can of fizzy sugar water in the other, he strolled into the living room and dropped onto the couch, turning on the one-eyed monster most people called a television.  He would probably fall asleep here.  Again.  He checked his cell phone to make sure that his alarm was on.
Then he looked again, with a frown.  Jerry was calling.
His cousin knew his work schedule.  Why would Jerry wake him up?
He answered it.  "Dude, this had better be good."
"I just got shot at."
He froze.  Jerry was about as vanilla as a man could be.  Well...these days, anyway.  "You run into an old friend?" he asked, setting his soup aside.
"No, someone I've never met.  Over on Canby, between fifth and sixth."
Luis rolled his eyes.  "Didn't your mom teach you to stay out of that 'hood?  Every other house is a drug dealer, and the ones in between are users."
"Yeah, I know.  And you'll love what this one was dealing.  He had Sadie's meds."
Luis frowned deeply, grabbing his shoes and pulling them on.  A tiny bell went off his his head.  Just this morning he had gotten a department wide email from the narcotics division.  Something was up.  Something big, and it involved experimental drugs.  How in the world they had known to get them from Sadie, and how Jerry had found out, and...
He suddenly realized why Jerry sounded so anxious.  Aside from getting shot at, his family was probably in danger.
"Jerry, call your wife and have her get out of the house.  With the kids.  Now."
"I already did.  I'm not that far gone, man.  But the guy that had her meds was chasing me with a .44 caliber and a souped up Honda, so I had to hide.  Not sure I dare move from where I'm at."
"Where are you, anyway?"
"In a parking garage, in some kind of condo complex.  Can you track my phone?"
Luis checked his map.  His cousin had done a Google location share a while back, and luckily, it was still there.  "Yes.  Sit tight, I'm going to call Stephens and have him pick me up, then we'll come get you.  Unmarked car, dark gray blue LeSabre."
"He's still driving that old relic?"
"It was his first trophy, dude.  He'll drive it into the ground."  Luis checked the clock.  He had to be quick to catch the narc detective before he left for the day.  "Gotta call him.  Just stay put, I'll tell you when we're close."
"Got it.  What about Lila?"
"Call her and tell her to go to Georgia's place.  I'll call Georgia after Stephens and tell her to get out the 12-gauge and buckshot."
"Okay.  Thanks Luis, I really appreciate this."
Luis snorted.  "Dude, I got a pretty grim email this morning from the boss.  If this is what I think it is, you won't want to thank me later.  You may never want to speak to me again."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I'll tell you later.  Gotta get moving, and you need to call.  See you in a few."

After two quick phone calls, Luis was on the road.  His nerves were on edge, worried sick about his cousin.  This was no normal drug ring, and if they found Jerry, or Lila and the kids, it could be the worst tragedy their city had seen in years.
He wondered, just as Jerry had, how they had found Sadie.  How did they know she had these particular meds?  There had to be a snitch in the doctor's office.  They had to track him down, and fast, before more patients ended up as victims.
He glanced sideways at Stephens.  The detective's face was tight, and his knuckles were white as he shot through town a little faster than his normal, placid pace.  "I got the email.  But it was kinda vague.  What is going on?"
"I'm not at liberty to say.  Just...this is more than just a domestic drug ring.  The CIA is involved, Homeland Security...these are some really bad guys.  Jerry has been through enough, he doesn't need this kind of crap again."
"I know.  How in the world did these guys find Sadie?"
"Well, as to that, we think we've pegged one of the janitors in the doctor's office.  I've got a guy in there watching him, cameras everywhere...we are close to nailing him.  But I want to get video of him talking to his contact in the drug ring.  This is big, Luis.  Probably the biggest case the department has ever seen."
Luis felt chills down his spine.  "What are we going to do about Jerry and Lila?"
"Get them out of here.  As quick as we can.  You sent them over to Georgia, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, well, knowing her and Stan, they'll be safe enough for now.  I'll get a team together to get them out of town.  Your mom still has the farm, right?"
"Yeah, she only lives there in the summer, but she should be there for another month."
"Hope she doesn't mind having company."
"Neh, she loves Jerry's family."
"I meant my boys."
"Oh.  Well, so long as they mind their manners.  Lila's a brown belt after all."
Stephens chuckled darkly.  "They aren't like that.  But they can be a bit much, especially when they get trigger-happy."
"Just keep them outside, and the kids inside."
"Right."

Jerry found himself jumping half out of his skin every time someone came into or out of the parking garage.  He found himself wishing he had brought more than just his not-quite-legal switchblade with him.
Finally, after nearly half an hour, he heard Luis' familiar voice.  He emerged from his dark corner, trying to hide his shaking hands.  "Took you long enough."
Luis had his gun out, checking the shadows as he approached.  "Yeah, well, we had to do this right.  We took a cruise by your client's house, by the way.  Car's there again."
"Better than after me," Jerry grunted, pulling his bike over to Gerald Stephens' car.  He quickly removed the handlebars and stuffed the whole mess into the trunk, then pulled on a hooded sweatshirt Luis handed him, and hopped into the back seat.
During the ride to the precinct, he told them everything that had happened, doing his best to omit his own speculations.  They were hardly necessary.  He knew that they would come to the same conclusions he had.
When he finished, he looked in the mirror, just catching Stephens' eye.  "So what's going on?  Luis said there was some kind of email that might connect to this."
The detective sighed.  "If it were anyone else, I'd say nunya business.  But this is you, so...I can't tell you much.  All I can say is that this is big, and involves the feds."
"How did they find us?  How do they know about Sadie?"
"We think we have our guy, as far as that goes.  Just collecting evidence now.  You have the bottle, right?"
"Yeah.  I'm sure it's got my prints all over it now."
Stephens shrugged.  "Well, our forensics guys are good.  If they can get prints and DNA on your friend in the red Honda, we can nail him to the wall.  The only question is whether he is spineless enough to toss his friends under the bus in the process."
Jerry sat back in his seat, closing his eyes.  He had thought he had gotten away from all this.  It was bringing up some very unpleasant memories.
His phone rang.  It was Lila.  He answered it.  "Hi sweetie, are you guys okay?"
"Yes, we are fine for now, but Sadie is not doing so good.  Can I go to the doctor's office and get her a few more meds?  He has some samples--"
"No.  Don't go to the office.  I'll figure something out, but stay away from there."
"Jerry, please.  Don't keep me in the dark again.  What is going on?"
Jerry glanced at the man in the driver's seat.  He just shook his head.  Now wasn't the time.  "I've been talking to Luis and one of the detectives in the narcotics department.  We're trying to figure it out.  I don't have a lot of answers for you.  Just trust me for now, and I'll explain it as soon as we get some hard data."
"You better not be putting me off, buster."
He shook his head, forgetting she couldn't see him.  She was as stubborn as she was beautiful.  "Sweetie, believe me, I know better than that.  Seriously, this is a bigger tangle than I thought.  Just do what Georgia and Stan tell you, okay?"
"I'm not five."
"And this isn't schoolyard bullying, Lila.  For once, don't argue.  Please."
She sighed.  "Okay.  I love you, Jerry."
"I love you too."
He hung up and glanced up into the front seat, where the pill bottle was now in an evidence bag.  "Any chance I can get one or two of the pills out of there and taken to Lila?  Sadie really needs her meds."
"I'll talk to the supervisor about it.  We can probably shake some loose in an hour or two.  I'll have one of my boys take them over to Georgia's."
It wasn't ideal, but he didn't want to compromise the investigation any more than he likely already had.  "Fine.  Thanks."

When they reached the precinct, Luis took care of his bike while Stephens brought him into the chief's office.  He quickly scratched out a deposition on the situation while the detective practically melted his phone making calls.  The bottle was handed off to the forensics team, where the lead tech assured him that they could have a few pills ready to send to Sadie in just a couple of hours.
They still didn't tell him much, but if the feds were involved...maybe a new drug kingpin had moved into town?  Maybe this was part of a sting involving international cooperation?
That didn't seem quite right to him.  He decided to wait and see what else happened.
More than an hour passed, with him planted in a hard chair, just staring at the ceiling.  Everyone else was busy, and he found himself itching to do something.  Anything.
But he had left this life behind, and he wasn't sorry.  Well...not much, anyway.
Luis had been sent over to Georgia's house with the pills, along with two plainclothes officers, to act as guards for Jerry's family.  Luis was told to stay there, since Jerry's kids knew and trusted him, and the chief told him not to worry about his shift.
Jerry found that strange.  Chief Nakamura was strict about scheduling.  If you called in sick, you had better be dragging you own severed leg behind you as your excuse.
If he were really honest with himself, he was getting tired of the drama.  Everyone was so serious about this, like it was some kind of world-ending event.  It was another drug ring, on another crusade to make themselves rich and everyone else miserable.  Why was everyone so worked up about it?
Shortly after that thought pranced around his head, he got his answer.  The door opened, and in walked a man he had fervently prayed he would never see again.  The faint, humorless smile on the man's face was familiar, and it sent uncomfortable chills down his spine.  Whatever this was, if his old boss was involved, it was big.
"Hello, Jerry."
Jerry managed a smile that was more a sickly grimace.  "Hello Todd."