to both of them. They declined. The second shot went down easily, hardly a grimace on her face. “I assume you have something in mind?”
The detectives smiled, nodded reassuringly and laid out their plan.
Viper was wearing yet another disguise, long black hair, mustache, with a duck-hunting cap and coat to finish it off. He was sitting alone in a booth near the back of the bar, facing the back hallway. Bouchard was disguised as well, all in black. Long black hair down past his shoulder, a black leather biker jacket, black jeans, black leather biker boots, a chained wallet, along with a beard and dark-tinted glasses. He was sitting on a stool at the end of the bar. The long wigs covered their earpieces. They had small, extremely sensitive microphones hidden in their coat collars. They were waiting for Knapp.
He strolled in at 8:30 p.m. and sat on a stool in the middle of the long bar, his usual spot. The good-looking bartender sauntered over and took his order. She would draw the desires of any man tonight. Skin-tight blue jeans and a tight, bright-white top with long sleeves that left her midriff exposed. She apparently had never heard of a bra. Not that Viper was complaining. He caught a quick glimpse of the bar back, in her blue jeans, white sweatshirt and blue turtleneck. How were these two women sisters?
Knapp was watching the bar back and a Gopher basketball game with equal intensity. At 9:30 p.m., almost finished with his second beer, he hopped off the bar stool and headed down the hall. When Knapp went into the men’s room, Bouchard waited ten seconds and then casually got off his stool and followed down the hall.
Bouchard pushed in the door to the men’s room, turned left and as he reached the sink, he could see Knapp in the mirror, at the far urinal on the opposite wall. He walked over to the open one. Knapp glanced over and gave him a slight nod, which Bouchard returned, uttering, “I gotta piss like a racehorse.”
“I hear ya.”
Bouchard unzipped his pants and faked arranging to piss with his left hand. With his gloved right hand he reached in his coat pocket for the switchblade.
Mac figured tonight was not the night. No van. He and Lich were sitting in a van, a block away looking at the back of the bar. Tonight Rockford was inside. He called Mac from the bathroom.
“What’s up?”
“My dick. You outta see what she has on tonight.”
Mac had to smile. Linda had told her about Knapp. Sheila probably decided to pull his chain a little. “Is she drawing any attention from our boy, or is he keeping it on Linda?”
“Pretty much Linda, although even he took notice of this chick tonight. There isn’t a guy in the joint who isn’t undressing her with his eyes, not that they’d have to work hard to do that.”
“Who’s that?” Lich asked.
“Rock. He’s calling from the can. He can’t piss because Bradley gave him a woody.”
“Speakin’ of pissin’, I gotta go bad.”
Rockford heard the discussion, “Who’s that? Lich?”
“Yeah, your call has given him the urge to piss.”
“He can switch up for me?”
Mac thought a second and turned to Lich. “You want to cover the bar?”
“Yeah, that’ll work.”
“Okay, Rock. Lich’s heading in.”
Lich jumped out of the van and briskly walked the couple hundred yards to the back door of the bar. He opened the door and hustled down the back hall, suddenly realizing he’d passed the men’s room door. He stopped and walked back a few feet and pushed the men’s room door in.
Viper took a sip of his beer, his eyes never leaving the back hallway. Bouchard should be doing Knapp about now, he thought. Suddenly the back door opened. It was that fat fuck Lich. Viper tensed and then relaxed as Lich walked past the men’s room door. Then Lich turned back and went into the can. Shit. “Abort! Abort! Abort!” Viper urgently whispered into his mic.
Bouchard had the knife out of his coat pocket and was ready to pop it open and move on Knapp when his earpiece exploded, “Abort! Abort! Abort!” It caused him to wince, which Knapp noticed.
“You all right.”
“Yeah, fine,” Bouchard replied, quickly slipping the knife back into his coat pocket. He glanced right at the mirror and saw the fat detective approaching. Lich, noticing them both, darted into the toilet stall. Knapp finished, walked over to the sink, gave his hands a quick wash, took a quick look at his face in the mirror, ran his hand through his hair and headed out. Bouchard waited fifteen seconds and did the same.
Viper stared at the backdoor. What the hell happened? He got his answer soon enough when Knapp, no worse for wear, came back into the bar. Fifteen seconds later Bouchard shuffled down the hall and retook his stool at the end of the bar.
Bouchard spoke softly into his collar, “Do we bail?”
“Hold tight, we might get another shot.”
They didn’t. Knapp quickly finished what was left of his beer, dropped a five on the bar, nodded good night to the bartender and walked out the back, where the eyes of at least ten cops would be on him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Before Knapp went home, he gave them all something to chew on. He sat in his car, not leaving, waiting on Linda. After she left to go home, he waited five minutes and cruised the back of the bar. He stopped, got out and walked between the bar and the building next door, a small paint store. Mac had walked in the gap earlier in the day. There was five or six feet between the two buildings. It was a weaving dirt path, strewn with weeds, broken glass and crushed beer cans. It was dark, lit only by an occasional second-floor light turned on in either of the two buildings. It was the perfect hiding place.
“That’s where he’ll wait,” Mac uttered into the radio, watching Knapp through a night scope borrowed from the feds.
“You bet your ass,” Riley responded.
Knapp got back into his Pontiac and headed home. The second shift followed him home to Hudson and put him to bed.
It was 3:15 a.m. and they were at the Gas amp; Shop lot.
Riley and Rockford were waiting when Mac and Lich pulled in. When they were getting out of the van, Riley bellowed, “Is he getting ready?”
“I think he
Lich shrugged, “Still haven’t seen the van.”
Riley nodded. “That’ll be the sign. We’ll know for sure then. The four of us meet with the chief in the morning for an update. He was nice enough to give us till 10:00 a.m.”
Everyone nodded. Everyone was exhausted. Everyone headed home.
Viper admired the thoroughness of Knapp in stalking his prey. She was always alone when she left at night. The area behind the bar was dark. It was a good spot. Were it not for the police being right on top of him, he’d get
