The Shadow Fighter

1 Enforcer

Adriano had researched his new home and learned that Chicago was the third largest city in the US. He was taken by its impressive architecture, and vibrant music history. He experienced firsthand why it was known as the Windy City. He walked the entire waterfront and had a faceoff with Lake Michigan and its cold wind coming directly at him.

He knew that it was equally famous for the Mafia families involved in the distribution of booze and drugs. Mafia families that had often been decimated by the violent battles that transpired. The most famous was the St. Valentines Day massacre.

Gennaro Visentino, his predecessor and his mafia leadership team met their demise in a similar way as the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

He was sent from Itali to take control of what remained of the Mafia organization.

He had moved the Mafia headquarters to another location farther south but still along the shore of Lake Michigan. The location he selected reminded him of the view along Marsala’s Contra da Spagnola and his favorite fishing spot on the Sicilian coast where he had fished in his younger days.

He liked to walk along the lake shore and feel the cool breeze as it blew through his dark black hair, and he had found a place where he could cast his line and catch fish.

He recalled and preferred the warmer air, the seaweed, and fish odor of the waters of the salty Tyrrhenian Sea and the fish he caught there. He had only been in Chicago for a few months and was still trying to get use to a much faster and hectic pace of living. His days back in Italy now seemed a luxury as compared to navigating the Chicago competitive drug market. He was taking an aggressive approach and soon hoped to have his organization back to its previous level of drug distribution.

He had reached back to his many loyal Sicilian associates and brought them to Chicago. In a way the ill-fated demise of his predecessor and his entire leadership team had opened the organization at the higher levels, and he was able to establish his loyal followers into those top ranks. This at least provided him a buffer from the struggle the organization faced out in the intense and competitive drug distribution level.

He had moved carefully and slowly to reestablish the Chicago family. It had now been two years since that massacre that was blamed on a black female detective out of Cincinnati.

It was hard for him to envision a single person having been able to eliminate the entire Chicago family.

He personally believed that the main Mexican drug cartel that competed with his organization had a hand in the massacre, but he did not desire to start a war with them, so he was careful as he pushed against them while he slowly regained control of the protection and drug distribution market that the family had previously controlled.

The involvement of a lowly Cincinnati detective was a matter that personally irritated him, and he felt the need to take some sort of retribution action. He sent one of his trusted men to spend time in Cincinnati to observe and get information on this detective.

For six months the reports coming to him indicated that she was careful, was always active in the community and did not seem to be worried about her exposure. She seemed to be just a normal detective that had been very successful.

As he reviewed the information about the cases that she had resolved he came to believe that she was more lucky than smart. He pondered what he should do. His low opinion of her led him to hire and send a sniper to eliminate her. He would have liked to bring her to Chicago to have her go swimming face down in one of the rivers in the city.

He reached back to Sicily to recruit Lorenzo who was considered one of the best assassins in the business. This was a person that he felt would quickly deal with the assassination in and in and out manner.

When Lorenzo arrived, he greeted him, and they agreed on the price. After arranging for him to be provided with a snipers rifle of the design that Lorenzo requested, they agreed that once the assignment was over, a return flight to Sicily out of Cleveland would be paid for.

He knew that it would only be a matter of time until he would get a success report from Lorenzo which then would be followed by a news report on the sad loss of a such a beloved detective in Cincinnati. Not sad for him. He would go out and celebrate the removal of a nuisance.

Alex, that nuisance, had no idea that she had once again become the focus of someone that she had no idea that in some way felt compelled to punish her.

She was busy planning an upcoming fund-raising event with Annie, who she had rescued from fifteen years of chained captivity in the Pennsylvania forest. She was very happy that Annie had made what seemed to be a full recovery from that trauma and now with her two daughters had moved to Maui to live with the person that Annie had met, fallen in love with and whom she called her soulmate.

When Alex received all the paintings that was to be displayed at the Art exhibit, she realized that Annie was now painting prolifically, and her painting reflected a radiance that some of her earlier paintings lacked.

Together they were planning a fund-raising event that was scheduled for mid-July.

She was fund raising for her Helping Hands charity and her Helping Hands retreat.

Annie was holding an art exhibit with Scapes as the theme with forty percent of the sales promised to Helping Hands.

They planned an event at the Cincinnati water front that would feature a band or orchestra that Annie’s two daughters, Linda and Lorie were setting up.

She and Matt were celebrating having moved into their new home that they had purchased at an extremely low price. A price that together they had been able to pay off in less than a year. It was the house in Mt Adams where the “Skull Collector” had made the third floor into a skull museum. Alex was converting the museum into one of Art and Rewards. The Art would be many of Annie’s paintings, but she planned to also feature paintings of area artists. The featured accomplishments of the young ladies that had gone on from her Helping Hands retreat to make significant improvements in their lives was the other feature of the museum.

She planned to give the first award out as part of the River Front fund raising event.

Back in Maui, Annie, sitting out by the pool was able to see Kekoa and Brian busily discussing their current upcoming trial of Remi Frensby who they had captured out on the Gulf of Mexico. They had been able to influence the trial to begin in the middle of July. This had allowed her and Alex to set their exhibition and fund-raising event at that time.

She was focused on finishing one more painting before focusing solely on the upcoming exhibition in Cincinnati.

Alex was in a great state of mind. She and her detective partners had been enjoying a lull in their usual very busy days.

The Chief was also enjoying the fact that the lull allowed him to give his top two detective teams a rest. He had no idea that the lull was about to end.

Lorenzo flew in from Chicago and registered in one of the top downtown hotels. He was impressed with the downtown area. He spent the next few days checking out the water front. He walked by the area that was being set up for the upcoming art exhibition and concert. He made it a point of going by it several times so he could get the lay of the land.

He located the building that would best serve his needs. It had the right elevation and the right angle that should give him an excellent shot. He was able to get access to the roof to check it out. He hid his sniper’s rifle case under an old pallet. All that was left was the wait, the kill shot and then the getaway.

He then took another walk around the area to locate the best place to park his getaway car and to examine the event tents that were in their final stage of preparation. He was impressed with the size of the display tent. It made it clear to him that it was to be a significant event.

He had planned his escape so that it would not involve flying. He figured that he needed to make his way out in a low-key way. He planned on driving out in a used car. Buying a used car was the next thing he needed to do. Once he had the vehicle, he would return to the waterfront park and drive the escape route. He did not want to leave anything to chance. He always worked from a well thought out and choreographed plan.

Alex watched Brenda, Annie’s Cincinnati art store partner, as she supervised moving the paintings from the third-floor museum to the air-conditioned tent down at the river front.

Alex had enjoyed housing the art because not only did it erase the memory of the museum with its forty-some human skulls, but it allowed her to have Trey and his family, and the rest of the team enjoy walking through the museum at their leisure.

She had held a house warming party where they had walked through the museum and had each selected the painting they desired. They had all declined the forty per cent discount in favor of having the discount go to her charity.

She had shared that fact with Annie who said that she would bring a special surprise for each of those who purchased a picture early and gave the forty percent to the charity.

Alex let her know that her DEA friend in Chicago and the Head of the IRS in Washington had both purchased a painting.

Alex watched as the last picture was boxed and then carried the three flights to the front door and then the additional steps down to the street. She and Brenda followed the truck down to the River Front parking lot. Once there Alex spent her time focused on looking over the area and ensuring that the refreshment stand that was being set up would have the mix of refreshments she had ordered.

She then went back to the exhibit tent and stepped in from a hot muggy July day into the cool air-conditioning where Brenda was making sure that the art pedestals were stable and that the temperature and humidity was controlled as she desired.

The event was to begin that afternoon and would run over the weekend.

Annie, Brian, Linda, Lorrie, Kekoa, Anela and Brian’s parents had all arrived at Lunken airport on Brian’s private jet. They all proceeded to check in to the hotel before walking over to the park.

Annie had the special paintings that she had brought as gifts carefully loaded into the private limo that had driven out to the plane. She was eager to see the display that she knew was being set up.

Ten paintings had already been sold, and the show had yet to officially begin. She knew that her parents planned to buy at least one. She went down the list of friends that had said they wanted to buy one of her paintings and she counted at least another ten.

This made her smile as she realized the number of friends she had counted. These were people that had befriended her since Alex had rescued her from the woods of Pennsylvania.

Lorenzo walked into the hotel, and he would have been surprised had he known the artist that was to be featured because he got on the elevator with that person with folks that he figured knew each other well as he went to his fourth-floor room. He felt prepared and was planning to stay in for the rest of the day and then be on the roof early the next morning. He would move his car to be in as close proximity to the parking exit as possible so that once he got his shot off, he would immediately be on his way out of the city.

Alex was just coming out of the art display area to the front packaging and cashier area when she saw Annie and all the rest approaching with a series of boxed cartons that she was sure contained additional paintings.

She and Annie exchanged hugs, and she then hugged everyone else. This was the first time she had met Kekoa and Anela. She had heard about the escapades that Brian and Kekoa had experienced and was aware that they were to be in court for at least the coming week to attend the trial of the wayward billionaire that they had been responsible for having captured.

She had spent a lot of time coaching Brian and was aware that he had duplicated her feat of shooting out the target’s bullseye while being blind folded. She was also impressed with his astounding success at becoming super rich before he turned forty.

Brian was not sure what Annie’s and Alex’s fund-raising goals might be but he and Kekoa had agreed that they would really put the event in the not to be forgotten category by donating five million dollars.

This they figured was a pittance as compared to more than a billion dollars that the current case they were in Cincinnati to participate in would put into their bank account.

Alex led the way into the art display area. She had the extra pedestals put up for the pictures that Annie had brought as bonuses for every one of her friends.

The pictures were Scapes of the locations that were associated with the locations that each person had close to their homes. She had sent Annie several pictures for the people that Annie knew. These were scapes that she associated with those friends.

For Johnnie she had sent a scape of what Johnnie saw looking out of the bushes of Hyde Park. This was an early scape before Johnnie had become her cyber analyst.

For Mary, Johnnie’s significant other, she had a scape of her walking down the street in Philadelphia. That was the day she and Johnnie had first met Mary.

For her parents she had a scape of the lane leading up to the home she had grown up in.

She had the scape of Dexter on his yacht, the Golden Goose, with the barge she had set on fire lighting up the sky behind him.

She had sent in a scape of the capture of a killer in the Mississippi forest that Sheriff Wiggins had led.

She also had the scape of the Chief as he arrived at the scene where she and the team had essentially destroyed the building of a team of gunmen that had made the mistake of trying to resist arrest.

The surprise was when she watched the last painting being placed on a stand. It was her, standing in her bicycle-riding clothes, which made the ripples of her six pack stand out, made her legs look slender and long and her biking shoes still on her feet seemed to be short high heels. She remembered this scene well since she had survived an assassination attempt that took place in front of the public library.

She laughed and said that it was a great painting, but it was not a Scape.

Annie smiled and said that it was an Alex Scape and that if she looked closely at Matt in the background, she would see that he had a great smile on his face.

Alex laughed and gave Annie a hug.

2 The Shots that Should Have

Lorenzo was up early as he had planned. The stars were still twinkling overhead as he walked across the square to the elevator that would take him down to sub level four. The beads of sweat on his forehead made it clear to him that it was going to be a very warm humid day. He hoped that he would be able to find a shady spot on the roof that he would be lying on.

He moved his car from the basement parking area to street parking near the exit to the River Front Park. He walked along the old rail tracks and then crossed through the pine trees and after checking that no one was around he climbed up on the roof of what he had realized was the park’s maintenance building. The sun was just rising, and the day was just beginning to heat up, but he already could feel the humidity climbing. He pulled the bill of his cap down. He hoped that the opportunity for a good shot would be available quickly because as he looked around the roof he was going to be totally exposed to the rising sun. He stood the old wooden pallet that had been abandoned on the roof on edge so that a shadow was created in the area that he was going to be lying.

He was trying to keep the black surface of the roof as cool as he possibly could. He rolled out his exercise mat that acted like an insulator.

He once again sighted through the scope to make certain he had the position that he wanted. He then lay down to wait. He would have liked to go for a walk, but he did not want to risk being seen climbing up or down from the roof. He accepted the waiting because it was a very common part of his job. He lay down, put his hat over his eyes, and took a nap.

He came awake to the music from a band warming up. He looked over the edge of the roof and saw that people were arriving and staking out their spots on the grassy hill in front of the band stand structure. He saw that many of them had beach umbrellas up. He wished he could have one where he was.

He saw that the concession stand was already doing good business handing out water, soft drinks, coffee, and rolls. He was able to read the menu sign and was impressed that everything was free of charge. He chuckled to himself as he got the urge to go down and get coffee and a roll.

He read the sign in front of the larger tent that invited everyone in for a free showing of Annie L. Scots, many Scapes scenes and it added that on exit each person could select a miniature picture of the Scape scene that they liked best.

The second thing that caught his eye was the donation station for an organization called “Young Women’s Helping Hands” that offered a second Scape picture for a donation of any amount.

He wondered how any persons associated with the scene below had earned Adriano’s ire. It was not something that bothered him, but it did make him wonder because these seemed to be people that he would have wanted to have back in Sicily.

He finally spotted his target as she walked out to look down to where the first band was now playing. He waited until she turned around. He was just pulling very slowly on the trigger when suddenly she was pushed from behind into the tent. He managed to pull his finger off the trigger. He waited for just a second then decided that he had somehow been discovered and decided that it was time to abandon his assassination attempt and make his way to his car slowly but as fast as possible and leave the area. He would try again on another day from another location.

Trey had been following his normal routine when he and Alex were out in public. He was always slightly behind and on one side and at the ready. He was about to ask her if she wanted something to drink when he spotted the laser spot on her back. His reflexes took over and he pushed her as hard as he could into the tent and followed her in. He had expected to get hit but nothing happened.

Alex was surprised at the strength of the push that hurled her through the entrance flap and caused her to stumble and fall just short of hitting the first painting pedestal. She jumped up and reflexively pulled her weapon. Trey put up his hands up.

Alex looked around to see if they had scared anyone and she put her weapon away. He told her about the laser beam. They both cautiously lifted the entrance flap and walked out along the side that was covered. There was only one close by building. They decided to check it out. Both of them would have preferred to have their weapons at the ready but that would have scared the people still arriving for the concert.

They circled around back of what they realized was the park maintenance building and cautiously approached the steel ladder going to the roof. Trey pointed at it and indicated that he was going up and that she should take a few steps back to provide him cover. Once he got to the top of the ladder, he cautiously looked over it and then wave her to come up.

Alex went up and they walked over to where a sniper’s rifle and ammunition had been abandoned.

Alex called in to the dispatch center and asked that an investigative team come to investigate the scene of an attempted assassination. She gave the location and instructed those coming to the scene to refrain from using sirens or flashing lights.

She and Trey climbed down from the roof and stood by waiting.

Johnnie had been out by the concession stand flying Gunjfor taking pictures of the crowd when he observed Trey pushing Alex into the tent and following her in. He immediately took Gunjfor up and turned it slowly around and caught someone on the roof of the nearest building crawling to the fire escape in the back.

He took Gunjfor swooping in for a close up but had to pull up to avoid the pine trees. From a higher vantage point, he spotted the person that had left the roof get into a car in the parking lot. He flew Gunjfor toward that location. He was able to get the direction that the car was heading and figured that a quick call to central might get a unit to cut him off and apprehend the person trying to get away.

He brought Gunjfor down and then walked to where he had seen Alex and Trey going.

They were just coming down from the roof when he got there.

Alex looked at him and asked if by chance he had been able to get anything with Gunjfor.

Johnnie smiled, shook his head, and said that he had the backside of the shooter and the back side of the getaway car, but he did not have much else but behinds of some person and that person’s car. The licensed plate had a grey cover that hid the license plate.

Alex asked to see what Johnnie had captured. As she watched the video, she said that she wanted to get the information to the lab so that the photo analysts could do an in-depth detailed analysis. She said that the shoes, the shirt, and pants might all hold a clue as to who that person might be. She pointed to the license plate that had a grey cover that seemed make the license plate unreadable but perhaps the analysist might be able to see through it. The rear of the car had no auto make emblems, so she figured the shooter was a professional.

Johnnie got on line and sent the footage to the lab. Then he said that he was going back to filming the event.

Alex thanked Trey for literally having her back and gave him a hug.

Trey nodded and said that it was not often that he got the opportunity to shove her around. He then said that he was ready to enjoy the rest of the day with Nolan and Lesley.

Alex asked where they were.

Trey said that when he shoved her into the tent they were walking and looking at the Scape paintings. He added that Lesley had observed what had happened and had guided Nolan to the back of the tent. He figured he would have to explain the situation to them.

Alex shook her head and commented that she had no idea why she was on someone’s hit list.

Trey laughed and replied that she had left a trail of bodies, people in prison and destroyed gunships and burned down coal barges that left a huge number of potential people mad enough that they might think about trying to do her in.

Alex said that she agreed that there was a long trail but that he was exaggerating the number of people left alive to try to get revenge.

Trey agreed and said that no one came to mind.

Alex said that it was similar to the Scape scene Annie had captured of what she called the Alex Scape painting that was featured as the first painting when a person entered the display tent. That was a case where a racist had decided to kill her because her skin color offended him.

Lindsey was standing pointing to the picture of the Scape that featured their backyard. It was of Nolan, Linda, and Laurie on the swing set. This was a painting that she had purchased during Alex’s private showing of Annie’s Scapes when Alex had hosted a party for all her friends. She was thrilled to be able to get a painting of the time several years ago when the kids were younger. The three kids were now at least six or seven years older and no longer children but young adults.

She saw Alex fly in and sprawl on the floor and immediately jump up with her weapon pulled. She watched as Trey followed her in. Alex immediately put her weapon away and the two of them cautiously left the tent.

She guided Nolan to the back of the tent expecting gunfire but there was none. She continued guiding Nolan around to take in all the different Scapes that Annie had painted.

She was hesitant to leave the tent and engaged Annie in conversation.

Trey returned and saw that Lindsey was still in the tent. He walked over and asked if she was ready to go sit out on the lawn and listen to the music.

She asked what had happened.

Trey responded that nothing had happened and that was a good thing. He said that he would share more once he knew more.

Nolan laughed and said now he understood why he had been kept in the tent. He then added that he was ready for something to drink, something to snack on, and he wanted to listen to the bands that Linda and Lorie had chosen for the event.

Trey took Lindsey’s hand and led the way out.

Brian had been in the tent watching Annie as she walked around and engaged the people looking at her paintings. He had observed Alex as she flew in and landed at the base of the first picture. He remained seated but was ready to act if necessary. He called to Kekoa who was out on the lawn with Anela and asked if there was anything strange going on. He listened as Kekoa replied that things were calm, and the only action was on the stage. Kekoa added that the two girls had done a great job in selecting the first opening group.

Brian had noticed Lindsey’s reaction, so he walked over and talked to her and Nolan. He knew that Annie considered Lindsey a good friend and the two girls still argued in fun as to who got to marry Nolan.

It seemed like quite a while before Alex and Trey returned but it was clear to him that they had things in control.

He walked over to Annie and asked if he could get her anything.

Lorenzo made his way to the highway and drove north. He was keeping his speed just below the speed limit and staying to the right most lane. He was thinking about what he needed to do. He definitely needed to find a place to stay for the night. It needed to be an out of the way place where he could get something to eat and hopefully buy a different car. He needed to shed all connection with his stay in Cincinnati.

He hoped to circle back and get a second chance at what he had been hired to do.

He drove until a sign loaded with fast food places and another that highlighted a number of hotels caught his eye. He figured that it was time to get something to eat and then get a room for the night and get some sleep.

In the morning after a quick breakfast, he drove around the area and found a used car lot that seemed to have a good offering of cars for sale. He found a car that seemed to be in good shape, and he traded in his current vehicle for the car plus a thousand dollars more.

He knew that the dealer was getting a good deal and if he had been in Italy, he would have bargained for a better deal for himself. He decided that he would rather get a different car and leave a happy dealer versus one that felt pressured to make the exchange.

He did not want to be remembered.

He called in to Adriano and let him know what had happened. He shared that he was returning to Cincinnati to finish the job, but he needed another sniper’s rifle.

Adriano was surprised by the call but pleased that Lorenzo was planning to finish the job. He let Lorenzo know where he could pick up another sniper’s rifle. He asked when he should expect the news of the targets demise.

Lorenzo replied that he was going to spend the day deciding on a new location for his next assassination attempt. He wanted a location that gave him a great shot and an easy escape. The location would depend on his targets movement.

He spent the next couple of days observing his target’s morning and evening transit to and from work. She had a route down the steep hill from her home to a transit area where she crossed the highway and then rode past an apartment building where she was joined by an older bicycler who then took the lead. The route down to the apartment building was consistent but the route from there to the police station varied randomly on each of his observations.

He decided that the best place for the shot was as she came down the steep hill and crossed on the road over the highway.

He then spent time identifying the best location that would give him a good shot and an easy get away. He decided that the best location was as she got to the bottom of the hill and was getting ready to cross over the US 71 highway.

He found a way to take the service elevator to the roof. There he found a good spot and set everything up.

On Tuesday morning Alex departed from her house and rode slowly down the steep hill that took her to the point where she crossed over US 71 to get into the downtown. She loved where her house was located and the great view it provided but the way to work was a challenge and she was currently replacing her bicycle brake pads once a week because she had to engage them almost continuously to get safely down the hill.

She was crossing the bridge when a careless driver put her so close to the wall that she had to brake and push herself off the wall to keep from going over the side. As she did so the head tube of the bike shattered. As she went over her handle bar she rolled and drew her weapon. She came up behind a car stopped for the red light. She looked up at the buildings on the other side. She saw a glint. She moved immediately to her right and heard the bullet hit the cement behind her. She took three shots.  One at the glint and two on either side of the glint. At the range and the upward angle, she was shooting she was not sure she had chosen the correct angle.

Thank you for reading this far.