"Jake Randolph Origins" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 229

Jake Randolph Origins #229

I got back in the cab and directed the driver to the other address I'd found in the phone book. This trip took us out of the town of Mariposa and into the countryside. I was hoping this would be it. I didn't know what I should expect to find, but if it was where Rivers was living I might be able to pick up a clue as to what he was planning.

We pulled off of the main road onto a dirt path, which was lined with live oak trees and sycamores.

In the clearing I saw a cabin...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 228

Jake Randolph Origins #228

I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I could hear kids screaming inside the house. A woman yelled for them to shut the hell up. The door swung open; a rather nasty looking woman appeared with curlers in her hair, a cigarette in her mouth, and a crying baby resting on her hip.

"I don't want no damned vacuum cleaner!" she yelled at me, fire consuming her eyes.

"Hello. I'm looking for Frank Rivers. Does he live here?"

"No! Get off my property!"

She slammed the door. I kind of understood then why the children were screaming...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 227

Jake Randolph Origins #227

As we pulled up I realized this couldn't be it. Rivers said his grandmother's place was a cabin by a pond at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This was a small bungalow style home in downtown Mariposa. But I figured since I was there I would see if the residents were at all related to Frank Rivers. I just needed some sort of pretense.

I told the cabbie to wait for me. He nodded, turned up the radio, and pulled his cap down over his eyes, nestling back into his seat.

Nice work if you can get it...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 226

Jake Randolph Origins #226

I got into the cab, the driver had the radio blaring, "...once again, actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles, at the age of 36. The actress' body was found nude on her bed with her hand on the telephone. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office is investigating, but her untimely death appears to be the result of a suicide."

"That's a damn shame. Mmm! Yes, sir. That broad was hot!" the cabbie said with such a lecherous tone that I needed a shower afterwards.

I gave him the directions to Leslie Rivers' home first...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 225

Jake Randolph Origins #225

One was named Leslie, the other was named Sadie. I was hoping one of those turned out to be Rivers' grandmother, although I figured she would've been dead by this point.

I ripped the page containing the ladies' names and addresses out of the phone book, stuffed it in my shirt pocket, and went to hail a cab.

There were small clusters of people gathered around and talking about a fire that had just taken place in the Sierra National Forest that killed four firefighters, ranging in age from 23 to 39.

I finally was able to catch a cab...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 224

Jake Randolph Origins #224

Something drew my mind back to something Rivers had told me in 1945; the only place he ever felt at home was at his grandmother's cabin in Mariposa. Could that be where he'd been living? I thought it was worth going to check out. I told Sharkey about it and he let me use his personal helicopter and pilot for the day.

Mariposa was roughly 160 miles from Monterey, but we made it there in no time, landing at a small airport. I went inside the terminal to consult a phone book.

There were two female Rivers' in the book...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 223

Jake Randolph Origins #223

Seven days came and went and I was finally let out of the hospital. Rebecca had gone back to Los Angeles a few days before that.

One of Sharkey's men picked me up and took me back to Sharkey's house. He showed me the one message he'd received from Rivers while I was laid up. It simply said: I'LL COME FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT.

I had two weeks before Sharkey's daughter Elizabeth was to be married in the backyard of her father's estate overlooking Monterey Bay. I had to make sure I had Rivers apprehended before then...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 222

Jake Randolph Origins #222

I grabbed her hand and pulled it out from under the covers.

"Rebecca, I said no. The Army doesn't need a scandal right now. This damn business going on in Vietnam is only going to get worse. Troop levels tripled last year and they're on par to repeat that trend this year. I'm afraid we're about to get into something over there that we can't get out of. The last thing they need is someone dredging up a scandal from nearly 20 years ago."

She sighed, "Okay. I won't do it, then."

She slid her hand under the covers again...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 221

Jake Randolph Origins #221

"I don't think this is allowed," I said quietly.

"Oh, fiddlesticks."

She started rubbing my chest, "Jake...," she said softly. I knew where this was headed.

"No, Rebecca. You can't write this story."

"Why not?"

"Baby, they are still hunting down fugitive Nazis. It's still a sensitive subject. Plus, it would be embarrassing to find out that an American Army colonel and a lieutenant colluded with a Nazi, helped him escape and got away with stolen Nazi loot."

She slid her hand under the covers. What she was doing under there was making it very difficult for me to think...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 220

Jake Randolph Origins #220

"That should give me a couple of weeks to get this sorted out before your daughter gets married, Sharkey."

"I don't want you to push yourself, Randolph," he said, sounding like a coach trying to protect an injured star quarterback.

"I'll be fine, Sharkey. Just make sure that your men keep you safe until I can get to the bottom of this."

"That's what I pay them for," he said as he opened the door. "I'll see you soon, son."

I smiled as he left the room.

Rebecca came over and climbed into bed with me, snuggling up beside me...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 219

Jake Randolph Origins #219

He got a shocked look, "I said that?"

I nodded, "You did"

He grinned, "Well, that's bullshit!"

I laughed, "Sharkey, I've used that as my guide for the past 17 years and I haven't been killed yet. And I've stared down the Angel of Death more times than I can count."

He looked like he was going to get emotional on me. "You really remembered something I said that long ago?"

"I did indeed."

Rebecca opened the door and Russo stood up quickly and composed himself.

"They said about seven days if you continue to improve like you have been."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 218

Jake Randolph Origins #218

"Do they have any idea when they're going to let me out?" I asked.

Rebecca got up, "I'll go and see."

After she left Russo sat down on the bed beside me.

"I'm sorry I called you, kid. You could've died and it would've been my fault," he said. He seemed to have as much regard for me as I had for him.

"Sharkey," I said, "if I had been killed it would've been my own carelessness that did it. And what did you tell me long ago? If it's your time to go, you'll go. If not, you won't."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 217

Jake Randolph Origins #217

"I don't know, baby. Maybe he's been in prison on an unrelated matter all these years and he just got out. He told me he always had a larcenous streak."

"Well, when I find the schmuck the only streak is going to be a streak of his own blood seeping into the gutter," Sharkey said with such a finality that I knew arguing to bring Rivers into custody was futile. I just had to hope that I could find Rivers, get the drop on him and turn him over to the police. But that was a tall order facing me...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 216

Jake Randolph Origins #216

I continued, "...and like an idiot I vaulted over the fence after the assailant and they turned in the darkness and fired, hitting me in the chest."

I shook my head, "I think I'm getting too old and too sloppy for this business."

"Did you identify the figure as Rivers?" Rebecca asked, the reporter in her coming out.

I shook my head again, "Too dark. But it has to be him."

"But why would Rivers seek revenge after 17 years?" she asked and I felt like I was being questioned by the police. That was still to come as well...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 215

Jake Randolph Origins #215

Rebecca chimed in, "Jake, you still haven't told me how you got shot."

Russo nodded, "Yeah, I don't exactly know the details either."

'Well, I came to stay with Sharkey so I could investigate these threats and see if I could find out who was threatening him. This was before Rivers identified himself in the notes. I was patrolling the grounds of Sharkey's home with a few of his men and I heard the dogs barking. I ran toward the dogs and I saw a figure dressed in black hopping back over the fence to get away from the dogs..."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 214

Jake Randolph Origins #214

Russo laughed, "Randolph, I'm pretty sure you were loopy long before you got put in here!"

Rebecca laughed.

I feigned irritation. "So, ganging up on the infirm, huh? Nice."

Rebecca stuck her tongue out at me playfully. Oh, how I'd missed that tongue. But there's probably no need to go into that.

I looked up at Russo, "Have there been any more messages sent to you, Sharkey?"

He slowly shook his head, "No, and that makes it even more nerve wracking. You know my daughter is getting married in three weeks. I really want this cleared up before then, Jake."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 213

Jake Randolph Origins #213

"Oh, Sharkey, this is my girlfriend Rebecca," I said.

He put a hand up, "I've met her, son. Who do you think's the one that called her up here?"

Some detective I am. I never even wondered how she knew I was in Monterey. I'll blame it on the medication.

"How did you know where to find her?" I asked.

Russo grinned, "You must have bats in the belfry, Randolph. You told me her name and where she worked. So, after you got shot I called the Los Angeles Times and asked for her."

"Forgive me, I'm a little loopy."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 212

Jake Randolph Origins #212

When I'd first come up to Monterey to see Russo, I was surprised at how well he'd aged. His hair was thinning a bit and had gone somewhat gray, but he was still the same imposing figure that made a man in Guadalajara that was twice his size cower like a whipped pup.

He greeted me with a hug, then launched right into business, showing me the letters he'd received, all made with words and letters cut out of a newspaper. That didn't really seem like Rivers' style, but a lot can happen to change a man in 17 years...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 211

Jake Randolph Origins #211

I continued, "But then he sent one telling Sharkey his 'blood would run like Rivers'."

"Wow. That's kind of stupid, isn't it? To let him know who's doing it?"

I shook my head, "Not really. He wanted Sharkey to sweat first, wondering who it was. Then he wanted him to know who it was before he actually killed him. Speaking of which, I need to call Sharkey to make sure everything's okay."

The door to my room opened and Sharkey came through.

"No need for that, Randolph. I'm here."

I smiled. I was glad to see he was still alive...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 210

Jake Randolph Origins #210

"So," I continued, "I drove up here to meet with him. He has a beautiful house on the beach overlooking Monterey Bay. Anyway, he had been receiving death threats recently and wanted me to look into it."

"I bet that's difficult. A former mobster would have no shortage of enemies looking to take a whack at him."

"True. But it's no mobster that's threatening him. It's Lieutenant Frank Rivers'."

"Dun-dun-dun!" she said, imitating the music in a suspenseful TV show when a new clue is revealed.

I smiled. "He didn't claim authorship of the letters at first, though."