"Jake Randolph Origins" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 209

Jake Randolph Origins #209

"Well," I said, "she hadn't done anything wrong so she wasn't charged. But she went wherever it was they took her father for trial. I don't know what became of her after that."

Rebecca nodded, "Okay, but all of that still doesn't explain how you got shot this time."

"Oh, well, that starts a new chapter, doesn't it?"

"Well, turn the page and read on, son."

I grinned slightly. "Okay. A couple of weeks ago I get a call from my old pal Sharkey Russo. He's retired now and living here in Monterey. He said he needed to see me."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 208

Jake Randolph Origins #208

"And what happened after that?" Rebecca asked eagerly.

"Well, it took a few days to recuperate. Sharkey stayed with me, bless his little mobster heart. Then when I was able to travel we came back to America and I contacted the Army. We gave them the gold and turned Schmidt over to them. I told them all Sharkey had done to help me and they got the I.R.S. to ease up on him. He was grateful, told me he was going to straighten his act up. And as for Rivers... he just disappeared."

"And Heidi?" Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 207

Jake Randolph Origins #207

"Why do you ask that?"

Her brow furrowed, "You kept mentioning her name in your sleep, along with several other names. Hall, Rivers, Luigi, Sharkey. What's that all about? And how in the hell did you get shot?"

I propped myself up in bed. "Sit down, babe. This is going to take a while."

She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and I recounted everything I had been reliving in my unconscious state for the past few days. Right up until I got shot in Guadalajara.

"And then I woke up in a hospital," I said...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 206

Jake Randolph Origins #206

I woke up staring at a hospital ceiling. I heard movement in the room. I looked, expecting it to be Sharkey. But it was Rebecca, my girlfriend. I had to force myself to remember that this wasn't 1945 anymore, it was 1962. It was rather confusing.

Rebecca came to me and grabbed my hand, smiling down at me.

"You gave me quite a scare, you know that?" she said. I could see the concern on her face.

I smiled as much as my tired face would permit. "I needed a little vacation."

"Well, you got it. Jake, who is Heidi?"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 205

Jake Randolph Origins #205

He knelt down beside me, "Nonsense, my boy. We'll get you to a hospital."

He looked at my side, which was bleeding pretty badly.

"Where's a bottle of mouthwash when you really need it?" he asked in a joking way. I knew he was trying to lighten the mood. I didn't know if that was good or bad.

He looked up at the bartender and yelled, "Llame a una ambulancia!" which I assumed meant "Call an ambulance."

The bartender ran out the front door.

"Sharkey," I said, coughing, "Rivers may still be around."

"Don't worry," he said. "I shot him."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 204

Jake Randolph Origins #204

It was a weird sensation, like someone had stabbed me with a red hot poker. The fall to the cantina floor hurt almost as much as the gunshot. After a few moments my side just went numb.

Life is a funny thing. I went through the whole of World War II and never took a bullet, partially because of the man that just put one in me.

Russo flipped a table up to use as a shield and pulled his pistol, returning fire at Rivers, who retreated out the back.

I looked up at Russo, "Maybe it's my time, Sharkey."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 203

Jake Randolph Origins #203

I saw no sign of Rivers as I stood at the door looking up and down the street. And that worried me. I wondered if he would be lying in wait for us as we went back to the hotel.

Russo picked up the case of money, starting toward the door. I heard a noise at the far end of the cantina. Rivers came through a door in the back. He had his gun pointed at Russo.

I yelled, "Sharkey, look out!" and dove for him, knocking him to the ground just as the bullet struck me in the side...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 202

Jake Randolph Origins #202

"Very good," Russo said like he was a schoolmarm that just got done admonishing a naughty child.

It was an amazing spectacle to behold as the man stood up. He was a good five inches taller than Russo and looked like his muscles were having a hard time staying confined to his clothing. Russo wasn't exactly a small man, but this guy looked like he could go five rounds with King Kong and walk away with the championship belt.

But he was deathly afraid of Russo. He quickly exited the cantina.

Next lesson learned: brawniness doesn't always equate with toughness...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 201

Jake Randolph Origins #201

Herron knew he was caught and probably figured he was dead either way, so he quietly confirmed Russo's allegation.

Russo removed the jagged bottle out from under Herron's chin. There were tiny little drops of blood all over Herron's throat.

"I appreciate your honesty, Herron. And I appreciate your ingenious way of trying to pick up some extra dollars. So, I tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna let you live. But I expect 50% of the interest you made off of my money to be in my hand by next week. You understand?"

He nodded slowly but happily...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 200

Jake Randolph Origins #200

"The story I hear," Russo continued, "is that you got paid weeks ago and you kept that money in the bank to draw interest on it. Is that true?"

Sweat beads were drag racing each other off the man's forehead and down his cheeks. The pallor of his face morphed from ghostly white to blood red in an instant.

"Well... well...," Herron said, stammering.

Russo grabbed a bottle, broke the bottom off the end by slamming it down against the side of the table, and held the jagged edge against Herron's throat.

"Don't lie to me, Herron. Don't do it."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 199

Jake Randolph Origins #199

I decided to stay at the door of the cantina, looking up and down the street for Rivers, whom I knew would be coming soon. But I occasionally looked at the table and watched Sharkey Russo in action.

"It's...... It's all here, Mr. Russo. I'm sorry it took so long. The buyer was dragging his feet about the purchase."

I didn't know what this was all about and I didn't really want to know.

"That's not what I hear, Mr. Herron. I hear a completely different story, actually."

The poor man looked like he's just soiled himself under the table...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 198

Jake Randolph Origins #198

There was a man sitting at a table in the center of the cantina. He was a burly man with a big, thick black beard. He looked like a dock worker, complete with a knit navy blue cap pressing down on his black hair. His arms looked like the limbs on a redwood tree. And yet when Sharkey Russo approached this man he looked like a frightened kitten that had just been encircled by rabid bulldogs.

The man took a case from under the table and rested it on the top. Russo just stood there staring down at the man...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 197

Jake Randolph Origins #197

We went down the street, with me scanning every corner, every alley, to a cantina called El Botin.

"Okay," Russo said, "I've got to pick up some money from an associate here. Then we'll head back to the good ole' U.S. of A."

I looked at the sign, "What does El Botin mean?"

Russo opened the door, "The Loot."

"Appropriate," I said as we went inside.

I really felt like I had been dropped into a western movie ever since I got to Mexico. This looked like a typical saloon where a gunfight over a poker game should take place...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 196

Jake Randolph Origins #196

"Rivers is not going to be happy," I said solemnly.

"Well, I'm just all broke up about Rivers' emotional state."

"I just have a bad feeling, Sharkey."

"Look, Randolph," Russo said as we exited the room, "be philosophical about it. Either yer number's up or it isn't. If it's not your time to go you won't go. If it is you will. Once you look at it from that perspective it gives you a center, a grounding that makes whatever you're doing a lot easier to deal with."

That wisdom had a profound impact on me from that day forward...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 195

Jake Randolph Origins #195

"The reason I want you is the very reason you can't do it. That's quite a paradox, isn't it?"

I grinned, "I always thought that was two doctors."

Russo laughed as he wiped his face clean of shaving cream residue.

"So, tell me about this lieutenant of yours," Russo said as he started putting on his shirt.

I filled him in on everything that had happened since he left me at the house in Lazaro Cardenas.

"The funny thing is," Russo said, grinning slightly, "my men took the two cases with the million dollars in them back to the States."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 194

Jake Randolph Origins #194

"The alcohol in the mouthwash," I said, still holding the cloth to his chin, "acts as an astringent. It halts blood flow by causing the tissues to contract."

After a few more moments I removed the cloth and the bleeding had stopped. Russo looked at me like I was some sort of magician that just sawed his wife in half.

Russo shook his head, "I wish you'd change your mind and come work for me, Randolph. You might even be a good influence on me."

"I'd love to work for you, Sharkey, but my conscience wouldn't let me, I'm afraid."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 193

Jake Randolph Origins #193

"Oww!" Russo yelled, grabbing his chin. I could see blood starting to drip down into the wash basin, splashing into the creamy white water. It looked like some sort of maniacal abstract painting.

"See what you made me do, Randolph! You come in here all heated up and make me cut myself. I have a business appointment in a few minutes."

I saw a bottle of Listerine on the basin. I grabbed a wash cloth and poured some of the mouthwash on it and then held it to his chin.

"Randolph, you mind telling me what the hell you're doing?"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 192

Jake Randolph Origins #192

"We can quibble over terms, Sharkey, but the point is he's coming. And he's armed, angry and dangerous."

Russo stepped back in the room and went back over to the wash basin to resume his shaving.

"Randolph, I didn't get to where I am by kowtowing to every two-bit punk that came after me wanting a slice of my pie. We can handle him. You worry too much, Jake Randolph."

"Where are your men?" I asked, hoping he hadn't sent them on ahead with Schmidt and Heidi.

"I sent them on ahead with Schmidt and Heidi."

Great. Just great...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 191

Jake Randolph Origins #191

I took the stairs two or three at a time as I made it up to the third floor. I ran down the hall and found Room 22. I knocked frenziedly. After a moment Russo answered the door. His chin and jaws were covered with shaving cream. He had a safety razor in his hand.

"Randolph? D'you change your mind about getting some sleep?"

I was winded from all the hustling. "No, Sharkey. We've got a problem. Hall had an accomplice; my old Army lieutenant. And he's coming for his money."

He grinned, "You mean he's coming for my money!"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 190

Jake Randolph Origins #190

The Hotel Desierto was at the center of Guadalajara. I slammed on the brakes in front of the hotel and ran inside. I asked the clerk what room Russo was in. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. I presumed that meant he hadn't understood a word I said. I grabbed the guest book and spun it around so I could see the names. The desk clerk tried to stop me so I hit him in the face. He hit the floor. I didn't have time to debate the issue.

Russo was in Room 22...