"Jake Randolph Origins" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 189

Jake Randolph Origins #189

My mind could barely fathom all these events. I was running away from a man I trusted, a man I didn't know was a criminal, to warn a man I knew was a criminal and didn't think I could trust any further than I could throw him, but yet seemed to have more of a sense of honor than a man I would've given my life for just a few days ago. The contrast was startling.

This was more than learning a new job; I was getting a crash course in the very nature of humanity itself.

What a day...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 188

Jake Randolph Origins #188

"Get out of the way, Randolph," Rivers said as he stepped in front of the door and kicked it open. Before he even got his foot back onto the floor I pushed him into the room and quickly pulled the door closed, and then hightailed it for the stairs.

I could hear Rivers yelling "Randolph!" as I hurried down the stairs and jumped in the car. I needed to get to the Hotel Desierto pronto and warn Russo.

I peeled out, sending a ton of angry dust into the air behind the car, and then hauled ass toward the hotel...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 187

Jake Randolph Origins #187

"He's in room 12," I said, "and I still think you're making a mistake, Rivers."

"Up the stairs, Jake," Rivers said coldly.

We went up the wooden stairs, which were old and creaky. This was another place that looked like the set of a John Wayne picture. Nothing in this place would give you any indication that we were almost to the middle of the 20th century.

We got to room 12 and I knocked on the door. If the book was accurate, this room was empty.

I knocked again, calling out, "Sharkey?"

Rivers looked like he was getting antsy...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 186

Jake Randolph Origins #186

We went inside to the front desk, Rivers behind me with the barrel of the pistol digging into my back. I'd always heard from self-defense experts that if you can feel the gun you can spin around to the side before they have a chance to react and fire. I, however, wasn't going to try it to see if it worked.

The desk clerk wasn't there. I turned the registry book like I was looking for Russo's name. I had to make sure I found an unoccupied room if I was going to pull off what I had planned...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 185

Jake Randolph Origins #185

Rivers let that one sink in as I said, "I suppose since you heard Russo say where he'd be that you also heard at which hotel he'd be staying."

Rivers nodded. I thought I'd check to see if he was bluffing. On the outskirts of Guadalajara there was a small hotel called El Alojamiento. I pulled the car up to it. They still had hitching posts in front of the hotel. I didn't know if they were still used or were merely for ambience.

Rivers apparently hadn't heard Russo say they'd be at the Hotel Desierto.

Randolph: 1, Rivers: 0...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 184

Jake Randolph Origins #184

When we were nearing Guadalajara I thought I would make one last plea for Rivers to give up this insane quest to rob Russo.

"Frank," that was the first time I'd ever addressed him by his first name, "all you're going to do is get yourself killed. Sharkey Russo isn't a man you want to tangle with."

"How long have you known him, Jake? 48 hours? And you're an authority on him?"

"Yeah, and I've learned more about him in two days than I apparently learned about you in two-and-a-half years of serving in the war together."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 183

Jake Randolph Origins #183

We drove the six hours to Guadalajara with Rivers lamenting about his pitiful life the entire journey. Several times on the way I contemplated grabbing the gun and putting it to my head and blowing my brains out.

I realized how wrong I had been about Rivers' character. But it taught me a lesson not just about the detective game but about life in general: Most people only show you the side of their personality that they want you to see. I didn't want that thought to make me jaded, but it would make me become a lot more aware...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 182

Jake Randolph Origins #182

He actually had tears in his eyes. This man that I thought was a paragon of virtue and was as stoic as a totem pole was a flawed, emotional wreck. And I still didn't feel sorry for him.

"So," I said, not letting up for a minute, "because Frank Rivers' life has become even more of a shambles than it was, that gives you carte blanche to collude with a Nazi to take gold that was stolen from another country? That's utterly ridiculous."

"Call it what you want, Randolph."

"I call it a crime, Rivers. That's what I call it."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 181

Jake Randolph Origins #181

Rivers shook his head, "I'm not blaming it on my childhood, Jake. I straightened myself out. Got married, started my own business. Then I get drafted. I go in the Army. I get sent to war. While I'm there, fighting for my country and my life, I find out my wife's banging every schmoe in the neighborhood. Then I find out she ran off with one of them, taking every dime out of the business. So, after winning the war, guess what I had to look forward to going home? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No wife, no business, no money. Nothing!"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 180

Jake Randolph Origins #180

Rivers continued, "There was only one place on this whole godforsaken planet that I felt at home; at my grandmother's house up in Mariposa. She had a little cabin by a pond that sat at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I used to go there during the summer. It was peaceful, tranquil, and I loved it. But then at summer's end I'd have to go right back to the same bullshit."

"You're a grown man now, Rivers. You can't blame this on your childhood," I said. I can't stand those who take no responsibility for their own actions...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 179

Jake Randolph Origins #179

Rivers continued, "Jake, you gotta understand. I grew up poor, with an alcoholic father that rarely had a job, unless you count beating my mother to a pulp, that job he was diligent about. We had very little even to eat. We were on government relief. This was during the Depression, when even affluent people were having it rough. You can imagine how my upbringing was."

"Ah, you're breaking my heart, Rivers," I said, totally disgusted with his justification of his bad behavior.

"I'm trying to make you understand, Jake. Things aren't always in black-and-white. Sometimes it's gray."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 178

Jake Randolph Origins #178

I shook my head, "You know, Lieutenant, I would've bet the farm on you being pure as the driven snow. Am I naive or something?"

Rivers looked like he was contemplating whether to confide in me or not. I guess he figured I'd be dead soon anyway so it wouldn't matter if he told me.

"I've always had a larcenous streak in me, Jake. When I was in my teens I ran with a street gang. We boosted radios out of people's apartments, cars on the street, anything."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Maybe I really was naive...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 177

Jake Randolph Origins #177

I was driving as Rivers sat in the passenger's seat with the gun trained on me. This wasn't going to be easy. Most of what I knew about staying alive I learned from this man.

"How'd you find that house, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"When you wired me that you were going to Lazaro Cardenas I immediately set out for it. I arrived at the airport just as you left. So I followed you to the house."

I couldn't believe this was happening and that I could have been so bloody wrong about Rivers.

Next lesson learned: never fully trust anyone...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 176

Jake Randolph Origins #176

He grinned. I knew that wasn't going to work on him. He was too well-trained to get riled up and make a mistake. I just had to wait, hoping an opportunity to overtake him presented itself.

"Okay, Jake. Get in the car. We're going to Guadalajara."

I was dead tired. I started to just stand there and let him shoot me. Maybe I could find some peace and rest in the afterlife. But I'm not the sort to just lie down in the street and let a truck run over me.

So we left Lazaro Cardenas in Hall's car...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 175

Jake Randolph Origins #175

"Where's Russo headed?" he asked, still pointing the gun at me. I figured if I told him the truth he'd kill me anyway.

"Mexico City," I said.

"You're lying, Jake. I heard him say they were heading to Guadalajara."

"Then what the hell'd you ask me for?" I said, not even trying to hide my contempt.

"Wanted to see if you'd be honest."

"Honest? That's a funny word coming from you."

"Come on, Jake. Up until a few minutes ago you thought the sun shone out of my asshole."

I nodded, "That's true. Now I just think you're an asshole."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 174

Jake Randolph Origins #174

Rivers laughed loudly, "Actually, I'm not in trouble at all. No one can prove that I was in on this. It's your word against mine. And you don't exactly have an exemplary record with the U.S. Army, Jake."

He had me on that one. "That's as maybe, Lieutenant. But if you try to take on Sharkey Russo you're going to buy more trouble than you can pay for. That I can assure you."

He motioned quickly with the gun toward the door. I walked back out into the bright Mexican morning.

So much for having a little time to rest...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 173

Jake Randolph Origins #173

Rivers smirked, "I got gypped on the black market, though. Damn bar was worth a lot more than I got for it. But I needed some cash in order to finance your little safari around the world to find Colonel Hall."

I shook my head, "I don't understand this, Lieutenant. I couldn't have been that wrong about you. What the hell happened?"

"It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell it to you while we're on our journey. See, I'm getting that money from Russo. One way or another."

"I wouldn't make an enemy of Russo, Lieutenant. You're in enough trouble."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 172

Jake Randolph Origins #172

I continued, "You come home and find that one of your old war buddies has taken up the business of private detective. One of your old war buddies that has a particular dislike of Col. Hall. So you hire him under false pretense to locate Hall and the gold."

Rivers started clapping, "Bravo, Jake. 100 percent accurate."

"One thing I don't understand," I said. "If the Army never hired me how did you get the money to send me around the world?"

Rivers smiled, "I took one of the gold bars before I left Switzerland. Good thing I did, too."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 171

Jake Randolph Origins #171

I looked at Rivers, "How am I doing so far?"

He nodded, "Perfect."

I resumed, "So, while you're in Berlin holding down the fort, Hall and Schmidt decide that cutting the gold two ways is better than cutting it three ways, so they promptly cut you out. Only now you have no idea where they've gone with the gold. You've already resigned from the Army so you have no infrastructure to try and track them down. Still on the right track?"

Rivers said, "Spot on, Jake."

"So, you needed a patsy. Someone to do the dirty work of finding them..."

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 170

Jake Randolph Origins #170

I continued, "You and Hall hit upon the idea to spring Schmidt because he knew where a large cache of gold was. You get him out of custody and he takes you to Switzerland, where the gold is being stored. You meet with his contact, Herr Weber, and set about collecting the gold. But you still needed someone on the inside of the Army to monitor whether or not they've stumbled onto what's happened. So Hall goes AWOL and you return to Berlin. You plan to tie up some loose ends, resign your commission, and then join Hall and Schmidt..."