"Jake Randolph Origins" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 129

Jake Randolph Origins #129

Russo nodded slowly. Hall pulled a gun, an M1911 .45 that was probably the one issued to him by the Army, and waved me inside along with Schmidt and Heidi.

One of Russo's men came in with two briefcases, no doubt the money for the gold he was buying off of Hall and Schmidt. I heard the truck crank up and then saw as one of Russo's men backed it up to the door of the adobe. Then all of his men began grabbing up the crates and loading them into the truck.

Russo quickly opened both of the cases...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 128

Jake Randolph Origins #128

I looked at Russo, "How'd you get a name like Sharkey in a landlocked state like Nevada?"

He smiled, "I started out as a runner for a bookie. Before long I was running the operation. Then I branched out into the loan shark business. That's where I made my name, literally. Yeah, I didn't like it at first, but I've lived with it so long now it's a part of me, ya know?"

"Understandable," I said. "I'm quite sure it's a well-deserved moniker."

Hall cleared his throat, "Yes, well, Mr. Russo, what's say we finish conducting our business inside?"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 127

Jake Randolph Origins #127

"Oh, forgive my manners," Hall said as he turned to the gangster. "This is Nevada's own Sharkey Russo, businessman and philanthropist. Sharkey," he said as he turned to me, "this is California's own Jake Randolph, a two-bit smart aleck and a royal thorn in my ass!" Hall looked all puffed up with arrogance, like a balloon. He was clearly enjoying having me over a barrel and knowing it. I hoped I'd have a chance to stick a pin in him.

Russo looked at me, "Delighted, Mr. Randolph."

The nonchalant way he said that unnerved the hell out of me...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 126

Jake Randolph Origins #126

Heidi looked at me funny. It dawned on her when I mentioned Switzerland that I was the one she saw lying on the floor of Weber's warehouse.

Hall smirked, "Randolph, you always were a jokester. But I'm afraid this is yet another mission you're going to fail at."

I thought about going for the Luger tucked in the waistband around my back, but I knew I wouldn't have time to pull it out from under my shirt before I became a human lead magnet.

The gangster motioned for his goon to search me. He found the Luger in short order...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 125

Jake Randolph Origins #125

"Hello, Col. Hall. You do know you're AWOL, right?"

Hall winced. He hated me and my sarcastic nature.

"I've been to Germany, Switzerland and now Mexico chasing your sorry ass, Hall. I'm tired and ready to go home. You're under arrest by the power vested in me by the U.S. Army."

I knew that wasn't going to work. And it didn't.

Hall, the gangster and all his cronies started laughing. The only ones not laughing were Schmidt and his daughter. When you're a Nazi on the run it's never funny to be confronted by authority, however outnumbered they may be...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 124

Jake Randolph Origins #124

I still had the sombrero's brim down over my face but I knew that masquerade was about to end. Hall always liked looking people in the eye when he spoke to them. Once when he was raking me over the coals about a mission that got botched I hung my head down and Hall screamed, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!'

The gangster addressed me first, "Habla Ingles, senor?"

Great. A bilingual mobster.

"Si," I said, still holding on to the charade until the last possible moment.

Hall stepped up, sweeping the sombrero off my head.

"Sgt. Randolph!"

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 123

Jake Randolph Origins #123

Hall looked at the head gangster, who looked at one of his men and said, "Get him."

I thought about trying to jump in the cab and take off but knew I would be perforated before I even got the engine cranked.

The goon walked up to me and gruffly said, "The boss wants to see you."

The words sounded like his vocal cords were wrapped around dynamite and they were just waiting for someone to light the fuse. But I didn't feel like striking the match.

I put my hands up and walked slowly towards Hall and the gangster...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 122

Jake Randolph Origins #122

Schmidt came out of the adobe followed by his daughter as Hall noticed me heading to the car. I could just hear Hall addressing Schmidt.

"Who's that?" he asked.

Heidi spoke up before her father could react. "He's the cab driver that brought me here from the hotel in Acapulco."

"Did he go inside?" Hall asked. I knew where this was heading. Hall was nothing if not cautious.

"Ja," Schmidt said, "only for a moment. He needed water for ze radiator."

"Did he see anything? Wander around inside?"

Heidi shook her head, "No."

But I knew it was too late...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 121

Jake Randolph Origins #121

I was starting to know what Custer felt like at the Battle Of The Little Bighorn. It was imperative now that I get out of there quickly and wait until the business had been transacted. The cab had been sitting long enough by that point to crank again after I flooded the carburetor. I figured I should make a quick getaway.

I tried to make my way as inconspicuously as possible back to the cab. I had the bowl of water in my hand but was going to ditch that ruse once I got back to the car.

No dice...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 120

Jake Randolph Origins #120

I didn't recognize him but Helen Keller could've seen that this guy was pure Mafia. Black double-breasted suit with white pinstripes, black shirt, white tie, two-tone black-and-white wingtip shoes and a black fedora perched at an angle on his head. I did not want to tangle with this clown or his men.

And there seemed to be plenty of his men. Besides the driver of the car, two guys got out of the cab of the delivery truck, two got out of the back, similarly dressed to their boss but with a blue and white motif...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 119

Jake Randolph Origins #119

Things accelerated faster than I'd anticipated, though, when I heard vehicles rumbling over the hill. Through a cloud of desert dust two cars approached the adobe as well as a delivery truck. I could only hope they were delivering furniture to the adobe.

I pretended to be drawing water from the well when all the vehicles came to a stop. I looked up from under the sombrero's brim to see Col. Hall alight from one of the cars. The other car held two men. The driver of the vehicle got out and opened the passenger side door for another man...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 118

Jake Randolph Origins #118

Which meant I needed to formulate a plan, fast. Whoever was coming to buy the gold off Hall and Schmidt probably weren't Rotarians. They were more than likely mobsters or gangsters of some stripe. Colonel Hall was probably packing heat as well. The Luger's clip only held eight bullets, assuming it was a full clip.

So, needless to say, I didn't want to get in a gunfight with either side of this illicit transaction. I figured it would be best to stake the place out and then follow Hall and Schmidt until I was presented an opportunity to nab them...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 117

Jake Randolph Origins #117

I got over to the table and turned my back to it, reaching around behind me to grab the Luger and tuck it in the waistband of my pants at the small of my back.

"Gracias, senor," I said as I took the metal bowl he gave me.

I think I was figuring out the process here. Col. Hall and Schmidt were going to meet someone here who would buy the gold off of them, at maybe only about 50 to 60 percent of what it was worth. Col. Hall had probably gone to escort them out to the adobe..

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 116

Jake Randolph Origins #116

I got out and slammed the door and went back up to the adobe, knocking on the door.

Heidi answered, "Yes?"

"Sorree to bother you, senorita, but thee car she won't start. I theenk it's overheated. Could I have some water, please?"

"Of course, Pepe," she said as she showed me in.

Schmidt chimed in, "Zere is a well outside for water. I'll get you something to put ze water in."

"Thank you, senor. I am sorree to trouble you," I said as I inched over to the table with the Luger on it.

"No trouble at all," he said...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 115

Jake Randolph Origins #115

I needed to get my hands on that Luger, but I knew I wouldn't be invited in.

After Heidi and her father were finished with their reunion greetings she turned to me and said, "Thank you, Pepe. That will be all."

I tipped my sombrero to her and then turned to go back to the cab. When I got back inside the car I pumped the gas pedal several times to flood the carburetor with petrol. Then I tried cranking it so they could hear it inside the adobe. The engine turned but wouldn't start, just like I planned it...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 114

Jake Randolph Origins #114

I assumed that I'd just gotten my first look at Schmidt, the German Kunstschutz officer. He was typical of a lot of Nazi officials, not Aryan looking at all. He almost looked Jewish. Heidi must have taken after her mother.

I scanned the inside of the adobe quickly. There were crates stacked up in the front room, only one of which had the lid partially off. It was full of gold bars.

There was very little furniture in the place, just a table in the corner that had an oil lamp on it, some papers and files, and a Luger...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 113

Jake Randolph Origins #113

"No, it's okay. My father is here. Everything is fine. But thank you for the concern," she said as she pulled some pesos out of her purse and handed them to me.

"All thee same I theenk I should walk you to thee door," I said, actually getting the hang of the Mexican accent.

"Very well then," she said as we made our way to the door.

I could hear a male voice singing in German on the other side of the door. Heidi knocked and the door opened.

"Vater!" Heidi yelled.

"Heidi, liebchen!" the man said as they embraced...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 112

Jake Randolph Origins #112

We pulled up to an adobe that was in the desert area outside of Acapulco, sandwiched between scrub brush and cacti. It was a simple white structure with a red door that was rounded at the top. It looked like something John Wayne would hole up in while he was being attacked by Mexican bandits.

I got out of the taxi and went around and opened the door for Heidi. She was about to hurry up to the adobe when I stopped her.

"Senorita, this doesn't look safe. Maybee I should come weeth you," I said as I looked around...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 111

Jake Randolph Origins #111

"Ees a very pretty name for a very pretty senorita," I said.

"Thank you," she said. Her mind was apparently on something else. I could tell by her nervousness and her urgency that she hadn't yet met her father here. I presumed that was where the makeshift map was taking us.

"Can you find the location based on the map?" she asked with hope.

She had a trace of a German accent but spoke English impeccably. She was obviously educated at an English school.

"I theenk so. According to thees map we are almost there."

At least I thought so...

Jake Randolph: Origins Pt. 110

Jake Randolph Origins #110

From what I could gather from the drawing, our destination was somewhere in the desert east of Acapulco. I drove in that direction, following the crude map as best as I could.

Mexico wasn't exactly the most developed country. There weren't paved highways with clear street signs like there were in the States.

"I get you there as fast as I can, senorita," I said, still feigning a typical Mexican accent.

"Thank you," she said, looking out the window at the desert passing by.

"My name ees Pepe. What ees jore name?"

"Heidi," she said, still looking out the window...