SCREAMING BATFISH BLUES #19

SCREAMING BATFISH BLUES #19

JUICE

SOMEWHERE IN NEVADA

Jake was suffering from a hangover that was so severe that he thought his brains were leaking out of his ears. Couldn’t even open his eyes for fear the dim light would burn a hole in his retinas.

He and Jasmine, the call girl, had snorted up over two grams of Peruvian flake, smoked a number of Thailand’s finest, all washed down with two bottles of champagne and uncounted bottles of Guinness. They had bone danced until four that morning.

It was now around nine a.m.and Jake had been rousted when Jasmine had gotten up to go to the bathroom. He must have dozed off again when he felt her sit down.

“Tell you what, babe. A blow job would probably help me feel a lot better than I do now.”

“I thought you might have started to like boys in the slammer.”

Jake’s eyes popped open. Banks was sitting on the side of his bed.

“Shit, I thought you were Jasmine,” he laid his head back down and chuckled.

“She had to split,” the agent replied. “Get your ass up, we’ve got work to do.”

Jake struggled through a shit, shave, and shower, and joined Banks in the living room. They talked over coffee and eggs. Mostly coffee for Jake, the eggs made him feel like gagging.

“So did you like Jasmine?” 

“You wouldn’t have to spend over a year in the joint to like her, that’s for damn sure.”

Banks grinned and nodded his head. “She’s great all right. And she’s at your beck and call whenever you’re here at the home base. But  remember, she’s a pro, just like you and me. So don’t fall in love or any shit like that.”

Jake stared at Banks. “By calling me a pro, what do you mean by that?”

“I had to pull a lot of strings to get you out. Once I realized that you were innocent and the girl was killed, I ran a background investigation and profile on you. You’ve had a rough row to hoe, so to speak, when you were growing up. And you’ve been involved in activities since you’ve been in the Navy that would be considered felonies in some circles.”

Banks opened up a file and began reading.

“Father dead. Killed in an auto accident with your then girl friend.

Mother is currently institutionalized. You lived with your uncle, a Nam veteran who is one of the biggest drug dealers in southwestern Minnesota. He is currently serving time in a state penitentiary for murder. His wife is a former hooker and exotic dancer who is wheelchair ridden. Stabbed in the back by a jealous woman who had a husband that was subsequently murdered by your uncle, for which he is serving time. Your aunt currently continues to run his drug business. You severely assaulted a player during a high school football game which started a small riot. Suspended from school, did not graduate, but have a GED which appears forged. You enlisted in the Navy using false statements and documents. While stationed in Pearl you mailed marijuana on a consistent basis to your aunt and uncle, but for some reason ceased this operation when NIS got close to you.”

Banks looked up. “Did you know you were close to getting busted?”

Jake shook his head. “No. I was going to get married and I wanted to get out of the business.”

Banks looked by down at his file. “Ah yes, Sophia Linn Carter. Yeoman Third Class, assistant to the Pearl Harbor Chaplain. Requested and was given an honorable discharge after your conviction. She currently resides with her parents in Wyoming and is studying to become a minister. That sure as shit doesn’t fit in your profile.” He closed the file.

“Of course, the beating and unfortunate death of Ensign Dunn is also well documented so there is no reason to go over that nasty business again.”

“So you know my history. Big fucking deal. Why did you get spring me?” Jake felt like shit already and this dredging up of the past was starting to piss him off.

“Because you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“What do I have to do?” repeated Jake.

“To earn your freedom you are going to have carry out six missions for the government.”

“Missions?”

“There are six pukes walking around that under currently on or were on Uncle Sam’s payroll that are involved in activities that are so illegal and so controversial to the point that if they are ever arrested, which they all will be eventually, will bring extreme embarrassment to the government of the United States.”

“And what am I expected to do these so called pukes?”

“Terminate them.”

Banks said it so casually that it caught Jake off guard. He was silent for a moment.

“You mean kill them. Don’t you?”

“Yes, Jake. Kill. In a nutshell, to stay out of prison you are going to have to kill six total douche bags. It’s as simple as that.”

“And if I refuse?”

“If you refuse you will be eating supper tonight in Leavenworth prison. And you will be doing harder time than you were doing when I got you released.”

“This is total fucking bullshit,” yelled Jake. “I'm fucking innocent and you know it.”

Banks rolled his eyes. “Oh can the crap, Morrow. This morning when I checked my messages, I had a little message from Commander Morgan. They tossed your cell after we left the prison and they found a shank made out of a toothbrush with a razor sharp tip. You were in total isolation there; you didn’t protection from any other inmates. You were going to use that shank on a guard. So don’t try that choirboy horseshit with me. You’re a drug dealer and innocent or not, you killed a man with your bare hands. And you were giving thought to doing it again.”

The two men sat glaring at each other across the table.

Banks softened his tone. “Jake, I am promising you freedom to do this. Not total freedom, you won’t be able to go back to your hometown and buy a house with a white picket fence, but you will be one hell of lot better off than you were 24 hours ago. But, if you want to refuse, feel free to do so, I’ll have you on a plane to Kansas in thirty minutes.”

“Maybe I should start off by killing you,” whispered Jake.

Banks smiled. “You could try. But this apartment is hardwired. There are microphones and cameras hidden all over here. You jump me, your brains will be splattered all over these walls in seconds and your ass will be six feet under in the desert.”

Banks chuckled. “You and Jasmine

really put a show on last night for the graveyard shift.”

Through the fog of Jake’s hangover he vaguely remembered Jasmine whispering, while they laid in bed after their numerous sexual acrobatics, “Do you remember an inmate named......?” When he had tried to answer in his normal voice she had put her hand over his mouth.

He didn’t remember her asking him anything again. Too much booze and dope from the night before was plugging up his thought process. Did she know the place was bugged? Maybe she never said anything like that at all. Maybe he had imagined it. They had gotten really loaded.

“So what do you mean I don’t get total freedom?” asked Jake.

“You were convicted of murder. Given a life sentence and no way to prove your innocence. You just can’t walk down Main Street of hometown U.S.A., if you decide to carry out these missions. I don’t have to the power to do that. But if you decide to do this, after the last assignment is finished, you will be given a civilian position with the government on the island of Diego Garcia. You can work until retirement, receive a nice pension, and live out your life there. It’s one hell of a lot better than spending your final days in the geriatric ward of Leavenworth.”

Jake had his head down on the table. “I thought I was free when you got me out of there.”

“Morrow, I can give you a total new identity and the military court that convicted you will still be thinking that you are sitting in a cell in Leavenworth. Morgan and his band of idiots have already been briefed. As far as they are concerned, you are still an inmate in their prison and the administration will continue to inform that to anyone who questions it. Ensign Dunn’s father thinks that’s where you are, he’s an old fucker and will probably be dead in a couple of years, and his widow is already involved with another man so she doesn’t even give a shit.”

“Jake, you kill these six total assholes and you will be free, but it just won’t be in this country.”

“I want to find Sophie.”

“The letter from her father to Morgan is in your file. She doesn’t want you in her life anymore, Jake.” Banks paused for a second. “What is going to be, Jake?”

“I can’t go back.” He took his hand off the table and looked at Banks. “Do these people really deserve this?

“We don’t go around killing innocent people, Jake. They are the scum of the earth.”

Jake stood up to head to the bathroom. The little bit of breakfast that he had eaten was about to come up. He stopped in the doorway.

“OK, I’m in.”