THE TIMING by JOE PARENTE (best books to read for beginners .txt) 📖

he drove down one of these alleys to avoid the traffic that was continually building. “I think he went this way.” He turned left across two lanes of heavy traffic that lead back to the Walton. Alphonso had taken a roundabout course that put us ahead of the cars we were following.

Just ahead, a white van turned right at the light. Its tires squealed as it made the sharp turn. “Don’t worry, that’s not it.” Alphonso said. “There was no printing on the side of that one.”

Driving was tough as we continued to change lanes, and weave ahead to make as much progress as we could. I don’t think anyone would be able to drive if they didn’t own a horn. They blasted constantly with short and long beeps that made our apprehension grow worse. If it hadn’t been for Judy, I would question the wisdom that made me want to come to New York in the first place.

Coming out of a side street another white van sped carelessly ahead. Alphonso’s driving was amazing winding his way through the mass of traffic that surrounded us. As the van turned the corner, Bill and I read the words aloud and at the same time, “The Walton Hotel” was printed on the side of the vehicle. The excitement was building as Judy’s grip on my hand reminded me of the injury sustained from a knuckle buster that Jules received. The anticipation of finding Jeff erased any pain that her squeeze may have caused.

We were getting close enough to the van that I was afraid that we might be seen. I wanted to see where the van was going so that we could get Jeff to safety, but we wanted to make sure that Jeff was in it. Judy and I scooted down to the floor so that Bill could identify the passenger as we passed the van.
“It’s him!” Bill rang out!

“Alfo, pull over as if you are picking up a passenger, then continue to follow him to find where they are going. Don’t get caught!” I yelled!

Now that we were behind the van, we raised our heads and sat upright back into our seats. It was clear that we had not been discovered. Alphonso stayed back far enough to ensure that. One half-hour later, several turns and some fast driving, the van rested its wheels against the curb in front of a small warehouse.

A step van with the words “Meyer Meats” was pulling onto the street through roll-up doors. As soon as the cargo van had cleared the path, the Walton van left the curb and pulled in. We sunk down in our seats as our taxicab pulled over on the opposite side of the road. With the poor light of the warehouse, we tried to recognize the two men getting out of the sliding door.

“That’s Jeff!” Judy said.

“Yeah, and that’s that son of a bitch, Frank.” I mumbled, under my breath.

“What now, boss?” Alphonso asked.

“Look, I have an idea but we have to do it fast! Drive your cab directly under the door before it closes. Keep the cab running but leave it in reverse. Bill; make sure you hold this back door open after I get out. I’ll locate Jeff and get him into the seat. Judy, you get up in front so we have enough room. Climb over the seat to get there. If anything goes wrong, get the hell out of here! I’ll find my way back.”

It’s too dangerous, Brad!” Judy loudly disagreed.

“Not if we do this fast! I’ll jump in, right after I get Jeff in here. No arguments now! Let’s go Alfo!”

Bill started to resist but I held up my hand. “I got you into this and I’m going to get us out. Let’s go!” I gave Judy a quick kiss, helping her over the seat.

When we drove in, I found Jeff sitting quietly on a shipping crate. Frank was talking with some guy in the corner. He looked up in surprise as I grabbed Jeff by the arm dragging him towards the cab.

Frank yelled at me. “You! What the hell! Stop him! Stop him!”

I pushed Jeff into the back seat as Bill pulled him to safety! I was half way in yelling to Alphonso to go! Tires were smoking as he spun his wheels in reverse! I was able to get in but the back door hooked the jamb of the warehouse door and tore it off with a deafening crash of glass and steel!

“Shit, man!” Alphonso winced!

“Don’t worry about that now!” I ordered. “Just get out of here!”

He slammed it into low and squealed his tires with blue smoke, leaving black rubber streaks on the cement.

We were half a block away when I caught sight of the white van in pursuit. “He’s coming after us, we have to lose him! These guys play for keeps!”

Frank exploded out into the street with his van as the rear end swung sideways! His tires tried to grip the pavement but he over- corrected and his van swung the other way like the tail of a mean dog. He straightened it up; showing the front grill displaying what looked like razor sharp teeth!

You could hear the taxi’s engine whine as Alphonso stepped on the accelerator in an effort to lose the van. Frank kept getting closer until he was just a few yards behind us. With an intersection on our right, Frank attempted to ram us from behind. He was close enough to hit us when Alphonso made a fast right turn skidding around the corner! Bill had to hang on to me so I wouldn’t fall out.

It was a frightening experience sitting next to that huge opening. All I could see was fast moving, hard pavement! Although the open door was causing a gale like force of wind against my face, I could feel the sweat over my entire body!

It was a little too fast for Frank to respond because he spun out in an effort to follow us! We had gained some time and it was our chance to lose him. We took another turn before Frank had a chance to catch up to us. We were sure it was only a matter of time before we were seen. Our only chance was to hide the cab somewhere. Alphonso found that place. He took another right turn and then another to put us in a position one block behind Frank. One more right turn and we were able to see what direction he was heading. He was driving away from us at a very fast pace. Soon we would not be able to see him. It was time to go to the police. The nearest station was about twenty minutes away.

Judy kept asking Jeff how he was doing. It was as though he had been drugged. This was probably the case. I wouldn’t put anything past them. He was slow in answering questions, but at least he was answering them. This alone, was a good sign.

“They drugged me for Christ’s sake. They first had me on a table and did this operation and”—

“We know, son. Now you are safe, you’re not with them anymore.” Bill looked into his son’s eyes. “Why did they do this to you?”

“This Frank guy was trying to make me to not protest that contract. I overheard that they would take over the company.” He was coming out of his haze.
“We know that Jeff,” I said.

“I was wrong about you Brad, but not your company.”

“Believe me Jeff, if I would have known about what their plans were, I would never have worked for them. “From what I know about them, they have taken over many firms. We are going to put an end to that right now. Thanks to Alphonso’s driving, we were able to get you in a safe place. They had threatened to kill you if we had not followed their instructions.”

“This German doctor put something in my head, I think.

“Hey, what about my cab, brother? I’m in some kind-a shit, now?”

“Don’t worry about that, Alfo, I’ll make sure your company knows what happened here.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Rhortec also owned his company.

“I hope they buy it Brad. I ‘aint never had no accident.

Bill put his hand on the back of his shoulder. “When this thing is all over, I’ll make sure you have a job with our company, with a raise, of course.”

“Yeah, ok. We’re almost there. One more block.”
Out of the corner of my eye a white van shot out of a side street and struck the opposite side of our vehicle! It spun us around in the middle of the street! It was Frank! He must have seen the police officer that was close by because he sped off through the traffic. The officer ran over to us to see if anyone was hurt. At the same time, he was describing the white van and the direction of the escape over his hand held radio.

“Are you sure you are all right? You folks are lucky that he hit you at the rear of your vehicle and not dead on.

”Judy, are you alright?”

“Yeah, that was a surprise. That really shook me up. Jeff, are you ok?”

“That woke me up!”

“You people, get out of the cab right away and get back from the cab. I think I smell fuel!” The officer opened all doors and helped us out to stay clear of the taxi.

A tow truck was called to clear the mess from the street and the Heritage Cab Company was called. This got Alphonso off the hook about the damaged cab. The street cop gave his report detailing the fact that the taxi driver was not at fault; this made Alphonso happy. He needed a new cab anyway. The officer questioned us about the accident and description of the van that hit us.

The rest of that afternoon was spent at the police bureau as we reported all we knew of the crimes we had witnessed. Kidnapping and a possible homicide were at the top of the list for the detectives that took our story. Several hours later we were released. An all out search was on for Frank. They promised to let us know when they had him in custody. I knew that I could breath easier when