Dick Johnson - Episode 3: A Freight Train Named Kyle

This is the 3rd episode in the Dick Johnson Cases. If you missed episodes one and two, you can find them here:

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2015/february/6/cases-dick-johnson-foo...

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2015/february/10/dick-johnson-episode-...

It took a week to track down Lee. I'd heard through a friend that he was lying low in a small town on the other side of the river. It was the kind of place you go if you need to disappear for a while because you don't want to disappear permanently; a place for people who the game had broken and wanted an out.

When I found him, he was in the only bar in town staring into a nearly-empty pint. His eyes told me he'd been there a while. His posture told me that wasn't uncommon. I sat down next to him and ordered myself a shot.
"Vad Lee?" He turned a weary face to me before turning back and draining the remaining beer in the glass. I nodded to the barkeep and got him another glass.

"Who wants to know?"

"Just someone who's curious about how a guy like you ends up in a place like this." I gestured to the dimly lit bar. The bartender scowled at me as he returned with the drinks. I finished mine in a swallow, enjoying the burn in my stomach as I ordered another.

"Maybe I like it here," he muttered after a moment, still staring into the amber foam. "They've got playoffs." It was bullshit. Nobody willingly steps away from it all, and the city had a playoff too.

People didn't leave his line of work for the peace and quiet, and when they did, you didn't find them in dive bars before dinner.

"I think you saw something, and knew you needed to get out," I said, my eyes never leaving the bar in front of me. I felt him flinch beside me and pressed. "I think something happened, and you figured you'd rather die slow here than fast there." I felt Lee's eyes burning into me, and calmly took my next drink from the bartender.

"What do you want?" I turned to face Lee and met his gaze - he was wound tight, like the skin of a drum.

"I just want to know what you saw." He shook his head and looked down at the floor.

"I don't even know how to describe it. It started just like any normal job." I nodded. Johnson's gang wasn't known for their complex operations – like any successful criminal organization they stuck to what they were good at.
The bartender had gone to the back, leaving the two of us alone in the bar. Lee continued on, quietly. "But then something went wrong. There was this man. Or at least, I think it was a man. He was everywhere – just cutting through our guys like butter."

"The worst part - he didn't make a sound. And those eyes. They were so hungry." Vad was looking at me now, and I could see the wear on his face clearly. He looked like a decade of worries had been etched into him. "Have you ever seen a shark?" he waited for my attention as I lit a cigarette. "That's all I could think of. He was the shark and we were just the fish."

"He blew through us like a machine, and when I got hit..." he paused, taking a shaky drink and then breathing out slowly. I waited for him to finish. "I've been hit before. It's a hazard of the business. But this guy... He hit like a freight train."

"He was a ghost." Lee shuddered, and swallowed another gulp of beer. "I can't sleep since. I just see him."
"Who was it? This freight train?"

"Kyle. Kyle Fuller." I turned to go, and Vad grabbed me, pulling me back into my seat. "Don't go looking for him. I'm warning you." I pulled my arm away from him and left a crinkled wad of bills on the table. I'd heard enough.
Outside, the autumn sun was just setting, painting the world in orange and deep maroons. I sighed, and lit another cigarette, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke towards the clouds. Who was this Kyle Fuller, and was he associated with Clarke? And who were they working for? A new gang, taking out rival quarterbacks? Were they hired?

I needed to find out more, and I had a feeling I knew who to ask...

Tune in next week for Episode 4: A Savage Beating