It was the next morning and Nick sat in front of his office computer
scanning the layout of Boston’s Suffolk County Jail. It was where
all defendants awaiting trial were held pending their proceedings. It
was also where Councilman Grady was being held pending his trial for
racketeering and corruption.
It seemed that the good Councilman had contact with members of
every organized crime family within the last ten years and made a deal
with the prosecutor to tell what he knew in exchange for a lighter
sentence. Nick knew that if the Eel had his way, Grady would not make
it to the courthouse.
Chris had used his connections to get Nick the blueprints of the jail
as well as a map of the route that the police would use to transport
him. Nick studied the blueprints and the maps with intensity, he knew
in his heart that it would be during transport to the courthouse that
whoever the Eel would have Grady taken out.
“So if I was an assassin for Boston’s most powerful crime
boss, where would I hide in order to kill the chief witness against
me,” Nick thought to himself with a smile.
A sharp knock on his open office door drew Nick’s attention away
from the computer. Chris walked in and casually closed the door behind
him. Dropping down into one of the chairs in front of Nick’s desk
with a thud, Chris smiled a Cheshire Cat grin before speaking.
“One of my contacts at Boston PD called and you’ll never
guess what they found,” Chris said in a sing song voice.
“Whitey Bulger after all these years,” Nick said.
“Nope… try a male Caucasian in his mid thirties dressed in
some kind of heavily armed green battle suit,” Chris replied.
“Gunhawk! Well that kind of and yet doesn’t make
sense,” Nick said with a perplexed look on his face.
“What do you mean?” asked Chris.
Nick leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms out to his sides,
in an effort to loosen his cramped muscles before answering.
“Well it makes sense because Gunhawk failed when I took him
down last night. However it does not make sense because A- Grady is
still in play and needs to be taken down, and B- Either he has another
assassin on his payroll; a good one to take down Gunhawk. Or
maybe… ”
“Eel took down Gunhawk himself and plans to do the same to the
good Councilman Grady,” Chris interjected.
“Exactly,” Nick replied with a smile.
“It would be the only way for him to maintain respect with other
organized crime figures,” Nick added.
“One problem though is no really good current pictures of our Mr.
Eel,” Chris said.
“I don’t think Eel would try to kill Grady from long
distance this time. It has to be up close and personal in order to make
a statement, so the ‘no good picture’ thing works to his
advantage,” Nick said.
“You think he would try to kill him in front of the courthouse or
inside it?” Chris asked.
“I would say in front of it. After all the maps I have studied,
the front of the courthouse has the best escape routes,” Nick
answered.
“So the other question would be, where is the best place for you
to be in order to watch everything?” Chris asked.
“Well, I was thinking from this building here across the street.
I can see everything going in and coming out,” Nick said pointing
to the building on the map on the computer screen.
“However I need you on the ground for a close up look at
everything,” Nick added.
“Not a problem,” Chris replied.
“Ok Grady is going to be brought to the courthouse for his
allocution tomorrow. That gives us twenty four hours to get
ready,” Nick said.
Somewhere in the area of Boston that was formally known as The Combat Zone, Eel Madden took a
long slow drag off of a cigarette and exhaled slowly. Sitting at a worn
and chipped wooden desk in a warehouse that he owned, Eel placed his
cigarette in the ashtray on the desk and continued to work on the two
pistols in front of him.
Eel had studied Gunhawk’s firearms while he had him in his employ
and thanks to a natural aptitude for mechanical engineering, Eel was
able to duplicate Gunhawk’s armaments. Smiling as he placed the
last bullet in the clip, Eel prepared himself mentally for the job.
It had been a long time since he had to push a button on a guy himself,
but Eel knew he could still get it done. Eel also had to admit that
there was a part of him that missed killing somebody. Eel’s
satanic smile grew wider as he remembered his past conquests.
In his minds’ eye Eel could see the wide pleading eyes of his
victims and hear their tortured screams. He could still smell the salty
aroma of their blood and taste its coppery tang on his lips.
The smile faded from the Eel’s face as he got up from the desk
and walked over to where the clothes for his disguise hung. It was not
the usual type of clothes that he wore but it would enable him to get
close enough to watch the life drain from Councilman Grady’s face.
“It’s not Brioni or Armani but it will do the job,”
Eel said aloud as he wrinkled his nose and fingered the faded rough
material.
Eel placed another cigarette between his lips and pulled out his silver
lighter. The bright orange and gold flame grew large as Eel drew on the
cigarette and the smoke wafted into the air. The smile returned to
Eel’s face as he turned and walked back toward the desk.
“I hope the good Councilman is enjoying the rest of his
life,” Eel said aloud.
The next day in front of the courthouse, television and newspaper
reporters, as well as pedestrians and curious onlookers jockeyed for
the best view of Councilman Grady’s arrival, while Boston Police
and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Deputies did their best to keep them
at bay and allow the van transporting Councilman Grady safe passage.
Chris Infantino made his way along the outskirts of the crowd trying to
look like an interested onlooker rather then a trained FBI agent
looking for an assassin. Casually Chris raised his hand to his ear like
he was scratching an itch but actually he was activating his earpiece
microphone.
“All clear so far,” Chris said nonchalantly.
From the building across the street Nick, clad in his Argus uniform,
sat atop the roof and looked down on the proceedings. The large brick
chimney and alcove for rooftop access provided the necessary shadows
for him to remain invisible, to the naked eye.
“Nothing on this end either,” Argus replied.
“Standby. The convoy with Councilman Grady is arriving,”
Chris said.
“I see it,” Argus responded.
With two police cruisers in front and two police cruisers in back, the
Suffolk County Sheriff’s Dept van pulled up in front of the
Courthouse.
Surrounded by two pairs of Sheriff’s deputies on either side,
Councilman Grady emerged from the van and began to make his way up the
courthouse stairs. Flashbulbs from the newspaper reporter’s
cameras exploded making it hard for anybody to keep a clear view of
Grady. Anybody that is except Argus, of course.
One of the deputies who were walking behind Councilman Grady had drawn
his gun and had pointed it at the small of Grady’s back.
“Chris… Eel is dressed as one the deputies guarding Grady.
He is behind Grady and too his left. Move in… now,” Argus
said into his Comm Link.
Chris pushed his way through the crowd toward Eel and drew his gun.
Everybody was oblivious to Chris and had not noticed his gun yet; to
keep himself from being shot by one of the Officers, Chris pulled out
his old FBI badge and hung it around his neck. He was not sure why now
since Eel was dressed as a Sheriff’s deputy.
“I’m too freaking old for this,” Chris said to
himself.
Once he got to the top of the steps Chris pointed his weapon at
Eel’s head. Screaming at the top of his lungs to get
everybody’s attention and protect himself -
“Freeze Eel Madden… Federal Agent!” Chris screamed.
The sadistic smile returned to Eel’s face as he turned his
attention to Chris and drew a second weapon from behind his back,
pointing it at Chris. All the onlookers and media people backed away
once they realized what was going on. The Sheriff’s deputies and
Boston Police Officers had all drawn their weapons and had pointed them
at Chris and Eel.
“He’s not a cop… He’s an assassin!”
Chris screamed motioning toward Eel.
“What are you talking about? I am a cop… Now drop your
weapon!” Eel screamed back.
Just then a shuriken flew through the air striking the pistol that was
pointing at Chris. Eel screamed and cursed as Argus appeared knocking
Grady to the ground out of harm’s way. Argus then spun on his
heels and nailed Eel with a spinning heel kick to the jaw. Eel fell
backwards and landed on his neck and shoulders, but surprisingly kept
his grip on his weapon.
Eel in another surprising move immediately kipped up to his feet and
pointed his gun at Argus, who assumed a fighting stance. The Police who
were not sure who to shoot kept their distance, their weapons drawn on
both of them.
“Well…Well I guess you are the costumed bastard who has
been screwing with my plans,” Eel said with his usual sadistic
smile.
“Yeah, that would be me. I don’t suppose you would want to
surrender,” Argus said in response.
“No… I don’t think… wait… definitely
no,” Eel replied.
“However, I don’t think I will shoot you, just one of the
plebeians instead,” Eel said as he pointed his gun at Chris.
In a series of events too fast for the eye to follow Eel fired at
Chris. Argus dove through the air in order to protect his friend and
Eel produced a smoke grenade, which he set off obscuring the police and
onlooker’s view. Argus could feel the fire go through his body as
the bullet tore into his chest. Chris and Argus landed hard on the
concrete steps and tumbled to the bottom.
“You okay,” Chris said as they rose to their feet.
“Yeah, healing factor will take care of this. It will take a
second though,” Argus said holding his chest.
“You know I am wearing
a Kevlar vest,” Chris said.
“Now you tell me,” Argus replied with a smile.
“Please tell me you can see Eel in this smoke,” Chris asked.
“Yup… Be right back,” Argus said as took off after
Eel.
Eel could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the sweat pouring
down his body, as he ran towards a getaway car he had parked on a side
street. All he needed to do was reach it and he could disappear into
the ether again. This Argus had spoiled his plans but he would have his
vengeance.
Vengeance however would have to wait as Argus was waiting for him.
Argus leaned casually against the black corvette that Eel had parked on
the street. He could not help but smile as he saw the stunned look on
Eel’s face.
“How did you get here,” Eel said surprised.
“Guardian with 1,000 eyes means I can track you pretty easy.
Which is surprising though. I thought you were some kind of criminal
mastermind,” Argus said.
“Well I have to admit that I never faced a costumed hero before.
Never killed one either… but first time for everything,”
Eel said as he pointed his gun at Argus and fired.
Argus leaped into the air and narrowly avoided the blasts.
Somersaulting in mid air Argus used his legs to hook Eel in a
headscissors takedown. The momentum sending Eel crashing into the
corvette, Argus continued his offense nailing Eel with a series of
thunderous punches to the torso and jaw. Blood sprayed from Eel’s
mouth and nose as Argus pummeled him.
However Eel was not going to go down that easily as he lashed out and
caught Argus with an open chop to the throat. Argus staggered back
coughing and choking, trying to catch his breath. Eel grabbed Argus
with both hands by the front of his tunic and drove a knee into
Argus’ solar plexus. Eel held onto Argus’ tunic with one
hand and with his free hand hit Argus with several overhand rights to
the nose, breaking it. Eel then sent Argus sprawling to the ground with
a spinning backfist to the jaw.
Argus could feel his eyes swelling shut under his mask as he rolled
over onto his stomach. Coughing up blood and trying to get his bearings
Argus staggered to his feet.
“Was a fighter long before I became a Boss. Funny when you break
somebody’s nose their eyes swell shut. Hard to be the
‘Guardian with 1,000 eyes’ when you can’t see,”
Eel said.
Eel recovered his gun and pointed it at Argus’ head as he stood
over him. Argus’ healing factor had begun to kick in, his nose
had reset itself and the swelling had gone down enough so that he could
make out Eel’s shape. Argus could hear the gun’s hammer
click as Eel prepared to fire.
“This gun fires special rounds: hollow points with a nitro and
shrapnel tip. Guaranteed to take even your head off. A little trick I
picked up from Gunhawk when he was in my employ. This is my town hero
and you are not welcome here,” Eel said.
“Too bad you will never be able to use it,” Argus said.
Spinning on his back Argus legsweeped Eel causing him to fall to the
ground and sending his gun skittering across the pavement. Argus
grabbed Eel by the waistband and the back of the shirt collar and flung
him head first into the wall of the building, splitting the top of his
head open.
Blood flowed from Eel’s head and covered his face in a crimson
mask. Argus hit Eel with a sweeping roundhouse right that caused Eel to
tumble out into the street.
Eel staggered to his feet and saw an opportunity arise. An innocent
bystander, a man who was walking by and saw the fight had stopped to
watch. Eel with great speed moved in and grabbed the man. Spinning him
around and placing his arm across the man’s throat. The man
struggled to breathe as Eel shifted his stance and switched to a full
chokehold.
“Well, well hero, what’s it going to be? Stop me or save
this plebian,” Eel said sarcastically.
Argus began to move in but stopped, images of what happened in
Keystone City going through his head. It would be easy for him to take
down Eel but not without sacrificing the innocent bystander. Argus was
frozen for a second that seemed like an eternity until he heard
Chris’ voice in his head.
“Remember who you are fighting for,”
Argus flicked his fingers and another shuriken from his gauntlet
dropped into his hand. In one motion Argus threw the shuriken with
pinpoint accuracy. The spinning blade made a hissing noise as it flew
through the air and struck Eel in the forearm. Eel released his grip on
the man and writhed in pain screaming and cursing. The man ran for
cover and Argus moved to finish Eel with a powerful right uppercut that
sent him into the air. Eel landed on his side on the pavement
unconscious. Argus walked over to Eel and picked him up by the shirt
collar. It would be a simple matter for him to snap Eel’s neck
and end his life and his evil forever, but that was not his way
anymore.
“All it takes for evil to win is for good men to stand by and do
nothing,” Argus thought to himself before releasing Eel who
slumped back to the ground.
“By the way it’s my town now,” Argus said as he stood
over Eel’s fallen form.
The next day Chris Infantino walked into the Boston Diner for his
morning breakfast. Chris smiled as he sat next to Nick who was eating
breakfast and reading the paper. Nick looked away from his paper and
acknowledged Chris with a smile.
“I see we are up early and ready for the day,” Chris said.
“Yeah, stopped by the newsstand and got the morning papers from
Shamus. Then I thought I would get something to eat,” Nick
replied.
“So what happened with Eel? The papers are not really saying
anything,” Nick asked.
“Well according to my sources he was swept up by the Bureau. I
guess they want to have a few words with him,” Chris said.
“At least he is out of Boston,” Nick said smiling.
“I just want to know one thing. How did he manage to sneak into
the detail guarding Grady?” Nick asked puzzled.
“Turns out or Mr. Eel had a whole bunch of Sheriff’s
deputies on his payroll. I guess that’s why the Bureau took him.
They are going to be busy for a long time sorting this out,”
Chris replied.
“So how are you feeling?” Chris asked.
“Pretty good. I think I like it here in Boston,” Nick said.
“You finding the work satisfying I take it,” Chris said.
“Yes I am. I’m feeling like I can do some good here. Plus
there are some other benefits,” Nick said with a smile.
Rose walked out from behind the counter. Instead of her usual waitress
uniform she was wearing a beautiful black dress. Rose sat on the stool
next to Nick and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Rose then leaned over
and smiled at Chris who was stunned at what he saw.
“Morning Chris. Nick are you ready to go, carino,” Rose
said.
“Other benefits, huh,” Chris said shaking his head.
“Yeah, oh and by the way, I won’t be in the office
today,” Nick said as he and Rose stood up and headed toward the
door.
“No problem. You deserve a day off,” Chris said as another
waitress came over to take his order.
Chris turned and watched Nick and Rose leave. He could not help but
feel happy for Nick who was finally getting a life.
“It seems my boy learned,” Chris said to himself.
Next
Issue: Argus
settles in to a new life in Boston, but finds
that retirement is not in his future plans as he learns more about the
mysterious Eel and the Boston Underworld! Be here for Part 3,
the
conclusion
of 'New
Hero in Town!' by Eric Nyman.
