24(S2E11)- De Nada

24

(Season 2 Episode 11)

De Nada

Anyone who was from Cleveland called it The Gund.

Before the age of corporate sponsorship, that was its name.  Gund Arena, home to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Lake Erie Monsters.

It was actually called Nationwide Arena, but if you were from Cleveland, you called it The Gund.

Elmo Kincaid was a season ticket holder on both teams, he also owned a private box for such events, and currently he had confiscated the building for a couple of hours between noon and 2:00 pm.

It was going to happen here.

Patti and Creegan walked down the long crossover between the parking garage and the arena.  One of those enclosed, suspended walkways over a busy Cleveland street.  Two men waited at the entrance.

They did not work for the arena.

They were both large men; one white, one black, wearing street clothes.  Neither was particularly well dressed.

The word thugs came into Creegan’s mind.

“Hold up,” the white one said, raising his hands.  “We’ll be taking any weapons you got.”

Creegan shook his head.  “We agreed no weapons at the meet.”

The thugs laughed.  “Yeah, right.  Everybody always agrees to no weapons at the meet, that’s the only reason meets ever happen.”

“We don’t have any weapons,” Patty said.

The thugs looked at her and both were confused by her accent.  The Black one questioned.  “You have a harpoon?”

Creegan cracked a smile.  He couldn’t help it.  Patti looked at him angrily, then back to the thugs.  “WE DON’T HAVE WEAPONS!” she annunciated.

“Oh!” They both said, understanding now.  “We still don’t believe you.  Gotta search you.”

Patty and Creegan assumed the position and the trained thugs did a thorough search.

“Wow,” the white one said.  “They really don’t have anything.”

“You can go in,” his partner said to Creegan and Patty.  “Head down to the baseline of the basketball court.  Elmo will meet you when he thinks it’s safe.”

Jim and Patty nodded and walked in through the large hallway that circles the arena and into the arena itself.

With no one in the building and nothing happening, there was a feeling of smallness.

Creegan and Patty walked down the stairs through the seemingly endless rows of chairs, then out onto the basketball court.

They stopped on the base line.

“As much as I love you, Patty,” Creegan and Patty turned as Elmo walked onto the court across from them, “I never figured you for this kind of scam.”

Patty’s eyes narrowed on her target, they were face to face.  “I never figured you for a backstabbing cunt.”

Elmo scowled.  “We’re criminals.  That’s how it works.”

“That’s a cop out,” Patty shot back.  “You know it was more than that.  You were like-”

“Like what?” Elmo cut her off.  “A father to you?  Don’t start that shit.  I did what I had to do.  Now gimme the thumb drive and we’ll go our separate ways.”

“Not that simple.” Patty stated.

“She’s right,” a woman’s voice suddenly broke into the tense conversation.  “It’s not that simple because they don’t have it.”

Elmo, Patty and Creegan turned to see a large, very frightening black man.  Standing directly next to him was a woman with near crimson hair in blue jeans and a leather coat.

Maggie.

****

The thugs had names.

The white thug was Paul.

The black thug was Lavon.

After the guy and the woman had passed their job was mostly done.  They just had to sit and watch the entrance, which was exactly what they did.  While sitting there eating their burritos.

“Hey, can I get some of that fire sauce?” Paul asked Lavon, who promptly handed it over.  “Gracias.”  

Paul smiled at his use of Spanish in light of what they were eating.

“Se Nada.” Lavon said back.

Paul looked at him confused.  “What?”

Lavon looked up from his burrito.  “I said ‘Se Nada’.  It means you’re welcome.”

Paul scowled.  “No it doesn’t.  You mean De Nada”

“No, I mean Se nada,” Lavon said irritated.  “I think I would know better than you.”

“You’re black, not Spanish mother fucker.”  Paul fired back, “Senada is like a classical music concert or some shit.”

Lavon shook his head.  “That’s a sonata, you dumb son of a bitch.”

Paul frowned.  “Well I know that Senada ain’t you’re welcome in Spanish.  Se nada ain’t nothing in nothing.  It’s De nada!”

“He’s right.”  A well spoken Cuban voice broke into the argument and both men turned, realizing all too late that they had completely failed to watch the entrance because of their argument.

They saw a good looking dark haired Cuban man in a white suit standing in front of them with his hands in his pockets.  Next to him where two more well dressed Cuban men. The Cuban men were holding Uzis.

“De nada is Spanish for ‘it is nothing’.  It would be the proper response to a gesture of gratitude.”  He said clearing up the argument.  “Now, where would I find your boss?”

****

Creegan stared in disbelief and anger.  It had to be that she was somehow mixed up in all this.  She was the bane of his existence.  “Maggie.”

“I’m starting to believe you are un-killable, Jim.”  She said with a frown.

Creegan’s face became that of pure rage and he began to move toward her.

Clay stepped out from behind her and raised a gun to Creegan’s head, stopping him in his tracks.  “Calm down, big man.”

His low dangerous voice washed over Creegan.  Creegan stopped and looked at him, “You don’t know what you are dealing with.  She is the devil.”

Clay’s mouth twitched, which may or may not have been the closest he ever got to a smile.  “Your relationship with her was personal, mine is purely financial.”

Creegan shrugged.  “Well Maggie, looks like you found the perfect man.”

Maggie puckered her lips.  “Oh that’s not true Creegan.  After all, you worked for me for nothing.”

Creegan growled at her.

“I hate to interrupt.”  Elmo didn’t.  “But what the fuck is going on.”

Maggie turned toward him.  “They baited you out so that they could kill you.”

Elmo raised an eyebrow.  “Interesting.  You have proof, bitch?”

Maggie pulled out the flash drive and raised it into the air.  Elmo’s heart dropped.  “I have proof because, as I said in the beginning, I have this.”

“I will be taking that.”  Roberto’s Cuban voice cut the air as he and his two back up men walked out onto the court, opposite from Maggie.  “After all, it is rightfully mine.”

****

Rockwell watched all of this play out through the scope of Natasha; Natasha being a Dragnov Sniper rifle, a Semi automatic weapon that looked like an AK-47 from the future.  He had gotten to the arena early and snuck in and waited.

“Well that changes everything.”  Stone was sitting in the seat next to Rockwell.

Stone was not sitting in the seat next to Rockwell.

“How do you figure?” Rockwell asked as he continued to watch.  “The plan was to take out Elmo when he shows himself, and walk away a free man.  What changed?”

Stone shrugged.  “Well the Cuban drug dealers and that dirty, dirty, bitch down there. You take out Elmo, it means the end of Creegan and Patty.”

“Who the fuck cares?” Rockwell asked.  “Once Elmo’s done I’m free, so who gives a shit?”

“You do.” Stone said bluntly.

“How you figure?” Rockwell asked, turning from his scope to look at his friend’s ghost.

“Two reasons.” Stone explained, “One, you still haven’t taken the shot, two, you’re having a conversation with yourself about why you care.”

Rockwell looked back into the scope.

“I got this.” He said as he took aim and fired.

Two shots echoed through the arena as Rockwell smoothly squeezed the trigger twice. His military training kicked in.  When against an enemy battalion, you find the leader and take him first.  This disorients the soldiers because they are trained to follow orders. The lack of these orders helps to break them.  It’s the same with Cuban drug lords.

The two shots hit the man in the cream suit within a second of each other.  He staggered, his eyes going wide, and fell.  The drug dealer’s foot soldiers watched in utter confusion.

Rockwell adjusted and fired two more quick shots.  As the Cuban guy to the right Of Roberto’s head exploded, he staggered and fell.  The last remaining Cuban decided he had made a terrible mistake and turned and started running.

“Watch the black knight.  He’s going to take Creegan.” Stone stated calmly.

“I see it.  I see it!” Rockwell responded, sweeping his gun back toward the large black man with the gun trained on Creegan.

Rockwell was positioned behind him, which made the shot tricky.  No matter how much Hollywood said the opposite, human bodies don’t stop bullets.  With that in mind, a kill shot would potentially go through the target and kill Creegan.

“Fuck!” Rockwell cursed himself.

“Take the shot.”  Stone implored him.

Rockwell took the shot, hitting the target in the upper right quadrant of his body.  He fell out of view.

Rockwell swept the gun to find Elmo but he was gone.

As was Patty.

Creegan looked up at him from the floor and did a salute before sprinting off after Maggie.

“That’s that.” Stone stated.

Rockwell grinned.  “What about that guy?”

Stone looked to see the last Cuban trying to run away up the steps to the arena.  He was very close to the exit.

“$20 says you can get him,” Stone said.

“You’re one mother fucker.”  Rockwell took a shot.

Then another.

Then another.

Then another.

“OH, THERE IT IS!” Rockwell yelled and jumped up, pumping his fist.

“Damn, he was almost out.” Stone said shaking his head.

“Yeah but he’s fucking dog food now, ain’t he?” he said rhetorically.  “Pay up asshole!”

Stone raised an eyebrow.  “I’m a mental ghost brought on by your fractured brain’s need for order.  How exactly would you like me to pay you?”

Rockwell frowned.  “Damn.  I guess you got me there.”

 “Time for the last part of the plan.”  Stone brought the focus back to the job as he always had.

Rockwell nodded.  “Pick up walk away and call the cop for clean up.”

“What’s next for us?” Stone asked.

Rockwell shrugged as he pulled out his phone.  “I’m not a plan sort of guy, but whatever it is, it’ll be fun.”

Stone followed, shaking his head.  “Fun for whom