Trouble for Rent

Trouble for Rent

Was it a coincidence or was the van that was following Wesley the same one that he’d loaded back at his rental shop? It was an old white Ford Econoline with a red driver’s side door, two men inside and following him three cars back in traffic. He was five blocks from the store and had made two turns to get on to the Loop and the van made the same moves. The late afternoon traffic was starting to thicken and keeping his eyes on the road helped him to stop imagining things. By the time he’d gotten to Jake’s house his only thoughts were on their upcoming conversation on merging their two businesses.

His car door was half open when he heard Jake’s voice. “Hey, man, don’t get out. I have the files and I just talked to Barney about the other people looking at the building. He said we’re going to have to make a decision like today. I don’t know about you but I think better over a drink.” He was a linebacker in college and fitting through the door and sliding on to the seat weren’t easy.

Wesley slid back in and buckled his seat belt. “I don’t know this part of town very well. Where do you want to go?”

There’s a place called Montie’s that’s kind of my regular spot. Just get back on the eastbound Loop and I’ll guide you.”

As he was backing out of the driveway Wesley suddenly stopped. “Do me a favor, reach into the glove box and hand me my shades. Looks like we’re finally getting some sunshine.

Jake opened the compartment and as he reached in he stopped, stared a moment then looked at Wesley. “Hey, man, is that a Glock in there?”

Wesley had forgotten the gun was in there and stammered, “Oh, yeah, it’s a Glock 19. I got it for when I’m working after hours at the shop. Just a little insurance policy.”

Jake nodded and said, “I know what you mean,” and then patted his hip. “I don’t leave home without it.” Neither of them said another word on the subject.

As they drove they talked about their idea of merging. They knew that hard work and long hours weren’t always a guarantee of business success. Sometimes the answer was as basic as the old real estate axiom: Location, Location, Location. Jake’s small, specialty hardware store was struggling and so was Wesley’s tool rental. The two businesses were natural go-togethers. They referred a lot of customers to each other but they knew they’d be more successful if they were in the same building. They’d both come to realize it was the only way they could stay solvent and not lose their businesses. A realtor friend, Barney Hale, had come up with a possible location for them to walk through. It was a beautiful two-year old building in a prime part of the business district. He told them they should act quickly because there was another party who wanted it badly. Based on Jake’s phone call from him, it sounded like things were heating up.

It was at a red light when Wesley’s end of the conversation stopped. In his outside mirror he saw the white van with the red door. It was in the next lane two cars back. “Damn, that’s just weird,” he muttered.

“What’s weird?”

“About two hours ago I helped a couple of customers load some equipment into a van, a white van with a red door. When I left the shop it was behind me the whole way to your house and now, there it is again.”

Jake turned around and looked at the van. “I see it. Two guys are in it.”

“Yeah, one guy is named Victor and I didn’t get the other guy’s name. They rented a bunch of stuff today, kind of an odd combination of things.”

“Like what?”

“Like a big electric demolition hammer, a contractor-grade concrete breaker, a 6500 watt generator, the biggest damn reciprocating saw I have in stock and a heavy duty hand truck.”

“Wow, you could do a whole lot of damage with all that.”

“I know. When they walked in they went right to the items they wanted. I tried to give them a rundown of features and when I asked them about their project they just kind of waved me off. I joked that they could break down Hoover Dam with that stuff but all I got back was “We will only need this for one day. We’ll pay you cash.” And when I helped them load it all into the van I noticed a bunch of big black plastic bags and three bags of Quikcrete. That’s the kind of concrete you use when you’re in a big hurry.”

Jake kept his gaze on the van. “So I guess they’re planning to tear up a whole lot of concrete somewhere and then fill it all back in. Strange.”

When the light changed Wesley stayed in the right lane and accelerated. The van moved into the right lane and increased its speed to match Wesley’s. He saw it following him closer than before and snarled, “What the hell is with those guys? This isn’t coincidence, they’re following me.”

Jake looked at his outside mirror. “So what do you think’s going on? Did they, like, leave a credit card behind and want it back or something like that?”

“No, like I said they paid cash for everything. They didn’t even want to sign a rental agreement but I told them, no signature no equipment. As it turned out after they left I looked at the form and couldn’t even read the guy’s name and address. And you know, they could have gone to Home Depot for the same things but they’d have had a lot more paper work to deal with there. It was like they didn’t want anyone to know what was going on.”

The men in the van kept a few car lengths back from Wesley’s rear bumper, matching his speed. Victor looked at his speedometer and said, “I can’t tell if he’s trying to get away from us or not, he’s only doing fifty.”

His large friend, Dimitri, kept his gaze fixed on Wesley’s car. “Do you think he knows we’re following him?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. His passenger has been looking back at us for the last four blocks.”

“How do we get them to stop? We don’t have time to keep driving around following them. We promised we’d get it done. We have planned for the job to take three hours and we need to have everything in place so we’re ready when it gets dark.”

Victor looked at his watch. “It’s almost five o’clock. We’ll follow them a little longer. Maybe they’ll be stopping some place.”

Wesley kept both hands on the steering wheel, his eyes constantly moving between the windshield and the rear view mirror. “So where’s this place of yours, this Monties?”

“Well, actually, we should have turned back there on Hayden but we can just get off up here and backtrack a little. Or do you want to keep trying to stay ahead of the guys in the van? You seem nervous.”

“Well I am a little nervous, or maybe it’s more curious. Those guys had a kind of look to them. They aren’t dressed like contractors, they’re dressed in all black, and the one guy has on a knit hat. When they talked they both had some kind of European accent.” He paused then shook his head. “Oh, I’m probably just letting my imagination get away from me. I’ll take this exit and we’ll head back to Montie’s” He accelerated but purposely avoided using his turn signal. They were doing nearly seventy when they turned on to the exit.

“

“Hang on!” Victor swerved and nearly missed the shoulder of the road before his front tires found the pavement again. Dimitri grabbed the door handle to keep from falling into him. Victor braked hard and finally got the van back under control, never taking his eyes off of Wesley’s car at the bottom of the ramp. “They’re making a right turn.”

Wesley pulled on to Hayden without coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the exit ramp. then pulled into the right lane and accelerated.

Jake was turned around in his seat looking out the rear window. “They’re back a ways but they’re still with us. Man, now I’m getting nervous too.” He turned toward Wesley. “Are you sure you didn’t do something to piss these guys off?”

“I’m sure. It was a straight up cash deal, almost no conversation and the whole thing didn’t take more than twenty minutes or so.”

“Well, they sure seem eager to talk to you…or something.” He paused and again looked out the rear window. “This is just freaking crazy. It’s like some kind of chase scene from a movie but at slow speed.”

“Yeah, they’re persistent as hell. Maybe we should pull into Montie’s and just wait for them. There will probably be a crowd there so what could possibly happen?”

“You said you had a straight up deal. Why would you want to make sure there’s a crowd? Are these guys dangerous?”

Wesley pounded his hands on the steering wheel, angry and nervous. “I have no idea what this is all about and the longer they chase us the more pissed off I get. I’m about ready to take a swing at someone.”

Jake shared Wesley’s rage. “Same for me. All I wanted to do was have a beer and talk about our offer on the building and now these damn guys are becoming more than just a distraction. Hey, let’s try something. Turn into this Shell station and cut through into the alley.

Wesley hit his brakes and made the sharp turn. He carefully avoided the other cars and quickly made it through the lot and pulled into the alley. He looked front and back and asked, “Okay, where does this go?”

“Just drive on a ways. In about a hundred yards you’ll see a small road that will take us back on to Hayden.”

They stopped and looked up and down the highway and then behind them. There was no sign of the van. As Wesley pulled into the traffic Jake said, “Montie’s is up here on the right. Let’s stop and see if we lost them.”

They found a parking space at the far edge of the lot and backed in. They waited for a few minutes, scanning the lot and the street but saw no sign of the two men. Wesley looked at Jake. “So, are you ready to go in?”

Jake took one more look at the street. “Yeah, let’s go.” He grabbed his file folder and as they got out of the car he added, “I don’t know what these guys look like so if you see them I guess I’ll just follow your lead.”

“Too bad I don’t know what my lead would be.” He smiled and added, “You’re the former linebacker though, so maybe I’ll just walk behind you.”

As they sat at their table they agreed it was the strangest conversation either of them had ever had; a few minutes of talk about the new building interrupted by even more minutes of looking at the front door and wondering who might walk in. But after an hour of talking and two beers in them their curiosity and nervousness about the men in the van started to fade. Their need to buy the building and merge their businesses was too critical to let anything get in the way. Their futures were on the line and before they paid their check they had agreed that they’d do whatever it took to make the deal.

It was starting to get dark when they finally pulled back out on to Hayden. They’d been sitting in the car for ten minutes, uneasy about leaving, but there still was no sign of the white van. They looked at each other and nodded as they drove. It was just a few minutes later when Wesley looked into his rearview mirror. “Oh, God, they’re back.

Jake’s head whipped around and when he saw them through the back window he growled, “Okay, it ends right here. Pull over into that vacant lot, it’s time to dance.”

Barney Hale was smiling as he greeted them at the front door of the building. “I’m glad you guys could make it. I’ve been waiting for two days but never heard back from the other parties who wanted the place so I guess it’s all yours.” Before they could reply Hale gestured toward the corner of the room. “You’re probably wondering about the floor over there. I wasn’t aware of any problems or any work going on so I don’t know what the mess and concrete patching is all about. But the owner assures me he’ll clean it up and make things perfect before you close on the deal.”