Through his experiences as Joe the gangster Runner learned about the rise of ghosts in Chicago’s two main rival gangs and how Harry Houdini came to be targeted. Once back in his own life Runner and his crew fled the diner before the cops entered and found their way to a hotel. There they determined they needed to talk to Beauregard, the spiritualist for the Outfit, believing him to be the one that had contacted Houdini after his death. But to find him meant finding Al Capone first. And to do THAT, they needed their car back. That task fell to Runner.
And now…
Runner Ramirez & The Great Ghost War
Chapter 5
I reached the diner to learn that the police had impounded our car. One of the waitresses knew where the impound lot was located so that's where I went.
I found the lot and determined it had a small building that served as a guard shack, in which the keys to the impounded cars were kept. There was no way I could convince the one guard to just give me my keys, so I had to figure out a way to get him out of that building. I also needed the main gate open but found it wasn’t locked. Not sure why but it was at least partial good news for me.
I bought a newspaper and set up shop on a small bench across the street. I scanned the headlines and found that the last night’s shootout warranted only a small blurb at the bottom. It didn't indicate the specific gangs involved but promised more details in the evening edition. I saw another article of interest when I noticed that the guard had left his post. I had been paying too much attention to the paper and missed him.
He returned a few minutes later, walking along the front gate from the opposite side. He went back into the shack and sat. I figured he had just looped the lot and probably did so on a consistent basis. It took about an hour before I had the guard’s routine down pat. Every 15 minutes he would leave the shack and turn left to go along the wall. I couldn't see him till about 5 minutes later when he came back along the front gate. His whole loop took about 7 minutes. This meant I had maybe five minutes to get the keys and another 15 to find my car. I would then have to blast through the gate to get away. Unless…
I got myself ready and when the guard next left the shack I jogged across the street and slipped inside. I found my keys on a pegboard, my dog tag keychain easy to find, then went back out to the street. I hustled past the gate to the building on the other side and ducked into a doorway. I watched for the guard to complete his loop. Once he did, I climbed the fence and went looking for my car.
I encountered two problems right away. First off my car was tucked between two others, blocked to where I could not drive it out. Secondly, after checking for any bullet holes from the shootout, found none, I noticed a shimmering presence near a car off to my right. A ghost.
I dropped to the ground and slowly crawled to the end of the truck that blocked my path. I peered past the tire and watched as the ghost slowly circled the car, as if to study it. That one was riddled with holes, I assumed it to be Genna’s car from last night. The ghost itself wore a suit like the others I had seen but this guy had a nasty gash across his neck. Needless to say I knew how he died. I scooted a little further out to keep tracking the ghost when I felt something above me. I looked up to see-
-the guard. He held a large wrench and looked…odd. I want to say he was possessed but my ‘friend’ would have known that and already shocked me. So this was something else. I felt a warmth fill my body in that moment and I knew I was about to get some supernatural help. The guard swung the wrench but missed as I rolled underneath the truck. I saw the guard race to the other side. An even warmer wave swept through me, giving me a level of strength I don't think my ‘friend’ had ever provided. I reached up to the underside of the truck and pushed.
The truck tipped ON ITS SIDE and fell toward the guard. I think he managed to dive over the neighboring car before the truck fell into it. I scrambled to my feet as the heat faded away. I was tired as usual but couldn't worry about that right now. I stepped around and saw the guard unconscious on the ground. I also saw that my little truck throwing exhibition had freed my car.
I had no idea when this guard was due to be relieved or how often he was checked upon by anyone else. Passing patrols might notice him away from the shack for too long and stop to investigate. I had to be far from here when that happened so I needed to buy some time. I grunted as I dragged him toward the shack. I had no supernatural help and this guy was heavy. I finally got him inside and onto his chair. I positioned him to look like he fell asleep reading a magazine. I hope that's what he would think when he came to. I know something strange happened to this guy, a guard with a gun on his hip would not have bothered with a wrench.
I went searching for something with which to reposition the truck, a vehicle on its side would surely garner attention, and found a long metal pole in the back corner. As I reached to grab it a series of shocks lit up my spine. Just like those from the gas station. And wouldn’t you know it, a couple gas tanks sat off to the side. Strange. I still had no idea what these meant. I shrugged and used the pole to leverage the truck back on all four wheels. I opened the gate and drove out. Yeah, that was close. I headed for the library, had to stop three times for directions, my ‘friend’ didn't feel like guiding me this time, until I finally made it. It was close to noon and I was getting rather hungry. I hoped Fairweather had learned something that would point to Capone’s location so we could go ahead and eat.
I walked into the library and found the newspaper section. He wasn't there but before I could start looking I heard a sound I had already found to be very distinctive. Rosemary's high pitched squeal. With anyone else the sound would denote trouble; for her it was a way of expressing excitement, for which she seemed to have a limitless quantity. I triangulated her voice and weaved through the book racks to a round table in one of the corners. I found her laughing and clapping as Fairweather leaned close and said something to her.
Rosemary spotted me first but I kept my eyes on Sir Reginald Fairweather.
“Mr. Ramirez!” she squealed. “Did you know Mr. Fairweather was so funny??”
I tried to hold in my own laughter as Fairweather’s face turned at least three shades of red. He dropped his head into his hands and did not look my way.
“He’s quite hilarious,” I said with what I thought was a straight face. “How did your rituals go?”
A frown hit Rosemary but somehow still looked like a smile. She poked a small pile of items that sat on the table before her.
“I got nothing,” she said. “I think there’s just too much interference, due to these ghosts appearing everywhere. Plus I don’t think I’m strong enough. Yet!”
She punctuated her statement with a finger to the air. Her eyes narrowed when she looked at me. She hopped up a second later and stepped closer.
"You encountered a ghost didn’t you??” she whispered. After I nodded, “do tell do tell!!”
I described my experience at the impound lot including the behavior of the guard and the appearance of the ghost. During the entire story Fairweather kept his head down, no doubt trying to will his face back to its normal color.
“Sounds like the guard was possessed,” Fairweather said. “If so then that opens up a whole new can of worms.”
“I don’t think that was it,” I responded. “What do you think Rosemary?”
Here's another thing about our female companion I had yet to mention. Although she talked very fast and for long stretches of time she did not talk nonstop. In fact, many times she would fall completely silent, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. She would get distracted by something going on around us but would also simply stop talking and start reading the novel she always carried in her hands. At this particular time I had yet to see exactly what book she had but it looked like any old dime adventure you'd find for sale anywhere. That's what she was doing as I related what happened at the impound lot. I had no idea if she heard me or not. I shook my head and looked over the table; Fairweather had newspapers covering every square inch of it.
“How did your search go? Find any of Capone’s haunts?”
Fairweather held up a finger and searched through the papers until he found a specific one. He opened to a page in the middle and turned it around so I could see a picture. It showed the outside of what looked like a hotel.
“Capone owns a hotel in Cicero, a suburb to the west. It appears he’s there quite often.”
“Good work,” I said as I checked my watch. It was almost mid-day. “Let’s get some lunch and then go see if we can get an audience with Mr. Al Capone.”
After a bite to eat in the diner, yes the same one from the shootout, crime scenes weren’t blocked off for as long back then as they are now, we pointed the Duesenberg west. Fairweather had procured a map from the library and we followed it to the address found for Capone’s hotel. We parked about a block away and strolled along the opposite sidewalk to recon the site. The place was large and nice but nothing like what I expected. I figured a powerful gangster like Al Capone, based on his style of wardrobe as seen in the papers, would have a place much more ostentatious than this. Kinda funny that a guy as well-known as he was, even back then, would bother with anything low profile.
“How we gonna handle this?” Fairweather asked. “Just go in there and look around?”
“Two guys like us would draw too much attention from Capone’s goons,” I replied. It hadn’t been long since our interaction with the trolls and neither of us were looking too great. We looked rough, what with our bruises, cuts, and all, and resembled most of the gangsters we’d seen thus far. They’d probably peg us as rivals right away. “Rosemary, we need you to go in.”
The girl’s head rotated from her book to stare up at me. Her usual excitement was there along with a little bit of fear mixed in.
“You want me to walk into the lair of a violent gangster?” she asked. “I don’t know if I can do that…”
“Listen, if we’re going to find out anything about Houdini then we need to find Capone’s spiritualist,” I said in what I hoped was a comforting voice. “Now we don’t even know that guy’s name so we have to find the big man. I’m sure they’ll meet sooner or later. We just need to find Al Capone’s current location.”
Rosemary glanced from me to Fairweather to the hotel and back. She seemed to steel herself. And the fear in her eyes was gone.
“I’ll do it,” she said. I was going to give her some pointers on being sneaky but she took off in a jog across the street. She disappeared into the hotel a second later.
“She’s quite the interesting girl,” Fairweather said with a bit of awe in his voice. I rolled my eyes and stepped to the wall between the two stores on that side of the street. I pulled out the day’s newspaper and started to read.
I had made it halfway through one article when I noticed Fairweather pacing before me. He appeared rather concerned and kept looking at the hotel. Now as we arrived I didn’t notice any guards outside but I was pretty sure there were goons stationed somewhere in the vicinity to keep watch. There was enough foot traffic us to blend in but not if he kept pacing with an increasing amount of agitation, his eyes peeled on the hotel. That was bound to get noticed. I grabbed Fairweather and pulled him to the wall.
“You need to settle down or…”
I stopped talking as I noticed the relief that appeared in Fairweather’s eyes. I turned to see Rosemary rushing down the sidewalk. Not sure where she came from but she hadn’t crossed the street. As usual, she looked rather excited.
“I did it! I did it!” she said in an overly loud voice. I clamped a hand over her mouth, she kept talking, and pulled her down to a small alley. We stepped inside before I released her mouth.
“Start over,” I said, interrupting her. She nodded, took a couple quick breaths.
“Okay so I went in there and I wasn’t sure what to do but then I thought I could just act like I was lost because you know a girl in the big city and all so I did that and kept busting into different areas acting like I really needed to use the restroom which wasn’t hard because I really DID need to go. I tried three different spots but didn’t see Mr. Capone then I realized I was so nervous I hadn’t even looked up in the lobby when I passed through. I went back and there he was! I ducked out of the way and tried to think how you guys could get in. I found a maid and followed her and learned where the back door was! That’s where I just came from!”
She had another two minutes’ worth of words before she ran out of steam. I patted her on the back, Rosemary was indeed an interesting girl, and we headed back onto the street. We walked a block then cut around behind the hotel. Rosemary led us to the back entrance. The door opened into a wide room where a number of hotel staffers worked. There was another room directly to our left, Rosemary pushed us inside. A couple bellhops were in the process of getting dressed in their uniforms. Rosemary pointed toward them as she closed the door. I had to admit I was liking this girl more and more by the minute.
A couple moments later Fairweather and I emerged, clad in ill-fitting bellhop attire. We followed Rosemary through the hotel and to the lobby door. We stopped short and looked inside. There he was, Mr. Al Capone with a few of his fellow gangsters, drinking. I wondered who all he paid off to keep the cops from shutting this place down. I took a breath and was about to round the corner when Fairweather grabbed me.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m gonna go in there and ask Capone if he wants another drink.”
Wow! The crew managed to infiltrate Al Capone’s hotel! But what will Runner say to the gangster? Find out next week in Runner Ramirez & The Great Ghost War – Chapter 6!