Wolf Man

CHAPTER ONE Kane North was the biggest c***k dealer in NYC, and no one in the NYPD, the DEA or the rival organizations in the Tri-State area expected his rise to taper off any time soon. He had cocaine coming in from the Florida Keys, the Mexican and Canadian borders, and dozens of points along the Northeast seacoast. It was being converted to c***k in hundreds of underground labs in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and distributed from over a thousand c***k houses throughout the area. It was estimated that the North Network was grossing over a million dollars a day before expenses, and North’s only concern was the staggering burden it was placing on his money-laundering corporations. Many of their biggest customers were people in the entertainment industry who had become addicted to cocaine, and were convinced that switching over to the c***k pipe would give them greater energy and euphoria than ever. Getting hooked on c***k made them slaves to the narcotic, and a large majority found their professional reputations ruined and their income dwindling so as not to be able to afford the quantity they were consuming. Females paid the highest price for their addictions, as many of them were forced to do s****l favors in exchange for what they could not buy. Mirjana Dragana was one of these unfortunates. She was an aspiring model who had been given a chance at a starring role in a B-movie being produced by one of North’s filmmaking tax writeoffs. She had been turned onto coke by the movie directors, and soon graduated to c***k with their encouragement. The beautiful Serbian had put her modeling career on hold and was now entirely dependent on her earnings from the movie, production of which was suddenly postponed. She found herself unemployed and addicted to the product, and after spending her savings to satisfy her cravings, she was forced to meet with North himself to resolve her problem. She had heard rumors of the depredations suffered by women who had been lured to North’s suite in a penthouse bordering East Harlem in similar situations to her own. She had confided in a close friend, Steve Lurgan, who lived in the three-story apartment building in Soho she rented upon arriving in NYC. Lurgan was a photojournalist who had just returned from Eastern Europe and had covered the war in Bosnia in the 90’s. He knew some Serbian and quickly made friends with Jana. He had watched her decline caused by d**g a***e but would not compromise their friendship by criticizing her. It was only when she told him that she was meeting personally with North that he offered advice. “Jana, please be careful when you go up there,” Lurgan pleaded. “I read the papers and I’ve got connections. These people are involved in drugs, and I wouldn’t put it past them to try and involve you in something immoral to tide you over until the movie production resumes.” “Don’t worry, Steve,” Jana assured him. She was an ash blonde with pale blue eyes, a smallish nose and thick lips, her natural beauty enhanced by an hourglass figure and a generous bosom. “I know you are my friend and you care for me. I will be fine, I know what I am doing. Most of these companies have insurance covering loss of income, and I believe they will be able to come up with enough to keep me on the payroll until they start filming again.” Despite her courageous veneer, she was filled with trepidation as she arrived at North’s Lenox Avenue brownstone that evening. There were four gangsters standing outside the building, and they announced her arrival by cell phone before she was permitted entrance. Four more gangsters met her in the lobby, and they escorted her to the end of the hall where a heavy steel door was guarded by two pistol-packing gunmen. “Hey, baby,” a tall, slender black man was seated on a throne on a dais in a parlor area the size of a commercial showroom. She looked around the lavishly furnished area where six other blacks relaxed on the overstuffed sofas and chairs around the living room. They stared at her as if a piece of candy had walked into the room. “Let my boy get you a drink. Come on up here and tell me what I can do for you.” “I---I came to discuss my position with Player Productions,” Jana came forward tentatively, walking to the edge of the platform before North beckoned her forth. She stepped up onto the dais and walked timidly over to where Kane sat. The man leered at her lustfully, his coke-flushed eyes glittering over his wide nostrils and Luciferian goatee. “Girl, you can assume any position you like to get anything you want around here,” North grinned as his henchmen cackled in amusement. “Now, I saw some of the outtakes from that flick you starring in, and there is no way that a woman who looks like you ain’t gonna have no place in this organization.” “Thank you,” Jana managed. “It’s just that they stopped sending checks to the cast members and crew since the first of the month, and it is very difficult to make do with the production having been postponed. I don’t know if you’re aware that I canceled my modeling assignments to devote my full time to this project.” “Now, Jana---it is Jana, isn’t it? I make it my business to know every detail of my various enterprises. I’m the kind of entrepreneur who likes to keep hands-on everything in his operation, you know what I’m saying?” North looked her over approvingly. “I know your story, baby, and I want to do everything in my power to get you right where you wanna be. Now, I know you were in the fast lane with my cruisers, and the producers liked you not only because of your talent, but your ability to interact behind the scenes. I know you were a real party girl, most oftentimes the life of the party. Now, I would feel like I got beat if I never once got to get some party time with you myself. My road dogs here pretty well feel the same way.” “Mr. North, sir,” she lowered her eyes, realizing how they were all leering at her, “part of the reason why I am here is because I overextended my personal budget by over-socializing. I realize that I got caught up in the whole Broadway mentality, and wasted more money than I had a right to misappropriate. I have bills to pay, and have not anticipated the interruption of income. I misjudged the solvency of the company by assuming that since you were the owner, they would have the advantage of your solidity. All I ask is that I can get at least one more month of paychecks, which of course would be deducted from my earnings when the project is completed.” “Baby, I don’t know how else to break it to you, but Showdown In Serbia has flatlined,” North smirked. “Our marketing analysts have looked it over, and they don’t see it going anywhere past Blockbuster. I got to pull the plug on this, pretty girl, but that don’t necessarily mean I needs to pull the plug on you.” “Is there---are there---any other projects that I can get in on?” she managed. “Well now, you know that most of your marketability is going to be predicated by your screen attraction,” North leaned forward on his velvet and gold throne. “I personally haven’t had a chance to check out your file. I’m sorry to say I don’t have a clue as to what my studio is throwing down all this money for. Would I be out of place in asking if we can do a screen test here so I can decide whether to cut you a big check?” “Why, no,” Jana could not possibly refuse. “I hope you won’t mind removing your blouse, so I can see what you would look like in a bikini,” Kane produced a bag of cocaine appearing as a baggie full of laundry detergent. “Why…no,” Jana swallowed hard. The room was silent as the grave before she hesitantly began unbuttoning her blouse. “Now that is what I call charisma,” Kane grinned as he appreciated her large breasts in their lace b*a. “Why don’t you take off them jeans so we can see what that bikini shot’s really gonna sell? I think we can do up a couple lines here to get rid of some of that nervousness. You know, that’s what we looking for, the kind of lady who just don’t drop her drawers at the drop of a hat.” There was a scratching at the door, almost as if someone had let a dog into the hallway outside. Kane had disregarded it when he first heard it, but now it was a distraction without explanation. North pulled out his cell phone and hit the contact number but got no response. “Look, somebody go outside and tell those mofos that they need to get on the ball,” Kane cut the howling short as Jana allowed her jeans to drop to her ankles. “They be a million mofos wantin’ to get in that hallway, and I payin’ some big money to make sho’ they ain’t! Now get them dogs on that bone before I send them all back to the pound!” The hulking gunman, standing at nearly seven foot tall and weighing over three hundred pounds, drew his Uzi as he lumbered towards the door and threw it open. At once the c*****e began. Jana Dragana woke up in Bellevue Hospital the next morning and immediately went into a panic. Memories of the mayhem of the previous night flooded her mind, but the overriding fright was the fact that she had no way to pay for whatever medical costs she was incurring. “What---what am I doing here!” she exclaimed as a nurse and a doctor were quick to record her responses on a clipboard. “I was brought here unawares, I have no money to pay for this!” “It’s okay, Ms. Dragana,” the nurse assured her. “We’re charging it to Mr. North’s account with Player Productions, or possibly with one of his many other insurance accounts. If they deny the claim, you can be sure that the Hospital will provide you with a convenient and affordable payment plan.” “Ms. Dragana, are you currently enrolled in any detox programs, or seeking treatment for narcotic dependence?” the doctor was hesitant. “The only reason I ask is because the paramedics had a great deal of difficulty placing you under sedation. Most of the time it is caused by a high tolerance to drugs which we are obliged to mention before your release.” “No, no, there is no problem,” Jana’s eyes darted about the room. “I wish to leave immediately. I ask that my clothing and personal property be returned at once.” “Of course, Ms. Dragana,” the nurse replied as the doctor left the room. “You have a visitor who insists on seeing you, a Mr. Lurgan.” “Certainly,” Jana managed as the nurse retrieved her clothes from a curtained closet. “Let him in.” Steve Lurgan came to her bedside as soon as the nurse permitted him entry. He was a muscular man of average height, packing 185 pounds onto a 5’9” frame. He had wavy jet black hair, piercing blue eyes and a strong jaw. He was ruggedly handsome and had always been seen favorably by Jana, who would have taken him on as a boyfriend if her aspirations and addictions had not complicated her life. “Are you okay, Jana?” were his first words. “I’m fine, they’ll be releasing me shortly,” she patted his hands as they held hers. “I’ll be back at the apartment in an hour or so, we’ll have coffee, okay?” “Okay, buddy,” he patted her hand before rising to leave. “See you at home.” Lurgan’s mind was filled with apprehension as he walked down the hall towards the elevators that would take him to the grade level and the exit to First Avenue on Lower Manhattan. He was seriously infatuated with Jana, and had been agonized by her slow descent into c***k addiction and her hellish association with North’s organization. He knew that he had no right to meddle in her personal affairs, and any liberty he might take could justifiably result in the permanent loss of her friendship. He could only love her from a distance, and hope that perhaps one day his loyalty might lead to recognition and a bond somewhat more substantial. “Mr. Lurgan?” he heard a familiar voice call from behind him. “Mr. Lurgan.” “Officer Lucic,” Steve recognized him on sight. “How can I help?” “Say, I really don’t want to mess up your day,” the blond, muscular officer ambled up to him, “but I was hoping you could spare a couple of minutes of your time. Do you think we could walk over to Starbucks?” “You probably know my friend Jana’s being released in a little while. I told her I’d meet her back at the apartment. Do you think we could do this at a better time?” “I could take you downtown if I had to. Look, forget about Starbucks. You probably know I’ve been looking at you for a while. How did Jana Dragona get involved in your business?” “My business,” Steve walked over by the curb where the car Lucic was leaning on was parked. “I wish you would explain to me exactly what you think is my business.” “Come on, Steve,” Darko Lucic shook his head, gazing at the azure sky above the Manhattan skyline. “I’ve got you at two of three recent homicides where the victims were killed under the same modus operandi. You know who let the dogs out, and you’ve got to tell me. If this goes beyond my control, who knows where this ends up? With all this terrorist bullshit going on these days, you might end up in Guantanamo or some other dirty place.” “Dogs,” Steve threw his hands out in bemusement. “Officer Lucic---“ “Darko.” “Okay, Darko. What are you trying to pin on me? I don’t own a dog, I never have. I don’t know the first thing about dogs, I live in an apartment.” “Come on, Steve,” Lucic massaged his temples. “You make it easy for me, I make it easy for you. I got d**g dealers getting torn up by some attack dog three times since the beginning of last year. It just happens to be around the time you came back to New York after your return from Eastern Europe. The first incident went just fine, no slipups. The second time, you get made my one of my junkie rats walking away from the scene of the crime. Third time you get spotted again, I bring you some heat and you blow me off. Now here we are. Now I got motive, this girl you’d like to screw is getting pressured by Kane North to do the dirty for him and his buddies. They get ripped apart by an attack dog, and here we are with you visiting the sole survivor of the m******e. You’re a war correspondent, Steve. Turn it around for a minute. If you were me, what are you looking at?” “How do I know, Darko? You want me to do your job for you? I’m not a dog handler. Maybe someone’s out there making moves against d**g dealers and siccing dogs on them. Maybe I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You do what you think you got to do, but, at the risk of being punnish, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” “Okay, you wanna play hardball. Your friend Jana is a c***k addict. You can go running to her and she can call a HIPPA violation, but then you and I go to the mat and you gotta lose. I go back against her and you know she’ll slip and fall somewhere. Look, we can’t have vigilantes running loose siccing dogs on d**g lords, regardless of how lofty your goal. You did some hard time in Bosnia, you know how the game is played. Maybe you came back here and thought you could apply your skills on the streets of New York. Not happening, Mr. Lurgan. I’m from Serbia, my relatives suffered and died during the conflict. I have seen what happens when people take the law into their own hands, and I will not stand by and see it happen here.” “I agree with you, Darko. I’m behind that one hundred percent.” “I got wolf hairs at the scene of the crimes, Lurgan,” Lucic snarled in his face. “I got zoologists verifying that the bite marks on the victims were wolf bites. Somebody you know has trained wolves tearing d**g dealers apart at these murder scenes. Look, I don’t have any more sympathy for dealers than you do, especially ones who are ruining the lives of women like Jana Dragona. Still, there is a law that governs this nation, a law that protects and defends our people, a law that we cannot suspend at our discretion. I am sworn to uphold that law, and that law does not provide for vigilantes siccing wolves on d**g dealers. You need to tell me who’s behind this so I can make sure it doesn’t happen again.” “What I can tell you is that I care very much about Jana,” Lurgan insisted. “I don’t need you to tell her that, I only hope you can appreciate it. I don’t know anything about what you and your people came up with about where I was when you said I was. I’m a walker, I take long walks at night, it’s just who I am. There’s no law against people walking around town, is there? If I tried to tell you where I walk and when I walk, you’d probably try and have me sent to Bellevue.” “Been there done that,” Lucic allowed. “I’m trying to factor that in, but this last one is too hard to overlook. Think about this: if North’s confederates find out that he and his bodyguards got dogged by someone, and they think for one minute that Jana had something to do with it, what do you think happens next?” “It’s not happening,” Steve was adamant. “It’s never gonna happen.” “Look, we can put you both into witness protection. We got plenty of choices. Tell me who’s got the wolf and we can wrap this up. If they haven’t killed any civilians, we may be able to give them a get-out-of-town option. You don’t have plenty of choices. It happens again, and I drop a ton of weight on your girlfriend. I use her to get to you, and I don’t give a crap if you tell her what I said. I’ll put a thousand eyes on her, and when she snorts her next line we take her to MCC. She can’t handle Metro, and she’ll break apart because of you.” “You’re all wrong, Darko,” Steve insisted. ‘I’ll stay home and watch TV next month, you can stuff your wolves up your a*s. You’re scratching for leads and you don’t have s**t. I saw it in Bosnia, when they don’t have anything they make something. I won’t give you anything. You put your rats right on my porch, I don’t give you shit.” “Yeah, so how’re your boys gonna make it happen?” Darko called after him as he headed for the subway. “You gonna turn into a wolf?” Steve walked away wordlessly, the safety and security of Jana Dragona as an overwhelming concern pounding in his head.