Lucifer's Apostles

Lucifer's Apostles Episode 20

When Ruby arrived at the house, she parked her Tesla next to the granny flat and called Jacko on his phone. When he answered, she said, “Come to the flat to meet me right away”.

“I’m a little busy at the moment, Mam”, he replied.

She hated the term Mam but held her tongue. “Jacko, I know Tipsy is there, and she can manage things for a little while. If you are not here in the next three minutes, the family jewels you have between your legs will be my next earrings”.

“I don’t have any jewels on me, Mam”, he said. Jacko knocked on the front door and entered the flat ten minutes and three messages after she had hung up. “Morning, Mam”, he said.

“Jacko, if you call me that again, I swear I will hang you up over the Sydney Harbour Bridge by your feet”. Jacko laughed hard. He held his hand on his stomach and started laughing harder. “What is so funny?” Ruby asked.

Laughing is contagious, and she had trouble not laughing herself, even though she had no idea why he was laughing. She had to wait for him to stop before he could answer. “I was just picturing you”, he laughed again, “trying to hold my body over the bridge, Mam”. He burst out laughing again. This time, Ruby could not stop herself from joining in.

When they finally stopped, Ruby put her serious face on again. “No more, Mam Jacko. I do not like it”. She looked at him sternly. “Now sit down while I talk to you”. Jacko pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, looking at her. “Think, Jacko, not the van you just stole but the one before. Do you know where you stole it from?” she asked.

Jacko looked at her and said, “Yeah, Sha Farahani’s garage. He had it parked right up the back. He wouldn’t know it was missing. He’s a knob, he always gives me a tough time, I thought I’d pay him back. Did he tell on me, Mrs”?

Ruby thought that was no better than Mam. “Call me Ruby. No, he did not tell on you. You are right. I doubt that he knew it was missing”, she told him. “It has created a mess, Jacko. Two cops are dead, and Sha is on his way to the hospital, fighting for his life. Sam Beckett is coming here as soon as he can. You mangled Sally Bradford’s face. You are good at what you do. You are just dumb sometimes”. As soon as she saw the look on his face, she wished she could take her last words back. She knew that he had been bullied at school because of his weight and the fact that he was not overly bright.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get nobody killed”, he said.

“I have another church member coming to replace Tommy. I want you to teach Tommy everything you do. Is that okay?” she asked.

“Three of us won’t fit in the van, Ma, I mean Ruby. I’ll teach him. He better keep up because I don’t wait for no one except Snake”, Jacko answered.

Ruby sat in silence for a minute. She could send him to another state or to hide out in a rural town. That would be a waste of time. She knew he would always get himself into trouble. She did not wish to do what needed to be done.

“Send Snake in when you go back, please”, Ruby told him. Jacko stood up and walked towards the door he had entered from.

He stopped and turned back towards her. “I’m not sure about that. Snake will be asleep. He’ll be angry if I wake him”.

“Who is the boss here?” she reminded him.

“You are Mam”, he said, walking out the door, leaving Ruby smiling. He was a lovable character at times. She knew it would be a mistake to anger him. He proved that with Sally.

She made a call to Joe Hawkins while she waited for Snake to arrive. Joe told her that Farahani had been announced deceased on the way to the hospital. It was one less problem to worry about. He told her that Tank Dodge was one of the best and that she should consider cancelling the ritual. She told him that was not an option and hung up.

Snake entered the room and sat in the chair Jacko had occupied. He looked even more dog-tired than he did last night. “Hey, sorry for waking you”.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “All’s good. I needed to wake anyway. I need to fill the empty room”.

Ruby stood up and walked around to the back of his chair. She rubbed his shoulders, saying, “There has been a change of plan”. She told him what had transpired this morning in as much detail as she knew. “So, we cannot use our original targets. How would you go with the woman with the dog?” she asked.

“Holy crap” was all he could say, followed up with “I’ve only seen her once”.

“I need you more than ever”, Ruby pleaded, “Can you find someone, maybe a previous client’s ex-wife”?

“You’re making it hard for me, Sugar. You said you’d get me help. I’ll give it my best shot. I can think of a couple of options. The big knobs in the cops aren’t helping as much as they promised”, Snake said.

“He helped this morning, and Louise will help when she can”. Ruby then told Snake about Ned’s algorithm that led to everything. “That did not help our cause. Everything for our saviour”.

“It’s your saviour, not mine, Sugar. Louise wasn’t watching him that closely for an algorithm to slip by her. I love Louise like a sister, but the whole female supremacy angle she tries to weave is a bit much for me. All humans should be equals. If men aren’t better than women, why would women be better than men?” he asked.

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Your help is arriving shortly. I can tell you that she is thirty-two and has worked in an investigative position for ASIO”.

“You are teaming me with a spy? That’ll be different. She’ll know more targets than I do”, Snake said seriously.

“Did you get your dog for Sally? I am not sure if you should be becoming emotionally attached to one of the women. It is unhealthy. It may cause problems when the time comes to say goodbye”. Ruby was being as blunt as she thought she needed to be.

“You know that women are my weakness. I think that you all should be treated like princesses. Am I contradicting myself?” he asked. “I guess Louise might have a point. I haven’t been out to see whether I can get the mutt”.

“I am not sure what is going on inside your tiny brain. I doubt that you have that answer either. The main objective is the finish line”, Ruby replied. “Have you got any ideas on a new target”?

“I do. Indeed, my dognapping will have to wait”, was his reply.

“You need to reconsider the dognapping altogether, Snake. I think Sally’s parents have been through enough already”, she said, standing to walk out with him.