14 Just a Friend

Jack's jaw drops. This stranger tied up this woman, Kathy, before they even arrived? 

The muscular stranger says, "But you might want to put Nikazzi and this woman Kathy on a suicide watch before you turn them in. You don't want them to die before their dirty laundry is aired out."

Jack instantly switches on a fight mode, inspecting the stranger in front of him.  This guy is well-built and tall.  He's probably 6-foot-4 tall.  And the lean lines of his flesh are visible even through his shirt.  The military crew cut hairstyle makes Jack think this man might be an ex-military guy.  He looks to be in his 30s. 

"Who are you?" Jacks asks cautiously. Jack also strategizes in his head how he could take this guy down.  He could probably take him down by first kicking him to make him fall over.

"Oh, I'm just a friend," the stranger makes a brushing gesture, like it's not important who he is and why he is in this apartment.

"How do you find Kathy Mason?" Jack points at Kathy.

"After I heard that you were going to take care of this bastard prosecutor, I figured I could go ahead and start. I just started to follow this bastard Nikazzi. Luckily, Nikazzi comes to see this old hag last night, that's how I found her." The stranger says in a neutral tone. He sounds almost bored, like he finished his homework early and wanted to do something else now.

This is very weird.  What is going on? Does this stranger want to help beating up people? 

Nikazzi is now struggling under Jack's foot. He yelled at the stranger: "You followed me? Who the F* are you?"

Jack looks down at Nikazzi, "Shhh. We are talking. Be quiet," Jack then turns his face back to this stranger, "Did... someone tell you I was going to take care of Nikazzi?"

"You did."

"Huh?"

"No one told me anything. I put a bug on your car. You really shouldn't be driving this gray, beat-up car everywhere you go. It's very obvious. That's why I found your car very easily."

Oh shit.  Jack realizes he probably should be careful with the car and his identity.

"I could hear the conversation on your phone, even though you didn't put it on speaker. This bug does a pretty good job."

"But why did you even want to bug me—"  Jack's eyes go wide, "What the hell?"

"Don't worry, I only just started to follow you this week. You haven't been followed for too long. Would've liked to see how you did your other jobs.  You know, the job of beating up felons and parolees who break the laws again."

"You...," Jack is beyond shocked, but he stops himself.

Jack quickly figures, this stranger might not be playing on the same side as he is. If he is, why would he need to secretly tail Jack? And bugged Jack's car to find out who the target is? That is so sneaky.  But this guy obviously knows about what he is doing. This is not good. Who could this stranger be?

"Alright, thanks for following Nikazzi around. We can talk later. You want to help tie him up here for me? I want to get another statement to make sure neither of them can get away again."

Jack tries to sound firm but he feels his palms hot as this is all too weird and all too unexpected.

As this stranger ties up Nikazzi, Jack has an impulse to call Bob to see if he knows about this stranger.

"Alright, all done. What do you want to do now?" The stranger stands up straight.

"Well, I just want this Mr. Prosecutor to tire himself out a little."

Yes, Jack wants Nikazzi to be exhausted, so he can ask some more question. 

A few more minutes pass, Nikazzi finally stops struggling so hard and finally stops yelling through his taped mouth.

Jack walks over, takes the tape off, points his phone at the corrupted government employee, Carson Nikazzi, and hits the camera recording button.

The muscular stranger is now standing behind Jack, watching both Kathy and Nikazzi.

"Alright, the camera is rolling. So, Assistant Attorney General, how many cases you know that you have neglected actual evidence and fabricated your own so you could win your prosecution?" Jack asks.

Jack intends to film some more incriminating comments from both of them. The more materials against them the better. Because, Jack cannot babysit Nikazzi for too long. If Nikazzi does commit suicide after Jack leaves, at least there are two recordings of Nikazzi admitting his crimes. Then, people wouldn't think that he died as a star prosecutor who's never lost a case. He needed to be known as a disgraced, unethical attorney.

Also, Jack plans to sell this candid video to news media. Hey, why not. He knows the TV and online media pay generously for anonymous submission. This is why he is here. To humiliate this prosecutor.

"So, tell us more about your work, Nikazzi."

But Nikazzi ignores Jack's question. He stares at Jack.

Of course, Nikazzi has worked as a prosecutor all his life, he would not fall for Jack's trap so easily. So Jack moved on to Kathy.

"When did you start dating Nikazzi, Kathy?"

Kathy gives a hateful look. She's not talking either.

"Did Nikazzi extort the money you stole from the old man you killed? Did he force you to do him any sexual favor?"

"I'm not sleeping with her." Nikazzi interrupts quickly.

"Is Nikazzi paying for the rent of this apartment, Kathy?" Jack ignores Nikazzi, "And he just visited you last night. Tell me, has he threatened to expose your crime of embezzling, fraud, and murdering the old man?"

"He is a powerful man. It's easy for him to find me. He told me I didn't have to say anything anymore. He promised I wouldn't go to jail." Kathy says.

Although Kathy didn't exactly answer Jack's question, that's still good enough. Jack is just going to turn these recordings in, and let the police investigate. His mission here is to prevent Nikazzi retires smoothly. Jack wants to get authorities to launch investigation on Nikazzi and take away his pension.

"You mo* f*!" Nikazzi cusses at Jack.

Jack doesn't mind at all. The nastier things Nikazzi says on camera, the more valuable the video is.

Jack thinks this is great. He remembers what Chris Scanavino, the Police Chief told him in the office: Use your brain more. Maybe thinking of ways to humiliate bad guys is a new weapon. It's another kind of violence. He wants to explore all his weapons to deal with horrible human beings.

But he should probably find out who this stranger is first.