Not in the Cards

by Alex Westmore

  “Richardson was a pedophile?”

  “A kiddie-lover. Yep. At least, he was right before he got whacked.”

  “What about the neighbors?”

  “No one saw a thing.”

  “Time of death?”

  “They’d been dead a couple of days.”

  Delta rolled over and wrote everything on the pad she kept by her bed. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. We found a bunch of porno videos behind the bookshelf in the bedroom. They were rented from Kempt’s Porn Palace on Esplanade.”

  “Any with kids?”

  “All, but they were added to the end of the tape so you wouldn’t know they were there unless you scrolled through the first movies credits.”

  Chills swept over Delta’s entire body. “You think it’s them?”

  “Can’t be sure yet. It sure doesn’t look as professional as that memo made these characters sound. Pretty sloppy, as a matter-of-fact. According to their MO, the bad boy ring leaves little evidence behind. Usually, they destroy entire buildings. Something went sour on ’em.”

  “Wonder what happened.”

  “Oh, I know what happened. Dear old Mrs. Lanning next door is what happened. Apparently, she had been nosing around the place. My guess is she made them nervous so they got out of there before she could ID anyone.”

  “So she didn’t see anything?”

  “Nope. They’re very good. I tell ya, Stevie, they didn’t leave much, but what they did leave could give us a lead.”

  Us? Delta smiled. It would seem that some of her alleged vigilantism had rubbed off on the irascible detective. “I’ll check my sources, Leonard, and give you a call if I come up with anything.”

  “Do that. Oh, and do us both a favor and call me at home. The last time we got mixed up together, I ended up losing a week’s pay.”

  Delta nodded. “Gotcha. Keep in touch.”

  “You, too. And try to stay out of trouble.”

  Hanging up the phone, Delta wrote down a few notes before picking the receiver up once more and pressing the first number of her auto-dial. “Con, it’s me. Wake up. We’ve got some work to do.”

  When Delta walked into Connie’s house without knocking, as she usually did, she immediately smelled the welcome aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She loved Connie and Gina’s cozy home and the warmth it exuded. She knew she would come to love it even more when there was a child running about.

  “If you’re still in the sack, finish it up and get on out here!” Delta yelled down the hall before walking into the kitchen to find Gina holding two cups of coffee.

  “You’re too late,” Gina said, grinning. “Quickdraw MacGraw struck again.” Handing Delta her Phantom of the Opera mug, Gina stood on tiptoe to kiss Delta’s cheek. “Gotta run, Sugar. You two behave, you hear?”

  “Now why is it everyone feels compelled to say something like that to me?”

  Opening the front door, Gina laughed. “You’re kidding, right?” And with that, she whisked out the door.

  “Did you run my girlfriend off again?” Connie asked, taking Delta’s cup from her and sipping the steaming coffee.

  “I guess so.”

  After fixing herself a cup, Connie plopped in front of her computer and waited patiently for it to finish beeping, clicking and whirring at her. “Okay, what have we got so far?”

  “Not much. No ID on the kid, but he looks Hispanic and—”

  Connie turned from the computer and frowned. “Why is it that everyone assumes that a caramel-colored person with dark hair is Hispanic?”

  “I said he looks Hispanic. He could be Greek for all I know.”

  Connie harrumphed and returned her attention to the computer. “What else?”

  “The guy rented videos from Kempt’s Porn Palace.”

  “There’s a good start. I’ll access their files to get a list of all the movies Richardson rented in the past year. We can see if they were produced by the same company.”

  “For what purpose?”

  Connie sipped her coffee before answering. “You have to remember, Delta, that our suspects are in town looking for the big score. They’re motivated by money. We don’t know what connection, if any, Richardson had with them, but we do know he was into video excitement, and they are into video production. I’ll wager Mr. Deceased Richardson is a star in one of the up-and-coming snuff flicks. So, we’ll check and see what kind of movies he rented and if there’s any correlation with the way he was found.”

  Delta shook her head. “Geez, you’re good.”

  Connie shrugged the compliment off. “I get paid to think, so here I am...thinking.”

  Delta grinned. God, she loved Connie Rivera. “What next?”

  “You hit the streets and see what you can find out about Kempt’s. It’s a little shithole next to a dive bar, but they have some very interesting clients. Kempt’s has been around for nearly twenty years. You don’t stay in that kind of business unless your customers have lots of dough.”

  “So, I hit the streets and see what I can find, Leonard will pursue his normal line of investigation, and you’ll pirate whatever you need from the computers.”

  Connie nodded and clicked the mouse twice before turning to Delta. “You know why Leonard’s helping, don’t you?”

  Delta shook her head.

  “He’s involved for the same reasons we are; he feels as responsible for Helen’s death as we do. I heard him talking to one of the guys the other day, and you can believe me when I say that her death has really affected him. He thinks if only he would have, could have, might have, etcetera.”

  Nodding in slow understanding, Delta sighed. “He’s not such a bad guy after all.”

  “No, he’s not. He truly cares. Russ Leonard is a ‘go by the book’ kind of guy. The fact that he’s out of bounds should tell you something. This is a big, big deal.”

  Indeed, it was. Delta had despised Russ Leonard for his narrow views during the Zuckerman case, and when they needed his help most, he refused because what she and Connie wanted done wasn’t “correct procedure.” Shortly after he turned them down, Zuckerman killed Helen, and her blood stained everyone’s hands who had worked on the case, including one hard-headed detective.

  And now here he was, offering to help Delta do what no one but the feds were supposed to be doing, and no one had heard from them since the sergeant read the memo.

  “I’ll hit the streets with my little Italian Albatross tonight and see what I dig up.”

  “Good. In the meantime, I have a few other places Eddie needs to visit before I root around in Kempt’s computer basement.”

  Finishing her coffee, Delta started for the door. “We’ll connect again tonight.”

  “You got it. Oh, and Del?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Stay out of trouble.”

  Getting into the patrol car, Delta thought back to the when her friendship with Jennifer grew deeper, after Miles’s death. Understanding each other’s need to share stories about the man they both loved gave them a bond that lasted well after the wounds had finally healed. When Jennifer discovered that men were interested in her, it was Delta who convinced her that it was okay to start dating again. It was Delta who stood by her through that first date and reassured her Miles would have wanted her to be happy. after all, when Delta had been given a new partner, Jennifer stood by her as she and Jan got to know each other. When it was time for Jennifer to start living again, Delta held her hand and promised to stay by her regardless of who she saw or what she did. Life was for the living, and while they both would forever carry the memories of Miles Brookman, it was time they both moved beyond the past. When Jennifer finally stepped away from Miles’s shadow, Delta babysat for the two children who called her “Aunt.” Delta loved those kids. Both of them had Miles’s gentle disposition and zany sense of humor. They loved to hear stories about their father, and Delta was only too happy to share what she knew about the man they had only known for a short while. Their persona
lities were composites of the man Delta would have given her life for, and nothing short of death would prevent her from seeing that no harm ever came to either of them.

  It was a promise she’d made at Miles’s gravesite, and one she intended to keep for the rest of her life.

  “Hey, Delta, you okay?” Tony asked, slowing down as they passed a convenience store.

  Inhaling slowly, Delta shrugged. “I had a hard time sleeping last night, that’s all.”

  “This kiddie case?” Delta nodded.

  “You gotta be pretty whacked out to do shit like that.”

  Turning so she faced him, Delta looked hard at Tony’s profile. “Definitely whacked out. I’m all for First Amendment rights, but you’ve gone way over the line when you start exploiting kids. Way over the line.”

  “Did you see the faces on the guys at the scene who have kids?” Tony asked.

  Delta nodded. “I can’t imagine how they must feel. You’re right. Children used to be the one thing we held dear. Now, they’re at a greater risk than ever. Remember when you could just hop on your bike and ride over to the park to play basketball with your friends?”

  Tony nodded, a grin slowly forming on his lips. “Yeah, and when everyone on your block would go trick-or-treating together and you didn’t have to worry about razors in apples or drugs in the candy?”

  “And you could play kick-the-can until midnight because your parents felt safe leaving you out on the streets?”

  Tony blew a big breath from his mouth. “Those were the days, eh?”

  “Yeah. And now, we’ve got these assholes in our city, killing children, and we’re supposed to sit back and let the FBI take over. Right.”

  “You’ve never sat back in the past.” The words seem to jump out of Tony’s mouth.

  “Look, Carducci, I shot those men because I had to. As much as it may appear, I am not the vigilante the academy stories portray me as. You do what you have to do out here to make sure that your number one objective is accomplished. Did they tell you what that objective is?”

  “To make the streets safe?”

  Delta smiled a patient smile. She remembered that silly line from her own academy training years ago. “No, Carducci. Our number one objective out here is to make sure that we both get home safely. No matter what happens out here, no matter how many damn rules and regs you have to break, you remember that that’s our greatest priority. We may have to hurt people to make it happen, but that’s part of the job. We’re not sacrificial lambs, Carducci, even if the taxpayers think they own us. You got that?”

  Tony nodded. “Gotcha. And that’s what you were doing when you shot those guys?”

  “Exactly. And no matter what else you hear, that’s the only reason I pulled the trigger. And I’d do it all over again if I thought it meant the difference between driving myself home and being carried away in an ambulance. There’s nothing heroic about self-preservation, Carducci. And make no mistake about it, that’s exactly what it was.”

  Tony nodded. “I got it.”

  “Do you? And do you understand that sometimes that means breaking the rules? Because if our lives are ever at risk, I don’t care how many rules and regs you’ve got to break, I want you to break them. Do you understand that?”

  “I hear you loud and clear.”

  Delta backed down a bit. “Good. And I’ll deny saying that if you ever try to burn me with it. We’re partners, Carducci, and after your own hide, my safety comes next. We take care of each other, no matter what it takes.”

  Tony nodded. “I read you, Delta. Honest, I do.”

  “Anything you want to say before we drop this conversation?”

  Tony shook his head. “You amaze the hell out of me, that’s all.”

  “Well, stop being amazed and just assure me that you’ll do what it takes to keep us alive.”

  Tony nodded vigorously. “Don’t you worry, Delta Stevens. Breaking rules is my second favorite activity.” Turning for a moment to direct his smile at Delta, Tony shook his head like a little boy. “There’s only one thing those academy stories didn’t exaggerate on.”

  “What’s that?”

  “What a tough woman you really are. You don’t mess around, do you?”

  Delta shook her head. “Not out here.”

  Tony moved his eyes back to the road. “Not at all is more like it. You and your friend really kicked ass outside the bar that night. You two meant business. I...I never really thanked you. I suppose it’s the macho Italian in me, but I can’t say I’ve ever been rescued by a woman before.”

  Suppressing a smile, Delta faced the front again and watched two prostitutes slink through the crosswalk. “Oh, so that’s the reason for your cavalier, albeit reckless, attitude?”

  “I come from a very traditional Italian family, where the man is the strong one. The man makes the decisions and the woman’s place is to maintain his castle. I’ve never been one to rely on a woman for much of anything.”

  “Except sex?” the words escaped Delta’s mouth before she could stop them.

  “That’s not what I meant. It’s a cultural thing. My mama spent her life in the kitchen and my two older sisters got married right out of high school. My family is Old World and it’s sort of in my blood. I won’t apologize for it, Delta, but I do try to keep up with the times. I’ve ticked off enough women to know the Old World attitude ain’t happening. That kind of shit isn’t going to get me through the door, let alone in the sack.”

  Delta shook her head. “You mean you’re aware of your disgusting macho behavior?”

  Tony shrugged, but did not take his eyes off the road. “Yeah. I try to control it, but my father had a big influence on me. ‘Son,’ he’d say just before I went out on a date, ‘just don’t get her pregnant.’ That was my only worry. Forget her feelings, forget she has a mind; after all, he treated Mama like she was some kind of servant. ‘Get me a beer, get me my dinner. Stop that kid from crying.’ It wasn’t until I moved out of the house that I realized most women in this country refuse to be treated the way he treated my mother. But by then, I had already learned a lot of stupid things.”

  Delta didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, she realized she had judged the book too soon. Tony Carducci, the macho man, was merely a facade hiding the real man his father would be ashamed of. He was a victim of the backwards, archaic social standards, and probably just recently realized that most women didn’t want to be bashed over the head and dragged out of a room by their hair.

  “So, you’re not as big of a chauvinistic asshole as you appear?”

  Tony grinned. “Not always. I have my moments. But when you grow up in a neighborhood full of other tougher Italians, you develop a tough exterior real quick.”

  “You mean there’s hope?” Delta smiled and patted his hairy arm.

  Tony grinned. “Sort of. But cut me some slack in the female department. I may know how to woo them, but it’s a new thing to have to work with one.”

  “Have to?” Delta goaded.

  “Ah, man, you never let up, do you? I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Laughing, Delta shook her head and rolled down the window. It was a beautiful Indian Summer night. “If you’re going to ‘have to’ work with me, Carducci, you’ve got to get one thing straight.”

  Tony groaned. “And that is?”

  “Try to remember to put your machismo in your locker before you hit the streets.”

  Tony nodded. “I’ll try. But I can’t make any promises. I’m not very good at those, either.”

  Delta smiled warmly at him. “Somehow, Carducci, I’m not surprised.”

  Delta looked forward to lunch with Alexandria all day. Something about the District Attorney’s calm assertiveness drew Delta to her. Something about her kept Delta on edge, kept her guessing from one minute to the next. She was a woman who took chances, who put faith in other people, who rose to every challenge like a champion. When Connie’s life had been in danger, when they were thrust in the middle of a
serial killer bent on destroying not only Connie but many others as well, Alexandria risked her own career to support Delta and Connie’s efforts to bring him in. There were few people in Delta’s life who garnered so much respect, but Alexandria Pendleton was one of them.

  Looking up from her coffee, Delta watched the tall, slender woman stride into the restaurant carrying a briefcase in one hand and a silk jacket in the other. Tossing her long auburn hair over her shoulder, Alexandria casually leaned over to the hostess and whispered something to her. When the hostess glanced up, she grabbed a menu and started toward Delta’s table.

  “Alex,” Delta said, greeting her with a tender hug Delta saved only for her closest friends. “It’s been too long.” Pulling away, Delta motioned for her to sit down.

  Laying her briefcase on the seat next to hers, Alexandria ordered a glass of white zinfandel before turning to Delta.

  “Are you angry with me?”

  Delta grinned warmly. “Because of this TP thing?”

  Alexandria nodded. “I didn’t know what else to do.” Alexandria’s gray-green eyes penetrated Delta’s. “I knew how much it would kill you to be behind a desk. I did everything I could, but my hands were tied.”

  For as long as they’d known each other, Alexandria had always played it straight with Delta. No matter what the situation called for, Delta could count on Alexandria to dispense with unneeded particulars and cut to the chase. It was Alexandria who gave Delta the time she needed to find Elson Zuckerman. It was Alexandria who fulfilled her promise to put Miles’s murderers away for life. She was one of the few people Delta trusted implicitly, and if Alexandria Pendleton said her hands were tied, then Delta believed her.

  “No, I’m not angry, Alex. When Captain Henry said it was your suggestion, I knew you were trying to keep my career alive.”

  Alexandria drew in a long breath, then sighed. “Internal Affairs went over every inch of your file. They pulled things out of there that would make you dizzy.”

  “Were they looking for anything in particular?”

  Alexandria shrugged. “My personal opinion is that they were looking for a reason to hang the lesbian out to dry. You know how narrow-minded IA can be.”