by Roy Glenn
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t stutter, what the fuck really happened?” She just sat there and looked at me with those eyes. Those eyes that got me into this mess in the first place. “Look, Mrs. Childers, I mean, Gee, I killed Chilly, he’s dead. It’s over. So, why don’t you tell me the truth?”
“Nick, I don’t know what to say. I—”
“You knew where Jake was all along, didn’t you? You knew all about this synthetic crack shit.”
“Yes.”
“That seems like a good enough place to start.”
Gee fumbled around for a second or two, and then she got up and poured herself a drink. “Chilly wasn’t there the night Jake came looking for him,” she said as she poured. “I asked him what he wanted to see Chilly about.”
Wednesday June 30: 9:15 PM
“Come ride with me, Gee. We need to talk,” Jake said.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“I’m in trouble, Gee. Maybe we all are.”
“That’s nothing new. What’s wrong now?”
“Three months ago, Chilly came to me with this formula. Says it’s gonna make all of us rich. He wanted me to develop it for him.”
“What kind of formula?”
“For synthetic crack.”
“What do you mean, synthetic crack?”
“It’s a chemical compound that has the same effect as crack, only there’s no cocaine in it. All the ingredients are legal, and it is twenty times cheaper to produce. Only problem is people died from using it.”
“You did it? You made it for him?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Gee. LaShawn sold some to some people she gets high with, and they all died.”
“My god, Jake, why did you do it?”
“Why do you think? He said he would kill Chéz if I didn’t do it. What else could I do? Now he says he’s got to start covering his tracks. He said there can’t be any trace of this that will tie it back to him. That includes me, he’s gonna kill me, Gee. He’s got to; I would be the only one who can connect him with all of it.”
“You’ve got to get away from here, Jake. Far away, where he’ll never find you.”
“Live in reality, Gee. Didn’t you try that? Didn’t he find you? Didn’t he shoot me in my fuckin’ leg until you said you would come back? You remember that, don’t you?”
“All right! All right, Jake. What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Jake, you got to disappear.”
“No, Gee.”
“Yes, Jake, listen to me. What if the cops could tie all this back to Chilly? They’d have him for murder. And we’d be free, Jake.”
“You want me to go to the cops?”
“No, but the cops need the evidence, and it has to be solid enough, so he doesn’t get off.”
“How we gonna do that without going to the cops? And I’m not going into witness protection. He’ll find me and kill me. He’ll kill all of us.”
I looked at Mrs. Childers thinking that this is the story I’ve been waiting to hear since this whole thing began.
“What happened then?” I asked.
“I told Jake that we’re not going to tell the cops a thing. That he had to disappear, go to the little hideaway he had in the Hamptons. Chilly doesn’t know about the place. Then I told him that I’d hire a private detective to find him. That you would get the evidence we needed and turn it over to the cops.”
“So you hired me. And led me into all this.”
“I didn’t mean for anybody to get hurt.”
“Except me.”
“This is your business, Nick. You were getting paid to take the risk.”
“Who hit me that first night in Jake’s apartment?”
“Jake. He went there to put the formula in the safe so you would find it. But you got there first. He thought Chilly sent you so he took off your glove to get your fingerprints on something, so the police would connect you to Chilly.”
“How did Jake break his neck?”
“The night that you went to see Lisa Ellison.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“After you left her house, she went to see Chéz to find out what was going on. They argued, but Chéz didn’t tell her anything.”
“Chézaráy was in on it too.”
“Of course she was. Lisa told Chéz that she thought she knew where Jake might be, and she was going out there in the morning. Chéz called me and I went out there to warn him.”
“Why?”
“She didn’t need to know. Lisa was weak. If anybody put pressure on her, she’d give the whole thing up and that would ruin everything. So I went out there to tell Jake she was coming and not to let her know he was there.”
“What happened?”
“When I got there, I told Jake that Lisa was coming out there and that he shouldn’t talk to her.”
Wednesday July 15; 11:45 PM
“Why not, Gee?”
“Jake, don’t you see how that will ruin everything? If she knows where you are, she’ll give you up the first time somebody asks her anything. You know how she is, Jake. If Chilly steps to her and says boo, you know she’ll drop the whole thing.”
“Okay, okay. Anything else I need to know about?”
“Yes.”
“What now, Gee?”
“There is something else I have to tell you.” I stood up and walked to the window. I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell him, but he needed to know. I took a deep breath and turned to face Jake. “I don’t know how to say this any other way, so I’m just gonna drop it. Jake, LaShawn is dead.”
Jake jumped up from the couch. “What?”
“She’s dead, Jake. And so is Pamela.”
“What? How?”
“They both Od’d on that stuff you created.”
“That’s not possible!”
“I’m sorry, Jake.”
Jake ran up the stairs and I went after him. He stopped at the top of the steps. He started to cry. “Why?”
“You said it yourself; everyone who knew about it had to die.”
“But Pamela didn’t have anything to do with this. Why did Chilly have to kill her?”
“I don’t know, Jake.”
“You didn’t say anything about that. They weren’t supposed to die.” He was getting hysterical. “That wasn’t part of your great plan, Gee!” He grabbed me by my shoulders and started to shake me. “Why, Gee? Why? Why did they have to die?” Jake screamed.
“Stop it, Jake, you’re hurting me.”
“Why?” Jake screamed at me.
“He just kept shaking me. He was hurting me! So I pushed him off of me. I didn’t think I pushed him that hard, but he lost his balance and fell down the steps. I tried to grab him, Nick, but I couldn’t hold him. As long as I live, I never will forget how he looked. His head was tipped to the side. Lying there like he was staring at me. I ran down the steps, I shook him. I screamed his name, but he was dead.”
She started crying.
I didn’t sweat her about it. She killed her brother. I couldn’t even imagine the burden she must be carrying around with her.
“I didn’t mean to kill him. Really, I didn’t push him that hard. I didn’t! He just lost his balance.”
I put my arms around her and held her. Trying to give her a chance to compose herself. I still had a lot more questions to ask. I didn’t want to, but I had to.
“What did you do then?”
She tried to pull herself together enough to answer me.
“I panicked, Nick. I ran out of there.”
“Where’d you go?”
“I went to Chéz’s apartment. I told her what happened. I was practically hysterical. But Chéz was calm. Calmer than I was anyway. She cried a little and said that we would deal with it in the morning. Then she gave me some of her sleeping pills and made me go to bed. We went back out there early the next morning. We both cried when we first saw him lying
there, staring at us. Chéz rushed over and closed his eyes. Then she turned to me.”
“We got to move the body, Gee.”
“I can’t, Chéz. I can’t, Chéz, I killed him.”
“Gee, you got to pull it together.”
“No! We have to call the police.”
“Don’t make me slap you, Gee. It’s too late for that now. This has gone too far. Jake is dead, Gee. You going to jail for life ain’t gonna change that. Now help me get him to the car.”
Chéz went and got a blanket, and we wrapped him up in it. It wasn’t easy, but we dragged him out to the car and into the trunk.
“We’ll make it look like Chilly killed him.”
“How are we gonna do that?”
Chéz didn’t answer me. She went back in the house and came back with her purse. Chézaráy pulled out a gun with a handkerchief wrapped around it.
“What are you doing?” She walked up to the car and shot Jake in the head. “Are you crazy?”
“Chilly always carries a .9. Do you remember when Chilly shot Jake in the leg?”
“Yes.”
“This is the gun that he used. He left it there. He said it was so I’d know that he will come back and kill me with it. It’s his gun, Gee. The cops will think that he shot him.”
“We heard a car pull up in the driveway, we turned around and Lisa was getting out of her car. She ran toward us screaming. She saw Chéz shoot him. We tried to explain, but she wouldn’t listen. She just kept screaming, you killed him! Then she ran back to her car and drove away. We went after her; she drove to her house and went inside. She had calmed down a little by that time, and she let us in. I told her what happened and why we did what we did.”
“You two are crazy if you think I’m going to believe that story.” Lisa picked up the phone. “All I know is that I saw you kill Jake. I’m calling the police.”
Chéz said, “I can’t let you do that, Lisa. This is our chance to be free of that animal. Put the phone down, Lisa.”
“Lisa, please, I’m not lying to you, it was an accident. Please put the phone down. Lisa don’t do this.”
She started to dial. “I’m not gonna ask you again, hang up that phone.” Chéz pulled out the gun and pointed it at Lisa. “Put the phone down.”
When Lisa saw the gun, she freaked out and started screaming. “You’re gonna kill me!” Then she ran at Chéz. They fought for the gun.
“Stop it! Chéz, stop!”
“The gun went off. I looked at Lisa. I could see it in her eyes. Chéz dropped the gun and backed away from her. I watched Lisa fall to the floor.”
“Don’t tell me. It was an accident.”
“Nick, you have to believe me. I’m telling you the truth. That’s exactly how it happened. We never meant to kill anybody. We never meant for any of this to happen.”
“That’s a pretty fantastic story.”
I got up and looked around. I picked up my glass and walked slowly into the other room. I needed a drink. I poured a glass of Johnnie Black and drank it down. I poured another one. I could hear her crying. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought about calling the police. But I didn’t want to. She was in enough pain. She had killed her brother, and she was just as responsible for Lisa’s death as Chézaráy.
Maybe it was an accident, her story fit the facts. I couldn’t be sure. She had been lying to me from the start. Everything she had told me was a lie. She was good at it. I poured her a shot of Hennessey and took it to her.
“Here, drink this, you look like you could use it.”
Her hands were shaking. “Thank you.” She drank hers straight down and let the empty glass fall out of her hand. She looked up at me with those eyes. They didn’t look so pretty now. Her tears left a trail of black from her mascara.
“What are you gonna do now? Are you gonna call the police?”
“No. Well, that depends.”
“On what, Nick?”
“You have anything else you want to tell me about?”
“Like what?”
“Did you kill Pamela or LaShawn?”
“No.”
“What about Rocky? You and Chézaráy kill him too?”
“No!”
“You sure?”
“No! I mean yes! I’m sure.”
“Who shot Monika?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Jett? Who killed Jett?”
“I don’t know anything about either of them, Nick. Please, you’ve got to believe me.”
“Why should I believe you now?” I had to ask. “You’ve told me nothing but lies since page one. Why should I believe anything you tell me now, Mrs. Childers? I’m sorry, Gee. Tell me why should I?”
“I have no reason to lie to you now.”
I finished my drink and stood up. “Okay.” I picked up the phone and dialed.
“Who are you calling?”
“I’m not calling the police.”
Freeze answered on the first ring.
“Yo.”
“I need you to back me up.”
“When and where?”
“Now. I’ll be there to pick you up in about an hour.”
“I’ll be here.”
I hung up the phone and started for the door. Mrs. Childers got up and ran behind me. “Where are you going?”
“To a family reunion.”
Chapter Twenty-four
I was tired.
I hadn’t slept in two days.
And I needed a shower.
But I didn’t care.
I drove as fast as I could to Cuisine to pick up Freeze. As I drove, I couldn’t help but think about the story I’d just heard.
“Wow.”
That was about all I could say about it. “Wow.”
I had to reconcile within myself the fact that Chilly hadn’t killed Jake or Lisa. He probably didn’t have anything to do with Rocky, Pamela, or LaShawn either. I pretty much figured that LaShawn’s death was, like everything else, an accident. She more likely than not just got a hold of the wrong package.
It was Gee who dominated my thoughts. I couldn’t turn her over to the police. She had been through enough in her lifetime. Her life, to this point, had been filled with nothing but betrayal and violence. For the rest of her life, she would have to deal with the sight of Jake’s dead body staring at her.
Hearing his last words, “Why, Gee?” over and over again. She would have to live knowing that Chézaráy killed Lisa so she could be free. And all this was the result of her association with Chilly.
That, to me, was punishment enough.
But now Chilly was dead.
I killed him.
He had caused so many people so much pain. In a way, he was responsible for all the deaths. Maybe he deserved to die, maybe not. It wasn’t for me to judge. I understand now why it was so important for Mike to get out of the drug business and go legit. He had too much of a conscience, too much love for life to continue with the legacy that André set out for us; the path Chilly followed. I respected and appreciated Black more now than I had at any time in the last ten years. When all this is over, I have to call and thank him, not only for bailing me out, but for giving me so much to remind me of who I am and where I came from. Maybe I would even swallow my pride and make peace with Bobby. It was long overdue.
When I got to Cuisine and went inside, I found Freeze sitting by the door, ready to go. “What took you so long?”
“Traffic.”
“Well, let’s go,” he said practically jumping to his feet.
“You drive.” We started out the door. “Wait! I need three clean weapons.”
“Three .9s?”
“No, .45’s.”
“You? Packin’ a .45? Why the change?” he asked as we got in his truck.
“Kirk knows that a .9 is my weapon of choice. And I’m tired of talking to him.”
“Oh, by the way,” Freeze said. “Wanda came here looking for you.”
“Did s
he really?”
“Yeah, she did. She said if I saw you, I should tell you not to do anything stupid.”
“Okay, you told me. And I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’m going to kill somebody. And you’re going to make sure that I don’t do anything stupid.”
“You starting to sound like the Nick I used to know.”
“I’m starting to feel like him too.”
“It’s good to have you back, Nick. I don’t want to sound soft or nothing like that, but I missed you man.”
“I missed all of you.”
We stopped at Cynt’s; one of the gambling houses we’ve run for years. “We.” I felt a part of all this again. Maybe this is what Wanda meant when she said I needed to recognize.
“Hey, Freeze. And who is this fine ass man you got with you?” Cynt said as she twisted her hips in our direction.
“How’s it going Cynt?” She threw her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss that raised an eyebrow on Freeze. Like there was some past thing between us that I never knew about.
“How are you, Nick? I heard you were back in the city. I was wondering, like everybody else, why you hadn’t come around. But I see you picked back up with your old thug buddy here.”
“Let’s go to your office Cynt. I need to get something out of your safe.” Freeze said.
“You two rolling together, just like old times.” Cynt said and turned toward the steps to her office.
I looked at Freeze. He looked at me. We both watched Cynt walk her big pretty ass up the steps. We both smiled.
“Just like old times.”
Once we were in her office, Cynt opened the safe and stepped aside. She had a small arsenal in that safe. “Help yourself. They’re all clean, acid on the serial numbers. Damn near impossible to trace.”
I stepped up and picked out three .45s and two silencers. Freeze grabbed one too and an AK47, “Just in case things get thick out there.”
“That should thin things out nicely,” Cynt threw in.
“Got any gloves, Cynt?” I asked.
“What do I look like, Macy’s?”
“Come on Nick, I got some for you in the truck. Let’s go.”
“Good to see you again Cynt,” I said as I followed Freeze out the office.