“Do you ever want to see him again?”
He shook his head.
“Then, we never had a talk, did we?’
He shook his head again.
“He can walk back.”
17
“Don’t get me wrong, Max,” Leo said. “I am a big fan of the direct approach, but don’t you think Manning might do more than try to kill you?”
“At this point, it’s either him or Bryant. Seems both have tried to kill me in the last few days.” I added, “Besides I am a little stymied now.”
“Maybe, but this might go beyond poking the bear,” Leo pointed toward the building in front of us. “Interrupting a man’s breakfast, that’s going to piss him off even more.”
The building that we were watching was a restaurant. Well, it was a coffee shop. Elon Manning was sitting in that coffee shop right now.
From what we learned from Tak, it seems that Manning had a relationship with Bryant. From my brief exchange with Ocansey, he didn’t care for Manning much. We surmised that the connection with Bryant was not one as mutual as Manning would like.
That meant we might broker the deal that was as old as time. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Manning might forgive our previous trespasses if we offered an opportunity to remove Bryant. Of course, we had to stay out of Manning’s crosshairs in order to negotiate this type of truce.
As we already decided that trying to talk to him at Roxie’s did seem like a suicide mission, we wanted our chat to be held on more neutral territory. That left us waiting outside the gentleman’s club until sometime past two in the morning when Manning and one of his brawny bodyguards left. Their first stop was the coffee shop on Poplar. One of those 24-hour places that still held the aroma of years of cigarette smoke despite having gone non-smoking years ago.
“I’m open to other ideas,” I said.
“No,” Leo said, “damn the torpedoes. Let’s do it.”
“You got the other guy?” I asked him.
Leo just grinned at me. I knew what he was thinking. He always had the other guy. Despite his protests at this moment, Leo preferred a direct, frontal assault. He doesn’t play at being coy.
Admittedly, his approach has merit. Before I met Leo, I would tend toward a more careful method of investigation. Yet, here I was disturbing a powerful and murderous pimp while he was eating his scattered, covered, and smothered hash browns.
Leo walked in first. The cafe smelled of breakfast, the way only a place like this did.
The grill was sizzling with bacon and hash browns. Manning and his associate were seated in a booth. Two small brown cups of coffee sat in front of them. A demure dirty blond with the pale pallor that comes from 40 years of inhaling tobacco and grease was working the griddle when we entered. She turned from the greasy grill to acknowledge our entrance with a quick nod before turning back to flip some bacon.
The only other customer was a scraggly faced man in his 60’s. His head drooped, and a slow snore rasped from his parted lips. The stale smell of whiskey floated off him.
Leo slipped deftly into the booth next to the bodyguard before either he or Manning could react. I guessed that he had the barrel of a gun pressed against the man, but whatever he did, Manning’s bodyguard’s eyes widened, and he sat motionless.
“Do you mind if I sit?” I asked Manning.
“You two don’t know when to quit, do you?” he asked as he begrudgingly moved over a few inches so I could sit beside him.
“Mr. Manning, I want to apologize for our rude and brusque behavior at your club. I’m hoping we can have a little parlay.”
“Do I look like the forgiving type?” he asked.
I shrugged. “We could call it even. You had my car shot to shit. That was a rental too. I will never be able to rent a car again after that.”
“Shame it was just the car that got shot up,” he snarled with a glare at his bodyguard.
“No worries, it was just the car,” I said. “All is forgiven.”
I slid Ocansey’s license across the table. Manning picked it up and gave it a cursory glance.
The waitress appeared, setting a plate filled with two over-easy eggs, bacon , and toast in front of Manning. The bodyguard got a waffle with a ball of butter beginning to melt into the little squares. She placed a carafe of syrup next to his plate.
Leo motioned with his chin at the waffle. “Are they any good here?’
The bodyguard regarded him with a stiff look.
Leo added, “I mean, they look fluffy.”
“Would you like one?’ the waitress asked Leo who gave her a smile.
“No, just some coffee. I’m steering clear of the carbs.” He looked at the bodyguard and said, “They’ll make you sluggish.”
The bodyguard mumbled something under his breath to Leo who just continued to smile. Very little ever seems to shake Leo’s demeanor.
The waitress looked at me. “Would you like some too?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
She returned a few seconds later and put a brown mug in front of Leo, who nodded his gratitude.
“What do you want me to do with this?” Manning asked, waving the license at me.
“You know him, right?” I asked.
He flicked the license onto the table in front of me. “Sure, I know him. That’s not what you came to ask me.”
“It’s a start,” I said. “Judging from what he said about you, I gather that he doesn’t work for you. Really it didn’t seem that he liked you much either.”
Manning picked up a fork and burst the yolk on his egg. “I wouldn’t know how he feels about me, but he doesn’t work for me.”
“He work for Bryant?” I asked.
Manning swallowed a bite of eggs and cut his eyes to me.
“Or are they partners?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“See, Mr. Manning, I had a talk with your associate, Bandhul. He didn’t want to talk at first, but we can be persuasive,” I said, “Anyway, he let on that, at least on occasion, you do favors for the Lieutenant.”
“Mr. Sawyer, right?” Manning asked in a fairly threatening tone that was supposed to assure me that he knew who I was and how to find me. “I’m a law-abiding citizen. I am always happy to assist an officer of the law.”
“Better to stay on his good side, right?” I asked. “Even if he cuts into your business.”
Manning bit into a piece of bacon.
My fingertip tapped the picture of Ocansey. “What about him? He isn’t a cop, is he?”
He quietly chewed the piece of bacon.
“Look, Mr. Manning,” I said, “I think we can have a good relationship. In fact, I bet, if you help me, then Bryant might not be a thorn in your side anymore.”
“My grandmother used to tell me that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know,” Manning commented.
“Your grandmother is right. But in this case, the devil you know is playing both sides of the street. He has to be a hindrance to your business.”
“How did you get that?” he pointed at the driver’s license.
“Mr. Ocansey left it with us after our last encounter.”
“I don’t suppose he gave it to you willingly.” He glanced between me and Leo.
“He didn’t really argue much at that point.”
Manning glanced between me and Leo again. “His name isn’t Ocansey, it’s McCoy. Paul McCoy.”
“He worked for Bryant?”
The corner of Manning’s lip lifted in a half-grin. “Worked?” He asked. “No, I think it was a partnership. I’m guessing McCoy has been out of touch with Bryant lately.”
“That’s a safe assumption,” I said.
“He’ll be getting nervous.”
I said, “I think he is there already.”
“McCoy has a friend. Mitchell.” Manning looked at his bodyguard who didn’t move and continued staring at his waffle. “Carl, what’s his first name?”
“I think, it�
��s Craig,” Carl answered.
“Right, Craig Mitchell.”
“Who is Mitchell?” I asked.
“Acquisitions. He brings in the girls from wherever he finds them. I hear he brings the party favors too.”
“Party favors?”
Manning ignored me.
“Where can we find Mitchell?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.
Manning started spreading margarine on his toast. He said, “I’m not the phone book.”
“Thank you, Mr. Manning. I owe you a favor.”
His head swiveled toward me. “I don’t need a favor from you, but I’d suggest you stay a good distance from me and my club.”
I lifted my palms and acquiesced. “I hope we never have to cross paths again.”
“One more thing,” Manning said. “The type of people that Bryant supplies are the type that make me and Carl here look like cheerleaders.”
“Any names?” I asked as I stood up. “It would make clearing the field for you easier.”
Shaking his head, Manning replied, “No, I like to steer far from the likes of those people. They lean a bit reprehensible for my tastes.”
Leo stood up and gave the two men a nod.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” I said as we left the cafe.
18
The bed was holding me tight. The phone was ringing on the nightstand. I groaned through the pillow.
“Your wake-up call,” Angela said, next to me.
With my eyes still shut, my hand felt around for the source of the annoying sound. When I got the receiver to my ear, I heard, “This is your 8 a.m. wake-up call.”
I grunted a “Thank you” before hanging up. I tried to hang up, at least. The receiver missed its cradle and dropped to the floor.
Despite the early hour, I used my pre-paid phone to send Angela a text after we left the diner. I hadn’t checked on her all day, and I wanted to make sure she was still safe and sound. Truthfully, I just wanted to see her. She responded that she was still up and asked if I wanted to come down.
Even though I felt that we left Manning on a more positive note, I wasn’t sure that going to the Preservation was the wisest decision. I had no trouble convincing myself that staying with Angela was the safest option. Leo was already planning on visiting Mama, who he swore was waiting up for him.
After Leo dropped me off at the Peabody Hotel, I gave Angela an update on how our day had gone. She had room service deliver a club sandwich that we shared as I filled in all the details. Angela was attentive to everything I said, and I found that she was easy to talk with.
By then, it was after four. My eyes were heavy, my stomach was full, and my body was exhausted. Despite any initial thoughts when I was heading to the room, the only thing I took advantage of was the feathertop mattress that the hotel had. Angela rested her head on my chest as I dropped off to sleep.
“You can sleep a little longer,” Angela whispered as she pressed against me. “No one is forcing you out of bed.”
She was comforting. For a moment, every concern running through my brain vanished. Her perfectly manicured hand on my chest was just an extension of me. If her index finger wasn’t making small circles then I would swear we were connected completely.
That reassuring thought flowed over me as I drifted back to sleep. When my eyes opened again, she was smiling at me.
“Hi,” she greeted me. “Feel a little better?”
“How long did I sleep?’
“Just a little over an hour.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek before rolling to her feet.
She walked to the bathroom, and I sat up, watching her go.
“I was thinking,” I said.
“About?” she asked through the door.
“Our last date didn’t end very well.”
The door of the bathroom opened a crack. “It was, at least, unforgettable,” she said.
“Glad you can joke about it?”
“At this moment, yes,” she said. “When I’m alone, it does come rushing horribly back.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I never wanted that.”
“It’s not your fault, Max. In the short time, we have known each other, I know that you are going to help people no matter what. If I want to be a part of that, I have to accept it.”
“Do you want to be a part of it?”
She cocked her head slightly. “I think I really do,” she said. Then, with a smile, she added, “As long as our dates don’t go like that all the time.”
“I’ll try to make them better,” I said as I walked to her.
She kissed my lips. “Now, I’m taking a shower. I have a big day of hiding out, and you have to find a girl.”
Sitting back on the bed, I listened as she started the shower.
“You know,” she said over the running water. “You should help people for a living.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You seem to be destined to do that. Why not make it your job?”
“I think I would prefer your job. Drinking alcohol seems like nice work if you can get it.”
She laughed. “Yeah, along with being hit on and groped by every sleazy bar owner in town.”
“I can’t say,” I said as I walked into the bathroom. “I’m just pretty sure that might be better than being shot at.”
“Having now done both, I’m going to say, it is about the same.”
“Hmm,” I pondered.
“Honestly, though,” she reiterated, “I’ve known you a few months now, and you seem on fire right now.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m passionate about other things,” I said with a small amount of lechery in my voice.
Angela tilted her head toward me. Her mouth, holding a seductive smirk, invited me to press my lips against hers.
“Yeah, you are,” she breathed as she pulled away from me. “Maybe there are two things you are good at.”
“I’ll be sure to list you as a reference,” I said. “You know, you aren’t the first person this week to tell me that though.”
“Something to think about then,” she said.
Leaning against the sink, I watched her strip off the nightgown she was wearing.
She caught me staring and smiled. “What’s your plan of attack today?”
“This Mitchell guy might know something.”
Stepping into the shower, she asked, “How do you do it?”
I furrowed my brow.
“I mean, how do you investigate anything? How do you get someone like this guy to talk to you?”
Leaning against the sink, I answered, “Depends really. Most of the time I make people angry. Poke a stick into enough holes and something usually comes out with bared teeth.”
“Isn’t there a better way? Something that doesn’t end up with you staring down a gun.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “I’m just not smart enough to figure it out.”
“You should try subterfuge.”
“Subter-what?,” I joked, “I said that I wasn’t that smart.”
A bar of soap flew out of the shower and hit me in the chest. “Go on now. You have some trouble to find,” she said.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I looked back and said, “Always.”
“Max,” she called to me.
Stopping in my tracks, I swiveled on my left foot and gave her my attention.
“Be sure you come back.” Her eyes had turned from jestful to solemn.
I nodded. “Always,” I repeated.
19
The pre-paid phone was adequate, but I needed to replace my phone. I needed my own number back, and Bryant did have the number for this phone. Time had come to ditch the burner phone.
When Leo picked me up at the entrance of the Peabody, I had him drive me to the nearest phone store. Forty-five minutes and at least two signatures, that ensured my soul would, no doubt, be uploaded to some telecommunications satellite at the time of my death, I was finally reconnected to the matrix.
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