Blood and Roses

by Douglas Pratt

  Angela and I stepped into the room where Leo was lying on a bed staring at the muted television. Kristi offered Malcolm a ride to Mama’s place after she dropped us off.

  “You feeling better?” Angela asked.

  He groaned. “Coffee would be nice. Assuming I can keep it down.”

  “There’s a shop downstairs,” she said. “You like cream and sugar.”

  He nodded slowly with a look on his face like he was trying to swallow the urge to vomit.

  “What do you remember?” I asked him after Angela left.

  His head went from side to side with a frustrated look on his face. “Nothing. I remember getting there. Even getting inside. Everything else is blank. I woke up here.”

  “The doctors know what they gave you?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. Max, I’m sorry I couldn’t keep her safe.”

  “She’s safe, Leo. It’s all good,” I assured him.

  A nurse came into the room and checked his IV. The bag was getting empty.

  “He’ll be feeling better soon,” she told me.

  “What do we do now?” he asked when the nurse left.

  “You get some juice back in you. I know where Naomi is, but right now, it seems there is nothing I can do about it.”

  “What?” he asked surprised.

  I gave him a succinct version. “Maybe you saw her in there,” I suggested. “Something put Crowder on you.”

  “I should have known better,” he said.

  “No, it’s not something we could have predicted.”

  He groaned again. “We have to go get her, don’t we?”

  I nodded.

  “Today,” he said.

  “You need to get better first,” I said.

  “Max,” he muttered, “the dude’s a billionaire or something. If he’s smart, he’s going to get her out of town where we can’t get to her.”

  That thought hadn’t occurred to me. Crowder could fight the battle legally, but as soon as Naomi’s mother arrived, there would be more attention than the mogul would want. Unless the girl wasn’t around. People like him didn’t worry about the legality, just the publicity.

  Angela returned with a cup of coffee. She handed the cup to Leo and looked at me.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “You look weird.”

  “Leo just gave me a scary thought. I need to go look into something.”

  Her head turned slightly at an angle. “Go. I’ll sit with him.”

  I kissed her. “Thanks.”

  “Be careful,” she said.

  Leo took a swallow of the coffee and immediately threw up on Angela.

  “You need to be careful,” I suggested to her.

  30

  Malcolm fidgeted in the passenger seat next to me. After retrieving my rental car from the parking lot of Trois, or what was now likely just another warehouse, we parked at a bank across from the gated community where we lost Bryant the other day. This was as close as we could get without getting past the gate. Jason confirmed that Crowder had a house behind that guard shack, it answered a question that I had already guessed. He even had an address, but that didn’t help. We couldn’t get past the guard at all. Instead, watching the only way in and out of the neighborhood was our next best option.

  “I thought I’d had enough of this last night,” he said stretching his large frame.

  “I know,” I said, “but Leo made a good point. Crowder isn’t going to wait around for the police to come for Naomi. He’ll spirit her away.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Summer in Paris or boarding school in Switzerland. Out of sight, out of mind.”

  “Exactly my worry. Once away from here, anything could happen to her. He has a private jet at an airport in Olive Branch, and he could be airborne in a matter of minutes.”

  “What’s your plan then, Max?”

  “Hopefully, Mama will get something back from her friend,” I answered. “She seems to know everyone.”

  “That comes from years of dedicated service,” Malcolm joked.

  On cue, Malcolm’s phone rang.

  “Hey,” he said. Then after a few seconds, he said, “I’ll tell him.”

  He looked at me after he hung up. “You got some instincts,” he said. “Crowder’s pilot just filed a flight plan. Leaving in two hours.”

  “We have to stop them from getting on the plane.”

  “I hate to break this to you, even if it’s a small airport, we won’t be able to get past the security without breaking numerous federal laws. I don’t have any desire to do federal time.”

  “We have to stop them before they get there then,” I stated.

  Two hours wasn’t a long time, the drive to the airport was 20 minutes according to the internet. Security might exist but it was minimal for the right credentials. Crowder could park in the hangar next to his plane. Immediate boarding.

  Of course, Crowder might not even be at his home, but people like the Crowders expected to be able to do certain things uninterrupted. Packing a bag before fleeing the country was their God-given right.

  “Black Suburban,” Malcolm said pointing at the vehicle coming through the gate.

  “That’s them,” I said, starting the car.

  Crowder was driving as he passed us. I pulled out three cars behind him. Trailing him, we drove toward the Tennessee/Mississippi state line.

  “I’m guessing,” Malcolm said, “we are treating this like a smash and grab.”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure,” I responded.

  “Better make up your mind,” he said as the Suburban crossed the state line. “They should be turning in about a minute.”

  The engine revved as I pressed the accelerator down. The little Toyota Corolla sped around the Suburban. Riding right in front of Crowder, I waited until his right blinker began flashing. I made a right at the little sign with an airplane and an arrow. Crowder turned onto the small two-lane road behind me.

  I hit the brakes, dropped the gearshift into reverse, and floored the accelerator.

  “What the actual…” The impact interrupted Malcolm’s thought.

  Airbags exploded from every direction. The back window and rear windows shattered, sending shards of glass through the air.

  Malcolm was stunned, but I was already out of the car moving to Crowder’s door. The Memphis police still had my 9 mm, so I was forced to make do with a .38 that Malcolm brought with him.

  Jerking the door open, I heard Crowder cry, “What the hell?”

  The short barrel of the revolver was resting on his cheek. “Out, please,” I ordered.

  “Mac,” his wife was screaming at him.

  He put his palm up. The gesture came across as more of a warning to her. He unbuckled his seat belt and got out with both hands raised. His face was red from impacting the airbag.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  Malcolm was out of the car now and moving to the passenger side.

  “Leave her alone,” Crowder demanded.

  Malcolm pulled Mrs. Crowder out.

  “Naomi,” I called.

  Crowder glared at me. “That’s my daughter, Taylor. Not this Naomi girl.”

  The side of the .38 slammed into his nose sending a spray of blood over his face.

  “Shut up,” I said. “Naomi, get out please.”

  The rear door opened. The same girl I had seen the night before stepped out. Her hair was a dark reddish-brown instead of the blond from the picture I had seen before she was kidnapped. The face, though, was Naomi Clements. Her cheeks reminded me immediately of a young Nathan.

  “My name is Taylor,” she whispered. She was shaking with fear.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” I tried to assure her. Of course, two armed men hijacking the vehicle was expected to be frightening.

  “You are done,” Crowder said to me. “I’ll make sure you rot in prison. Or worse.”

  “Naomi,” I said, ignoring Crowder’s threats. “I’m a friend of your dad’s.”

&nbs
p; She shook her head slowly. Crowder gave her an icy glare.

  “I’m not her,” she insisted. Her eyes averted mine as she looked at the ground.

  My eyes cut back to Crowder, then to Malcolm who held Mrs. Crowder’s upper arm firmly.

  “I know you are scared,” I assured her, “but I can take you home to your mom.”

  Her entire face quivered, and her eyes moistened.

  “She’s our daughter,” the wife cried across the hood of the Suburban.

  Sirens sounded in the distance.

  “Naomi,” I said, looking her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. Your dad is dead. Crowder had him killed.”

  She turned her head to Crowder. Her mouth opened slightly.

  “You said…”

  “Shut up, Taylor,” he snapped.

  I pressed the barrel closer to him.

  Naomi stammered, “You said you wouldn’t hurt them.”

  “I said, ‘Shut up.’”

  I hit him again.

  “Maybe don’t talk to her that way,” I said.

  “My mom?” she asked me.

  “No, honey,” Mrs. Crowder tried to howl. Malcolm squeezed her arm and she quieted.

  “She’s okay. I talked to her the other day.”

  Her head started shaking. “He said he’d kill them if I tried to get away.”

  Her eyes glassed over with rage. She balled her fists and started hitting him. His face turned red. He lifted a hand to slap her, and I shot the palm of his hand. He doubled over holding the bloodied hand.

  A Mississippi State Trooper turned off the main road with its lights flashing. I took a step back and tossed the .38 to the ground.

  “Naomi, we’re going to need you to tell the truth now,” I said as Malcolm and I both dropped to our knees. “Otherwise, none of us will get to go home.”

  31

  Not surprisingly, we were arrested. Crowder started screaming about who he was and what he could do to the troopers that showed up. When Naomi backed up our story, the officers decided the easiest thing to do was to arrest everybody and sort it out elsewhere.

  Kristi handed me a cup of coffee as she sat at the table across from me. “You know that each time you call me, that boat I plan on buying gets a foot longer?”

  “I thought it was a beach house,” I said.

  “Thinking a yacht might be better,” she smiled back at me.

  “Good, I want to be treated to a weekend on the water.”

  “Looks like the F.B.I is stepping in on the investigation,” she informed me

  “I have a feeling this whole thing might get messy,” I said.

  “You don't know how right you are,” she said.

  “How long do I have to stay here?”

  “That I don’t know,” Kristi shuffled some papers in her folder. “The feds will want a crack at you and Malcolm. Everyone is being very careful. No one is going to take a shot at Crowder without a solid case. The only evidence against him is Naomi.”

  “How is Naomi doing?” I asked. I took a sip of the coffee trying to keep up my energy. I hadn’t been to sleep in over 24 hours now. Even then, the last time I slept was the night I spent in jail.

  “Her mother is here now. They are together in one of the rooms here. She’s telling a pretty gory story right now. The feds are bringing in a psychologist to talk with her later.”

  “Are you representing her?” I asked.

  “At least for the moment. I spoke with her mother briefly. Poor woman. She’s still overwhelmed.”

  “Do what you can for her, please.”

  Kristi nodded. “This might take longer than any of us want. One of my other partners, James, is with Malcolm right now. We’re going to try to get everything cleared up, but you have dug a deep hole. Then you filled the damn thing with raw sewage. With Naomi’s statement, the Crowders are going to be held for a laundry list of charges.”

  “Good, I hope they never see the light of day.”

  “There is something to consider,” Kristi said. “The Crowders have a lot of clout, and if something were to dissuade Naomi from testifying, then the case will crumble.”

  “Can you call Leo?” I asked her.

  “I can’t do anything illegal,” she said.

  “You won’t,” I promised her. “He can protect her until we know that Crowder can’t touch her.”

  “I’ll do that,” she said. “I plan to discuss Witness Protection with them and the feds.”

  “Thank you, Kristi.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “But I’ll definitely name my boat after you.”

  “I think they are supposed to be female.”

  “Call me progressive,” she said.

  Kristi left me alone so that she could meet with Naomi and the psychologist.

  The shorthand of the clock hanging on the wall made a slow progression from three to nine. During that time, Kristi showed up again with an F.B.I. agent that asked me for another statement. I detailed everything that happened from the night of Nathan’s murder until today. I left out a few details that might otherwise incriminate any of us involved.

  Sometime around seven, Kristi came back with a brown-eyed woman. She looked tired, and her eyes were puffy.

  “Max,” Kristi said, “this is Alison Darby.”

  I stood from the chair and extended my hand, but Alison ignored it. She quickly came around the table to wrap her arms around me. My arms pulled her to me in an embrace. She started crying, not for the first time today.

  “Max, thank you so much,” she sobbed in my ear.

  My arms held her as she cried on my shoulder. Her tears moistened my shirt, but I let her continue.

  “I can’t believe you found her,” she said. “Thank you. Nathan would…” Her tears increased.

  “Alison, how’s Naomi?” I asked, attempting to slow down her waterworks.

  “She’s…she’s okay. I mean, she’s not okay at all, but she’s safe. Now. I thought I’d never see her again.”

  She pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes. “That bastard threatened to kill me and Nathan if she tried to leave or tell anyone who she was.”

  “He’ll pay,” I tried to reassure her. “Naomi can make him pay for that.”

  “No, he won’t,” she said. “Even if he gets the worst that the courts can throw at him, it’ll never make up for what he did to my baby. Or Nathan.”

  We shared a look of sadness.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help Nathan,” I said.

  “Nathan wouldn’t care,” Alison responded. “Not if it meant saving Naomi.”

  “He must have been a good dad.”

  She nodded as the tears started flowing again.

  “I have to get back to Naomi. I just wanted to tell you that I can never repay you.”

  I hugged her again. “Take care of her.”

  Then I was left alone in the pale white room. Waiting. I tried to doze for a bit. My exhaustion allowed me to drift off to sleep, but the metal chair didn’t let me stay asleep long.

  Kristi came back a couple of hours later. “They are about to take you to holding. I think I have it so that you can leave in the morning. Alison and Naomi are gone for the night. Leo took them to a hotel. He told me to tell you not to worry.”

  “Where’s Crowder?”

  “He’ll be in holding too. The bail hearings will be tomorrow. You and Malcolm will be able to get out then, but so will the Crowders.”

  “Ah, justice.”

  “She’s a slow-moving bitch,” Kristi stated. “I talked to the feds. They will push for putting Alison and Naomi in Witness Protection.”

  I thanked her again.

  A few minutes after Kristi left, an officer came to escort me to the holding cells. Malcolm was sitting on one of the four bunks in the cell.

  “Max, I was wondering if I was gonna see you.”