by Sims, R.
Laura said, “He’s going back to prison. We already have enough evidence to indict him.”
Orin laughed. “Come on, now. The Feds can indict a 2-year-old for peeing in the bed, but how you gonna get the jury to agree with the pissy charges? All twelve members?”
“Okay. What’s Dexter’s point? Why does he really want you to talk to me? Why tell us anything? Why not just let us keep following ghost leads?”
“Because cops like to listen. When they want somebody bad enough, they’ll believe anything anybody tells them. But if you keep following ghost leads, you’ll get frustrated and might eventually stop believing shit.”
Laura looked ahead and saw that they were near a McDonald’s now. “You think Dexter would personally talk to us himself?”
“Don’t know. In fact, I don’t know shit about him, only what he’s told me and wants me to know. Don’t care, either, ’cause that muthafucka pays like no other.”
“You say he’s giving us all the leads. We just arrested his brother on gun charges, and his brother will testify against him.”
“That had something to do with a woman. He shoulda seen that coming, but I bet he’ll find a way to get around that. Maybe he’ll pay his brother off. The man got billions. Hell, if I was him I would pay the judge off.”
Laura knew that such a thing was not so simple anymore, what with all the investigations of corruption starving for air time. And in a high-profile federal case, forget it.
Orin said, “He’s even considering getting you to work for him.” He pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot, headed for the drive-thru.
CHAPTER 61
“Me? I don’t work for criminals.”
“You’re a goddamn lie. The FBI ain’t nothing but criminals who sometimes do good things. That was a crime when they conspired to take a bribe from Hillary to declassify her emails. You didn’t forget that happened, did you? That’s why her ass lost the election.”
Laura was surprised he knew anything about politics.
“Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order?” boomed a woman’s voice from the menu speaker.
Orin said, “Yeah. Let me get a large fry, an apple pie, and a twenty-piece McNugget combo. Make it some kind of combo. Hold on.” Then, he said to Laura, “What you want?”
“I’m fine,” Laura said.
He said, “It’s on Dexter.”
Laura said, “All right. A small fry and a water.”
Orin’s forehead wrinkled with confusion. He turned toward the menu speaker and said, “And add a small fry and a small Sprite.”
Laura looked at Orin but didn’t care to correct him.
The order-taker read the order back, gave a total, and asked him to drive around.
Orin said to Laura, “A water? A damn water? All the Sprite you drink, but you wanna be cute with a water now.” He began drove up to the first drive-thru window.
“How do you know I drink Sprite?”
He grinned and said, “Lucky guess.” He paid the cashier, told her to keep the change from a fifty-dollar bill, and drove to the next window to pick up the food.
Laura thought back to when Melissa had told her about Orin giving her fifty dollars for taking her to Fiona’ place. She said, “How does Fiona figure into all this?”
“Fiona? She’s just a small link. Big girl, but a small link. She got twenty stacks just for leading you to me.”
Laura was silent for a few seconds. Then, “Is Dexter going to hire a dream team?”
“He didn’t talk to me about that. I told you I don’t know much of anything about him.” Orin retrieved his order from the guy in the second drive-thru window, thanked him, and drove away. He gave Laura a drink and held the bag so that she could get her small fry out.
Laura ate one fry and said, “You said the charges that I threatened you with wouldn’t hold up in court.”
“Right. You can’t even prove I ever worked at a damn McDonald’s”
Laura smiled now. “I’m sure the owner and manager, Reginald Macon, could identify you.”
Orin looked at her and erupted with laughter. He swerved slightly in the parking lot then stopped the Corvette, still laughing. They were about to leave the lot, but he had to get himself together.
Laura wanted to shrink away, disappear. She could pretty much guess what was coming next, though not the full extent of it.
Orin finally calmed down and said, “Your investigation shoulda told you that Dexter and Reggie are old college buddies, but you didn’t see a reason to look that far into Reggie.” He almost started laughing again. “His pay started out as a hundred stacks, too, just to help the FBI get to me. He bragged to Dexter that he could date you. So, when he did, that got him another $200,000. Want me to keep going?”
Laura was steaming inside. “Why stop now?”
“If he could fuck your freaky ass and get it on video, that would be another 700 stacks.” He smiled at her and said, “I hear old Reggie’s retiring next month, and now I know why.”
“There’s no video of me having sex with anyone,” she said, but not with a confident tone.
“I got a call telling me that you were on your way to my place. Reggie says your laptop is still at his place and that Dexter sent someone to hack your shit and make a copy.” He hesitated. “Now, you want me to describe to you all that freaky shit you did with Reggie last night, starting with the cucumber?”
Laura wanted to bolt out of the car and run straight to Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Or would you rather just work for Dexter Parker for a half million dollars?”
CHAPTER 62
Janet Ingram answered her front door and saw her ex-boyfriend Louis Johnson standing there. She rested a hand on her left waist and said, “This is getting old.”
He stepped inside, forcefully brushing past her, and said, “I came by and Debbie was housesitting for you.”
“Louis, get out. I did not invite you into my house.”
He saw Keshi the house cat sitting on a sofa arm being nosey. “Italy, huh? Who’d you go to Italy with?”
“You either get out or I’m calling the police.” She left the door open and headed for the cordless phone on the end table.
Louis pushed her onto the sofa as she walked by him.
Keshi scatted to another room.
“We need to talk,” Louis said.
She looked up at him then shifted her sights to the phone. “You know you just assaulted me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Janet, so stay on the sofa and let’s talk. I don’t want to keep begging you to talk to me; I just…”
“Hurt me? You really want to go to jail, don’t you?”
He walked around the coffee table, grabbed her cordless phone, and then went to close the front door.
Janet sat up on the sofa. “Fine. You want to talk? Let’s talk. Let’s talk about you and Karen and Sheila and your ex-wife.”
He closed the door and said, “We’ve had those discussions for a year now. I don’t care about them. You’re my woman. I love you, not them.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” she said, wanting to really turn him off, “because I want you to love them and not me. I can promise you it’s over between you and me.”
“No, it isn’t. You’re going to see a better me and we’ll work this out.” He sat on the love seat and faced her.
“A better you? Louis, you just forced your way into my house and pushed me down. You’ve never laid a hand on me before, so I know it’s not going to get better.”
“I didn’t hurt you, though. You know I would never hurt you.”
“What do you want, Louis? Say whatever you came to say then go. I have a lot to do.”
“I want you to give me another chance. From this day forward, you’ll never have another problem out of me. Just tell me what I have to do to make it up to you.”
“Louis, if you were great in bed, it would be easier to overlook your whorish ways. But you’re only six or so inches and
you’re asleep once you get your satisfaction. You only care about yourself. And foreplay? Oh God. You’re the worst.”
He gripped the phone tighter in his right hand then relaxed. “So all the moaning was faked? I never satisfied you in bed?”
“Wait, don’t get me wrong. It felt good, but it could have been much better. Total sex time: fifteen minutes max. That’s sad.”
“That happens when I’m tired. I run one of the busiest copy shops around.”
She looked at him with a smirk and disbelief. “You’re the owner, and now you have six workers. How could you be so tired?”
“You’re talking like this because you’ve met someone, haven’t you? Is that who you went to Italy with?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to hear about it.” She smiled, genuinely beaming. “I’ve hurt your feelings enough for today.”
“No, I deserve to be hurt by you. I owe you that much. Perhaps I need to work harder to win you back. Tell me about the trip,” the fool said.
CHAPTER 63
Janet shook her head. “Save yourself, Louis.”
“Why don’t you tell me, so I’ll know what I’m up against? I’m willing to face the truth if you’re honest.”
Janet thought about it. The cheater really did deserve to have his heart crushed by the specifics. “Here goes.” She hesitated again then said, “The guy’s a 35-year-old work of perfection, probably ten inches of hard dick that fulfilled me,” she smiled as she thought about Dexter using that word, “two hours of foreplay, and one hour of sex. He looks physically fit and just fucking handsome like you wouldn’t believe.”
Louis was staring at the carpet now.
“I don’t even want to describe how rich this guy is, and — Oh, you wanted to hear about the trip. We stayed in the Splendido Hotel. He paid $2,138 per night, I think it was. We shopped, ate at a fine Italian restaurant…”
“I get your point,” Louis said. “How long have you known him?”
“Since Tuesday, February the second.”
“And you’ve already fucked him? I guess you’ve blown him, too, after less than a month.”
She smiled. “Was it a problem when you and I did it in under two weeks? What would it have changed if I had procrastinated for six weeks, or three months? If I would have waited a year and then blown him, would that make me a better woman?”
Louis rose from the love seat.
“You’re leaving now? Good. Maybe I’ll call Dexter and invite him over. I don’t think he’s tired. He should have enough energy to walk me throughout the house in the sixty-nine for thirty minutes straight. I couldn’t get enough blowing him. Turned me the fuck on.”
That was enough. Louis rushed over to her and, before she could guard herself, smashed the cordless phone against her face.
Janet rocked to one side then fell off the sofa. Mouth bleeding. Lip busted. Teeth missing. Out cold.
Louis panicked. His heart was racing. He dropped to one knee and tried to wake her. Keeping his hands free of all the blood. After only five seconds of shaking her, Louis wiped the phone off with his shirt then hurried toward the door. He wiped the doorknob then looked back at Janet once more. It was time to go.
***
Louis was almost home when he realized something. He knew Janet was still alive, which meant he was only facing an assault charge. But there was a lot of blood, and the woman could bleed to death. A murder charge. Surely the neighbors had seen his vehicle at her place. How much could they miss on a beautiful Sunday morning? He wasn’t sure how, but he knew he’d left his DNA at the scene. He banged his fist against the steering wheel over what he knew he had to do next. “Damn you, Janet!” His eyes were watery and he considered pulling over to cry like a baby.
Louis wiped the corners of his eyes with a thumb and index finger. Then, he used his cell phone to place an anonymous call to 9-1-1. Letting Janet die was not an option.
CHAPTER 64
After having spent the weekend with Dexter, which included flying to New York City yesterday for some late night media training, Dana had learned a great deal about her new man. Dexter had told her about the fates of his parents, his love for children, his saxophone skills, his morning runs, and even what Janet had called his hate for himself.
They were in the backseat area of a New York City taxi, on their way to the Four Seasons hotel, and Dana was laughing at a joke he’d told her, one he’d heard while in prison.
Dexter said, “One more. A drunken man ran inside a bar and pitched twelve cents on the counter.” He paused and smiled because Dana was still laughing at the last joke. His phone rang. “Hello?”
“60/40 here with an update I thought you’d want to hear.”
“I’m listening,” Dexter said.
“You wanted me to keep tabs on your Harrisburg lawyer, and, as you know, this was being done by one of my associates”
Dexter calmed himself but his mind wandered. Was Janet talking to the Feds? Was she preparing to skip town upon receiving the retainer balance?
“…and now she’s in the hospital with heavy damage to her mouth but…”
“Wait. Back up. What?”
“Janet Ingram was attacked this morning. She was knocked unconscious, lost three teeth in the upper front, and received stitches under her lip.”
“Where the fuck did this happen?” Dexter had venom in his eyes and was oblivious to his immediate surroundings.
“In her home. The 9-1-1 call came in anonymously, but the police know that the cell phone used belongs to…uh…let’s see here…Louis Johnson.”
Dexter’s teeth were clinched but he didn’t realize it.
“She’s at the hospital in Harrisburg, and I’m told that she refuses to talk to anybody but she’s fine. Considering.”
Dexter knew that Janet’s family was in Modesto, California. She had a mother, a sister, and a few other relatives, but they probably didn’t even know. “Did she say who attacked her?”
“Won’t talk to anybody, not even the police. The cops are pretty sure it was her boyfriend, though.”
“I want you to get as much information on…”
“That’s already taken care of. Louis Johnson? Most of his info is available on the Web. I’ll email it to you and see what else I can find about him.”
Dexter said, “Thanks for everything.”
“You bet.”
Dexter terminated the call then seemingly tried to stare a hole through the Samsung Galaxy.
Dana said, “What’s the matter, baby?”
He ignored her. Not really. He had tuned the world out. He felt like his grand plan was being sabotaged. He snapped out of it when Dana’s hand landed on his left knee.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Stay at the hotel until I return. I’m needed in Harrisburg. Something happened to Janet?”
Dana saw his eyes moisten, so she turned away and watched the traffic.
CHAPTER 65
By 6:30 am, Dexter had checked with the receptionist for Janet’s room number, exited the building and re-entered at the emergency Waiting Room. He eased off to an elevator and made his way to Room 414. This was necessary because visiting hours would not start for another hour.
He knocked lightly at the door then quietly entered without invitation.
Janet had been wide awake, staring at the ceiling, when she heard the knocking at the door. Her top lip was bandaged and her mouth was stuffed with a wad of cotton. She turned her body toward the wall when she saw Dexter. She was going to cry. He was not supposed to see her like this. How had he even found out where she was?
Dexter saw her turn away from him. He closed the door, walked over to the television, and reached up to turn it on. He lowered the volume and found the program called Wide Awake News on SHN.
Janet was crying now but she was quiet, not wanting Dexter to know.
Dexter approached her then sat on her bed, just below her ass. He cleared his throat and said, “I understand you’re not do
ing any talking. I’ll do all the talking.” He pulled her arm up from her side and held her hand. “I like you, Janet, and your situation doesn’t change a damn thing. After all, If I live to be old and blind, who would want me? That probably depends on how I treat people while I’m young with good vision.”
Janet sniffled and kept shedding tears.
“You will naturally lose the rest of your teeth if you’re lucky enough to live until you’re old. So will I. The beautiful thing is that I fell in love with our personality before this accident,” he said, knowing it wasn’t an accident.
She was trying to control her crying but it was hard.
“You’ll get out of here, see a dentist, and enjoy the rest of your life. This is nothing; it just feels like forever right now. I lost ten years of my freedom, and I want each of those years back. Impossible, I know, but that doesn’t stop me from preparing to enjoy the next ten years, even though I’m risking more of my freedom for it.”
Janet was finally getting her crying under control.
“What I’m saying is this: Don’t let a loss define you. Instead, redefine that loss. I’m here, Janet, and I will help you do just that. You’re not going to be ashamed or self-conscious around me when this is all over. The only reason you’re self-conscious at this point is you don’t know me well enough.”
She squeezed his hand. The crying was over.
He grabbed her shoulder and urged her to turn toward him. “Look at me, Janet.”
She did.
He leaned forward and gently kissed her bottom lip. “No more crying. Let’s take care of business. I need to ask you a few questions. Squeeze my hand again to answer yes, and close your eyes briefly to answer no. Okay?”
She squeezed his hand.
“Did your ex-boyfriend Louis do this to you?”
Another squeeze.
“Is it because you told him about our stay in Italy?”