by DJ Monroe
Milton clicked the RECORD button and asked the question again.
Lincoln nodded.
“I’ll need a verbal, sir,” Milton said.
“Sorry. Yes,” Lincoln answered.
“Could you state your name and address, please?” Anders asked.
Lincoln did as he was told and then Anders stated who was in the room, the date and time and then explained to Lincoln, “This will be transcribed and will serve as your written statement. Do you understand?”
Again, Lincoln nodded and then remember to speak. “Yes.”
Milton pulled out a pad and a pen and looked prepared to take notes.
“Can you tell us, in your own words, what happened last night?” Officer Anders began. “Take your time and don’t leave anything out.”
Lincoln began his story, describing how Paddy’s looked and sounded and how he’d hooked up with the man who told him his name was David.
“Did you know him before last night?” Officer Anders asked.
Lincoln shook his head. “No. It was the first time I’d seen him there or anywhere else for that matter.”
“And when he suggested you go over to his truck, what did you think was going to happen?”
Here was what Lincoln had been dreading the whole time, the reason he’d almost let this go, let David get away with robbing him.
“Were you trying to sell him something?”
“Oh, no,” Lincoln said quickly.
“Was he trying to sell you something?”
Lincoln shook his head and then looked away from the men and muttered. “Sex.”
“I’m sorry.”
Lincoln cleared his throat. “Sex. I assumed we were going out there to be alone and have sex.”
“Do you get paid for sex?” Officer Anders asked, looking surprised.
Lincoln was astonished. “Oh, Lord, no. No, it’s nothing like that. I was just there for, well, I guess you could call it a pick up. I never even told him my name.”
“And no money exchanged hands,” Officer Anders seemed to want to make that point very clear.
“There was no sex and the only money that exchanged hands was when he held me at gunpoint and took it out of my wallet,” Lincoln said, his voice growing bolder. Did this officer think he was a male prostitute?
“Okay, calm down. Now, tell us what happened when you got to the truck.”
Lincoln relayed the story as best he could remember from feeling the gun in his back to the phone call David received to him throwing Lincoln’s cell out into traffic and then leaving him standing there. “I managed to get his license plate number,” Lincoln said, pulling the slip of paper out of his shirt pocket.
Officer Milton took it and left the room.
“Do you think you could pick him out of a line up?” Officer Anders asked.
The recording device whirred silently taking his statement.
“I think so,” Lincoln said, thinking back on what he remembered of the man. “I know someone else who might be able to help identify him as well,” Lincoln added.
“So someone else was there with you?”
Lincoln shook his head. “While we were still in the bar, David went to the restroom. When he did that another man, a man who told me his name was Slick, came over and warned me to stay away. That David was bad news.” Lincoln paused.
Officer Anders nodded. “He is.”
“Dangerous, was the word he used.”
“That, too. Can you get in touch with this Slick person somehow?” the officer asked.
“The only thing I know is that he hangs out at Paddy’s. He’s been there every time I go in,” Lincoln said. “I suppose I could go back there tonight and find him.” He didn’t relish going back into that place and had promised Colton that he would not. However if it meant bringing someone to justice, especially someone who had robbed people before, it would be worth going one more time.
“What if we meet you there tonight?” Officer Anders asked.
“I’m afraid uniforms might scare him off,” Lincoln said, shaking his head.
“We’ll be dressed in plain clothes,” Officer Anders explained.
“Okay. That might work,” Lincoln told him.
Officer Milton returned to the room and sat down and nodded almost imperceptively at Officer Anders. “It’s him.”
“Who?” Lincoln asked. He detected a notable shift in the room, in their demeanor.
“Let me explain something to you,” the officer said. “This David, who uses a different name each time, is making the rounds all over town along with about three other men. Sometimes they split up, sometimes they work as a team, but they seem to target bars where they can pick up unsuspecting men like yourself and then rob them at gunpoint. This has been going on for the last few months and we’ve not had anyone who was willing to come forward or anyone who seems to be able to tell us everything you have.”
“Then I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help,” Lincoln told them.
“Okay, tonight we’ll meet at Paddy’s. What time do you usually go there?”
“About eight.”
“Perfect,” Officer Anders said. “We’ll meet you there. And in the mean time we’ll get to work on a warrant. With any luck, we can wind up this investigation tonight.”
“Oh, and please, don’t tell anyone about this.”
“I won’t,” Lincoln said.
Lincoln wasn’t sure if he was more frightened when he left than when he entered the police station. He never wanted to go to Paddy’s again and he certainly never wanted to see David, or whatever his name was, again. He also wasn’t sure how Slick was going to react to talking to the police, but he had to try.
He almost panicked when he went into the cell phone store in the mall to purchase a new phone. Everything that had happened the night before at Paddy’s came rushing back to him. He tried to explain what had happened to his old phone but, thankfully, the sales clerk wasn’t interested. While Lincoln paced around the small area, the technician transferred all of his data to his new phone and assured his number would be the same.
With his new cell tucked into the holster on his belt, Lincoln felt a little more secure but not much. He jumped at every unfamiliar sound and wanted nothing more than to get home, locked safely inside of his apartment.
Somehow, he was going to have to try to figure out how to cancel his dinner date with Colton tonight. They had not exchanged phone numbers and he wasn’t sure he remembered where Colton worked. He would have to leave a note on his door. Colton would find it when he got home and call. Then Lincoln could postpone their dinner date for the next night. Either way, this problem would be behind him and he could move ahead. Despite his promise to himself that he would never fall again, he wanted to get to know Colton better, more intimately, and see what they could develop from that.
Back at his apartment, he busied himself throughout the day doing laundry, straightening up the apartment and making notes on how he would get Colton to help him spruce the place up. He was excited about showing Colton the things he had in storage, so this might be easier than he imagined.
At seven, when Colton wasn’t home from work yet, he hurriedly wrote a message on a green sticky note and stuck it to Colton’s door.
One thing he knew for sure was that tonight would be the last night he went to Paddy’s.
THE ONLY REAL PLANS he and Lincoln had made for that night was that they were going to dinner, but Colton couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his face as he waited for the elevator to make its way to the third floor. They hadn’t set up a specific time or even decided where to go, but that didn’t matter. The more he thought about it the more he knew he wanted to spend more time with Lincoln, hopefully in a more intimate setting than a restaurant.
When he hit the third floor, he hurried down the hall and knocked on Lincoln’s door before going to his own apartment. He waited and tried again when there was no answer. Frowning, he checked his watch and noted that it w
as seven forty-five. He was eager to hear about Lincoln’s visit to the police station. The man had had a traumatic day and maybe he’d fallen asleep.
Thinking of that reminded Colton of how good it felt to hold him in his arms the night before. He pushed that thought away quickly.
After a quick shower, he changed into clean slacks and a button up shirt that Grant had always told him brought out the hazel in his eyes. He smiled at himself in the mirror. He’d smiled all day long and one or two people remarked about him feeling better. Yes, he felt better today than he had since Grant left.
He wasn’t sure, but he felt like it was all because of Lincoln.
All he could do now was wait for Lincoln to wake up or come back from where he’d gone. Maybe something unexpected happened. While he waited, he made himself a snack and then began going through the small jewelry box on his dresser. He remembered a pinkie ring that he’d purchased ages ago and stopped wearing for some reason or another.
What he found was something else entirely. Grant’s great-grandfather’s onyx ring. He gasped and held the exquisite piece of jewelry up to the light. It was gorgeous. Colton knew it was a family heirloom, handed down from father to son for several generation, one of Grant’s most prized possessions.
He also knew he had to make sure he got that ring back to Grant.
With shaking fingers, he keyed in Grant’s number and to his surprise, Grant answered.
“Hello, Colton,” his voice was cold, the word tightly wound sending a thousand emotions through Colton.
“Grant, I hate to bother you but I just found your great-grandfather’s ring,” Colton explained, speaking quickly afraid that Grant would hang up on him. “I know how much it means to you...”
Grant was quiet for a moment and Colton heard voices as if he was at a bar or something.
“I can meet you somewhere to give it to you if you don’t want to come here,” Colton offered.
“I’d appreciate that,” Grant said. “I’m at Paddy’s right now.”
Colton made a face. He hated that place, had only been in there once before, and then only for a few moments. It was smelly and noisy and he felt dirty when he left. He couldn’t imagine, didn’t want to think of Lincoln or Grant hanging out there.
“Okay,” he finally said.
“And, Colton?” Grant said.
“Yes,” Colton held his breath unsure of what Grant might have to say to him.
“Thank you,” Grant finally said and ended the call.
That was when Colton remembered that he had a dinner date with Lincoln. He checked his watch. It was almost eight o’clock. He went across the hall and knocked on Lincoln’s door. Still no answer, no sound or movement inside. Cursing himself for not getting Lincoln’s cell number, he realized he’d just have to leave a note and explain that he had an important errand to run. Maybe they could have dinner the next night, which was Saturday. That might work out better anyway. They could take their time and—
Colton stopped that thought process right there, even though it made him smile even broader.
Making sure the ring was tucked away securely in a small box and pushed deep into his pocket, Colton scribbled the note, taped it to Lincoln’s door and left, deciding to walk the five blocks to Paddy’s. His dread and hatred of the place grew with each step but, once he arrived there, he could give the ring to Grant and leave. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Taking a deep breath as if that would ward off the stale cigarette smoke that permeated the place, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. The place was as dark and noisy as he remembered and he stood there for a moment letting his eyes adjust.
Then he spotted Grant - sitting with Richard.
Chapter Fourteen
Lincoln arrived before the officers, which was what he had planned. He wanted to talk to Slick first. He found the pale young man sitting at a table with three other men, regular customers all. And the first thing he noticed was that Slick had a black eye and a bruised lip and both injuries looked recent.
He motioned for Slick to join him at a table out of the beaten path and still visible to the door. “What happened?” Lincoln wanted to know, genuinely worried about the man.
Slick shrugged but didn’t provide an answer.
Lincoln didn’t push. “I should have listened to your warning about David. You were right. He is dangerous.”
“I tried to tell you.”
Briefly, Lincoln told Slick what had happened the night before in the parking lot and ended by saying, “I went to the police.”
“No,” Slick gasped and his eyes grew wide. “No, man, that’s the worst thing you could have done. He’ll be gunning for you now and he has a bad, bad temper.”
“Did he do this to you?” Lincoln asked, pointing toward Slick’s eye.
“Yes. Someone told him I’d tried to warn you to stay away,” Slick confessed.
“Well, it’s too late now. The police think he’s working with a whole ring of thieves. I gave them his license plate number and they verified that this was the same guy that had been robbing people.”
Slick closed his eyes, took a breath and shook his head. “Man, you’ve done it now.”
“We can stop him,” Lincoln said, reaching out to squeeze Slick’s shoulder. “Two officers are coming here tonight and I told them you would be able to help us.”
Again Slick gasped. “Why did you do that?”
“Because, if this guy is going around hurting people, robbing people, it’s only a matter of time before he kills someone. Look what he did to you,” Lincoln said.
“He’ll do it again or worse if I talk to the cops or even if he thinks I’ve talked to the cops. Maybe even just for talking to you. And then you’ll be a target.” Tears gathered on Slick’s long, white eyelashes. “There’s no stopping this guy. He’s ruthless.”
Lincoln shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
At that point the door to Paddy’s opened and Lincoln looked up, expecting to Officer Anders and Milton enter. He was surprised to see Colton enter the bar.
What was he doing here?
Lincoln raised his hand to wave, thinking Colton might be looking for him but it appeared Colton had already found whoever he was looking for. He headed for a table where two dark haired men sat. He’d seen one man around before but the other looked completely out of his element as if he was a lawyer or maybe even a doctor.
They motioned for Colton to sit and he did, perching on the edge of the chair as if he might have to bolt out of the place any moment. It looked like they were making small talk and one of the men ordered drinks for all three.
What in the world was Colton doing here, Lincoln wondered, a little niggle of disappointment or worry or maybe even jealousy growing in his chest. He’d done nothing but bad mouth the place, even made Lincoln feel bad about coming here.
“Hey, remember me,” Slick said, pulling Lincoln’s attention back to the matter at hand.
The two police officers entered the busy bar and, again, Lincoln waved so they would see him. They came straight to the table, pulled up chairs and Lincoln ordered a round for the whole table trying to look like he had just found old friends, if anyone was watching.
“We’ve done some more investigating,” Officer Anders said once Lincoln had made the introductions. “All we’ll need is your cooperation and show us where to find him and this will all be over.”
Slick appeared to be contemplating his options.
“Did he do this to you?” Officer Anders asked.
Slick nodded, not looking at the officer.
“He’ll continue to do this to you again and again until we put him away,” the officer said. “He’ll continue to rob people like Lincoln here.”
“And it might get worse,” Lincoln reminded him.
“I tried to warn him,” Slick said quietly, still studying his fingers resting on the table.
“And look what it got you,” Lincoln said.
Linco
ln and the two officers waited.
“We can provide protection for you,” Officer Milton said. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”
Again, the three men waited.
Over the tops of their heads, Lincoln caught sight of Colton. It looked like he hadn’t touched his drink. He pushed a small box across the table toward the other two men and stood up. The man that Lincoln hadn’t seen in there before took the box and opened it. He put one hand over his eyes, seemed to take a breath and then stood.
For a moment Lincoln thought the man was going to hug Colton but at the last minute, he held out his hand. The two men shook and Colton turned to leave.
And that’s when Colton saw him, the look of surprise and then disappointment covering his face.
“Thank goodness,” Lincoln said and stood.
Now he could explain the note he’d left on Colton’s door and at least get his neighbor’s phone number so they wouldn’t have mix ups like this again.
The three men at his table looked up.
“Excuse me. I’ll be back in just a minute. I have to talk to someone,” Lincoln said, glancing down at them.
When he looked up again, Colton was gone.
Lincoln hurried across the crowded floor, dodging patrons and was practically running by the time he hit the door. He shoved it open almost knocking over two men who were entering the place at the same time.
“Sorry. So sorry,” Lincoln said, barely aware of their reaction.
Where had Colton gone?
He sprinted through the parking lot, making his way between cars, and reached the sidewalk breathing hard. If Colton had driven down here, he had no idea what kind of car he drove so he hoped Colton was on foot. Out on the sidewalk, he looked both ways and saw no one walking away from Paddy’s.
“Colton,” he called out, not yelling exactly but loud enough that he hoped Colton could hear him.
No answer. No Colton.
And then a terrible thought struck him so hard that he almost doubled over. He turned back toward the parking lot his gaze searching frantically for a particular truck, a red Toyota with big tires, lots of mirrors and chrome. He would never forget that truck. What if David had been out here waiting for a potential robbery victim? Could he have just snatched Colton off the street? Colton wouldn’t be suspecting anything like that, would be totally unprepared and unable to defend himself.