by K Elliott
“I probably will. Brian, you keep forgetting that we killed off the Cocodrilos gang.”
“I know that, but only you and I know it. Teresa put us on Newring. She knows we killed him. She’s the one who called me and told me he was dead. She’s pissed off, even hung up on me.”
Echo turned his attention to the news and said, “I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.”
TWENTY
While Vincent Meeks lay on his stomach in the wooded area, Echo removed the handcuffs from his wrists then took several steps backward. Echo put the cuffs in his pocket then waited for Vincent to get up.
Vincent rose to his feet. He turned around and looked at Echo while massaging his cuff-bruised wrists.
Echo kept his gun aiming towards the ground and said, “Take off running that way,” he pointed, “not the way you came in these woods.”
Vincent issued a menacing stare. “You knock my goddamn tooth out my mouth and rough me up with those cuffs for no reason, and now you want me to run away?” “What else the fuck you gonna do? I ran your stupid ass out of choices.”
Vincent said, “Lose the gun. A big black man like you must be about two and a quarter and strong enough to lift a car. You can handle yourself with an average white guy like me, can’t you?”
“Man, I done gave you al the opportunity in the world to get the fuck away from me, but you still on some ‘credible Hulk blushed.” Vincent smiled and said, “Chickenshit. You better hope I never see you again.”
“Okay. It’s too late for your brave ass to run now. Fighting you is a toss-up; ain’t no telling who would win.” Echo aimed at Vincent’s left boot and fired the handgun once, hitting the man in the top of his foot, just below the ankle.
Vincent hollered out, hopped to his good foot, and fell to the ground again.
Echo walked up to him and aimed the gun at his chest. “I’ll bet my house, with my daughter still in, it that you wish like fuck you could run now.” “Alright, alright! I’ll leave,” Vincent said as he held his left ankle with one hand.
Echo said, “You’re leaving, and I’mma help you get there faster.” He pulled the trigger twice, sending two rounds to Vincent’s chest. The blood was making a fast escape. Echo didn’t even have to check or wait around; the man would be dead in less than a minute. The wheezing and the futile struggle to hold on for life could only speed things up.
Echo walked away and pulled out his cell phone to cal Brian. When Brian answered Echo said, “Wait about forty-five more minutes then look for me about a mile down the road from where I got out.”
“Bet. You got the sample?”
“I got a bloody-ass tooth.”
“I should have known. Where is he now?”
“Fuck if I know. I uncuffed him and the muthafucka plowed the ground up getting away from me.” Brian laughed. “I’m at a pizza spot right now. You want me to bring something to eat?”
“And something to drink. I had to work for my money today.”
Godsend: Hiding in Plain Sight
by K. Elliott
1
FBI Criminal profiler Teresa Groove was removing a bag of groceries from the passenger’s seat of her Aston Martin Vantage when she heard a vehicle arrive. She looked up and saw Brian Cathcart’s Durango stopping curbside at her home.
Brian stepped out of his SUV, still appreciating the beautiful, middle-class neighborhood, then adjusted the ball cap on his head. He walked up Teresa’s driveway wearing jeans, sneakers, and a black leather jacket. “It’s been two weeks, Teresa. How long do you plan to be mad at me?”
“You can’t undo what you did, so I guess I’ll never stop being mad at you. Why are you here, and how did you know where I live?”
He laughed as he stopped in front of her and took the bag of groceries from her. “I’m a private eye; and that should answer both of your questions.” She reached inside the car and picked up another bag of groceries. “That doesn’t tell me why you’re here.”
He said, “I’m working on a case and you’re the main suspect, so I’m here to ask you some questions.”
She bumped her car door closed, used the key chain remote to lock the doors, and headed for the front door. “That’s scary, because there’s a good chance that I’ll end up dead. Probably stabbed to death once you get a confession out of me.”
He looked back at her car and said, “A Vantage. I didn’t know the FBI paid like that. Nice home, two car garage.”
She unlocked her front door. “The car is five years old; the home was affordable because it was a government seizure twelve years ago.” She entered her home and headed for the kitchen.
Brian followed her and closed the door. “Beautiful place. Will you decorate for me?”
“Brian, what the hell do you want?” She set the bag on an island counter in her large kitchen.
He caught up with her and slapped her on the ass with his free hand. “I miss you.”
She stepped away. “Don’t do that anymore.” She stared at him with contempt.
Brian set the bag on the counter and looked at her. She, too, was in jeans and a jacket. He walked up to her. “You look serious.” She turned around and opened the upper cabinet door.
Brian slapped her on the ass again, this time even harder, and it sounded off.
Teresa quickly turned around to protest but saw Brian covering his face with both hands and shrieking away as if guarding himself from a blow she might throw. She smiled and said, “Stop playing with me, Brian. That shit hurts. Keep your fuckin hands to yourself.”
He backed away and sat on a bar stool at the counter. “I need your help with a case.”
“The last time I helped you, you killed the damn suspect, remember? That kind of makes me an accessory to murder. I don’t think I’ll be helping you again,” she said as she was restocking one of her cabinet shelves.
Brian looked inside the grocery bag he’d brought inside. He removed a gallon of milk. “You’re supposed to put the milk up first.” “Why? It won’t spoil by the time I get to it.”
“Got any Fruity Pebbles?”
“No, I don’t,” she said, sounding frustrated. “And how do you keep coming up with all these damn cases?”
He laughed. “Actually, I have seven cases waiting on me to solve them. That’s not counting the one I just took. The director of UCASTU is advising certain members to use Godsend.”
She stopped and faced him. “I thought you wanted a break, wanted to spend more time with your little girl. You don’t know what the hell you wanna do. You need a psych evaluation.”
“A few days after you cut me off, I flew out to Cali with my daughter. I took her to see her mom’s dad, then the three of us traveled to Sequoia National Park. LaRia really enjoyed looking up at all those super giant trees.”
“That’s sweet. I wish I could have seen her. I bet she didn’t wanna leave.”
“Yeah. After that we went to a nice Chinese restaurant, unlike any you’ve ever been to. Ten minutes into our meals a couple black guys came in and rob the fuckin place. Two more guys came in and forced al of us, the customers, to one corner, and took every wallet and purse. Mutha-fuckas even searched my daughter, as if I would use her to hide some money or something.”
Teresa said, “I caught that on the news, an upscale Chinese restaurant robbed. Out in Bakersville, right?”
“Yep. They came in with assault rifles and said they would kill everybody in the building if even one police car showed up. My daughter and a couple other children were scared and crying. I need your help. I don’t let nobody put their hands on my fuckin daughter and get away with it.”
2
Echo was at home studying the files of a cold case. He was sitting at the foot of his bed staring at three small stacks of documents on the floor. He had a highlighter in his hand and was about to pick up the statement of a witness when he heard a knock at his bedroom door. “Come in.”
Azuri Harrison was Echo’s sixteen-year-old daughter.
She had dark skin, long hair and dimples. She was pretty. Today, however, she was also sexy, wearing jeans that hugged her shapely curves and a designer top that showed off her C-cup cleavage. “Daddy, I need some money.”
“For what, and where the hell you going with that strut-the-ave costume?”
“Daddy, I’ll be seventeen in two more months. You don’t expect me to wear flowered dresses do you?”
“I wish you would dress like a damn pilgrim.”
She laughed. “My best friend is throwing a party and I—”
“Sit down,” he patted a spot at the foot of the bed, “right here.”
She walked up to the bed and sat on it, careful not to touch the documents with her fluffy house slippers. “What’s up?”
He squeezed the highlighter and said, “I’mma ask you a question, and don’t lie to me. Whatever your answer is, I’m not gonna get mad.” “Okay, I never lie to you.”
Echo looked at her and said, “You ever had sex before?”
She hesitated. “You’re not supposed to ask me that. Momma already talked to me about that.”
“Worn that means you have, because if you never had sex before you would have just said it.”
She didn’t respond.
“Look, Zuri, I’m not gonna get in your shit about having sex. Your momma was seventeen when she was pregnant with you, and she’s almost a year older than me. I just want you to make sure your boyfriend uses protection, and never let nobody talk you into doing something you don’t wanna do.”
“I won’t.” She was uncomfortable with the topic.
“I’m telling you this because I know there’s too many fools out there. If your boyfriend tries to force you to have sex, and I find out about it, I’m cutting his little dick off, okay?”
With a contorted face she said, “Okay.” “Now. How much money do you need?” “Um, a hundred dollars?”
“I’ll make it two hundred.”
She smiled. “Yes!”
“One more important thing. Before you get serious with a boyfriend, try to think ten years ahead. How will he be making a living? Just ask him. You want him to be better than I was. Prison, bullshit jobs—I struggled until I started working with your cousin Brian. Date boys who got some sense and want to learn something and be successful at something legal”
She said, “Is your work legal? You never like to talk about it.”
He shook his head. “No baby, your daddy ain’t nowhere near legal, but I do what I do to make sure you and your mom are good. A lot of people are subject to get fucked up in my line of work.
“Could you get hurt?” she asked.
He deliberated for a moment, knowing one day he’d probably get killed or imprisoned for a long time. “Don’t worry about me, baby. Me and Brian watch each other’s back.”
3
Art Brennon suddenly punched Sheree Lockhart in her left eye, sending her straight to the floor of her townhouse apartment. It was clearly a mismatch: Art was big, strong, ugly and dangerous; Sheree was small, weak, pretty and harmless. He was in his late forties; she was in her late twenties.
She held the left side of her face as she cowered next to her leather sofa. She had a feeling that her eye was already black and blue.
Art stood over her and said, “A busted eye won’t pay your bill; it’s just an overdue notice. You got until Saturday, Sheree.”
Brian and Echo got out of their rental car and looked around. They had arrived in California less than two hours ago by plane and were now in San Bernardino. Echo said, “Nice apartments. Nothing but rich white folks, I bet you. Probably mostly college students.”
Brian didn’t respond. He started walking but kept surveying the area.
Echo followed him then pulled on the sleeve of Brian’s LA Clippers jacket. “This way.” He pointed left. “There’s 2238F.” And now Echo led the way.
When Echo reached the apartment door it was opened just as he was about to ring the door bell. A white man, larger than Echo, was on his way out of the apartment but froze-up at the sight of the two black men. Echo could see a white woman curled up on the floor, her face covered with both hands.
Art Brennon said, “Ms. Lockhart’s not in right—”
Echo kicked Art in the crotch area, sending him backward.
Brian did not know what the hell was going on with Echo, but he rushed in behind him.
Before Art could gather himself, Echo had rushed him and grabbed both upper legs, preparing to scoop the man. But Art reached over Echo’s back and bear-hugged him, stopping Echo in his tracks.
Brian closed the door, saw the white woman scrambling toward a corner, then rushed over to the fight. The white man had dropped his weight on top of Echo and was trying to squeeze the life out of him. With a Nike sneaker, Brian kicked the man in the face. As the man was releasing Echo, Brian planted another kick to his face.
Art bled on the back of Echo’s denim jacket but was now out cold. Brian kicked him in the head again, this time near the ear.
Echo wriggled out from under the man and was about to throw some wild blows but soon realized that the man was out cold and fucked up badly. He got up and faced Brian. “That muthafucka must be on steroids or something.” Echo made a face and bent backwards a little. “I feel a fuckin back spasm coming.”
Brian looked at the woman but said to Echo. “Search him.” Then, he walked over to the woman who was now standing at the other end of her sofa. Her eye looked really bad. “You’re Sheree Lockhart?”
She nodded nervously. “Yes.”
“You know a Virginia PI named Charles Chislom?”
She nodded again.
“He referred you. We need guns, handcuffs, ammunition, and an SUV that the cops won’t look for. Can you help us?”
“Yes.” She nodded unnecessarily then relaxed. She looked over at the motionless Art. “You guys have no idea how much trouble you just got me in.” Echo was slipping something inside his rear waistband. It was Art’s handgun. “Looks to me like your ass was in trouble long before we got .”
4
Brian was in the passenger’s seat of a Mercedes Benz while Sheree drove. When the car left the parking lot of the townhouses, he said, “What kind of trouble are you in and why?”
“I’m a people person; it just so happens that I deal with people who want illegal things. I’m the middle woman and I’m trusted by the parties on both sides.”
She wore shades to hide her black and blue eye, but the soreness was really bothering her. “You tell me what you want and I’ll contact the person who can get it. You don’t need to produce any money until I bring the goods back.”
Brian said, “Too much of a risk without the upfront reward. Why not half down and half delivery?”
“My way. It’s worked for me for eight years now, but I’m very selective about the people I deal with. You have to be referred by someone who has been referred by someone else. You know what I mean? Besides, I’d have to meet my contacts in person just to get a price for everything on your list. Should I drive with fifty-thousand on me when I may only need thirty?”
Brian said, “It’s clear now. You have a retarded system and you’re too damn nice. It’ll catch up with you one day.”
“It already has.” She checked her rearview mirror. “A month ago I got beat out of sixty thousand dollars worth of goods, and this was by a loyal customer. So I was stuck with the bill. My connection for that deal gave me two weeks to get the money, but business has been slow. He sent Art to my place to remind me of my obligations.”
Brian said, “I leased storage space here in California. I fly out here from time to time and I’ll be needing access to the things on that list I gave you. I only have twenty-five grand on me; if I need more I’ll have to make a trip to the storage unit.”
“Charles sent you. Your money is good.”
Brian sighed, almost laughed. “You’re too damn easygoing.”
“No point in changing my character now.” She g
lanced at him. “I’m as good as dead, thanks to you and your partner back at my place. I know you guys were just trying to help a woman in distress, but Radar and Art will definitely kill me now. Radar is the big man in charge, the one who sent Art to check up on me.”
“Radar just wants his money, but Art is probably gonna be upset whenever he wakes up.”
She looked at him again. “I feel better already, especially since I don’t have Radar’s money and don’t know enough jokes to keep Art laughing.” “A couple weeks ago a Chinese restaurant was robbed up in Bakersville. Heard about it?”
“Sure. Tibetzu.”
“You’re a woman of many connections. You think you could find out who’s behind the robbery?” They ditched a stolen van and they had assault rifles. Maybe you sold that stuff to them.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Why are you interested?”
“I was there with my young daughter. I can’t sleep worn until I get some get-back.” She pursed her lips and kept looking straight ahead.
“I’ll pay you fifty grand if you agree to let all of your connections know that I got two hundred grand for anyone who can unmistakably point me in the direction of the Tibetzu robbers. “
She smiled while making a left turn. “The word will be al over California by tomorrow. I have more than forty strong contacts here.”
5
Echo was lying on Sheree’s leather sofa, feet kicked up, watching a movie on a flat screen television as if he were at home. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Art Brennon was coming to now.
The man was on the floor, on the other side of the elegant coffee table, wrists and ankles bound with extension cords. Dried blood was al over his face and the new carpet. He had been kicked in the forehead, leaving a gash, and on the side of his head.