“Fuck you, Ronald. Because of you, Lori is dead, Jessica was almost killed and I dread to think what this has done to my kids. Let’s not forget you almost got me killed not once, but twice! And what about Marcie? Huh? What’d she ever do to have a hit put out on her, huh? Tell me that, you sanctimonious prick!” I yelled. “And how about my job, huh? You killed a man right in front of me! Because of you, I’m working as some low-end rent-a-cop for a third rate insurance agency! You’re the very reason why I drink and have a fucked up life! But no, God forbid I should have the sorry misfortune of blaming you!”
Ronald sat back and stared through the windshield. “Get out and leave now before I forget we’re friends.” The injury of my words was etched across his face. I could tell I had inflicted pain on his worthless soul, which should have bothered me but it didn’t.
“Ronald, in case you missed the boat on this, FRIENDS DON’T GET THEIR FRIENDS KILLED!” I lurched across the car and punched him in the face with my bad hand. I instantly regretted hitting him. Not because it hurt like hell, but because he backhanded me and then hit me in the jaw with a stiff right which knocked me back against the passenger door. My head swam and I was seeing stars. I fumbled for the gun in my waistband. Ronald reached across his body and grabbed my hand, stopping me from getting it out.
I heard the click of the hammer and looked into the barrel of the gun. His eyes were vacant, his face without expression. I thought for sure he was going to kill me on the spot. Time stood still and neither of us moved or spoke. Finally, he let go of my hand and put the gun down. “Keys are in the ignition. Leave now and don’t come back.”
I sat there staring at him, wondering where my childhood friend had gone. Easing the door open, I slid out and walked over to the jeep. My eyes never left him as I stepped around the car. Opening the door, I sat down and turned the engine over. He hadn’t moved from the car. I wondered if I had ever really known him and if this was the end of our friendship.
Now it was my turn to stare through the windshield. My feelings and thoughts had begun to drift. Don’t get me wrong, I was still mad as hell, but the guilt and injury I had caused him began to seep in. The need for booze began to take a hold of me. My body began to shake and all at once I was weeping. What had I done? Ronald wasn’t entirely at fault. True, his actions as a teenager had led me to this point, but my own culpability was as black and opaque as any criminal I had rousted.
We both sat there for a long time without moving. I turned the engine off and climbed out of the jeep. Walking around the back of the jeep, I headed inside the house. My need for booze had started to overtake all of my faculties. I started opening drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Not finding anything to quench my thirst, I headed into the living room and then to both bedrooms and the bathroom. By now, my search for booze had taken on a life of its own. I tipped over chairs and pulled the cushions off the couch. Then I started in on the closets. Nothing! ‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Who doesn’t keep booze in their house? Hired gun thugs were supposed to be gash hounds and alcoholics with a few pharmaceuticals thrown in just for good measure, but I’d thrown in with the only gun-toting teetotaler in the state.’
“Really, if you would just tell me what you’re looking for officer, maybe I could help,” Ronald said sarcastically.
“Fuck off, Ronald,” I said over my shoulder.
“Walter!” he yelled.
I stopped trashing the broom closet and turned around. My face was flushed, with sweat popping out on my forehead. My breathing was labored from the effort and the shirt that was too small was now up over my gut and was riding just under my rib cage. I pulled at it, trying to put it back in place. “Swear to Christ, Ronald, you’re getting me clothes that fit in the morning.”
“That's what you’re looking for, clothes? Or was it something else on your mind?”
I pointed my finger at him and said, “I’m not in the mood, convict!”
“Have to be convicted of a crime and then actually serve time to be a convict. Neither of which I have done.”
“I need a drink. Bad…”
He shrugged. “Just have to put that particular need to bed, ‘cos there ain’t no booze in this house.”
Stepping around the sofa, I sat down hard and then fell back against the sofa, “Rickets.”
“Walt, you’re right, I’ve done a lot of bad things that people I care about are paying the price for. Sorry for getting you involved,” he said quietly.
I sat forward and asked him, “The truth, Ronald, why’d Jess call me for help?”
He shook his head. “Not a good idea.”
“You just pointed a gun at me. And after all this, I want to know. No, I need to know.”
Ronald blew out his breath and then walked over and sat down across from me. “Lori called Jess and told her about the divorce. This was after the shootout down at our place. Jess was scared, not only for herself but also for what I was going to do. She had never seen me that tuned up and the only way she would leave was if I promised her you would be here to keep me from getting myself killed, or worse.”
“Naw, that’s the Readers Digest version. Give it up. All of it.”
He sat back and looked at me. “Your sister, my wife wanted to make sure that after I did whatever I was going to do, you’d stop me from going too far. She made me promise I wouldn’t kill anyone. Hurt them, yes, but kill them… that… you’d do it for me.”
My jaw hit the floor. I shook my head back and forth to clear the thought. I wanted to call him a liar, but the realization began to set in. “Noooo, that’s… no, I don’t believe you… why would she think that? Why would she even begin to think that? Now, why would you even begin to tell me something like that? I’m not a cold-blooded killer. I’m not you.”
He sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Lori told her you were the one who killed Chaney Shannon.”
“No… wait. I did what?”
“Walt, the truth is everybody figured the booze and your temper was going to get you into trouble. In reality, Lori was using your sister to get you disqualified as a father and Jess figured if you’d killed once and got away with it, then you should probably do some time for it. I just went along with it. I set you up with Marcie to get you out of the way. I never thought Freeze would take a run at you but that night when you went out, I followed you just to make sure. I never intended for you to get involved. Sorry, but that’s the truth.”
“Swear to god, if you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you myself. You better be telling me the truth because I’m going to ask her,” I said heatedly.
Ronald put out his hands in a ‘what are you gonna do’ gesture. “Now I need to know, are you in or are you out?”
I stood up and paced the room for a minute, thinking it through. Turning to face him I said, “I’m in… all the way. But no one else dies. You hear me on this?”
Ronald nodded.
“One more thing. This kid who you murdered? You need to come clean on it when we take these guys down.”
“I didn’t kill him. Tied him up and threw him over the side as shark bait, yes, but he lived.”
“Whatever. You still have to answer for it.”
“Let’s worry about living through this right now.”
I let it go for the time being. What was the point? When it came down to it, I knew Ronald would skate and no harm would befall him as usual. I really wasn’t so sure about my own future. As a cop, I had faced down killers but they were play-actors compared to what we were up against. Truth be told, I was more than a little scared. This was Ronald’s playground, not mine.
“Your deep throat available at this time of night?”
“Crime doesn’t have a clock.”
“Christ sake, does that mean yay or nay?”
He grinned at me as he pulled out his phone. “He’s available.”
“Call him and let’s see if he’s got anything we can use to put these guys off the board.”
It
took some doing, but Ronald was able to get an address for a house located near the Redlands Mesa Golf Course. Also, we got another that was on an estate up on Grand Mesa, near the Alexander Lake Island resort. We debated on what was the best idea for finding him and in the end, decided to try the golf course location first. Our decision was based on the fact that the mountain home was snowed in this time of year and would be almost impossible to get to in the middle of the night. My clothing was still a problem, but it was one I was going to have to live with until tomorrow.
I pulled and tucked in the shirt as best I could. I did deep knee bends to stretch out the jeans that fit like they had been painted on. I thought about changing back into the clothes I had on earlier, but quickly changed my mind after I saw the vomit and blood that had dried on them. I made a mental note to check Ronald for a camera. If I caught him taking photos of me looking like a hobo in children’s clothing, I’d kill him on the spot.
As we pulled out of the driveway, my phone chirped. I checked the digital readout and saw a text message had come in. It was from Marcie: ‘Worried to death. Pls call.’
I showed it to Ronald.
“How did she get this number?” he asked me.
I thought about it and then shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“You call her?”
“No.”
“You call anyone?”
“No, had to get a new one after your friends tried to whack me in the parking lot.”
We both looked at each other and said at the same time. “Cops got it from Valley Market!”
“Shit, pull the battery!” Ronald yelled.
“Wait, let me think.”
“Don’t wait, just do it.”
I ignored him and opened the phone and called her. Ronald was gyrating beside me uncontrollably. I held up a hand to quiet him. She picked up on the first ring.
“Walt, is that you?”
“Marcie, I can’t really talk right now, but I’m fine. Just tell your new friends to relax. Call you back later and tell them everything.”
“Mr. Walker, this is agent Jordan.”
“I’m sorry, but my mind is a little fuzzy. Who are you again?”
“Don’t play games. We’ve been out to Mr. Jacobs’s house and saw the bullet holes. Whatever you’re mixed up in, it’s time to come in and talk about it.”
“By ‘mixed up’ you mean the hired gun thugs trying to kill me?”
“Your wife has already been killed today and we don’t want to see anything happen to you. Just come on in and we’ll talk about it.”
“Sure, sure, you just give me a time and a place and I’ll head over there.”
“You should know better than anyone, running only makes it worse.
“I’ll get right on it, I swear.” I ended the call and pulled the battery, then rolled down the window and tossed it outside.
“Told you not to call her.”
“Yeah, well, at least we know how bad it is.”
“Could have told you that before you called her.”
The drive to the golf course didn’t take long at that time of night. On the way over, we saw several cop cars headed toward the safe house we had just left. Ronald, to his credit, never swerved or slowed down each time another cop car went passed us. We did have one scare though. A Mesa County sheriff’s deputy fell in behind us but after a few miles, he turned around.
In our youth, the Redlands was the home to rich kids whose parents held white collar jobs. As there were no schools at the time, they were bussed down to Fruita. Ronald used to torment the boys who tried to bully or show off. Over the years though, the high priced homes had given way to prices blue-collar men who worked with their hands could afford.
I stared out the window and thought again about the rabbit hole I had fallen into. My stomach was tied in knots and at times I wanted to vomit. In the movies, the hero is always cool and collected. I looked over at Ronald. His face was almost serene. He looked relaxed and without a care in the world. I tried in vain to mimic his cool demeanor but failed miserably. My hands were shaking and I could feel sweat start to pop out on my forehead. I wiped it off with the back of my hand and then rubbed my face and hair.
I was playing in a league so far over my head, I would be lucky if I didn’t shoot myself in the foot. If Ronald noticed my nervousness, he didn’t comment on it. In my mind, I went back and forth about tearing out the battery. My thoughts waffled on about what we were about to do. If he was home, then what? If he wasn’t home, then what? As a cop, you had a department of men and women who stood by you and supported your moves on the street. But I wasn’t a cop anymore. Hell, I didn’t even have the badge Paul had given me this morning.
Fritz Washington was powerful and would have a lot of security who had guns and would be willing to use them. He would have the law on his side if he called them and all we had was the confession of a man I had beaten, not to mention the little matter of nailing his testicles to the chair he was strapped to. Then, of course, Ronald left Pete to die and put a nail in his last hope.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to drink until all of it faded into the background of yesterday. But then the sun would rise over the horizon and I would be faced with the knowledge of what lay ahead.
I tilted my head further into the window, letting my eyes wander into the night sky. My eyes roamed back and forth, looking for the constellation I had always taken comfort from. The full moon prevented me from seeing it. Blowing my breath out, I looked back over at Ronald. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear he was sleeping.
Staring ahead again, I watched as Ronald turned off Broadway and onto Ridge Road. After that, he took a series of switchback roads until we had arrived at the Redlands Mesa Golf course. Like any large and private golf course, the edges were dotted with large million dollar homes. The faux adobe motif the rich had prescribed to its occupants sat like sentinels. I could only ever dream of such wealth and opulence. For a moment the thought of the underclass that had provided the stepping stones to financial freedom made me rethink the odyssey we had embarked upon.
I felt my anger climb up my spine and into my face. Images of Lori when we were younger flashed across my eyes. I could still see her holding our babies fresh from the womb. My anger began to build at the thought of a man like Fritz Washington passing idle judgment on the weak and innocent. Ronald drove around until he was near the front of the clubhouse. He parked the car and we got out and looked around.
“Address has it on High Desert Road. Looking at the GPS, if we cut across the back nine then his house should be on the far side of the course,” Ronald said.
“This car will get some attention. How about we back it on down the road a few miles, then hike back in.”
Ronald looked around. “Yeah, if we leave it here we might as well send up flares.”
We dumped the car two miles down the two-lane road and hiked back up to the clubhouse. The air was cool and crisp when we started off but by the time we had reached the house, we were both sweating. Ronald signaled for me to wait while he scouted the front of the house for an address and any sign of life. I doubted anyone was home. The windows were dark and the house gave off the vibe of being unoccupied.
While he scouted the front, I angled around the back to look for dogs or any sign of security. The house itself wasn’t as large or opulent as I would have suspected. By looking at the lot it was around five acres. The house was two stories and looked to be about four-thousand square feet. It sported the same faux adobe look as the rest of the houses and I could tell there was an attached garage that looked like it would easily accommodate three cars, but compared to the rest of the houses in the area, it almost looked like a ramshackle lean too.
There was no fence across the back yard, so working my way around the perimeter was easy enough. I did, however, find motion sensors and what appeared to be video surveillance. I had made it all the way across the back property line when I saw Ronald slink back to
where he had left me. He stopped and looked around. I waved my arms in his direction and then headed back over to him.
“Looks deserted,” I said quietly.
“Front looks the same.”
“You’re the crook… What’d think?” I asked.
“Human Resource Management,” he scoffed.
“Tomato, potato same thing.”
He looked at me, offended. “They are not the same thing. One’s a fruit, the others a vegetable.”
I scowled at him in the darkness. “Well?”
“My sense is nobody’s home. Probably has a security system linked to a rent-a-cop outfit. Maybe we have three minutes, maybe more.”
“Worth the risk?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’m pretty sure if we creep it, we’ll get busted. Probably what he’s counting on.”
I nodded. “So we agree, the house on Grand Mesa?”
“I would if it were me, this is personal for him.”
“Alright, so let’s get back to the car and head that way. Don’t suppose you have another hideout, do you?”
“Matter of fact, I do. And the best part is, it’s up near Parachute.”
“How many places you got?”
“Including the house that got burned tonight? I’ve got four,” Ronald replied, clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
I shook my head. “I just had to ask,” I said disgustedly.
Forty minutes later we were back to the car and driving east towards Parachute. We didn’t talk much on the way back. I spent most of the ride thinking about my kids and their future. I also wondered when this was over if I would be free enough to travel back to Florida for the funeral and spend time with Thomas and Cassandra before I was hauled off to jail. As usual, Ronald seemed to be in a far-off land, unconcerned about his future or what lay ahead. The doubts that had plagued me before no longer haunted my moral compass. Now it was time to seek a little street justice for Lori, my kids, Jess and myself. Ronald could go straight to hell for all I was concerned. I mean, this was his entire fault… mostly. Ah, Rickets!
On The Devil's Side of Heaven Page 33