The way she looked at me right then almost stopped my heart. s
'Why don't we find someplace we can be alone, Joe?'
I wanted to. God did I want to. But she was almost twenty years younger than me. There was more to it than that. I didn't even know if I had a future past the next few hours. But there was still more. There was Charlotte. I know it's crazy, but I started feeling guilty. As nuts as Charlotte was, I knew that in some bizarre way we were meant for each other. That at some level we understood each other and that we could help each other. As beautiful and sane as Tina was, she didn't have a clue what was inside me.
'Tina,' I said. 'It's eight thirty and we got that news broadcast at ten.'
'We have enough time.'
'I've got to be honest,' I said. I want to more than you could ever imagine, but I'm feeling pretty beat up right now.’
‘I'll be gentle.'
'Why don't we give it a few days and see how we're feeling then?'
That just heated her up more. The desire flushing her face was almost too much for me. I almost weakened. But Jesus, I couldn't do that to her. Instead, I just sat back and looked into her eyes. She showed me a little smile, took a business card from her pocketbook, wrote on the back of it, and handed it to me.
'Don't wait too long, Joe,' she said, showing me probably the nicest smile I'd ever seen. I looked on the back of the card and saw that she had written her home number on it and had drawn a big heart next to it. I put the card away in my wallet.
We finished our dinner and headed back to the station. When we got there, I found out that things had gone as planned at the Blue Horn. One of the interns bought several hits of crystal meth and then the state police raided the place. They got almost forty thousand dollars' worth of drugs in the raid and the station shot video of it all. Eileen had one of her reporters over at the state police headquarters, but it sounded like none of the Blue Horn employees that were rounded up were willing to say who they worked for.
The station was able to condense the video they shot into a ninety-second clip. They opened with Tina reporting the story. After that I was brought on and interviewed live for about three minutes. It went better than I could've expected. Tina acted as if everything I was saying was a proven fact, even though there was nothing yet tying Manny and Junior to any of it.
After the broadcast Eileen came over and offered me her hand.
'I have to admit you did some good work here, Joe,' she said.
I thanked her. As I was getting ready to leave, Tina came over and kissed me on the cheek. When I turned to say something to her, she grabbed me around the neck and kissed me long and hard on the mouth. When we separated her eyes were sparkling.
'Don't wait too long to call me,' she said. I felt a lump in my throat as I watched her walk away.
My head was buzzing as I made my way to my car. I couldn't help thinking of Tina, of the way it felt when she kissed me, of how badly I realized I wanted her. I guess I was too caught up in my thoughts to notice them, at least until it was too late. At the last second I caught sight of Jamie's bandaged head out of the corner of my eye. Then I felt the blow to my damaged ribs. He must've used brass knuckles. The pain from the blow dropped me to my knees and brought hot tears to my eyes. It froze me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move.
'We've been looking for you all day,' Jamie whispered in my ear. Then I took another shot to the ribs. The pain exploded in me. And then everything went black. I felt a sensation of being picked up and thrown. And then nothing.
Chapter 20
I couldn't have been out for more than a couple of minutes. At least, I don't think so. When I came to I was in the back seat. Duane was next to me, a hard smirk on his face as he stuck a nine-millimeter automatic into my side. Jamie was up front driving.
'Look who just woke up,' Duane said, his voice just above a whisper.
'Have a nice nap?' Jamie asked, chuckling to himself.
Duane shoved the gun harder into my side. 'It's not polite to ignore a civil question,' he said, his smirk tightening on his face.
Softly, because of the pain, I said, 'Yeah, I had a nice peaceful nap. Thanks. How's your head?'
A lot better than your ribs,' Jamie said. 'By the way, we're not here for any collections, but you probably know that.'
'You want to guess what we're here for?' Duane said, his mouth inches from my ear. His breath smelled like raw sewage.
'Did you watch the news tonight?' I asked.
'It don't matter,' Duane said in a soft whisper. 'It's not going to change what's going to happen tonight.'
Jamie chuckled to himself over some private joke. Then he said, 'Mr. Vassey's waiting for you. He bought himself a new butcher's apron for the occasion.'
I closed my eyes and tried to think. I knew Junior's order was to bring me back alive, and I knew Duane would be slow pulling the trigger. The gun was mostly for show, he'd use it only if he had to. I had nothing to lose so I took my chance.
I doubled over and grabbed my side. I think you broke my ribs,' I moaned.
'Ain't that a shame,' Jamie said, chuckling harder. Duane joined in, his body convulsing lightly with amusement. I had my elbow drawn in as I was clutching my side. I whipped it around as hard as I could and caught Duane under his chin. His head snapped back and I pushed the gun away with my bandaged hand while I punched him with my good one. The problem was because of my ribs I couldn't get a hard enough blow in, otherwise I would've knocked him out and had his gun. Instead he was able to fight back.
'Goddam it!' Jamie swore. Tires squealed and the car swerved to a stop. From the corner of my eye I saw Jamie's gun swinging towards my head. I moved, but not fast enough to avoid it. It ended up being more of a glancing blow. It didn't knock me out, but it slowed me down enough for Duane to pull his gun away from me. He hit me hard across the side of my face with its barrel, opening a gash under my cheek. He was breathing hard, his eyes blind with rage as he brought his gun back up again. But the orders were to bring me back alive. Reluctantly he got himself under control.
'You okay, Duane?' Jamie asked.
'Yeah, I'm okay. This goddam piece of shit.' Then to me, 'I'll be with you all night tonight, watching. I promise you that.'
I only had that one shot. That was all. There was nothing else left in me. My abdominal muscles were spasming so bad I couldn't breathe. For a moment I thought I was going to suffocate because of it. It seemed to take minutes before my muscles relaxed enough so I could gasp in air again. Then I fell back into my seat and closed my eyes. There was nothing else I could do. As I sat there I could feel blood dripping down the side of my face. Duane leaned over, his sour breath almost making me gag. During the rest of the trip he whispered in my ear, telling me in great detail everything they were going to do to me.
When the car stopped, I opened my eyes and saw we were at the side entrance to Junior's house. He must've been waiting for us because he barreled out of the side door and came at us at a jog.
'Hey, Joe, glad you could make it!' he yelled.
Duane pulled me out of the back seat, and before I knew it Jamie was on the other side of me. The two of them were dragging me towards the house, and I just hobbled along, unable to do anything about it.
Junior had caught up to us and was standing in front of me. 'You think you can pull that shit on me and get away with it?' he asked, breathing hard from his jog. An ugly grin broke across his face. 'Whatsa matta, nothing to say anymore?'
He brought his fist back and punched me in the stomach. It doubled me over. At that split second I both heard a rifle shot and saw half of Jamie's bandaged head fly away. He toppled over like timber that had been cut. Junior stared at him wide eyed and then dove to the ground. I fell over and twisted myself around so I could look behind me. In the moonlight I could see a rifle barrel coming out of the bushes about forty yards away. Duane had his nine-millimeter out and was firing towards it. An orange flame shot out of the rifle barrel, cutting Duane just about i
n half, but he kept firing as he fell. He must've hit something because a dull moan escaped from the bushes and the rifle fell.
Junior was lying just a few feet from me, his ugly face frozen in fear. I scrambled on top of him and started punching him flush in the face with my good hand. If I hadn't been weakened by my ribs I would've killed him. Instead I only knocked him out. I gave him a few more shots and then crawled off him.
It took me a while to get to my feet. Both Duane and Jamie were about as dead as you could be. I hobbled over to the bushes and got down on my hands and knees to see who it was. I was surprised to find Scott Ferguson lying there. He had taken a bullet to the chest. He was still alive, but just barely.
I asked him who he was trying to kill, me or Junior.
His breathing was labored, coming out in short violent gasps. His index finger signaled for me to come closer. It took some effort because of my ribs, but I leaned forward and put my ear against his mouth.
'Fuck you,' he said.
I think he died then. I looked around and saw a shell casing on the ground. I picked it up and saw that it was a seven-millimeter.
He must've been there for Junior. Maybe when he saw me he decided to kill both of us. Maybe he decided Junior and I were in on Billy's death together. It was probably something like that, but the only thing I knew for sure was if I hadn't doubled over my head would been blown apart instead of Jamie's.
I wiped off the shell casing with my shirt and dropped it back on the ground.
Nobody had bothered coming out of Junior's house. Most likely he had sent his wife and kids away for the night. His nearest neighbor was at least a quarter-mile away, but there was a good chance somebody heard the gunshots and called the police. I wanted to get out of there before they showed up.
I started towards Jamie's car, moving as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast. I was still twenty yards away when I saw the lights flashing. I stood frozen, watching as a sheriff s car pulled up to me. Hal Wheely got out of it. His eyes narrowed as he looked around him.
'Get down on your knees and put your hands on your head,' he ordered.
'Hal, I can explain this.'
He had his gun out, pointing it at me. 'I'm not telling you again,' he said.
I did as he told me. He pulled my arms behind me and slapped cuffs on my wrists. Then he yanked me to my feet.
I hobbled along as he dragged me to his car. When I tried stopping at the rear door, he shook his head. I didn't catch on until he opened his trunk.
'You're kidding,' I said.
But I knew he wasn't, and I knew I had no other choice, so I got in.
Chapter 21
I must've been in that trunk for hours. At first it was unbearable. Every bounce felt like a knife ripping into my side. Then my arms and legs started cramping. At some point I must've gotten used to the pain. I had to've because I dozed off. Or maybe I blacked out. In either case, I was gone. Next thing I knew Hal was slapping me in the face and dragging me out of the trunk.
We were in the middle of the woods somewhere. As Wheely dragged me to. the front of the car I could make out a cabin to the left of us. He pushed me onto a dirt path that led to the cabin.
'Hal,' I said, my voice coming out as barely a whisper, 'this doesn't make any sense anymore. It's over.'
'Will you just shut up,' he snapped.
'Did you see the news tonight?'
'Just shut your face!'
He shoved me hard from behind* sending me flopping to the ground. I almost ended up being dragged the rest of the way to the cabin. When we got inside he pushed me over to a wood stove and then used another pair of handcuffs to cuff my right ankle to the stove.
'Unless you can gnaw through bone you're not getting out of there,' he said, showing me a dead smile. 'Will you listen to me, Hal?'
He shook his head and left the cabin.
I was alone for maybe twenty minutes when the door opened and Dan Pleasant and Wheely walked in.
'Jesus, Dan,' I croaked out. "This is all over now. You don't have to do this.'
'How is this all over?' he asked.
'Did you watch the news tonight?'
'Yeah, I watched it. I have to give you credit, Joe, you did a good job screwing us over royally.'
I tried talking, but started coughing instead. My throat was so damn dry. I tried again. "That's not why I did it. Phil can't make a deal with Manny now.'
'He can't, huh? Why not?'
'It would be political suicide.'
His thin smile disappeared as he stared at me. "That's your problem, Joe. You have to make things so damn complicated. You didn't do shit tonight. Phil was politically dead when he was caught in that motel room with that hooker. Nothing you did is going to stop him from making a deal with Manny.'
'Dan, you're wrong,' I said, but as I thought about it I realized he wasn't.
'You don't look so sure of yourself anymore, Joe,' he said. He turned to Wheely. 'Does he Hal?' I watched as Wheely slowly shook his head. Then to me, 'Damn it, Joe, I gave you so many chances and you just kept screwing me and lying to me about it. And after everything I did for you? Goddam it!'
He handed Wheely a flashlight. 'Shine this on him, okay, Hal?' As Wheely shined the light on me, Dan took my picture with a digital camera. He seemed satisfied with the results and put the camera back in its case.
'What are you going to do with that picture?' I asked, my voice now a bare whisper.
'Maybe I'll tell you later,' he said. His pleasant smile came back as he looked at me. 'I can't promise you anything, Joe. The only thing I can tell you now is that I'm going to keep you alive until morning. What happens then, we'll see. Now why don't you tell me what happened at Junior's house?’
‘Why don't we trade?'
'Sorry, it's not going to work that way. Now Joe, I'll tell you, I'd like nothing more right now than to kick the living hell out of you. But I'm going to restrain myself, at least as long as you're cooperating with me. So what happened at Junior's?'
I tried to answer him but I couldn't, my voice was gone. I tried to croak out that I needed water. He looked annoyed. 'Hal, can you get him some water?'
Wheely left the cabin. I heard a car door open and close, and then he came back with a water bottle. He let me have a few sips, just enough so I could talk.
'Two of his boys picked me up outside of WVRT. They were going to torture me in Junior's playroom. I guess Scott Ferguson had gotten it in his head that Junior and I were responsible for his brother Billy's murder.'
My voice cracked on me and Wheely gave me a couple more sips. I cleared my throat and tried again.
'He was hiding in the bushes,' I continued, my voice now a hoarse whisper. 'He must've been lying in wait for Junior. I could tell from the way he smelled that he'd been drinking, but I guess he was sober enough to blow Jamie's head off and cut Duane in half. He tried shooting me a few days ago through my parents' bedroom window.'
'Who shot Ferguson?'
'Duane did.'
'And you worked Junior over?'
I nodded. 'How badly did I hurt him?'
'Not bad enough. He checked into Bradley Memorial, but he'll probably be released by morning. I'll tell you, Joe, that's a nasty cut you got on your cheek.'
'I'll live.'
'Maybe. We'll see.'
He was laughing to himself over that. As he turned to leave, I asked whether he could at least cuff my hands in front of me.
'Sorry, Joe, I can't do that.'
'How about giving me some more water?'
'Not now. We'll see in the morning. Joe, some advice. We're fifty miles away from anyone. Don't bother yelling for help.'
Both of them got a chuckle over that and then they left.
I had a long night after that. The physical pain was bad enough, but then I start thinking about everything I had done to end up where I was and it made me sick inside. I kept playing it over and over in my mind and feeling sicker as I did. Then I started thinking of my daug
hters. I kept seeing them the way they were in those pictures, and I kept hearing Courtney's voice as it sounded over the phone the other day. I was overcome with such a sense of loss that I started crying. I didn't want to – Jesus, the last thing I wanted was for Dan or any of his boys to walk in on me like that – but I couldn't help myself. It seemed a long time before I was able to stop. Then I started praying. Praying that I could somehow have another chance with my girls. I kept it up until daylight. At some point I went numb, unable to think or feel anything.
It must've been daylight for hours before Dan came back. He was alone and was carrying a small paper bag. He showed me a little smile as he stared at me.
'You haven't been crying, now, have you, Joe?'
'Why don't you just get it over with.'
'Get what over with?' He was smiling his pleasant smile. 'I've got good news. Manny died this morning of respiratory failure. You're going to be walking out of here alive.'
I almost burst out crying then. I had to bite my lip to hold it back.
'Don't you have anything to say, Joe?’
‘Get these cuffs off me,' I said.
'I can't do that. It's not over yet. But I'll cuff you in front. Just don't try anything stupid.'
He placed the paper bag next to me, and then got on his knees so he could uncuff me. I couldn't have tried anything even if I wanted to, my arms were too stiff. It took some effort but I moved my hands in front of me so he could cuff me.
'Goddam it, you smell ripe, Joe. There's a sandwich in that bag. Also a bottle of water. It's all you're going to get today so you might want to save some for later.'
'Awfully considerate of you.'
He chuckled and gave me a thoughtful look. 'Not really. After everything I've been through, I don't want you dying on me now.'
'Why isn't it over yet?’
‘Be patient.'
I reached into the bag and got out the water. I fumbled a bit before I was able to get the top off. After taking a long drink, I put the water down. Dan watched with amusement sparkling in his eyes.
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