“I guess Bruno’s knocking some sense into you. Now you’re getting it. Of course, I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Whump, whump.
Of course.
“The DNA will prove I didn’t rape her.”
“It won’t matter. You’ll already be dead.”
“They’ll deny killing me.”
“The cops will find you and Alex, dead, a taser in your hand. Danny and Kevin will be found nearby, unconscious, presumably from the taser, and unable to remember anything, one of them holding the gun that you were shot with. I’ll let you pick which one. I had my associates pick them up hours ago, so no one’s seen them all day. No alibis.” No wonder Pauline and I hadn’t been able to find them. I glanced at the Bronco and wondered if they were inside. I was surprised insurance salesmen and political wanna-be’s had so much time to plan such revolting schemes.
“And if I confess, Danny and Kevin are off the hook for the body shop? You’ll let it alone?”
“Yes.”
“And Alex?”
“Alex is a loose cannon. I wish she would’ve stayed in southern California. She’s always been the favorite, the baby of the family, and my parents let her ruin me.” What, was he six now? And besides, anyone could see that he was their favorite. Brian sighed audibly. “Alex still needs to go. But if you confess, I promise it’ll be quick. It’ll look like a suicide. Everyone will assume she was distraught about her lover going to prison.”
“No deal.” Whump.
Dammit, Mikey, I thought.
“Look, I’m not an evil person.” What the hell was his definition? “I’m not excited about having Bruno hurt my sister, one way or the other. But you’re not in a position to negotiate. You have two choices. Alex can die quickly, painlessly, or Alex can die a slow, agonizing death. Either way, Alex dies. Your call.”
“Fine, I’ll confess. What do you want me to do?” His voice was sounding strained, and I picked up the cell phone. I guessed we had a lot for Jimmy C to throw at Brian, even though he hadn’t specifically copped to the body shop murder. “Wait a second,” Mikey said, and I was pretty sure he was talking to me. I set the cell phone back on the desk.
“What?” Whump.
“As long as I’m going to get a lethal injection for something I didn’t do, you mind telling me what this whole thing was about?”
He’ll never tell him, I thought. Brian laughed a sick laugh. “Why not? That little jerk Chambers was blackmailing me. I was an occasional customer, and when I decided to run for office, Chambers threatened to show his little black book to the press. He demanded five thousand dollars, and I paid it. I was pretty sure he didn’t have a little black book, he was too stoned and stupid to keep records, but you can never be too careful in politics. You have to be above reproach. Anyway, he came back and wanted another ten, and then another. I could see it was never going to stop, so I stopped it.”
“With a forty-five?”
“Right between the eyes.” He sounded proud of that.
Whump. “And the fires? Who’d you get to do the arsons?”
“What, I can’t set a lousy fire? I’m an insurance broker. I’ve seen dozens of fire reports. They’re like a tutorial. I made the body shop look professional, figuring the cops would think it was your mob buddies. Then Frick and Frack showed up. Too bad about Kevin, but that’s what happens when you’re not careful about who you associate with. So anyhow, if it wasn’t the mob, it was the fire captain. Either way, it wasn’t me. The fire at Henderson’s place was even easier, the wires were already bad. I just introduced a couple of them to each other. Idiot fire inspectors never even suspected arson.”
That was everything. I hit call on the cell phone and waited an eternity for Jimmy C to pick up. Come on, come on.
“Jimmy C.” I’d never heard him introduce himself before, and I thought about calling myself Alex J. It didn’t sound right, so I forgot about it.
“Hey, it’s Alex. Listen, I have my brother Brian on tape, confessing to the body shop thing. He and a giant Samoan called Bruno are holding Junior Salazar at gunpoint inside the gravel yard office. I’m at the body shop. The giant Samoan’s Bronco is parked out front, and the driver’s still in it, so I can’t leave the office without being seen.”
Jimmy C let out a long breath. “Okay, time for the cavalry. Don’t move. Do you have any way of contacting Junior so he knows we’re coming?”
“I can call him on his cell, but I don’t know if Brian will let him answer it.”
“Try it. Tell him to stay away from the windows if he can, and to be ready to cover his face. We may have to use tear gas. What’s your number?”
I gave him my number and dialed Mikey’s cell phone. I’d missed the last bit on the recording, and I didn’t know what they were talking about, but when Mikey’s phone rang, I heard Brian say, “See who it is.”
“Salazar.”
“The cops are on the way. Stay away from the window, and be ready for tear gas.”
“Yeah, corned beef sounds great, Ma. Thanks.”
The next few minutes felt like weeks. Bruno seemed to be taking a break while Mikey wrote out a confession that Brian dictated. The blinds in the office were closed, but I didn’t see how the cops were going to be able to get in without being seen by the guy in the Bronco.
Just then a bright red VW pulled into the lot. Pauline. Holy shit, I thought, what’s she doing here? I pushed the speed dial number for her cell phone. Pauline jumped out of the Bug and stalked across the lot, towards the door. I saw her pause and reach in her purse. I stood up, switched the cell phone to my left hand and wrapped my right hand around the Glock. Both front doors of the Bronco opened and two men in suits stepped out. They looked like insurance salesmen.
“Kevin?”
“Dammit, Pauline. See the suits? Go flirt with them.” The men were walking towards her, reaching into their jackets. She looked at the men approaching her. “Trust me, it’ll help Kevin. The cops are on their way. Distract them.” She dropped the cell phone back in her purse and turned towards the goons, a blinding smile on her face. I hadn’t noticed any movement inside Mikey’s office, so I guessed Brian hadn’t heard anything.
Pauline walked towards the goons, extending her hand. Goon Number One took it and held on to it too long. Pauline smiled up at him and I thought I might hurl again. Goon Number Two was antsy for his turn, and she turned and beamed at him.
I opened the door and crouched, crab walking as fast as I could across the lot. The goons were fixated on Pauline. I saw a police cruiser about a quarter of a mile up the road, followed by three unmarked cars, coming fast. The goons hadn’t spotted them yet, and I sprinted the last twenty-five yards to the Bronco. I took cover behind the front of the car, and waited for the cruiser to close in. Goon Number One spotted it just as it started to turn into the lot. He reached inside his jacket, and Goon Number Two followed suit. I stood up and raised the Glock over the hood of the car.
“Pauline, move! Drop the guns!” Pauline dove towards the Beetle, and the goons swung towards me. The patrol car fishtailed to a stop, spewing cops, and the goons were on the ground before they’d ever gotten their hands out of their jackets. The unmarked cars sped in, and Jimmy C, Abigail Morrissey and several other detectives raced towards the door, guns drawn, just as Bruno stuck his head out to see what the commotion was. Abigail, dressed in a very fashionable pantsuit that suggested banker more than cop, slammed Bruno back against the door and pushed past him into the office. Jimmy C cuffed Bruno, and then Abbie brought Brian out in cuffs. Mikey followed, hunched forward and holding his ribs. Not a single shot was fired.
Jimmy C turned his attention to the Bronco. He drew his weapon and opened the back passenger-side door. I couldn’t see what he saw, but apparently it wasn’t threatening, because he holstered his gun. He reached into the car and pulled my brother out. His hands were bound behind him, and he had duct tape across his mouth. Jimmy C motioned to another detective, who came around to my side of the
car and opened the door, pulling Danny out. He was similarly bound. He stared at me, wide eyed, and shook his head. He didn’t look happy.
Everyone, Brian, Bruno, Mikey, Goons Number One and Two, and Danny and Kevin, were loaded into separate police cars that seemed to be arriving now in a never-ending stream, and carted off to the station. Jimmy C found me and pulled me aside.
“You’re a mess,” he said.
“What?” I looked down and saw my hands were covered with soot and ash from Jenkins’ office. “Oh.”
“It’s all over your back, too. I’ll need the gun, Alex.”
I’d forgotten I was still holding it. I flipped it around and handed it to him butt-first. “I didn’t shoot anybody.”
He nodded. “Terrific. Should we go get that tape?”
We walked back to the body shop. I shut off the recording and started to pop the tape out, but Jimmy C stopped me. “I’ll just take the whole machine, if you don’t mind.”
I shrugged. “It cost a hundred bucks, so can I get it back when you’re done with it? I want to return it.”
“You’ll get it back. I know I shouldn’t ask, but how did you get in here?”
“The door was unlocked?” I asked.
“Of course it was, what was I thinking?” He looked over at the parade of police cars now leaving from the gravel yard. “You and Pauline can drive yourselves to the station, but don’t take too long about it, okay?”
Jimmy C left and I gathered up my Sears bag and the box the phone machine had come in. I set the vomit-laden trashcan outside, locking the door behind me. I went around the back and got into my Honda, grateful again for the industrial-strength stain repellent built into the seats, and drove across the lots to Pauline’s ladybug-mobile. She was sitting on the back bumper, picking gravel out of her palm. I got out and stood in front of her.
“I know there’s a logical explanation for all of this,” she snapped, throwing little rocks at my feet. “I know my boyfriend, your brother, did not kill anybody, set any fires, or do whatever it was that brought out the entire goddamn police force just now. And I know you are damn well going to tell me the entire story, right fucking now.”
“Jimmy C wants me at the police station, right fucking now,” I answered, “so come with me, and I’ll tell you.”
“Fine.”
She got her purse and locked the Bug, and we got in the Element. I drove. Pauline glared.
“It was sort of looking like Brian might have been the one who shot Lonnie Chambers and set the fire,” I started. “I didn’t know why. So Mikey and I staged a little fake make-out session at Bri’s fundraiser last night...”
“You sure it was fake?”
“...which pushed him over the edge. He had those goons pick up Danny and Kev sometime today. He was going to stage my rather unpleasant, and I might add, extremely untimely, demise, making it look like Mikey killed me. Then he was going to kill Mikey, making it look like Danny and Kevin killed him. They would go to jail forever, no one would be around to prove Brian did the body shop thing, and the police would stop looking because they always believed it was the Salazars and Kevin anyway.”
“And you know this how?”
“Brian set up a meeting with Mikey. We taped the whole thing. He confessed to the body shop, the fires, hiring someone to kill me, fucking global warming, practically. Course, the Samoan wonder-thug beat the shit out of Mikey in the process, but I guess it was worth it to him.”
“That’s why you wanted me to get Kevin to turn himself in? So Brian couldn’t pick him up?”
I shook my head. “I had no idea, I was just having a really bad feeling and I figured a jail cell was at least safe.”
She nodded, catching up.
“What the hell were you doing there?” I asked. I still hadn’t figured that out. I turned off Highway 59 onto Olive and got stuck behind a tractor.
“Should’ve gone down Sixteenth, it’s faster. When Kevin didn’t return my calls all day, I called the police department. They said he hadn’t been arrested, so I knew something had happened. Since no one told their best friend anything about what was going on, I didn’t know Junior was one of the good guys. He was the only suspect other than Kev and Danny, so I was coming over to get some goddamn answers. Good thing, too. ’Cause, no offense, but you look like shit, and there’s not a chance in hell you would have distracted those guys looking like that.” She was being mean because she was annoyed with me, but I thought I maybe could have distracted them a little, if I hadn’t gotten too close.
“Not even the earrings?”
She peered at my ears. “Those are nice,” she agreed. “Junior give ’em to you?”
Big sigh. “By the way, today would have been an excellent opportunity to use your stun gun.”
“Crap, I forgot I had it! You should have reminded me instead of telling me to flirt with them.” She looked out the side window and tapped her fingernails on the armrest. “Look, I’m your best friend. You’re supposed to tell me everything. Those are the rules, and you aren’t playing right. I didn’t hold the Danny thing against you because the statute of limitations had run out. But you’re not getting any more free passes. Spill, or the crazy cat lady is going to be your only friend. Where’d you get the earrings?”
“I promise you, I’m not involved with Mikey. I bought the earrings myself.”
“Why should I believe you?”
I turned onto McKinley Street, finally rid of the tractor. “Well, I slept with Danny yesterday, for starters.”
Apparently, those were the magic words, the juicy bit of best-friend gossip that would erase all my previous omissions. Her face changed in a nanosecond, eyes shiny, eyebrows elevated, a smile instead of the annoyed frown. She leaned so far forward, I had visions of the airbag deploying in an accident and sending her hurtling through the back window.
“And?”
I pictured his face when he got out of the Bronco. “And now I’m pretty sure he’s not talking to me.”
“You were that bad? Did you forget how, being married to Max for so long?” Jeez, why did everyone jump to the conclusion that I was lousy in bed?
“He’s not talking to me because he told me to stay out of this mess, and instead I surveilled Brian and went traipsing around with a gun. It’s not because I forgot how to do anything. I remember fine, thank you very much.”
She looked skeptical.
“I practiced on Jack last week,” I offered.
“JESUS CHRIST, were you ever planning to tell me any of this? I thought that was just another stupid rumor.”
“I’ve been gone a long time. I’m not in the habit of informing you every time I get laid.”
“Hunh. Like it happens so often. So. How was he?”
“Jack?”
“No, I know how Jack is, dumb-ass. Danny.” One eyebrow went up and stayed there. “As good as you remembered?”
I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, not because I have any scruples whatsoever, but because I thought it would be really embarrassing to have an orgasm driving down McKinley Street with my best friend. I decided to go with vague, and try to think about something boring, like spaghetti, while I told her. “Yeah, even better, actually.” Spaghetti with marinara sauce. I don’t even like marinara sauce.
“And?”
And I was getting hot, and I couldn’t breathe right and I thought I might wreck the car. And for some reason, pasta was sounding tasty.
By the time we arrived at the station, no one but the desk sergeant was in sight. Pauline and I sat on the bench and waited. The adrenaline rush had ebbed, and we were both exhausted. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wall. I heard a door open and close, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t sure I had the strength to lift my eyelids. I finally peeled them open when I heard Jimmy C call my name. He looked tired, and I worried that I was going to annoy him again.
“Come on back, Alex.”
I got up and went through the reception area and
on into the inner office. Jimmy C took me to his desk, not an interrogation room.
“I listened to the tape.” No expression. “We’re playing it for Brian now, and I’m sure he’ll give us a written confession.” His face was still a blank.
I breathed a sigh. “What if he doesn’t? Is the tape admissible?” I’d had a lingering fear that it was somehow an illegal recording. I had visions of me in jail instead of Brian, which would really fry me after all the trouble he’d caused.
“Yeah.” He shook his head. “Jesus, Alex, what were you thinking? Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I did come to you. You were hell-bent on it being the Salazars and Kevin. And until Mikey got Brian to confess, I had nothing to tell you. We figured out it probably was Brian, but I couldn’t prove it, and I had no idea why he did it.”
“We found a ledger book in Chambers’ car when he died. I just checked. It was in code, but I was able to crack it.” He made a wry face. “There were several entries over the past couple years for the initials B.J., cocaine buys. Then, more recently, three larger entries. Five thousand, ten thousand and another ten. The tape is probably enough, but with the ledger, there’s no doubt. Your brother is going away for a long time, whether he confesses to us or not.”
Better him than me, I thought, but still I found no pleasure in his ruin. Then I thought of my parents. Tears sprang to my eyes. This was going to kill them. I wondered if we could get a group discount on therapy.
“What about Kevin and Danny?”
“Obviously, they’re not being charged. We’re taking their statements regarding what happened this afternoon, being kidnapped by Brian’s guys, and then they’ll be free to go. Junior as well. He’s almost done because most of what he has to tell us is on the tape. Plus, he needs to get to the hospital.”
I winced. I hadn’t seen Mikey yet. I got a glimpse of him when they brought him out of the office, but I hadn’t seen him up close.
“Do you need a statement from me?”
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