by R Weir
“What’s wrong?” said Melissa, startled by my abrupt direction change.
“Shopping has to wait. Bill’s wife maybe in trouble.”
“He’s the Denver cop you’ve been helping?”
“Yes. And with his son mixed up with some bad people, they may be looking for him. Rachael called him and said someone is trying to break in, and then he lost her.”
I pulled up a block short of his house, as I didn’t want to put Melissa in the line of fire. I unlocked the glove box but remembered I didn’t have my gun with me. I wasn’t expecting to do battle today. A rain-snow mix had started to fall and was beginning to cover the grass. I handed Melissa the keys to the car and kissed her quickly.
“Stay here. Get behind the wheel when I leave, and if anyone approaches who isn’t me or the police, drive off. I promise to return once I know all is safe.”
She looked dumbfounded when I left, with no words to say, doing what she was told. I ran up the street to the front of the house, my hands in my coat to keep them warm. Seeing the front door ajar was not a good sign and I could hear a man yelling and a woman crying. Peeking around the door jam, I could see two men, one standing with his back to the door, his arms crossed, the other on top of Rachael on the sofa holding her down. It was the two men from The Hustle I’d encountered before, Mack and Grady.
“Tell me where Ray is, woman, or I’m going to make this very painful for you!” said Mack, while slapping her across the face.
“I don’t know where he is,” Rachael answered through the sobs. “He left and didn’t tell me. He is a grown man who doesn’t check in with his mother. Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Could be true, but here is the deal. He owes us and if we don’t collect we are going to get it another way as a message to him. And I don’t think you’ll like what we have in mind, will she, Grady?”
“Nope. But we’ll like it quite a bit,” Grady replied with a hideous laugh.
Mack started to pull at Rachael’s shirt. To her credit she fought him the best she could, but he was too heavy and big for her to handle. I had no time to contemplate my move, so I reacted. Lunging into the room, I punched Grady as hard as I could in the nose. He went backwards and fell over an end table crushing it in the process, his face now covered in blood, his nose obviously broken. My hand was stinging from the punch, but my adrenaline was flowing, so I wouldn’t feel the effect until later.
“Get off of her,” I said with a growl. “Let’s see if you can collect from me, asshole!”
It was a stupid thing to say, but I was trying to sound tough and the endorphins were flowing.
Now Mack’s best advantage against me was Rachael, but he gave it up once he recognized me. He stood up and jumped over the coffee table, landing a few feet in front of me, an impressive feat for a big guy. I had my hands up in a fighting stance and began jabbing him, left, right and left once more. But he was pretty good and blocked each of punches. He followed with a combo of his own and I did my best to block them, though one got through and struck me in the chest. I countered with some body shots, but he was solid, and didn’t even wince. He came at me again and I did my best rope-a-dope, but a solid wall doesn’t work as well as the ropes in a boxing ring. I blocked every hit, so he went low and got me in the ribs and I was down. Before he could follow up, the sounds of sirens in the distance spooked him. He pulled the bloody Grady off of the floor and headed out the back way.
Standing up, I went over to console the crying Rachael. Her top was torn up and I took her in my arms to cover her up. Two officers came storming in with guns pulled. I identified myself, and luckily, one of them was April, who happened to be out on patrol today for some reason.
“Is she OK?” she asked.
“Call for some paramedics,” I said. “They were beating her pretty good.”
“Anything else?”
“No. I stopped them before they could go any further.”
I held onto her until Bill arrived. His look was of shock at what had happened, and he took my place holding her.
“I’m here, baby,” he said while rubbing her head.
“They wanted Ray,” she said through the crying. “Said they were going to take it out on me if he didn’t pay them.”
Bill looked up at me and I nodded my head. “That’s what they said.”
“Did they get away?” asked Bill.
“Went out the back. I gave April a description, but they appear to be gone. Didn’t see a car but I know who they are. They work at the club where Ray had been hanging out. I know them as Mack and Grady. Greeley police should have more info.”
The paramedics arrived and took Rachael to the side to check her over. She was bruised and battered, but didn’t appear to have anything broken. My ribs were stinging. So were my hands and arms. I would be sore for several days. Another beating my body would have to overcome.
“Sir,” said one of the officers at the door to me. “There is a lady here saying she knows you.”
“Damn,” I stated.
I’d forgotten about Melissa. I went over to the door, and she was standing there with a look of anger on her face. I stepped outside and took her in my arms.
“You said you’d be back. When I saw all the cars but not you, I feared the worst.”
“I’m sorry,” I answered. “I’m OK. I needed to help Rachael and time got away from me.”
“Damn you!”
“It’s what I am. It’s what I do. I hope you understand.”
She pulled away and punched me in the arm as hard as she could, adding to my bruise total. I knew the dangers of my job had crept into our relationship for the first time.
“I’m likely going to be here for a while. Did you want to wait or you can take my car and drive to my place. I can have someone here drop me off when I’m done and we can go have lunch and shop. OK?”
“Promise?”
“Scout’s honor.”
The anger subsided some from the look in her eyes. “I’ll go back to your place. Call me if it’s going to be real long, please.”
“I will,” I said while kissing her on the forehead. “Officer, would you walk her to our car, please?”
As I returned to the front of the house I saw Ray walking up, wondering what was going on. An officer stopped him, but I motioned he was OK to enter. Ray looked at me inquisitively.
“Your mother was attacked,” I said. “She is OK but a little beaten up and scared.”
“Why,” he asked.
“They were looking for you.”
Ray couldn’t speak. He appeared to be in shock. He walked in and saw them working on his mother. She looked up, saw him and waved him over. He wasn’t sure what to do, finally walking over to her.
“Are you OK, Mom?” he asked.
She tried to smile but couldn’t because her face was swollen, so she nodded.
“I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“It’s because of you this happened to your mother,” said an angry Bill. “Lucky your sister was at volleyball or it could have been her, too.”
“Bill, probably not the time,” I said.
He gave me a mean look but decided I was right. Now it was important to tend to Rachael.
“I think we should take her in for a few tests,” said one of the paramedics. “Need to be certain there is no internal bleeding or any bones are broken. Doctors will probably give her some pain medicine. She’ll be quite sore for a while. Bill, I’m sure you’ll want to go with her.”
“Yes.”
“Can I go too,” said Ray.
“No,” answered Bill. “I’ll call Monika and see if she can stay with her volleyball teammates, who drove her to practice, until we get home. Can you watch over him, Jarvis? I don’t want him alone right now.”
“Sure. Are you hungry, Ray?”
“I can eat something”
“If someone can drive me to my place, we can get Melissa and have some lunch.”
“I’ll drive you,” said Ap
ril.
“Lucky you came along when you did,” I said to her. “Glad to see you out from behind a desk!”
“I was at the precinct, but Bill called and told me what was going on. No one was in the area so I commandeered a car and drove over as fast as I could.”
“You mean you stole a police car?”
“Strong words, though we’ll see what my shift supervisor says. I doubt he’ll be happy I left my post.”
“I’ll write you a note,” I stated. “They love me down there.”
She starting laughing, either at my joke or at the unlikely fact people at the precinct liked me.
Chapter 16
April dropped Ray and me at my place. Melissa no longer appeared angry. She was sparkling and joyful when I introduced her to Ray.
“We’re taking Ray to lunch,” I said.
“It seems like only a short time ago we had breakfast,” she answered.
“Well, believe it or not, it’s been three hours since breakfast. Time flies when you’re fighting crime. What shall we eat?”
“The Cherry Creek Grill OK with you, Ray?” asked Melissa.
Ray gave a quick nod, though you would have missed it if you weren’t watching for it. He’d been deathly quiet in the police car and on the drive to Cherry Creek. We decided to take Melissa’s car because it had four doors and Ray was tall, so climbing in the back of my Mustang would be challenging. Parking a couple blocks away from the restaurant, as spaces on the street were scarce, I fed a sufficient amount of coins into the meter to cover us for a couple of hours. The rain-snow mix had turned to all white flakes and we moved swiftly to get inside. It was maybe a ten-minute wait before we sat and ordered our drinks. Ray finally spoke but it was only for ordering a soda. I knew I needed to work on getting him to tell me what was going on, but his stubbornness would be challenging. I was hoping with what happened to his mother he’d give us the whole story. I had whispered to Melissa on the walk over to make small talk with him to put him at ease. It wouldn’t hurt a pretty woman asking the questions either.
“No cross-examinations, though,” I stated to her. “He’s not a witness at a trial and we need to get him to converse freely about what is going on.”
“He’ll never know he’s being grilled for information,” she answered.
He was looking over the menu, doing his best not to look at us. The waiter delivered the drinks and we all ordered. Ray had a burger with the works, Melissa went with a salad, while I chose a turkey sandwich. The place was somewhat noisy, but not so much we couldn’t talk. Melissa started off with a simple question.
“So, Ray,” she said. “I understand you go to school in Greeley. What are you majoring in?”
“Football,” replied Ray
“I’m sure you have a college major requiring you to go to class. Something for when you’re retired from football.”
“Journalism for now, but I’m falling behind, being out of class. Physical Education is my minor.”
“You planning for employment in the media afterwards?”
“Yes. I find it fascinating those who work in TV, radio, newspapers, magazines; even writers on the Web. Working in Public Relations would be cool.”
“Glad to hear you speak of a passion for something other than football.”
“I still want to make it to the next level,” he stated. “Football is much of what I am, and has been for many years now. I know I’m good enough to play in the NFL. But my body is failing me right now and it’s frustrating.”
“It’s a hard game,” I added. “No guarantees.”
“No, there aren’t.”
The food was delivered, hot and cooked properly. Seconds on drinks were served. I decided to nibble on my sandwich, as I wanted to keep the conversation going. Something about talking over a meal seemed to get people to put their guard down. Our seats were by a window, and I could see the large snowflakes starting to stick on the cars outside
“So tell me about the injuries you suffered,” asked Melissa.
Ray had finished about half his burger already. A man his size was a calorie animal.
“I tore my ACL my senior year. I was set to go to CU but they stopped calling. The big college schools always have their pick of the best, so there is always someone in line after you. UNC contacted me, but with no guarantees, but did give me a scholarship. I would redshirt for a season, get healthy, get my grades where they needed to be and I had a real shot at starting, being they were thin at tight end. They run a pro-style offense, which would get me the ball. It was the best I could hope for and I liked being close to home.”
“Then what happened?”
“I’d already caught six passes and no one could cover me. I took a throw over the middle, lowered my head and lights out. I woke up on the grass but didn’t know where I was and then was pulled from the game.”
“So the new rules came into play,” I added.
“Yes. After it’s ruled a concussion you can’t come back in. I had to pass all kinds of tests before I could go back on the field. When I was cleared to play I picked right up where I left off. Can’t remember how many passes I caught in those remaining games, but it was a lot, with several touchdowns. Then I got popped again and this one really hurt. I was totally out of it for a day or so. Still getting headaches from time-to-time. It’s a little scary.”
“Trouble sleeping?” I asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I talked with a couple of your female friends.”
“Damn mouthy women!”
“I’m sure they were concerned,” stated Melissa.
Ray finished up his burger and polished off his fries. Melissa was halfway done with her salad and I continued the slow pace on my sandwich. We were making progress.
“So you’ve been seeing a doctor, a specialist?” asked Melissa.
“I was, but no more.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m fine. They weren’t helping me anyway.”
“So why were you skipping school?” I asked. “Disappearing for long periods of time. Surely you know you were worrying your family and friends.”
Ray hesitated. He didn’t care to answer. He was searching around for the waiter.
“Can I get some dessert?” Ray asked when he arrived. “Maybe some chocolate cake and some vanilla ice cream.”
“Come on, Ray. There must be a reason,” said Melissa. “You seem like a smart guy. You know school is your ticket to a good career after football.”
“The pressures were getting to me,” he finally answered after a long pause. “I needed to unwind.”
“So you started going to The Hustle,” I said. “Or likely they recruited you.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You know Mack and Grady are using you.”
“No. They are my friends.”
“They came to your house today looking for money. Money you owe them.”
Ray shook his head some more, denying it all, when his dessert arrived.
“They are the ones who assaulted your mother. No friend would attack your mother.”
He buried his thoughts in his cake and ice cream. He wouldn’t speak another word at the table. I’d pushed him too far but still did learn a few things. I paid the check and we strolled in silence while Melissa power-shopped for clothes. I smiled and gave her my opinions of her choices, all the while my body aching from my latest beating. After an hour or so, Bill called to say they were back home, so we drove and dropped him off. Ray jogged straight in without speaking and went to his bedroom. Bill was obviously frustrated.
“Damn,” said Bill. “I guess no progress on him opening up.”
“A little,” I replied. “I believe he is coming to terms to the pickle he’s in but can’t admit it.”
“Do you think they’ll be back?”
“It’s a possibility. I doubt they will up and forget this. Men like them don’t let dollars walk away. I’m sure we’ll be hea
ring from them again. The question is how to get him off the hook with them.”
“Do you think money will do it?” asked Bill.
“I don’t know. They’ll want more than he owes because they like to blackmail their clientele. A onetime buyout may not be good enough.”
All Bill could say was “Crap!”
“How is your wife?” Melissa asked, changing the subject.
“Sleeping. They gave her some pills to knock her out. I’ll need to take another day off tomorrow to stay with her. Good thing I have a fair amount of time saved up. Not sure what to do about Ray.”
“I’ll help all I can,” I said. “Whatever you need. Keep working on him. Once he comes to terms with what they did to his mother, he might see the light of day. Then we’ll have some leverage. Be alert on what they might do next. As a parent, it may not be pretty to see.”
Bill shook his head and saw us to the door. Melissa and I walked back to her car and she grabbed my arm.
“Do you think he’s prepared?” she asked.
“For the storm approaching?” I responded. “Most parents wouldn’t be.”
Chapter 17
Sunday was a quiet and uneventful day for Melissa and me. We spent the whole day together conversing, doing a little more shopping, watching a movie and making love when the mood struck us. With her, even shopping was bearable. She slept over both nights and it was wonderful having her to balance out the craziness in my life. She left Monday morning off for a short week of work, with Thursday and Friday off for the Thanksgiving holiday, and with plans to get together Thursday night after she had dinner with her parents.
Word had come down from Bill on Sunday the Greeley Police had picked up Mack and Grady, but they were out on bail in a few hours. The DA didn’t think they had much of a case. There were many witnesses placing them at The Hustle, including several of the dancers. Grady even had a witness claiming to have punched him in the nose, explaining the damage done. It was their statements against ours, so there was little chance of prosecuting them. Bill had decided to take some leave from work to try and get things straightened out at home. For now, he wanted to handle it on his own. So I was released from working on it.