by R Weir
The scene was pretty crowded but through the throng, I saw Detective Mallard heading our way. I had not seen him for a few months, but time always seemed to stand still with him, appearing like he always did. Reaching us, he acknowledged me and spoke to Kate.
“I understand you’re the owner,” he said to her. “I need to get a statement from you about what happened; from hotshot here as well.”
“Good to see you too, Detective,” I replied.
“What do you need to know?” said Kate.
“Start at the beginning…”
And she did. From the point where she hired me, the reason why, the evidence I’d acquired, the divorce and restraining order, to today’s events. Mallard wrote it all down in his little notebook, her detail so complete there was little to add.
“Is this your handiwork?” Mallard asked of me while pointing at Jack’s packed nose.
“No, I did it,” replied Kate. “He grabbed and slapped me, with threats to do worse. So I kicked him in the balls and in the face after Jarvis came in.”
“Off the record, since I’m supposed to be impartial, but good for you. I’m assuming you are going to press charges.”
“Damn right!”
“You’ll be a witness?” Mallard asked of me.
“Yes, sir. I’m sure the other ladies will be thrilled to testify.”
“We’re getting their statements now, but I’m sure what they say will match what you just told me. This will probably take some time, so get yourself comfortable. Contact your insurance agent. I’m sure you’ll want to get working on fixing some of the damages here.”
Kate nodded and headed to her office in the back.
“Seems like a helluva lady,” stated Mallard. “I hope you aren’t sleeping with this client.”
It was a shot at me from my previous case, which had turned bad.
“She’s my landlord, whom I’ve known for many years. She is a client and nothing more.”
“Good. We don’t need a repeat of your last clusterfuck. Who are the two goons with him?”
“Dirk Bailey and Merrick Jones,” I replied. “They work for a man named Roland Langer.”
“Roland is not a nice guy. Her ex was working for him?”
“Yes, and I suspect into him for money he couldn’t pay. He’d been stealing from her and she cut him off. He was trying to get more today when I stopped him. I didn’t want to say anything more to her, but I’m certain they’ll be back once they hit the streets. Desperation will force him to try again.”
“Well, if he works for Langer they will have lawyers bailing them out quickly. She probably needs to close up her business for a while. Take a long vacation, because you’re right, he’ll be back.”
“She is tough, so I doubt she’ll back down. I’ll talk with her and see what she wants to do.”
“Can you protect her?”
“I will assist her the best I can since I live downstairs. I can’t stay with her 24/7. And she has two kids, too. We both know they can get to her no matter what I do if they try hard enough.”
Mallard nodded. This wasn’t good and I needed to figure something.
“Any chance I can chat with Jack before you haul him away?”
“Not a good idea. I doubt he will talk with you anyway. He’s been staring at you this whole time. And not with a ‘hey, let’s be pals and have a beer’ expression either.”
“Yeah, I know. Give me five minutes. I want to see what he says. You know he won’t say diddly to you and once his lawyer arrives he’ll be out again. We have a little history and he might slip up and say something stupid.”
Mallard glanced over at Jack, walked over and told the paramedic to step away for now. They both gave me some room and I stepped over to him trying to match his frightening glare. I came up close to his face and spoke.
“Your cold glare isn’t scaring me off, so listen carefully. Coming around here again is a bad idea. It will get you shot if you show up. If anything happens to Kate or your kids, I will hunt you down. You need money but you know Kate, and she is tough as nails, so you aren’t going to get any from her. Now we can all make nice and go on our merry way or we can do this the difficult way. What’s it going to be?”
Jack continued the hard stare and checked around to make sure no one was listening.
“You made a big mistake getting involved. The people I know won’t take this lightly.”
“You mean your buddies being hauled off to jail, Dirk and Merrick?”
He appeared surprised I had their names.
“They’ll be the muscle doing the dirty work, but not the ones calling the shots.”
“Yes, I know. You’re employed by Roland Langer, and he is a bad guy. From the way I see it, you owe him money, not Kate. So the only heat he is going to bring is on you. When you don’t get the cash I think you will be the one to pay. So you should think of some other way to get it and leave her out of it. Because, like I said…” I took my finger, pointed it at him and shot him with it, and stepped away.
I walked past Mallard, mouthed “thanks” and headed back to Kate’s office. We needed to talk about what we’d need to do going forward, making arrangements to keep an eye on things to help her out. Providing her protection when I wasn’t around was required. Though I wasn’t thrilled about it, a discussion about getting her a gun, a permit and time on the range to learn how to use it was necessary. As tough as she was, I knew she had the fortitude to do what needed to be done. We talked it all out, the day dragging into night.
Chapter 26
As I suspected, Kate wasn’t about to back down. She was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her territory. So, over the next couple of days we worked out getting her a weapon, a small snub-nosed .38, a permit to carry it and practice at the gun range. She would have to pass a background check, which would take up to a week, but I used Bill to help speed things along and had her cleared within twenty-four hours. Once at the firing range she was a natural and was shooting with a fair amount of accuracy after a couple of lessons. I was pretty confident she could handle it without hurting herself or anyone innocent, like her children.
“Make sure your kids know about the gun and what it’s for,” I stated to her. “They are not to play with or use it. If they have an interest and want to learn how, we need to go through the same procedure you are going through. It’s not a toy, so make them understand this. Don’t hide it and tell them the truth.”
From there, I spent my days hanging around the salon. Since I lived downstairs with nothing else going on, staying in the salon all day wasn’t much different, other than I had to live with the TV selection of the female staff and clientele. It was heavy on The View, a couple of soaps older than me, and Ellen DeGeneres. I was generally the only male in the room, other than the occasional man who stopped in for a haircut. I felt a touch out of place especially when the discussion on the tube, or initiated by the ladies, covered men. When the conversation got angry about some bastard who used someone, I often sensed the eyes on me as if I was the culprit. Occasionally, I’d have to step outside to escape the hostile atmosphere and even look back on my own behavior and question it.
So far there had been no sign of Jack and his two brutes after three days. They had been bailed out within 24 hours, with arraignment dates several weeks away. I knew I couldn’t stay here forever, but needed to be sure. I gave Kate my half-price special. I had little on my plate other than the murder in Greeley. There were limits to her funds, but money would do her no good if she was dead. I was looking over my shoulder a great deal. I was a target, too. It was always fun to be popular.
As for Greeley, I was summoned to give a statement. My lawyer, Barry, came along to protect my rights in case they tried to force me to reveal my client. So long as they didn’t subpoena the information I could withhold it. So far they were happy to get any info I could give them because they had nothing much to go on. The apartment and any paperwork led them nowhere. All transactions wer
e done via cash so there wasn’t any trail to follow. The unaccounted-for Malibu had been located with no usable physical evidence, and was registered in her name only. Talks with the owners of The Hustle revealed nothing but surprise and shock Ariela was dead. They had phoned in a missing person report the morning she was found, saying they were worried she’d not been into work for a couple of days. It was a good alibi and stone-walled the city and county investigators. These were not dumb people.
“There was a friend of Ariela,” I said to them during the statement. “I only know her name as Leather. She liked wearing sexy leather outfits at the club. I was aware via my investigation they had some ties and may have socialized outside of The Hustle.”
It was a nice way of putting what they were doing, but I couldn’t reveal all I knew. So, I was trying to give them a little more to work on.
“Why didn’t you mention this at the scene?” said the county DA.
“Simple oversight,” I answered, with a straight lie. “Probably the sight of her dead body caused a brain fart on my part. But I’m telling you now.”
“Give us a description.”
I did, down to as much detail as I remembered, since I’d seen most of her naked body.
“If she is still working at The Hustle,” I added, “she shouldn’t be hard to find.”
After some other questioning, I was free to go and I was back on the road into town. It seemed I was wearing a groove in the pavement from all the back and forth. I hoped the Mustang was up to the task to handle all the mileage. The tanks of gas I was going through were adding multiple digits to my credit card.
Melissa and I had a quiet weekend together. I was worn out from the latest events and she was tired from her recent case, staying up late several nights to catch up on the night of work she’d lost on our evening out and exploits on Lookout Mountain. She spent the night at my place Saturday, and we actually did sleep in bed, with no sweaty contact other than some tight cuddling. Exhaustion had grabbed us both and sent us off to slumber before any heavy petting got started. The warmth of November was replaced with December winter weather, with several inches of wet snow blanketing the city into the late morning hours. It was dark and dreary, and we slept in until 10 a.m. After awakening, events got a little more heated, and once finished, lunchtime beckoned. After showers, we decided on Chinese delivered and Melissa had to get home, with more legal briefs to finish in preparation of her newest case on Monday.
“I’m sorry I have so much to do,” she stated. “I’d love to stay all day, read fortune cookies, watch football and screw your brains out at the same time, but I must get this work done or it’s my ass.”
“I understand,” I answered. “I’m guessing Tony won’t accept a note from me saying you are laid up, so to speak.”
Melissa laughed and kissed me hard on the lips, tasting the food and beer. She left me alone, but inside and warm, with a football game on TV. The afternoon wore on, the snow had slowed and darkness started to creep over the city when I heard loud noises above. It was a Sunday and the salon was closed. I grabbed my phone and called Kate.
“Where are you right now?” I asked.
“I’m at home with my kids,” she answered. “Why?”
“It sounds like someone is upstairs working. Should there be?”
“No,” she said firmly.
“Call the police. I will check to see who it is. I doubt it’s Santa Claus.”
“I’m coming down.”
“No, stay home until I summon you. Call them now and tell them someone has broken into your work. Warn them I may be there so they don’t shoot me.”
I got up after putting on my boots and a sweatshirt. I heard more noises and two gunshots, followed by louder crashing and what sounded like a smoke alarm going off. I hurried out the door, my .38 at the ready. Turning the corner, I saw two figures coming down the steps. It was dark but via the streetlights they saw me and one of them raised his arm, took aim and fired. I ducked down but felt a burning on my left arm. I stayed down while more bullets ricocheted around me. Clutching at the ache on my bicep, I noticed the blood running, though it wasn’t bad, appearing to be a minor flesh wound. The shots stopped and a loud diesel engine started up. Looking up, I saw them leaving and fired, hitting the tailgate and back window, shattering it into a million pieces. They roared away and were gone before I could fire anymore.
Smelling smoke, I ran up the stairs and opened the door, feeling the heat intensify, the entire room ablaze. I tried to step in but was pushed back by the choking smell and bright red flames, the intense blaze hotter than anything I’d ever experienced, the flammable chemicals from all the hair products feeding it. Moving back out onto the sidewalk, I sat down in the snow and inspected my arm, the blood starting to clot, the pain increasing. I checked myself for any other wounds, but found none. The siren and lights came from all directions and I knew more police statements were in my future. This did not please me in the least bit, and I cursed several times into the darkness.
Chapter 27
The police had arrived first, a female officer doing the questioning. The fire truck showed up next, followed by a paramedic unit. The officer relayed to the firefighting team what she had learned from me. It is amazing watching firefighters working. They arrive on the scene, get whatever data they can get, put on their gear and with a stream of water beating back the flames, run into a burning building. What it takes to do this is quite spectacular. It wasn’t long before they had the blaze under control, knocked down all the flames and had it completely out. Only the smoke and a horrid stench remained. I suspected they would find a body inside and about forty-five minutes later this was confirmed. It appeared to be a male, and from what I told them, it appeared he was dead before the blaze started to cover up the murder. Of course with the coroner’s technical skills of today, they would have learned the truth eventually.
The paramedic patched up my arm as best they could, but a trip to the hospital was in order. I felt I didn’t need to go, but apparently any type of gunshot wound required it. I was arguing with them about this when Kate arrived. It hadn’t taken her long to make the trek after my follow-up call. The look on her face when she saw the damage was shocking.
“Oh my,” she stated, trudging through the snow in her knee-high black boots. “What the hell happened?”
“Kate, I’m so sorry. They torched the place before I could stop them.”
She noticed them working on my arm.
“Were you hurt?” she asked.
“It is but a flesh wound,” I stated in an English accent.
“Oh my!”
“Are you the owner?” asked the female officer.
Kate nodded, still with a stunned appearance.
“I’m sorry, too. Jarvis here has given us a statement. He says he rents the place below and is a detective you’ve hired on a domestic case. Is this correct?”
She nodded again, a few tears now filling her eyes.
“Would someone be working tonight?”
“No. The place was closed.”
“Not a cleaning crew or anyone else?”
“No, they come later in the afternoon before we close. It seems like we won’t be open for a while.”
“Any reason why someone would be inside this evening?” asked the officer.
“If someone was in there they broke in. Why do you keep asking this?”
“We wanted to double-check because we have a dead body. It appears they had been shot before the fire was started.”
“Jarvis, what the hell is going on?”
“I’m not certain, Kate. After yesterday’s events I have my suspicions.”
“Jack?”
“Maybe. We won’t know for a day or so. I’m wondering if they came to break into your safe and when he couldn’t get in…”
Kate appeared as if she was going to fall down. I grabbed her tightly around the waist to keep her upright. I felt the pain surge through my arm. We walked her back to th
e squad car to sit her down in the back. Her eyes were still moist. But she wasn’t crying, although she appeared to be in shock.
“Even though I was angry with him, I wouldn’t want him dead. What am I going to tell the kids?”
“Nothing is concrete yet,” stated the female officer. “It may be a good theory, but let’s wait for the coroner to come back with a positive ID before jumping to conclusions.”
“She’s right, Kate. We’ll see what they say.”
“Even so, someone is dead and my salon, my livelihood, is ruined. What am I going to do?”
“Insurance will cover the damage and they can have it fixed up and better than new in no time. You’d be amazed what contractors can do.”
She glanced over at me, trying to shake off the shock. “Where are you going to live?”
Good question. It’s possible my place wasn’t damaged too badly, but still I wouldn’t be able to inhabit it for several days. There was certainly smoke and water damage. Plus, it was part of an active crime scene.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. They are saying I have to go down to the hospital to get checked out. Why don’t you come with me if it is OK, Officer?”
“Sure. She can ride with you and I can follow you down. I still need to get a formal statement from Kate.”
I helped her over to the paramedic unit, letting her lay down on the gurney and we rode down to Swedish Medical Center. The ER was a busy place and we had to wait about forty-five minutes before someone saw us. They checked out Kate at my insistence, giving her a mild sedative once the officer had gotten her statement. I was patched up further and given a prescription for an antibiotic to prevent infection. The wound wasn’t bad, but bullets had punctured the skin, and it was nothing the medical profession fooled around with. They offered me some strong pain medication, but I declined because I didn’t like the way they made me feel. Two hours later we were cleared to leave, and I called a cab to come and take us back to Walgreens for my medicine and back to the salon to get my car. Kate fell asleep in my front seat most of the way and I drove her home, still uncertain where I’d be sleeping tonight. I didn’t want to disturb Melissa, as I knew she was busy working. A hotel was where I was going to wind up, and I was trying to think where there was something decent nearby when I pulled into Kate’s driveway.