by Claire Adams
It read: “Hi Everett, it's Liza again. I just wanted to say that I can't stop thinking about how amazing it felt when you put your arms around me this afternoon, and I've been longing for your touch so badly. I should never have done what I did to you. Losing you remains the greatest regret of my life. I would do anything – just anything – to have you back with me again. Please, please Everett, can't we give it one more go? Can't you give me one more chance? I miss you... I miss us. My desire for you has only increased over all these years that we've been apart. Please, Everett... Give me another chance.”
I had no time to reply to this now. Shaking my head, I sent the message to Ben and then shoved the phone back into my pocket and drove off. With everything else that was going on, any drama with Liza really was the last thing I needed.
I reached the Stevens’ house after about 15 minutes of much too fast driving. Ben was pulling into the driveway ahead of me just as I arrived; the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
“Hey, Ben,” I said as I stepped out.
“Hey, Everett. Sorry to spoil your Sunday evening like this, but I'm sure you know how important this is.”
“I know, Ben, I know. I didn't think we'd be seeing either of these two anytime soon, not since we got word they had gone into hiding in LA.”
“Yeah, we're lucky Mr. Stevens was alert enough to catch him.”
“What was he doing back here anyway?” I asked.
Ben chuckled dryly. “He came back for his iPad.”
I shook my head. “Kids these days and their damn technology. I'm glad I didn’t grow up with this stuff. But hey, I guess we should be grateful the little punk is so addicted to his iPad that he risked his freedom to sneak back here and try to get it.”
“Yeah,” Ben smirked. “Lucky for us, very unlucky for him.”
“Well, let's go on in and give this little criminal a good talking to.”
We headed up to the porch and knocked on the door. After a few moments, Mr. Stevens answered, still dressed in his greasy biker gear, but his time he had with him his son, William. His meaty paw was gripping a fistful of the boy's shirt, and his face was stormy with rage. William, a supposed “tough guy” at school, looked like he had been crying, and even with his steroid-pumped adolescent muscles, he looked like a scared little boy next to his obviously angry father.
“Here's this little punk,” his father growled. “Stupid little turd thought he could climb in through the window after dark and get his damn iPad. I thought he was a damn burglar, nearly took his head off with my shotgun! But when I found out it was him, I gave him a damn good ass-kicking, an ass-kicking that he better damn well remember next time he wants to get involved in whatever gang crap he's gotten himself into. You hear that boy? You try ‘n pull a stunt like this ever again, and I'll break your stupid neck! Now you go talk to these two, and I swear if you lie to them I'm gonna rip your arms outta their sockets. You're cleaning your damn self up after this. I spent time in the damn slammer, I know what it's like in there, and I don't want my boy to see the inside of a prison cell, ever. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” William whimpered, the little thug uncharacteristically timid.
“What?!” his father shouted. “I don't hear you, speak louder!”
“Yes... sir,” he said, speaking more forcefully.
“Alright, William,” I said, almost feeling a little sorry for the kid. Almost. “Now listen, kid, we already know you were involved in what happened to Kendrick. And we know you didn't pull the trigger, or instigate it, so you're not going to be in any serious trouble. But we are going to need you to cooperate with us here. There are two sides to this coin, you see; we can either get you off lightly, or we can get you into some very serious trouble. The choice is yours. You can lie and try to wiggle your way out of this, which is most certainly going to result in you getting into a lot of trouble, or you can answer our questions truthfully. If you choose the second option, we'll be able to get you off with a slap on the wrist, really, as long as you also agree to go to rehab. So, what's it gonna be?”
He shifted his feet around and stared at the floor. “I'll tell you the truth,” he answered reluctantly.
“Okay, so yesterday morning you were buying Rocket from a dealer on the JFK High premises, weren't you? You and your friend, right?”
“Yeah... yeah, we were.”
“And can you tell us what happened?” I asked him.
“That kid, Kendrick, he and his buddies were shooting hoops. I guess Kendrick needed to go to the bathroom or something because he stumbled on me and Leon, uh, buying Rocket behind the gym hall.”
“And why were you guys buying the drugs there?” Ben asked. “Why did this happen on a Saturday, on school premises?”
“I guess coz Mr. Mask—”
“Hang on,” I said, interrupting him. “You were buying from Mr. Mask himself?”
“Uh, yeah, we were. His friend, the one we usually bought from, I guess something happened to make him scared because he skipped town, he's gone. Mr. Mask was selling the stuff himself, at least until he found a replacement for his dealer who ran away. He, uh, he actually offered the job to Leon and me. Said we could start making some real paper doing this, ya know?”
“And you better have said 'no' to that offer, you little punk, or I'll wring that neck a' yours!” his father snarled.
“Relax, relax, we didn't say yes,” William snapped.
“Well, what did you say?” I asked.
William's face reddened a bit, and he looked at the ground.
“Uh, we said, uh, we said we'd think about it,” William responded.
“Why you little—” his father growled as he lunged for his son. I managed to step between them and hold him off. It was a difficult enough job because he was rather large and very strong, not to mention very angry.
“Mr. Stevens,” I said as I struggled to hold him back. “Please, restrain yourself! Your son is cooperating here.”
He stepped back and raised his hands in an “I surrender” gesture, but his eyes were still full of rage and wrath.
“Alright, fine,” he muttered. “Go on, ask the boy what you gotta ask the boy. I'll... try not to kick his ass... I'll try.”
“Okay. Thank you,” I said, turning back to William, who was trembling with fright and staring at his angry father. “You heard him, he's not going to hurt you. Now let's get back to the questions. So, Mr. Mask is dealing now as his former dealer skipped town?”
“That's right, Mr. James.”
I turned to Ben and whispered, “That must be the guy we saw in the apartment building.”
He nodded. “It's gotta be him. So, now that he's out of the picture, it could just be Mr. Mask operating on his own for a while.”
“That might make him easier to catch,” I said. “But it also might make him a lot more dangerous – a cornered criminal is much more prone to acts of deadly violence.”
Ben nodded grimly. “We'll have to watch our backs, Ev. We really will.”
I turned back to William to continue the questioning. “So, since you seem to know Mr. Mask at least a little, considering that he trusts you enough to ask you to deal for him, can you tell us why he started dealing on school premises on Saturdays?”
“He knows that someone is on to him,” William replied. “He and the other guy used to deal from the park at certain times, but then I guess the cops or someone found out about that. So now he's trying to find a way to get into the school by having students deal instead because it's a real big market for his Rocket.”
“That makes sense. Tell me the rest of what happened when Kendrick came across you two buying the drugs from Mr. Mask on Saturday,” I urged.
William sighed and shook his head. “Okay, so we were doing the deal, and then we hear someone shout, 'smile, you're on camera, suckers!' We look up the hallway and see this Kendrick kid filming us. So anyway, Leon just charged for him straight away – he knew how much trouble we were going to be i
n if that footage got out. And Mr. Mask joined in the chase, too. Leon was on the track team before, so he's a real fast sprinter. Kendrick didn't get too far before Leon caught him.”
“And then what happened?” Ben asked.
“Leon tackled him, they fought on the ground for a while. Leon was trying to get Kendrick's phone away from him. That Kendrick kid is pretty skinny, but he put up one hell of a fight. He actually managed to get out of Leon's grasp, and that's when Mr. Mask stepped in.”
“What did he do?” I asked.
“Man, he just pulled a piece out and shot Kendrick. Just like that. Me and Leon, we were shocked as hell. I mean, it's one thing kicking a guy's ass, but it's another thing you know, freakin' shooting a kid with a gun.”
“So, what happened after that?” I questioned.
“Mr. Mask was real calm about the whole thing. He just reached down, took Kendrick's phone, and put it in his pocket. It was like, for him, shooting this kid meant like, nothing, like nothing at all.”
“And what did you and Leon do?” Ben inserted.
“We freaked the hell out, man! I've seen some crazy stuff before, but I'd never seen anyone get shot, and man, it happened just a few feet away from me! There was so much blood. I... I thought Kendrick was dead. We both just ran like crazy. And that was it; I don't know what happened after that, we only stopped running when we ran out of breath. And after that we made plans to skip town, to get to LA where we have some friends to stay with.”
“I see,” I said. “Well, I guess you'll be relieved to know that Kendrick had surgery and that he's gonna make it.”
A look of relief came over William's face. “I'm uh... I'm happy to hear that. Neither of us wanted that kid to get shot, you gotta believe me. We were just gonna rough him up a bit and make him delete the video off his phone. That's all, man, seriously. We didn't wanna hurt him bad or anything.”
“I believe you, and I'll take that into account when figuring out your punishment,” I said to him. “I do have one more question for you, though.”
“Sure, go ahead,” he said.
“Was Mr. Mask wearing his mask that day?”
William shook his head. “No, he wasn't. He wouldn't have been able to get into the school if he'd been dressed like he usually dresses.”
“So, what was he wearing? What did he look like?”
“He was dressed like a janitor. I guess he figured like that, nobody would have given him a second glance when he was walking around school grounds.”
“Good disguise, appropriate,” I grudgingly admitted. “But what about his face? What can you tell me about what he actually looks like?”
“He's uh, I guess he's maybe your age?” he said. “And he's actually a pretty good-looking guy. I'm saying that as a straight guy, yo, I'm not gay or nothing, but yeah, he's got that pretty boy look. Blond hair, he's real neat and clean and stuff. Pretty big, strong dude as well, I guess he pumps iron regularly, coz he's pretty jacked. I wouldn't want to get in a tangle with the dude; he looks like he could kick some ass if he needed to. But yeah, he looks way more like a respectable businessman or something than a, uh, a drug dealer.”
“Okay. Would you be able to pick him out of a police lineup?” I asked.
“I would, yeah.”
“And you would be willing to identify him in front of a judge, and testify under oath that he was both selling drugs and that he shot Kendrick Green?”
“And if I agree, you'll let me and Leon off?” William said.
“You won't get off completely, no,” I said. “But I'll make sure you're treated leniently. And you will have to go to rehab to get off the substances you're hooked on. There's no getting around that, I'm afraid.”
He bit his lip as he thought deeply about it.
“And you're sure that, like, Mr. Mask couldn't, you know... get us... if we testified in court against him?”
“We would make sure that you two were completely safe. I guarantee it,” I assured him.
He nodded. “Yeah. In that case, yeah. I'll testify.”
I looked at Ben and saw the same triumph that was now glowing inside me reflected in his eyes. We were just one step away from putting this piece of crap behind bars for a very, very long time. We had a key witness who would testify against him and that, coupled with Kendrick's testimony, would be enough to put the man away for a very, very long time, and hopefully end the scourge of the drug problem that was plaguing my school. Now, we would just have to catch him, and that would be no simple feat.
“Excellent. Alright, William, thank you for your cooperation. You'd better stay at home from now on. And call your friend Leon – I assume you know where he is – and tell him about what we've just talked about, and let him know that he should come back here as well and stay home. Can you do that?”
He nodded.
“Good, thank you, William, and thank you, Mr. Stevens,” I added.
“Don't mention it,” he growled. “I'll do whatever it takes to keep this punk out of prison. I hope he's learned his damn lesson.”
“I believe he has,” I smiled reassuringly at William who nodded back at me. It seemed we had an understanding. He was going to keep his nose clean. “Alright, Ben, you ready to go?” I asked.
“Sure am. Thanks again, William, and thank you, too, Mr. Stevens,” he said, and then we turned around and headed toward our cars.
We started talking as soon as we reached Ben’s car.
“This is big, Ben, this is real big!” I said excitedly. “We've almost got this scumbag! Almost!”
“I know, I know. Now, we just have to catch him. There's more than enough evidence to put him away for a long time. But here's the big problem: this guy is elusive, man, like Jason Bourne elusive. How are we going to actually catch him?”
I grinned. A plan had already started to formulate in my mind. “We set up a sting.”
“How, Everett? We're not cops; we're not the FBI, we don't have the means to do that.”
“You've forgotten something, Ben.”
“What have I forgotten?”
“We have someone on the inside.”
His eyes lit up.“Panetti!”
“That's right. And he's perfectly positioned to set Mr. Mask up since we just found out from the Stevens kid that this Mask guy wants more dealers who are high school kids. He already worked with Panetti before; he trusts him. We just need to get Panetti to make contact, say he's interested in dealing again, and set up a meeting – we're waiting there with a hidden camera... And we get him. Bam!”
“I don't know, man,” Ben replied uneasily. “I mean, this guy is a killer, Ev. We should really be getting the cops in on this.”
“Remember, there's a good chance the cops around here have already been bought by Mr. Mask. I’m afraid we need to do this another way. I have a friend with the State Bureau of Investigation. I’ll see what kind of help he can offer. I totally understand that you're nervous about the fact that this guy is a killer, and that's a totally legitimate concern. Worst case scenario, I can ask a buddy of mine to help – someone who has been shot at plenty of times, someone who has also done a lot of shooting himself.”
“You know people like that?” Ben questioned me.
“My friend, he used to be a Navy SEAL.”
“Oh man, yeah, if he could help, that's just the sort of person we need.”
“If I know him, he'll be down to help.”
“Alright, alright... This sounds promising. I guess we need to meet with Panetti then and figure it out,” Ben stated.
“I’ll get in touch with my friends tonight. We'll call Panetti into the office at school tomorrow,” I said. “We don't want to arouse suspicions by visiting him at his house – you never know who might be watching.”
“Yeah, good idea. Okay, well I guess we're done for the day then. I'll see you at school tomorrow,” Ben said.
“Sure. See you then, Ben, bye.”
I drove home excited; things were finally starti
ng to look like they could be solved here. Getting Mr. Mask would be a good one. I was eager to tell Vivienne about all of it; I knew she'd be relieved that it was all going to end soon.
I took out my phone to check the time and saw the message from Liza again. Ugh, I'd forgotten about that. Well, I guessed now was as good a time as any to get this out of the way. I pulled over to the side of the road and typed out a response.
“Liza, I'm flattered by what you've said, but I'm sorry, it was over between us a long time ago, and it's always going to be over between us. I've forgiven you for what you did, but that’s as far as this goes. That's a slate that simply cannot be wiped clean. Also, I've moved on now, and found someone I truly love. I'm sorry you're going through a rough time in your personal life, but there's nothing I can do to help you out there. We went our separate ways years ago, and I think it's best that we keep things that way. All the best, Everett.”
I pressed “send”. It had been hard to say those things, but they were truth, and the truth could sometimes be harsh. I took no pleasure in hurting her, but I didn't need her in my life, not now, not ever again. I had Vivienne, and it hadn’t taken long to realize that she was who I wanted to be with.
I scrolled through my contacts and found the number I was looking for—Scott Lane. He’d been the only other member of our squadron who had left the Navy. Unlike Jimmy and me, though, he couldn’t leave the life of service completely behind. So, he’d joined the SBI.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Vivienne
It took a while for the shock of what I had seen on Everett's phone to really kick in. I would never in a million years have thought that he would be a cheater and had never imagined that he would do it so early on in our relationship. Yet, there it had been in black and white – proof of the kind of man he really was. I didn't know who this Liza woman was, but I knew that he’d had his arms around her at some point earlier that day... and who knew what else they had done together in private.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been too shocked. After all, he had kept his secret about being a Navy SEAL for so long; I couldn't help wondering what other secrets he must have been keeping. Well, I knew one of them: a secret named Liza.