by Mike Faricy
“Yeah, sorry about that. Hopefully, the night wasn’t a total bust on your end.”
“You kidding, I just called this red-headed gal I know and we made a night of it. Glad you guys were able to connect.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation you’re not paying for last night. I spoke to Clarence this morning and he already reversed your credit card charge. So thanks, man. I owe you, big time.”
“Thanks for that, Richie, I appreciate the effort. Hey, can I ask you a question, sort of off the record?”
“Sure?”
“I was talking to Clarence the other day. I’ll be honest, he didn’t give me much info. He’s pretty guarded about his clients, and I get that. There’s just this one guy I wanted to find out about. At one time he had three or four guys brought up to a lake place with this woman and…”
Richie half-laughed, “You’re not talking about that stripper named Pepper, are you?”
“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly who I’m talking about. Actually, I learned about the event from her, from Pepper. She was a client of mine some years back, working under a different name.”
“I had to drive them all up there, and pick them up a few days later. As a matter of fact, they tossed her in the trunk on the way up. I was afraid I’d lose my license with guys drinking and partying in the back of the limo. It was pretty crazy, course they ended up tipping pretty well, too. Then a few days later I had to drive up there and bring everyone back to town. Thankfully, they were all exhausted on the ride back.”
“You remember where you took them?”
“Up north, I sort of remember. I mean I think I could get there again, if I had to. But I couldn’t give you exact directions. I’m trying to think of the client’s name. I’ve picked up a couple of folks at the airport for him and…Hackman, Heckle…”
“Hackett? Austin Hackett?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Some big money guy, although just between you and me, there always seems to be something kind of not quite right with him.”
“How so?”
“Nothing I can put my finger on. Just, oh comments I’ve picked up from folks while I’m driving. With the exception of that group going up to his lake place with Pepper in the trunk, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of love lost between him and the passengers I’ve had.”
“You said it was his lake place you drove to?”
“Oh yeah, quite the spread, too. Big cabin, lots of rooms. I remember because I had to carry everyone’s luggage into their rooms. It was five folks, four guys and then that Pepper chick, and everyone had their own private room with a bath attached. I remember there was even a pool in the back overlooking the lake if you can believe it.”
“I can.”
“Hey, I’ve gotta run. I have to try and stay awake for the next two hours in a tort reform class. I really appreciate you being so understanding, Dev. Last night just sort of happened and I don’t think AJ or I could have changed it, even if we’d wanted to. I don’t know, I guess it was written in the stars or something.”
“I appreciate the call, Richie. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Let me know if I can ever help you, Dev.“
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said and then we hung up.
“So?” Louie said.
“Great, not only does she drop me for this guy, but he turns out to be really nice.”
“And he knew Hackett?”
“Yeah, he’s the driver that ran Swindle Lawless, aka Pepper, up to that lake place with four guys. What I didn’t know was that Hackett owns the lake place.”
Something seemed to catch Louie’s eye out on the street. “Hey, check that out,” he said.
I turned to look just as the light on the corner changed and a tow truck with a green Mercury Mountaineer mounted on the bed and sporting four flat tires drove down the street.
“You think that was the same car that guy was driving the other day, the one that was parked across the street?”
“Can’t really say. I guess I wasn’t paying that close attention.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
My phone conversation with Richie got me thinking about Clarence’s comment the other day. How Hackett had a fancy place with a wrought-iron fence, a big gate and a security system. I thought it might be worth a look. I Googled Hackett and had his address in under two minutes. It was close to noon when I drove past. I could say I was just checking out his house, but the term house wouldn’t do the place justice, it was a mansion.
A gorgeous mansion, that looked like something out of a movie. A large, red-brick colonial with a slate roof, white trim and stained glass windows. A circular drive wound around large oak trees in front of the place before it emptied out into the street through a set of wrought-iron double gates. The fence around the place was wrought-iron, about eight feet high strung between massive brick pillars ten to twelve feet apart. As I drove past, automatic sprinklers were in the process of watering the well-kept lawn. A silver Jaguar was parked up next to the front door and just behind that sat a red BMW that looked an awful lot like Heidi’s.
I drove past every half hour virtually on the dot. The last time I drove past, Heidi’s car was gone so I headed back to my office. I had a message waiting on my phone when I returned. The caller ID came up as unknown although Heidi identified herself and said she was returning my call. She would have been more accurate if she’d said she was returning my numerous calls to her cell, her home, and her office, but I was so glad just to hear her voice I wasn’t about to complain.
“Hi Dev, returning your call,” she’d said and then hung up like she’d just stepped out for a quick lunch or something instead of waiting for a day-and-a-half to get back to me using some ‘unknown’ phone. Probably a pay phone, which suggested to me that Hackett was monitoring all her calls. There was only one thing to do.
* * *
“Dev?” Heidi said stepping out of her office once the receptionist had announced my presence.
“Hi, sorry to interrupt your day. I was wondering if I could take just a minute of your time.”
The receptionist shot Heidi a quick glance. I was sure the woman chalked me up to be Heidi’s sometime loser boyfriend who just wouldn’t go away now that things were so wonderful in Heidi’s love life.
“Yeah, sure, I can spare a minute, I guess. But not much more. Come on in,” she said, then held the door for me as I entered her office. “Hold my calls, Kate,” she said and closed the door behind me as soon as I entered. I sat down in one of the plush black leather chairs in front of her massive desk and made a mental note of the dozen pink roses in the vase on her credenza. Heidi stood, crossed her arms and leaned back ever so slightly against her desk, suggesting she really wasn’t going to give me more than a minute. It felt like I was back in the principal’s office.
“So what did you want, Dev?” she asked not sounding all that happy.
“I just wanted to apologize for the way things sort of turned out the other…”
“Sort of turned out? You mean when you forced me to my knees and made it look like I was going to go down on you? When you assaulted Austin in the bar? Or did you just mean when you threatened to kill him? I could go on.”
“Look, would you just calm down for a minute? I can explain, I think.”
“Oh, please do,” she said glaring and drawing her arms closer together which caused her breasts to sort of rise. I guess maybe she caught my not-so-quick glance. “God, you are so damn predictable. Such a stupid one-track mind. Do you have any idea of the damage you’ve done?”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Sorry?” she half screamed then looked around, grabbed a file from her desk and threw it at me. “Oh! you, you absolute idiot.”
“I just lost it when he pushed you. I saw him shove you and it was like he hit you and I don’t know what happened, I don’t even remember slapping him.”
She stormed around her desk, sat down in the high back leather offic
e chair then spun round to face me. “Slapping him? Is that what you call it? You punched him three times, Dev. I was afraid you were going to kill him.”
I sort of shrugged and nodded at her last comment which fortunately seemed to take the wind out of her sails. She’s always been a bit like me. If she’s bitching and yelling, she’ll get it over with and then steam. Unfortunately with me that takes a minute or two, with Heidi we’re talking a couple of days. And if she’s not yelling, but just seething, best to stay away for at least a week.
“Oh, Dev, honey, we’ve had a lot of fun. And over all I hope I’ve been as good to you as you’ve been to me, but sometimes we change. As much as I love the incorrigible teenager you still are, I think I’ve found something, someone, who is better for me. I need something more than crazy parties, waking up with whipped cream all over me, or my clothes scattered out in the front yard.”
“Look, Heidi I’ve lost count of the broken hearts you’ve had, but I’ve always been there to pick up the pieces. I can’t count the number of goofballs you thought were finally THE guy you were meant to spend the rest of your life with.”
“But, Austin is different.”
“I’ll say.”
“Now, Dev…”
“Heidi, he’s lied to you, a lot, just for starters. And…”
“Oh,” she said shaking her head. There was a sharp edge to her tone. “Lied? that is really rich coming from you.”
“This isn’t about me. This is about someone making a huge damn mistake. This is about you buying into this guy’s bullshit.”
“Well, you’d certainly be the one with knowledge about bullshit.”
“Heidi, listen to me. Did you know that he’s been married three times before? That he drained the bank accounts of all three women. He abused them, assaulted them, tied them up in the damn basement for Christ’s sake. Are you aware that…”
“Get out, Dev, just get out. I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense from you. Get out of my office.”
“Heidi, he’s going to be disbarred. The state is looking at him because…”
“Because he’s fighting every day for disabled Americans, some of whom, for your information, are veterans, probably friends of yours. People who’ve been injured or maybe born into a situation that makes life unfair and Austin is one of the few people standing up for them. Every day he puts himself on the line for folks, who, through no fault of their own, are disadvantaged, and he…”
“Heidi, that’s bullshit. He’s scamming folks. I’ve talked to some of them and…”
“You’ve talked to them?” her voice was suddenly very quiet. If there was any ice left to stand on, it had just become too thin. “You talked to them?”
“I’ve talked to a couple of attorneys, some folks who have been sued by him. Some people who pretended to be injured and then when he settled out of court, he screwed them and wouldn’t live up to the bargain he’d made. Yeah, Heidi, I’ve spoken to one of his former wives. She carries a gun now she’s so afraid of him. She has a restraining order out there against him. The other two just fled the state. After he drained their bank accounts and in one case spent their inheritance, they decided they’d rather live anywhere else rather than be near that nut case.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Ask him.”
“You, you think because of our past history you can come in here and spread these kind of lies? Dev, I’m sorry, but I expected better, even from someone like you. You know, let me tell you something. I promised I would never let you know this, but I think you should.”
“So tell me.”
“Virtually all my girlfriends have asked me at one time or another why I was with you. Why I let you near me, why I slept with you, bailed you out, lent you money.”
“I always paid you back.”
“Oh Dev, that’s not the point. You’re in here sounding like, like a fifteen-year-old little boy making up fantastic tales. I suppose all the articles about him are wrong, my mistake, he doesn’t stand up for the rights of those less fortunate, Dev. No, he should be down with you at The Spot bar every night, talking about all he’s going to accomplish and then never doing a thing about it.”
“Heidi, if you’d just give me a minute to explain. This guy is…”
“Your time is up, Dev. You need to leave.
“Heidi…”
“Leave.”
“But I…”
“Leave now or I’m calling security.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Morton and I were sharing another beer. He’d eaten one of the tacos I’d grabbed for dinner, not that I really cared. My so-called talk with Heidi was like pulling a black cloud over me. AJ falling head over heels for Richie hadn’t helped any, either. I was lying on the couch in my den watching some tear jerker about a young mom who’d been given just four weeks to live. It wasn’t doing much to help my mental state at the moment, so I turned off the TV and went to bed.
Morton woke me a little before four the following morning. He was sitting up in bed, growling. A low growl, the kind he seemed to give off just before he’d bark. I half woke up and rubbed him behind the ears to try and get him to calm down. It wasn’t working. I pulled my .38 out of the night stand and tiptoed toward the bedroom door. Morton watched, but didn’t get off the bed. I slowly opened the door and listened, but didn’t hear anything.
Morton sat on the bed watching me as I tiptoed down the hall. I stopped every few feet, listened, and still couldn’t hear anything. I looked out the window at the top of the stairs. At this hour the street was dead quiet. I still couldn’t pick up any sound and was about to head back to bed when I saw him hurrying down my driveway and across the street. Make that trying to hurry across the street. His right foot looked to be in some sort of walking cast which gave him a decided limp. He had a metal crutch under his right arm. I thought I recognized the crew cut, but just in case I had any doubt, the tattoo wrapped around his left bicep was a dead giveaway. I hustled back to my bedroom, pulled on some jeans, slipped on a pair of shoes and hurried out the door. I saw a glimpse of him limping his way through the parking lot across the street. Even with the crutch and the walking cast he was still making pretty good time, oblivious that anyone might be following.
I caught up to him on the far side of the parking lot. He glanced over his shoulder when I stepped on a branch and it snapped. He tried to pick up speed and ended up falling as he stumbled off the street curb. I was on him before he could get back up.
“Didn't I just leave you like this the other night?” Then moved my foot to apply pressure on the walking cast.
“No, no, please don’t. Hey look, I didn’t mean no harm, I didn’t do anything, honest.”
“It’s just after four in the damn morning. What in the hell are you doing at my place?”
“I think I made a big mistake, I…”
“I’ll say, now what in the hell are you doing here?
“I was gonna let the air out of your tires, like you did to me, but I didn’t, honest. I just want to get out of this town.”
“I didn’t let the air out of your tires,” I said, thinking a puncture was something completely different.
“Well someone did, same night you shot me and gave Cyril that concussion. Had to have the damn thing towed, all four tires were flat.”
“Cyril, your pal with the sap. And what’s your name?”
“Hilton, Hilton Brady.”
“Hilton…that sounds like some kind of hotel.”
“Yeah, my ma said she got knocked up at a party in a Hilton and thought the name was kinda classy.”
“And where is your pal, Cyril now?” I said quickly looking around.
“He flew back last night. Doctor told him he shouldn’t do a six hour drive with the concussion. I’m driving back to Chicago just as soon as I can, honest.”
“As soon as you can?”
“Honest, the car’s packed. You can even check it if you don’t believe me. I
’m leaving town.”
“What’s Hackett pay you guys, anyway?”
“That bastard. He said since we didn’t do anything to you he wasn’t going to pay us. Bastard just stiffed the both of us, me and Cyril.”
“You do much work for him?”
“No, not really, and believe me we’ll never be doing anything for him ever again. I can promise you that.”
“Let me help you up, Hilton,” I said then helped him to his feet and watched him tuck the crutch under his right arm. “You interested in a cup of coffee? I can put a fresh pot on and give you a travel mug to head out of town with.”
“Thanks, but to tell you the truth, no offense, I think I’d just like to get on the road and start heading south. Nothing’s gone my way ever since we came up here.”
“Where you parked? I’ll walk you to your car.”
“I’m just around the corner, here. I can make it fine.”
“I’ll help you anyway, just to, you know, make sure you’re heading south.”
“Thanks, it’s been quite a stay,” he said and began limping toward his car. I could see the Mercury Mountaineer sitting against the curb just a couple of houses away. “We were planning on leaving. We’d done a special job for Mr. Hackett, at least we thought we did. I guess it didn’t turn out so well, or so he said. Anyway, we can’t afford to stay up here any longer and we just decided to pull the plug. Then he comes along with this great idea,” Hilton nodded at me. “And that didn’t really go our way either.”
“What was the special job you did for him?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, just curious. Believe me, I’m not going to be telling anyone.”
“Well, yeah, I suppose you won’t. See there was this neighbor of Hackett’s, some kind of doctor. Anyway, the wife of this guy had some jewelry that we were supposed to grab, and, well we did. Problem was the stuff turned out to be fake and Hackett wasn’t going to pay us. Then we took on the other project, namely you. That didn’t exactly bounce our way either. Now I just want to get my ass back home and maybe catch a Cubs game.”