Brutal

by K. S. Adkins

  I’m speechless, to be honest. Under arrest for suspicion of murder? Huh? I haven’t even killed anyone lately. Then, it hits me. Briggs, you mother fucker. Shit. I knew I put myself on their radar; taking down police will get a girl noticed. At least I’m wearing clean underwear.

  “Where the fuck are you taking her?” demands Max after he cuts the music. “Don’t say a word to anyone, Venessa. I’ll have the attorney there within minutes. Not a fucking word, you feel me? I’ll fix this.”

  “Yeah, okay Max,” I say, because what else can I say? I am sort of a murderer.

  “We take care of our own. I got you. We got you,” he says, nodding to a lot of VIPs and a very pissed off Tony.

  “I know, Max, thanks. You know I’m solid, right?” I ask, needing his reassurance

  “You’re a fucking angel in this hell hole, baby, no doubt you’re solid. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promises.

  I get out a quick “I trust you Max,” before my hands are cuffed behind my back. I’m led from the platform onto the floor, headed toward the exit, but the employees and a shit load of our regulars aren’t having it. We’re stopped repeatedly. The police are getting pushed, threatened with death, and various other things. Everyone is rooting for me, and it’s a little disconcerting. They think they know me based on my reputation here. If they only knew the real me, they’d run in the opposite direction. Oh, who am I kidding, they’d probably love me more…

  It’s straight up riot ready in here, and as much as I don’t like being touched by strangers, let alone handcuffed, I know these men are just doing their jobs so I dial it down. Focusing on the fact that I’m headed to the station, I rack my brain to figure out where I went wrong. Even after I do this, I still can’t understand why. But before I can get to the exit, I’m stopped again, this time by Anthony Gallo. A very pissed off Anthony Gallo. That’s never good.

  Looking at both officers, Anthony levels them both with his hard eyes. He rubs my cheek gently and I allow it. Anthony has always been good to me. I know a lot of his secrets, and he isn’t someone I’d ever take down. He isn’t a bad guy, he just isn’t the most ethical guy. He’s also beautiful; deadly, but beautiful. He’s right around six foot, with perfect hair, a perfect jaw, perfect teeth. Even his eyebrows are perfect. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin, and a killer dresser, he’s pretty much the definition of the perfect looking man. Too bad he doesn’t do it for me, at all.

  “You harm one hair on her head, and you’ll get a visit from me personally,” he calmly says to the officers.

  He looks at me with warmth, and maybe something else? I’m not sure, but I’m not in the frame of mind to make out what it is. He leans in, but speaks loud enough for both officers to hear. “We won’t stand for this, baby. Detroit’s finest has made a lot of enemies tonight. I will be seeing you soon.” He made it a statement.

  “Okay, Tony. Thanks for caring about me,” I reply, slightly confused.

  “I care, baby. I also protect what’s mine,” he says, and he knows I’m totally shocked.

  I’m sure the shock of that statement is written all over my face. He doesn’t explain, just smiles and whispers that he’s coming for me. Whatever that means. Tony and I are around each other a lot, and granted I’ve never actually seen him with women, I assumed he had someone. Hell, with his looks, several someones. We’ve been tight for years, so this turn of events is even more shocking than the arrest.

  More police show up to make room for our exit. My arrest sure stirred up a lot of people. Word must have traveled fast, because the moment we cleared the doors there were cameras and reporters everywhere. God, I hate the media.

  None of the questions fired off were aimed at me, but at the police, and none of them flattering.

  The ride to the precinct is a quiet one. Both officers look nervous. The media follows us like bloodhounds, and are made to wait outside. I’m escorted into what I assume is an interrogation room, the handcuffs are removed, and I’m left to wait. If they are looking through the two-way, expecting to see me nervous, they can think again. On the outside, I’m calm, cool, and collected. But on the inside, I am nervous. Not for me, though, for them. Whatever Max and Tony are going to do will be swift, I know that much. I wonder how long I’ll have to wait, and seconds later the door opens. So okay, I guess I didn’t have to wait very long. Guess it’s good to know people.

  “Hello, Venessa, it’s been a while.” As if I could ever forget that voice.

  “Yes, Captain, it has. How are Diane and Gary?” I ask quietly.

  “She’s real good. Retired, and now we have cats,” he says proudly. “Gary, though, we don’t see much”

  “I’m happy for you, Cap,” I say seriously. “So, tell me about Gary. Is he any better?”

  “Oh, Venessa, we missed you, you know? Diane and me, we worry, too. Gary, we can talk about later. You, though, you were like a daughter to us. What happened to your family…fuck. What happened to you, and no one was there - then you left and never came back. Why didn’t you come back?“ he asks me, with hurt in his voice and I feel the guilt in my gut.

  “Cap, please don’t do this now. I’m okay I swear. I stayed away, because I thought it was best for everyone. You, Diane and Gary were always good to me. I still love you, you know. Even though I stay away, I do,” I say, pleading with him to understand why I can’t go back to that life, or see the people from it.

  “You were always a good girl, Venessa. Proud and strong, like your dad. You’ve become like a celebrity around here, you know? The guys, they keep an eye when they see you working, making sure you’re safe. Except some news just hit about what you’ve been up to, and it’s not good. You have some real shady friends, Venessa, and it ain’t no secret. We’re going to need to discuss that while you’re here. I know being here is tough on you, but we do have to talk,” he tells me.

  “Okay, Cap, what was so important that, instead of coming to see me in person, you had me cuffed and charged in public? Because it caused quite a scene, sir. And it made of a few of the regulars who come there to see me pretty upset,” I defend.

  “I heard. This is a clusterfuck, pardon my language. You aren’t being charged with anything right now, but this was the only way I could get you here. We didn’t know where else to find you, then I get word that Tony Gallo is a close friend of yours? Do you have any idea what kind of people he is? How dangerous he is? Your father wouldn’t be happy about this, Venessa. I’m going to grab a cup, and then we’re going to talk. Do you want anything before we do this?” he asks.

  “Yes, Cap, I’d like my attorney and a bag of pretzels, please,” I say, smiling because I’m not rolling on Max, Tony or anyone else. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but if I’m not being charged for Briggs, or any…let’s call them past discrepancies, then I’m out.

  The Captain storms into the room like the Tasmanian devil. He’s flinging curse words and coffee everywhere. This did not go down as planned. Honestly, arresting her publicly was not my idea and this is why.

  “Fuck!” he yells, and I agree with the Captain.

  But, before I can offer my two cents, Rafe adds his. “Gallo’s attorney is in the lobby demanding to see his client, Captain. If he finds out the charge is phony, we’re all fucked. We want information, right? We know she has it. Look at who she runs with. Gallo’s attorney was here within minutes of the pickup. She knows something, sir. We need to secure her. Now. Before he gets back there. We’re running out of time.”

  We all know that Rafe is right, which is a first.

  “She was like a daughter to me,” he explains. “Brent, Theresa, Diane and I, were the best of friends. We raised our kids together. She was raised here. She isn’t capable of murder, or being the one we’re looking for. She’s never even had a speeding ticket, for Christ’s sake. She was even a fucking Girl Scout!” screams the Captain, and I can see he’s trying to talk himself out of the possibility she’s no longer a Girl Scout, though clear
ly she remembered some of her Girl Scout training, like tying knots, for instance.

  “Captain, her hair was found on Briggs and the crime scene. Prints on the phone left with Briggs are a match. She may not be a murderer, but she is mixed up in shit she shouldn’t be, and you know it. She’s in danger, whether she knows it or not. Murder notwithstanding, she may not be breaking the law, but she’s bending the fuck out of it. She has ties to criminals she shouldn’t. She’s brought down six well knowns in the last month alone, Captain, with no one the wiser. You don’t see what she’s doing? She gets in there tight, and takes them down on her own. Big dogs, Captain, not small timers. This is some serious shit, and you cannot let her walk out that door. If we figured it out, it’s only a matter of time until someone else does, too. She’s vulnerable.”

  The thought of her leaving here scares me shitless, and I haven’t even seen her up close yet. I also know I don’t need to. That tiny female needs protection, whether she knows it or not, she’s living on luck.

  “I’ve known you for nine years, Rogan, and that’s the most words I’ve ever heard you use. But you’re right. Let Gallo’s attorney know she’s being released, and that he can see me release her from in here, then he can speak with her shortly.” He sighs

  “What are you doing, sir?” asks Rafe

  “I’m taking care of our girl. She’s no killer, and she’s no criminal, but Rogan is right. We do need her. So take care of the dirt bag, and meet me in here in ten,” the captain demands as he walks out

  “The fuck just happened?” asks Rafe confused

  “Fuck if I know,” I say. “Go take care of the attorney.”

  “Fuck you, you just want to stay in here, staring at that hot piece of ass. But I can’t really blame ya. I hit up that shithole on Saturdays just to check her out. She’s pretty hardcore. I have a video of her kicking a dude's ass on my phone. If you’re nice, I’ll even show it to you later.” He chuckles. “See ya in ten,” he says while walking out.

  It takes everything I’ve got not to rearrange his teeth. Dick never invited me to go watch her.

  I stand there, watching her eat the pretzels one at a time, like a fucking lady. I’d have polished that bag off in one sitting and demanded more. What the fuck is the Captain up to? We’re letting her go? Just like that? Who will have her back? Once we pulled her info, I didn’t leave my office for hours after reading her file, and it’s starting to fuck with my head. The shit I read…I want to dig those two fuckers up and kill ‘em all over again. Thing is, if she did kill ‘em, she was justified. Doesn’t make it legal, but she did what we didn’t do. I respect her a fuck of a lot more than I should. Since I can’t stop staring at her through the two-way, what I feel is a lot more than respect, and that’s saying something, too.

  I ain’t no rookie, I’ve seen my fair share of shit, but nothing, and I mean nothing, could prepare me for what was done to her as a kid. Where I fucked myself was I read the file, then looked at the photos. Should have never looked at those photos. Her unconscious, tiny body in that big hospital bed with tubes coming out from all over, stitches up and down her sides, tubes of all sizes between her little legs. I’m man enough to say I chucked in my garbage can.

  Now she’s sitting here eating pretzels. Looking at the file, I can’t figure out how she got from there to here.

  Rafe brings the shark of an attorney, Julian Perret, in while the Captain heads back to Venessa to release her. This is really fucking backwards. Even being in the same room with Julian Perret makes my skin crawl. This is the kind of guy you see coming, and you turn and walk the other way. I stay in the shadows, observing. The people he gets off are the same people I’m trying to lock up. Except for her, of course. The second the attorney starts yapping, I know we’re fucked. Having him here on her behalf is not good, not fucking good at all.

  “Mr. Gallo has plans with Ms. Cross this evening, so you have only moments to inform me of the charges that were brought against Ms. Cross, Captain Frisk,” he says, as the Captain prepares to leave the room.

  “I’m aware, Mr. Perret. We have ourselves a misunderstanding. It’s being corrected as we speak. You will be able to speak with Ms. Cross in a moment. Until then, wait here, please,” he calmly states and excuses himself.

  The Captain makes his way to Venessa, and I can’t help but notice how tired she looks. She works nights, so I’m guessing the stress of the events is wearing her out. I’m worn out myself, wondering what the fuck the Captain is doing, wishing I could be in there with her because she needs a champion whether she knows it or not.

  I know what you’re thinking: serves you right, Venessa. But, seriously? We all have issues. My ass is numb, these tights are crawling up, and my feet are swollen. I’m sick of sitting here eating pretzels one at a time, and the Captain’s reasons for bringing me here are bogus, and we both know it. Why would he have me arrested instead of just talking to me?

  Just as I prepare to stand and pick my tights from my ass, the Captain walks in looking tired and worn. God, I missed that man. He was a brilliant detective, and a second dad to me. Now he’s the big guy, the Captain, which we all knew was coming, even back then. True story: I started calling him Cap when I was ten because I knew he would be the big guy one day so, whatever excuse he’s about to give is fine with me, as long as it ends with “you’re free to go.” I’m a lot of things, but a fool isn’t one of them. I know he has an agenda. I grew up with cops. I’m pretty sure in school their first class was Agendas 101.

  I may love and miss him, and even though not a day passes that I don’t think of him, I can’t show him I’m vulnerable. The loss of my parents and sister affected his family, too. The fact that I’m alive and breathing is a constant reminder of what they’ve lost, and no one needs that reminder shoved in their face. The Captain, Diane, and Gary I know wouldn’t be proud of me, or understand why I’m driven to do what I’m doing. So, to be fair to them, I stayed gone.

  It’s been right about ten years, and I still wonder if Gary cleaned himself up, or if his parents gave up on him. Knowing the Cap and Diane, I don’t think they ever would give up, but the last I saw of Gary in passing, he’d lost so much weight I’d hardly recognized him. He was my best friend, my first crush and he broke my heart.

  Letting them all go was like losing my family all over again, but even today I stand behind my decision. Being here is seriously difficult. The looks of pity, these people thinking they have an idea of what I’ve been through. Yeah, they don’t. That’s why I stayed away from here too; poor little Venessa. Poor little Venessa, my ass,.I turned out just fine. You do what you must to survive. I remind myself of that, and of the pain I see on the Captain’s face when he walks in. So I do what I always do to protect those I love and ensure my own survival. I shut that shit down.

  Standing in the back corner, hidden but aware, I watch her cock her head to study the door, knowing the Captain is on the other side. I look over at the Captain, seeing the agony on his face knowing she’s on the other side, too; he misses her, and this is killing him. I’ve memorized her file; one of the items highlighted was her short stint at the Captain’s house after she got out of the hospital. She was tight with his son, raised together, too, but he got into bad shit and the Captain never speaks of him, ever. The day she became legal she left, and never came back.

  Looking at the timeline, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. She left the Captain’s family, refused professional treatment, then – according to the owner of Lush – started working for him about three years later, but was a regular prior to that, even though she was a minor. She was just a kid getting over losing her family and almost her own life; she went from the girl next door, to the club scene.

  Lush isn’t your average club, its hard core. She’s tight with the owner, Gallo, and several other unsavories, and the two men who ‘allegedly’ brutalized her wound up dead in the alley behind the club she works at. Staring at the file under my arm, then looking at her perfect f
ace, it just doesn’t make sense. But the truth of it is, it does make sense. I just refuse to believe it.

  I’m so fixated on her, it catches me by surprise when I see it. What I saw was more than just the woman sitting patiently in room 2b, waiting for the Captain to release her. I can actually ‘see her’, and when I stilled myself and really fucking paid attention, I realized I can see it clear as day. Looking past her beauty, which is unquestionable, there’s a coldness about her that she’s trying really hard to hide. But it’s there, this woman Venessa, or Kharma – well, fuck, both are straight up everything I’d hoped she wouldn’t be, but she is. It’s there, you just have to look for it. It’s not hard to see it when you know what to look for. I should know, I see it myself every time I look in the mirror.

  She’s as ruthless as I am.

  The Captain throwing the door open cuts me off from the path I was on, so I focus on what comes next instead, and that would be turning on the speaker.

  “Venessa, I want to apologize for what happened tonight. You aren’t being charged. Due to lack of evidence, we can’t hold you. Your hair was found at the scene of a crime, but until the warrant was issued, we had not realized that the crime scene and your place of employment were one and the same. So your hair being on the scene makes sense. We’re still going to look into the case, but not with you as a suspect,” states the Captain.

  This makes no fucking sense to me. I just heard the guy not twenty minutes ago telling her how the guys go there to check on her and watch her perform. He knows where she works. Where is he going with this? If I had hair I’d be pulling that shit out right now.

  “Also, Mr. Gallo’s attorney is here, waiting for your release, but before you go, I was hoping you and me could catch up over a cup, friend to friend? I know you don’t like being here, but seeing you again made me realize how I’ve failed you. I’m worried about you, and the people you run with Venessa. These people are dangerous. You know what? No more shop talk. Let’s talk, just you, me, and a cup? Whaddya say?” The Captain smiles, and I have to say the old man impressed me tonight. Venessa impressed me even more. She knows something’s up and isn’t showing her hand. But she’s curious, I can tell. I’m fucking curious, too.