Cap's Place: A Jack Nolan Novel (The Cap's Place Series Book 1)

by Robert Tarrant

  Outside I found that people had parked in every conceivable spot to be found. Cars were cruising through the lot obviously looking for anything that resembled a parking spot. A couple of guys were out of their cars arguing over who was entitled to a spot in the back corner that was being vacated by a black Lexus SUV. Wanting to avoid problems, and the inevitable herd of responding police cars, which is never good for business, I yelled, “Hey, I’m leaving. One of you can have my spot.” They ceased their argument in mid-sentence and both jumped into their cars.

  I ended up behind the Lexus as we both exited the parking lot onto A1A. The driver pitched a cigar butt into the gutter as he turned onto the street. We both caught the first light and as I sat through yet another notoriously long South Florida traffic light, I noticed subtle pin striping outlining the rear brake and back-up lights of the Lexus. I had seriously looked at a couple of these a few months ago, to lease of course, I could never afford to buy one, and didn’t remember pin stripes as an option. It was a beautiful vehicle coming off of the assembly line, but these pin stripes seemed to be saying that the owner wanted theirs to be unique. I wondered what that signified. Insecurity, over confidence, or just a desire to be unique. The light changed and I refocused on the task at hand, getting back to Sissy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  It was nearly nine when I drove up the driveway of our estate hideout. I noticed a light on in the rear of the main house, probably the quarters that Maria and her husband live in, but otherwise it was dark except for the landscape lighting around the exterior. By contrast, every light in the guest house was blazing. It was as if the structure itself was glowing. Something right out of a science fiction movie. I parked in front and let myself in the front door. Remembering the nine millimeter, I stopped just inside the door and called out to Sissy. Sissy came flying into the entryway and threw her arms around me. She was sobbing and appeared on the verge of exhaustion.

  I wrapped my arm around Sissy’s shoulders and led her into the great room. We sat side by side on the couch and held each other for several minutes with no sound except her sobs. Finally, as her sobbing seemed to wane, I said, “Sissy, I’ll protect you. You’ll be safe. I’m so sorry about Allison, but I promise nothing will happen to you.”

  Sissy looked up at me and wiped the back of her hand across her face. Her black eye liner, previously running down her cheeks, was now smeared across her face. In a barely audible voice she said, “Poor Allison. I’m so scared. That was supposed to be me in the trunk of that car.”

  Sissy slumped into my arms as if there was not an ounce of energy left in her body. She was terrified to the bone. Holding her, feeling the fear radiate from her, was sapping the strength from me. We leaned against each other like two exhausted fighters after a long grueling brawl. I knew I had to suck it up. If ever in my life I had to suck it up, it was now. Sissy’s life, and probably mine as well, depended on it. Get your shit together Jack!

  I took Sissy by the shoulders and held her back into an upright sitting position. I used my hand to gently raise her head until our eyes met. “Sissy, I want you to go in and take a shower. I’m going to put together something for us to eat. Nothing fancy, but we need to eat. We should talk about everything we know up to this point. I need my Sissy back on her game. We’ll have plenty of time to mourn Allison, but right now we’re going to concentrate on figuring out who is trying to kill you so we can stop them. So young lady, you go take a shower and freshen up. I’ll get us something to eat and make us a couple of drinks.” Sissy started to say something, but I cut her off gently placing my fingers up to her lips, “No argument. I’m in charge. Now go.” With that, I stood and guided her to a standing position.

  Sissy went to her bedroom and I went to the kitchen. I found the cabinet containing the liquor and mixed us a couple of strong scotch and sodas. I took inventory of the groceries we had gotten earlier and decided that the best course of action, given my limited kitchen skills, was to get out the remainder of the deli tray Maria had left for us and repeat the sandwiches we dined on when we first arrived here less than eighteen hours earlier.

  I was just putting the finishing touches on a couple of Jack’s gourmet sandwiches when Sissy joined me in the kitchen. She had composed herself, although she looked nearly exhausted with deep set circles under her puffy red eyes. We settled in on the two stools at the little pub table in the kitchen and started in on the sandwiches and drinks. As the nourishment and alcohol began to ease the tension in her body Sissy asked, “So, what is it that you think we know? Besides the fact that someone killed Allison because they thought it was me? Once they learn of their mistake they are going to kill me.” Her voice rose and fell revealing her fragile emotional state.

  “Sissy, you’re not going to be killed. We’re safe and we’re going to stay safe. Our only challenge is to find the source of the threat so that we don’t need to keep you in hiding forever. I’ve been thinking about this snitch. Obviously the threat is real, but is it really Muskof behind it?” Sissy reached for her drink with a trembling hand and I plowed ahead, “What we need to do is know for certain where the threat comes from so PJ can focus the investigation in the right direction.”

  “Let me understand this, you are saying that this snitch may have made up the part of the story about it being Muskof?”

  “When a snitch is trading information to the cops and prosecutors it’s like any other negotiation. The more you want, the more you need to give. If this guy was in real trouble he would need to give the cops something worthwhile to get his charges dropped or reduced.”

  “You mean that telling them that someone was going to kill me so they could warn me would not be enough? I’m not worth that much?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at Sissy’s indignation at the thought that her life didn’t bring a high enough price in the barter, “No, it’s not that your life isn’t of value, it’s that the cops can’t move against anyone to stop it if they don’t have a target. They would be pushing hard for a name. Maybe too hard. That’s when snitches make things up. In this case, Muskof would be an easy lie because he has motive to want to see you harmed. Even though he’s going to deny any connection, no one is going to believe him. After all, he’s already in prison for killing someone. So, if this snitch knows that someone is out to get you and that you testified against Muskof, it would be an easy leap to give him to the cops as the suspect.”

  “So you do think the guy made up the story about it being Muskof?”

  “I don’t really know. It could be that the snitch knows it’s someone else but is too afraid of them to give them up so he substituted Muskof. It could be that Muskof’s name was provided to misdirect the police. I really don’t know what to think.”

  Sissy paused in obvious reflection before asking, “Can’t PJ talk to. . . err . . . interrogate this guy and find out which it is?”

  “I am certain that she’ll try, but there’s no telling if she’ll be successful. If he made up the story of Muskof he may stick to it out of fear that he’ll lose whatever deal he’s making with the prosecutor. If the story is planted and he’s afraid of the real threat he won’t admit it either. I’ll talk with PJ tomorrow and tell her what I learned, but we need to focus on figuring out where else the threat could be coming from. Who else might want to see you harmed. It has to be someone with real connections. Not just some guy that you snubbed or something. Whoever is behind this knows how to hire professional killers and has a source of information.” I wanted to ask Sissy if she had ever spurned the attention of any organized crime bosses, but thought I should find a more subtle approach.

  “If they have such good information and are such professional killers how did they kill Allison by mistake?”

  I couldn’t answer that, or many of the other questions that arose as we batted the situation back and forth over another drink. Sissy couldn’t think of anyone who fit the criteria to be behind something like this. I wasn’t surprised. In my experience
as a prosecutor I had handled several murder for hire cases and if it wasn’t the spouse, and it usually was, no one could think of anyone who would want them killed. It’s not human nature to think people hate you enough to want to have you killed.

  It was eleven and we found ourselves going around in circles. The combination of stress, fatigue and alcohol had blown a cloud bank in over our brains. We decided that we would take another run at sorting things out after a night’s sleep. As we were putting the dishes in the sink Sissy looked up at me with those blue gray eyes of hers and asked if she could sleep with me again tonight. To myself I said, “Sissy, you’re killing me here. You want to nestle that fantastic body of yours next to me all night long, but you have no interest in sex with me. You’re driving me crazy.” To Sissy I said, “Of course you can.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The next morning, even though the weather was breezy and threatening rain we had breakfast on the patio. Fortunately, Sissy had donned one of her less revealing oversized tee shirts so I could concentrate on the reality of the problems at hand and after breakfast we talked through the next steps. We agreed that I needed to touch base with PJ.

  Still afraid that somehow our cell phones would be traced I told Sissy that I would go out and buy a prepaid cell phone to call PJ. She wanted to go with me, but I told her I’d feel much more comfortable if she stayed here for the time being. It shouldn’t take me long to get a phone and call PJ. Sissy reluctantly agreed.

  I found a Walgreens not far from the guest house and bought a prepaid cell phone and a large bottle of Maalox for my rapidly deteriorating stomach. I located a small park with a nearly deserted parking lot. Even with the prepaid cell phone, I didn’t want to make calls from the guest house.

  The conversation with PJ was strained, to say the least. Hanging up on her last night didn’t seem to have warmed our relationship. She wasn’t happy that I wouldn’t tell her where I was hiding Sissy and I guess I couldn’t blame her. After all, what qualifications did I have to think I could keep Sissy safer than the cops could? Of course, my track record was better than theirs considering in the few hours Sissy had relied on PJ’s strategy she had been nearly raped and killed. I’d been successful in keeping her safe since the debacle at the Pinnacle but I made a tactical decision not to again point this out to PJ. By the end of the conversation, it was still obvious to me that PJ and I weren’t going to be intimate anytime soon. I had given her my theory that possibly the threat was not coming from Muskof. PJ hadn’t said that she was going to do anything, but I hoped that what I’d suggested would prompt her to at least dig deeper into the informant.

  After ending the call with PJ, I decided I would make a quick call and see if I could catch someone at Cap’s. The phone rang fifteen times before Moe answered, “Cap’s Place, we opens at eleven.”

  “Moe, don’t hang up, it’s Jack.”

  “Hey Boss, how yu doing?

  “I’m fine, how you doing?.”

  There was a lengthy pause before Moe responded, “Mostly, helping Marge hold this joint together while you’s out playing house with Sissy?”

  Did I detect an attitude? “I wouldn’t exactly call it playing house but I do really appreciate everything you and Marge are doing to hold things together. How are things? Marge was sure right about the storm missing us. Are the windows still boarded up?”

  Again a long pause, “Things fine here. Allison’s killing put a wet blanket on the Hurricane Party. We’s taking the plywood down later today. Marge had problems understanding your work schedule for people around here, but I thinks she figured it out. The cops called a couple times to see if we has heard from you or Sissy but otherwise things is things.”

  “I just talked to PJ, the female detective.”

  “Good ‘cause I ain’t talking to them cops. Seems like the cops ought to be protecting Sissy anyway.”

  I was realizing that my Lone Ranger approach to protecting Sissy was wearing thin with those who were keeping the home fires burning in my absence. At least with Moe. “Okay. Thanks, and Moe, I really do appreciate everything you and Marge, well . . . everybody, is doing to hold things together until we get Sissy through this.”

  With an exaggerated southern drawl that you seldom hear from someone born in Detroit, “Yeah . . . well we’s doing it for Sissy. Same as you.”

  “Thanks Moe. Tell Marge I called and I’ll call again soon.”

  I slumped back into the seat and tried to clear my head. Two conversations this morning and it was obvious neither PJ nor Moe thought I was doing the right thing in protecting Sissy all alone. Maybe I needed to rethink my strategy. We had fled to the guest house because someone had leaked Sissy’s location at the Pinnacle and it nearly cost her life. Fleeing to a location unknown to anyone else was a good idea at the time, but does that mean it’s still a good decision. I really don’t have the resources to protect Sissy alone at the guest house. I’m no James Bond and I know it. Maybe I should tell PJ where we are. Maybe she could get police resources to help protect her. If we couldn’t get police resources maybe she would be safer somewhere surrounded by people we know we can trust. Maybe she would be safer at my place above Cap’s. At least there I could share the protection duties with others. I could keep her surrounded. Just as this idea started to develop I realized how dangerous it was. Sissy would never stand to stay out of sight upstairs. She would want to be back behind the bar. She was still plenty scared but in another day or so I might not be able to convince her to hide out if she was right above Cap’s. Wrestling with my own ideas I decided to take the easy way out and defer any decision until later.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I got back to the guest house and found Sissy on the patio. She looked forlorn. Not the Sissy I know. She looked up at me and faked a smile, “I’m glad you’re back. I was starting to worry that something had gone wrong.”

  “No worries, everything is fine. Just took me awhile to get in touch with people.”

  “Grab a chair and tell me all about it.”

  I dragged one of the straight back chairs from the table up next to her lounger, “First, I called PJ and told her what I’d learned about the threat not coming from Muskof.”

  Sissy cocked her head, “What did PJ say?”

  “She wasn’t very impressed. I don’t think she gives much credibility to my detective work. She really thinks I should tell her where you are so she can protect you. What do you think?”

  Sissy hugged her legs up to her chest as she reflected, “On the one hand, she did protect me for several weeks during the Muskof trial. On the other hand, it was her idea to go to Pinnacle and that nearly got me killed.”

  “There are some distinctions we need to make here. It wasn’t just PJ who protected you during the Muskof trial, it was Hollywood PD. PJ was just the agent. I bet that there were plenty of other resources involved. It was just PJ who was closest to you. What she told us when she first came to us with the threat was that she couldn’t get police resources this time. At least not back then. She did tell me after your attack at the Pinnacle that she could probably get protection set up but that it would take some time to arrange. I don’t know if Allison’s death has changed that situation or not. If it’s changed things, PJ didn’t mention it to me when she was telling me that I should tell her where you are so she can help. I guess that we could just ask her what resources she has available.

  The other issue we need to consider is that the leak regarding your location at Pinnacle could have come from someone there, but it also could have come from someone inside Hollywood PD. Maybe we are better off without their help. I just don’t know.”

  Suddenly, Sissy broke down crying. She was nearly hysterical. I thought that her paranoia had gotten the best of her. Of course, when people are really out to kill you it’s probably not fair to call it paranoia. The reality was that Sissy had allowed her mind to conjure up all kinds of terrible outcomes to our present situation. I could understand how that happe
ned because I was constantly fighting that nagging specter myself. I didn’t know if not allowing myself to think of the potential deadly outcomes was being smart or just naive. It was smart if not allowing doubt to creep into my mind kept me focused on winning. It was naive if, as so many people seemed to think, I was in way over my head.

  Over the next half-hour she alternated between bouts of extolling her fears and just plain sobbing. I had my arms around her and her head rested on my chest. My shirt was soaking wet from her tears. Finally, the storm passed and she regained her composure although her face looked like she had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.

  Sissy and I spent most of the day lounging around on the patio. Mostly just passing the time. We attempted to talk about various topics but invariably we always drifted back to the problem at hand. Keeping Sissy alive. It was evening before I was able to convince Sissy to let me go out for a few minutes so that I could call PJ to determine if there were any new developments. It was really unnerving to be cut off from the world. No one could reach us if they wanted to. I told her I would make my call from the park I had found that morning and would only be gone a few minutes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  The gate was slowly closing after Jack drove out. The unseen solitary figure casually strode through it and was enveloped into the shadows surrounding the dense eight foot tall ficus hedge.

  The main house was dark and the guest house was ablaze. It was not difficult to ascertain where she would be found. Settling on his haunches, he began to scan the exterior of the guest house through his binoculars. He would work his way around the house locating any phone and alarm lines. Those would be dealt with before he entered. If he was patient enough he would be able to determine what part of the house she was in before he entered. He was usually a very patient man, but touching the scabbed gash on the side of his face he was not certain how patient he could be tonight.