Bay of Deception

by Timothy Allan Pipes

  The phone rang beside her, causing her heart to skip a beat and nearly sent her jumping off the bed as it rang a second time, and then again a few seconds later. On the fourth shrill ring, she picked up the phone.

  “Yes,” was all she could think to say.

  “This is the company operator,” a smooth voice whispered in her ear. “Do you wish to make a call?"

  Jenny’s mind raced, trying to decide how to respond.

  “Uh, no, we knocked the receiver off...accidentally.” She hoped the woman got the idea and indeed, there was a brief silence before the operator spoke again.

  “Sorry to bother you," the voice said. "Just pick up the receiver if you wish to make a call.”

  Jenny let out a relieved breath as she set the phone back its cradle. The woman on the phone had seemed nice enough and yet she just didn’t know who was involved in all this and who were simply local workers. One thing was for sure; some dangerous people were going to be very unhappy when they found their president dead.

  She got off the bed and was halfway back to Jenel’s body when the phone rang once again. She froze, then turned back. She decided on a tact she’d learned as a NFL cheerleader when guys managed to get her number at hotels the cheerleading squad stayed at.

  “What?” she forced her voice lower, hoping to sound irritated and impatient.

  The caller, obviously not expecting such a response, hesitated before answering.

  “Yes, this is Vice President Jeffers. Put Mr. Jenel on.”

  “Call back in an hour, when we’re done!” Jenny slammed the phone down before Jeffers could respond.

  Though she didn’t know much about Jeffers, what she’d heard from Carol about her former boss had not been good. His reputation had been one of cold, even cruel indifference. Hopefully her ruse would stall him for at least a half hour and though tempted to call the police, Jenel’s comment about an informer convinced her otherwise.

  For several minutes she went over the building’s layout, mentally recalling the few times she’d visited Collin or more often, Carol. A vague memory of her husband leaving her at the top of a restricted stairwell came back to her. Collin had gone in to speak with Jenel and returned with an ear to ear grin. If that stairwell led to this suite, all she had to do was head in the right direction, go up those same stairs to the main hallway and take the elevator to the front reception area.

  Encouraged, she slipped her sandals on and headed toward the door, almost missing the slight click as it unlocked and swung open wide.

  As if stepping into a child’s play house, the man who entered the room seemed an older, more mature version of Collin. Easily as tall, he was however dressed in an Armani suit that seemed to diminish his towering height. Jenel’s body caught the man’s attention as he was halfway through the door, halting his progress briefly before he continued into the suite and shut the door.

  “Well, Mrs. McKenny!” Jeffers smiled wickedly. “I thought that was you on the phone.” Turning his eye toward the body at his feet, Jeffers kneeled with one leg and checked for a pulse, giving up after a few seconds and then stood to his feet. “What happened?”

  “He...tried to rape me, so I kicked him in the balls,” Jenny faltered. “Next thing I knew, he was dead.”

  In a single motion, he swept toward her. A moment later, Jenny found herself sprawled against the wingback chair, her right cheek growing numb while her left shoulder throbbed with increasing pain.

  “Don’t lie to me, Mrs. McKenny! No kick to the groin is going to take out a man like Jenel. Now tell me what really happened.”

  She pulled herself upright and began to shake her head, but quickly stopped as pain lanced through her neck and shoulder.

  “What is it with all you big guys? Are all of you paranoid?”

  He moved toward her. “Perhaps I wasn’t clear...!”

  Regretting her flippant tone, Jenny scrambled painfully away from the approaching behemoth. “Look, I told you the truth! Check his body for injuries if you don’t believe me.”

  This briefly halted his onslaught as Jeffers turned, looked back at Jenel's body before facing Jenny once more.

  “That you killed my boss is of little sorrow to me, Mrs. McKenny. However, since the police are already on the way, I do need to know how you killed him. So I will ask you one more time, how did you kill Jenel?”

  It was clear nothing short of a morbid confession would satisfy the man. Forcing herself to her feet, Jenny braced herself to run.

  “All right, Mrs. McKenny.” Jeffers stepped back to where Jenel’s body lay near the door. “If you won’t tell me how he died, I’ll come up with a story myself. After all,” he said, pulling out a small gun and pointed at his former boss. “You can’t be charged with causing a heart attack, no matter how good a screw you were.”

  “That’s not a good idea,” an unfamiliar voice called through the open sliver of door.

  “Detective Hana,” Jeffers said, turning to face the newcomer as he pushed the door open wide. "Glad you could make it so soon.”

  Dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a beach style shirt, the man who stepped into the suite wore long blond hair which easily matched Jenny's in length.

  “You made it pretty clear to get her fast. I happened to be close by when you called.” He continued walking till he stood over Jenel’s form.

  “Yes, well,” Jeffers stood back slightly as the detective kneeled down beside the body. “With Jenel dead, a unique opportunity has been provided us; one that will afford great maneuverability within JenelCo, if we act promptly.”

  Hana smirked, clearly amused.

  “If you want to make this look like a murder, that’s fine. But you’ve to do it so ballistics see what you want them to. Putting a bullet in his chest like you were about to do,” his tone grew sarcastic, “will only raise more questions than it answers.”

  Jeffers’ body grew rigid as he stared down at the smirking cop.

  “Mr. Hana, have you already forgotten that I will be the new president of JenelCo? Don’t get on my bad side before I even take the job.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” The cop looked up at Jenny the smirk now gone. “What happened? How’d he die?”

  She leaned forward in the chair but quickly regretted it, wincing at the pain in her shoulder.

  “Like I told the sadist here, Jenel tried to rape me, so when I got the chance I kicked him where it hurt most. Next thing I knew, he was dead.” No use telling these creeps Jenel had succeeded, she thought.

  Hana nodded, then began poking and prodding at Jenel's body for a minute before he lifted an eyelid for a few seconds. Hana rose to his feet and gestured toward the body at his feet.

  “From the excess saliva and the burst blood vessels in his pupils, I’d say she was telling the truth. My guess is a heart attack. Do you know if he had a heart condition?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Jeffers pondered silently, eyeing Jenny, then glanced at her legs, almost admiringly. “That must have been quite some kick.”

  Hana rose once again to his feet and walked back to where Jenny sat and Jeffers stood looking on.

  “Yeah, well," he said. "It doesn’t matter now. A bullet will hide most signs of a heart attack.” He walked over to Jeffers and held out his hand. “Give me the gun, then bring the body to the bed.”

  Jeffers' face grew red before angrily tossing the gun toward the cop. Jenny stared open mouthed as Jeffers picked up his old boss with one arm, then easily strode across the room and tossed him facedown onto the bed.

  “Turn him over," Hana said. "Then strip him to his underwear.”

  Fire flashed in Jeffers’ eyes.

  “You forget who is in charge here, Hana. If there’s to be stripping of a dead body, you will be the one to do it, not I.”

  The detective shrugged, placed the gun beside the corpse and began pulling Jenel's shoes and socks off.

  “I just thought that if we were in such a fucking hurry, somebody your size could do thi
s a lot quicker.” Jeffers responded only by walking over to the small make shift desk on the other side of the bed.

  Jenny forced herself, despite the pain to stand to her feet. From past experience, she knew her shoulder was probably dislocated, perhaps even broken. The right side of her face was blue with bruises.

  Unsteady on her feet, she reached for the edge of the chair.

  “So you’re the guy Jenel bragged about.”

  “The big dick talked about me, huh?” Hana said, sounding pleased as he unbuttoned the slacks, then tugged them past the buttocks until they were off. “And what kind words did he have for me?”

  “Just that he’d bought you. Had you in his back pocket, no doubt for situations like this.” Walking slowly to the bed’s other side, Jenny inched closer to the gun each time Hana looked away.

  Hana began wrestling Jenel’s shirt off.

  “I prefer to think they’ve bought my services and because of that, we’ve developed a relationship of give and take,” he replied with an almost bored tone, rolling the body onto its stomach. The shirt, now freed from the arms was tossed onto the floor and with another grunt, Hana returned the near naked figure of Jenel to its original facedown position.

  Jenny was only a foot or so from the gun when Hana reached over and gripped her injured shoulder, causing her cry out.

  “Back away from the gun or next time I won’t be so gentle.”

  Holding her arm in the other like a makeshift sling, she watched as Hana picked up the gun and began screwing a silencer onto its end.

  Tightening the silencer, Hana waved Jeffers toward the body.

  “I need him leaning against the headboard, as if he was sitting up after screwing.” If Jeffers had a comment at this, he kept it to himself and moved the body upright with little trouble.

  With the aid of several pillows, the former CEO soon looked as if he was catnapping and the smile from both men sent a chill through Jenny.

  “Very good, Hana. Now what?”

  Without replying, Hana stood directly in front of the bed and squatted down to roughly Jenny’s height. Silence began to build within the room as he aimed at the bare chest, laid out like a human bull's-eye until Jenny thought she couldn’t take it any longer. She looked from the body to the gun, saw it jump slightly and heard the short ricochet-like sound which emanated from the silencer-enabled weapon. Her attention returned to the body and she found a surprisingly small wound just to the right of Jenel's chest, along with a trail of blood seeping downward.

  “There is your victim, Mr. Jeffers.” Hana turned and made a sweeping motion toward Jenny. “And here is your killer,” he said, dropping the gun on the bed. Reaching down, he pulled another, deadlier looking weapon strapped to ankle, then pointed it at her.

  “Mrs. McKenny, please pick up the gun I just so expertly used on my former benefactor, and very carefully shoot once into the wall near him.”

  Jeffers fidgeted at this. “What’s the point of this, Hana? Just call for back up and arrest her.”

  “Microscopic evidence of gunpowder on anyone who fires a weapon is the point, Jeffers.” Hana waved her toward the gun with his own. “Pick it up, Mrs. McKenny and don’t try the gunslinger routine.”

  Jenny stood up from the chair, then felt the room tilt as dizziness swept over her. She reached out and steadying herself against it, then stepped toward the bed and faced Hana.

  “I suppose you’ll shoot me if I refuse.”

  He answered by flicking the safety of his own small revolver and she turned back to the bleeding corpse, picking up the gun with both hands. With the detective’s gun trained on her, Jenny could think nothing else to do and with her injured shoulder, along with the pain, reluctantly took aim and fired off a round into the wall.

  “Good shot, Mrs. McKenny.” Hana seemed genuinely pleased. Now toss it onto the bed by his feet. She did so and he lowered his own weapon.

  She shook her head and then stepped backward into the wingback chair. Her shoulder had now begun to throb and was fogging her brain, “Go ahead, handcuff and arrest me. With what I have to say, your charges will never stand.” Her head began to swim as her own voice grew distant.

  Jeffers’ head turned with a jerk and at the same time, Hana seemed to walk out, then turned about and raised his gun toward her.

  “What?” Jeffers looked concerned for the first time and turned to the corrupt cop. “What did she mean by that?”

  Jenny’s mind telescoped, saw the movement of Hana’s gun and watched open-mouthed as its barrel seemed to widen, seemed to grow somehow and become huge. Terror filled her like water might fill up a cup and only the gun on the bed seemed to offer hope of protection from this huge, unmoving black thing. She groped for it and with all the energy left in her, brought it up to counter the monster that seemed ready to devour her in one bright flash.

  Shouting erupted from somewhere but the words seemed empty and far away. In her last moments of clarity she realized the Monster behind it all had wanted her to reach for the gun.

  An ear splitting explosion erupted, along with a bright flash, though much smaller than her own paltry effort. She felt the bullet tear into her flesh; her stomach suddenly torn apart before finally swallowing all that was left of her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “George, you’re not hearing me. One of my best detectives is involved in..."

  Chief Williams' tone changed, no longer polite but now insistent as an edge came into it. For the past ten minutes, Willy had sat quietly listening to the one sided conversation and his stomach grew tighter with each little twist of this dance of power. He watched as Williams switched the phone from one ear to the other. The chief’s thin supply of diplomacy had run low five minutes ago.

  Eyebrows pulled together below an increasingly painted scalp, which like a thermometer, indicated more trouble as the shade darkened. At this point, Willy would’ve described what lay before him as crimson.

  “Dawson, listen to...,” Williams grabbed a pen. “I know JenelCo is in Monterey and yes that’s under your jurisdiction. That’s why I called you.” Silence descended far too long as the chief stroked the cheap pen hard with his thumb. Willy saw the clear plastic begin to bend under the growing pressure as it neared the breaking point. Apparently, so had Chief Williams' patience.

  “God damn it, Dawson, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Williams paused as Monterey’s Police Chief responded in kind. “Well, I’ll take that as a compliment, you pathetic excuse for a cop. I’ll say it again, your best days were as a meter maid, you asshole.” Williams slammed the phone down with a scowl just as the pen gave up, spraying ink toward Willy.

  “Hey!” Willy threw up both hands but discovered it was too late as he looked down at his ruined sweatshirt. “Glad I wasn’t wearing something nice.”

  “What?" Williams looked up absentmindedly. "Oh, sorry Johnson. Looks like you got in my line of fire.” The Chief shook his head. “That prick, Dawson, refused to send a couple of units over to JenelCo. Said a detective was already on his way over there right now; cop by the name of Hana.”

  Willy shifted uneasily in his chair before speaking.

  “Chief, I’ve been hearing rumors about a dirty cop around the peninsula. Have you heard anything about that?”

  William’s cocked an eye, “No, I haven’t. What’d you hear, exactly?”

  “Couple a girls I’ve been trying to get off the street say a cop’s been flashing a badge, threatening to arrest them if they don’t um....service him. They wouldn’t say who it was, just that he was some Don Johnson wannabe.”

  “Shit!” Williams sat up. That’s Hana all right.” Williams settled slowly back into his chair, causing its springs to groan in protest. “Monterey’s finest asshole, right up there with Dawson.”

  “Something else, Chief," Willy, said, leaning forward till both elbows rested on his knees.

  “Yeah?”

  “I heard this guy was chummy with Collin McKenny. The g
irls I mentioned said Hana would show up with an ex-football player once in a awhile.”

  After a moment’s thought, Williams withdrew his service weapon, a Glock 9mm from his desk, then seated the weapon into his shoulder holster.

  “Let’s go, Willy," the Chief said, standing. "All of this is just too damn coincidental. If Mrs. McKenny is being held against her will like you say, the last thing she needs is for a friend of her brutish husband to come calling.”

  Williams grabbed his jacket and briskly walked out his office with Willy close behind.

  “I’m not sure I can do this, Peidmont. I’m...starting to feel real strange again.”

  Standing in the JenelCo elevator, Oliver turned to eye McKenny as the doors sealed shut. The man’s face seemed to vacillate somehow, as if the skin wasn’t completely stable. and Oliver felt his heart skip once.

  “I thought you wanted to change, McKenny? You told Alicia you did.”

  McKenny leaned against the elevator wall, his head resting against the cool aluminum steel.

  “I do, I really want to be....” The bright sheen of sweat on his forehead evidenced the growing battle within. McKenny voice faltered briefly, “I do want to change.”

  Oliver felt his own sweat now as the plan he and Alicia had worked out began to crumble before him.

  “Come on, McKenny, Alicia told you it would be tough. Weren’t you one of the toughest men in the NFL, or were they just exaggerating?” He watched as contradictory emotions played across McKenny’s face. Time, he feared, was running out.

  He punched the button that sent the elevator downward. “McKenny, you can do this. Think of this person that used to be your wife, think of Jenel using her for his own twisted games.”

  A growl escaped McKenny’s lips which grew to a roar within the elevator, only to end a few seconds later in a whimper. The elevator touched down silently and after a pause, the doors slid apart to allow in sounds of weeping floating down the hall toward them.