by Gary Sapp
Roxanne,” Champion sounded irate. “I’ve only been down this far in this place a couple of times.”
Andre added his thoughts: “If he’s heading where I think he is, we’re looking at 15 minute walk.”
And where is that, Dre, a sense of dread fluttering over her again. There was a very important question that every Professional Investigator should ask a potential witness in a missing person’s case. And she had not asked Joseph Champion. “Then it should be ten minutes if we hurry. Let’s go, gentlemen.”
Half way across the courtyard they slowed then stopped for a breather. At least they were beyond the view of most of the severed heads. Roxanne knew that the images that were burned into her head would give her nightmares that would rival the epic final moments of her confrontation at Vargas estate, and the fact that she had her gun trained on two innocent girls who had no means to defend themselves.
“Champion, I want to ask you something about last night?” She was winded but not nearly to the level of the two men who had accompanied her. “You didn’t really answer my question to how you ended up in a place like this.” Roxanne said, shielding her eyes from bright sunlight that fought through the haze. “You had to have made a previous contact to even dare coming here at all, someone you really trusted.”
“Yea, I did. Anyway, Roxanne, it’s a long story—“
Roxanne grabbed his wrist when the man tried to move forward. Dre looked aggravated by yet another delay, but had learned by now not to tempt fate by running off at the mouth in Roxanne’s wake. “I’m not going anywhere else with you until I at least hear some of this tale. I’ve gotten this far and this close to finding Erica. I’ve got a resounding fear that she’s not going anywhere.”
“You know this tough girl act grows old real fast you know.” All of the muscles in Champions face seemed to frown. “Don’t act like that shit with those severed heads didn’t bother you because I saw the look in your eye. And I also saw the fear on your face when the Peacekeepers were bashing through the door of that first apartment.”
Roxanne told her to save his psychological crap of evaluations for someone who actually gave a shit. And then placed her hand on her Nine and said: “Answer my question, Champion, or you are your own. You know what Pandora is capable of. You’ve seen what a House in Chains will do. And you have the FBI about 200 yards behind us as well.” Roxanne’s laugh was brief and hard sounding. “Let’s see how long you last out there on your own.”
Champion sighed. “Like I said it’s a long story. Years ago, I did some Intel for a gang task force on activity in this region. Of course, some of Atlanta’s gangs like the Black Knights, The Legion of Doom and The Choir Boys came up in my database. Believe it or not I was damned good at my job. I’ve help put away some high profile drug pushers from here to Texas, Illinois, California, all over the freaking country.”
“That’s a good start, Champion.” Roxanne countered. Obviously something went wrong. What was it?”
“I was born and raised in Houston.” Champion sighed again. “I collared what turned out to be a low life looser in that part of the state…or so I thought at first. He turned out to be the state’s prized witness against his former employers. My superiors and the District Attorney never seemed to agree on a hell of a lot, but they did come to the conclusion that this gentleman’s testimony was far more important to the tax payers of the State of Texas than a long term sentence for the gentleman himself.”
Roxanne nodded, wanting him to get on with the story. “They pleaded him out.”
“Yea,”
“Our Justice System can suck when it wants to, Champion.” And you and I can attest to it can’t we, dear sister. “Unfortunately, in high profile investigations these things happen—“
“Don’t tell me they just happen,” Joseph Champion pointed a finger of discontent at her. You are alive after all, Champion. “My new best friend had been freed. And he wasn’t quite in the mood just to be thankful that for not serving hard time.” Champion got close to her…real close. “He abducted, tortured and killed my wife four weeks later.”
“I’m sorry.” Was all Roxanne could say to a man that she had learned had an odd…kinship in their long journey to the end of this courtyard.
“He hacked at her face…her neck and breast…everywhere.”
“I’m sorry.” Roxanne said again. “Now connect the dots for me of how you ended up here in Carver.”
Andre stopped their conversation long enough to remind them about the time, the cops, so Roxanne started walking again and Champion took his strides next to her.
“I guess it was good timing or a blessing I guess.”
“How do you mean?”
Champion pointed to the left. He told her Erica was right around the bend. “On my last case with the task force, a Black man who testified against one of these gang bangers was killed when the case resulted in a mistrial. Let’s say his wife and I developed a totally plutonic kinship drenched in the blood of our dead spouses. She told me if I ever needed her she was a phone call away. Hard times hit her with her husband’s death with little insurance and then the Great Recession stripped her of a job she’d worked for 20 years. So she ended up here…in this God forsaken place.”
“Okay, Champion, let’s say that I believe half—“
“I don’t give a damn whether you believe me or not, Roxanne. What I am telling you line for line is the truth.”
Roxanne Sanchez honestly hadn’t made up her mind yet and told him so. He could put that in his pipe and smoke it for all she cared. “I’m interested in fast forwarding a bit. Alright, you felt betrayed by our legal system, check. You many have been driven into the waiting arms of Pandora because a man of color tortured and killed your wife, check. Now you are here…and the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that wins us the prize is what you did to become so unpopular with Pandora. How did you piss Serena Tennyson off?”
“She started me off in surveillance, a little intelligence, cyber technology, and any other grunt work she could find me. I was desperate. I was angry. I was eager to serve…so long as it didn’t include murdering anyone.” He said. “I wasn’t Danielle Rohm or any of the other shooters. I wasn’t Dr. Angel Hicks Dupree who was working with that nut Louis Keaton—“
The doctor’s name drew Roxanne’s attention and ire. “You know the doctor?”
Champion said that he did, that he’d met the good doctor on a couple of occasions. “I was certainly angry that the system cost me my wife, but not upset with the people who still served her. I refused to cross that line into corruption and murder of government employees.”
Roxanne thought about his monologue for a few moments and voiced her won conclusion.
“But it wasn’t enough to satisfy your boss was it, Champion?” Roxanne asked him. “Tell me, who did you refuse to kill?”
“Serena’s consumed with the Circle…and Xavier Prince in particular. He’s a cool customer. If I could use one word to describe that little man then cool summarizes him pretty well.”
“So she asked you to kill Xavier Prince for her?”
Champion shook his head her, sad that she didn’t see as he had laid it out for her. “There have been times in the past that Serena has thought the best way to knock Xavier Prince off his block…is to kill his older brother Christopher.”
Roxanne had whipped out her Nine and bashed Champion across his temple with it with ridiculous speed. Andre saw what happened out of the corner of his eye, but Roxanne’s hard-edged glare backed him down.
“She wanted you to kill Christopher Prince, huh?” She stood over him. Champion was bleeding from the spot where she had hit him, but he would live…a little while longer. “And we all know that his step daughter’s ended up missing, and you seemingly the only one on the planet who knows where she is just one fat coincidence right?”
Champion felt for blood.
“Yea, Roxanne, it is just that, one fat coincidence as you say.” Champion got back to his feet and res
umed his walk. “Erica made some powerful enemies in here. It’s like this place has its own social networking going on. She showed the ultimate disrespect to an individual or individuals who had the means and the will to do something about it. I’ve been in the business long enough to understand that these neighborhoods administer their own brand of justice. And Xavier sent his ‘gang’ and administered his too didn’t he? Anyway, I want to keep our agreement, Roxanne. I need it. Carver has gone civilized on me. That is wonderful for the good folks who suffered here. It is very bad for me. I need you to take me with you while I figure what my next move is.”
Roxanne stood in the bright sunshine, the heat making the smell from a nearby dumpster smell even worse than it normally would.
“Why should I do that, Champion?” She said evenly. “Why should I believe any of this?”
“Because I’ve done as I said that I would.” Joseph Champion pointed at the smelly dumpster without looking at it. “She’s in there. Erica’s remains are in this dumpster.”
Roxanne stared at the body of Erica Lovings for a long time after Champion and Andre unlatched the side opening of the dumpster so that she could walk inside instead of climbing over the top of it.
Erica Lovings:
She had been a petite, light skinned young woman who anyone would have proclaimed as a ‘cutie’ if not all of the earring holes in her ears and