by David Banner
CHAPTER FIVE
I T WASN'T A FAR WALK TO THE SHADY PALM FROM THAT PART OF THE BEACH. But I still needed to get my car and I managed to get to the parking lot just as the bar was closing. Had I been a few minutes earlier I probably would have gone in, even being as tired as I was.
"How are you?” I heard her call from behind me.
"Not my best." I turned to see Rachel walking toward me.
"I bet,” she said. "You were gone before I got back from the restroom. I was worried."
"I know,” I said. "I'm sorry. It's just Micah... They're saying."
"I know.,” she said. "It's all over the news."
"What am I gonna do?" I asked.
"Prove them wrong,” she said, a glimmer of strength in her voice.
"That's my goal." I sighed.
"Come on,” she said, placing my hand in hers. "It’s a twenty-minute drive to your house and a three-minute walk to mine. You don’t need to be alone."
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't realized that I was alone. Actually alone. I hadn't spent a night away from Micah since... it had been years. And in a way she was right, I really wasn't ready to spend the night in an empty house. Not with the way the last few hours had gone, not with my brother locked in some skeezy jail cell sleeping across from God knows who.
The walk to her small houseboat was quiet, there was just too much to talk about to be able to say anything. There were so many things I had to do and in that moment I couldn't think of one of them. I had seen my parents do this a thousand times. They would look for the one small thing they needed to make the case flip on its side and fall in their favor. And I knew I just needed that one little thing, I just didn't know what it would turn out to be or even where to go looking for it.
The hot water and steam seemed to help, even if only superficially. I stood there letting the water cascade down me, trying its best to wash away the troubles of the day. Leaning back against the wall and trying not to think about anything I heard the shower door open, then felt Rachel’s fingers glide across my chest.
I couldn't tell if it was human contact or the sound of the waves in the distance, but I managed to find a small sense of clarity in that houseboat even if sleep didn't come so easy. Standing there and looking back at her I couldn't help but be a little bit jealous of how peaceful she looked. I couldn't remember the last time I got into bed and just fell asleep without having at least one thing weighing on my mind.
Somewhere during the night though I did manage to fall asleep. The emotional stress from the day, coupled with physical exhaustion were enough to make my night at least mostly restful. I woke to find the bed empty but, if history was any indicator, I'd find Rachel out on the deck sipping coffee. Pulling my jeans up I headed out to the deck and found Rachel just as I thought I would.
"Good morning." She smiled, and handed me a cup of coffee.
"I guess." I gave my best attempt at a smile.
"You gonna visit Micah?" she asked.
"Not right now,” I said, pulling a shirt over my head and sitting beside her. "I've got to get him out of there and I can't do that sitting across from him at some table."
"Right,” she said. "Where are you headed?"
"The Mandarin Oriental." I pulled the room key from my pocket and handed it to her. "It's the only clue I have."
"Just be careful, okay?" she said.
"I'll try,” I said, taking another sip of coffee and heading for my Jeep. "See you later."
A quick search on my phone gave me the location of the hotel and pulling up to its valet-boy-lined door I could see why someone would choose to stay there. A large white tower hovered next to the water, surrounded by beautiful trees and a white sandy beach. It was the quintessential definition of a beach resort, beautiful and over the top.
I parked my car just past the door and a little bit out of sight. It wasn't until walking into the hotel that I realized I had no real way of knowing which of the hundreds of rooms my key would open. But I had enough of my parents in me to know how to handle myself in these situations.
Walking into the large hotel lobby I found that while the front desk seemed to be buzzing with activity, the bar off to the side seemed to be relatively empty. That wasn't surprising though, seeing as how it was 11:00am on a Sunday. I spent a few moments wandering around taking in the looks of the place, trying to notice anything I could when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a television on the wall across from the bar.
Looking closer I saw that it was doing nothing more than cycling through what looked to be an online news feed. I watched for a few minutes until finally the coverage about Miranda’s murder splashed across the screen. I quickly pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped the photo that was displayed along with the story.
Looking down at my phone I noticed the image that came along with the article was a surveillance photo from the same lobby I was standing in. It was a little blurry and a little far away, but it was definitely Miranda. For a brief moment I wondered why only a surveillance photo had been released as opposed to something else, but I really didn't have time to sit around mulling over things that didn't matter.
It was still pretty early in the day though, which I knew from my parents was the best time to get intel from a hotel. I knew as sure as rain that I'd get nowhere with the front desk, especially if they were aware of what had happened with their guest last night. So I did what any good PI would do and headed to one of the upper floors hoping to find a housekeeper.
Getting off of the elevator onto the first couple of floors proved useless. The first two floors were empty, save for a few room service trays sitting along the edge of the wall. But, as the saying goes, third time’s a charm. I noticed a cart at the far end of the hall, a housekeeper was taking a large stack of wet towels and dropping them into a bag on the side of her cart.
Making my way to her my heart couldn't help racing. I was doing exactly what I had vowed never to do. I was becoming my parents, getting myself tangled up in the law trying to prove another person's innocence. But this wasn't just any person, this was Micah.
As quickly as I felt the hope rise I felt it fall right back down. The housekeeper standing before me was a Caucasian woman who looked to be about sixty years old. And if my parents were right she would be as useless to me as a wet blanket.
I needed a language barrier. I needed someone I could show the photo to, someone who couldn't understand anything except the look on my face and the worry in my eyes. And it was two floors above me that I found it.
A small Spanish woman stood in front of a cart, lining up small soaps and shampoos. This was it, this was me becoming my father, for better or worse.
"Excuse me,” I said, trying my hardest to look confused and more than a little drunk. "My room..." I held the key up in front of my face.
The next few minutes were spent in a flurry of broken English from her and mostly nonsensical ramblings from me as I stuck the key in one room after the other, trying to look as sad as possible. Finally, after slumping to the floor next to her cart I took the phone from my pocket, making sure to fumble it around in my hands a few times. Then proceeded to show her the photo of Miranda, pointing to my bare ring finger then pointing inside one of the rooms.
A few words in Spanish later and a scan of my room key on an iPad looking device she had in her cart and we were on our way. She helped me to the elevator, handing me back my key and pressed the button for floor twelve. One-two-four-two she shouted at me a few times, holding her fingers up. One-two-four-two.
CHAPTER SIX
I FOUND THE TWELFTH FLOOR TO BE MOSTLY EMPTY. Save for a young man shooting past to catch the elevator before the doors closed. I made my way down the hall past a large ornate vase filled with flowers and a few chairs placed in a small sitting area. It was almost the last room down, just a few steps away from a large picture window that looked out onto the city. I then found myself standing in front of room 1242.
I too
k a step back, leaning against the wall next to the room and tried to settle myself. No matter how many times I said it, no matter what kind of vow I made to myself all those years ago I had to do anything and everything I could to help my brother, including becoming my parents.
I had imagined this a thousand times in my head, this exact scenario playing out after seeing my dad grab his suitcase and head out the door. I thought about all the things that could be on the other side of a door like, about how he never knew exactly what he was walking into. There were so many different elements that could present danger to someone and I saw every one of them play out in my head a thousand times over.
It had been years, but I could still feel that childish fear well up inside of me like a crab punching its way through the sand. But it was different, then I was a kid, and now I’m a man. A man who had to save what mattered to him no matter what.
I pulled the key from my pocket and slid it into the door and with the flicker of a small green light I heard the lock click. I slowly opened the door to find a large suite with a well-appointed living area and a separate bedroom off to the side. A large window looked out onto the ocean and for a moment I almost let myself stop and look out on onto the waves.
"I've looked everywhere..." a voice echoed out from the bedroom. "Of course I know what I'm looking for."
The voice was followed by the sound of a slamming drawer and footsteps that seemed to be headed right for me. I quickly turned to see a small closet and quickly hid myself in it. For whatever reason it never occurred to me that there would be anyone in the room. I was completely unprepared.
"Listen, asshole!" he said again, making his way into the living room. "I told you it’s not here, maybe she left it at the bar or dropped it at the beach. I guess we'll never fucking know, will we?"
Was he talking about the handbag? The one I got from the guy on the beach? The one that currently sat on the backseat of my Jeep? But I looked through that thing and found nothing, other than the hotel key, which he obviously didn't need.
'Ding...'
I felt my phone vibrate.
"Oh God,” I whispered to myself. I hope he didn’t—
"Hold on..." he said, stepping closer to the closet. "I think we got company."
This was it, this was the nightmare scenario I had seen my father in. It had come to fruition all around me and I couldn't see it ending well.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he said.
He looked to be about the same age as me, with slicked back jet-black hair and a muscular frame. I was sure I had never seen him before, but his reaction made me think he knew who I was. There was nothing I could say to make the situation any better or to save my own ass, at least nothing I could think of. The only thing I knew was that he probably had more information than I did and I needed to get some answers.
"Trying to save my brother,” I said, thrusting my forehead forward and slamming it into his. I had seen people do that in probably fifteen different movies and it always worked the same way, the other guy falls back. Well, not today.
The crashing of our skulls didn't so much send him back, but it did send blood streaming down his face. The only problem was, I couldn't really tell who’s blood it was. Not that I had time to worry about that though.
He lunged forward, grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me out of the closet. Quickly spinning me around he slammed my body against the wall and gave me a strong punch to the gut. For a second the world went dark and the ache in my stomach made me almost vomit in pain.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, slamming me against the wall again.
"I don't know..." I said. "Just looking for something."
"Looking for what?" he said.
"I'm not sure,” I said.
"Shit!" he said, looking down at the floor. The phone he held in his hand had fallen when I head-butted him and now lay on the ground. "Don't. Move."
Letting go of me he slowly turned and bent to pick up the phone. I knew I had to do something and looking around the room for anything within reach I saw a cell phone charger plugged into one of those tabletop lamps. It wasn't much, especially given my assailant’s physical stature, but at the moment it was all I had.
Quickly lunging over him I grabbed the charging cord and wrapped it around his neck. Dropping the phone again he shook his body and wrapped his hand around mine trying his best to loosen my grip on the cord. He was strong but, in that moment, I had so much on the line and I wasn't about to go down without a fight.
Trying my best to keep a firm grip on the cord with one hand I struggled to loosen my belt. I needed something to keep him still and I didn't have the luxury of getting up from my position. I had somehow managed to get myself on top of him as we fell to the ground and I knew better than to test my luck twice. But I also knew I couldn't hold this position too much longer, not with the way he was fighting back.
Finally managing to pull my belt off I wrapped it around his wrist, though I could only manage to get one of them. I just needed him to be still long enough for me to get away. Whatever it was I thought I was going to find here I knew I wasn't going to find with him trying to kill me. I quickly tied the opposite end of the belt to the first thing I could see, which at that point happened to be the base of a large desk.
This was it, this was my chance to make a run for it, but first I needed to get one thing; his phone. I leapt up as quickly as I could and made a mad dash to the corner of the room where, in all of the commotion, the phone had somehow slid. But I wasn't quick enough. Almost as soon as I got up I heard the sound of shattering wood. Turning I saw that he had pulled the leather belt so hard the desk had splintered and that he was now heading right for me.
With no more than five steps between us I had no choice but to act quickly. I spun back around and snatched up the first thing I saw. The sound that followed was loud and violent. The sound of the porcelain lamp colliding with his head echoed throughout the room like a bomb had gone off and like that he was on the floor, passed out.
Normally I wouldn't have been the type to hurt someone, but this was an extreme circumstance. And what mattered now was getting out of there while I still had the chance though. Sliding the phone in my pocket I made my way across the broken porcelain and splintered wood. Opening the door, I almost felt a sigh of relief until...
"Police!" A voice echoed down the hallway. "Hold it right there!"
CHAPTER SEVEN
"Y OU'RE MAKING MY JOB EASY." Said Detective Michaelson.
All of that and I was right back where I started, staring across a table at a detective who thought I was somehow involved in the killing of a woman I didn't even know. I never once remembered either of my parents getting arrested, let alone twice in two days and they must have been involved in hundreds of cases.
"I didn't do anything,” I said.
"Didn't do anything..." he said, a coy smile on his face. "Well... you broke into a room that didn't belong to you, which you then destroyed not to mention assaulted a man leaving him bloody and passed out on the floor. My guys said he would have likely drowned in his own blood with the way you left him. You call that nothing?"
"Listen.” I leaned in. "He attacked me, I was just defending myself."
"That’s not what it looked like when we got there,” he said. "That aside though, let me ask you another question."
"Okay..." I said, wondering where he was headed.
"How is it that you had a key to the hotel room of a woman your brother is currently being held for suspicion of murder?" he asked
My first thought was if he didn't know how I came across the key then they must not have found the purse in my car, and I wasn't about to tell him. That would only add to the already heightened level of suspicion I was under. I needed to clear myself in all of this, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that from in here and I knew fighting them would only keep me here longer.
"Are you charging me with anything?" I asked.
"You’
re damned right we are. Destruction of property and assault. The only reason I'm not sticking you with breaking and entering is because I know it won't stick, since you just happened to have a room key and all. You and your brother are in a whole mess of trouble,” the detective said.
I wasn't sure how I was going to get out, not with the way they were stacking charges against me, not for assault. No judge in his right mind would let me out now, not with the events of the last two days. I was royally fucked, to put it kindly.
"What exactly were you doing in that room anyway?" Detective Michaelson asked.
"I was just looking around. There something out there somewhere that proves my brother is innocent and I'm going to find it,” I said.
"Son, all you've managed to do is make your brother look even more guilty. Not to mention yourself,” he said.
"I guess it didn't work then, huh?” I said. "How's the other guy?"
"He's in the hospital. We've got a man there waiting to take his statement, just as soon as he wakes up. I'd say you don't have much longer as a free man. Not with the way things are looking.,” he said.
"I haven't done anything, and neither has Micah. I'm going to prove that no matter what you say!” I snapped.
"You won't get much proving done today. You'll be sleeping here,” he said. "Now you got anything else to say?"
"Not a word,” I said.
"I'll make sure they get a nice bed ready for you then, you'll get the king’s treatment." He chuckled and walked out the door.
I spent the next twelve hours lying on a small cot nearly freezing my ass off. I tried my best to put together as much as I could but with such a small amount of information to go on it was nearly impossible. All I knew was that it had been almost three days and my brother was still locked up in jail for a crime he didn't commit and the only contribution I had made was getting myself locked up too. Fuck!
People often say sleep didn't come easy, but for me it didn't come at all. I just kept staring up at the ceiling going over and over it in my head. Surely, I had missed something, there had to be something. Someone somewhere had to know who had really killed Miranda, I just had to figure out how to find them.