“Maybe, but if those punks get off in spite of the testimony from Holly and her roommate, they better stay off Bull’s radar screen. Even though you offed Kenny boy, Bull…”
“Hey,” Peace cut in sitting back down on a stool opposite Polasky, “where’d you get that idea? Ken doll made it into Mexico. He…”
“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Polasky intoned comically, putting up his hand in a stopping gesture as Peace began to protest. “Turn that record over, will you, JB. The only way Landry made it into Mexico was in the trunk of a car. Just the fact there wasn’t any dust up about anything they found at his condo, even though you and Bull pulled Holly out of there unharmed, means Landry went down quick and quiet. Bull could have ripped him in two, or broke his neck; but he ain’t got it in him to do it cold, no muss, no fuss. That’s…”
“Now wait a minute, Ed, I…”
“Don’t interrupt when your elders and betters are speaking, boy,” Polasky cut him off sternly. “You can simply nod your head when I get done, and pay homage to the master sleuth.” “Yes, master,” Peace sighed.
“Now, as I was saying, Bull could have cut him from stem to stern without making a sound. He could have blown his head off while looking at him straight in the eye, but I’m figuring you boys needed to ask him a few questions. That means when it came time for Landry to be packed for the trip South, you did the honors. You didn’t come home until the day after. How am I doing so far?”
Peace stayed silent, knowing anything he said would only lead to further extrapolations on Ed’s part.
Polasky smiled. “That’s what I thought. Be that as it may. I know Bull. If those young turds cross his path with a get out of jail free card, he’s liable to do something reckless.”
“I’ll talk to him about it,” Peace agreed. “He shouldn’t have told you about getting Holly back at all.”
“He never said anything other than you would not be coming home until the following day, and that you and he had helped Holly out.”
“In your case, that’s too much info,” Peace replied, getting up to go. “Anything else, master?”
“Nope,” Ed replied smugly. “I think that wraps it up. What’s Alvarez’ life expectancy, JB. Just give me a rough estimate. I won’t hold you to it.”
“See you later, Ed,” Peace said, waving back over his shoulder, without turning.
“I am the man,” Polasky called out after him. He could see Peace’s head shake, as he watched him wave at Nancy, and then jam his hands in his pockets going out the door.
Peace had only just sat down on the couch with a beer when the phone rang. He took a long pull from the bottle, and then answered.
“Ed told me he let you go early,” Bull’s voice began gruffly. “How you holding up?”
“Good,” Peace replied. “I slept great last night. I would have whined today to you on the base if I’d been draggin’ ass. Sorry we didn’t get to talk much. I was surprised you had Doc take over for you today. What did Lieutenant Dan have for you?”
“We went over equipment haves, needs, and wants, in detail,” Bull replied truthfully. “I get the feeling there’s something in the works, but even Dan didn’t know much other than Jessup telling him to square everything away.”
“Ed’s worried that if Landry’s boys get out of this mess with a slap on the wrist, you might do something hasty. You wouldn’t do that, would you, Chief?”
The silence on the other end of the phone answered Peace’s question, just as his own silence had told Polasky everything he had needed to make great leaps in logic.
“You don’t really think they’ll get off, do you, Peace?” Bull asked finally.
“Depending on how much money they throw around, there could be a good chance they might get off. You might want to brace for a good deal of character assassination from their defense team.”
“You’re making me sorry...”
“Chief,” Peace interrupted quickly, “Maybe you ought to come over and have a beer.”
“Oh… yea… maybe you’re right. I’ll stop by in about fifteen minutes.”
“You can bring Holly along if you want. I don’t suppose she’s thrilled with being alone after dark,” Peace observed.
“She’s getting better, but I have trouble even coming to the base without her wanting to camp out in my car. Her folks arrived today, and she’s spending the night at their motel. Connie was discharged, and she’s staying at her parents’ place for the time being.”
“I’ll see you in a little bit then,” Peace acknowledged, before hanging up.
Peace answered the door almost fifteen minutes exactly after hanging up the phone. Peace merely gestured him to follow, and Bull closed the door. When they were seated on the couch in Polasky’s living room, Peace handed a beer to his friend.
“Sorry about the phone thing,” Bull began.
“Forget it,” Peace replied. “Everyone in the USA probably knows every move I make now.”
“You’re not as inept as you let on, Wolvy,” Bull smiled after taking a swig of his beer. “Dan and I never had a clue what the hell you were doing on the side, and you said you were recruited after Syria.”
“How’d the get together with Holly’s parents go? I’m assuming you were on hand to meet them.”
“They think I’m God now,” Bull laughed. “Her old man hugged me when they came over to pick Holly up. I don’t think they’ve thought about what these jerks can do to Holly and Connie in court though. I know I didn’t until you mentioned it on the phone.”
“There’s still the drug charges on top of the charges concerning what they did to the girls. I left the cops a little extra evidence when I downloaded all of Ken doll’s computer files, or at least the ones I thought would be useful. The dear boy had all his account passwords in a little file on his browser.”
“Man, you didn’t do anything rash, did you partner?”
“No,” Peace waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. “Hell, the cops trace all that stuff out. Even they can put two and two together on sudden transfers of money, especially when the guy who supposedly did it disappears. I did, however, find a nice tasty off shore account, which I erased all record of. I’ll just leave it alone, and see if maybe the girls might need a little help later on.”
“So, you think what you left on the computer will put those clowns away?” Bull asked, leaning forward with his hands clenched around his beer bottle.
“Unless the cops screw up, those boys will have to do some time. I sort of tied them into Alvarez’ drug network. I found enough linking Ken to Alvarez, so I thought it only right his boys take a little heat too. That should give Alvarez something to think about besides the sex exploitation issues.”
“Meaning he won’t be whipping around trying to silence witnesses.”
“I hope for his sake that’s the case,” Peace said ominously. “I have it on rumor Alvarez is down in Mexico right now.”
“If Landry’s crew make bail, and start nosing around Holly or Connie, they won’t need a trial,” Bull added.
“Just let me know if they try anything. Mobry can have them back in jail in an instant if they come within a mile of the girls. Their defense lawyers will make sure they stay clear. It’s their connections I’m worried about. I doubt they know anyone stupid enough to try and frighten witnesses, but anything’s possible. Unless it’s self defense, I need you to use some discretion in what you do, okay?”
“They stay away from Holly, I won’t gut them where they stand,” Bull promised.
“See, now that’s the kind of talk that’ll get you singing the Folsom Prison Blues, Chief.”
“I know, I know,” Bull replied. “I’m only joking around… sort of. How’d you like that smart ass Polasky?”
“He makes me nervous with the way he just blurts out scenarios, he knows nothing about, but gets almost dead on right.”
“You’re just like him,” Bull laughed. “You guys think so much alike, he knows what y
ou’re going to do before you do it. When I called to tell him you were probably not going to be back to the house after getting Holly out of Landry’s place, he says ‘so, how long will it take him to stash the body?’.”
Peace choked up part of his beer he had sipped, and Bull laughingly pounded him on the back as Peace coughed.
“Not funny, Chief,” Peace croaked.
“I wasn’t trying to be funny, Wolvy. Ed asked me just that.”
Peace remained silent. Finally, he sighed and took a long pull from his beer. “Damn, I’m beginning to wonder how much he’s surmised over the years when I thought I was being so cute.”
“Don’t know, little buddy, but if you want to keep secrets from the big guy, you better move the hell out of his house.”
“Jill’s coming to stay with us. Ed and Nancy want to be full time Grandparents. I’ll just have to get used to him in a new light. God, he was so pleased with himself tonight when he was breezing right through the Landry thing like he’d been there.”
“I can imagine. Did you say you’ll be going up to see Jill this weekend, and meet with her parents?” Bull asked.
“That’s the plan, and it seems even better with what you said about
Jessup’s order. I want her and I married within the next couple of weeks.”
“Can Holly and I drive up with you? We can use my car. I assume you won’t want to stay at her dorm room, so why don’t we get one of those suites with the connecting rooms and make a weekend of it?”
“That sounds great,” Peace agreed. “Have you talked it over with Holly?”
“She suggested getting away this weekend, and after the way her and Jill got along, I thought she might like to be around another woman she can trust. Jill’s been through some heavy shit too, besides going out with you.”
“Thanks, Chief.”
“So, what do you think?”
“I think it will be fun, and we can all go out with Jill’s parents to dinner. Maybe some of the awkwardness will not be so apparent. I’m not expecting good things from my pressuring them about the wedding.”
“They can’t get that angry. Jill will be showing pretty soon, if not already. It will look like one of those shotgun weddings if you two wait much longer,” Bull said, grinning to take the edge off the shotgun wedding remark.
“You’re really getting to be quite the wit, Chief. I’ll call Jill, and tell her you and Holly will be coming along right now,” Peace said, standing up. “Stick around. If you aren’t too beat, you want to watch Soldier with me?”
“That old Sci-Fi one with Kurt Russell, sure, I haven’t seen it in a long time.”
“It’s there in the cabinet over the TV. Set it up while I call,” Peace walked over to the small entrance desk with the phone, while Bull searched for the movie.
Bull put the movie disc in while he watched Peace. He saw Peace laugh as he talked with Jill, and then Peace’s features settled into a serious look. Peace glanced almost guiltily over at Bull while gripping the desk in front of him, and turning away. After a moment, Peace put the phone down but did not turn around. Bull worriedly hurried over to where Peace stood leaning on the desk in front of him, his eyes tightly closed, and a grim look on his face.
“What’s wrong, Peace? You look like…”
“Never mind, Chief,” Peace answered tightly. “Just go back over to the couch. I’ll be right there. Jill said she’d love to see you and Holly.”
Bull leaned around Peace, looking searchingly into his face with a smile. “Jill playing with you on the phone again?”
Peace nodded, refusing to meet Bull’s eyes.
“Man, she’s got your number, brother,” Bull laughed, turning to walk back to the couch. “Start counting backwards, and get your ass over here. We don’t have all night to watch this movie.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace whispered, trying to focus on the names of all seven dwarfs in the movie Snow White as he tried to forget the sound of Jill’s voice giving him a breathless, panting description of what she was doing while talking to him.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Adjustments
Lewiston answered the door, leaning only slightly on his cane. When he saw it was Peace, he just turned around and walked back to his chair, leaving the door open. Peace grinned, and followed the Detective into his living room after closing the door.
“Hello to you too, buddy,” Peace said cheerfully.
“I ain’t your buddy, chum, or pal,” Lewiston stated calmly as he sat back in his chair.
“Your family home?”
“Nope,” Lewiston answered. “I sent them away after you called, and said you were coming over.”
“You did not.”
“Okay, they’re over at Tina’s Mother’s house until eight tonight. What do you want?”
“I just wanted to apologize for giving you and your partner short shrift over at the restaurant. I should have been more specific about not hanging around me for anything.”
Lewiston nodded. “I should have known better. That turned out to be a sweet bust at the college. We’ve been trying to get a lead on that bunch for a long time. With what we found at Landry’s condo, Mobry said he’ll have no trouble putting those boys away for a while.”
“I was going to ask you about that. Chief Jenkins and I were worried about retaliation if they do manage to buy their way out.”
“Not going to happen,” Lewiston said decisively. “They’ve already made deals with the DA after being faced with what we have on them, including potential witnesses and the porn site. Some other coeds at the college have come forward too.”
“Outstanding,” Peace replied, some relief evident in his voice. “It would have been very difficult to protect those girls if Landry’s bunch decided to terrorize them. I wondered about how many others they’d done it to.”
“Eight and counting,” Lewiston confirmed. “We have investigators there now, rounding up evidence from the guys’ rooms. They won’t be getting out to terrorize anyone. Besides, Mobry said they were scared shitless of you guys.”
“Yea, well you know how long that lasts when you’re faced with prison. I’m glad things worked out. If I turn up anything on Alvarez, I’ll be in touch.”
“I don’t know that you should be playin’ around with that boy,” Lewiston cautioned. “I know what you’re capable of, but unlimited resources can buy a lot of firepower. No one has ever gotten close to Alvarez, at least as far as getting close, and living to tell about it.”
“I just don’t want to forget about him, and run into his people out of the blue. When do they say you can go back to work?”
“Two weeks minimum.”
“Not bad, considering,” Peace commented. “Will they stick you at a desk?”
“I’ll be able to partner up again with Mobry, but I’ll be doing all the paperwork for a while.”
Peace stood up and held out his hand, which Lewiston shook after a moment’s hesitation. “Thanks again for your help. If you have anything for me, bring the family over to the restaurant for dinner, and leave it for me at the table. Just e-mail me to that address I gave you, saying you’ll be in for dinner, and give me what time you’ll be in. Dinner will be on the house.”
Lewiston nodded. “Why not just come over here and get it.”
“I didn’t want to overdo my welcome in your home,” Peace replied.
“Too late for that.”
“We’ll mix it up. I’ll bring Jill over when I come sometimes, and you and your family can come over to the restaurant at other times, nice and cozy. We won’t be constantly trading stuff anyway.”
“That’s good to hear,” Lewiston said gruffly, provoking a laugh from Peace.
“See you later, Grumpy,” Peace said on his way out the door.
“Okay, Dopey,” Lewiston fired back as Peace closed the front door behind him.
__
Bull used his key to Holly’s room at the campus, and walked inside.
“Hey, Ho
ney, you around?”
When there was no answer, Bull went to the bedroom door and peaked in. Holly lay face down on her bed. Bull could tell by her shoulder movement, she was trying to control herself. Hurrying over, and putting his hand on her shoulder, caused Holly to start sobbing audibly as she twisted upwards into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Bull asked, some fear in his voice. “Didn’t the visit with your folks go well? I thought they were really with you on this.”
“It…it’s not that. I…I had a checkup today, a complete workup. I was worried… maybe Ken gave me something.”
“Jesus, I hadn’t even thought about that,” Bull admitted. “Listen, no matter what he did to you, I’ll be here. I ain’t going nowhere, baby.”
“He didn’t… give me a… disease, Bull,” Holly whispered. “I…I’m pregnant. My folks want me to have an abortion… but I…I just…”
Holly began to cry in earnest, and Bull simply held her tightly until her crying subsided.
“I know it’s not my place to speak on this,” Bull began carefully, whispering in her ear, “but I’d rather you had the baby. I don’t want you to get an abortion. It changes women when they do something like that. I know you hated Ken, but a baby doesn’t carry sins over, at least I don’t…”
Holly pulled away, wiping her eyes. “You mean that? You really mean it wouldn’t make a difference… I mean… you… you wouldn’t leave me if I didn’t get an abortion?”
Bull grasped her hands in his, a smile lighting his grim features. “Are you kidding? I ain’t leaving you no how. I’d love it if you would have the baby. I’ll love the baby just like it was my own. We can…”
Holly threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Oh Bull… I…I love you so much. My parents are going to freak. They just assumed I’d get an abortion. I’ve known personal friends who had abortions done in high school and college. You’re right. They’re never the same.”
“Like ol’ Ed says, shit happens. I see two roads we could travel here,” Bull said simply. “You could get an abortion, and I will stay with you, or you can have the baby, and I will stay with you. The second road will not bring you regret for the rest of your life, like the first road would, only a lifetime commitment to a small being who will be part of us forever,”
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