by M. Z. Kelly
“I did it,” Lester said. “I solved the crime of the century.”
Mo looked over at the odd little man. “You found a knife in a box. I’d say that’s a long way from solving a crime.”
“Dr. Fester and I broke the case wide open,” Claude said to her. “We have an interview with Hollywood Confidential in the morning.”
While Basheeba had made several guest appearances on the TV show which featured celebrity gossip and rumors, the host of the program was Haley Tristan. She was a reporter I’d crossed paths with in the past and despised. “Just make sure the interview is held at the studio, not here.”
“It’s already been set up,” Claude said. “The reporter will be coming to the house first thing in the morning.”
I started to protest, but saw Bob Woodley waving to me. I told my roommates to stay put and walked over to him. I soon realized that Brie was also with the technicians. The ground had been dug up in several places and a grid pattern had been staked out with markers.
“We’ve got a body,” Woodley confirmed. “But there’s lots of decomp and nothing in the way of identification. It’s probably going to take some time before we have any details.”
Brie removed her gloves and walked over when she saw me. “It’s a female. She’s probably been in the ground for several years. It’s going to take a couple of more hours before we get her out and then transported. I’ll know more when I get her back to the shop.”
I thanked them and walked back over to my roommates, confirming that a body had been found. “We won’t know anything more until they do the autopsy,” I said, just so they wouldn’t pepper me with questions.
There were high fives all around, lots of speculation that it was Bridget Welch as we all walked into the house. I immediately noticed an odd smell and asked about it.
Mo motioned to Claude and Lester. “Another old family recipe. I think maybe these two baked one of their grandmas in the oven this afternoon.”
“It’s a casserole,” Claude said, taking offense at what Mo had said.
“Yeah, granny meatloaf.”
Claude’s voice pitched up. “I won’t take one more of your insults.”
“Suit yourself, Dracula.”
Claude went on a rant about Mo disrespecting him before scurrying off with Lester, who said they needed to pick out clothes for tomorrow’s TV interview.
“Those two are gonna make us look like we run a haunted house,” Mo said. “We’ll probably end up with those Hollywood tour buses coming by all the time.”
“Maybe Sonny and me could give tours of the estate,” Natalie suggested. “We could show visitors Van Drake’s secret room and the place where they dug up Bridget’s body.”
Sonny brushed a hand through his sandy hair, his big brown eyes dilating. “It just might make us a small fortune.”
“Maybe during the tours, Kate could talk about murder from a cop’s point of view,” Mo suggested. “Tell ‘em ‘bout all the ways she’s seen people whacked and attacked.”
I exhaled, shook my head. “I’m not going to have a bunch of tourists trampling through our house. I’ve got enough problems.”
“Speaking of that,” Mo said, looking over at Natalie. “Baby sis saw that woman again today, the one who was hanging around a couple of days ago.”
I looked at Natalie, my adrenaline spiking. “What did she look like?”
“About thirty, your height, with dark hair. She seemed a little on the odd side.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was just asking a lot of questions, most of them about you.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Stuff like where you worked and how long you’ve lived here. I just figured she was one of them reporters, snooping around. I didn’t tell her much and walked away.”
“You think it could be the cowboy’s ex, don’t you,” Mo said to me.
I released a shallow breath and nodded. “If any of you see her again, call me right away.”
“I’ll do better than that,” Mo said. “I’m gonna send her down the road with a message that she won’t forget.”
“You can’t do that. She could be dangerous.”
“Mo and me can take care of ourselves,” Natalie said. “Besides, you forget I’ve got me a black belt.”
“Baby sis ain’t just talking about fashion accessories,” Mo said. “And just so you know, we’re still on the trail of Biggs’ murder with Lindsay.”
“What?”
“Your sister wants to know if she’s cut out to be a copper,” Natalie said. “So I told her she could tag team with me and Mo. We’re still lookin’ at the jealous girlfriend angle on Biggs.”
I realized that I hadn’t seen Lindsay and asked about her. When Natalie said she was out with Eli, I told her, “You can’t drag my sister into this and you have to stay out of the investigation.”
Mo glanced at Natalie, back at me. “Last I saw, your sis was walking around just fine, ain’t no dragging going on.”
“Besides,” Natalie added, “We’ll take care of Lindsay like she’s our own sister.” She looked at Mo and smiled. “Our little snoop sistah.”
I sighed and shook my head, deciding it was useless to argue with them. Natalie changed the subject. “Sonny’s got everything set up for our acting workshop tomorrow night. He’s also working on a new fantasy for me.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
Natalie clapped her hands and turned to her new boyfriend. “You wanna tell ‘em?”
Sonny’s golden eyes widened. “You both probably know that Natalie…she tends to…” He cleared his throat. “She likes…” He glanced at his girlfriend. “…she likes to walk on the wild side sometimes.”
“Baby sis is a sex circus,” Mo said. “What you got in mind?”
“It’s the Hollywood sign,” Natalie said, unable to suppress her excitement. “Sonny and me are gonna put the hump in Hollywood.”
“What?” I said.
“We’re gonna do the horizontal mambo on the H in the sign tonight.”
“You can’t do that,” I said. “I think they have security cameras trained on the sign to prevent vandalism. Somebody will see you.”
“I’ve arranged for the cameras to be turned off for a couple of hours,” Sonny said, glancing at Natalie. “Just long enough for us to make Hollywood history.”
“Or be arrested,” I said as Larry and Phyllis came in from the kitchen. I saw they had plates full of something.
“You guys ain’t eating Claude’s casserole, are you?” Mo asked.
Larry chewed. “It’s not so bad, as long as you add a little ketchup.”
“Tastes like chicken,” Phyllis added.
“He musta got one of grandma’s thighs,” Mo said to me.
My face twisted up as Phyllis changed the subject, saying to me, “That friend of yours is real nice. I like her daughter too.”
“Brie?”
He nodded. “I think I’m gonna ask her out on a date. Maybe take her to the movies.”
I put my hand over my mouth, suppressing a grin. Phyllis and Brie, dating?
Larry looked at Mo, “Maybe you and me could go with Natalie and Sonny tonight.” He grinned. “I always wanted to see the Hollywood sign up close.”
Natalie turned her doe eyes on Sonny as I stood up to head for bed. “People could be talking about us for years. We might even be famous and become a trivia question on Jeopardy.”
“I can hear Alex Trebek now,” I heard Mo say as I headed upstairs. “The category is public sex for a thousand. The letter H in this famous landmark was the site of…”
I closed my bedroom door, deciding that I didn’t need to hear any more. Living with a vampire, a troll, and finding a dead body in my yard was enough excitement for one day.
CHAPTER FORTY
I spent the next morning at my desk at Hollywood Station, listening to Harvey complain while Pearl and Carl Hammer chatted with Edna in his office. “I’m your partner
. I should be included in the interview with Rafi Wayland.”
“You might want to talk to Chief East then. He wants his golden boy there. Besides, Pearl’s going to handle the interview. We’re just there for support.” My new partner looked like he’d had a rough night. He hadn’t shaved and I thought he might even have on the same shirt he wore a couple of days ago. “Everything okay with you?”
“What? Why are you asking?”
“You just seem…out of sorts.”
He sighed. “I’m just…I feel like things haven’t gone as well as I hoped since moving to Hollywood. The job’s been tough, my acting career’s on hold, and my relationship with Misty is over.”
“You still have the acting workshop. Like I said before, maybe you’ll meet someone there.”
“I hope so. I’m not getting any younger.”
I brushed a hand through my unruly hair, thinking about Buck and his ex. “There’s a lot of that going around.”
Just before noon I got a phone call from Basheeba. She got right to the point. “You and the other officers need to get in your car and take the 105 Freeway toward Santa Monica. I’ll call you with further details once you’re on the road.”
I went to Edna’s office where I found the trio sharing war stories. I said to Pearl and Hammer, “I just got a call from the reporter. Let’s go.”
“Chief East has given the go ahead for us to cooperate with the reporter,” Hammer said. “But, just so you both know, the feds are out. They’re not going to let the reporter into their case.”
I huffed out a breath. “I guess we just see how it plays out then.”
Once we were on the freeway I got another call from Basheeba telling us there was a satellite office that the Herald-Press had in Santa Monica and we were to meet her there. A few minutes later we met with the reporter and she led us into a small office where there was a computer station set up.
“Wayland should be contacting us within the next ten minutes,” Basheeba said to me. “I’m assuming all my conditions have been met.”
I cut my eyes to Hammer and Pearl, back to her. “You’re in as far as the department is concerned. We’re still working on the feds.”
“What does that mean?”
There was no way I was going to lose the interview with Wayland so I decided to play loose with the truth. “They’re a federal bureaucracy. Lots of hoops to jump through. You know how it goes.”
She nodded. “But they will come around?”
I met her eyes. “These things just take time.”
Twenty minutes later Rafi Wayland appeared on the reporter’s computer screen. The leader of Blood Nation was forty-one, handsome, and had the physique of a body builder. He reminded me of a young Mohammed Ali. Wayland appeared to be alone, maybe in a home office. As we’d discussed beforehand, Pearl took the lead with the gang leader. It was clear from the beginning the two men shared a lot of history.
“It’s a long time and long way from Palmer Street,” the gang leader said to Pearl.
Pearl smiled and spoke in his easy, nonthreatening way. “For both of us. How’s your mama?”
“Been gone a couple of years now. God rest her soul.”
“I’m sorry. She was a good woman, always tried to do the best by you and Danny.”
The small talk went on for a few minutes, as Pearl shared stories about Rafi Wayland’s brother. The conversation then turned to the issues at hand. Pearl was interrupted by Wayland before he could finish his first question.
“I didn’t kill Jiggy Biggs,” Wayland said, leaning in close to the camera. His voice was deep and serious. “He was dead when my guys got to his place.”
“Let’s talk about that for a moment,” Pearl said. “We understand Jerry King met you at the Alibar Hotel the day Biggs died. What was the meeting about?”
Wayland stared directly into the camera. His voice didn’t waver. “King and Jig owed me some money from a real estate investment. The property wasn’t moving and I needed the cash. I had King come by to discuss the issue.”
“What happened then?”
“King said the market was slow, especially for expensive properties, but assured me the condo would eventually sell and I’d get my money.”
Pearl glanced at Hammer and me, back to the screen. “Where was this property located that you’re talking about?”
“It’s a penthouse over on Highland.”
Pearl nodded. “What happened next?”
“I told King I was tired of waiting and I knew that the real problem was Jig had leveraged the property to pay off his gambling debts to Jerry Steiner. That’s when I sent my guys over to have a little chat with him.”
“A chat, as in making threats?”
Wayland shrugged. “That was part of it and Biggs probably expected it. They were going to lean on him pretty hard until he got the message, but like I said Jig was dead when they got there.”
“Any idea who shot him?”
“I have no doubt it was the UG. It was all part of the set up.”
Pearl shifted in his chair, scribbled something on a notepad. “Let’s talk about that. Tell us how you think the UG was involved.”
Wayland sat back in his chair, took a breath. “What I’m going to tell you is the truth as far as I know it. I’m here both because I’m innocent and I want to try to prevent a gang war.”
“We appreciate that,” Pearl said, waiting for him to continue.
“I think Jerry King was set up for the murder of Jiggy Biggs. My guess is the hit on Jig was carried out by the UG. I think it was ordered by Levon Trenton and the murder weapon was planted in King’s car.”
Pearl glanced at me, back at Wayland. We all knew that Trenton was the leader of the UG. “Why would Trenton set up King?” Pearl asked.
“The UG’s wanted into the drug scene in this area for years. About two years ago they started bringing smack into the country from Afghanistan. From what I know it came in through civilian contractors using one of the military bases before it was distributed out to their street dealers. I don’t know all the details, but there was a lot of back and forth between me and Trenton about what was going on. I didn’t want that shit on the streets and made it clear to him.”
“Because of what happened to Danny,” Pearl said. “Your brother overdosed on drugs.”
Wayland nodded. “Long story short, the UG began dealing anyway. I tried to shut it down but they weren’t going away. My guess is that after they set up King for Jigs’ murder they went to him and gave him a proposition. King was told he had to set up me and Blood Nation to take the fall for the murder and for the drugs they’d been dealing. If he cooperated, they probably assured him that he’d get both immunity and protection. If he didn’t cooperate, they no doubt told him they had their people in the jail and he would be dead in a matter of hours. King had no choice but to take the deal.”
“But why would the UG give up their heroin dealing, just to set you up? It was making them a lot of money. What was in it for them?”
“The supply chain from Afghanistan was drying up because the war was winding down. From what I heard they gave up some people in the supply chain to take me down, but their drugs were drying up anyway. They knew with me off the streets the playing field would be wide open for anything they want to push.”
I’d glanced at Hammer as Wayland had finished making his case. Golden boy had nodded at me. We both knew that the way Rafi Wayland told the story had been convincing. And if what he was saying was true, that Jiggy Biggs’ killer was a UG gang member, then Jerry King had been framed and then perjured himself, and the feds had everything wrong. Wayland’s interview was being recorded and I wondered what the FBI’s spin on it would be.
Pearl went on, mentioning the recent street violence to Wayland. “There was a shooting on Hollywood Boulevard the night before last. We think the UG was behind the death of a couple of your gang members.”
“A war is coming,” Wayland said, leaning closer to the cam
era. “Levon Trenton not only set me up to take the fall for Jigs’ murder and their drug dealing, he also wants my guys off the street for good. So far, I’ve kept a lid on everything but it’s about ready to blow.”
“How long do you think you can hold off the violence,” Pearl asked.
Wayland’s eyes bore into the camera. His voice was resolute. “I’d say we’ve got about forty eight hours. After that it’s open war.”
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
Pearl and I went back to Hollywood Station to tell Edna what Wayland had said, while Hammer went to Police Administration to talk to the brass. We met in Edna’s office with Harvey. A copy of our interview was on a flash drive that we played for the lieutenant.
“What’s your take on what Wayland had to say?” Edna asked, his gaze moving between me and Pearl after watching the interview.
“Rafi was just a kid growing up in the projects when I was on the force,” Pearl said. “His mama was a good woman, always after him to do the right thing. While he did become a gang member, over the years he’s tried to moderate things. I tend to believe what he told us today, mainly because Wayland’s got a personal issue with drugs because of what happened to his brother.”
“I agree with Pearl,” I said. “Levon Trenton used Jerry King to set up Rafi Wayland, both for the murder of Biggs and the drug dealing.”
“The problem’s going to be convincing the feds that they got it all wrong,” Edna said. “Especially when they have a CI who’s feeding them exactly what they want to hear.”
I’d bought a cup of coffee earlier and swirled around what was left in my cup. “The other problem is trying to prove that the UG was involved.”
Harvey spoke up for the first time. “We’re also running out of time. I was talking to a Smith and Colliers who came off patrol last night. They said the word is that Blood Nation is getting ready to take it to the streets as payback for the shootings. There’s talk of open warfare and street riots. I’m not sure how much longer Wayland can hold off the inevitable.”