“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be right over. She say anything to you?”
“What about?” Twist, pump the blade.
“Oh, you know, where she’s been. What she’s been doing.”
“No, she’s pretty closemouthed. Hasn’t said much of anything.”
“Yeah. I’m on my way.”
I hung up and walked back to number fourteen. The stage was set. I took my position and waited. He was right on time. There was a knock on the door.
“Miranda?”
“Yes.”
“Open up—it’s Dad.”
“It’s unlocked. Come on in.” She barely got the words out and was beginning to slump. She was losing the fight with herself. Her father slid into the room, looking both ways and locked the door behind him. He went to where she sat on the bed.
“Are you okay?”
Randi nodded head down. She couldn’t look at him.
“That detective—did you tell him anything?”
Her head swung slowly, sadly from side to side.
“Good. That’s my girl. Listen, I don’t know what made you run away but we’ll work it out. You just tell me what you want and it’s yours. You want to stay out later with your friends, I understand. I’ve been thinking about it that maybe I’ve been too strict on you. Just, you know, I’ve been worried that it might slip out what’s happened. You just promise me you’ll forget about all this and we’ll go home and start all over and everything’ll be fine.”
Randi looked up at him and nodded. Paralyzed like a rat dancing with a hawk. He looked down at her. Crossroads time. He dipped his head and kissed her below the ear like a vampire. She went rigid, her eyes closed.
“Just one last time,” he croaked.
He pulled up her T-shirt and began to squeeze her breast. He stood over her, pushed her onto her back and brought her knees up and began to pull down her shorts. She rolled her head over in my direction, pleading with her eyes. I pushed open the door and Benson looked right at me and the camera. I kept on shooting all the way into the room. “Hold it right there, you son of a bitch.”
Benson pushed her away and sprang for the door. He pulled it open and Arnie filled the doorway with his empty steel eyes, a metallic menace. Samantha slipped by them and ran up to Randi. She wrapped her up in a long coat and helped her up off the bed. Randi moved like a zombie. Samantha pushed Randi’s head down onto her chest and averted her face from her father. Arnie pushed him back into the room with his palm and Randi slipped through the doorway. I retrieved the mini-recorder from the trash can in the corner of the room and put it into my pocket.
“Sit down, Mr. Benson.”
He turned to me, glaring. “You scumbag! You filthy pervert! What are you going to do with those pictures? I can’t believe she’d sink to this level so fast. I’m her father,” he bellowed. “How could she do this to me?”
Awestruck, I looked at him, an engine of such colossal narcissism that no one else existed but that they furthered or thwarted his plans. The remonstration of others was persecution. All excess was justified.
“Sit down, Mr. Benson.”
“What did you offer her, that slut, that …?”
I helped Mr. Benson instantly assume the fetal position. “Keep your mouth shut, Benson. That’s if you want to talk again in the next six weeks. I have had it with you. You’re going to get up and sit on this bed very quietly and answer all of my questions or what you just got is going to become a regular occurrence. Are we in accord?”
He nodded.
“You set me up in the movie theater with those goons, right?”
He still didn’t understand. “If I ask you again, Mr. Benson, your answers will be limited to nodding and crying. Are we communicating?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent.”
“Yes. I hired the guys to warn you off. I hired you to satisfy my wife. I wanted to get you to drop the case. I’d have found her eventually.”
“Consider that first shot on behalf of a girl I jumped all over because of you. You’ve got a lot of accounts to settle. Now we come to your daughters. This is the deal and listen good. They both go away to school, away from you until they’re eighteen. You foot the bill for school, necessities and therapy. You keep away from them both unless their therapist okays it. You don’t buy anything else for them: no cars, no trips, no stereos. When Tammy’s eighteen the deal is over and I destroy the tape and photos. You fuck up and this goes out in the mail to everyone you’ve ever met. Do we have an agreement?”
He nodded. “What’ll I tell my wife?”
“That’s your problem. The truth hasn’t been much esteemed between you two before; I’m sure it won’t be missed now.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“My bill promptly paid will suffice. Mr. Benson, I sincerely do not want to see or hear from you again. I’ll contact you when the plans are worked out for Randi and Tammy. Oh, one more thing. The police may contact you about the work you hired me to do. Just tell them the truth. They may want you to notify them if Miranda shows up. If so, I’ll call you to let you know when she’s ready to talk to them. And don’t worry; it’s not about you. Your secret is still safe. You may leave now.”
He sat there for a moment, lost in his new life. He slowly got up and turned to me. “Listen, you gotta understand, I didn’t …”
“Don’t tell me. I don’t care. Whatever your story is, it doesn’t excuse what you did. I’m not interested in understanding you. Just get out.”
He opened the door and the morning sun flooded in. He went out and passed by Arnie’s android gaze. I looked around at the room one last time. If I ever get to see the far side of hell I’m sure this room will be there.
I got off the bed, looked at Arnie and pulled the door closed behind me, flicking off the light. We walked together across the lot. I checked my watch. We had time to rehearse our story before our rendezvous with Frank Schaefer. I pointed over to Samantha’s car and he nodded.
I walked over to the car, put my head in the window. “Randi, your dad has agreed to all the terms. You’ll stay with Samantha until we get a school lined up for you. We’re going to take care of Tammy too. I know things feel bad right now, but I think the worst is over. I’ll be in touch with you, okay?”
She looked up, huddled in the blanket, her face furrowed by tear tracks and nodded dully at me.
I looked at Samantha. “Thanks for being there. Arnie and I have to see the police about some things that happened to the guys that had Randi. I’ll see you when we’re done.”
She nodded. I looked at her, memorizing her face, more sure than ever that I didn’t want to lose her. Not to evil or accident, microbes or men, and most of all not to my own fears.
She looked back at me steadily, intently. I kissed her lightly on the lips. She drove off and I stood alone in the lot, feeling both larger and smaller than before.
Chapter 22
After a brief stop at the county land office Arnie and I walked into the police station at one o’clock sharp and were shown into Frank Schaefer’s office. He looked up as we walked in. “Well, if it isn’t Fairfax County’s very own A-Team. Sit down.”
We drew up chairs, sat and stared at Frank across his desk. He tented his fingers.
“As you can see there’s no stenographer here and I’m going to question the two of you together, so this is a very informal inquiry. Anything you can tell us to solve these two murders will be greatly appreciated.”
“Go ahead, Frank. What do you want to know?”
“We went out on your say-so to the house on Lorton Church Road and found Teresa Johnson. She confirmed what you had said, that Leroy Dixon had raped and attacked her. She lost consciousness after that. Can you tell us why Dixon would want her dead?”
“Dixon and another guy, Tony Julian, were ripping off Monte Panczak. They tumbled to the fact that she wasn’t just a working girl and assumed that she was working for Panczak. They killed her to keep her quiet.”<
br />
“What were you doing out at that house, Leo?”
“She’d called me the night before and told me she might have some information about the missing kid I was looking for.”
“And why would she do that?”
“We’d crossed paths earlier when it looked like Tony Julian might have been seen with the kid. I figured out that she was up to something other than hooking. She told me she was a reporter doing a story and I asked her to keep her eyes open, that’s all.”
“Yeah, that’s all. Now you need two pennies to keep her eyes closed.”
“That’s a cheap shot, Frank, and you know it.” I was halfway up out of my chair.
“You’re damn right I know it and I’m going to stick you with it anyway because I know you’re lying to me even if I can’t ever prove it and I want you to know that I know.” His finger shook as he pointed it at me. “You got anything you want to tell me that’ll make me think otherwise?”
I shook my head no.
“You may get away with grandstanding in North-fucking-Carolina, but you’re on notice here, Leo. You can’t play me for a chump. You live here and you work here. I hope you know better than to shit where you eat.”
“Finish your questions, Frank,” I snapped.
Frank took a deep breath. He’d given me the mandatory warning and I knew he more than half meant it. He pulled out some Rolaids and fiddled with the wrapper.
“The Dixon thing is Alexandria’s baby. Whoever did it was good and lucky. They didn’t leave much to tag themselves with. Some clothing fibers on Dixon’s body and a bloodstain on an office wall. No prints. Very professional piece of work. They even thought to disable the elevators. You know anybody that would think about something like that, Mr. Kendall?”
“Beats me.”
“I’m sure it does. I did a little checking on you, sergeant. Arnie ‘Can-do’ Kendall, Medal of Honor winner. Your old commanding officer says there’s nothing you can’t do in the killing department. That so?”
Arnie just stared blankly at Frank. As in the restaurant Frank broke off his gaze first. Shaking his head he went on. “You knew where this film lab was. You didn’t stay put at the firehouse like I asked you to. I’m sure that if Alexandria hustles on this one, they’ll find somebody who can put you two in the right place at the right time. That’s opportunity. How does revenge sound as a motive to you, Leo?”
“Sounds like you’re reaching, Frank. If that’s all they’ve got I’m not going to lose any sleep over this. If you guys come up with something substantial like an eyewitness or a murder weapon, let me know.” I leaned back in my chair and studied Frank’s face. The three Vs under his eyes grew even whiter as his cheeks flushed a deeper red.
“I told you these guys got lucky too. The bullet that blew off the back of Dixon’s head ricocheted off the steel door of the stockroom and was so badly flattened that ballistics couldn’t do anything with it. We do know it was a .45 ACP slug. You favor that, don’t you, Leo?” He held up his hands. “I don’t even want to know.” After unrolling his antacid pills he popped one in his mouth and chewed it up.
“There was a witness too. Tony Julian, how about that? He didn’t actually see the guys. He heard them fighting with Dixon about a drug buy he supposedly stiffed them on. He tried to get away to get help, slipped on the staircase and got knocked out. When he came to he was tied up and they were gone. Convenient, eh?”
“That’s it, Frank? As far as I can tell Terri Johnson was killed by Leroy Dixon who in turn was killed by unknown drug dealers. I thought Tony Julian knew something about the kid I was looking for. Terri Johnson thought so too. That’s why I was out there at the house. Beyond that I don’t really see how we figure in this, Frank, do you?”
“No, I guess not, Leo. But why don’t you do me a favor and stay downwind of me for a while until I forget about Terri Johnson. Now get out.”
Arnie and I got up and left. I thought about telling Frank how sorry I was about what had happened but there was no way to explain myself and what I had done or not done without opening more wounds than I’d close. He was damn angry with me and if he really thought I’d gotten Terri Johnson killed he’d never have anything to do with me. He had enough doubts to tell me what Alexandria had on the Dixon killing.
In a phone booth on Route 1 I called Monte Panczak. After the usual runaround I got the great one himself.
“Mr. Panczak. This is your friend. I’m just calling to tell you that I’ve recovered what your employees took from me. I’m sure you’ve read about the unfortunate deaths of Mr. Dixon, whom I understand you knew slightly, and a Miss Teresa Johnson. You might wish to go over the wooded property you own that adjoins the house on Lorton Church Road. Mr. Dixon was very sloppy in a housecleaning operation of his own and left some debris on your property.”
“Thank you for that information, friend. I am on my way out to that property right now. I have plans to do some planting on those fields.”
Chapter 23
I told Arnie I’d be in touch with him and drove on to Samantha’s place. I trudged up the stairs to her unit on the top floor of a three story garden apartment building. No one had gotten out unscathed in this one. I leaned on the door bell for a second and then straightened up. Samantha opened the door. She was dressed all in khaki, with lots of pockets, snaps and zippers on her blouse and shorts.
“Going on safari?”
“No need to. All the wild things just seem to come to my door.” She opened it wider and I walked in.
“Where’s Randi?”
“Sleeping. She was so keyed up when I brought her in we just talked for hours. She finally relaxed enough to go to sleep and she conked out on my bed.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Irish, neat. Yes?”
“Yes.”
She went into the kitchen and came back with a glass for each of us.
“What does it mean that I’m starting to keep Irish whiskey on hand?”
“It means that your taste in whiskey is improving. I don’t know what it says about the company you keep.”
I took the glass from her and sat down in an overstuffed sofa.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“It went. I’m pretty sure Randi has been kept out of it. I could conceivably be indicted for Leroy Dixon’s death but I doubt it. You don’t want to know about the rest of it, but I think I fixed it.”
“I do want to know about the rest of it. I’m involved, remember? Randi told me what happened at the film place. What else is there?”
“What else is there?” I looked into her face: the large brown eyes, the wide mouth I’d so wanted the first time I had seen her. Then it was her desire I wanted. Now it was her understanding. One woman, all things.
“I’ll tell you. In a wooded field down in Lorton, Arnie and I killed four men. I cut the throat of a boy not terribly much older than Randi. He didn’t leave me any choice. They were there to kill us.”
I stopped and downed half my drink. It burned going down but cauterized nothing. I looked at her. She was leaning forward, hands pressed together. Just listening, just there.
“A woman, a good woman I think, got killed. It was a very ugly death. That’s it.” I drained the rest of my drink and thought about all the losses. Samantha got up, walked over and sat down next to me. She worked her hands into mine.
“No, that’s not it. That’s not all there is.”
“Oh yeah?” I said. “What else is there?”
“I found you and you found me.”
Turn the page to continue reading from the Leo Haggerty Mysteries
Chapter 1
The black wall is something to see. It appears before you, unexpected but no accident, like Stonehenge does on the green English fields. To get to the wall you pass a statue of three fighting men. Like Cerberus, they guard their dead comrades. Though there are other ways to the wall, if you don’t pass by their fierce gaze you a
re sneaking in.
Arnie, Samantha and I stopped in front of them and silently requested permission to pass. To my eyes their gaze was an accusatory one of equal parts anger, hurt and disbelief. “You sent us there. This is what happened to us. Did you get what you wanted? Was it worth it?” The questions tolled off in my mind like cathedral bells signalling noon. I had no answers on my tongue, just a thickening in my throat.
Samantha laced her fingers in mine, and we went down to the wall. Arnie had moved slowly away from us. He was casually dressed except for the blue and white ribbon around his neck and the medal that hung from it. Mirrored sunglasses kept the world at bay.
As we approached the wall I began to read the names of the dead men. We descended below ground, and the names began to pile up. Soon I could read only one name on each line of a panel. Then only one name on one line of a panel. It was too much. There were too many names and they multiplied faster than I could count them. I looked up. Ahead, it was a long way to the bottom. Each panel was larger than the one we’d passed. I turned to go back the way we’d come in and was surprised at how far in we were. There was no way out except past the dead: the ones behind us or the ones ahead.
Further on Arnie had stopped. He stood at attention and snapped off a salute. He’d found a friend. Nearby a small boy stood looking up at him. The boy backed away and without taking his eyes off Arnie reached up for his mother’s hand.
As we marched up the incline, I fought off the impulse to look away. Each name fought to make a personal claim, but the numbers undid that. It was simply too much. I looked down at the base of the wall. Here and there small flags were stuck in the dirt, along with flowers and pictures. I squatted down to look at a photo. Here’s your daughter Tammy Sue. She’s real proud of you was scrawled underneath a school portrait. I shook my head. Though Samantha had walked along with me the entire way, I felt utterly alone.
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