Duplicity

by Jane Haseldine

  With only one room left to hunt, Julia prays Isabella left behind a razor in the shower, but it is void of any toiletries, and Julia realizes Isabella likely hasn’t been to the compound in a long time.

  Now out of options, Julia runs back to the entryway to try the door and spies the picture of Isabella as a little girl. Julia shimmies the glass away from the picture and hits the glass against the desk, trying her best to connect the small pane so it severs right in the center. In her haste, a sharp sliver of glass catches the meaty part of her hand underneath her thumb, and it starts to bleed. She sucks the blood away with her mouth so Costas won’t be tipped off and takes the two uneven halves of the now-shattered pane and breaks them into two more pieces. She singles out one that looks like a perfect but dangerously jagged square, its four corners pointy and sharp, and carefully slips it into her running bra. She then whisks the remaining pieces of glass into a single drawer in the entryway table.

  The sound of gunfire between Costas and Navarro silences, and Julia knows only one side has won.

  The growl of the Hummer’s engine approaches, and Julia slides the DVD back in its original place as the beep of an alarm being deactivated sounds from the front room of the cottage and Costas enters.

  “Where’s Navarro?” Julia asks.

  “Dead. Let’s go.”

  “You killed him,” Julia cries, and instinctively starts to reach for the broken glass hidden in her bra, but Costas grabs her arm and pushes her outside and toward another small building on the property. Before he goes in, Costas does the sign of the cross and begins to chant the Hail Mary prayer.

  “Inside, now,” Enzo says after he finishes.

  Julia works to adjust her eyes in the dark room and realizes this must be Enzo Costas’s place, which is decorated to look like a shrine. Above Costas’s bed is a three-foot gold cross and a statue of Christ crucified, drops of crimson blood slipping from his hands. On a table is a Virgin Mary statue. The likeness of the serene holy mother wears a white shroud, a pair of rosary beads hangs from one of her arms, and her hands are clasped together in prayer.

  Costas shoves Julia on the bed.

  “Take off your shoes,” he demands, and turns his back on her so he can kneel down before his Virgin Mary altar. Julia reaches for the broken glass piece still tucked above her chest. She holds it between her right thumb and index finger and hides her hand behind her back.

  Costas finishes his prayer and undoes the fly of his pants. He opens up a gold jewelry box on his dresser and removes a razor blade that glints a deadly silver warning against the light.

  He begins to recite the Hail Mary prayer again as he forces Julia down on her back. She quickly moves her hand with the glass piece so it dangles on the other side of the mattress away from Costas’s view. Costas straddles Julia with his hips, and she can smell the sour mash of cigarettes and tequila from his warm breath as he prepares for his work. Costas lifts Julia’s shirt up and prays as he moves the dull side of the razor blade down her stomach. Julia stares at the thick veins in Costas’s neck as he concentrates, and she knows what she has to do.

  He turns the razor so its sharp side now teases against the inside of Julia’s thigh as it makes its way back up. Julia closes her eyes as she hears the lonely cry of a blackbird mourn outside her window, and she realizes she has to make her move.

  Costas begins to chant his prayer again, his head bent down near the razor, and Julia’s hand comes up, fast and unexpected, as the jagged edge of the glass piece slices through the left side of Costas’s neck, cutting directly through one of his bulging veins.

  Costas drops the razor and his hand scrambles up to clasp his throat to stop the blood. He staggers forward off the bed, and Julia rushes to her feet, no longer pinned under his weight. She tries to reach the door, but Costas hurtles after her like an enraged bull just pierced by a matador’s sword. Julia screams when a gunshot rings out, and Costas drops to the floor. She looks to see Navarro standing in the cottage doorway, his gun still pointed at Costas. Costas makes one last guttural moan as blood leaks from his chest, and then looks up unblinking at the ceiling, as if praying to heaven one final time to save his soul.

  “Are you hurt?” Navarro asks.

  “I thought you were dead. I’m okay.”

  “We have to get out of here. Come on,” Navarro orders, and grabs Julia’s hand. He then reaches inside Costas’s pockets and pulls out the keys to the Hummer.

  They race outside of the cottage and hurry inside the vehicle, quickly locking the doors. Navarro starts the car and peels out toward the main gate.

  “We’ve got maybe a couple minutes before Rossi goes and checks on Costas.”

  “I can’t believe you’re alive,” Julia says.

  “I figured Rossi was going to have another crew ready to ambush me on the main road after your call, so I was prepared.”

  “Felix is dead. Rossi’s guys ambushed him. Costas pulled him out of his car and shot him in the head.”

  Navarro’s jaw tightens as the news hits about his friend.

  “There’s a huge guy at the security gate. The guard is armed and made Costas look out the driver’s window so he could identify him before he opened the gate,” Julia says.

  “The windows of the Hummer are tinted, so we should be okay until we get up on the guy. I want you to crawl into the back seat, lie down on the floor, and stay down.”

  Julia does as she is told and spots the guard from before. She lies flat across the floor as the Hummer approaches the security gate. Navarro slowly opens the passenger-side window, and the guard begins to lean inside the vehicle when Navarro pops off two shots into the guard’s face and he goes down.

  Navarro jumps out of the car, the engine still running, and punches a green button to open the gate. It slowly opens, and Navarro hits the gas hard.

  “We’re never going to escape down the main roads. There’s a trail, a path, I took to get here,” Julia says. “The Hummer can go off-road, right?”

  “That’s what it’s made for.”

  “You were ambushed right before you got to an old barn. You couldn’t see it from the road, but the path is there.”

  Navarro takes a sharp turn, and the Hummer dodges a thick nest of trees until they reach a clearing parallel to the main road.

  “That’s it. The old barn. Right there. There’s a path, barely visible, but it’s just high brush all the way down the mountain.”

  “Rossi has his crew scouting both ends of the mountain. I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here. I called the sheriff’s department for backup when I got to the compound. We’re in no-man’s-land. They’re at least forty minutes out.”

  On the dashboard, a cell phone rings. Navarro looks at the phone. “That’s yours.”

  “Costas took it when I was talking to you.”

  “Did Rossi and Costas assault you, Julia?”

  “No. I was able to get out in time.”

  “What did you hit Costas with? He was bleeding out from his jugular.”

  “A piece of glass. I know someone I can call who may be able to help us get out of here.”

  “Do it,” Navarro says, and throws the phone back to Julia.

  Julia calls the number she memorized back in Detroit.

  Tyce Jones answers.

  “Julia Gooden. Girl, where you been? I’ve been looking for your story online about Rossi hiring a sniper to take out his snitch. That was Grade A prime dope I fed you right there. You going soft or what?”

  “I need your help. I’m at Rossi’s compound. He’s trying to kill me and a Detroit cop.”

  “You shittin’ me? I told you not to go there. Cop or no cop. You need a better army than that.”

  “Rossi’s got the main roads blocked. I’m driving on the trail you told me about.”

  “Mmm, mmm, mmm. Rossi know your vehicle?”

  “We stole it from Enzo Costas. He’s dead. He killed an L.A. cop.”

  “You put me on the hot spot,
mama. I got guys in L.A. but not up where you are.”

  “Come on, Tyce. I’m desperate.”

  “Let me make a call to one of my high rollers. The badass I’m thinking of has a helicopter in the back of his pad. Let me see what I can do. That map I told you about that Rossi showed me? You followed the trail and saw a convent, right?”

  “Yes, I ran past it.”

  “Ditch the car and hang there until I can secure you a ride. You owe me big-time now, girl,” Tyce says, and ends the call.

  “Who was that?” Navarro asks.

  “It doesn’t matter. There’s a convent that will be coming up in a couple of miles. Park in the rear of the building, away from the path. My contact is going to call me back, and he told me we should wait there.”

  “Are you kidding me? If your source is who I think he is, the guy’s probably calling his buddy Rossi right now to tip him off.”

  “I don’t think so. Rossi turned on him a couple years ago.”

  “You think or you know?”

  “I know.”

  Navarro drums his index finger on his thigh next to his gun and pulls behind the convent next to the Jesus statue, the snakes now gone from his fingers.

  As promised, Julia’s cell phone rings.

  “I pulled a mother-f’ing favor for you,” Tyce says. “You nail Rossi, we’re squared. My guy’s got an employee up your way. He’ll pick you up at the convent and get your ass to a safe place. From there, you’re on your own until you get to Detroit. You dig?”

  “I got it. Thank you.”

  Julia hangs up the phone while Navarro continues to scan for Rossi’s men.

  “How did you find me?” Julia asks.

  “I killed a guard and made it through the gate at the back entrance of the property. I heard you scream.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for Felix to die,” Julia says. “I feel like it’s my fault he got killed.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone to the compound. That was stupid. But you found out about the ambush, and I tried to warn him. He would have died whether you were there or not. And I was on high alert the whole drive up after you tipped me off, which may have saved my life.”

  A dark blue Cadillac Escalade with heavily tinted windows pulls around the side of the convent and stops, the motor still running.

  The driver-side window of the Cadillac SUV cracks open, and a muscular, middle-aged man with a shiny bald head, black aviator glasses, and a prominent space between his front teeth nods for Navarro to open his window. Navarro does, and points his gun at the man who responds with a single slow and heavy blink. The driver of the Cadillac then peers inside the Hummer at Julia.

  “I’m looking for a Julia Gooden? That you?” the man asks.

  “Yes. I’m Julia.”

  “My name is Barry. My boss says you need a ride.”

  Barry does a quick assessment of Navarro. “You’re a cop?”

  Navarro nods his answer, and the Cadillac driver considers the situation. “You don’t ask any questions about me or my boss or tell anyone about this little meetup here, I’ll take you where you need to go. Otherwise, I’m gone.”

  Navarro looks to Julia and concedes. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.”

  Julia and Navarro hurry out of Costas’s Hummer and jump into the SUV with their new acquaintance. The Escalade easily dodges through the tall grass and the maze of trees until it lands back on the road.

  “Lie down on the seat and don’t get up until I tell you it’s safe,” Barry says.

  “You got a gun?” Navarro asks.

  “I told you. No questions.”

  Julia lies curled in a ball, and Navarro covers her head with his hands in a protective gesture.

  Julia can hear the hum of cars accelerating past the Escalade at a fast clip down the mountain road.

  “Those were Rossi’s men. There’s a roadblock up ahead. Don’t even think about breathing as we go through,” Barry says.

  Navarro reaches for his gun, ready for a final showdown. Julia can hear the click of a briefcase open as Barry retrieves his own weapon.

  The Escalade slows, and Julia can see the shadowy figures of two men in front of the roadblock. Julia can hear the men talking, and she recognizes the voices as those belonging to Rossi’s men who were listening to Jay Z right before Costas caught her outside of the compound. The two men study the Cadillac for a minute and then the larger of the duo cocks his head to the right, indicating the Cadillac is free to pass.

  The three drive in silence for the next twenty minutes until Barry stops the car.

  “We’re here,” Barry says.

  Julia sits up in the backseat, her back aching and her body now bone-weary. She looks out the window to see that they are back at the hotel.

  “Thank you,” Julia says, and reaches her hand across the seat to shake Barry’s.

  “No need to thank me. This never happened.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Julia can begin to make out the skyline of Detroit beckoning her home. She fastens her seat belt and closes her eyes, still uncomfortable with the upcoming landing, even in the plane that so far has carried her and Navarro safely back to Michigan.

  “The police are still at my house?” Julia asks.

  “Around the clock.”

  “Rossi’s going to come after me now, even harder than before.”

  “We can move you and your family to a safe house. Just give me the word.”

  “Let me think about it. I don’t want to disrupt Logan and Will’s world more than it already is.”

  “What happened to you back at Rossi’s?”

  “I found a file in Isabella’s cottage. It had photos of the kids and David and me. One of the pictures didn’t look like a surveillance shot. It was taken somewhere near Rossi’s compound, outside the Santa Maria Temple. David looked comfortable, like he knew the person taking his picture. I figured out he took a secret trip to California to recruit Sammy Biggs, but I think whatever happened in California was more than that. Rossi told me David was a liar and tried to screw him. Rossi claims David took something of his and he wants it back.”

  “You think David was dirty, that he might be wrapped up in this thing?”

  “I’m leaning that way. Rossi said David broke the law to make sure the defendants he prosecuted went to jail. I found a DVD in Isabella’s cottage with “Anthony Ruiz in Bar” written across it. I tried to take it with me, but I left it behind when Costas came back.”

  “I remember Ruiz. The guy was found guilty for raping and killing that mother and daughter over in Troy. David tried the case and won. It sounded like a clean win. There was a DNA match to Ruiz on the semen found inside the daughter.”

  “I played the disc. The beginning is just audio, and it sounds like David was paying off someone to buy the recording. Then video came on. Just a couple of guys drinking in a bar. And probably a drug deal that happened in a bathroom away from the camera. There was also a time and date stamp.”

  “When was it?”

  “September fifteenth of last year. Eleven twenty-five PM.”

  “That was the night of the murders. We figured the mother and her daughter were killed around eleven PM.”

  “Margie had the reporter for Troy cover that story, since I was covering something else. But I remember David talking about it.”

  “Was one of the men in the video a young guy? Hispanic, good looking?”

  “Yes. That sounds right.”

  “Maybe we’re thinking about this from the wrong angle. Maybe David didn’t have something on Rossi. Maybe Rossi had something on David,” Navarro suggests.

  “Do you remember what Ruiz’s alibi was the night of the murders?”

  Navarro runs his fingers through his hair as he pieces together the memory. “He claimed he was home in bed alone.”

  “That’s a pretty thin alibi.”

  “Ruiz could have lied about his whereabouts if he was at the bar doing something illegal.”

&n
bsp; “Like buying drugs,” Julia suggests.

  “Ruiz had two prior convictions for drug possession and intent to sell.”

  “I’m pretty sure a drug deal went down. Ruiz, if it was him, looked like he was high when he came out of the bathroom, and something fell out of his coat. Could have been heroin.”

  “Maybe Ruiz threw the dice. He figured he’d be acquitted of the murder charges, so he made up a fake, safe alibi. If he told his defense attorney he was actually at the bar, the surveillance recording could have been introduced as evidence. That would have been his third strike on a drug conviction and a hefty sentence. The bar surveillance footage was never introduced during the trial.”

  “But David knew about it. That’s a Brady violation,” Julia says.

  “Right, evidence tampering. Prosecutors are required to turn over any and all exculpatory evidence that could affect a verdict or sentencing. Prosecutors are known to do that all the time.”

  “But if it was found out that David was withholding evidence, he could’ve been disbarred. A Texas prosecutor got jail time a couple of years ago for evidence tampering. David’s D.A. run would’ve gone down in flames before it started. Not to mention the fact that he paid someone fifteen thousand dollars for the recording.”

  “It’s got to be connected to Rossi’s case. You know your husband. Do you honestly believe he would be wrapped up with Nick Rossi?”

  “Despite our issues, I always thought I knew David, but I was wrong. Before we left on the trip, I found out he cheated on me. We were still separated technically, but we were trying to work things out and I assumed he was being faithful.”