The Devil's in My Bathroom
Page 41
CHAPTER FORTY: When in Gerome
The cab dropped Debbie and Marlena off at the airport. When they reached their gate, they saw the three couples from Pat O’Brien’s.
“Hi,” said Marlena. “It’s nice to see you girls here to see your men off.”
“Oh, we’re going with them to Miami,” said Sara.
“What happened to separate vacations?” asked Debbie.
Melissa jumped in. “Hey, all of us are in love with our men. It doesn’t make sense to be apart, so we decided to make the trip together. I guess we’re all on the same flight.”
“I guess so,” said Debbie. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she told Marlena, “Isn’t it sweet to have someone to love?”
“Oh, right,” said Marlena. “I’m sure the fact that that we’re on this flight had nothing to do with them changing their plans.”
Sara, Marcia, and Melissa gave Marlena the evil eye as they escorted Tony, Lonny, and Jay onto the plane. All three guys turned around and waved to Debbie and Marlena. They could hear the girls telling them to stop it.
Gerome Elderberry woke up in a strange bed. He was wearing his silk boxers and nothing else. The room had a putrid odor and was decorated with photos of male dancers. The door opened as Gerome grabbed the sheets and covered himself.
“You sure made a splash for yourself, big boy,” said Keith, the head bartender at Oz.
“What in the hell am I doing here, and where are my goddamn clothes?”
“They’re right next to the bed, sweetie. You were fabulous last night.”
Elderberry freaked out. “What do you mean by that?” Keith gave him a wink and left the room. Gerome’s head was pounding. He had no recollection of what happened to him. He put on his clothes, making sure his gun was still there, and walked out the door. It led into the bar area of Oz. Keith approached him and handed him two hundred dollars.
“Thanks for a great night,” said Keith. Elderberry looked at the money, then at Keith.
“Oh – My – God,” said Elderberry. He ran out the front door as the early afternoon sun glared his eyes. Three young men met him who had witnessed his performance the night before. They started applauding him.
“You were awesome last night, baby,” said one of them.
Gerome was red-faced as he asked them, “Which way to the Hilton?”
“I’ll be glad to take you there,” said the young man.
“Never mind,” said Elderberry. He ran down Bourbon Street until he found a cab.
Carlos’ private jet landed at the Lakefront Airport and pulled into the same spot Harold had just left about eight hours before. A limousine was waiting for them. They jumped in and Gina pushed the button that raised the privacy window. She started taking off Harold’s clothes.
“We can’t keep doing this,” objected Harold. “This is insane.”
“You’re absolutely right,” said Gina. “I’m getting tired of these quickies myself. We can do it right when we get to our room at the Hilton.”
“The what?”
“The Hilton. That’s where I told the travel agent to put us for tonight.”
“No way. We can’t stay there. Anyplace but there.”
“Settle down, lover. It’s a great hotel. My family always stays there.”
“But there’s got to be hundreds of places to stay there. Can’t we go someplace else?”
“Don’t worry, baby. You’ll love it.”
“I’m a dead man,” Harold mumbled.
Nick woke up, surprised about not being hung-over. His mind was clear and he had a sense of purpose. He got his belongings together and called the front desk to arrange a rental car for him. He was getting ready for his drive to Lafayette. It was time for him to find some answers.
Elderberry’s cab pulled up to the Hilton front entrance, right behind the cab, which was waiting to take Nick to his rental car. Gerome walked through one of the front doors just as Nick was walking out another. When he got to the front desk, he found out Nick had just checked out. He ran back to the front door, just as Gina and Harold pulled up. He moved to the side and recognized Harold. That’s the lawyer who was at the table next to Pel-tire at the bistro the other day, thought Gerome. He followed them back into the hotel and kept his distance as they checked in.
“Your room isn’t quite ready yet, sir,” said the clerk. “If you’d like you can wait in the lobby and we’ll get you when it’s ready. It’ll just be a few minutes.”
“We can wait in the bar,” said Gina.
“No, the lobby will be just fine,” said Harold. They sat on the couch as Elderberry sat in a chair right in back of them, facing the opposite direction.
“Why are you so uptight?” asked Gina.
“You honestly don’t know?”
“Not really.”
“I’m in another state, checking into a hotel room with…” – he stopped to see if anyone was listening. He didn’t notice Elderberry right behind him. He lowered his voice and said, “with a minor who just happens to be the niece of Carlos Verona, our biggest client.”
Elderberry smiled as he listened closer. He grabbed a magazine and pretended to read.
“Quit being such a prude, Walls,” said Gina. “We’re just here to have a good time. Nobody here gives a shit that I’m only sixteen. Besides, I’ll be seventeen next week.”
“Keep it down,” said Harold. “I’m in enough trouble as it is.”
Andie walked through the front door at that moment. Harold saw her then grabbed Gina and threw her on the couch as he planted a huge kiss on her. It was the only thing he could think of doing to hide from Andie. Elderberry also noticed Andie and held the magazine over his face.
“That’s more like it,” said Gina. “I hope our room is ready soon.” She grabbed Harold’s face, pulled it down to hers, and continued kissing him. What is she doing here? thought Gerome, as he watched Andie get on the elevator. Pel-tire has left and that man is here with the sixteen year-old niece of Carlos Verona. That lady I saw him with at the lunch meeting the other day just walked by and he was trying to hide from her. Something isn’t quite right.
Harold got up from his position, much to Gina’s disappointment.
“That was close,” said Harold.
“What do you mean? I was just getting started,” said Gina.
“Gina, what do you want from me?” asked Harold.
“I thought it was obvious. You haven’t figured that out yet?”
“No, really. You are an extremely attractive girl, I mean, young lady. Why are you pursuing me like this?”
“Chill out, Walls. I like you. I just want to have a little fun.”
“But you know how much trouble I could be in if somebody finds out what we’ve been doing?”
“Don’t worry about it. I have Uncle Carlos wrapped around my little finger.”
“It doesn’t matter what you would do. If he finds out, he’ll kill me.” Once again, he looked around to see if anyone was listening. Elderberry was slumped low in the high-back chair. Harold didn’t see him.
“Uncle Carlos wouldn’t kill anybody. That’s why he hired you guys.” Gerome’s eyes lit up. Harold’s face turned white.
“What do you mean by that?” asked a shocked Harold.
“Oh, come on. I know what’s been going on. Uncle Carlos has this bad-boy gangster reputation. Everyone thinks he got where he is today by being a tough guy. He’s just a sweet pussycat. You should know that.”
“He doesn’t seem like a pussycat to me,” said Harold. “In fact, it’s just the opposite.”
“It’s all an act. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. You guys are doing all the dirty work for him.”
“It’s not dirty work. We’re just handling all the legal problems he keeps getting into.”
“Yeah, right. I know all about the record company deal he’s got with you guys.”
“What do you mean?”
“That seems to be your favorite question today. You know what I mean.”
“God, you are such a bad actor. I know all about Zipper Down being, uh, put aside, if you will. It was all a big publicity stunt to get Apocalypse out of the hole before Uncle Carlos turns it over to you. The feds think that he has something to do with Zipper Down’s death. For all I know, you might be the one who killed him.”
“Are you crazy? I didn’t have anything to do with it. What else do you know?”
“You really don’t know what’s going on?”
“Apparently not.”
“Well, I know Wainwright isn’t dead.”
“Did your Uncle tell you that?”
“No. I saw Wainwright during the week. I know the whole story about why Uncle Carlos doesn’t want him dead just yet. It’s kind of sad, really.”
“Where did you see him?”
Gina smiled. “Are you toying with me?”
“No, I’m not. Nobody is supposed to know about this.”
“So you do know what’s going on.”
“Not entirely. Do you know who killed Zipper Down?”
Gina continued smiling. “You’re so cute. It doesn’t make a difference to me that you’re a cold-blooded murderer. In fact, it’s kind of a turn-on.”
“I didn’t kill anybody,” shouted Harold, as he stood up. He froze for a second, as everybody in the lobby stared at him.
“Uh, sir? Your room is ready now,” said the clerk. Harold grabbed the key and darted to the elevator. Gina was skipping behind him. Elderberry lowered his magazine. This is getting interesting, he thought. The elevator opened in front of him and Andie walked out, carrying her suitcase. Harold and Gina had just gotten into the adjoining elevator. Elderberry put the magazine back up and listened as Andie checked out.
“I won’t be staying here the whole two days,” Andie said to the clerk. “Is it too late to check out?”
“Well, your voucher was good for two nights, Miss Jenson. There won’t be an additional charge either way,” said the clerk.
“Thank you. I’m going home early. I think I owe someone an apology.” She grabbed her bag and walked out the front door. Elderberry watched as she got in a cab. All of a sudden, he heard a voice.
“Look, Mitch, it’s that stud dancer we saw last night at the club,” said the drag queen, who was running up to Gerome.
“Get the goddamn hell away from me,” hollered Elderberry. He ran out the front door. The drag queen followed him.
“Come back here, sweetheart. I didn’t get to tip you last night.” Andie’s cab made the circle and passed in front of the lobby doors to get to the airport. She noticed Elderberry running out, followed by the drag queen. That man looks a little familiar, she thought.
The phone rang in Jamie’s office. “O’Malley,” she said.
“Hi, O’Malley, it’s Jude,” said the bartender from the Pub. “We have Elderberry tracked down to the Hilton. You didn’t tell me he was such a good looking man.”
“You have to stop him,” said Jamie. “We can’t have him finding Nick just yet.”
“No problem. Nick left in a cab and Elderberry is being chased by one of Keith’s dancers across the Riverwalk as we speak.”
“Great work,” said Jamie. “Keep in touch and don’t lose track of him.”
“That goes without saying,” said Jude. “The pleasure is all ours.”