PARTNER MISSING.
Peter woke up in the hospital to Carlos’s smiling face. He was in severe pain and had no idea what was happening.
“What’s going on?” asked Peter.
“Grimes, I’m sorry I doubted you,” said Carlos. “When you said you would take care of everything, you really meant it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You went a little extreme, but, hey, who am I to argue? I like the results.” Carlos was gloating.
“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on here?”
A nurse rushed into the room and asked Carlos, “How long has he been awake?”
“Long enough for me to thank him,” said Carlos. “My son is in surgery right now thanks to this man. I owe you, Grimes. I’ve never said that to anyone before. You rate in my book.”
Peter tried to get up but saw both of his legs in splints. “Somebody – please tell me what’s going on.”
The nurse tried to comfort Peter as Carlos turned to leave the room.
“I’ll check on you later, Grimes. I’m going to wait to see how Frank’s operation turns out,” said Carlos.
“Try to relax, Mr. Grimes,” said the nurse. “You need to rest.”
“Will you please tell me what happened?” asked Peter.
“You just stay calm. I’ll have to get the doctor.” She left the room. “What in the hell is going on?” screamed Peter.
The doctor entered the room and said, “Mr. Grimes, I’m Dr. John Foster, Chief of Surgery here at New Lake General.”
“I know who you are. My firm handled your malpractice suit and saved your ass. Will you tell me what the hell is going on?”
Dr. Foster took a deep breath. “Mr. Grimes – last night you were involved in an accident.”
Peter looked at his mangled body. “Okay, that would explain why I look like total crap.”
“Do you remember anything about the accident?”
“No.”
“You don’t remember that your wife was with you in the car last night?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I’m afraid I have some good and bad news.” Dr. Foster had the bedside manner of rodeo bull.
“Well, spit it out. What’s the bad news?” Peter pleaded.
“Mr. Grimes – your wife died in the accident.”
Peter turned pale. “Oh – my – God. This can’t be true.”
“I’m afraid it is, sir. However, there is some good to come from it.”
“I can’t believe she’s dead. What good can come from this?”
“Francine was a registered organ donor. Her liver was used for a transplant operation, which is in progress right now. She may have died, but in turn is saving a life as we speak.”
“Verona!” yelled Peter.
“Yes, the recipient is Frank Verona. How did you know?”
Peter burst into tears. He realized why Carlos was so happy to see him earlier.
Wainwright woke up on Tony’s couch. Tony had put him up for the night and brought him a cup of coffee.
“Don’t you have anything stronger?” asked Wainwright. This was the first day someone hadn’t slipped a roofie in his drink. He knew what he had to do but all he wanted was a hard, stiff drink.
“Oh no, my friend,” said Tony. “Today we start to sober you up. My friend Velma Gillis is meeting us this morning. We are going to find my Deborah and reclaim your life back.” He went outside to get the Sunday paper and came running back in. “Oh, my, Joseph. You must read this headline.”
Wainwright read the headline. The article stated she was an organ donor and a life was saved as a result. He knew whose life they were talking about.
“That son-of-a-bitch. This has got to be an all-time low – even for him,” Wainwright said.
Jamie walked out of her apartment to get her paper. When she noticed the headline, she ran to the phone.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you this early on a Sunday morning, but I have some disturbing news,” she said into the phone. “I just saw the headlines in this morning’s New Lake Times. I think it’s time we make our move.”
Benny and Julie got their bags together and went to the limo, which was waiting to take them to the Lakefront Airport. They didn’t bother to pick up the copy of USA Today, which was lying in front of the door. When they arrived, they saw the corporate jet of Verona Enterprises parked right next to their jet. Not thinking much of it, they settled in and got ready for the flight. There was a breakfast waiting for them, complete with bacon and eggs, toast, mimosas, fruit slices, and a Sunday edition of USA Today. On the front page, they saw the news – New Lake City Tragedy.
Harold put on his robe as he got out of bed. He turned and looked at the sight of the beautiful sixteen-year-old girl he just spent the night with. Things can’t possibly get any worse than this, he thought. He opened the door to pick up the copy of USA Today. He wanted to see if there was any news of Wainwright’s disappearance. The article he saw on the front page proved him wrong.
Debbie was in Miami, waiting for her flight to board. After spending the night in the airport lobby, she had to buy a first class ticket since the first flight out was booked solid and it was the only seat available. She settled into the luxurious seat and the flight attendant brought her a Bloody Mary. An older gentleman took his seat right next to her.
“Kind of early in the morning to be drinking, don’t you think?” asked the man, politely.
“Look, mister. Don’t get me started. I’m having a pretty rough time right now. It's none of your business if I drink this early or not.”
“Then you won’t mind if I have one with you,” said the man.
“Hey, it’s a free country. Be my guest,” said Debbie.
“Are you on your way to New Lake City?”
“That’s where this plane is going, right?”
“Hey, no need to get all riled up. I’m just trying to start a little conversation.”
“Look, sir, I don’t mean to be rude, but…”
“Hey, you’re not being rude. I just thought you’d like someone to talk to on this long flight we have ahead. I’m not trying to hit on you or anything like that.”
“I’m sorry. I really don’t feel like talking,” said Debbie.
“I can respect that, miss,” said the man. He took the Sunday USA Today out of his briefcase and opened it up right to the stock market section. The front page was facing Debbie. She saw the same article that Harold, Benny, and Julie read.
“Oh, my God,” said Debbie.
“What’s wrong?” asked the man. “Did you see this article on the front page?”
He turned the paper over and saw the article. “Well, I’ll be a son-of-a-bitch. I can’t believe I missed that article.” He quickly read it. “I didn’t think Grimes had it in him.” Knowing Grimes like he did, he figured Peter had the accident staged to have his wife killed. He knew how deviant minds operated.
“What are you talking about?” asked Debbie.
“Oh, nothing that concerns you, little lady.”
“Yeah? Well, up until a couple of days ago, I worked for Wainwright and Grimes.”
“You’re kidding? I work for Grimes, myself. What a small world we live in.”
Debbie held out her hand for the man to shake. “Sorry about earlier. My name’s Debbie.”
“Dave Peltier here,” said the man.
“Damn nice to meet you.” “Peltier? I wonder if you’re related to Nick.”
“Don’t know any Nick, Debbie. As a matter of fact, I really don’t know any relatives, except for my brother Phil. I haven’t seen him in over forty years.”
“You resemble Nick, in a way. You have his eyes.”
“Who is this Nick character?”
“He’s a dear friend of mine.”
“Well, any friend of yours is surely a friend of mine.”
“Tell, me, Dave, what do you make of all this about Wainwright being missing and Grimes’ wife dying in an accident
almost at the same time?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” said Dave.
“Try me,” insisted Debbie.
“Well, you look honest enough.” He looked around to see if anyone else was listening or not. “I know for a fact that Wainwright isn’t dead.”
“How could you know that?”
“Let’s just say that I have connections. This Peter Grimes character isn’t exactly the straight-laced attorney he make himself out to be, either.”
“You’re telling me. He can be a total sleezeball.”
“Well, he’s in way over his head now. What kind of work did you do for those bastards?”
“I was a secretary.”
“You want your job back?”
“No way. I wouldn’t work for that asshole again.”
“What if he weren’t there anymore?”
“But it’s his firm. How would he not be there?”
Dave started chuckling. “Oh, it’s only a matter of time.”
Nick woke up on a sofa, staring at a miniature, lighter skin colored version of Alvin. His face was just inches from Nick’s.
“He awake!” screamed the little boy, as his high-pitched voice rang in Nick’s ears.
“Good morning, Nick,” said Angelle. She walked into the living room, carrying a glass of orange juice.
“Where am I?”
“You’re at our house. We found you wandering around aimlessly at the festival last night. You were plastered so Alvin and I took you home.” As she came into focus, Nick realized how much Angelle had changed since high school. Her eyes had lost the exotic luster they once had and her body was stretched out from all the pregnancies – including the one she was now experiencing. She did still have the succulent lips which he remembered the joy of kissing.
“Thanks for putting me up,” said Nick, as he drank the juice.
“No, problem,” said Angelle. She sat next to Nick on the sofa. “Nick, how have you been?”
“Life has been pretty strange for me, Angelle.”
“Yeah, Alvin filled me in on the Jamie story. That’s one I didn’t see coming.”
“You can say that again,” replied Nick.
“He’s not kidding about that,” said Alvin, who came strolling in, carrying the morning paper and a cup of coffee. “He really didn’t see her coming.” He threw the paper on Nick’s lap. “Take a look at the story on the story on page two.”
Nick looked at the paper. It was picked up from a puddle of water in the driveway – the paperboy wasn’t that good. The pages were stuck together but he could still make out the article.
Nick read it aloud. “The New Lake City law firm of Wainwright and Grimes, one of the most prestigious firms in the country, took a tragic blow this weekend. The plane carrying William Joseph Wainwright crashed on the coast of Cameroon in Africa. No survivors were found, however the body of Wainwright has not yet been identified. Also, Saturday evening, the car driven by Peter Grimes was involved in a fatal crash resulting in the death of his wife, Francine Grimes. There are no details on the condition of Mr. Grimes. As a registered organ donor, Francine Grimes was able to save the life of a local citizen.”
“Isn’t that the place where Andie works?” asked Alvin.
“How do you know about Andie? I never mentioned her.”
“That’s all you talked about in your sleep last night,” said Angelle.
“Yeah,” said Alvin. “We plopped you on the sofa here and you kept mumbling stuff about Andie working at Wainwright and Grimes, Satan was following you, Grandpa, homo-homicide guy, and looking for answers.”
“I said all that?”
“And that’s just the stuff we could understand,” said Angelle.
“Did I mention anything else about Andie?”
“You mumbled her name a lot, but we couldn’t make much out, other than the fact about her working for that firm. I found it strange to see that article in the paper about them, especially since you mentioned Wainwright and Grimes in your sleep,” said Alvin.
“Well, I don’t know either one of those men. All I know is that I was sent on this so-called mission to find a replacement drummer for the Cramping Violets, and it’s turning out to be something else all together.”
“You know the Cramping Violets?” asked Terrance, Alvin and Angelle’s oldest son, who just walked in.
“Yeah. You’ve heard of them?” asked Nick.
“Dude, they have the number one song in the country right now. Love Blender kicks ass.”
“Hey, son,’ said Alvin. “What did I tell you about using that kind of language?”
“Sorry, dad, but The Cramping Violets have a new drummer – the Pizza Guy. I saw them on MTV last night.” He turned on the TV. “The week’s countdown show should be on right now.”
Nick saw the screen and was amazed to see a close-up of Pizza Guy. The video was already number six for the week. It was just released the day before. He was also shocked to see Julie Templeton in the video. One close-up shot showed her arm around Benny for a second. He had cast himself as an extra in the video.
“I can’t believe this is all happening,” said Nick. “I just saw that Pizza Guy last Tuesday. He was serving me coffee.”
“So why are you looking for a replacement drummer, when they obviously found one?” asked Alvin.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” said Nick.
Meanwhile, Gerome Elderberry was at the Lafayette Hilton. He had stayed there overnight and was trying to find clues to where Nick might be. He studied a map of the city but couldn’t figure out where to start looking. After observing several busses loading with what appeared to be tourists. He questioned a few of them and found out about the music festival going on. He knew this would have to be the place to find Nick. He hadn’t bothered to read the morning paper.
Andie went to the hospital to find out what was going on. She expected to find Harold there with Peter, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, she ran into Carlos.
“Miss Jenson, it’s great to see you. Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
Andie looked at him with disgust. “How can you say that? Mrs. Grimes was just killed, Mr. Wainwright is missing, and you think it’s a beautiful day?”
“My son is going to be fine. It is a beautiful day.”
“Isn’t he waiting for a liver transplant?”
“He got one. He’s in recovery as we speak.”
“But I thought he had at least three people ahead of him – and that was just a few days ago.”
“It looks like your boss has kept you in the dark, Miss Jenson. Frank is receiving Mrs. Grimes’s liver right now. You may not like the man, but he sure got the job done.”
Andie turned pale. She ran into Peter’s room and started yelling, “What in the hell is going on?”
Peter was lying in bed, still in a state of disbelief. “Jenson, I guess you heard the news.”
“My, God, Mr. Grimes. Did you arrange all this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you arrange the accident to have your wife killed just so Frank Verona could get a liver quicker?”
“Are you insane? Why would I do something like that?”
“Where’s Harold?”
“Hey, I’m lying in bed with two crushed legs, my wife just died, and you want to know where Harold is?”
“He was supposed to be with you, finding out what happened to Mr. Wainwright.”
Peter started screaming for a nurse, “ Get this crazy bitch out of here.”
“No, Peter. You are a manipulative bastard. I wouldn’t put it past you to arrange this whole thing just to please your biggest client. What’s in it for you?”
“Nurse.”
“Why am I being assigned to cases involving liver dysfunction and your precious Carlos just happens to have a son who needed the operation?”
“NURSE!”
“Did you arrange to have Wainwright killed, too?”
“NURSE!”
“You are not going to get away with this, Mr. Grimes. I will get to the bottom of this.” A nurse stormed into the room.
“Get this insane bitch out of here,” screamed Peter.
“It’s okay,” said Andie to the nurse. “I’m leaving.” She turned before walking out the door. “I’m going to find Harold and we’re going to burn you – Mr. Grimes.”
Just as Harold and Gina finished packing, Gina started feeling amorous again. She started unzipping Harold’s pants.
“Not again,” objected Harold. “We need to leave right now.”
Gina slid her body around Harold’s, touching every inch she could. She worked her way up to his ear and started sticking her tongue in it.
“No, not now,” said Harold, as he started to breathe heavier. She moved her silky hand down his shirt and worked her way to his belt buckle. She skillfully undid the buckle and unbuttoned his pants in one fluid motion. “No – not – now,” Harold half-heartedly rejected. She dropped to her knees and grabbed the waistband of his silk boxers with her teeth. She seductively slid them down, exposing the head that was doing all the thinking at the moment. She started sliding her tongue up and down.
“No – not – now, now, now,” screamed Harold, as he leaned against the door. Gina stood up and melted her body against his.
“I’m sure we have time for one more, don’t we, Walls?”
Harold threw her on the bed. All thoughts of Peter, Andie, and jail were temporarily gone.
The Devil's in My Bathroom Page 48