A Midsummer Night's Murder

by Colleen Helme

  Ramos pulled out his phone and sent the text. After waiting a few seconds, he got a response. “Looks like you’re in luck. We can go now. You want to take the bike?”

  “Yes!” I knew it was bad to sound so enthusiastic, but going for a ride on the back of Ramos’s Harley was one of my favorite things. Mostly because the bike was hot and fast. Yeah right…who was I trying to kid? I enjoyed sitting behind Ramos, with my arms wrapped tightly around him, even more.

  Because it was summer and I’d had to go to the precinct, I wasn’t wearing my usual motorcycle gear. But that wasn’t about to stop me. I’d worn my dressier jeans and a fitted blouse, which would still look great behind Ramos.

  Not that it mattered. No one would look twice at me anyway with Ramos in front. I followed Ramos toward the elevator and around the corner where he parked his bike. His car was also there, and he popped the trunk, retrieving both helmets.

  I pulled my hair away from my face and twisted it into a loose bun, then took the helmet and slid it on. As I fastened the strap under my chin, Ramos shook his head, thinking that I’d been so excited to ride the bike that I didn’t even think to ask where we were going. Then he shrugged, thinking it probably didn’t matter.

  I glanced his way and smiled. “Nope, not one bit!”

  He grinned, then got on the bike and waited for me to set the pegs down before I slipped my leg to the other side. Once I was settled, Ramos started her up, and I tightened my hold around his waist. He eased out the clutch and pulled on the gas. In one smooth motion, we took off up the ramp, and out to the street.

  I leaned with the bike around the corner, and we merged into traffic. It wasn’t long before we’d left the downtown area and were headed to the west side of town. Twenty minutes later, we pulled through a crowded strip mall next a car repair shop.

  Ramos turned down a narrow side street that ran behind the strip mall, and stopped at one of the back door entrances. I got off the bike and he followed, then he snapped our helmets into the lock below the seat.

  I shook my hair out, hoping it wasn’t too flat against my head, and waited while Ramos pulled the door open and ushered me inside. The small storage space had all kinds of boxes and crates off to one side, with a table and chair set on the other. We followed the path to an open doorway and came out inside a store. Three young men stood around the counter with an older guy behind it. They all wore wife-beater tank tops, exposing tattoos that ran the length of their arms, with piercings in their ears and eyebrows.

  As they became aware of us, the room went deathly still. The quiet tension sent a wave of unease over me and, as good as Ramos was, I didn’t like the odds.

  The big guy behind the counter scared me the most. His dark eyebrows and bearded face gave his shaven head a sinister gleam. Black ear gauges broadened his ear lobes, and tattoos covered his neck. His cold gaze zeroed in on me, sending a chill down my spine.

  For something to do, I tore my attention away from him and glanced at the merchandise, taking in the used furniture, vinyl records, and comic books. My eyes widened to find a green, rubber Incredible Hulk, exactly like the one my brother used to play with.

  Searching further, I found other toys from my past, and I couldn’t resist touching a squishy blue smurf doll. Beside it, several troll dolls, a little pony stuffed toy, a strawberry shortcake doll, and about twenty Barbie dolls lined one whole shelf. Whoa…this stuff was right out of my childhood. All that was missing was the cabbage patch kid.

  The big guy rounded the counter, and his face broke into sudden grin. “Ramos. Welcome.” He gave Ramos a complicated hand shake and then introduced his men. Each of them fist bumped Ramos, and I caught all kinds of respect from them. It was clear they all admired him, and I shook my head in astonishment and relief.

  Ramos turned my way and introduced me to them as Uncle Joey’s niece. Usually that bothered me, but not today. It also surprised me that they used their real names with me instead of their gang names, and I appreciated that bit of normalcy.

  The big guy, Rod, noticed that I held one of the dolls in my hand and smiled, thinking that I was probably reliving my childhood.

  “Normally I’d sell that toy for fifty bucks, but you can have it for twenty.” He raised his brows with expectation, hoping I was one of those sentimental types, and thinking if he could get twenty for it, he’d be a happy man.

  “Uh…that’s okay. I was just looking.” I quickly set it down and smiled, catching his disappointment.

  He shrugged, then asked the guys to watch the store while he turned to the back where we’d come in. Ramos and I followed him to the storage room and we all sat down at the table.

  “What can I do for you?” Rod asked, glancing between us with curiosity. When Manetto sent Ramos, it usually meant that someone on Rod’s side had messed up, so it made him a little nervous. He studied me, thinking that I was probably involved, but he had no idea how.

  “We need some information,” Ramos began. “A personal friend of Shelby’s was murdered last night. It looks like someone from your gang might have been involved. Do you know anything about it?”

  Rod’s eyes widened. “Who was it?”

  Ramos glanced my way, so I answered his question. “Molly May.”

  Rod’s lips flattened, and he sighed before speaking. It wasn’t good to cross Manetto, and if anyone in his gang had done this, he’d take it personally. Still, he hadn’t heard a peep from his boys, and had no idea who Molly May was. “Why do you think it was one of us?”

  “She was Angel Molina’s girlfriend,” I said. “You remember him, don’t you?”

  Recognition flashed through Rod’s eyes before he shuttered them. “He’s not one of mine. Not anymore.” He was thinking that Angel had left the gang a couple of years ago. Angel had paid his dues, so there were no hard feelings. But taking their cue from Angel, several of the others had followed his example, depleting the gang’s numbers.

  Rod had been willing to let it go, but now it looked like his silent partner was out for revenge. Since Manetto wasn’t supposed to know about Rod’s silent partner, who went by the name of Scorpion, it put Rod in a tough spot. He wasn’t sure whose side it was better to be on, Manetto’s or Scorpion’s. But if Scorpion was going behind Rod’s back, he should probably side with Manetto.

  I thought that was a no-brainer, but what did I know? Rod was thinking that maybe one of the guys out front would know what was going on, but he’d rather wait until we were gone before he confronted them. That way he could get to the bottom of it without Manetto’s involvement. Then he’d take care of Scorpion, and everything would go back to the status-quo.

  “We need to speak with your guys out front,” I said. “Could you bring them back here?”

  Rod’s eyes widened. What the hell? He opened his mouth to say no, but something in Ramos’s gaze stopped him cold. Swallowing his protest, he nodded, thinking that we knew more than he thought, and he’d better go along with whatever we wanted. “Sure.”

  After he left, Ramos leaned toward me. “What’s going on?”

  “Rod thinks his silent partner, Scorpion, was behind it.”

  “Partner?” That was news to Ramos, and totally against Rod’s agreement with Manetto.

  “Yeah, I know. Rod wondered if one of the boys knew anything about it, and he was going to question them after we left, but I thought we’d speed things up.”

  Ramos nodded his agreement, then stood as the young men came into the room. With hardened eyes, he motioned for them to sit down at the table, and stood behind me with his arms crossed in a no-nonsense stance that made his muscles bulge. Rod stood behind the boys, following Ramos’s lead, determined to show his support for Manetto by putting the best spin on this predicament as possible.

  All three of them picked up the vibe that something was wrong, and they might be in trouble. Two of them shared a glance, each suspicious that the other might cave and spill the beans. Scorpion wouldn’t hesitate to kill them both if tha
t happened, so they needed to play along.

  It surprised me that they feared Scorpion more than Ramos, Rod, or Uncle Joey, but I caught that they viewed Rod more like a father figure who wasn’t about to harm either of them. And they’d never met Uncle Joey, although Ramos was the one with the reputation.

  I motioned toward the two on my left. “It’s these two. They’re in league with Scorpion.”

  Shock rippled through them, but before they could jump up and run, Rod and Ramos held them down. It only took a moment before they quit struggling.

  Rod thanked his lucky stars he’d made the right decision where Manetto was concerned, thinking he had no idea Manetto knew about Scorpion.

  Genuine fear rushed over the two boys, and for the first time in their lives, they thought they might die. The third boy stayed seated beside me. A rush of anger that he’d been left out, along with relief that he’d been left out, played inside his head in a loop. All that craziness began to make me dizzy.

  “That’s enough,” I said, using my authoritative-mom voice. After the guys quieted, I held their gazes, letting them see the disappointment in my eyes. “You have let us down. And now it’s time to man-up.”

  They dropped their gazes in shame, knowing they’d been had, and nothing they could say in their defense would make a bit of difference.

  “That’s right,” I said. “It’s time to own-up to your mistakes. Scorpion is going down. Now the only question that remains is if you are going down with him. What are your names?”

  They both swore in their minds, using some pretty bad words, along with a couple I’d never heard before.

  “Casey and Tyrell,” Rod answered for them.

  “All right, Casey and Tyrell. To prove your loyalty, I need you to tell me everything you know about Scorpion.”

  Tyrell couldn’t seem to spill his guts fast enough, while Casey sat there and sulked. I had to tell Tyrell several times to slow down. But I got the gist of it. It seemed that after several member of the gang had left with no reprisals from Rod, Scorpion began to offer almost double the profits Rod had been paying. Since Scorpion controlled the cash flow, the lure proved too much for the two of them.

  They kept up pretenses for Rod, while turning their allegiance to Scorpion, knowing that once Scorpion had the power, Rod would be eliminated and Scorpion would take over.

  “What about Manetto?” Ramos asked.

  “Scorpion’s not afraid of him,” Casey said.

  “Does he have a name?” I asked.

  “Not that I ever heard,” Tyrell answered. “But he’s not from around here. He lives in a nice neighborhood and everything.”

  “So you’ve been to his house?”

  “No. We’ve only ever met with him in his car. But he’s got a lot of money, so he has to live someplace nice.” Tyrell was thinking that Scorpion had promised to have them both over for a pool party with lots of women once he’d taken over.

  I glanced at Rod with narrowed eyes. “I know you’ve met with him, Rod. Who is he?”

  Rod’s lips thinned and he cursed that he’d been duped. He pulled a wallet from his pocket, and slipped a worn business card from the inside. “Here’s his card. If I wanted to meet with him, I’d call this number and we’d set it up…different places and different times.” He handed it to me, but all it said was Scorpion, with a number under it.

  I glanced at Ramos, and handed him the card. “I guess it’s up to you to take care of Scorpion. And clean up after these guys.” I mostly said that to bolster Ramos’s bad-ass reputation in front of them, but I also had no doubt that he would do it.

  “I look forward to it,” he said, a gritty edge to his voice. He turned to Rod and the rest of the group. “You’ll be held personally responsible, Rod. So make sure you keep an eye on these two. I can’t guarantee anything, but there might be something all of you can do to right this wrong. Manetto usually likes to make arrangements, so I hope for your sake, that he’s in a giving mood.”

  He waited for me to walk out the door, then followed, shutting the door solidly behind him. Neither of us spoke while we slipped on our helmets. Soon, we roared down the side street, and onto the road heading back to Thrasher Development.

  I held on tight, picking up a flicker of contentment from Ramos. He liked how closely my arms curled around him. He’d also been impressed with my command of the situation with the gang, and how I’d whipped them all into shape. It was like second nature to me. Maybe I was related to Manetto after all?

  I chuckled. Uncle Joey did have an influence on me, but I was also a mother, and all mothers knew how to use disappointment and guilt on people everywhere. I was just glad it had worked.

  Before I wanted it to end, Ramos pulled into the parking garage. I got off the bike and handed him my helmet. He stored it in the trunk of his car and turned to face me. “You coming up?”

  “Uh…I don’t know. It’s getting late and I need to go home and make dinner. What are you going to do about Scorpion?”

  He pulled the card from his pocket. “I guess I’ll call this number and set up a meeting.” He was thinking he’d use an alias, and set it up under the pretense of making a deal.

  “That should work. Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No.” He shook his head thinking that it could get ugly, and it wasn’t something he wanted me to be a part of.

  “But how am I going to prove that Scorpion killed Molly instead of Angel?”

  “Leave it to me.” He was thinking that, one way or another, he’d get Scorpion to confess, or give him the name of the real killer. “After I’m done with him, he’ll be grateful to talk to the police.”

  I didn’t doubt Ramos for a minute. “Okay. Well…if you need me, just give me a call.”

  He said he would, and I hurried to my car.

  Chapter 5

  Before I left the parking garage, I debated if I should head back over to the precinct. I could tell Dimples all about Scorpion, but if Ramos was going to take care of it, that might not be the best thing to do. So where did that leave me?

  The only thing I had left on my to-do list was visit the neighbor who’d called the police after hearing the gunshots. I remembered his name was Hunter Smith from the police report. Had he been sound asleep? Or had the gunshots woken him up?

  Would knowing any of that help me find Scorpion? I had more trust in Ramos to find him, than whatever the neighbor had to say, but it wouldn’t hurt to talk to the guy, right?

  I checked my watch. It was nearly six, and I’d been gone all day. Besides fixing dinner, I needed a diet soda something fierce, and I was tired. The neighbor would have to wait until tomorrow.

  I pulled into my driveway and hurried inside the house. A quick bark, followed by the sounds of pattering paws reminded me that there was a dog in my house. Before I could set my purse on the table, Pepper bounded toward me with her tongue lolling.

  I knelt down to greet her and her whole body wagged with enthusiasm. She tried to lick my face, and I pulled away, while patting her squirming body. “Hey girl,” I said. “What you been doing?”

  She woofed and I heard play. Stunned, I lost my balance and fell on my butt. Her front paws came down on my stomach, and she licked my face with her big, wet tongue.

  “Stop that!” I pushed her off me, but she kept coming back, standing on my chest and trying to lick my face and I realized it was like a game to her.

  “Hey Ma,” Josh said, then he thought he’d better lend me a hand since I was letting the dog walk all over me. Didn’t I know anything about dogs? “Pepper. Come. Sit.” The command in his voice stopped Pepper in her tracks. After a quick glance at me, she hurried over to Josh’s side and sat down.

  She looked up at him and woofed. This time I heard treat. Josh must have heard it too because he pulled something out of his pocket and gave it to her, then ruffled her fur and called her a good dog.

  “Have you been working with her?” I asked, rising to my feet.

 
He shrugged. “She’s already trained, but yeah, she’s a good dog.” He really thought she was awesome, and wished we could keep her. “Savannah told me you’re helping her owner. Did he really get arrested for murder?”

  I sighed and sat down at the table. “Yes, but he’s innocent. Your dad’s taking the case, so that’s good, but I’m afraid that the only way to get him off, is to find the real killer.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve been working with the police, and I have a few leads to follow, so that’s good. Pepper’s a great dog, isn’t she?”

  “Yeah.” He let out a sigh, thinking that having her made him want a dog. “So, will she be staying with us for a while?”

  “Yes.” I caught his joy at having her around a little longer and smiled. “I’ve got to fix dinner, but tell me how your day went.”

  While he told me about his day, I got the rest of the ingredients out for my famous Summer Pasta Salad. It was one of our favorites, and I’d already cooked the pasta and let it marinade all day in the special sauce. Now all I had to do was add the chicken, craisins, peanuts, spinach, and mandarin oranges. By the time I’d finished, Chris had come home, and we were ready to eat.

  Before dinner, Josh fed Pepper, and she settled down under the table while we ate our salad and rolls. I picked up that it didn’t even cross her mind to beg for our food, which made me extra happy. Pepper also warmed up pretty fast to Chris. As she sniffed him, Chris was thinking that having a dog was kind of fun, especially one as well-trained as she seemed to be.

  After a quiet evening, I realized that we needed to figure out where Pepper was going to sleep. Did she have her own bed at home? I should have asked Angel. “I guess we should get her a blanket to sleep on.” She perked up at the word, ‘sleep,’ so I asked her where she wanted to sleep. She wagged her tail and licked at my fingers, letting out a little woof. You?

  “What? No,” I answered. She whined pitifully, and it tore at my heartstrings. “We’ll get you a nice soft blanket, all right?”