They Called Her Indigo

by Sam Lee Jackson

“No.”

  “Then why’d he say that?”

  “Cause that’s what he does. I don’t do drugs.”

  “Let me see your arms.” There was some extraneous noise.

  “I can put you to work, you can make two thousand a week to start. What’d you think of that?”

  “I don’t want to fuck just anybody. I’m clean, I got no STDs and I want to stay that way.”

  “All of our clients are respectable. I want you to be clean for them. Last thing we want is to get a bad reputation. We’ll have you examined. So, you ready to go to work?”

  “I got to fuck somebody today?”

  “Eventually, but no, not today. We have some work to do on you first.”

  “What kind of work?”

  “We have to do something about your hair and get you a wardrobe. But now, let’s go see if you can dance.”

  We listened to the rustling as they moved back into the bar.

  “Get up on that pole, let’s see what you can do.” Julie Wangs voices was farther away, echoing in the empty room. There was more rustling.

  “There ain’t no music,” Jane Marie said.

  “Just dance,” Julie Wangs voice was even farther away. “The customers don’t give a damn about the music.”

  Now there was some rustling. We could hear Jane Marie’s breath become harder with exertion.

  Finally, Julie Wang said, “Stop. God girl, you can’t dance worth a shit.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m trying,” Jane Marie said.

  “That’s okay,” Julie Wang said. She was closer now. “I’m not hiring you to dance, anyway. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “She looks fifteen,” Starbright said.

  “Yeah, she’ll be real popular. You have a phone?”

  “Don’t everybody have a phone?”

  “And we’re going to have to do something about the way you talk.”

  “What’s wrong with the way I talk?” Jane Marie said, sounding offended.

  “You don’t sound educated. Don’t everybody have a phone. It should be doesn’t everybody have a phone. I need you to be able to talk to important men. They don’t want to screw some cracker.”

  “Probably won’t matter with her, young as she is,” Starbright said.

  “Yeah probably, but I don’t like it anyway. Give me your phone number.”

  Jane Marie gave it to her.

  “Now, give me your phone.” It was a burner Boyce had supplied.

  More rustling. A long moment with nothing.

  Finally, Julie Wang said, “Here, I put my number in it. You don’t call me. If you do it better be important. Don’t call me anywhere but that number. Don’t call the club, don’t call anywhere but that number. If I don’t answer I will call you back. Got it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And, from now on you call me ma’am. You understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Okay, I will text you the doctors name, address and appointment time. I will text you the salon I want you to go to and the time. Once your hairs right, we’ll get you a wardrobe. Got it?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  More rustling. Julie Wang said, “Here’s five hundred dollars. Don’t go back to Jimmy the asshole. Don’t go back to where you live and get anything. Go to the mall and get everything you need. Get a new place to live. Here’s a card for a realtor. Call her, tell her you work for me and have her get you a furnished weekly rental. You won’t need cash. I will be in touch in two days. Go to this doctor today. We have a party to go to, day after tomorrow. My boss will be in town. He is having an event at his place in Paradise Valley. There will be a lot of important people there. Congressmen, dignitaries, that kind of thing. We want you looking good because you are just his type. I know he would want to meet you. But you have to look a lot better. Welcome aboard, now get out of here.”

  A few minutes later Jane Marie came out of the building, went to her car and drove away.

  53

  Blackhawk and I were sitting in his office. It was after midnight and the band was done. He had been unusually quiet. We were both enjoying a Ballantine’s on the rocks. The room had been soundproofed so we could just hear our own breathing.

  He looked at me. “You know I’m going to take this guy.”

  “Hesse?”

  “Yeah, Hesse. This asshole is mine. Nobody takes Elena and makes it out alive.”

  “We took care of Luis.”

  He shook his head. “Luis wasn’t the head of the snake. This guy is the head of the snake.”

  “Mendoza is going to lock him up.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good enough. He’ll still be around breathing.”

  “You kill the guy and Mendoza may lock you up.”

  He looked at his drink and was silent.

  “It’s too late to start another action. We’ve already got this with Jane Marie going. We have to see it through.”

  “I want him dead.”

  I looked at him for a long time. He wouldn’t look at me. Finally, I said, “What would Elena want you to do?”

  Still staring at his drink, he slowly began to smile. “You sneaky son of a bitch,” he said. He looked at me. “You know just what to stick in me.”

  At eleven the next morning Blackhawk and I met Boyce and Jane Marie in front of the downtown PD headquarters. Jane Marie was in her uniform. Boyce nodded without saying anything. She turned and started into the building. We followed. She led the way to an interrogation room. She stopped and looked at Blackhawk and me. She indicated another door.

  “You guys can watch from in there. You’ll be able to see and hear everything. There’s a speaker on the wall. The on/off switch is underneath.”

  She opened the door and I followed Blackhawk in. To our right was a two-way mirror. The speaker was next to it. Blackhawk switched it on. On the other side Julie Wang sat with her lawyer. She was in handcuffs. A policeman stood in the corner. We had a wait. Finally, the door opened, and Boyce and Officer Landers came in. They were followed by Mendoza and another suit.

  The speaker had a faint hum to it. Mendoza said, “If you’ll wait outside, officer.”

  The policeman left. There were enough chairs for everyone. They all sat.

  Mendoza looked from Julie Wang to her lawyer. “I am Captain Mendoza of the Phoenix Police Department,” he said. “This is Mr. Walker, of the State’s Attorney’s office.” He didn’t introduce Boyce or Jane Marie. “And you are?” he said to Wang’s attorney.

  “I represent Miss Wang. My name is John Mahan.”

  “Good,” Mendoza said. “Mr. Walker has a proposal for you. But first you both need to hear this.” He pulled a device from his pocket and set it on the table. He pushed a button. It was tinny, but we heard Julie Wang’s voice.

  “That’s okay. Starbright says you’ve been tricking for some asshole.”

  There was silence. “That true?”

  Silence again, then “I guess so” Jane Marie said.

  “You guess so? You fuck men for money or you don’t fuck men for money. So, do you, or don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, what happens to the money?”

  Jane Marie, “I give it to Jimmy.”

  “How much do you get?”

  “Jimmy says I don’t need much. He gives me a couple hundred a week. He says he gives me more than that, I’ll just stick it in my arm.”

  “You do drugs?”

  “No.”

  “Then why’d he say that?”

  “Cause that’s what he does. I don’t do drugs.”

  “Let me see your arms.”

  “I can put you to work, you can make two thousand a week. What’d you think of that.”

  “I don’t want to fuck just anybody. I’m clean, I got no STD’s and I want to stay that way.”

  “All of our clients are respectable. I want you to be clean for them. Last thing we want is to get a bad reputation. We’ll have you examined.
So, you ready to go to work?”

  “I got to fuck somebody today?”

  “Eventually, but no, not today. We have some work to do on you first.”

  Mendoza reached over and shut it off. Julie Wang had paled.

  The attorney said, “This is inadmissible.”

  Mr. Walker said, “We had a warrant. Miss Wang, we can put you into Florence for a long, long time. Or you can cooperate with us.”

  Julie Wang was looking at the table. She raised her eyes and looked at Jane Marie like she was seeing her for the first time. “What do you want?”

  “We want William S. Hesse. If you help us, we can offer substantially reduced charges.”

  “I need to talk with my attorney.”

  Mendoza stood. The others followed.

  “Of course,” Mr. Walker said.

  Mendoza said, “Detective Boyce, if you would escort Mr. Mahan and Miss Wang to the anteroom 2B where they can have a private conversation.” He nodded at Officer Jane Marie Landers and Jane Marie opened the door. They all filed out, Boyce following Julie Wang and her attorney.

  A moment later our door opened, and Mendoza came in. I waited. I knew what was coming. He didn’t disappoint.

  “Did you hear all that okay?”

  I nodded.

  “Okay, then. We appreciated your help and initiative, we can take it from here.”

  “What’s the plan?” Blackhawk said.

  Mendoza looked at him. “If Hesse is in town tomorrow, as Miss Wang has said. we’ll send Miss Wang and Officer Landers in to see him. We’ll get him on tape. We’ll throw his ass in jail.”

  “I want to be there,” Blackhawk said.

  Mendoza looked at him. “What’s your stake in this?”

  “Nikki Boyd and Simone Dove,” he said.

  “Emily Sykes,” I said.

  “Friends of yours?”

  “Elena befriended them.”

  Mendoza looked puzzled. “Elena hanging out with prostitutes?”

  “Elena loves all animals, large and small,” Blackhawk said. “Even broken soiled doves.”

  “We’ll stay out of the way. We just want to watch it go down,” I said.

  Mendoza was quiet for a long moment. “You can stay in the surveillance truck. You stay out of the way.” He gave me a hard look. If we weren’t such close chums, I might have been intimidated.

  54

  One of Hesse’s corporations had been renting an estate in Paradise Valley. It was close to the Phoenician Resort off of Invergordon. It was walled and gated. It had ten bedrooms. It looked like it could be a resort by itself. Blackhawk and I had looked at the architectural schematics the night before.

  The sun was low in the sky and the guests had begun to arrive. There were two men at the gate checking invitations. There was valet parking at the front foyer with an empty lot across the street acting as the parking lot. There was a man at the door, opening it for the guests. Julie Wang had said there were usually four or five others armed, working as waiters.

  Stan, Stan the audio man, was inside the van with Boyce and me. I could smell him. Boyce had given Blackhawk and me an ear bud. Blackhawk had taken his to the passenger seat of the van. It was too crowded in the back. We had been listening to silence. Julie Wang and Jane Marie were with SWAT. They had Julie’s car so they could drive up to the valet. They were wired but weren’t talking. I think Julie was miffed.

  There were two SWAT teams, each one on opposite sides, two blocks away and ready to roll. The SWAT commander was named Henderson and it would be his to call. He needed to hear enough to indict Hesse. In the meantime, Jane Marie would be in jeopardy.

  Boyce and I tried to be as comfortable as possible, watching the screens. She was amusing herself by telling me who the dignitaries were as they arrived. There were athletes and congressmen, and business leaders. I don’t know what I expected. I guess I thought it would be a stag party, but it wasn’t. Most of the men had a female date. Boyce named a baseball player I’d never heard of, but that was no mean feat. I don’t really follow baseball.

  “What? You subscribe to People magazine?” I said. “How do you know who these people are?”

  “I’m a trained detective,” she said. She leaned forward looking at a screen. “There they are,” she said.

  Sure enough, a Porsche 911 pulled up through the gates. It was waved forward, and the valet jumped forward to open the driver’s door, then raced around to open the passenger door. Julie Wang stepped out of the driver’s seat. Jane Marie came out the other. Jane Marie had lost the blue highlights in her hair. She was dressed in a simple black dress and high heels. She had a plain strand of dime store pearls around her neck, and a gawdy looking piece of costume jewelry on her wrist. The wire was in the bracelet. Julie Wang wore a short dress that almost covered her. Over the top was a draped chiffon thing that went to her knees but was completely transparent. She carried a small cocktail purse. Her wire was in the lining of the purse. I could hear the rustling of both as they stepped out of the $200,000 Porsche. I thought crime wasn’t supposed to pay.

  Julie Wang handed the keys to the valet and they went up the steps. I heard her say, “Hello Gary,” to the guy opening the door. “Good evening Miss Wang,” Gary said. They disappeared inside. I could hear music and indistinguishable chatter.

  “Follow me,” I heard Julie Wang say. More noise. After a very long time I heard a door close and the background noise went away. They had gone into a room and shut the door.

  “Is this the young lady you told me about?” a male voice.

  “Yes. This is Belle. Belle, this is our boss, Mr. Hesse.”

  “May I fix you girls a drink,” Hesse said.

  “Gin and tonic,” Julie Wang said.

  There was a clinking of bottles. “How about you Belle, what can I fix you?”

  “A beer, I guess,” Jane Marie said.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have beer. Never cared for it myself. How about a gin and tonic like Julie’s?”

  “Sure.”

  “She is very young looking,” he said.

  “Yes,” Julie Wang said. “I thought you might want to see this one.”

  More soft clinking noises. “Here you are, dear.”

  “Thanks,” Jane Marie said.

  “How old are you, dear?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “She looks twelve,” he said.

  “Yes, she does,” Julie Wang said. “I don’t think I want to put her in a club. I think she’ll be more valuable for specialty customers.”

  “I can see that.” Silence, then, “Belle, has Miss Wang explained what you will be doing for us, and how much money you can make?”

  “Well, uh…., she said you’d be setting me up on dates and I’d probably end up having to fuck them, but they’d pay a whole lot of money to do it.”

  I could hear him laugh. “Crudely put, but basically accurate.” I heard the clinking of glass again. “You aren’t drinking your drink. Drink up. Go ahead, drink up, I’ll make another.”

  We could hear Jane Marie swallow. The mic in the bracelet was right next to her mouth.

  “Good girl. Here, give me your glass.”

  More glass clinking. “Julie, why don’t you leave us alone for a moment.”

  “I’ll see to the guests,” Julie Wang said.

  A moment more and we heard the door close. There was noise from Julie Wang’s mic.

  “Shut her back,” Boyce said to Stan.

  He fiddled with a knob and the crowd noise diminished.

  “Drink your drink, dear,” Hesse said.

  Again, the drinking sound.

  “What are you doing?” Jane Marie said.

  “I don’t buy something without testing the merchandise,” Hesse said. “Let’s take that dress off, dear.”

  “Don’t,” Jane Marie said loudly. There were scuffling noises.

  “Don’t,” Jane Marie screamed. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

  “You little
bitch.” More scuffling and more blows landed.

  “We’re going in.” Henderson’s voice was in my ear.

  Then Boyce said, “Where is he going?” On the screen, Blackhawk was rapidly walking toward the two guards standing in the driveway.

  55

  I went out the back of the van and started hotfooting it after Blackhawk. Can a guy with only one-foot hotfoot it? The thing about Blackhawk is that even in his everyday attire, he still looked like he belonged at the party.

  The two guys saw him coming but had no idea why. They converged on him, presumably to ask for his ticket when Blackhawk kicked the first guy in the knee. The guy went down and the other guy reached under his coat and Blackhawk punched him in the throat. The guy staggered back. He had managed to pull his pistol. Blackhawk took it and slapped him in the temple with it. The guy went down.

  The first guy had rolled to his side holding his knee, but now realized what was happening. He reached for his pistol. Blackhawk backhanded him with the other guy’s pistol. The guy went face down. There were a few people standing around. They were gawking at Blackhawk, but no one made a move.

  The guard at the door drew his pistol and started down the steps, pointing it at Blackhawk. Blackhawk shot him in the forehead. Anyone else would aim for center mass. Not the wild man, he shoots them in the forehead. He ran to the door and went inside. I was moving, seconds behind him. Behind me I could hear Boyce yelling my name. Yelling for me to stop. Yeah right.

  I heard gunfire inside. I went in fast, angling to the right, my Kahr in my hand. People were screaming and rushing the door in a panic to get out. A man lay on the stairs holding his thigh. Blood ran between his fingers. A pistol lay on the floor below him. Blackhawk was at the top of the stairs, grappling with a guy that had grabbed him. He looked like a civilian. Trying to be a hero. Bad move. He was tall and rangy and tried to wrap Blackhawk up in a bear hug. Blackhawk kneed the guy in the groin and he leaned forward, his face distorted in pain. Blackhawk pushed him aside. The upstairs had closed doors. We had choices. The master bedroom was the second door to the right. What’s behind door number two. Blackhawk found out by opening it and walking in. I went by the civilian holding his groin and was right behind.