by Rick Polad
As he passed the second dumpster, Spencer heard a scream and started to run. He turned left at the T and saw the large man holding Laura against the wall about fifty feet ahead. His left hand was around her neck.
Spencer yelled. Friday looked in his direction and then put both hands around Laura’s neck.
Spencer raised his gun and fired two shots at the man’s legs. At least one of them hit. The man let go of Laura and she collapsed to the concrete with her hands on her throat. The man went down on one knee as Spencer ran up to him.
As Friday reached into his pocket, Spencer aimed at his chest and said, “Both hands where I can see them and lie down on your stomach with your arms straight out to the side.”
Friday hesitated.
“Right now, or the next bullet is into your chest.”
He did as told.
Spencer had glanced at Laura and knew she was struggling, but still alive. “You okay, Laura?”
She tried to talk but all that came out was a gurgle. She raised her hand.
Less than a minute later, Stretch breathlessly joined the group, followed by one of the team.
“Laura, are you okay?” he asked with concern.
She again raised her hand and nodded. Spencer explained what had happened and asked that someone call the police.
Laura had regained enough speech to barely whisper, “Let’s not.” She pointed up the alley. “We have plans.”
“And those are?” asked Spencer.
Looking questioningly toward Laura, Stretch answered, “I think you’d rather not know. But he’ll get what he deserves.”
Spencer looked from Stretch to Laura. “I have no doubt about that. I’ve seen your basement. But I just shot this guy. This is over right here.”
Stretch looked at Laura. Laura looked at Spencer and, after a pause, nodded. Spencer thought he saw relief in her look.
Glad that she had made that decision, Stretch turned to Michael and asked him to make the call. “Tell them the alley behind 612 Raleigh.”
Keeping his gun aimed at Friday, Spencer took a deep breath and took over the scene in the alley. He told Friday to turn over on his back, keeping his arms out to the side.
“Stretch, I’m guessing he has a knife on him. See if it’s under his jacket.”
Stretch pulled open Friday’s jacket and exposed a leather sheath that held a knife. Stretch unbuckled the sheath and laid it by the wall.
“I hit him in the leg. Would you check it, Stretch?”
Friday’s left pants leg was torn and blood stained. Stretch pulled up the pant leg.
“Just a flesh wound. No big deal.”
Spencer nodded and told Friday to turn back over on his stomach.
Five minutes later, two squad cars pulled into the alley, one from each end.
Chapter 90
The first two officers got out of their car with guns drawn and told Spencer to put down his gun. As Spencer laid the gun on the concrete, he identified himself as a private investigator. The second car stopped and Jamie got out of the passenger side, also with his gun drawn.
When Jamie saw Spencer, he asked, “What’ve we got, Spencer?”
As Spencer explained, Jamie told the man on the ground to put his hands together and he snapped on handcuffs. He asked who was hurt. Spencer told him the guy on the ground had been shot in the leg and the lady by the wall had been strangled and couldn’t talk. Jamie asked the other officers to call for two ambulances. He bent and picked up Spencer’s gun.
“This registered?” Jamie looked worried.
“Yup.”
“Good. This guy have ID?”
“Don’t know.”
Jamie took a wallet out of the man’s back pocket. Martin Worley. Friday had a name.
Two more squad cars arrived along with an ambulance. The alley was lit up like a Christmas tree.
Stosh pulled into the alley fifteen minutes later, followed by Spanell and Andrews.
A medic confirmed Stretch’s diagnosis of Friday’s flesh wound. He would be taken to a hospital for treatment. Spanell would ride with him in the ambulance.
A second medic checked Laura and confirmed bruising but nothing seemed broken. A second ambulance pulled into the alley.
The officers got everyone’s names and contact information and took brief statements. Laura would press charges for battery and attempted murder as witnessed by Spencer.
Stosh asked Spencer how many shots he had fired and asked officers to look for the bullets.
He turned back to Spencer. “Do I want to know how all this went down?”
“Don’t see why not. But it could have easily happened differently.”
“Yeah, everything can. Those split-second decisions are what defines you. Give your statement. You still up to getting together this afternoon at my place?”
“Sure.”
“Good. Get some sleep.”
“Will do.”
“We have things to chat about, but thanks.”
Spencer nodded.
Spencer walked over as Laura was being helped into the ambulance. She started to say something, but Spencer put his finger to her lips and told her not to talk.
Laura looked at him with tears in her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.
“You are welcome,” Spencer said with a smile.
* * *
Spencer and Stretch talked about what had happened as they walked back to the apartment.
“You saved her life, Spencer.” He shook his head. “All of our careful planning and everything fell apart.”
“Best laid plans. Sometimes you just have to improvise and hope you get lucky.”
“You think he’ll be convicted?”
Spencer shrugged. “I sure hope so. But if he’s not, it won’t be because of us. We did what we could. Now it’s up to the courts.” For the first time Spencer understood what his dad and Stosh had always told him.
“Pretty frustrating.”
“Sometimes. But most of the time the system works.”
They climbed the stairs to the second floor apartment where Stretch gave the man on watch a hundred dollar bonus and told him his services were no longer needed.
Spencer shook hands with Stretch. “We did good, my friend.”
“Yeah, I’m glad it ended the way it did. I’ve sometimes wondered about some of the things Laura did and the risks she took. But she was the boss. I didn’t like what she had planned for Friday if we caught him. I might have quit. Thanks, Spencer.”
“Sure.”
* * *
On his way home, Spencer thought about the decision he had made. He knew it was the right one but there was a big part of him that wanted to let Laura and Stretch have their way with the guy. He also wondered about Laura. He did save her life but he was also fully aware he had put her in that position in the first place. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.
Chapter 91
Saturday morning arrived with a beautiful sunrise. Stosh woke up at seven, thankful for a night’s sleep without having to worry about the phone ringing.
He checked the fridge for beer and the cabinet for chips. He was set for Spencer’s Saturday visit. He wasn’t going to let Spencer get away without a chance to get some of his gin rummy money back. He needed to have a chat about the interview with Margaret that Rosie had told him about. It wasn’t that big a deal, but he hoped Spencer was sweating a little. Bottom line was, Spencer got results because he was able to bend the rules a little. Stosh just needed to remind him there was a line that, if crossed, would lose him his license. Or worse. And worse was pretty close in that alley. That would take some chatting, also.
* * *
Spencer didn’t get much sleep. He made breakfast and ate out on the deck. A light breeze and sunny morning promised a nice day.
He had a few errands to do before heading to Stosh’s. He knew he would have to sit through a lecture, but wasn’t worried. Bottom line was always results, and he had discovered that Margaret had a mi
ssing knife and started the chain that led to another suspect. He figured the arrest of Friday would get him off whatever hook he was on for the Margaret issue.
Before heading out, Spencer made a call to Florida and left a message for Tim to call him.
* * *
Spencer brought a six-pack of Schlitz and two bags of chips to Stosh’s.
“You can’t buy me with snacks, P.I.”
“Wouldn’t think of it.”
Stosh took two beers and put the rest in the fridge. The cards and coasters were already on the table.
“I see you have the afternoon planned.”
“You’ve got my money in your pocket. I want it back.”
Spencer sat at the table. “Give it your best.”
Stosh handed a bottle to Spencer. “Okay, let’s get this out of the way. Technically what you did with Rivera was not illegal. Misleading someone is not a crime. I just want to remind you that there’s a line, and if you cross it you’ll be sitting in my jail.”
“Very aware of that. I have no desire to visit Chez Stosh.”
Stosh rolled his eyes. “As usual, you manage to turn up important things as you wander through your job description, so I’m not as angry as Rosie thought I’d be. And speaking of Rosie, she is correct about being on different sides. There’s a line there also.”
“Speaking of lines,” Stosh continued, “anything more I need to know about what happened last night?”
“Need?” Spencer took a drink of Schlitz. “No. All’s good. But I’ve been thinking about it.”
Stosh took a drink and waited.
“Laura wanted Friday to herself. I think she wanted to use him to get even for her sister. They had plans for him and I don’t think it would have been pretty.”
Stosh crunched a chip. “I’m glad you called us.”
“Me too. But I thought about letting them have him. The guy deserves the worst.”
Stosh sighed. “He does deserve it, but there are those things we in the business call laws.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.”
“What made you decide to call?”
Spencer set down the bottle and looked at Stosh. “I knew that’s what Dad would have done.”
Stosh raised his bottle. “Proud of you, Spencer.”
Spencer wiped moisture off his bottle. “Is the evidence going to hold up?”
“Looks good. His right index fingerprint matches the one we took off the coin. We’ve got the knife, and there were two more sets of coins in his apartment along with a lot of newspaper articles. I don’t see him on the streets ever again.”
Spencer nodded.
“Deal the cards, Spencer.”
As Spencer shuffled, Stosh said he had one more point to make.
“I know,” said Spencer as he dealt.
“You know what?”
Spencer set the deck down. “I know I put her life in danger.”
Stosh picked up his cards. “Well, she had some say in that, but if you had asked me, I would have told you it was a bad idea. As I recall, I had already done that.”
“Well, technically Rosie told me.”
Stosh raised his eyebrows as he filled a straight and went out. “Gin.”
“But the plan worked.”
“And your friend came how close to being killed?”
“Understood.”
“You got lucky, Spencer. The idea is to control situations so you don’t need luck.”
While they played, Spencer asked Stosh if the police could help look for Laura’s sister, Katherine.
Stosh shook his head. “Sometimes I hate this job. Kids caught up in this damned world.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Spencer laid down his cards. “Gin.” He was ahead eight bucks.
“We can be a little nicer to the host.”
Spencer laughed. “I meant about Katherine.”
Stosh shuffled the cards. “I know what you meant. And I assume by we you mean me. Not a thing unless something happens.”
“But something did happen. She was abducted.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. And if she was, it wasn’t from here. Aside from her sister being in town, there’s no reason to believe she’s in Chicago.”
As Spencer started to talk, Stosh held up his hand. “I know, I know. We owe something to Miss Justine. But unless I have some cause or get a request from Florida, there’s nothing I can do officially.”
“But unofficially?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Stosh went out after three picks with a big smile. “My luck is changing.”
“For one hand. Speaking of luck, I assume you haven’t found the Brock knife.”
“Nope. But not for lack of effort. We’ve had divers out in the water twice as far as you’d be able to throw a knife and south to the breakwall.”
“How about the rocks?”
“Still looking. Lots of cracks. Those rocks stretch for a hundred yards. And before you ask, we searched the neighborhood too. If it’s somewhere else it’ll just have to turn up. Sometimes this job is just about luck.”
“Well, let’s hope it’s good luck.”
By five, Stosh’s losses were under three bucks but some of his money was still in Spencer’s pocket.
* * *
When Spencer got home, he called Ben and gave him the first-hand report.
“What an amazing story. Nice job, Spencer.”
“Thanks, Ben. Bill’s in the mail.”
“So is the check!”
They agreed to meet for breakfast as soon as they could find some time. Spencer wanted a few days off.
Chapter 92
After roll call Monday morning, the Brock team again met in Stosh’s office. The crowd was down to Stosh and the two detectives.
“Just so we’re all on the same page, Joseph Rivera was arrested on a flight charge. He didn’t have the knife. It wasn’t at the friend’s apartment. And no prints on the key. The kid’s mom posted bail and he’s free. Steele, you get anything from the interview?”
Steele shook his head. “I bought his story about being scared about stealing the money. I don’t think he had anything to do with the murder.”
Rosie gave a big sigh. “I sure hope not, for Margaret’s sake. Bad enough the kid stole the money. If he was involved in the murder, she’d be devastated.”
Steele started to say something, but Stosh stopped him. Steele was not big on sentiment.
Stosh opened the file on his desk. “So, back to square one. We have two persons of interest with very weak evidence. We also have the clients and the limo guy.”
“Gotta come down to who had access to the key, and we’ve run out of possibilities,” said Steele. “I think she let someone in for an early-morning rendezvous. Whoever it was saw the money in the safe and killed her for it.”
Rosie stretched. “Conjecture. We still have Lamb and Rivera, each of whom had a key or access to one, and a knife. Joseph certainly could have wiped the key. All we need is the knife.”
“Thanks for the news bulletin,” said Stosh. “Till we find it, Rosie, why don’t you hit the gas station and see if you can find the limo.” He gave her the location and date and time. “Steele, you come up with anything on the client list?”
“I have names. I’ll check for priors today.”
“Let’s do this again tomorrow morning unless you come up with something earlier.”
They both nodded.
* * *
Spencer woke up Monday morning with nothing to do. The Cubs were on the west coast for a late-night game. There was more he wanted to know about the Lamb family, but it was now irrelevant. He wanted to call Rosie and see if things were back to normal. He didn’t like being on the other side. After an hour of trying to decide, he picked up the phone and called the station. She was just leaving for the gas station.
“Morning, Rosie.”
“Morning, Spencer. What can I do for you?”
“For starters, you can
have dinner with me.”
“That depends. What do you have planned after ‘starters’?”
“Not a thing. Just starters. Get some food and chat.”
She accepted. “Not much going on. Should be a normal day. How about I meet you at Logan’s at six?”
“Great.” He wasn’t sure where he wanted this to go personally, but certainly wanted to see.
Chapter 93
Spencer was waiting when Rosie arrived. Logan’s was a high-end burger joint. They both ordered cheeseburgers and beer.
They chatted about Friday while waiting for the food. Rosie told Spencer she was proud of him. When the burgers arrived, Spencer took a bite and asked if he was back on the team.
Rosie’s eyebrows rose. “You were never on the team. You need a badge for that.” She had a slight smile. Toying with Spencer had always been one of her favorite hobbies.
He looked hurt.
“More like an honorary mascot.” Her smile broadened.
“Well, if that’s all I can get.”
“Again, there’s that badge thing.”
“Right. So you have two missing knives and two possible killers and not enough to hold either one. What’s your feeling on the two?”
Rosie had wondered if she would talk shop with Spencer. They always had, up to a certain point, and they had been through a life-or-death situation together, but after the last week she wasn’t sure. She looked in his eyes and saw her old friend. Whatever else, they had always been friends. Maybe he was right—maybe they should leave it at that. And she did enjoy talking with him. He was good at heading down the right path.
“I don’t think the kid is involved. But I’m not sure about Lamb. Given the battery arrest and the father history, there sure is something going on there.”
“Agreed,” said Spencer. “What did you think of him when you arrested him?”
