Geek Mafia: Mile Zero

by Dakan

  "I see you got him," said Chloe as she stood up and brushed herself off.

  "I always get my man," Sandee said. "You should know that by now."

  "See what wearing the right footwear for the occasion can do?" Paul said as he regained his feet, pointing to Sandee's work boots.

  "I know, right? These are steel-toed by the way," said Sandee and gave the prone killer a nudge with the tip of his foot. "Just ask his shins. I jumped him as soon as he came into the clearing, so he never had a chance. I almost feel sorry for him."

  "He was here to try and kill you," Paul pointed out.

  "I'm not sure about that," Sandee said.

  "Why?" asked Chloe.

  "Well, he's lame and has a broken hand, and he didn't bring a weapon, unless you count that." He pointed across the clearing to the plastic flashlight that had fallen in the dirt. "Even if I'd been some real park ranger and not, well, me, he still would've had a hard time killing me."

  Chloe considered these facts. It did seem pretty unlikely that he'd showed up unarmed, expecting to murder someone. She had to rethink the situation. Paul had called Bee from Winston's house using one of the disposable phones that Winston already knew about. They'd assumed his Crew would be listening in on the call and had laid this trap, with Sandee as the bait. And Winston had fallen for it. It was obvious that Winston had sent the man, but the question was, why?

  Now wasn't the time to sit and ponder such things. "Come on, let's get this fucker on his feet and take him back to the car." She and Paul each grabbed an arm and pulled the man up. He grunted and complained through his ball gag, his face more desperate than angry. He was a big guy, solidly built and in his early 50s maybe. Holding his arm, Chloe felt the solid muscle of his bicep. Not the physique of a gym rat, but rather of someone who engaged in a lot of physical labor or exercise. His deep tan and weathered face spoke of a life spent outdoors in the elements.

  With his limp it took them ten minutes to get back to the car. They decided to leave his truck where it was and forced him into the back seat with Sandee sitting next to him as a guard.

  "Should we take his gag off ?" said Paul. "Won't it look strange to people as we drive by?"

  "This is Key West," Sandee said. "He won't be the first old queen to be driven around town in handcuffs and ball gag. But are we really going to take him back to our house?"

  "Might as well," Chloe said as she started the car. "Winston already knows where we live, and it's the most secure place on the island as far as we're concerned."

  Chapter 33

  211

  "And then what?" Sandee asked. "I'm not really down with the whole nonconsensual torture thing."

  "We won't torture him," Paul said. "We'll ask him a couple questions and see what he says. And then, worse comes to worst and he's not helpful, we turn him over to Isaiah and let those guys figure it out."

  They drove back to the house, and while Chloe did notice that a few other drivers gave their prisoner a surprised look or two, most of them were laughing as they did so. It was Key West. She pulled the car into the side yard and, much as they'd moved Raquel's body into the shed less than two days ago, they now unloaded their prisoner. Time to get some answers.

  Chapter 34

  212

  Chapter 34

  PAUL had never interrogated a prisoner before. Well, ok, that one time with Raff, but that hardly counted.

  That had ended up being more of a negotiation than anything else. Now the four of them were in Bee's shed, standing around a known killer who was handcuffed to a wooden chair in the center of the room. This was way outside their area of expertise and no one seemed quite sure how to proceed. They all just kind of stared at each other, even Chloe seeming unsure or unwilling to do whatever they needed to do next.

  "I guess we could take off the gag," said Bee. "This shed is soundproofed." She'd spent a week soundproofing the workshop so she could use her power tools at all hours of the night without bothering the neighbors. Of course since then she'd taken to spending all her time with her cameras upstairs in the main house, but the soundproofing remained.

  Sandee looked around at the rest of them for approval, and when both Paul and Chloe nodded, he stepped forward and undid the gag. The man gasped for breath as he spit the red rubber ball from his mouth with a wet plop. They all watched as he worked his jaw open and shut with slow, pained motions.

  "Can I have some water?" he asked the room, looking in turn at each of them. No one moved or said anything.

  "Water?" he repeated.

  "Sure," said Chloe. "We'll get you some water..." she started and then stopped. Then she started again, "But first you need to answer some questions."

  He worked his jaw side to side now and ran his tongue over his lips.

  "First I need some water," he said.

  "We can give him some water can't we?" asked Bee in apparent discomfort.

  "Bee, would you go inside and get him a glass," said Paul, realizing there wasn't any water out in the shed anyway. "Then we can talk about whether we'll let him have some to drink."

  The man just nodded at this. Sandee, who was still behind him, shot Paul a kind of pained, confused look the meaning of which Paul didn't understand. Chloe never took her eyes off the killer in the chair.

  "What's your name?" she asked him. He didn't respond. "Come on, what's your name? Make one up if you want. We've got to call you something."

  "Call me Jimmy," he said after a moment's thought. Then he started humming to himself.

  "Ok, Jimmy," said Chloe. "Do you know why you're here?"

  He just kept humming. And soon enough Paul recognized the tune as "Son of a Sailor" by Key West legend Jimmy Buffet. "Jimmy," thought Paul, "that's cute." The guy was beat up, tied up and locked in a shed and he was playing games with them, all of which led Paul to believe that he was probably a lot better equipped to resist interrogation than they were to do the actual interrogating. Better to try and meet him on their own ground, which was trickery, confusion and deceit.

  "This is stupid," said Paul. "He's not going to tell us anything."

  "Not telling us anything would be stupid," Chloe responded. Paul realized that she thought he was trying some sort of good cop/bad cop thing. He hoped she picked up on his actual tactics as they unfolded.

  Chapter 34

  213

  "He doesn't really need to tell us anything, does he?" said Paul. "I mean, what is it that he even knows that we don't?"

  Chloe took her eyes off "Jimmy" for the first time since they'd sat him down there and glanced over at Paul.

  Their eyes met for the briefest moment, but that was enough for an unspoken signal to pass between them.

  They'd worked together so long that one of them following the other's lead in a con had become second nature. "That's a good point," Chloe said, prompting Paul to keep going.

  "We know he killed Raquel. We've got pictures of him coming in and out of the guesthouse she was staying at. And we've got pics of him following her into Truman Annex from the time of the murder. So we know he killed her, and we know he dumped the body back in her room. Which means he had some help. There was someone else involved."

  Chloe picked up the story. "And we know he was hiding out on Christmas Tree Island, and we know that after that he tried to kill a woman by the library."

  "Where Sandee kicked his ass," Paul interjected.

  "Where Sandee kicked his fucking ass up and down the street," Chloe agreed. "Which sent him running like a limp rabbit back to his hole. Or, more precisely, to a boat where he met with his master. None other than my old friend and mentor Winston, who welcomes him with open arms."

  "And that same Winston," Paul said, "Had just been here at our house, looking at his picture and claiming not to recognize him. And then, when we set up a meeting with an innocent park ranger on a telephone call made from Winston's house. Who should show up at the park? Our friend the killer here," he said gesturing to the man. "So we know - without a s
hadow of a doubt we know that you killed Raquel and tried to kill at least one other woman."

  "Sounds like he's got a problem with women," said Chloe. "Maybe some kind of crazed Jack the Ripper type."

  "Could be," said Paul. "Could be. I mean he's obviously pathological in some way to kill people like that. But the question is, why's Winston working with him?"

  "That is the question," Chloe agreed. "Although I'm not sure it matters."

  "Doesn't matter?" asked Paul, surprise in his voice although in fact he'd been planning on saying something very similar himself.

  "Nope. Doesn't matter."

  "Why's that?"

  "Because there's no excuse for trying to kill two women like that."

  "And succeeding at killing one of them," Paul pointed out.

  "And succeeding at murdering one of them. Exactly," said Chloe. "The why' doesn't matter. All that matters is that he did it and that makes him an evil fuck. I've got no use for him or for Winston anymore. They're both murdering fucks."

  "So we should just forgo the interrogation and turn him right over to Isaiah," Paul suggested.

  Chapter 34

  214

  "That's exactly what we should do."

  Throughout their discussion they'd both been staring at "Jimmy," who stared down at the floor the whole time, pretending to ignore them. Hell, maybe he really had been ignoring them. But Paul thought not. And he also thought that if Winston trusted him enough to use him as a killer, then the two of them might just be pretty close. They were about the same age. "Jimmy" could've been with Winston's Crew for decades, which meant he might also share Winston's motivations and goals. Time to test that theory.

  "And you know what else?" said Paul. "Turning him over to Isaiah pretty much wraps up all the loose ends.

  We give him Jimmy and tell him and Eddie and the rest about Winston's betrayal. Then the plan gets to move forward and we get an even better position in the shadow corporation because we saved the day."

  "Exactly," said Chloe. "We're the fucking heroes of the hour. Fact is, we can pretty much demand to be given Winston's position on the board. Isaiah will love us. That woman Jeanie will love us for saving her and clearing her name. Even Eddie will love us."

  "Well, maybe not love us," said Paul. "But once we explain that it was Winston who was framing him for the fall all along, I'm sure we'll gain his grudging respect."

  "Good enough for me."

  "Me too," said Paul.

  They were both silent for a moment, waiting for "Jimmy" to say something, but he still hadn't reacted. "Let's give Isaiah a call," Paul said, taking his phone from his pocket. "Tell him he can come collect his prize."

  "Sounds good," said Chloe. Then, to the killer, "You got anything to say before we make the call, Jimmy?

  Wanna sing us a song about margaritas or something?"

  The killer raised his head for the first time and spoke, "Where's that glass of water?"

  "I'm sure Isaiah has water," Paul said, dialing the phone. "I'll put it on speaker so you can hear."

  The man said nothing and they all listened as the phone rang at the other end. After the fourth ring someone picked it up. Isaiah's voice said, "Hello?"

  "Isaiah, it's Paul. We found the killer. Do you want him?"

  There was a brief pause at the other end as Isaiah processed the statement and question. "Absolutely," he said.

  "Jimmy" finally relented. He nodded his head vigorously, mouthing the words "hang up," silently. Paul was impressed that the man had the presence of mind to keep quiet and not reveal his voice over the phone line, giving Paul more options as to how to proceed.

  "Great," said Paul. "We should be able to turn him over in a couple hours. Where do you want us to bring him?"

  "Call me again when you're ready. I'll tell you where to rendezvous."

  "Sounds good," said Paul.

  "Excellent work, Paul," Isaiah said. "I'm very impressed."

  Chapter 34

  215

  "Thanks, I'll see you soon." Paul hung up the phone and looked to the killer. "So, did you have something you wanted to tell us now?"

  "Call Winston," the man said.

  "Why?" asked Chloe.

  "He'll explain everything. Call him and he'll lay the whole thing out for you."

  "Why don't you lay the whole thing out for us?" asked Paul.

  "Not my place. I'm no snitch. But Winston will want to talk with you. You should give him a chance."

  "Or what?" asked Chloe.

  "Or you'll have a gang war on your hands."

  THEY left him in the shed with a glass of water and Sandee standing guard over him. Back inside the living room, Paul flopped down onto the couch and rubbed his eyes. His hands were shaking from the tension he'd built up during the interrogation. Chloe collapsed down next to him and leaned close, her head on his shoulder.

  "That was kinda weird," she said.

  "Kinda," Paul agreed, realizing that interrogating a prisoner in his shed, while definitely weird, wasn't nearly as weird for him as it should be for a normal person. "We don't live a very normal life do we?"

  "Nope," said Chloe. "We sure as fuck do not." They both sat there for a long moment, staring at the blank TV

  screen across the room.

  "And that's good?" asked Paul.

  "Isn't it?" asked Chloe.

  Paul thought about it for a second and didn't know if it was good or not. But he said, "It is good."

  "More often than not anyway," Chloe added.

  "Yeah, more often than not."

  There was another long moment of silence, maybe as much as a minute while they both thought about their situation and what the hell they should do next.

  "Gang war doesn't sound good, does it?" Paul asked.

  "No."

  "So we should call Winston?"

  "Yeah."

  Paul waited for her to move toward any of the dozen or so phones in the house.

  Chapter 34

  216

  "Are you going to call him?" he asked.

  "Do you want to?"

  He really didn't. "I really don't," he said.

  "So you want me to."

  "We could ask Bee to do it."

  "Let's do that," Chloe said and she stood up. "That's a good plan."

  "It's certainly a plan," said Paul as he took the hand she offered and lifted himself off the couch.

  They went upstairs and knocked on Bee's door. "Come in," she said, but of course when Paul turned the knob, it was locked. They waited while she undid the deadbolts and removed the security tape. She was in full crisis mode, and Paul looked around the hallway with some trepidation, knowing that Bee's homemade defense systems were active and hoping that they wouldn't go off when they weren't supposed to.

  "Hi, guys," Bee said as she opened the door and ushered them in. "I was just about to call you."

  "You mean come see us?" asked Chloe.

  "With the door locked, it's faster and safer to call."

  "Fine. What were you going to call us about?"

  "We just got an e-mail from Eddie."

  "Is it an e-vite to his birthday party?" Paul asked.

  "No," said Bee. "It's a picture of you and Chloe and Sandee and that guy down in the shed."

  "That's not good," said Chloe. "Let's see."

  Bee pointed to one of the screens, which showed an open e-mail addressed to the public account Paul had given the other Crews to use as a contact. It contained a pic of the four of them getting into their car out by the salt marshes. It showed just their heads and shoulders, so you couldn't tell that the killer had his hands bound.

  The caption said, "Nice company you keep - Eddie."

  "Fuck," he said. "They were following us."

  "We'll worry about this later," Chloe stated. "At least he tipped us off that he knows we have Jimmy."

  "Why would he do that?" asked Paul.

  "Because he's showing off. Or because he's stupid."

  "Or b
ecause he's forcing our hand," Paul said. "We have to assume he sent one of these to Isaiah too."

  "Or at the very least he's letting us know that he will send it to Isaiah if we don't..." Paul lost his train of thought. "If we don't what? What's he trying to force our hand into doing?"

  Chapter 34

  217

  "Assuming it's really Eddie who sent it," Bee said. "I mean, it's just from some anonymous Yahoo account. It could've been Isaiah or Winston who sent it."

  "Or Raff," Chloe added.

  "Or fucking Raff," said Paul. "I wondered what had become of him."

  "Oh well, like I said, let's worry about this later. Even if it's only ten minutes later." Chloe turned to Bee. "Can you call Winston and ask him to come by here as soon as possible? Tell him we found something."

  "And tell him to come through the back." Paul added. "We're probably being watched."

  "I'm not picking up anybody on our external cameras. We can't be being watched. I'd see it. I'd know." Bee said in a rush, pointing over her shoulder to the wall of screens. Her voice was nervous, almost shrill.

  "Winston doesn't know that. The more paranoid he is, the better," Paul said, although in truth he thought they probably were being watched, but he didn't want Bee to panic. He glanced at Chloe and she gave him the nod.

  She understood.

  "Thanks, Bee," said Chloe. "Just call Win and get him over here. We'll go get ready for him."

  THEY waited for him on the back porch, having decided that it was better not to let him back into the house if at all possible. Paul's gaming laptop was still there where he'd left it earlier, and he fought the urge to pass the time by checking in on his character in Metropolis 2.0. He knew it would just piss Chloe off. She was busy pacing back and forth. They'd agreed upon a tactic to take once Win got there and there wasn't anything else they needed to talk about. Getting too specific would just make them sound rehearsed when they actually talked to him, and Winston was good enough to notice the tiniest chink in their armor.

  "You'll wear a hole in your floor," said a voice from beyond the screen door, startling Paul. It was Winston, who hadn't made a sound as he approached.