That Way Lies Madness: A Florida Action Adventure Novel (Scott Jarvis Private Investigator Book 8)

by Scott Cook

  “Okay, that becomes Warwick Ave. I’m pulling into the Fire Fighter’s Club parking lot, about a half mile past Post Road. Pull in and let’s have a chat.”

  There was a pause, “Scott… you sound a bit freaked out.”

  “More than a bit… what’d you find out?”

  He sighed, “Not much. The Providence guys were pretty cool, but the people running the investigation around the drug bust and money thing weren’t’ there this time of night. I didn’t get a good vibe on your friend Bill, though. The evidence was pretty strong, one cop told me, and everybody thinks he’s dirty. I guess that’s why he got canned.”

  “Yeah… Wayne… I think Bill is Shade.”

  “What the fuck…” Wayne breathed. “Are you sure? Haven’t you known this guy since you were kids?”

  I laughed derisively, “I guess you never know somebody… I’m pretty sure. I watched a home video at his place a few minutes ago. Every time Shade talks to me, he has this laugh… it’s been bugging me every time I heard it. Tonight, I heard it from Bill on the video. That combined with all the other stuff…”

  “But he got blown up and burned up on his boat the other day…” Wayne noted.

  “Yeah… and there was almost nothing left to verify the identity,” I said. “But dental records. I’m sure that can be faked. And think about all the Rhode Island connections. That Darren West guy who was a stoolie for PPD. This Soares guy who used to be a prison guard… and the very first drug bust West pointed Providence at just happened to coincide exactly with Bill’s busting Paul Ravetti back when I’d gotten shot at the chop shop.”

  Wayne was silent for a long time, “And he recently got fired from PPD after allegedly taking half a million in dirty dough.”

  “And his wife kicked him out,” I said, “but she’s acting… I don’t know, Wayne.”

  My dad’s Jag pulled off Warwick Ave. and into the parking lot of the private bar. Wayne got out and came around to my window.

  “So what do you want to do?” he asked. “Cuz if you’re right… I know what I want to do.”

  “We’ve still got to find him,” I said.

  “Which is still the hard part,” Wayne sighed. “Any ideas on that?”

  “Yeah…” I said, “but I don’t like it. I told you about Grayson right?”

  “Yeah, the spooky government guy.”

  “Right… well, I’ve got him looking into something for me. I have a feeling I’m gonna have to pay for it.”

  “By joining his group?” Wayne asked.

  “Something like that,” I said flatly. “I found a thirteen digit number in West’s notebook. Something tells me it’s an offshore bank account number. Anyway, that’s one side of the coin. I don’t know how to find Bill or where to look… so there’s only one other option.”

  Wayne puzzled on that for a moment and then nodded, “You draw him out.”

  “Yeah…” I said with a sigh. “If I’m right, then I already have the bait. I just want to make sure you’re okay with this.”

  Wayne was a cop. He’d sworn an oath to uphold the law. Technically, what I was pondering was kidnapping. He only smiled.

  “Scott, I’m with you, brother. I know you won’t do anything terrible to her.”

  “No,” I said feeling a pang in my gut. “I appreciate that, brother. Okay, let’s go talk to Sam.”

  Everybody was in the big living room watching television when Wayne and I came in. My folks were kicked back in their favorite chairs and Sam and Lauren were lounging on the big sofa. The family German Shepard, Colonel, was sprawled out in front of the fireplace.

  “Where’d you two run off to?” Lauren asked.

  “Business,” I said.

  A chill seemed to fill the room. I think my mood and probably Wayne’s demeanor telegraphed how we felt.

  “You two look like the cats that ate the canaries,” My mom tried to tease.

  I took a deep breath, “Sam… can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She looked at me and blinked. I’m not sure what she sensed at that point, but she clearly knew something was wrong, “Okay… is it about Bill? Did you find out something?”

  I felt my stomach lurch, “Actually… yeah.”

  She rose reluctantly and we went upstairs and into the room she was using. Wayne followed but at a discreet distance. We walked into the bedroom where Sam sat on the bed and I took a chair in the corner. Wayne stayed out in the hall.

  “Scott, what’s up?” Sam asked. “You look upset.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to compose my jumbled thoughts, “Sam… tell me more about Bill getting fired. You said that for a couple of years now, things have been different. How so?”

  She shrugged, “It’s like I said… some distancing… and Bill always seemed to be on edge lately. Especially with the whole internal investigation thing. It made him really angry. Especially when they fired him. He was a totally different person.”

  “So much so that you asked him to move out?”

  She nodded, “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

  I was silent for a long moment. I really didn’t know how to proceed, so I just had to come out with it.

  “Sam… I went over to your house tonight.”

  She flinched a little but didn’t react otherwise, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I went and searched your house,” I said. “I hoped I’d find… something… that might explain what was going on with Bill and help me find his killer. But now… well… now I don’t think he’s dead at all.”

  She went pale. I didn’t think it was from shock, though. Or at least, not the kind of shock you’d expect. More the shock of somebody exposing a secret she thought was well hidden.

  “What…?”

  “Sam,” I said firmly. “Shade has spoken to me on several occasions. I even met him once, although in disguise. He’s from Rhode Island. He uses… or used… other Rhode Islanders to do some of his dirty work. When I saw him, he looked to be a little less than medium height. Broad in the shoulders but not tall. He also has a distinct laugh… an evil laugh… although I heard it through some kind of voice distortion device… it kept ringing a bell in my mind.”

  “What… what do you mean?” She all but squeaked.

  I sighed and rubbed my eyes, “Tonight, I watched a home video. Remember that party a few years back? The one where Bill jumped out and scared you and you dumped the punch on him?”

  She nodded.

  “Bill had the same laugh.”

  A chime came from Sam’s purse, which was lying on the night stand. She went to reach for it but I told her not to answer the text. After another few seconds, it dinged again. I went over and picked up the purse.

  “Are you saying that Bill is Shade?” Sam asked indignantly. “Scott, that’s not only fuckin’ crazy, it’s fuckin’ cruel, too! My husband is dead and—“

  The phone inside the purse chimed again. I pulled it out and handed it to her, “Unlock it. Somebody wants your attention.”

  She snatched the smart phone from my hand and tapped in her passcode. Before she could do anything else, I snatched it back. The look of fear on her face was just about all I needed. I opened the message app and looked at the last three messages. They were all from the same unknown number.

  Sam… and then: Sam, you there? Finally: Call me, it’s time.

  I showed her the messages, “Anything to say?”

  She flushed and sputtered, “Scott… it’s nothing! Just an old girlfriend of—“

  “Samantha,” I said quietly but firmly. “It’s time to drop the act. Shade has harassed me, hurt several people and killed several others. This has to stop.”

  She set her jaw and met my gaze. There was defiant anger in her expression now, “You’re wrong, Scott! And fuck you for saying this shit!”

  Then my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and looked at the screen. Unknown number.

  “Good evening, Shade,” I answered.

  T
here was a pause and the distorted voice came on again. I set the phone on my knee so that Sam could hear as well, “Very good, my worthy opponent. Enjoying your stay with the family? How was George’s?”

  Wayne came into the room and sat beside Sam. He glared at her and I hoped she’d get the message.

  “I think it’s time we laid our cards on the table, Shade,” I said firmly. “This must end and it must end now.”

  That laugh again. That laugh that I now knew as well as my own, “Oh, Scott… spoken like a true superhero. But you know something? You’re really not in a position to make any kind of demand. You—“

  “Give it a rest,” I interrupted. “The game is up. Why don’t you turn off that silly Spencer’s toy and let’s just talk plain, Bill.”

  A silence heavy enough to anchor a blimp fell over us all. I could’ve been wrong. I could’ve read too much into the circumstantial evidence I had in my possession. The laugh could have been a coincidence… yet I knew I was right. Deep in my bones, as much as it hurt my heart to realize that one of my best friends was a maniac, I knew I was right.

  Shade tried to bluster it out, too, “Oh, you think you’ve figured it out! OH how wrong—“

  “Give it up, Bill,” I said flatly. “I know who you are. Let’s drop the act and put a stop to this now. Please.”

  There was another laugh. Not the evil sort of villain laugh this time, but one filled with resignation and amusement. It was also no longer distorted.

  “I guess it was only a matter of time,” Bill conceded. “You’re a good investigator, that’s for sure. Of course, you don’t know everything and you may think you have the upper hand… but believe me, buddy, you don’t.”

  I looked over at Sam who hung her head. I felt sick inside. More than just nauseous at the thought of an old friend turning rotten. It was like my world had been turned inside out. When you think you know somebody… when you think you know how things stand and then suddenly everything seems to turn a one-eighty… it screws with your soul.

  “Why, Bill?” I asked quietly. “For God’s sake… why?”

  He chuffed, “Why? You really want to know why?”

  “You’re a cop,” I said, almost pleading with him to make sense of things. “I’ve known you since we were twelve years old… what happened to make you go down this dark street?”

  He laughed without humor, “Oh, please… don’t be so dramatic, Scott. You think you know me? You think you know what I’ve been through in my life? We talk once a month and see each other once or twice a year over the past ten years and you think you know me!? You don’t know shit, Scott! Too busy playing the big man!”

  I said nothing, preferring instead to let him talk. To let whatever vitriol he’d been storing leak out, along with any useful information it might carry.

  “I guess some guys are just luckier than others, huh?” Bill continued angrily. “Move down to Florida and start working for Orlando and making detective practically overnight. Making Sergeant and then pissing it away to become a fuckin’ private detective! Oh, and then what do you do? Start writing books about it and getting famous! While I stay up here, dealing with dirty fuckin’ drug dealers!”

  “You’ve done good work, though, Bill,’ I stated. More like pleaded, really.

  He scoffed, “Yeah… and what do I get for my trouble? Fuckin’ nothin’! My marriage starts to go to shit, I’m still working vice after ten years… and all I ever see is piles of dough. Piles of dirty money that these cocksuckers don’t even miss when it’s taken away! And all the while, there’s old Scotty working on big fancy cases. There’s all these people committing all sorts of crimes and shit… and gettin’ more prosperous! It’s always the worst who profit. The scum that succeeds in this world. Well fuck that!”

  “Jesus…” Wayne muttered. Then louder, “So you’re a saint, Garelli? You steal, kill and hurt innocent people and what? That’s excusable because you did it?”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with your girlfriend’s death, Jackson,” Bill said, almost sounding regretful.

  Wayne laughed harshly, “You set things in motion, Shade. You hired Soares. As far as I’m concerned, you’re responsible.”

  “He’s right, Bill,” I said coldly. “If Soares was your man, then his actions are your responsibility.”

  “He made a mistake,” Bill countered vehemently.

  “And so did you,” I said heatedly now. “Several mistakes, in fact. So here we are. It’s over, Bill. Turn yourself in and let’s stop this madness.”

  Bill’s laugh was harsh and not quite stable, “Scott… nothing is over… it’s only just begun! I told you before that if you started to get too close, I’d be forced to act. Well, I have. There is one more part of my plan that has to come to fruition. I can’t have you interfering.”

  “Bill….” I said in a tone that I hoped conveyed a warning.

  “Scott… I have Lisa. Don’t push me.”

  I could see Wayne’s face darken with anger. Probably as much as mine was. I took a deep breath, coming to a decision. I locked eyes with Wayne and said, “And I have Samantha, Bill.”

  Chapter 25

  The silence that fell would’ve taken a machete to slice through. Sam looked less angry than fearful now. Wayne looked like he’d been carved from granite and my iPhone sat on my knee without even a sound coming from the speaker. For a long moment, I thought Bill might have hung up.

  “We’re separated,” He finally said with an odd lack of emotion.

  I wasn’t buying it, “And that condition will persist until you surrender. This is no good, Bill. We’ve each got a hostage. This cannot end well.”

  He tried to bluff it out, but for the first time, his whole immovable Shade persona thing was failing him, “She made her choice, Scott. It’d be unfortunate if something happened to her… but that pales against the big picture.”

  I looked at Samantha. She wasn’t indignant nor fearful. She simply stared straight ahead, trying to keep her face neutral. I couldn’t be certain, but in a game like this, you had to go with your gut.

  “I don’t believe you, Bill,” I stated. “She knew you were alive. She knows more about your plans than she let on. Don’t push me.”

  Another long pause, “No matter what, Scott… you won’t hurt her. But you already know what I’m capable of.”

  He had me there. No matter what, I couldn’t harm Sam. Even if she’d known all along what Bill had planned, she wasn’t an active combatant and I couldn’t hurt her or kill her in cold blood. Then I smiled and leveled a cold gaze on her before I spoke again.

  “You’re right, Bill. I won’t hurt her in cold blood… but I don’t have to. I know others who can do the job. I’m going to turn Sam over to them. If something happens to Lisa and if you don’t surrender…”

  “You’re full of sh—“

  “Consider your options carefully,” I interrupted and hung up.

  Sam looked fearful now, “What… what are you gonna do with me?”

  I looked at her coldly. I’d known her almost as long as I’d known Bill. Samantha and I had been friends and I had a special place in my heart for her. That’s why this was all the more painful for me.

  “You knew,” I said. It wasn’t a question. “You knew that Bill was Shade all the time and you said nothing.”

  “Not exactly!” She pleaded suddenly, “I didn’t know exactly what he was planning. Just that he said he had a plan to finally get what was coming to us and that we’d never have to worry about money or dealing with filthy drug dealers again… I didn’t know he’d do all those things in Florida…”

  I harrumphed, “Okay, you didn’t know at first. But when things started to happen, you said nothing. That makes you as guilty as Bill, Sam. And when he faked his death, you kept quiet. I have to hand it to you… you played the part well.”

  My phone rang with the unknown call again. I muted it.

  The change that came over her was perhaps more shocking than anythi
ng I’d experienced since all this Shade nonsense had begun. Her fearful and somewhat confused look evaporated. What remained was a mask of loathing and contempt so boldly revealed the sight would’ve driven me back a step if I hadn’t been sitting.

  “And you know what, Jarvis? I’m glad…” She spat. “You, your friends, your associates and everyone else wrapped up in this has gotten exactly what they deserve!”

  “What the fuck…” Wayne whispered in shock.

  She laughed then and the sound chilled me to the bone. If I thought Bill had been off his rocker, the transformation I was seeing before me overshadowed it completely. Looking the Gorgon in the face had nothing on this.

  “We’ve watched you all prosper while we scrabbled in the dirt!” She hissed. “Filthy fuckin’ drug dealers getting rich while we struggled to pay the bills… dirty cops taking dirty money and getting away with it while we lived in a fuckin’ hovel!”

  “You call that place over near the Bay a hovel?” I asked.

  She laughed and the sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard, “Oh, that’s new. That’s what we were able to get after Bill started taking what was rightfully his! But for years, Scott, fuckin’ years…! We lived in that shitty old dump off Pontiac Avenue in Cranston. Goddamned spics and Portagees and niggers and fuckin’ those… the… men… and what they did… and where were you, Scott? Where was the great Scott Jarvis to help us out?”

  I didn’t know what was behind this descent she was going through. I’m no psychiatrist but I’d swear I was literally watching a mask fall away and revealing stark insanity beneath. I felt numb. I didn’t’ want to know to what she was referring.

  She laughed again, “oh, what? You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

  My phone flashed again but the call wasn’t from Bill. It was from Grayson. I felt ashamed of how grateful I was for the interruption.

  “Watch her,” I said and went out into the hall.

  “Run! Run away, Scotty!” She shrieked after me.

  I went into Lauren’s room and activated the phone, “Jarvis.”

  “Shade has Lisa,” he announced without preamble.