I drank beer and thought about the pressure in my bladder. I’d hold it a bit longer.
“You’re not going to make any friends with this Jade woman,” said John, “leading her on like that. Might turn ugly and she might not be forthcoming. Sometimes being a cop has its benefits. You have the weight of the law behind you. So as where you might think people will be more forthcoming to you because you aren’t blue, she has the discretion of whether she wants to talk to you or not. Carrying the badge can often compel people to talk to you even when they don’t have to.”
“Well first of all that’s why I’m meeting at a coffee shop. So she doesn’t feel comfortable breaking into hysterics and secondly I’m well aware of the fact that I’m no longer a cop and that I don’t have the authority that that carries. But come on Johnny, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I have ways of leaning on people. On coaxing information out of them. You know that from when we worked together. It wasn’t always about the badge that had people forthcoming.”
I grabbed a handful of nuts and chewed them with my mouth closed. I was trying to lead by example. Mick had taken to making a smiley face on the table with a handful of them. Vic was admiring his work. Those are for eating Vic, said. When I’m done, Mick said.
“Alright buddy. I’m just trying to help you out here. I know how good you are. I’m just making sure you’ve checked out all the angles and are using the right approach.”
I nodded at my beer but it was for John. There was some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked at it. Matt Stone and his partner were approaching us. Matt was flashing his smile. Gobbling us all up in it.
“Hi Matt,” said John, “meet Vic and Mick and Anthony.” He looked at each of us as he spoke our name. Matt nodded at each of us in turn. Grinning from ear to ear.
“Nice to meet you,” Matt said. “I really liked the work you did with John on that Molovo homicide from oh two,” he said to me.
“Thanks,” I said smiling back at him. Trying to have my ears tug on the corners of my mouth. See if I could do it like he did. I couldn’t. I admitted defeat and the smile slid off my face.
“You know,” he continued, “I don’t think we would have been able to get a conviction on that one if it hadn’t been for the confession you had him give. Physical evidence was pretty flimsy as I recall.”
“You’re probably right,” I said but I wasn’t smiling. I figured I was looking at the Chief of police in fifteen, maybe twenty years ahead. All this we stuff, and back slapping. Likable fella, but he was looking out for number one. I thought I’d send an interception.
“Anthony Carrick,” I said to his partner giving her my hand. His smile slid down then but he pulled it back up pretty quick.
“Elvia Hernandez,” she said. “I’ve heard about you. They said you were good.”
“They exaggerate,” I said. “You guys just starting out here or winding down.”
“Just starting out. Hopefully it’s not gonna be too busy tonight,” she said.
“Yeah I think you’re right. Though you’ll probably be good for at least one domestic,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “I hear ya. Can’t wait for them. Babysitting, not real police work,” she said. I nodded and took a sip of beer.
“Hey John,” said Matt finding his center again. “Did you find out if I could tag along with you on one of the next cases you do. On my days off of course.”
John spoke to him through peanuts. “Yeah, I’ve been talking to the guys about it. Not looking good Matt. Not at the moment. We’ve got a lot of guys who want in on homicide and I’ve gotta be honest with you, there’s a lot of senior guys who are chomping at the bit and we don’t usually allow that kind of thing. Best bet is to keep doing good work on the street here and be thorough with your investigations and word will get out. But you’ll probably have to do a few more years at least. Maybe try some of the more general investigative units out in the Divisions. That’s a good place to cut your teeth.”
Matt’s smile was having a hard time staying up. The cheeks were starting to falter. The eyes weren’t smiling so much as wincing.
“Yeah okay. I understand,” he said. Then he put on an extra big effort and yanked at the corners of his mouth with his ears. Now like a Cheshire cat. “But I’ll keep bugging ya.”
John nodded. Take it easy, he said. Night, I said, as he turned to his partner and they went out the way they came in. I saw him out by his patrol car talking to Elvia. She shrugged. Something about no big deal but Matt’s face had turned to stone. The smile was all washed up and gone.
“Nice work,” said John. “You totally sucked the wind out of his sails.”
“He was just being rude,” I said, “not introducing his partner. Sometimes life isn’t just all about you. Keen guy for sure and maybe we’re looking at a future Chief there but he seemed a little too slick. Like our old politicians. Like our Chief Frankie in the Valley.”
Mick laughed at that one again. Made me feel better somehow.
“I’m just saying,” I added for Mick’s benefit. “He just can’t keep his eyes off of me.”
“Cheers mate. That’s brilliant,” said Mick clinking my glass again and borrowing Stone’s smile he left with us. It was close, but more genuine. He had feeling in it. We sat around and talked for a few hours, drinking beer and eating nuts. It was after two a.m. when I left on unsteady feet. We were now four sheets in the wind. We talked about a lot of things. Mostly about old times and how they were different to the new times. Drunk men’ll do that sometimes. Get to reminiscing and distorting history into some rose colored garden.
We promised to do this again real soon. I promised to come by Parker center often. It was all bullshit. The booze talking, making liars out of all of us. I walked out into the humid night and smelt the salty sea nuzzle me like a feral cat. I said goodbye to my old friends and with them the promises recently made.
I called a cab from my cell phone. Took me two tries to figure out the right number. I leaned against a light pole trying to keep it up. Maybe I was trying to keep myself up. Los Angeles had turned into a big rickety boat rocked on choppy seas. Or we were having tremors again. Or I had drank too much and my feet were filled with choppy seas. That was the likely choice but I thought about Los Angeles as a big rickety boat instead. It amused me to no end. The cab was there in less than five minutes. The street was getting quiet. A few cars driving by, not many people walking. I climbed into the back seat of the cab and gave him my address. He pulled up just as I was nodding off.
I fumbled with the keys longer than needed but I couldn’t see them too good. Seemed like I had an extra set of somebody’s keys with me. I made too much noise entering my apartment and Pirate looked at me through one good eye. He wasn’t impressed. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t too impressed either. I poured some food in his bowl and he ate hungrily. I gave him some fresh water and patted his head. Leaning down like that didn’t feel too good so I had to stand up and hold onto the kitchen counter as the storm passed. I poured myself a tall drink of water. Then I poured another. I used this second glass as an aspirin chaser. Two extra strength. I used the washroom and brushed my teeth. I splashed water on my face and tossed my clothes on the floor by the end of the bed. I crawled in after turning off the lights. Pirate came up and curled between my chest and bicep. I stroked his body. My breathing was labored and my heart beat angrily in my chest. Unruly monkey.
“Good night boy,” I said to Pirate, and my tongue was a thick dry sponge heavy in my mouth. The room started to turn around on its axis. I opened my eyes and it stopped. I closed them and it started again. A big spinning merry go round of kaleidoscopic colors.
“Stop spinning the bed boy,” I asked Pirate. But he didn’t hear me. I dug my feet into the mattress but there were no brakes there. I opened my eyes and that helped. I closed them and that didn’t. I played peek-a-boo with myself until I was too tired and sleep muffled me like a smuggler in the night.
; SEVENTEEN
The Agony Of Ecstasy
IN the morning the sun was being an unruly guest. Unwelcome, he sauntered into the room and lay across me like a hot blanket. He shone his penetrating stare into my eyes and woke me to the noisy breaking of day. I was warm and sweating. I needed a/c. I might have said that before. I figured I needed to be charging more than I was. Pirate was on my feet and he felt heavy as a stone. I looked at the ceiling. Its face white and pockmarked like pudding. I closed my eyes and they ached. Someone had ground pepper in my eyes overnight. My temple was throbbing and I had exchanged my tongue for sandpaper. I reached over to my side table for the glass of water I usually kept there. It was a couple of nights old and half empty but it tasted like nectar.
I walked slowly into the bathroom and chased another two aspirin with two glasses of water. I looked like hell. Rivers of blood swam in the whites of my eyes. I had a shower and shave and started to feel better. I dressed in black slacks and a pale blue shirt. No tie, I was going for the Hollywood producer look. I picked up Pirate and carried him into the kitchen like a baby. I fed him some more and took care of his business from yesterday. I tossed that in the trash. I made myself some coffee and drank a third glass of water while I waited.
When the coffee was ready I poured it and added the necessary accoutrements. Cream and sugar. Lots of each. I sat down and drank some coffee and started on a cigarette. I was feeling a hell of a lot better already. It was seven thirty seven. A palindrome. I picked up my phone and called Jeffrey. It was time for an update. He picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?” he said, sounding it like a question.
“Jeffrey it’s Anthony.”
“Yes Anthony. It’s good to hear from you. Glad you’re keeping in touch.”
I nodded. He seemed wide awake for seven forty-ish in the morning. I wasn’t but I was doing my best. I sipped my coffee and coughed into his ear.
“Had a couple of interesting meetings yesterday I thought I’d share with you.”
“Rough night Anthony?”
“Not really,” I said. “I’ve had worse. It’s all the smoke in the air recently giving my voice a frog to bear.” I realized the rhyme too late to do anything about it. Jeffrey let it go by. Good man.
“Tell me about your day.”
“Spoke with Stephen, Max’s son.”
“Yeah I know who that is,” he said.
“He’s not doing too well. A bit of a problem with substances. Him and his girlfriend living in Echo Park. A bit of a dive but they could make it nice. She could also use some food and a workout program. They both could. Tall fella but he’s got that gaunt addict look going on. It’s not too becoming.”
“Okay. How is this interesting to me?” He was impatient. I wasn’t. I was trying to make a nice and slow start to my day. The aspirin was only starting to grind away at my aching temples. Could take a while and I figured I’d wile away the time talking to my employer.
“Well,” I said. “It’s interesting to you Jeff because you’re paying my salary and you want updates. If you want updates you’re gonna hear things that maybe you just aren’t that jazzed about hearing. Other times I bet you’ll hear things that really make you salivate. But there won’t be more. You’ll be left wanting. So I figure enjoy the morsels that are boring but filling because the juicy stuff is few and far between. If it wasn’t I would’ve been finished by now and looking for more work.”
I sucked on my cigarette. I waited and blew smoke out of my nose and my mouth. I chased it with smoke rings. I was hoping he’d get the message. I drank coffee and got up and got myself some more.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” I asked. “It was a long day yesterday and I’m tired and crabby. Drank too much and reminisced in too many places I’m not used to hanging out at.”
Cream and sugar and the coffee was good. But now I needed the restroom again. I thought I should start throwing Jeff some meaty bones.
“Ok Anthony. But I know about the kid. Didn’t know he was in Echo Park but I knew he was a crackhead or whatever else it is that these kids are up to nowadays. But tell me, did you get a confession out of him? Did he do it?”
I went to sit back down. I squeezed the phone between my ear and right shoulder. I held the coffee mug in my left hand and my smoke in my right. It wasn’t that easy walking like that. And the kink in my neck started aggravating my headache again.
“I didn’t get a confession out of him Jeff because he didn’t do it. But he might be someone you should be interested in keeping an eye on. He knows about his parents’ affairs. He knows about the lesbian lover his mother has. He knows about the gambling problem that his father had and he knows about the sexual affairs his father had.”
“Jesus Christ.” That was the best he could come up with.
“No, I don’t think he knows much about JC.”
Jeffrey ignored that one too. He wasn’t in any mood to play around with me.
“Reason he knows so much about his father’s gambling for example is because the mob is leaning on him to make good on the old man’s loan.”
“Jesus Christ,” he said again. “So what’s going to happen about that? Do you think we should pay them off?”
“No I don’t Jeff, that’s a very bad idea. First of all the mob is illegal and secondly I met with them and sorted things out. I had a heart to heart with this guy and we agreed to give the kid a chance to go clean. And he agreed with me to let the loss go. But this is only if the kid makes good on his messed up life.”
“Great stuff Anthony. Thanks for that. What’s the mob guy’s name?”
“My pay grade doesn’t allow me to give you access to that information. Besides it’s not important.”
“Okay Anthony. Fair enough. Tell me more, that was a juicy little morsel like you say.”
I blew smoke in his ear now we were getting along so well. I drank coffee and waited just a second. Let him salivate just for a brief moment. I wondered how well acquainted he was with JC tossing the guy’s name around like laundry change. Not so much I figured.
“Well, as I said, I don’t think he did it. Personally, because I think he’s so fucked up and his alibi is the shits. He and his girlfriend were sleeping. Nevertheless I don’t believe he’s lying to me. He has love and with love sometimes a guy has a lot to lose and I don’t think he wants to lose it. He’s also too baked to be that motivated either. That’s just my opinion. The cops will be all over him pretty quickly but I’d bet a dollar to donuts they don’t come up with anything more.”
“Right, but you know that he had assaulted his parents before. You know that right?”
“Yeah I heard about that. And he and I had a heart to heart and he’s not that good. Not to say he couldn’t do it, but he’d be too wasted to plan it properly and I’m thinking the only prints they’ll get off of that statue will be the wife’s. That’s my guess. I think the killer had the foresight to plan it at least that well. Stephen doesn’t strike me as a guy to have that kind of foresight. Drug addicts seldom have the motivation to plan a crime that well. This one wasn’t necessarily planned very well but the foresight was there and the clean up and mess was made to give it a robbery look. A drug addict would have maybe rummaged for money or jewels and bolted. They would have grabbed the gun that was in the drawer. That could get some good money on the street. But they didn’t. Didn’t take a thing it looks like. And that’d be really unusual in a real robbery.”
“Fair enough.”
Pirate was rubbing up against my leg. I put my cigarette in the ashtray and picked him up onto my lap. He started his diesel engine. I loved that sound. He was the real deal. No bullshit with him. Nothing fake about our relationship. I liked that. Pure honesty. But then again he couldn’t talk to me. If he could he might have some choice words. Still, he was always authentic. Always happy to see me. Kinda like a dog that way.
“So as I was saying. I had a chance to speak to the mob and see if I could tease anything out
of them. They don’t like to be teased too much. But I don’t think they did it. We’re talking chump change here. Half a mill wouldn’t make it worth their while. Not with someone like Max. A big player in Hollywood. Besides, my visit with them was duel purpose. I wanted them to lay off the kid. I’ve got a soft spot for him, always have when it comes to love. And besides I think he can make good given the chance. Secondly I wanted to see if there was any angle there. There isn’t”
Pirate jumped out of my lap and sauntered into the kitchen for a long drink of water. I knew how he felt. It was warm again today. I was as dry as paper and as fragile. My headache was being nudged away. Thank god for that or JC, but I don’t know him that well either.
“We’d be in a bit of a spot if the mob had done it don’t you think?”
I cleared my throat as if I was about to deliver Hamlet’s soliloquy. I wasn’t. Though slings of arrows and stuff sounded important.
“Well Jeff the more I deal with this whole sordid affair the more I think you’re in a spot anyway you look at it. Who did it isn’t as important as all the information that’s coming out about this lovely upstanding family.”
“Can you hold on a minute?” he asked me, but not waiting for my reply. I could hear whispering in the background. He was talking to a woman. Perhaps his assistant. I was thinking about my bladder again. Felt like I was carrying mercury sloshing around in there. It was heavy and tight and gnawing. I couldn’t use the restroom while I was on the phone. That wasn’t my thing. Just wasn’t the right thing. So what I did instead was drink more coffee and finish my cigarette. Something to keep my mind off of things.
“Sorry about that Anthony. What were we talking about?”
“About this lovely family with all their righteous family values.”
“Mmm, yes.” I wasn’t sure I even got a smirk for that one. “Well Anthony this is Hollywood. Things are a little different out here. I appreciate your concern. We’ll have to contain the information that gets loose.”
Anthony Carrick Hardboiled Murder Mysteries: Box Set (Books 1 - 3) Page 20
