Marcie couldn’t bring herself to talk to Walt when they got out of her cruiser. She opened the front door and walked in ahead of him. She walked straight ahead to the stairs so she could check on her dad. Walt had veered off into the den for some reason she couldn’t begin to fathom, but at the moment she didn’t care. He and Ronald were on a crash course that was going to leave them either dead or in jail. The things he had said to her had both confirmed the accusations the FBI had leveled against him mere hours ago and horrified her all at the same time. As a cop, she knew what she should do. As the ex-girlfriend of the one that got away, the lines had been blurred.
She wondered if she should call Paul and lay it all out for him; get his take on it and maybe find a course of action that satisfied both her professional concerns and the more personal side of things. The problem with calling Paul though, was it let the cat out of the bag.
At the top of the stairs, she turned to her right and went down the hall to the bathroom. She flipped on the light switch and then stood staring at herself in the mirror. She noticed her looks were beginning to fade. Her hips no longer held the same youthful curves that she once considered her best asset. However, she knew she still had time to find her Mr. Right and Walt may or may not be the one for her. One thing was for certain, as it stood there was no way she could settle down with, much less date a man like Walt. He had too much baggage. Her hand reached down and picked up her brush. She absently began brushing out the tangles the wind had provided that morning.
Her eyes looked far away, as if she was watching a distant horizon. She stopped brushing her hair and looked at her reflection. Marcie’s eyes roamed over the age lines that had begun to show in her forehead and the laughter lines around her mouth. She also had crow’s feet that just seemed to grow by the inch, every day. On days like this, she questioned herself about what the point was. She was still young enough to bear children, but just old enough to wonder if her womb would be barren forever.
Marcie shook her head and reached up to turn off the lights in the bathroom. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she hesitated for just a moment. She strained her ears to hear the rising of the garage door, but all she heard was some slight rustle of feet downstairs.
‘What is he doing?’ she wondered to herself. ‘Doesn’t he realize that every second he hangs around jeopardizes his freedom?’
She felt a flush of anger rise in her cheeks as she walked down the hallway to her dad’s bedroom. She stopped again, only this time she listened for signs of activity inside his bedroom. Upon hearing nothing, Marcie eased the doorknob until she could push it silently open.
As she stepped inside, the medical smells of an impending death met her nostrils. Rufus had been in a lingering state for years now. Most days he barely moved and would have to be fed through a tube, but he still had days at a time when his mind and eyes were both clear. On those days, all of her doubts about keeping him at home disappeared. Today, however, would not be one of those days. He had been semi-lucid the other night, when Walt had come over.
Jesus, had she and Walt been out just two days ago. Had it really been in retrospect, hours ago? Marcie felt like Walt had been around for years not just a few days. She reached out and grabbed her father’s hand. She could still feel the rough callused hands of a man who had worked for decades moving timber, turning wrenches and a million other blue-collar jobs that men of his generation had done. But as rough as his palms were, the tops of his hands were baby soft and warm against her skin.
She reached out and used her hand to comb stray hairs off his brow. Marcie leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, and then whispered in his ear, “I love you, daddy.” She hovered over him like that for a while, looking for any sign of recognition or movement that would indicate his conscience was climbing off the depths of his almost coma-like sleep.
She felt a tear begin to slide down her face. Wiping away the tears, she patted his hand and then quietly left his room.
For some reason, Walt didn’t put the comb down. Instead, he used the handle to sift through the remaining items that lay on the bottom of the bowl. He saw the unmistakable form of a large keyring. Picking it up, Walt turned the keys over in his hand. He noticed a key that he assumed was to the house and another that looked like it may be for a safety deposit box. He also saw what looked like the square-cut key for the Jeep she had told him about.
Walt pocketed the keys and then placed everything back in the bowl. He was about to place the pink comb on top of the bills, but stopped and again looked the comb over. It was large and the teeth were set far apart. He glanced over his shoulder and again looked at the swing in the backyard. He wondered if there was something she had held back. He shook his head and decided now wasn’t the time to go asking questions about her past or if there was something more current she hadn’t told him.
He turned on his heel and walked over to the door that led to the garage. Walt tried turning the knob but found it to be locked. There was no obvious lock in the handle and no deadbolt that held the door closed. Walt stepped back and stared at the door. His eyes looked for some hidden lock that would allow him entry into the garage so that he could take the Jeep and go in search of Ronald. Stumped, he took a step back and surveyed the door. There was nothing special about the door or the knob. The door looked solid, like it was oak. The knob was silver with a small hole in the center. He had seen this type of lock before. When his kids had been very young, Lori had changed all of the locks that had the large twist lock in the middle. Thomas had shown a keen sense for turning the twist lock. He had managed to get the door unlocked and had walked in on them having sex. Mortified, Lori had gone out and purchased new door handles that required a slim piece of metal with a flat finish on it.
Walt went back over to the bowl where he had found the keys and began rooting around for the metal piece for the door. He found it at the very bottom, under sticks of gum. He went back to the garage door and became frustrated at his lack of ability to defeat a child lock. After a minute, the lock surrendered to his attentions. Walt turned casually and tossed the pick on the bar as he opened the door and walked into the garage.
He pulled the door shut behind him and locked the door. Walt assumed the knob was meant for her father, should he decide to escape. The Jeep was against the far wall. It sat there quietly, like a soldier waiting to be ordered into battle. He could see it was white in the darkened garage. Walt stood still and let his eyes adjust to the dark. He could have turned on the lights but for reasons he couldn’t put into words, had decided instead to move around in the dark.
Walt opened the driver’s side door and put the key in the ignition. He turned the key to activate the accessories. Walt saw the gas gauge sitting close to empty and again wondered if this was meant as a failsafe for her ailing father.
Walt got in and began looking for a garage door opener. After he didn’t find one, Walt walked back over to the door that led into the kitchen. His hand was reaching for the button to activate the mechanized drive for the garage door, when Marcie opened the kitchen door.
Walt stopped and looked at her. In the time it had taken them to reach her house, something had changed between them. She had become cold and distant. Her eyes had taken on the steely gaze of a cop and no longer held the warmth of the lover he had once known. Now she looked at him like a perp.
Walt dropped his eyes to the floor, unable to hold her gaze. “You having second thoughts?” he said to the floor.
“Not really.”
“Marse, it’s best if you just let this one go.”
“I’m not some babe in the woods, you know? I’m a cop. And what you’re doing goes against the oath I took.”
He still couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “Marcie, this is one of those times when the smart play is to hook me up and take me in.”
“Why do you keep trying to talk me into arresting you?”
Walt shrugged. ‘Maybe because it’s what I should have done,’ he thought
.
“You have to do more than just shrug your shoulders at me. I need to know, Walt.”
“Marcie, there’s only one way this ends.”
“And how’s that?”
“Probably with me dead or in a federal lockup.”
“Don’t say that. It’s not too late. Come clean with the FBI or better yet, tell Paul what you know.”
“Can’t.”
“So you’re going to steal my dad’s Jeep and ride off to your death? Is that the plan?”
Walt blew out his breath and raised his head. His eyes found hers and for the first time in a long time, he felt the weight of his past come crashing down on him. “Marcie I’m a drunk. I’ve got no family to speak of and whatever semblance of normalcy I had left me a long time ago. Do us both a favor and either walk away or take me in.”
Marcie stepped down into the garage. “Walt, you’re a good man, you’ve always been a good man, and this isn’t like you. Let me go with you. We’ll face this together.”
Walt shook his head, “Not this time.”
“What about your kids? Don’t they deserve to have a dad?”
For the first time, the reality of his position as a dad settled in. He was dejected and depressed, but more than that, he knew the best thing for Thomas and Cassandra was to leave them to Earl and Lori. “Maybe when this is over, I can do something for them,” he lied.
Her eyes softened and he could see the tears start to form at the corners of her eyes. “Only fools become martyrs.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t change the facts.”
She walked past him and over to some homemade shelves. He watched her dig around for a bit until she found what she was looking for. Walt could see now it was an ammo box. She hefted it and then walked over to him and handed it to him. “Take these. There is more than enough in there to start a war. After you’re gone, I’ll give you thirty minutes, then I have to call it in.”
Walt took the ammo box and nodded his head in thanks. He leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled back. He looked at her, nodded, then stepped back and headed for the Jeep. “Open it up for me, will you?”
Marcie didn’t answer him. She turned around and as she was going inside, she hesitated for just a moment before pushing the button to open the garage door. Walt stood still as the door started to rise. He willed her to turn around and wish him luck or at the very least, ask him not to get himself killed. He watched as the side door closed behind her. Marcie never looked back.
After she was gone, Walt headed over to her cruiser to pick up the gun and the badge he had left in the car.
Jenny watched him through binoculars as he opened the passenger’s side door and reached inside to retrieve a brown paper bag. Then he turned and walked back into the garage. After he was out of sight, she said to Sam, “Look around and see if you notice any busybodies.”
“That's him?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied as she put the binoculars back to her face.
“What’s in the bag?”
She shrugged but didn’t answer him. Sam began to look more closely at all the houses around him for signs of life. Then he asked, “You changed your mind about taking him here?”
“Nope.”
He understood why she had asked him to look around but at the same time, this job was different. The whole vibe was off. Normally when they worked together they had an easy back and forth, but all day she had been bitchy and short with him. Sam wondered if it was her time of the month or if Pete had done something to piss her off. Either way, he was determined not to push her too far. She was, after all, sitting behind him with a loaded gun.
“He’s moving! Get ready.”
Sam looked over and saw a white Jeep Grand Cherokee back out of the garage, “Is he by himself?”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
He watched the Jeep back into the street and head east. Sam waited for the Jeep to get just out of view and then he too, headed east. They had to be careful because as he had discovered on the map program on his phone, the target could either continue moving east, in which case they would come out behind him or he could turn north at the next corner, in which case their target would be coming right at them.
Sam moved fast enough to see if he was going to exit the subdivision the way he was headed or if he was going to turn and come back at them. He saw the Jeep drive past the street they were on, which meant he was heading straight for Aspen St.
“Keep after him. We need to see which way he turns.”
Sam nodded and goosed it a little bit. He got to the corner just in time to see their target turn east. Sam hurried after him while Jenny got her phone out and punched in the number for their boss.
***
After I left Marcie’s, I remembered I owed a follow-up call to Karen and Bill. Ronald’s cryptic demeanor on the phone made me think that things were moving and I needed to get my head in the game. First I would need a phone though, something I could use openly and without worrying about tapped phone lines.
Pushing the throttle harder, I drove faster towards the freeway. This time of day 6&50 would be busy, but not clogged. The good news was the badge I now had would give me some cover if I got stopped for speeding. At least it was what I hoped would happen. I trusted Marcie but she was a cop and she still had her moral center intact. So I gave myself a 60/40 split on whether or not she’d dime me to Paul.
When I pulled out onto 6&50, I noticed a blue Taurus in my rearview mirror, coming up behind me at a decent clip. My first thought was I was being followed, but I quickly dismissed it. The hit had taken place a little over thirty-six hours ago. I doubted anyone would react fast enough to put another hitter on me, especially after what Ronald had said. For whatever the reason, my head and my hand started to throb. I gently flexed my bad hand to keep it loose and tried to ignore the dull ache that had taken up residence over my left eye.
The freeway was open and free from both truck traffic and slow-moving grandmas. I made good time to the Mesa Valley mall, where the Valley Market was located. As I turned into the parking lot I saw the Ford shoot by me and the driver never looked twice at me. I smiled at the paranoia I had allowed Ronald to inflict on me. Once I saw the Ford disappear from view, I headed inside to buy my new burner phone.
Sam watched the target vehicle pull into the parking lot of the Valley Market. His foot had started to come off the gas when he noticed the ex-cop turn around to face the entrance to the parking lot. Due to this, he kept the pressure right where it was. “We may have been made. I have to keep going. You watch him and let me know when I can turn around and go back.
“Roger,” Jenny said. At first she thought he was right. The ex-cop watched them go past and then continued to watch them until both he and the store were out of sight.
“We're good to turn around, but don’t take the straight shot back. Circle to the north and then come back at the store from the west. You may be right, he watched us until he couldn’t see us anymore. No telling if he’s still there or if he went inside.”
“Could be standing there waiting for us to turn around,” Sam said.
“Which is why I told you to circle a bit,” she scoffed.
I moved quickly inside the store and over to the counter where they kept the burner phones. All the clerks were busy so I started looking them over. My old phone before I had destroyed it was a just an old flip phone I’d had for years. Since I now found myself in need of a new phone, I decided to get a smartphone. These were easier for the Feds to track but that was only if they knew the number and I sure wasn’t going to tell them. Besides, if Karen and Bill had something for me and I was on the go, a new smartphone may come in handy.
It didn’t take very long for me to get overwhelmed by the choices. Finally, one of the store clerks noticed me and ambled over to help me out. After some back and forth, he pulled what he called a ‘non-contract’ smartphone off the shelf and handed it to me. I asked about setting it up and he assured me the ins
tructions were on the inside and easy enough to follow. Not convinced about how easy it was, I convinced him to show me, including how to turn off all of the tracking features. He did this but assured me the best thing was to be careful what apps I downloaded. Being the sophisticant I am, I nodded like I knew what an app was. I’m not sure he was impressed.
Next, I asked about what I would need for accessories and you would have thought I’d asked him to the prom. He loaded me up with chargers, memory cards and protective covers. Plus, he tossed in the minutes I would need for the phone to work.
After I paid for the phone, he helped me set it up. As I was leaving the store, I punched in Karen’s number from memory. She answered it on the second ring.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said as a way of greeting.
“Walter, what exactly have you gotten yourself into?”
“FBI call?”
“Nope, they stopped by. Not only were they not impressed with our shop, but from what they had to say about you, I’m not sure if knowing you is worth it.”
“Come on Karen, you guys have been braced by the law before. Don’t back out on me now, I need you guys now more than ever. Besides, I promise this will be the last time you have to dance around like a puppet on a string.”
“Bill and I helped you out this last time. After this, I think it’s time you moved your clown show on down the line.”
“Jesus, Karen. Clown show? Really? That’s hardly fair now, is it?”
On The Devil's Side of Heaven Page 26
