The happy Ness also wished to remain forever within this special moment and then his wandering eyes were greeted by the familiar, warm smiling faces of the on looking Gerber and Cowles as they sat at their dimly lit table and watched their special love effortlessly blossom upon the dancefloor. Ness warmly smiled back at the two of them as they looked on and marvelled at their timeless and intimate embrace that they too wished for to express to the world but could not. Gerber and Cowles then secretly held each other’s hand under there table, both somewhat sad at how judgemental society was about their illicit love but also happy that they had found each other within this unpredictable world. Gerber’s Gladstone bag’s then made a slight bubbling and cheering sound which caused him to irritatingly kick it as his three hidden companions rejoiced at their friend’s newly blossoming romance. The appreciative coroner was adamant that this perfectly romantic moment would not be intruded upon by the darkness which pervaded all other aspects of his life.
Holliday then slowly finished her romantic masterpiece to a well-deserved applause as the immersed Ness and Poppy reluctantly separated from each other and smiled before also joining in with the energetic praising of the skilled singer and songwriter. They then both reluctantly left the magically spellbinding dance floor and slowly walked back to their table which cruelly awaited there imminent arrival to painfully reintroduce them back into reality and there separate destinies. As Ness returned to the table he curiously looked outside and saw that the lonesome detective was still smoking as his smoke was brilliantly illuminated with wonderful colours of the Sky Bar advertising lights.
After a few seconds of watching the troubled Merlyo, Ness then noticed that Poppy was missing until he saw that she had taken this brief opportunity after their dance to hastily collect her coat, umbrella and a mysteriously full Higbee's department store bag from the nearby patron’s cloakroom. She then returned to their table with a warm smile upon her face before placing the large Higbee’s bag upon the table and Ness looked at the mysterious bag before he spoke, concerned at her hasty departure from such a wonderfully romantic moment “Are you going already? We’ve not even discussed anything in detail yet and what’s in the bag?” She smiled as she replied “It’s my redemption! All of the congressman’s meticulously detailed incriminating information on his illicit finical dealings, correspondence with Polizzi as well as the Jewish and Irish mobs, off shore bank accounts in the Caribbean, prostitution rings, illegal gambling den locations, government official bribes and named crooked cops etc. Also there’s incriminating information about Sweeney’s continual protection of his cousin the Mad Butcher!”
She then handed a shocked Ness her coat and turned around as he instinctively proceeded to help her put it back on before she turned around to hear Ness speak again “You don’t have to go, we can protect from Sweeney!” She warmly smiled at him and gently touched his face with a longing look within her sad eyes before she then picked up her red purse and then leaned in to kiss him. A sad Ness reciprocated her emotional advances and they intimately kissed each other in a slow and loving embrace, both longing for precious moments within their turbulent past to be changed so that the events of this night would be different. She then reluctantly stopped because she feared that she would not have the strength to leave the Sky Bar if he continued to kiss her and so she opted to just move her lips away from his, reluctant to break that newly created bond that they had just made upon the starlit dance floor. She then slowly opened her beckoning eyes and looked into his as she gently stroked his sad looking face, knowing that she had to leave him and this city far behind her if was ever going to escape the trappings of her past.
She then quickly turned and started to leave but the concerned Ness stood up with the bag and took her by the arm before he spoke again, unwilling to let her just walk out of his life without a fight “I was going to ask you to marry me after we made love the first time but then things got out of hand and ‘complicated’. I’m so sorry about how things turned out between us and I regret a lot, truly I do. I wish we could go back and change things but we don’t have to because we can change them right now and make a fresh new start! Don’t you see? Now that we have these documents your no longer under Sweeney’s control anymore! You’re free! You’re a beautiful human being Poppy and I don’t think that you can see that because of your farther! He’s clouded your mind with his corrosive influence” Poppy felt sad knowing that there perfectly blissful moment was quickly evaporating and quickly gave him another kiss upon his cheek before she spoke again “What we had was a beautiful thing but all good things come to an end and the best thing that we can do is to try and remember those fleeting moments of precious love as best as we can. Take care of yourself and don’t forget that we’ll always have this starlit dance timelessly within our hearts!”
The sad Ness then watched as the beautiful Poppy turned and left the Sky Bar whilst he held her bag of redemption within his hands, not interested in its miraculous contents and internally debating what he should do about his slowly fracturing heart. As the doorman opened the door for her and she left into the luminously lit rain, he slowly walked over towards the window and watched as she walked up to the lonesome Merlyo and stood next to him as he finished his cigarette. Ness thought that he would allow the couple to have a few precious moments together before he would try once again and change her mind about leaving because his turbulent emotions where running wild inside himself and he now desperately wished her to stay with him. The fabulous Billie Holliday then started to sing the famed Bessie Smith song which was aptly named Devil's Gonna Get You and Ness could not help but suddenly feel apprehensive as her impressively sung words reverberated within his troubled soul “Mister Devil down below, his fork in his hand and that’s where you’re going to go. Do you understand? Devil’s gonna get you, Devils gonna get you, oh! Devils gonna get you”
Meanwhile outside in the illuminated and cold rain Merlyo spoke as soon as he saw her join him in his self-imposed isolation “I’m sorry about how I behaved in there but I just felt hurt and betrayed. I know you had your reasons and I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to you when you were young” Poppy looked at him affectionately and smiled as she was almost about to cry and simply said “Merlyo” before she then gently kissed him on the cheek, smiled and turned to signal the awaiting taxi from across the street. The panicked Merlyo was alarmed when he saw her do this and spoke immediately “You leaving so soon? I have so much to say to you, so many regrets that I want to apologise for! Will I ever see you again?”
She hesitantly spoke with a sadness within her voice that saturated every word, reluctant to leave either of the men whom she still both immensely loved “Maybe? Who knows? Now you go and catch that girl’s killer ok?” The emotional Merlyo smiled because she knew him so well and as the taxi pulled up, he momentarily paused as he placed his hand upon the door because he did not wish to let her go. She noticed his reluctance to release her and so she lovingly kissed him on the cheek before she put her hand over his, gently opening the door with his and looking lovingly into his needy eyes, the eyes of a tired detective whom was lost within the maelstrom of a romance that he still longed for. She then proceeded to get into the taxi as the reluctant detective closed the door behind her and a newfound sadness began to fill her up from within, a sadness that would be everlasting and she feared that it might even be a sadness that could potentially cause her to self-harm again in future moments of despair.
Meanwhile the desperate Ness was attempting to push his way past the oncoming crowd which clogged the entrance to the Sky Bar as he frantically tried to get to Poppy before she left his life forever. He also wished to escape the ominous devil song which he thought was being especially sung for him, further rattling his already shaken nerves and causing him to feel unsettled within the formerly romantic setting. The sad Merlyo longingly looked at Poppy as she wound down the window and lovingly smiled at him from inside the warm sanctuary of the taxi before
it slowly started to pull away. He would forever remember this lovingly endearing smile above all other things about her as he subconsciously imbedded it’s comforting image within his longing mind.
The hastily arriving Ness then shouted after her as the taxi drove away and into the rain filled night “We’ll always be here for you and we’ll always love you!” Poppy became overwhelmingly sad within the lonesome taxi as she heard Ness’s desperately kind words and turned to look once more upon the faces of the two men that she had loved so much over the last few years. They both then slowly disappeared into the rain only to leave there memories that she would now and forever always treasure within her longing heart. She was deeply troubled by the pair’s gradual disappearance within the rain and desperately longed to stay there with them and see things through to their ultimate conclusion but she feared that her mere presence was a terrible danger to them and wished to prematurely extinguish it.
She knew that the congressman and Polizzi would be hunting her with a newfound relentless desire to eliminate both her and the valuable evidence that she had obtained. She also knew that these two men would have no qualms about also killing anyone else whom knew about the evidence’s existence, regardless if they had read it or not and so by removing herself from the equation she would be removing an additional danger from the two lawmen whom she yet still loved. She could not bear the thought of unwittingly putting the ones that she loved in jeopardy yet again and so she had decided upon this drastic course of action and was determined to free herself from this blighted bonds of this broken city and its cruel master, the congressman.
Both Ness and Merlyo slowly walked into the lonesome street and stood there as the rain came down hard all around them, not just from the clouds above but also from deep within their own hearts. They both then shed a tear for the love that they had both now lost and hoped that this troublesome feeling of overwhelming sadness would soon dissipate and change into something else. The lights from Poppy’s taxi then finally disappeared into the rainy night forever, leaving the two lawmen with alone with her bag of redemption to ponder the timelessly complicated aspects of a tragically lost love.
Both the soaking wet Ness and Merlyo ran back to their awaiting silver Scarab which gleamed like a beacon within the gloomy night as the illuminated rain bounced off its impervious shiny shell. As they hastily jumped in to the Scarab, and just before Merlyo could voice his ill opinion about the oddly placed facing passenger seat, Ness voiced his satisfaction about current events as Zalewski’s Ford speeded past them and disappeared into the rainy distance “Don’t concern yourself about Poppy because I have Zalewski tailing her. I have absolutely no intention of losing a prime witness like Poppy to the congressman or his goons. She’s in mortal danger now and regardless of whether she likes it or not, she getting our protection!”
Merlyo was pleasantly surprised at Ness’s cunningly shrewd nature which had the uncanny ability of always unpredictably bending events unto his will and replied as he satisfactorily watched his partners Ford disappear into the rainy distance “So you’re having her followed by Zalewski? You sly old dog you! I must confess that I’m feeling a lot better knowing that she’s safe and being protected. Now what’s in that bag that you’re clutching like grim death?” Ness suddenly realised that he was still unconsciously holding the Higbee’s department store bag with both hands and instantly loosened his grip before placing it onto Merlyo’s lap and replying to the ever observant detective “This is Poppy’s final gift to us and her ‘redemption’ if you will for all her past mistakes. I had a brief look inside and, according to Poppy, it contains a meticulously kept paper records of all of the congressman’s wonderfully dirty dealings and sordidly dark secrets that he has partaken in over the last couple of years. I bet county prosecutor Cullitan will be eager to read all this, especially with regard to our tax evasion case that where both building up against Polizzi. We have to get this safely locked up back at the department’s safe and that’s where headed right now”
The smiling Ness then put the sleek silver machine into gear and slowly pulled away from the dazzling Lindsay’s Sky Bar jazz club, reluctant to leave but also eager to safely conceal his newly found precious prize which would prove fatal to the congressman and his dubious associates if investigated. As Merlyo hastily looked into the bag and scanned the many documents that contained a variety of revealing information about the congressman’s many illicit business dealings with the Cleveland underworld, he could not help but smile as he felt an internal excitement overflow his calculating mind. Ness slowly pulled up to the red traffic light as Merlyo silently smiled at him and him in return because they both knew that the bag contained a variety of indictable information that county prosecutor Cullitan could prosecute almost immediately within any court in the land.
After a few moments and just as the preoccupied Merlyo was about to inform Ness on an interestingly curious business transaction that took place between the congressman and Polizzi, Ness strangely did not drive away whereas the surrounding automobiles did due to the green traffic light. This then caused the intently reading Merlyo to voice his complaint about his obviously sluggish driving ability as the green light further eliminated the interesting information that he was currently reading “What’s the matter, its green!” When he did not obtain an immediate reply the detective then reluctantly stopped his reading of the insightful paper and looked at the motionless Ness whom was transfixed on the window ahead of him. The curious Merlyo then followed his alarmed gaze towards the outside to see that no other than the ugly scarred face of “Little Fish” Machiano whom was defiantly looking back at them both through the rain.
The famed Mayfield Road mobster was standing in the way of the automobile under the green light whilst ominously pointing a tommy gun at the both of them, silently emphasizing with a deadly unspoken clarity that the two of them where in immediate danger. As the Scarabs lights beamed into the squinting eyes of the mobster’s famed goon, both nervous occupants of the Scarab then alarmingly noticed that numerous automobile lights suddenly lit up behind them in the unseen rain. This chillingly then revealed all five of the Mayfield Road Mob’s dark yellow Chrysler’s as two of these Chryslers slowly pulled up on either side of them whist the others remained behind the motionless Scarab in reserve. Both the motionless Ness and Merlyo then worryingly noticed that the shadowy occupants where familiarly all brandished tommy guns and the detective then voiced his concern to the equally concerned Ness “I have a distinct feeling of Déjà vu! Please, for the love of god, tell me that you’re packing because I’m defiantly not in this blasted monkey suit!”
Ness then cautiously spoke whilst attempting to not move his lips because he was fully aware of the potentially deadly situation that they were currently in “My revolver’s in the glove compartment but don’t go for it just yet for god’s sake! Let’s just see how this all play’s out first” Both keenly observant lawmen then noticed the distinctively shiny black LaSalle of Alfred Polizzi as it slowly pulled up behind the rear of the behind Chryslers, its silver owl bonnet ornament sparkling in the street lights which lined the rain soaked road. Inside the famed smoke filled Mayfield Road Mob’s leader’s LaSalle the silent Polizzi then nodded to his driver as he slowly made his Cuban cigar satisfactorily glow within the backseat shadows. He was eager to acquire and destroy the precious documents that the two famed lawman now had within their possession and was determined to get them at all costs.
With this unspoken signal each driver in turn then signalled the other until the lead driver of the Chrysler next to Merlyo signalled the on looking Little Fish whom instantly shouted at the anxious occupants of the silver Scarab “Mr Polizzi would like those important documents that the whore just gave you in Lindsay’s! So if you’ll kindly roll down your window and give them to my colleague in the Chrysler next to you, we can all go home quickly tonight and more importantly, in one piece! The generously gracious Mr Polizzi would hate to have to make some
new ventilation holes in that impressive ‘Elegant Mess’ of yours Ness! Hahaha!” The anxious Ness quickly nodded in agreement to the mobster as he slowly turned to Merlyo and before he could speak, the unbelieving and smiling detective interrupted him because he was alarmed at his apparent eagerness to accommodate the goon’s unacceptable demands “You’re not seriously thinking of just given them this bag without a fight are you!? I mean this has conviction written all over to it! We will never ever get another opportunity like this to get rid of Sweeney, Polizzi or the Mad Butcher for that matter!”
Ness then whispered to him as he tried not to move his lips again, adamant that he did not wish the lip reading goon’s in the adjacent Chrysler’s to determine that he would not give up his prize willingly “Get ready and hold on!” Merlyo’s behaviour suddenly changed as he knew that the stern looking Ness was about to initiate a dramatic confrontation that would undoubtedly lead to violence and quite possibly even their untimely deaths. Ness then carefully pressed a secret button under his steering wheel to release the secure glass panel of his nearby buttons which instantly sprung open, allowing for easy access to a multitude of fashionably stylised art deco buttons.
The Noir Evil Page 68
