by Mike Cranny
He turned on the lights. If Robbie had left in a hurry, his living space didn’t show it. The kitchen was messy, bachelor messy, but it wasn’t getting the hell out of Dodge messy. The other rooms were in the same condition. The bed was neither made nor unmade. A few items of clothing hung on a chair in the living room. Empty beer cans and full ashtrays occupied the coffee and end tables. He knew immediately that someone other than a cop had been in the trailer and had searched the place, although whoever had done so had been very good at his job. If anyone had asked how Archie knew that Robbie’s space had been searched, he wasn’t sure he could have said. Nothing obvious. Subtle things like the TV remote control being an awkward reach from the right hand corner of the couch where it was clear that Robbie sat to watch TV had been moved a little, or the tobacco can too close to the sink — that sort of thing. Nothing by itself told the story. Together — well, that was a different.
Archie hoped the intruder had been unsuccessful. He began his search certain that there was something important still to find. He could be very methodical when he needed to be plus he had good instincts. He took his time, found nothing inside. The object had to be outside then. He walked the area of the trailer pad, head down like an archaeologist, and then, with his light in hand, he crawled under the structure. He rolled onto his back and shoulder-bladed his way along the length of the structure. He ran his fingers along the floor joists. Near the line for the propane tank, his probing fingers found the thing.
A cellphone was tucked into a holder fixed to an extraneous 2x4 attached to the foundation of the trailer. He crawled out and tried to turn it on, but the battery was dead. He took it to the Dodge, plugged in his car charger and connected the device. Then he returned to the trailer, turned out all the lights, closed and locked the door. He attached and arranged the caution tape before he got back into his car. Then he drove back down the logging road to the highway.
He was tired but his mind was racing. The smart phone was still charging but the unit lit up when he pressed a key. He scrolled down through the messages. Within moments he knew why Robbie had hidden the device so well. Now there was little point in going home to sleep — he would be far too preoccupied. He turned south for Empire City as he had originally planned. His meeting with Thomas would have to wait. Two hours down, two back, maybe an hour looking around. He’d be home by two and then he’d sleep. The last text message on the smart phone mentioned the Sunburst. There were other folders on the smart phone but they were locked and he couldn’t open them without a password. He would get the techies to look into that.
CHAPTER 2 3
Just north of Empire City, Archie found a cut-off that took him past the Sunburst Cafe. There was little traffic at that time of night — he was glad of that. He turned onto the avenue close to the cafe. He was not surprised to see lights on inside, although it was very late. He drove on past the building, turned right onto a side street and then circled the block. He parked where he was certain the car wouldn’t be conspicuous, on a street kitty corner from the café. Then he cut the ignition and settled down for a wait.
He watched until his eyes grew heavy, contemplated ending his vigil but finally the lights of the café went out. He checked his watch — one in the morning. Five minutes later, a dark red Volvo sedan pulled up in front of the café. Two people came out the front door of the Sunburst. They got into the back seat of the sedan, which pulled away immediately. Archie slid lower in his seat, out of sight he hoped, and watched it pass. He had recognized one of the two passengers as Parker, the manager of the Sunburst; the other had stayed in the dark and was in the sedan before Archie could get a make on him.
When the car was gone, Archie got out of the Dodge. He took his Maglite and crossed the street to the alley alongside the building. There he paused, checked his back trail and then hurried to the side door of the café. He checked the lock — a dead bolt setup too good for him to pick quickly. Then he looked for a window he could use; he found one he thought would suit. Moments later and, he hoped, with a minimum of noise he was inside. He rubbed his eyes to help them focus. He knew he was really pushing his luck. If he’d been smart, he would have gone home and slept like a normal human being. Then, in the morning, he could have taken John Robbie’s smart phone to the station and waited until the password situation was resolved. But he hadn’t gone home, and he was in the middle of an unauthorized Break and Enter, so such thoughts were a waste of time.
He eased his way through shelves stacked with tinned food and other supplies. His night eyes were good and he refrained from switching on the Maglite until such time as he really needed it. The last thing he needed was to get busted by Empire City cops and have to call on Pared to get him out of jail.
He found nothing unusual on the first floor so he followed a hunch and went down the stairs into the basement. Four large upright freezers occupied one wall. He knew what they contained even before he opened them. He switched on the Maglite and then checked all four, one at a time. Two were filled with frozen abalone, certainly bought from poachers; the others were filled with freezer bags packed, so far as he could see, with bear paws and other contraband that would be destined for China.
He guessed that there was an illegal fortune in the freezers. He was so engrossed in mental calculations that he didn’t hear what was going on behind him. A baseball bat swung hard caught him square across the shoulders and drove him forward. The shock of the blow shot through his body.
He recovered enough to turn away, tried to dodge the next swing — too late. The heavy wood whistled into his ribs and knocked the wind out of him. He fell gasping for breath to the floor. The internal lights in the freezers had taken away his night vision and he felt helpless. He saw only the dark mass that was his attacker. He raised his arm to deflect the next blow, which glanced off across his forearm rather than hitting him in the head. He grunted against the pain and stood up, angry. Somebody said, “Enough.”
The lights came on. The big man, Jumbo, whose picture Archie had seen with Pared, pushed Archie forward with the head of the bat. Scorpion stood off to one side holding a Glock. This he pointed at Archie’s face. He waved it indicating that Archie should turn around and face the other direction. Archie saw that Scorpion grimaced as he moved and guessed why. With no option, he turned to face the man who had ordered the attack.
Bill Tran sat on one of the bottom stairs, a bottle of Steam Anchor beer in his right hand. Tran was a small man, almost delicate, but the right side of his face had been scarred in a knife fight early in his career. The effect of the wound had been to sever nerves in the cheek causing his smile to be lopsided. People often couldn’t decide if he was serious or having them on, but most knew it was safest to assume that Bill was deadly serious, even if he appeared to be joking.
If Bill was surprised to see Archie in the basement of the Sunburst, his face didn’t show it. He raised the beer as if he were making a toast. His smile lifted only the left side of his mouth.
“Didn’t expect that you’d figure this out, Archie, but I guess you did.”
“You’ve branched out, Bill,” Archie said. His forearm throbbed and his ribs pained like they had been broken. “I didn’t figure you for this sort of thing. Should have, I guess, but didn’t.”
“You shouldn’t be sticking your nose in this, Arch. It’s dangerous. You could get yourself killed.”
“Don’t threaten me, Bill. I don’t like it.”
“Then stay the fuck out. This isn’t even your town, you got no jurisdiction here.”
“You’re still a two-bit bullshitter, Bill. Like you always were.”
Archie knew what was coming but didn’t react in time. Jumbo swung the bat into the back of his legs, knocking him off-balance. He caught himself, turned to face the big man who had just swung the bat.
“Damn you,” Archie said. “I’ll remember this.”
Jumbo grinned, hefted the bat. His eyes flicked to his partner, Scorpion, for an instant. Archie hit
hard and fast. He drove a straight left into Jumbo’s nose, which exploded in blood.
Jumbo swore, took a step back and put a hand up to his nose. Archie heard Scorpio laughing behind him. That seemed to enrage Jumbo who advanced on Archie, one hand trying to staunch the blood flow, the other brandishing the bat.
“Settle down, Jumbo,” Tran said. “You’ve had a bloody nose before.”
“I’m going to cripple this fucker.”
As Jumbo hefted the bat, Archie caught him with another jab with his left, his right still numb and tingling.
“Fuck you!” Jumbo said. “I’ll kill you.”
“I said stop!”
Tran was angry now, angry that his order wasn’t being followed. It was always bad news to cross Bill Tran. Everybody knew that. Scorpion quickly moved in and eased Jumbo back a step.
“Do what he wants, stupid,” he said. “Settle down. Be a professional.”
Jumbo shook his head, retreated half a step and then he lowered the bat.
“That’s good, Jumbo,” Archie said. “Do as you’re told.”
“Don’t make this worse, Archie,” Tran said. “It’s going to get rough enough as it is.”
“What’s holding you up?”
“I want to know what you know.”
“Jesus, Bill. I’m here. You know what I know. If I was a local cop, I’d arrest you.”
“That’s funny.”
“Not so funny, Bill. You should have been put away years ago.”
Tran shook his head, ruefully like he had failed to make some dimwitted person understand something very simple.
“For old times’ sake, I’m not going to hurt you too bad, Archie. But you have to know that if you don’t keep your nose out of my business, you won’t have a nose.”
He nodded to Scorpio who aimed the Glock at Archie’s head. Tran stood, turned and walked away up the stairs.
“Now what?” Archie asked.
He almost thought he heard the whistle of the bat and then everything went dark.
Cold damp and harsh morning light brought him back to consciousness. A landscape of stained brown appeared before his eyes. He felt a hard rib of vinyl under a bruised cheekbone and realized that he was curled up in the back seat of the Dodge. He pulled himself upright, grimaced against the sharp pain in his back. Lots of things hurt. He had a dim recollection of Bill Tran telling him not to come back if he wanted to stay alive.
He hauled himself out of the back seat, found his keys in his pocket. He checked for the smart phone that he’d found at Robbie’s but it was not on him nor was it in the car. Curious, he checked his face in the mirror. Aside from a red welt on one cheekbone, he looked not too bad. It was his back, ribs, and chest that really hurt — they had worked him over like the professionals they were. He was angry, but he was also very hungry. He needed a good breakfast. Gingerly, he turned the ignition, peddled the old engine back to life, turned the Dodge around and headed back to the Sunburst Café.
The hippie owner looked surprised when Archie limped through the door. His hand was on its way to the cellphone near the cash but Archie pointed at him and waved a dismissive hand. Parker nodded and spread his hands in the interrogative.
“A menu,” Archie said. “I want breakfast.”
He sat down in a booth that gave him views of both the front door and the length of the narrow seating area all the way to the back. He didn’t expect trouble but he sure as hell wasn’t going to limp out of town with his tail between his legs.
“You got guts, buddy,” Parker said. “I hear that you’re lucky to be alive.”
“Three eggs scrambled, bacon, hash-browns, white toast, coffee,” Archie said. “Try not to poison me. It’s been a rough night.”
“Breakfast is good here. You’ll like it. Just so you know — what goes on here with Bill doesn’t have anything to do with me. I just run breakfast and lunch.”
It hurt to laugh but Archie managed it anyhow.
“If you say so, Parker. Just bring me my breakfast okay?”
“Right on.”
He keyed the order into the register and then went to get Archie cutlery, which he set on the table. Other customers arrived and found their tables. Most seemed to be regulars and Parker repeated their usual orders back to them. Archie was beginning to believe that Parker really was an innocent dupe, would like to have believed that. In any case, he had other things, other people on his mind.
Breakfast was as good as promised. Archie finished up, lingered as long as his aching ribs would let and then, between spasms, lifted himself out of the seat. Parker came over with the bill. Archie took it from him, balled it up and tossed it into the booth he’d just vacated.
“Tran can pay this for me,” he said. “He owes me breakfast at least.”
“I guess I’ll just make this one on the house.”
“Suit yourself, Parker.”
“I will, I will.”
Feeling somewhat revived, Archie walked out into a cutting wind that brought on a painful shiver. He’d had enough time with Tran to make sense of part of the puzzle. He put in a call to Pared about the lockers filled with contraband, mostly to see where that would lead. Pared seemed surprised, said he’d look into the matter when he had time, which meant either that he would do nothing or that the contents of the freezers be moved before he got there. Likely, the freezers were empty already. Archie nodded agreement to himself. Then he turned the ugly nose of the Dodge towards home.
CHAPTER 24
“What the hell happened to you?”
Patsy gawked at Archie like he was the victim of a train wreck. He had forgotten that he was wearing some of the results of last night’s adventure on his face, although he had imagined that Jumbo and Scorpion had taken care not to do too much in that department. He had tried to get through the building to his office without being seen, to avoid questions from the Chief as much as anything. He was relieved when he didn’t encounter Fricke, but Patsy was at his door waiting for him. She looked him over, concern on her face. She’d be seeing things Archie thought were minor, like the bruising on his right cheek and the dried blood around his ear. She touched one of the tender areas on his jaw and he wished that he had gone home first and cleaned up.
“I took a fall,” he said. “I’m clumsy, always have been.”
“Ha, ha.”
He tried a smile. She shook her head.
“You look like hell, Archie. Bruised up and dragged out — that’s you.”
“Thanks. When I need a compliment I’ll come to you.”
“You should go home.”
He shook his head.
“Too much to do. Call up Lee. We’ll meet in my office in twenty minutes.”
“Archie — Jesus!”
“No — just the three of us.”
She grinned and tossed her head. It was the first time he had made a joke.
She turned on her heel and walked away down the corridor. He watched her go, his eyes lingering too long. He caught himself at it. Something about the package — her figure, her walk, her carriage, the set of her shoulders — was alarmingly fascinating. He mentally chastised himself and headed for the washroom to try to clean up as best he could. Inside, he looked at his face in the mirror; saw fine wrinkles around the tired-looking and reddened eyes. He filled the bowl with water and went to work. He was drying off when Chad Reddin walked in, glanced at him and went to a urinal.
“You look like shit, Stevens,” he said.
“So I’ve been told.”
“Fricke talk to you yet?”
“What about?”
“What I heard is that you were sticking your nose into Empire City business and Empire City don’t like it.”
Archie tilted his head.
“You know what Fricke can do.”
Reddin finished up, washed his hands and passed Archie on his way out. At the door, he turned and grinned.
“He’ll be glad to hear you tell him, I’ll bet. Empire City don’t
like much what we do but this is the first time I ever heard of a Harsley cop working their beat. You must be nuts or stupid.”
“Go away, Reddin.”
Reddin said something Archie didn’t hear, pulled back the door and left the room grinning. Archie took a plastic container of Aspirin from a cabinet near the door, popped three in his mouth, then bent down and took a gulp of water from the faucet. Jumbo and Scorpion had been good — the pain kept increasing as the day went on. He made a mental note to pay that debt back as soon as he could.
Fricke did look angrier than usual. Archie had gone to his office to get things over with. Fricke waited for Archie to get inside his office, and then instructed him to close the “fucking door,” after which he expressed his strong view that Archie should let him know when he was trespassing in other jurisdictions. Archie was getting used to being on the carpet. He waited until Fricke had finished and then told him what he had in mind and what he had discovered. At first Fricke seemed unimpressed with Archie’s plan but, gradually, the thought that he could stick it to the Empire City department seemed to intrigue him.
“So you met Pared. What did you think?” he asked.
“I’m not sure what to make of him. He seems okay but I don’t think he liked me around much. He tried to put me off talking to Dolan. I doubt very much he did anything about the contraband. He blew me off when I told him about it.”
“He’s highly territorial,” Fricke said. “Plus he thinks we’re strictly bush league. He doesn’t like to share intelligence or resources. I hate the prick.”
“You know Dolan?”
“I know him.”
“He seemed like a good cop, like he knew his job.”
“He gives that impression alright. I worked with him years ago. You have to be careful with him.”
