Savage Rising

by C. Hoyt Caldwell

  This devil, the one Spivey served, was Nolen. His business? Misery. And business was fucking booming.

  To put it bluntly, Spivey ran the pain division of Nolen Global Industries. NGI was a supersized conglomerate that bought other companies that made the shit that makes the world go ’round. Nolen couldn’t give a fuck about the world going ’round. His only concern was that his net worth was bigger than everyone else’s. So, he kept his bloodshot eyes on the top players in emerging markets, waited for a disaster to come along and knock them around, making them vulnerable to a takeover, and then he swooped in and bought them at rock-bottom prices. Actually, Nolen didn’t wait for a disaster as much as he encouraged it. Or rather Spivey did.

  Most mega-companies have men like Spivey, but they’re usually attorneys who bend the shit out of the law to knock dollar signs out of the competition. Spivey had never so much as sniffed the sweet, earthy odor of a single law book let alone attempted to flex legal muscle to bring a company down. He mostly relied on good old-fashioned vice to rattle the financial bones of a business.

  The one thing you can count on in this world is that people will fuck up, especially when they’re presented with too much of a good thing. And the more power a person has, the bigger they will fuck up. Spivey helped these idiots find their way to their own self-destruction. By the time they realized that their lives were in tatters, the companies they ran were in virtual ruin, NGI had a new stream of revenue pumping cash into its coffers, and Nolen could afford that shiny new congressman on the Ways and Means Committee.

  Spivey was good at what he did because he would get his knuckles bloody if he had to. The problem with powerful people is that they think they’re smart enough to maneuver their way out of a jam. Occasionally, Spivey had to draw blood and break bones to convince them otherwise.

  If it sounded like a criminal enterprise, it was. Albeit one protected by a civic fear of the word “regulations.” The world was corrupt, and it wasn’t choirboys running things. Today’s mob bosses top off their psychopathic tendencies with Ivy League MBAs and marketing departments that spin their sins into innovations that will save mankind. NGI had four times as much cash on hand as the United States and Great Britain combined. You don’t get that much money by following the rules. You get that much money by changing the rules you can and breaking the ones you can’t.

  The last place you’d expect a man like Spivey to land was at the right hand of an Ivy League prick like Nolen, but that’s where he’d found himself for a little over three years. His life before was as big a mystery to the people he worked with as was his smile. In fact, there was no indication that he possessed either.

  His routine after a road trip was to drink a cup of black coffee that could bring the dead back to life and then take a short walk to NGI headquarters in downtown Azalea Harbor where he then took the elevator to the eighth floor and briefed Nolen on the shit he’d cleaned up and the shit he’d caused while out on the road.

  “The business in Nashville,” Nolen said, “where are we on that?”

  “The contracts have been signed,” Spivey said.

  “No trouble?”

  “Lots of trouble. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

  Nolen smiled. “That’s that then. Get the paperwork to legal.”

  “That’s my next stop.”

  “Fine.” Nolen, a short man with sharp features and enormous bags under his eyes, spun around in his chair to take in the view of the harbor. “Tell Anna I need to see her on your way out.”

  Spivey didn’t respond. He stood with his right hand grasping his left wrist behind his back, and held himself in place.

  Nolen turned back around. “You’re still here.”

  “I am.”

  “Why?”

  Spivey made eye contact with Nolen, a gesture that the head of NGI hated.

  “Speak up. You’re wasting time I don’t have to waste.”

  “I drove through Titus Grove on my way back.”

  Nolen’s cheeks turned red. “Why would you do something like that?”

  Spivey hesitated before saying, “I had an uneasy feeling.”

  Nolen held back a growl. “I don’t pay you to have feelings, Jack.”

  “No, but you do pay me to keep shit from blowing up in your face.”

  Nolen’s cheeks turned a brighter shade of red, and he leaned forward. “The Titus Grove situation is layered to protect us from such outcomes. Of course, those layers aren’t as effective when one of my employees breaks fucking protocol and is seen in Titus Grove. We are exposed even further when I’m forced to discuss the matter in my goddamn office.”

  “Can’t be helped.”

  “What did you just say to me?”

  Spivey tightened his grip on his own wrist. “One of our layers has gone missing.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Our…” Spivey hesitated as he sought out an appropriate title for Luna. “Our hired consultant has gone missing.”

  Nolen fought to keep his temper in check. “I fail to see why that should concern this company.”

  Spivey flashed a rutted expression. “One of your layers has vanished. The other layers are bound to get nervous. Like it or not, we need to address this before all your layers go missing, and you’re completely exposed.”

  Nolen didn’t like to be challenged, but he also knew that Spivey was right. “What’s your suggestion?”

  “I have two. Free me up so I can find this…consultant. I’ll stay low profile and keep it off the books.”

  “Fine. Number two?”

  “Fill me in.”

  “On?”

  “On all the layers.”

  Nolen let an evil grin spread across his face. “I know where it begins and where it ends. I don’t know the shit in between.”

  “So, where does it end?”

  Nolen’s grin bent into a frown. “You don’t need to know that. Find this consultant. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  Spivey considered insisting that Nolen give him more information, but he knew it was pointless. Nolen expected his employees to get shit done, no matter the obstacles, even if he was the obstacle. He turned to leave, but Nolen stopped him.

  “Don’t forget.”

  Spivey eyed him, aggravated and tense. “Forget what?”

  “Send Anna in here on your way out.” Nolen spun back around and stared at the harbor.

  Spivey grimaced and fantasized about snapping the little fucker’s neck before turning on his heel and walking out of Nolen’s palatial office. Passing Anna’s desk, he said, “The prick wants to see you.”

  She blushed and quipped, “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down.”

  Spivey almost smiled as he pushed the elevator button. The door opened before he could pull his arm back, and he quickly stepped over the threshold and closed his eyes. He hated Nolen not because he was a complete ass. He hated Nolen because he was a complete ass Spivey couldn’t do anything about.

  The elevator descended two floors when it stopped and Benny Greer, a kid in his midtwenties who wore nothing but hoodies, ragged jeans, and flip-flops, looked up just before stepping forward. He stopped abruptly when he saw Spivey. “Jack? Oh, hey.”

  “Greer.”

  The kid didn’t attempt to move.

  “What the hell are you doing? You getting on or not?”

  “Me? I was…I didn’t…Do you mind?”

  Spivey’s brow creased as he grew increasingly weary of the day. “Of course I fucking mind, but it’s not my elevator. If you have to move between floors, get on and move between those goddamn floors.”

  Benny quickly stepped onto the elevator and pressed the lobby button even though it had already been selected. The doors closed, and he was too frightened of Spivey to breathe. A thought came to him. “Oh, your plates.”

  “My plates?”

  “The Louisiana license plate you wanted me to run. You called from the road.”

  “Right, my plates. What
about them?”

  “They’re registered under a woman’s name, Nola Beasley Babineaux. Guess where she’s from. I mean, guess where in Louisiana she’s from.”

  “New Orleans,” Spivey said.

  Benny snapped his fingers and winked at Spivey. “Right on, man. Nola. New Orleans. You get it?”

  Spivey refrained from smacking the kid. “One, don’t ever wink at me again, Benny. That’s a level of familiarity you have not earned. In fact, no one has.”

  Benny quickly turned his gaze down and stared at the floor.

  “Two, Nola Beasley Babineaux is a name you shall never repeat again. Forget you heard it. Understood?”

  Benny nodded so quickly it looked more like a tremble. Spivey had almost thirty years on him, but the old man was in far better shape than the kid, and he wore a permanent expression on his face that signaled to the world that he preferred throwing fists to talking things through. Hell, Benny had never heard the man even say hello or extend anything close to a cordial greeting to anyone before. As far as the kid was concerned, leaving a conversation with Spivey without having to receive any kind of medical attention was about the best you could hope for.

  The elevator door opened and the kid didn’t move. Spivey pushed past him and walked through the lobby to the main entrance. The elevator had closed its doors and returned to the sixth floor before Benny found the courage to move again.

  Chapter 12

  Dani entered Rafe’s Diner as she usually did, to a chorus of “Where the hell you been?” from Rafe and his bride, Ruby. The deputy had once been a daily visitor to their dining establishment, but her new obligations to Sarah and the mommas had steered her in another direction, and she didn’t get to spend as much time with restaurateurs. She hated it, truth be told. They had always treated her like the daughter they never had, and Dani enjoyed the hell out them.

  “Bacon or no?” Rafe shouted from the grill.

  “No,” Dani said. Bacon cheeseburger or plain cheeseburger was the only variable in her order on each visit.

  “Put bacon on the side,” Ruby insisted. “We need to fatten this girl up.”

  “You know I can out-eat everybody in Baptist Flats, Ruby.”

  “Then you got a tapeworm or something, Dani Savage. Ima schedule an appointment with Doc Costner.”

  “Good Lord,” Rafe said, tending to the basket of fries in the deep fryer, “let the girl be tiny in peace. Don’t everybody gotta spread out like you.”

  Ruby shook her head in disgust.

  Dani gasped. “That ain’t nice, Rafe. You apologize to your pretty bride.”

  Ruby waved her off. “It ain’t nothing but an elephant calling a hippo out for being fat. He can say all he wants about my spreading out. He’ll be begging to dive into it tonight, just you wait and see.”

  Rafe laughed. “I didn’t say I’m against it. I’m just saying you gotta let Dani be her own size without aggravating the hell out of her.”

  The chatter from the dozen or so diners made for a nice ambient accompaniment to the old married couple’s playful bickering. Dani didn’t even realize the prattling was there until it came to an abrupt stop. It ceased shortly after the bell above the entrance rang. She turned to look at the white faces of the restaurant’s patrons as they stared slack-jawed at the newest customer. Dani craned her neck to see what had them baffled beyond the ability to shut their cake holes.

  There stood a statuesque black woman dressed as if she’d been influenced by the nineties grunge movement. Her light brown hair hung in tight, billowing curls and brushed the tops of her shoulders as she turned her head from gawker to gawker.

  Ruby broke the awkward silence. “Welcome to Rafe’s, darling. Sit where you want. Menus are on the tables.”

  The woman grinned and nodded as she approached the counter. “This seat available?” she asked Dani.

  The deputy hesitated only because she found it strange that of all the empty seats the woman chose the one where she’d have to fight for elbowroom with Dani. “You right-handed or left-handed?”

  “Left,” the woman answered.

  “Me, too. Have a seat.”

  The woman sat down. “What if I’d been right-handed?”

  “You’d be sitting on the other side of me,” Dani said with a friendly smile.

  The woman smiled back. “Makes sense.” She extended her hand. “Name’s Nola.”

  Dani took her hand and gave the stranger a firm grip. “Dani.”

  “I can call you that?”

  Dani raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I want you to call me by my name?”

  Nola shrugged. “It’s just that where I come from the police are a bit more…standoffish. They like to be called Officer So-and-So.”

  “Well, my rule is if you’re wearing handcuffs, you call me Deputy Savage. Otherwise you can call me Dani.”

  Nola smiled and nodded. “I like that. I like that.”

  “Drink, darling?” Ruby asked.

  “Coffee,” Nola said. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me until you’ve had a cup,” Ruby said, moving to retrieve the pot. “Rafe made it. The man can cook the hell out of a burger, but his coffee has been described as offensive at best.”

  “Don’t you listen to her, missy,” Rafe said, placing Dani’s burger and fries on the window. “People praise my coffee from here to Memphis.”

  Ruby placed a cup in front of Nola and filled it with the dark brew. “What he means is people pray for God’s help from here to Memphis after they have a cup of his coffee.”

  Nola let the coffee settle into the cup before looking up at her audience. Rafe, Ruby, and Dani all had eyes on her to witness her reaction to her first sip. She nodded nervously, wiped her hands together, and then picked up the cup. “Here goes nothing.” She put the cup to her lips and slurped up the tiniest bit of the liquid. It was awful, but she fought to control her expression.

  “Good Lord,” Ruby said, “She ain’t dead. It’s a miracle.”

  “Hush up, Ruby,” Rafe said. “Wha’cha think, missy?”

  Nola had to force herself to swallow the coffee. She did so by telling herself that it would probably strip away the enamel on her teeth if she didn’t. “I’ve had worse.”

  Ruby laughed. “Darling, trust me, he’s dumb enough to take that as a compliment. I told him the same thing after our honeymoon, and he ain’t stopped patting himself on the back yet.”

  The three ladies laughed while Rafe grunted and skulked back into the kitchen, mumbling, “All I need is to get ganged up on by a bunch of females.”

  Nola got a worried look on her face. “Is he really mad?”

  “He’s always really mad,” Ruby said. “Now wha’cha want to eat? Hamburger, cheeseburger, meatloaf? Anything with ground beef we can do.”

  “I’m really not that hungry…”

  “Hamburger it is then,” Ruby said.

  “But…”

  Ruby walked to the window into the kitchen. “Get on the grill, you big baby. Hamburger plate’s up.” She turned to Nola. “How do you want it?”

  “Um…I guess…medium?”

  Ruby turned back to the window. “Medium rare. Grill up some onions, too.”

  Nola nudged Dani. “She heard me, right? I mean, I did say I wasn’t hungry, didn’t I?”

  Dani smiled with a mouthful of cheeseburger. After swallowing she said, “She heard you. Not hungry means you get the hamburger. Medium rare. Rafe don’t cook it any other way. Still haven’t figured out why Ruby asks. Hungry, you get the cheeseburger. Starving, you get the meatloaf, the mashed potatoes, a bucket of gravy, biscuits, and a slice of apple pie.” She stopped just before taking another bite of her cheeseburger. “And a milkshake.”

  “Noted,” Nola said.

  Setting the cheeseburger down, Dani snatched a napkin out of the dispenser and wiped the grease away from her fingers. “You on your way somewheres?”

  “On my way? No. I’m just driving.”

  “
From?”

  “Louisiana.”

  “Well, that’s some drive. You are far from it, Nola.” Dani snapped her fingers. “Nola. Louisiana. New Orleans. That a given name?”

  “It is. Used to hate it, but it’s grown on me.”

  “It’s pretty. Not like my name.”

  “Dani? Short for Danielle, right? That’s pretty.”

  “It ain’t short for Danielle. It’s short for Daniel. My father was a prick that was expecting a boy. Wouldn’t move off the name when he was informed I was missing the essential boy parts, so I grew up Daniel Clark Savage.”

  “Clark?”

  “And that’s why I didn’t go by my middle name.”

  “Well, my middle name is Beasley, so I had the same problem.”

  Dani held up her glass of Coke and said, “Here’s to names and all the hell that comes with them.”

  Nola held up her cup and nodded. “Amen.” She couldn’t bring herself to drink the coffee to seal the toast.

  “Where you headed after seeing the booming metropolis of Baptist Flats?”

  Nola shrugged. “Haven’t given it any thought. I’m just kind of making up the route as I go.”

  “Must be nice. You independently wealthy?”

  “Nah, I just don’t need much.”

  “Well, Baptist Flats is the place for that. There ain’t much here.”

  Ruby set a Coke on the counter in front of Nola. “It ain’t coffee, but it won’t kill you, neither.”

  “Thanks.” She took a quick swig to get the taste of Rafe’s coffee out of her mouth.

  “Meal’s on the house,” Ruby said.

  “What? Why? I can pay…”

  “Got nothing to do with your means to pay. Got everything to do with you helping me make Rafe look like an ass. You earned it.”

  Nola put on an awkward smile and said, “All I did was have a sip of his coffee.”

  “That’s all you needed to do,” Ruby said, making her way from behind the counter to wait on a group of customers in the booth near the back of the diner.

  Nola watched her walk away and noticed a number of people staring at her. Turning back to Dani she asked, “Let me guess. You don’t have a lot of black folks in Baptist Flats.”