The Shamus Sampler II

by Nick Quantrill

  “Don’t worry, it’ll work out. Just be here with the motor running when I come back.”

  Mike laughed, shaking his head. “Shit, Lenny… You’re a piece of work.”

  EIGHT

  I stormed into the motel, right to the reception desk. There was a lanky guy smoking a cigarette behind the counter. He was reading an X-men comic book.

  “The old guy and the young girl coming in, which room are they in?” I asked him.

  He looked up from his comic, cigarette dangling from his lips. “Why should I fucking tell you that?”

  I slammed a meaty fist on the desk. “Because if you don’t tell me you’re going to be an accessory to a crime. That girl is clearly underage and you know it.”

  “Huh? So what?”

  “Don’t fuck with me, boy. I know they didn’t act like a father and his daughter. Tell me where they are and hand me the damn key.”

  “Who the fuck are you anyway?”

  I flashed him a badge I’d picked up at Toys-R-Us. I put it away before he could see it was as fake as a porn star’s boobs. “Detective Munch. Vice. Now give me that key or I put the fucking cuffs on you.”

  “Jeez, alright man! Don’t get your fucking panties in a bunch, alright?” He handed me a keycard. “Room 203.”

  I took it from him and walked off. I walked back and pointed at the comic he was holding. “Forget about that Scott Lobdell stuff. Claremont was the guy who wrote the real good issues.”

  “Uh. Right.”

  Walking to room 203, I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. That plan worked out just perfectly. Playing poker with the other roadies night after night taught me to bluff pretty well it seemed.

  I inserted the keycard and opened the door. Beck stormed towards me, a bottle of whiskey was swinging above his head. He was naked aside from a pair of boxer shorts. Melinda, dressed in just red panties. Her breasts were small and covered with freckles. Her hips were practically non-existent. She was nowhere near a woman and it made it clear to me again why I was so eager to put an end to this. She was screaming.

  Beck had been expecting me. That damned clerk had called him. Guess the bluff didn’t work as well as I’d hoped.

  The bottle smashed against the door behind me. I was lucky as hell to duck away from it. That could have been my head.

  I pushed him. I’m not much of a fighter, but dragging around amplifiers every night is sure to add some muscle to your fat, so Beck landed on his ass.

  “Get away from him, you monster!” Melinda screamed. “Get out!”

  “Not yet,” I said and grabbed my phone. Quickly I snapped a few pictures of Melinda in her undies and Beck in his shorts. That should show her dad what was going on.

  Beck stood up and went for my phone. I bumped my hip against him, keeping him away long enough to send the pictures to Mikey’s phone.

  Beck went for the phone again. “You son-of-a-bitch! Those pictures will ruin me!”

  “That’s the idea,” I told him. Then his fist connected against my chin. I went woozy and fell flat on my ass.

  He kicked me in the head. It hurt like hell and I went down on my belly. He kicked me again, this time in the ribs.

  “I’m going to kill you!” he shouted.

  “No, don’t kill him, sweetie! You’ll go to jail.”

  “And they won’t like him in there,” a different voice said. I could hear a slap of skin against skin and I saw Beck fall against the coffee table in the middle of the room.

  I managed to sit up on my knees and saw that Mikey and Mohawk had entered the room. Mohawk was nursing bruised knuckles with his lips.

  “Mikey heard all the screaming and figured you could use the help. I was on the way already, sure that you’d get your ass in trouble without me,” Mohawk said.

  “I’d like a crack at that fucking pedophile,” Mikey said.

  “Don’t hurt me,” Beck pleaded, protecting his bleeding nose with his hands. Mikey and Mohawk look a lot more dangerous than I do.

  “Listen to the guy. Don’t hurt him. He’s an asshole but the sex seems to be consensual as awful as that sounds,” I said.

  “You bet it is. He takes care of me. Listens to me, buys me nice stuff. And he’s turning me into a woman. Go away before I call the cops,” Melinda said.

  I shook my head sadly. “Poor kid. You just don’t understand that he’s just taking advantage of you… Here’s the deal, Beck. You never see Melinda again and these pictures will stay a secret. You strike up the relationship again and they go to every newspaper in the city, not to mention the cops. And even worse, Melinda’s dad. He’ll probably kill you.”

  Beck thought about that. “How can I be sure you’ll keep your word?”

  “You can’t. But if you keep seeing Melinda, you’re toast for sure,” I told him.

  “Okay, you got a deal.”

  “If I ever find out you’re pulling this trick with another underage girl the same will happen, dig?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Dig. Melinda, get your clothes on. I’m going to call you a cab. It’s over.”

  “What? Just like that? But you told me you loved me? How can you just end it like that?”

  “Jesus Christ, kid… You’re even dumber than I thought. Did you really think I loved you? You were just a tight piece of ass, don’t you understand? How could I really love you? You’re just a kid!”

  Melinda walked over to Beck and slapped him in the face with all the power she could muster.

  “Ow. She hits like a grown woman, though,” Mohawk said.

  Mikey winced. “Sure does.”

  “Melinda, please put on your clothes. I’ll get you home. Your dad won’t ever hear about this, but I really don’t want you to get back with this asshole.”

  She spat in Beck’s face. “I sure as hell won’t!”

  After she put on her clothes, we left the room. I gave the lobby clerk the finger as we walked past his desk.

  We got Melinda in my car and dropped her off at her home. She told me she hated me. I told her she was too young to know what hate was and drove off.

  I never told her old man what happened. It wouldn’t help him, it wouldn’t help Melinda, and it probably wouldn’t really do much to stop Beck. He’d lawyer up and try to rip apart Melinda on the stand. Better to let Bagley think I was an inept loser. He wasn’t the only one to think that. It was time to get on the road again. Get away from the city for a few weeks.

  Sure enough, I got a call to go on tour with Trivium a few days later.

  The End

  Jochem Vandersteen is the editor of the Shamus Sampler, author of the Noah Milano series and blogs about PI fiction at http://sonsofspade.blogspot.com.

  Praise for Jochem Vandersteen:

  Jeremiah Healy, author of TURNABOUT and THE ONLY GOOD LAWYER: “J. Vandersteen takes us back to the glory days of pulp fiction. And I mean the genre, NOT the movie. His Noah Milano character rings completely true as a tough, lone-wolf private.”

  Wayne D. Dundee - author of the Joe Hannibal series: The difference is mainly in the character of Noah Milano himself, a man struggling both internally and externally to break free from his “Family” ties and to walk his own path toward what he deems Right and Just. This is good stuff. Read and enjoy.”

  Les Roberts, author of the Milan Jacovich series: “Noah Milano is all too human, which makes him more appealing.”

  “Terrific stuff.'' - Lori G. Armstrong, author of Snowblind

  'Noah Milano walks in the footsteps of the great P.I,.'s, but leaves his own tracks.” - Robert J. Randisi, founder of PWA and The Shamus Award

  Jochem's deep and abiding love for classic pulp fiction comes through on every page, and his stories continue the time-honored tradition of the hardboiled American PI.” -Sean Chercover, author of Trigger City.

  ''The writing is fresh and vivid and lively, paying homage to the past while standing squarely in the present.” -James W. Hall, author of Silencer.

  ''Great pop sensibility with a no
d to the classic L.A. PIs.'' - David Levien, author 13 Million Dollar Pop

  MORE from Jochem Vandersteen can be found here:

  Tough As Leather, A Noah Milano Collection (ebook)

  A stalker... A child abusing cop... A young girl hooking up with violent bikers... A case of mistaken identity resulting in the kidnapping of a poor child instead of a rich one...

  These are just an example of a few cases security specialist Noah Milano has to tackle in this collection.

  This Noah Milano short story collection features introductions by fan favorite authors like Les Roberts, Jeremiah Healey, Ace Atkins, Sean Chercover and Mark Coggins. Read how the son of a mobster tries to make an honest living as a security specialist but time and time finds out it's not easy to keep your hands clean when you're dealing with the most evil bastards of L.A.

  White Knight Syndrome: a Noah Milano mystery

  Noah Milano is a Los Angeles security specialist with more than a few family problems. Because, in his case, his family is the family. He's the estranged son of a mobster, which creates a big deal of tension and more than a few problems. Fiercely independent, and determined to sever all ties with his past, Noah has to adjust from being a spoiled mobster son to being an independent operator with little money. When he's hired to bodyguard a beautiful and rich teenage girl he's drawn into a web of family secrets, homicide and the dangers of falling in love. Its not easy to be a White Knight in a world filled with betrayal and mob violence but Noah Milano is going to try anyway even if he has to die doing it

  Honey Trap: a Noah Milano short story (ebook)

  When a chemist in the perfume industry gets blackmailed by a blonde wearing a honeybee tattoo he calls in the help of Noah Milano, security specialist and ex-mob fixer. The blackmailers won't give up very easily, forcing Noah to resort to some extreme, but unexpected measures.

  The Alabaster-Skinned Mule: a Noah Milano Novelette (ebook)

  A pretty young girl is used as a mule, smuggling drugs for Mexican drug lords. She gets rid of the drugs, but the drug lords want it back as is prepared to kill for it. She hires Noah Milano, security specialist and ex-mob fixer to protect her. He ends up putting his dearest friendship and his very life on the line for her.

  Redemption: a Noah Milano Novelette (ebook)

  Twenty years ago he tortured and killed a young boy. Now he is out of prison, ready to find redemption confronting the victim's parents. He hires Noah Milano, security specialist and son of LA's biggest mobster to protect him. When the unexpected happens it's up to Noah Milano to do what he thinks is right and make sure justice is done.

  AND BRAND NEW FROM MR. VANDERSTEEN:

  The Death Business: A Noah Milano Novella

  Noah Milano used to work for his mobster father but now tries to find redemption for his dark past working as a security specialist. Minnie is his best friend and works at the Medical Examiner's office. When an old friend of Minnie (a gossip columnist) is found dead at a club's toilet stall the cops think it was an overdose. Minnie is not so sure however and asks Noah to investigate. The investigation soon endangers Noah and Minnie's lives as they try to uncover Hollywood's dirtiest secrets.