by Jeff Shelby
“He’s alright,” he said. “Heat’s on a bit, so he’s staying quiet.”
“What kind of heat?”
“Those two cops that found Keene’s body.”
“Klimes and Zanella?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Them. They’ve been all over him.”
The tide was starting to roll in and the waves were crashing harder.
“Tailing him, pulling him in for questions, just staying on him,” he said. “He told me that he heard they were working on warrants for him. And for you. So he decided to make himself scarce for awhile.”
“What about Wellton?” I asked. “Where’s he at?”
“He’s kind of a mess,” Alex said. “Took some time off. He’s back now, but he really hasn’t been in any shape to help or run interference.”
It was hard for me to picture Liz’s old partner imploding. As much as he and I didn’t get along, I respected him as a cop and after she died, he was the one who gave me the heads up that Keene’s body had been located. But it sounded as if both he and Carter were suffering in different ways.
Because of me.
Jackson chased Bella down the shoreline, both of them giggling as the water splashed around their ankles. I couldn’t stay much longer. I didn’t want them to be hurt because of me. I needed to figure out her situation and move on to wherever I was going to move on to.
“You really up for helping me?” I asked.
“Anything,” he said. “I’m in.”
“May mean getting your hands a little dirty.”
He smiled. “Done it before, I can do it again.”
Bella scooped up Jackson and swung him around, his legs flailing as he screamed and giggled above the water.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s figure some shit out.”
THIRTY-THREE
“Alex and I will take David the money,” I said.
“You’re nuts,” Bella said.
We were still on the beach and Jackson had passed out on a towel next to us. I’d grabbed a couple more chairs and the three of us were sitting there, discussing our options. Or rather, I was throwing out options and Bella was discouraging them.
“He’ll freak,” she said. “Absolutely freak. And come after me.”
“No, he won’t,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m going to tell him not to.”
Alex chuckled, but Bella just shook her head, her mouth set in a line of agitation.
“I’m not going to let him hurt you, Bella,” I said. “You need to trust me if you want my help. Remember?”
The line softened, but didn’t disappear completely. “I remember. I do trust you. But he isn’t some neighborhood dealer and I think that’s how you’re looking at him.”
“He’s capable of more?” Alex asked.
She nodded.
“Like?” Alex prodded.
“Like a lot more, okay?” she said. “He’s killed people. He’s just like Evan was.”
“Who’s Evan?” Alex asked.
I waved him off.
“They are so much alike,” she continued. “I know him. And it won’t be about losing the deal. It’s going to be someone telling him what to do. That’s the stuff he can’t take. The stuff that will piss him off.”
Which I already knew. Guys like David got off on the control far more than the money or deals. But I could understand why she was scared.
“Fair enough,” I said. “But there are two of us here now. Alex is going to help. You won’t be left alone until it’s settled.”
She glanced at Alex and he smiled at her. She looked away. “What exactly does ’settled’ mean?”
“It means that until I’m comfortable knowing David will leave you alone, one of us will be with you and Jackson.”
“But you just said the two of you were going to take the money to David.”
“I changed my mind,” I said. “Alex will stay with you and I’ll take the money.”
She turned her gaze to me. “You didn’t fare so well with him last time.”
I smiled. “I wasn’t ready for a fight. I will be this time.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I don’t want you getting the crap beat out of you for me.”
“He gets the crap beat out of him for a lot of people,” Alex said.
Her eyes flitted to him and she tried to suppress a smile, then looked back at me. “I mean it.”
“I know you do,” I said. “But I’ll be fine.”
She sighed, shook her head, still unsure. She touched Jackson’s hair lightly. “So, when is this going to happen?”
“Soon as we’re done here,” I said. “I’ll put the equipment away and Alex will go with you guys.” I looked at him and he nodded. “And I’ll go to David’s.”
“And that’s it?” she said. “Just like that?”
“What exactly should I wait for?”
She looked away.
“You got anything with you?” I said to Alex.
He nodded. “I’m covered.”
“Anybody comes, they’ll be gunned up.”
“I’m covered,” he repeated.
It was almost four o'clock. The chairs were nearly empty now and the tourists were streaming back to their condos in preparation for dinner. I shook the sand from my feet and stood.
“I’ll need an address for him,” I said.
She hugged her knees to her chest and watched the water. “You promise you’ll come back? In one piece?”
“Yes.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You can’t make that kind of promise.”
“You asked me to.”
She squeezed her knees and she tilted her head to look up at me. “Just come back.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Alex left with Bella and Jackson and I put the chairs and umbrellas away. I found Alex’s rental car in the parking lot. It was the first time in months that I’d been behind the wheel of a car and I felt out of place as I headed east on the highway into Destin.
Bella had given me David’s address and I plugged it into the GPS in the rental. The computerized voice guided me past the restaurants, hotels and shops and into a neighborhood built around a golf course. Wide, expensive homes lined the fairways, separated by palm trees and pools. I immediately felt at ease because no matter what was going to go down, I knew David wouldn’t risk his lavish lifestyle by going after me in his own neighborhood. He was one of the new style drug kings—he liked the money that came with the dirty work, but wanted the world to think he’d done it legitimately.
The GPS told me I’d arrived at my destination in front of a two-story, white-stucco home. A brick walkway, lined with flowering shrubs, led to an oversized mahogany door. The emerald green lawn could’ve served as a fairway and a white SUV with tricked-out rims was parked in the crescent-shaped drive.
I made a U-turn and parked on the opposite side of the street. I slung the backpack with the cash over my shoulder and crossed the quiet street to the front door. I pushed the button next to the door and heard the bell chime in the house.
The door opened and a black guy about my size with red hair and hazel eyes looked me up and down without saying anything. He wore an olive-green tank top that exposed arms wired with muscle and khaki shorts that hung to his knees. Faded tattoos blended into his coffee-colored arms and a c-shaped scar decorated the skin just below his bottom lip.
“Help you?” he asked, glancing over my shoulder and scanning the street before returning his eyes to me.
“Need to see David.”
“He ain’t here.”
“When’s he gonna be back?”
“Dunno, my man. Maybe I can help you out.”
“No. I need him.”
He gestured at my cheek. “You fall down or something?”
“Or something, yeah.”
A slow smile crept over his face. “Unlucky.”
“You sure he’s not here?” I asked. “Because I got a backpack full of something
he wants.”
“Told you I could help you out.”
“Need to give it to him personally.”
He shrugged. “Well, he ain’t here.”
I nodded. “Alright. Tell him I’ll bring the money back some other time.”
I turned and headed down the walk.
“Yo.”
I stopped and turned around.
“Hold up,” he said, frowning. He ambled down the walk to me. “You droppin’ off cash?”
“Pretty sure that’s what I said.”
“Drops go through me. I’ll take it.”
“Not this one,” I said. “I need to give it to him myself.”
He rubbed a hand over his chin. “I don’t recognize you.”
“Okay.”
“I mean, most people droppin’ off money, I seen them before.”
“This is my first time.”
“Then you don’t know the drill.”
“Look, we can stand here and do the tough guy thing all day,” I said. “You can tell me all about yourself and what the drill is. But I’m still not giving you the bag. Has nothing to do with you. And any heat comes your way for letting me in, I’ll take it for you. Not looking to screw up your day. But I’m giving the bag to him myself.”
He rolled his tongue around inside his mouth and squinted at me. “Alright, alright. I get it. I’ll see if Davey boy will see you. But one piece of advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t go for the gun on your hip,” he said, nodding at me. “Because then I’ll have to shoot you.” He grinned. “And I’m fast money.”
I thought I’d tucked it away enough, but either I hadn’t or he was that good. I was pretty sure he was that good.
“I’ll leave it in the car if you want,” I said. “I won’t need it.”
He raised an eyebrow, the hazel eyes amused. “You sure?”
“This doesn’t seem like the kinda place anything really goes down,” I said.
He snorted. “Damn straight. Just rich white people, golf carts and tiny dogs.”
“You want me to toss it?”
He studied me for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah, you good.” He leaned his head toward the house. “Follow me.”
He took me into a domed entryway with marble flooring and shut the door behind me. The cool, air-conditioned air wrapped around me like an icy blanket and I shivered.
“Dude likes it like Alaska in here,” he said. “Wait here.”
He disappeared around the corner.
The interior of the house was right out of a magazine. Expensive furnishings, over-sized paintings and nothing personal. It was meant to show off wealth rather than indicate that anyone lived there.
The guy returned and raised his eyebrow again but without any amusement. “You Braddock?”
I nodded.
He glanced over his shoulder and stepped in closer.
“Okay, just so you know,” he said, lowering his voice. “Every white boy in there is carrying and they all got hard-ons when Davey boy said your name. Be cool and it’ll be cool. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Don’t be thanking me, big man,” he said, leading the way. “I’ll be the first one to shoot you. I ain’t jokin’ ‘bout bein’ fast money.”
THIRTY-FIVE
“You got guts,” David said. “I’ll give you that.”
He was perched on a stool at a marble-topped bar in an expansive living room, sunlight streaming in through a large bank of windows on the roof. NASCAR was on a muted big screen on the far wall. Two guys I didn’t recognize were attempting to play pool at the billiards table in the middle of the room, but were too focused on me to actually play. Colin was stretched out on a long leather sofa, his eyes glued to me.
It felt like an expensive frat house, minus the poor hygiene.
David held up the Pepsi can in his hand and nodded at me. “Or maybe you’re just stupid.”
I looked at him and images of Bella’s face, cut and bruised, flashed before me. Images of the story she’d told me, how he’d taken Jackson, just to prove he could. The anger simmered and rose up, threatening to boil over. I took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time.
I slid the backpack off my shoulder and tossed it toward him so it landed at his feet. “That’s yours.”
He didn’t even glance at it. “Thanks. How’s that face feeling?”
“Need to talk to you,” I said, ignoring him. “Alone.”
“You can say what you need to in front of these guys,” David said, smiling. “I trust them.”
The two guys at the pool table laughed. Colin just stared at me.
“She’s not making any more runs for you,” I said.
“She?”
“Bella.”
“Oh. Her. Right.” He took a drink from the can and set it on the counter. “I think I’ll wait to hear that from her myself.”
“You aren’t gonna hear anything from her again,” I said. “She’s done.”
“That right?”
“Yeah. And you aren’t gonna go near her,” I said. “Or touch her. Or call her. Or breathe in her direction. She’s out.”
“Since when is this any of your business?”
“Since that asshole over there came at me in the parking lot and I put him down,” I said, glancing at Colin.
Colin sat up and glared at me. “Fuck you.”
“See? He has a bad attitude and it got him in trouble. And I’ll kick his ass again if I need to.”
Colin stood. “Right now. Let’s go.”
David held a hand out in Colin’s direction. The two guys at the pool table had laid down their cues and were now watching us.
“But I’m not concerned with your half-ass day laborers,” I said to David. “I’m concerned about you.”
He grinned. “You should be.” He made a show of finishing the soda and setting the can down on the bar. “So what happens if I don’t go along here with your little demands?”
“I go to the cops,” I said.
He blinked a couple times. “Really? You’d go to the cops?”
“Yeah,” I said. “And your little frat boys will talk. And so will Bella.”
“Really?” he said. “You got all that lined up?”
In truth, I didn’t. But I knew I could make it happen if I needed to. I didn’t anticipate having to send anyone to the police but if push came to shove, I thought I could get it set up.
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
David nodded slowly, then shook his head. “Well, I guess you got me cornered. Seeing how you might go to the police and all.”
He stared at me for a moment, his face blank.
I waited him out.
The blank expression washed out and he looked like he was trying to remember something. “Hey, Colin. Help me out here.”
Colin was still scowling in my direction. “What?”
“What was the name of that dude we met earlier in the week?” David said, squinting hard. “Had a funny name.”
The scowl broke and Colin smiled ugly at me. “I think his name was Zip.”
Everything inside me felt colder, but I didn’t react.
David snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Zip. How could I forget a name like that?” He stared at me. “You know Zip? I heard you might.”
I didn’t say anything.
“And something tells me you might not just go running to the cops,” he said, smiling. “Just a guess. But I’m usually pretty good at guessing.”
Colin and the other two chuckled and laughed. I had no idea how they’d run into Zip or what he’d told them. But I’d lost a little leverage.
I still had one more play, though.
“You good at counting?” I asked.
David genuinely looked confused. “Counting?”
“Yeah. Numbers.”
He shrugged, then nodded. “Sure.”
