Outcast

by Lewis Ericson

  Alex remained aloof.

  “Take a look at the name at the top of the page. Why don’t you save yourself a lot of trouble and fill in the blanks for us?”

  “Since you’re so smart, Agent Oliver, why don’t you fill them in yourself?”

  “How long have you been on Rivera’s payroll?”

  “I’m not on anyone’s payroll, or in anybody’s pocket.”

  “Any of Xavier Rivera’s drug money finding its way into your event planning venture?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Detective.”

  “Are you and Rivera lovers?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. The only reason I’m acquainted with Xavier Rivera is because he hired me to plan several parties for him.”

  “And the ‘product’ mentioned in the file, I suppose, was party favors?”

  Alex lifted her hands to inspect her nails, and the chains hanging off the cuffs rattled.

  “You’re looking at a long list of state and federal charges that could have you doing time until you’re eligible to collect Social Security, assuming that the program is still around when you get out.”

  Alex cut her eyes at the weasel-faced FBI agent.

  “The police found over fifty thousand dollars worth of cocaine in the safe in Bobby Williams’s apartment when they finally got it open.”

  “What does that have to do with me? I don’t keep tabs on Bobby.”

  “You were married to Ray Williams, right?” Detective Cobb inquired.

  “So?”

  “So, we know that he was connected to Xavier Rivera. He dies. You pick up where he left off.”

  Alex smirked. “That’s a nice story, Detective. You should write crime novels as a side job. I hear they’re all the rage.”

  Kevin impatiently jumped in. “Tirrell says when he took that file you threatened my family. My grandmother’s lying in the hospital. Are you responsible for that?”

  “My cousin’s in the hospital in a coma. Is your brother responsible for that?”

  “Does the name Nathanial Allen mean anything to you?”

  “Should it?”

  “We know about the house on Hardy Avenue.”

  “I don’t know anything about a house on Hardy Avenue.”

  “What about Rivera’s compound in Miami?”

  “Of course I’ve been there. I’ve already told you I planned parties for the man.”

  “Tirrell Ellis has been there too, and not as an event planner,” injected the agent. “So, if you didn’t take over your husband’s business with Rivera, and you’re not guilty of the attempt on Betty Ellis’s life, why did you run?”

  “I didn’t run. I was going to New York to visit my mother. Last time I checked there was no law against that.”

  “You were travelling under the name Angela Sissoko. You had a fake driver’s license and a fake passport, that’s a federal crime. We also know that you were planning to take a connecting flight to Nigeria, where you . . . or should I say Angela Sissoko has an account at the Bank of Abuja,” Kevin noted.

  The FBI agent spoke again. “Those forged documents alone could get you twenty years. We could work a deal if you agree to cooperate and testify against Rivera.”

  Alex’s brow arched and she squirmed. It was dizzying being volleyed questions from all three men. “I’m not saying anything else until my lawyer gets here.”

  “If this scares you, it should. I don’t see a man like Xavier Rivera sitting on the clock, waiting to see how all of this plays out,” the agent sneered. “Give us something we can nail him on, Ms. Solomon, and we could put you in protective custody until we get Rivera out of the picture, otherwise, there’s no telling what he might do. All it would take is one call to the attorney general to get the ball rolling.”

  Alex leaned into the table and met the agent’s gaze. “You’re wasting your time. I don’t have anything else to say.”

  Kevin went back to his office and stared intently at Alex’s list, pondering just how deeply Tirrell would be implicated and how much hell he’d unleashed on his family. He’d e-mailed him back, not knowing where he was, but they needed to find him and bring him in before anything happened to him.

  An office assistant knocked on his door. “Hey, Kevin, there’s some guy named Preston here to see you.”

  “Preston?”

  “He says it’s about your brother.”

  “Tell him to come in.”

  Mr. Preston walked in and Kevin recognized him instantly. “What are you doing here?”

  “Nice to see you again too, Mr. Ellis.”

  “You know something about Tirrell?”

  “He’s stayin’ down at The Mission.”

  Kevin fell back in his chair. He’d had dealings with several of the residents there on any number of occasions who had run-ins with the law. He knew what it meant for someone to be there.

  “You didn’t know?” Preston asked.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Do you care?”

  Kevin ignored the question. “What can I do for you, Preston?”

  “Nothin’ for me, but maybe you could do somethin’ for your brother. I was with him when he sent you that e-mail the other day. He told me about the Solomon woman.”

  “So?”

  “He’s reachin’ out to you, man. Look, I get that you and him got issues, but he needs his family if he’s gonna get through this program.”

  “Who the hell are you to waltz up in here and tell me what Tirrell needs? Why do you care?”

  “Somebody has to. Too many of us get wrote off. A lot of guys don’t ever get their lives back on track, most of ’em don’t have family, but Tirrell may still have a chance.”

  Kevin folded his hands, perched them under his chin, and leaned on the desk. “So, what do you get out of all of this?”

  “I get to help. Six years ago I hit the wall and somebody reached out and gave me a hand when I needed it most. If they hadn’t, I could be in prison right now, or I could still be strung out, or dead. Is that what you want for Tirrell? Would it make it easier on you if he was dead?”

  Kevin sighed heavily. “Are you finished?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  “All right, you said what you came to say. You can leave now.”

  The hydraulics of the steel prison doors grated, clanked, and squealed open.

  “Solomon, you got another visitor.”

  “Who is it?”

  “He says he’s your attorney.”

  “He? Did he look Hispanic?”

  “No, he looked white.” The guard laughed. “Why, you want a date?”

  Alex’s eyes shifted nervously.

  “You wanna see him or not?”

  She stood and absently put her hands up. The guard cuffed her and escorted her back to the holding room. When she walked in, an innocuous-looking man in an expensive suit with a pasty face and thinning gray hair stood to greet her. She’d seen him before. He was one of Rivera’s attorneys.

  “Ms. Solomon, please have a seat.”

  The man looked at the guard. “May I have a few minutes, please?”

  The woman moved to the other side of a door with a glass window between them so that she could keep her eye on them both.

  “Where’s my lawyer?”

  “I had a lovely little chat with Ms. DeLucca. We came to the conclusion that it would be in your best interest for me to see you first.”

  “Xavier sent you?”

  “He’s very unhappy with the recent turn of events. That wasn’t very smart of you to have kept files on him.”

  “I didn’t say anything to anyone.”

  “Perhaps not yet. I’m here to ensure that you don’t.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “That depends on you.”

  Alex bit her bottom lip and clutched her hands together. “I’m not going to say anything.”

  “The Feds can be very persuasive.”

  “Look, I only had th
e file to keep business contacts in order.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t keeping it as an umbrella for a rainy day?”

  “I didn’t give the FBI the information—it was stolen.”

  “Yes, that was very careless of you, too. How did it happen that you ended up in bed with an ADA’s brother?”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  The man leered. “Enlighten me, please.”

  “When I first met Tirrell I didn’t know who he was. Bobby convinced me that we could use him to our advantage.”

  “I was sent here to bail you out; however, that’s going to prove a bit of a challenge now that the federal authorities are involved.”

  “So, what now?”

  “As you know, my client doesn’t like loose ends.” The man leaned in closer. “You introduced Mr. Ellis into Mr. Rivera’s life, so it may be time that we un-introduce him.”

  Alex’s throat tightened. “What’s going to happen to me?”

  The man stood and walked to the door. “Whatever’s going to happen next may already be out of all of our control. Oh, and I am sorry to hear about your cousin. It was such a loss. He was a good man.”

  “What do you mean was?”

  “I understand he didn’t make it.”

  Alex gasped.

  “You didn’t know. Collateral damage, you understand. Unfortunate accidents happen all the time.”

  The threat was implicit. Alex knew she was next. After the man left, the guard came back in to take her back to her cell.

  Alex pulled away. “I can’t go back there.”

  The guard snatched her arm. “You don’t have a choice.”

  “Yes, I do. I need to talk to Agent Oliver right away.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” the guard replied. “The request line is closed.”

  “You don’t understand. I’ve got information that they need.”

  “Then you’ll have to wait to give it to them.”

  “It can’t wait,” Alex yelled. “I have to talk to him now!” She softened her tone. “Please. This is important.”

  The guard sighed. “I can have someone call the DA’s office. I can’t promise anything. In the meantime you got to go back to your cell.”

  Ladies and gentlemen, if I could direct your attention high above the center ring. The Amazing Alexandra will now attempt a death-defying walk across a tightrope over a pit of voracious lions.

  Alex tried to laugh through her tears, but there was nothing amusing about her circumstance. She was feeling squeezed literally between the proverbial rock and hard place. Bobby was dead. And if Xavier Rivera was gunning for her, no steel bars or concrete walls would keep him from it.

  An hour passed before the guard came back.

  “Well, did you get in touch with him? Is he coming?” Alex queried.

  “Mr. Ellis is gone for the night. But, I got good news for you; that FBI agent is still here.”

  Agent Oliver walked up and the guard opened Alex’s cell and let him inside.

  “I was hoping you would come to your senses,” Agent Oliver said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me what happened to Bobby?”

  “I only just found out myself.”

  “You said you could put me in protective custody? Witness protection?”

  “That all depends on the validity of the information you have. And since you were just a party planner I doubt very much we could make a case with anything you have to say.”

  Alex scoffed. “You know damn well I was more that. That’s why you’re still here, isn’t it? If I give you Rivera I need your word that you will protect me and my mother.”

  “Look, we’ve been after Rivera for a very long time. You give us everything we need to put him away and I’ll do everything I can possibly do for you and your mother.”

  “I want full immunity and I want it in writing.”

  “Give me something to work with, Ms. Solomon.”

  Alex grabbed hold of the bars, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I know something about the undercover agent who washed up in the Everglades last year.”

  “What specifically do you know that hasn’t already been reported?”

  “You want Rivera. I want a deal.”

  “All right, I’ll make a call.”

  “And I want to be moved out of this cell—tonight. I don’t feel safe here.”

  “Fine.”

  Within the hour Alex was transported from the jail and moved to a windowless underground federal facility in downtown Atlanta, where she was joined by her mother. Despite the guarded security of the location she still feared for her safety. Xavier Rivera’s influence was much too wily. There would be no rest until he was brought to justice.

  29

  Pat was finishing up the dishes when Kevin walked in. He slid his arms around her waist and rested his head on the back of hers.

  “I’m so tired I could just sleep right here,” he said. “Where’s Micah?”

  “I put him to bed a little bit ago. He tried to stay up as long as he could and wait on you. He wanted to make sure you got home okay. He keeps asking if the same thing that happened to Miss Betty is gonna happen to you.”

  “Damn.” Kevin went to the refrigerator for a beer.

  Pat grabbed a towel to dry her hands. “I convinced him that nothing was going to happen to you and that everything was going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right, isn’t it? Kevin?”

  “I went by the hospital on my way home.” He showed Pat the chip in his hand.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s something you get from Narcotics Anonymous. I found it in Noonie’s bed. I think Tirrell left it there.”

  “Narcotics Anonymous?”

  “I had a visit from this guy today who works at The Mission downtown. He told me Tirrell was staying there.”

  “Tirrell’s on drugs?”

  Kevin slumped down in a chair at the kitchen table. “It would explain a lot.”

  “What about the file he sent you? How does that woman fit into all of this?”

  “Tirrell’s mixed up with some bad people, baby.”

  “What kind of danger is he in?”

  “The less you know the better.” The telephone rang. Kevin got up and answered. “Hello . . . Hey, Mama. I’m good. You? No, Noonie hasn’t come around yet. Micah’s fine. To tell you truth there’s been so much going on, Thanksgiving is the last thing on my mind. No, I don’t think coming out to California right now would be a good idea. I want to be here just in case . . . No, I don’t think she’s going to die. Why would you say something like that? I’m sorry; it’s been a long day. Look, I just got home and I’m beat. I’ll call you later, all right?” Kevin hung up the phone, rubbed his eyes, and sighed.

  “Are you gonna tell Gloria what’s happening?”

  “Absolutely not. I don’t want her to know any more than she already does. In fact, I don’t want you and Micah to be here if anything else should go down.”

  “What are you talkin’ about?”

  “I think you should take Micah and go to New Orleans and stay with your sister for a couple of weeks until this all blows over.”

  “No. I’m not leaving you here.”

  “It’s not up for discussion. If Noonie was shot because of Tirrell, there’s no telling who else might be in the line of fire, and I can’t lose you, or Micah.”

  “I don’t want to lose you either.”

  “I can take care of myself. But, I can’t do my job if I’m worried about the two of you.”

  “Kevin.”

  He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “I don’t want to argue about this, baby. You have to go.”

  “What about my job?”

  “Take tomorrow off. In fact, take some vacation time. Tell them you have a family emergency and you need to go out of town for a few weeks. Do this for me, all right?”

  She knew he wasn’t backing down. “All right, I’ll go.”

  He ki
ssed her again.

  She responded in kind. “I thought you were tired.” She smiled.

  “I just need to be close to you right now, is that all right?”

  Kevin took Pat by the hand and led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He kicked off his shoes, loosened his tie, and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. He took her in his arms from behind and pulled her blouse over her head. His fingers tugged at the fasteners and undid her bra. Her breasts fell free as he slipped the straps over her shoulders and ran his hands slowly down her body.

  She tossed her head back and he kissed and nibbled her neck. His beard tickled and aroused as did the hair on his chest brushing against her back. She moaned when he unzipped her skirt and pushed it away from her hips. He turned her around, palmed her thighs, hoisted her up to his waist, and laid her on the bed. Shucking his pants and underwear, he gently climbed on top of her.

  “I love you so much,” he whispered, removing her panties. “I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to you.”

  “Nothing will.”

  Her back arched upward and she gasped as he entered, slowly, purposefully. Their bodies found a familiar rhythm. The strength of his love for her made its own music.

  Kevin woke early the next morning, sat up on the side of the bed, and watched Pat sleep. He’d done this before when he was worried about a case, or there was something weighing heavy on his mind. Thoughts of his grandmother’s recovery and Tirrell’s problems made it hard for him to rest. The peaceful look on his wife’s face and the soft purring noise she made reminded him that no matter how bad things got, she would be there to support him.

  Pat’s eyes fluttered and she woke up. “What are you doin’?”

  “Watching you.”

  “I can see that. What time is it?”

  “Time for you and Micah to get on the road.”

  Pat pulled herself up. “Kevin, I don’t think we should go.”

  “I told you it’s not up for discussion. You already agreed.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “C’mon, Pat. Don’t give me a hard time about this, please. You’ll just be gone long enough for all of this to blow over.”

  “But you don’t know when that’s going to be.”