Evil in Hockley
Page 5
Chapter 12
Harry saw only a single black sedan at Tony Moore’s house. He checked his Beretta then tucked it into the waist band of his jeans. Sandy was in a nearby laneway barely out of sight. He drove slowly toward the house expecting someone to jump out the front door and spray lead across his windshield with an Uzi.
That didn’t happen.
Harry climbed out of his car and slowly walked toward the house searching for signs of movement. A figure stepped into the open front doorway. He was tall, well muscled, and slightly coloured. His hands were high in the air.
“I’ve come to escort you Mr. Tanner. I’m your hostage. Shoot me if you feel threatened.”
If it was a trap this guy was taking a hell of a chance. Harry warily followed him into the house. Shelley was sitting at the dining room table and Tony stood in front of a wall, his non blinking eyes wide.
“Please have a seat Mr. Tanner.”
Harry sat across from John Dean, Shelley to his left, and Tony to his right.
“Don’t be a bad host Tony. Pour Mr. Tanner a drink.”
Tony walked toward the liquor cabinet in a jerking motion as though his knees were backward, like a dog’s. Of course the bullet to his knee wouldn’t help. Harry watched as Tony poured whiskey into a glass, spilling most of it. He brought it to him but half the contents dribbled over the rim. Tony looked as though he was drugged. He set the glass on the table then stood against the wall, still as a fencepost. Harry eyed the yellow liquid but didn’t touch it.
He turned left to Shelley and almost drew his gun. A pencil was shoved into each of her eyes, standing straight out. Her hands were sewn together in a praying fashion with leather lace: In and out of between the bones of her hands. She sat quietly and at first glance Harry thought she was dead.
“There was some persuasion required. She was reluctant to cooperate. Now go ahead Mr. Tanner, ask your questions.”
“Is this some kind of a joke, Dean. She’s dead.”
“No she isn’t. Ask your questions.”
Harry felt like an idiot but he did ask,
“Do you know anything about Jarrod’s death?”
She shook her head from side to side. She was alive but with a pencil shoved deep into each eye should have been screaming. She seemed to be in no pain.
Harry almost missed it but he’d stalked terrorists for a living. You didn’t let your guard down with those guys. John Dean had reached into his shirt and tossed a handful of dust. Harry reasoned it would not be beneficial to his longevity and dove to avoid it. He looked up from the floor as the dust cloud hung and slowly settled to where he had been sitting.
His Beretta was out in a heartbeat.
There was no one else in the room.
Seconds had passed and all three had disappeared.
It had indeed been a trap but not like any he would have expected. He searched the house yet found nothing.
When he left the house the first thing he noticed was the absence of the black sedan. He climbed in his car and drove to Sandy. Thank God she was all right.
“Why didn’t you follow the black sedan. I would have been out in seconds.”
“What sedan?”
“Shit. What the hell is going on?”
“What Harry? You were only there for a minute then came back out.”
“They were in there: John Dean, Shelley, and Tony. Then they were gone.”
“What are you talking about Harry?”
Harry could see it was a waste of time. He had no answers for what he saw or didn’t see. How could he know what went on outside?
“Let’s go home, there’s nothing more for us here.”
He almost got to his car when she yelled,
“Harry.”
He turned then she added,
“I’m scared.”
“Yah, it’s all okay.”
But it wasn’t. Harry had never been so dumbfounded in all his life.
Chapter 13
There was a lot of nothing passing between Harry and Sandy that evening. They both had thoughts of the day’s activity that led absolutely nowhere so talking about it was an ambivalent undertaking.
Harry realized John Dean was way out of his league. How could he fight an entity he didn’t understand. He had to stop thinking about it or he’d go around in circles all night long like a dog chasing its own tail. His plan was… He didn’t have a plan. He’d have to wait for John Dean’s next move then try to find a weakness he could exploit.
If he lived through the next assault.
Darkness set in when Harry heard light footsteps on the front porch. There was a weak knock as though someone didn’t want to disturb the occupants. He answered and stood facing Karma. She gave him a slight smile then nodded and said hello. Harry eyed the laneway and her car searching for her backup. She worked for Joe Sharky which justified his mistrust.
“I’m alone. May I come in for a moment.”
Harry stood thinking when Sandy approached and stood behind him. It was as though Karma could read their thoughts.
“I left Joe Sharky. I came to drop off these papers.”
Harry hadn’t noticed but she carried a satchel. She eyed the Beretta in his hand.
Harry said,
“I listened to one of Joe’s people today and my head’s still spinning.”
Karma nodded.
“That was John Dean and his sister Lenea.”
“No just John Dean.”
She shook her head.
“When you deal with one you deal with both.”
Harry didn’t know what she meant but realized she might have some critical information to share.
“Come in please.”
Sandy protested.
“Harry?”
“I’m going to hang onto my gun.”
It seemed to calm her but she threw her hands in the air and walked back to the dining room. He invited Karma in then pulled back a chair. She smiled then said,
“You were always a gentleman Harry.”
Harry set the Beretta on the table then sat. He stared at Karma: she was as usual dressed in black wearing the same blue emerald necklace he’d seen countless times before. She had long dark hair and on the right side hung a feather spanning almost to shoulder length. She looked as though she had a perpetual tan, her skin smooth, the years kind to her.
“You said you left Sharky?”
“Long story.”
She shoved the satchel across the table. Harry opened it slowly as though expecting a rat to escape. She laughed then said,
“Just some papers I grabbed off Joe’s desk before I left. Maybe of value, maybe not.”
“I had some powder thrown at me today that I don’t think was merely just a prank.”
She shook her head.
“You must have avoided it because had you not you would certainly be dead.”
“I dove to the floor. What was it?”
“A mixture of powdered glass, snake venom, and hot peppers. If you inhale it the glass bites into your lungs. The peppers and dried snake venom irritate and cause bleeding. You would choke to death on your own blood.”
Sandy had a frown on her face when she asked,
“How do you know this? Why are you here?”
“Tony’s gone. He was like a bird with a broken wing. He could never look after himself. I needed him. He was no good but I needed him.”
Harry held up his finger.
“I saw him today. He’s alive.”
Karma shook her head.
“He’s in a world between life and death. There’s only one direction he can take and it leads to the land of the dead. Shelley’s in the same situation. Neither have a soul.”
Sandy shook her head.
“And you know this because?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got all night.”
“All right then but I’ll have to start at the beginning. I’m Creole which is not only a language but in a sen
se the people who speak it as well. Joe Sharky and Bobby Mercer have a fascination with voodoo and visit Joe’s uncle, a mob boss, in New Orleans a couple of times a year. That’s where I met them and they offered me a job at Sharky’s bar.”
Sandy interrupted.
“Let’s be clear about this. You went north to become a prostitute?”
“I fell into that role the same as my mother did and her mother before her. I’m not here to argue morality. I’m here to warn you what you’re up against. John Dean and Lenea, a voodoo priestess.”
Sandy uttered a humourless laugh.
“Like we’re fighting Zombies?”
“That’s right. If you want to call it that. More like the two who create the walking dead.”
Karma turned to Harry.
“You saw two of them today Harry. Tony and Shelley.”
“To tell you the truth I don’t know what I saw. They disappeared. I don’t know if they were even there.”
“That was Lenea’s doing. They always work together. Never forget that. She had something of yours and made you see what she wanted you to see.”
“I can’t see what she could possibly have of mine?”
“The bullet you put in Tony’s knee.”
Sandy knocked on the table.
“I didn’t see a black sedan. Harry said it was there. She definitely didn’t have anything of mine.”
Karma smiled.
“She had Harry.”
“Fuck.”
Sandy had found the right word to express herself and the situation.
“What did this Lenea do that could cause me not to see something and make people disappear in front of Harry’s eyes?”
“That’s not easy to explain but I’ll try.”
Karma looked to be in deep concentration then finally added,
“You know in the movies when thieves steal something they film an empty aisle? Well that’s basically what Lenea did to you. She made you see what she wanted you to see, not what was really there.
“People disappeared in front of Harry’s eyes because she froze time for him, for a couple of minutes. She was probably within sight of you and the house.”
Sandy asked,
“How are we supposed to fight those two? I mean we don’t know any voodoo spells.”
Karma thought for sometime then said,
“Joe originally hired me for my knowledge of voodoo and the black arts. I’m actually more of what you would perceive as a witch than a voodoo priestess. When I found out what he wanted me to do I played dumb. So I became a prostitute and sold dope. I couldn’t sing or dance.”
Karma chuckled then said,
“I actually didn’t have sex with anyone. That is except Tony. I undressed and went to bed with them. I whispered sweet words in their ears and they surrendered their minds to me. I gave them thoughts of having had the best sex of their lives.”
Sandy did a double take.
“Could you teach me that?”
Karma laughed again.
“It would take a life time to learn.”
Harry had to know where Karma stood.
“So you can help?”
Karma appeared in deep thought then nodded.
“For Tony. For what they did to him, I’ll help.”
Chapter 14
Harry broke out the whiskey while Sandy made sandwiches. No one had any supper and it was well past nine.
Harry asked,
“So where are you staying, Karma?”
“Nowhere right now. I can’t go back and I can’t go to Tony’s. All my clothes are in my car. I guess you could say I’m in a transition phase.”
“You can stay here, in the spare bedroom.”
Sandy slammed the sandwich platter on the table.
“Like hell she will. Not unless I’m here.”
“You can both stay. We’re safer in a group.”
Karma held up both hands.
“I don’t want to impose.”
Harry was quick to respond.
“You won’t be an imposition. Your offer to help is gratefully appreciated.”
Sandy’s face was beet red and she wore a frown leaving lines so deep Harry wondered if they’d leave permanent scarring.
He said, “Sandy?”
Then he gestured toward Karma.
Sandy took the hint.
“Yah, thanks Karma.”
Harry said,
“So it’s settled. You’re staying. You can sleep with me.”
Sandy jumped to her feet and stared at him.
“Just kidding. You’re sleeping with me.”
“Not likely.”
“Come on Sandy. It’s been a hard day. Lighten up a little.”
She sighed then sat and said,
“Maybe you’re right. It’s the waiting. It’s nerve racking.”
Harry thought a moment.
“Any ideas on what to do next?”
It didn’t take Karma any time at all to answer.
“Joe will be hard to get to. He’ll hang around his bar with lots of backup while you’re alive. Bobby Mercer is Joe’s right hand. He makes the drug buys and manages all of Joe’s illegal activities. Joe manages the money and makes the decisions but Bobby is the man who physically carries them out. There is also a special bond between the two. They go everywhere together and do everything as a pair. Not queer in the physical sense but in everything else. Bobby’s like a pet dog around Joe and Joe appreciates the loyalty.”
“So I kill Bobby?”
“Maybe grab him and stash him somewhere would be a better idea. He’s of use alive. Maybe I can read his thoughts. Dead he’s just another reason for Joe to kill you.”
“There’s always a house or two for sale in Hockley. Or maybe one where a family is on vacation. I could find one that’s empty and secluded. Locks don’t mean anything to me.”
“I know where Bobby makes his illicit deals. He took me shopping in Toronto a few times when he made some buys. It was kind of nerve racking because he bought the actual product and put it in Danny’s car. Danny by the way is Bobby’s right hand man. They keep their group small, mostly just the two, so they won’t draw attention. Sometimes Danny brings a van. They go every Tuesday and Thursday.”
“So you know where they go and what time?”
“Yah, we’ll be waiting.”
Harry realised it could all be an elaborate plan to capture him. He’d be out of his element and totally in Karma’s hands. He saw doubt and mistrust in Sandy’s eyes as well. It was a matter of trusting Karma. She was the only help he had against an invincible foe. He’d have to sleep on it.
It was well past midnight and they were about to retire when there was a noise in the laneway then the sound of boots on the front porch. Harry grabbed his Beretta but before he could get to the front door it imploded. Tony Moore strutted in on stiff legs, his hands outstretched, reaching. Harry had no idea what waited outside. He had to immobilize Moore immediately. He fired a shot into his thigh. Tony stopped but regained his tempo.
Karma was at Harry’s side. She removed her ring and held it toward Tony. She chanted in a tongue foreign to Harry. She yelled the last syllables. Tony stopped then folded like a puppet with no strings.
Karma cried and ran to him, kneeling on the floor by his side. She rolled his head into her lap and stroked his hair. Harry ran through the front door scanning the laneway and road. Whoever had dropped Tony off was nowhere to be seen. When Harry returned inside Karma said,
“We have to get the body out of here. It would be hard to explain to the police. Maybe one of Joe’s goons will call in an anonymous tip.”
Harry was puzzled.
“How did he die?”
“He would be difficult to kill with bullets.”
“Tell me about it,” said Harry.
“I used a spell to eradicate another. One that kept him alive.”
She cried then added,
“I killed him. What was left anyway.”
“Where to?”
“The bridge at the seventh line.”
Airport Road didn’t always run straight through highway nine. When it was called the sixth line before airplanes were invented it bypassed a ravine. When they paved the road and turned it into a highway they traversed the ravine with a land bridge leaving a section of road about two kilometres long that would never be used. They renamed it the seventh line.
Someone built a house where the old mill used to sit on the east side of the old road. On the west was forest and that’s where they would stash Tony’s body. If found the investigation wouldn’t lead anywhere. Unless someone saw them. There was always that, wasn’t there thought Harry? A neighbour who couldn’t sleep.
Sandy stopped at a bridge at the lowest part of the seventh line. It spanned the Humber River, just a stream at this time of the year. There was a trail that fishermen used. Harry grabbed Tony’s torso and Karma his legs. They carried him along the stream then deep into the forest. They laid him to rest covering his body with branches. They couldn’t take the time to bury him. Karma said a few words over him then they left and drove home.
Karma cried all the way to the spare bedroom. Harry sat her on the bed then offered his condolences. Sandy watched every move. Downstairs again alone with Sandy Harry said,
“You’re jealous.”
“Of a woman who can whisper words in your ear and make you have sex, with or without her. I’m protecting you from your male macho self.”
“Thanks, I think.”
As a temporary fix for the night Harry nailed the broken front door shut. There was always an entrance through the garage.
He walked to Sandy and held her in his arms.
“I think after tonight we can trust Karma.”
Sandy kissed him.
“It would have to be a terribly complicated scheme to grab us. I saw it in her eyes. She lost her lover tonight.”
“Would you cry for me, Sandy? I mean if you had to kill me.”
“If I had to kill you it would be for womanizing and I wouldn’t shed a tear. First Karen and ‘The Twins,’ at the donut shop and now Karma. Anybody else I don’t know about?”