by Nick James
“Now,” Montcreff began then shoveled a pancake wedge into his mouth. “You said something about some cop at Bannon’s funeral.”
“Yeah, guys name is Sharkey, Sergeant Sharkey, works homicide and was one of two cops who came to my office and told me Bannon and his wife, my ex, were dead. Told me they’d been asphyxiated.”
“They were, least as far as I know,” Montcreff said. A blueberry had lodged in the crease on the left corner of his mouth and Bobby was having trouble taking his eye off the thing.
“Well, this Sharkey more or less implied it was still an open investigation. The fact that it’s tied to me, through the ex, I’m thinking, you know, it looks a little shaky.”
“”Humph, shaky, that’s a good one,” Montcreff nodded then shoved another massive forkful of pancake into his mouth.
“Well, there’s something else I should tell you.”
Montcreff sat back, dropped his fork on the plate with a clatter and said, “This is why I prefer to dine alone. What the hell is it?”
“I happened to be driving by when you were leaving Michael’s the other night with Jonathan Bannon and his wife.”
“You’re ex,” Montcreff grinned a mouthful of blueberry pancake, his yellowed teeth had taken on a purple cast.
“From what I could see, neither one of them was in any condition to drive.”
“What the hell are you suggesting, here Custer?” Montcreff growled and flashed his eyes.
“I’m telling you they could barely stand, one of your guys was pouring them into the backseat of your SUV. Given their condition, in a fancy restaurant like Michael’s, people had to take notice. And then they’re found dead in their garage the next day. And, from what the cops said, apparently somebody screwed her. It doesn’t add up and this Sharkey guy plus his partner Woodley don’t seem like the kind to just let that go.”
Montcreff sat back, pursed his lips and drummed his fingers on the table. “Would you like some bacon?”he said and handed a piece to Bobby.
Bobby took a bite.
“She’d been screwed? Had sex? Who told you that?”
“I just said, the cops. They told me Bannon was in the front seat, she was stretched out in the back. I doubt Bannon was capable of much more than passing out. It makes no sense that they were in their garage, much less in a car with the motor running and screwing.”
“Interesting,” Montcreff reached over for a piece of bacon. “So just what do you intend to do with this information, this hypothesis of yours?”
“I just told you, it’s not my idea, my hypotheses, it’s what the cops told me. I’m just giving you a warning that these two cops don’t strike me as the kind to give up. You might just have a lose end out there is all I’m saying.”
“I’ll check into it,” Montcreff said and stuffed another piece of bacon into his mouth.
“I’m curious, whatever became of the infamous order from China?”
“It’s being filled as we speak,” Montcreff smiled and took another piece of bacon.
“Cops know about that, too. Make sure you have some distance,” Bobby said.
Montcreff gave a slight smile and seemed to think for a moment. “So, tell me about your federal friend.”
“Agent Drake, I haven’t told him anything, but I can feel some pressure starting to build. I would have sold my own mother down the river if I didn’t have to spend another day in that Duluth facility. He asked about you, Noah Denton, well and all the partners actually. He knew about the Bannon deaths. I told you he new about Camila Morales in the house. I have no idea what, but I get the feeling something’s up.”
“Did he call you with a time to meet yet?”
“No.”
“He will, most likely this afternoon. Your friend Drake has been engaging in some extra curricular activity of late. Be prepared for short notice, probably just a couple of minutes. Call me when you hear from him, don’t use your office phone or your cell.”
“If I’m at the office it’s damn near ten minutes through the skyway to the nearest pay phone.”
Montcreff nodded, then called to the thug leaning against the bar, “Nick.”
The man hurried over, Montcreff whispered something in his ear and just as quickly the guy was out through the kitchen door.
“Let’s talk about Noah Denton for a moment, what are your thoughts?”
“My thoughts?” Bobby said. “Well, this last fall he had did some damage, not that he won’t recover, but I don’t think you’re ever going to see him back at 100%. He hit the back of his head off the bathroom sink, quite a blow apparently. The staff were worried about swelling, pressure on the brain. That doesn’t seem to have occurred, but the long term effect is unknown at this point. The guy is in his mid seventies, if anyone could come back it would certainly be him, but that’s an awfully steep hill.”
“Will they let him back at the firm?”
“In all honesty, I don’t see how. If it was just the two incidents involving him and other employees, maybe he could get past that. But, there have been further incidents at the transitional care unit and then well, after the Saunders woman was killed in France…”
“That was a bad move,” Montcreff said absently.
Bobby made note of the terminology, but moved on. “In all honesty, if he were allowed to return, I fear virtually the entire support staff, the ones who do the day-to-day heavy lifting would probably walk right out the door. Even the partners have had some problems, missing files that were found in his home office. Files that weren’t even for his clients.”
Nick came back through the kitchen door at this point carrying a small white box. He set it next to Montcreff and then adjourned to the bar. Montcreff slid the box over to Bobby. “Here, I want you to call me on this once you hear from your FBI pal. Don’t make any other calls on this phone. Once you call me, take the son of a bitch apart and dispose of it. Now, I’m sure you’re probably going to be late for work,” he said then pulled the platter of bacon back toward him, crammed another piece into his mouth and smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bobby had been reviewing his breakfast meeting and staring blankly at his office wall for the last few hours when his phone rang.
“This is Bobby.”
“Custer, I’m sure whatever you’re doing is very important, but why don’t you think about meeting me out in front of your building in oh, say the next five minutes.”
“Agent Drake?”
“No, it’s your fairy godmother. Don’t be a wise ass, now you’ve only got four-and-a-half minutes or you’ll be back in your cell up in Duluth by tonight,” he growled then hung up.
The cellphone from Montcreff sat on the corner of his desk and he punched in Montcreff’s number.
“Yes.”
“Mr. Montcreff, it’s Bobby Custer. Drake just phoned me and want’s me to meet him out in front of the building.”
“When?”
“Now. He said if I wasn’t down there in four and a half minutes I’d be back in my cell up in Duluth by tonight.”
“Interesting. The man sounds stressed.”
“He sounds like an asshole, is what he sounds like.”
“Here’s what I want you to do. Go down there, meet him, stall as long as you can before you get in his car. Hang on, just a minute. What?” It sounded like he put his hand over the phone, Bobby could hear voices, but they were muffled and indistinguishable. “Yeah, okay listen Custer, I want you to take that cellphone with you. Someone will be following, you just keep the thing turned on, got it.”
“Keep it with me and turned on.”
“Right.”
Bobby was still talking as he headed for the elevator.
“What do you want me to say? What do I tell him?”
“Let him do the talking. Bastard’s always got a million questions. You’re a good liar, Custer. I got all the faith in the world in you.”
Unfortunately the elevator didn’t stop on any of the floors, but d
escended immediately to the ground floor for the fastest trip leaving the office Bobby had in weeks. He lingered in the building lobby for a minute or two before he pushed his way through the revolving door then walked halfway toward the street, stopped and pretended to scan the vehicles parked along the curb. He spotted Drake almost immediately, but continued to scan the cars back and forth until a horn sounded and Drake waved his hand over the roof of the car.
He was sitting in some sort of mini-SUV, kind of a rusty burgundy color. Bobby waved then took his time approaching the vehicle. He opened the passenger door, but remained on the sidewalk.
“You feel like just grabbing a coffee here? We got a nice…”
“Get your ass in here, dumb shit,” Drake growled then turned the ignition as Bobby slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. “Close the damn door,” Drake shouted as he pulled away from the curb then took a right at the corner.
After a couple of blocks Bobby broke the silence. “Where are we going?”
Drake glanced over at him, plastered on a fake smile and said, “I thought we’d maybe take a nice little drive and go see a friend of yours.”
“A friend of mine?”
“Girlfriend. Pretty little thing. I hear you been doing some favors for one another, thought if might be fun for me to just watch. I guess she’s kind of kinky, so I figured the two of you might like an audience.”
“I don’t know who you mean. I don’t have a girlfriend,” Bobby said trying his best to look confused and hoping Drake didn’t mean Emily.
“Oh really? No girlfriend? Hmmm, well I’m not sure what you’d call her, maybe just your party pal, a friendly little slut or maybe she’s your whore, you know, a working girl.”
Bobby gave him a genuinely confused look.
“Ha-ha-ha, that’s it, isn’t it, Custer the bitch is your whore? Who knew?” Drake laughed again, then took a turn up the Kellogg hill and headed in the general direction of Emily’s place.
“Look, Agent Drake, I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but I can assure you I…”
“Don’t kid a kidder, Custer. I can assure you, I happen to know from personal experience, very personal experience, that she can be a handful, a real tiger,” Drake said then laughed. “God, look at your face. Hilarious. What? You think she came up with all those wild ideas on her own. Where do think she learned all that kink, son? Think she just made it up? Bitch has been doing it big time since she was about ten, and loving every minute,” he said then took a left in front of the cathedral and headed up Summit Ave., the quickest route to Emily’s.
“How, how long have you known her?”
“That’s right, now you’re starting to put it together. Known her? You got it all wrong Custer, I’m just like you, well and probably a million other guys. I’ve been doing her. How long? Let’s just say long enough to know a good thing once I’ve had it a half-dozen times.”
They were at Dale Street now, Drake put the blinker on and waited behind the two cars turning left. Emily’s place was just a couple of blocks away and it looked like Drake had been there often enough to know the quickest route.
“Come on, move damn it, Custer and I need some action. Right Custer?” Drake laughed just as one of the cars in front of him made a left hand turn. The light turned yellow and the next car pulled forward a couple of feet and stopped.
“Finally,” Drake said then glanced over his right shoulder, squeezed between the car turning left and a vehicle parked almost to the corner. He made a right hand turn onto Dale heading in the opposite direction from Emily’s and toward Frogtown.
“You ask me, Custer. I think it’s time you and your girlfriend get a little reminder about just who’s in charge of this entire cluster fuck. Get you both back on track. Oh come on, relax, it’ll be fun. A high priced lawyer and a cheap whore, not that there’s much difference. Well, except she actually serves a purpose.” Drake laughed then patted Bobby on the knee and accelerated through the University Ave. stop light.
Chapter Twenty-Five
They took a left off Dale into the Frogtown area. A half-block down the street they passed the spot where the most recent victim had been shot, although there wasn’t anything that would indicate the fact. Three blocks further on they passed a large, black SUV with dark tinted windows, one of the keepers of the gate to Camila’s. Drake pulled to a stop in front of the house and put the car in park. By now all the crime scene tape on the block had been removed and if you didn’t know, everything looked normal, whatever normal passed for down here in Frogtown.
“Come on, let’s go have some fun,” Drake said and opened his door. Bobby looked at the house through the passenger window and sighed as Drake stepped around the front of the car. “Custer, come on, get your fat ass out here. It’s party time, damn it, and I intend to have me a little fun.”
Bobby reluctantly climbed out of the car and looked up and down the sidewalk. He could see the SUV’s parked at either end of the block, but no one seemed to be in any hurry to stop Drake.
Drake saw him looking and chuckled. “Forget it. The bastards know better. They screw with me and I’ll have a dozen agents tearing this place apart. My friends in immigration will have their ass back south of the boarder before the day is out. Now come on,” he said then hopped up the front porch steps, taking them in one quick leap. “Jesus Christ, Custer will you hurry up. You’re gonna miss the look on her face,” he said then pulled out a small black leather holder from his front pocket, gave a quick glance toward either end of the porch and rang the doorbell.
Camila opened the door a moment later, the doorbell was still chiming inside. She wore jeans, very tight bluejeans, a white blouse and a string of pearls.
“What took you, darling? Federal agent,” Drake said waving his id for a brief moment before he pushed her aside and stepped into the living room. “Custer, damn it, I’m not going to tell you again, get your ass in here. So, you miss me, darling?”
Camila looked at Bobby as he stepped in through the front door. Drake was busy scanning the room and Bobby shook his head, held his hands palms up and shrugged, hoping to indicate he had nothing to do with any of this.
“Nice job of fixing this joint up, doll. I see you’re up to your old tricks,” Drake said then rapped his knuckles against the steel wall. “I’m digging your decorating style.”
“There was a shooting down the block just a few months ago, a little girl…”
“So based on that, you decided it would be a good idea to move in anyway?”
“I would just like to be safe.”
“You’ve always been safe with me. Haven’t I always taken care of you?”
“Yes, Stan and I hope that will continue.”
“Look what I brought you, an old friend,” Drake said then wrapped his arm around Bobby’s shoulder and moved him forward. “You like ‘em shy, don’t you?”
“Mr. Custer. He is my landlord.”
“Oh, I think he might be a lot more than that, if not, he will be by the time we’re finished,” Drake laughed. “Speaking of which,” he said and rubbed his nose back and forth.
Camila quickly glanced toward Bobby then looked uncomfortably toward Drake.
“Relax, he owes me just as much if not more than you. I’m thinking I might just be in the mood for a little day brightener and then some entertainment, just the two of you, well and your audience of one, namely me.”
“I’m not sure if that’s the best idea, I mean my landlord…”
“Yeah, sure that’s it, come on let’s get started, a little pick me up first.”
“Tequila, a whiskey?”
“Come on, Camila get it out.”
“I don’t think…”
“Stop. You’re right, don’t think, just get it out or should I call my friends in DEA or Immigration?”
“I’m legal, you know I have a visa.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure all you’re friends do, too. Like those idiots parked at either end of the blo
ck. A visa? How long do you think that will last once I have DEA stroll through here? Hey, I know, maybe they should pair up with the cops and take a look at the recent shootings around here, what do you say? Your choice.” Drake stared for a long moment waiting for her to answer. “Yeah, I thought so, now, I’ve been working very hard, so you decide, but I’m thinking it’s party time and I’d really like to get started.”
“I choose to party,” Camila said and seemed to suddenly warm to Drake, rubbing her hand along his arm before she quickly stepped behind him and began to give him a shoulder massage.
Drake stood there for a good couple of minutes while she massaged his shoulders and a look of pleasure gradually spread across his face. “Better, much better, see Custer, I told you she knows how to please. Ahh, that feels great, now where’s the bedroom?”
“Mmm-mmm, that’s so boring. I’ve got something much, much better, you’ll love it. A little dungeon I’ve set up just for you,” she said and nibbled at the back of his neck then rolled her eyes at Bobby while she continued to massage Drake’s shoulders.
“Dungeon, you hear that Custer? See, now this little lady knows how to take care of her benefactor. Pay attention, you just might learn a thing or two.”
“What? You want me to give you a shoulder massage?”
“Watch yourself, dumb shit, just watch yourself. How ‘bout some party treats, Camila.”
“Sure, baby just waiting for you down in the dungeon.”
“Lead on, or better yet, maybe Custer should go first and we’ll just follow,” Drake smiled then reached back beneath his shirt and pulled out a pistol. “Come on, Custer, you go first.”
Camila stepped in front of Bobby and headed for the kitchen. She opened the basement door and turned on the light illuminating the staircase. Bobby looked at her for a moment than Drake motioned him forward with a wave of the pistol. He started down the steps as Drake said, “You next, darling. If there’s anyone waiting down there you better tell them I’m gonna shoot you first.”
“There’s just the three of us, that’s all I can handle,” Camila said.
