If it Bleeds, it Leads (An Avery Shaw Mystery)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Avery, I like you, I do. But you’re a complete and total pain in the ass. You leap before you look. You speak before you think. And that’s not a random thing. You do it every day. You are a little busybody who likes to know what everyone else is doing and then lie when asked what you’re doing. You are the most frustrating person I have ever met.”

  All this was true.

  “I could probably live with all that – if I kept a bottle of Pepto Bismol around for the ulcer you would surely give me,” Eliot continued. “I can’t deal with Farrell, though. I’m not going to be your consolation prize.”

  “Excuse me? Jake and I haven’t dated for years.”

  “And yet he still runs to your rescue and acts like a jealous boyfriend whenever he sees me with you.”

  “That’s not my fault.” Well, it wasn’t.

  “Really? Because you act all into me, but then you act jealous whenever you see anyone show any interest in him.”

  “I do not act all into you. Quite frankly, I don’t even find you remotely attractive,” I sniffed.

  Eliot closed the gap between us in one second and pressed himself against me as he pushed me into the wall. I had nowhere to go and God did his muscles feel good up next to me. I think I lost my train of thought.

  Eliot lowered his head and gave me a soft and lingering kiss. Good grief could he kiss. He pulled away all too quickly.

  “Still not interested?”

  I gave him a dirty look as he pulled away.

  “Like I said, though, I’m not playing this game with you. Make a choice.”

  “What?”

  “I said, make a choice. Me or Farrell. You can’t have us both.”

  Now that would be an interesting sandwich.

  ***

  I woke up early the next morning. Truth be told, I hadn’t slept well. What started out as kind of sexy dream with Jake and Eliot fighting over me had turned into a nightmare when they both dumped me for busty strippers in stilettos. Assholes.

  Since it was Saturday, I didn’t have to work and I was looking forward to an afternoon with my Kindle. Okay, more likely an afternoon with my Xbox, but either way I’d be content.

  I had just sat down with a glass of tomato juice and some pickled okra (don’t ask, it’s a fetish) when my cell phone rang. I debated about answering it. If it was the office I had no intention of answering it, but when I saw it was an unknown Detroit number curiosity got the best of me. That’s usually my downfall. If I was a super hero, that would be my kryptonite.

  “It’s Lexie.” She sounded out of breath.

  “Where are you calling from?”

  “A pay phone. Come get me.”

  “I didn’t even know they still had pay phones.”

  “That’s great. Can we talk about how ignorant you are later? I need you to come get me.”

  “Why?”

  “Maybe I just want to see you.” My whole family does the same lying diversion thing I do. I just realized that.

  “Where would I be coming to get you?”

  “The Cass Corridor.”

  Like hell. The Cass Corridor is known for drugs and prostitutes. I wasn’t in the mood for either. Although lunch in Greektown held a certain appeal.

  “And why am I not picking you up at your apartment?” I’m suspicious by nature. That’s why I’m such a good reporter – and probably such a bad person.

  “Because the cops might be looking for me there.”

  “And why would they be looking for you there?”

  “They raided the warehouse and took Javon into custody.” Great. Things were going to start happening fast now.

  “I thought you didn’t have anything to do with the production.”

  “I didn’t. But I might have some product on me.”

  “Then toss it.”

  “That would be like tossing $1,000 out the window. I’m not going to do that.”

  “Well, it’s not coming in my car.”

  “Come on!” Lexie sounded desperate.

  “Flush it, because it’s not coming in my car or my house. That’s a deal breaker.”

  I could practically see Lexie’s mind working over the phone. “Fine, just come get me.”

  I hung up the phone and threw on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt (It was ‘The Goonies’ Truffle Shuffle day) and a pair of tennis shoes and ran a brush through my hair, pulling it back into a ponytail. I didn’t think Lexie would understand if I took the time to shower. I figured I was going to have to pat her down when I got to her anyway – so I didn’t want to wear anything really nice if I was going to get all sweaty.

  When I got down to Detroit, I cruised down the Cass Corridor. Luckily, Lexie recognized my car – probably had something to do with all the ‘Star Wars’ stickers on it – and flagged me down. I finally got a look at her when she got into the vehicle. She was wearing fuzzy pajama pants.

  “Why aren’t you dressed?”

  “The raid came down in the middle of the night.”

  “Are they still there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Well, I wanted to. “Where’s the warehouse? We’ll just drive by.” Probably.

  Lexie directed me to drive for a few blocks. After that, I could see the sea of police cars with flashing lights. I could tell Lexie was shifting nervously next to me. I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

  “I don’t have anything on me. But I don’t want them to see me.”

  “Well, if what you’ve told me is true, then you don’t have anything to worry about. They’ll just want to question you.”

  “You don’t know that.” Lexie had an inherent distrust of cops, too, despite her brother being one. They can be flaming assholes.

  I parked the car two blocks away and got out. “Where are you going?” Lexie was panicky.

  “I want to get a better look. You’ll be safe here.”

  “Leave the keys so I can listen to the radio.”

  Yeah, dry that one out and you could fertilize Ford Field. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Anyone that didn’t know her would probably fall for Lexie’s wide-eyed innocent look. I wasn’t just anyone.

  “Of course I don’t trust you. I’d come back and my car and you would be long gone.”

  Lexie slouched in the seat and was grumbling as I shut the door. I couldn’t muster a lot of sympathy for her. She got herself into a lot of stupid situations. This was only one of many.

  As I was walking towards the police line, I caught a hint of movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone in a bright red coat was talking to someone else behind a Dumpster. Totally normal behavior on a Saturday morning in downtown Detroit – not.

  I slowed my pace to try and get a better look at just whom it was. The tall woman in the red coat was easy to identify. It was Sunshine. What was she doing here? What was an even bigger surprise was her companion. Tina. Tina looked like a scared little mouse as Sunshine gestured wildly to her. What was this about?

  Sunshine grabbed the lapels of Tina’s jacket and shoved her hard against the wall – managing to actually lift her a few inches off the ground as she did so. I wasn’t exactly a fan of Tina’s, but I didn’t think I should let the Amazon manhandle her. I took a step in their direction.

  Sunshine must have caught sight of me because she straightened up suddenly and met my stare. Any glimpses of the sweet little girl running from her stalker that had been with Eliot the other night were nowhere to be found.

  I raised my arm in greeting. Maybe I could just pretend I hadn’t seen anything and was surprised to run into her.

  Sunshine seemed to recover herself. She waved brightly at me. She wasn’t going to give me a chance to question her, though. She turned and quickly made her way down the street in the opposite direction.

  Tina took off in the same direction. She obviously didn’t want to talk to me either. Stranger and stranger. I just want to point out that I nailed them knowing each other days ago. Just
saying.

  I moved my attention back to the warehouse. I was surprised to see that some of the cars surrounding it were Macomb County Sheriff’s Department cars. The others were made up of Wayne County officers and state police.

  I scanned the area. I was hoping I would be able to find a Macomb County deputy to let me on the scene. The Wayne County and state police wouldn’t know me. Of course, I had to find a Macomb County deputy who didn’t hate me – so that would be equally as troublesome.

  Unfortunately, the only cop I saw who I knew was Derrick. Son of a bitch.

  I made my way over to him anyway. The odds of him letting me on the scene were slight, but I was hoping that he would feel guilty about last night. Fat chance, I know, but I was already down here.

  When Derrick saw me coming the laugh he’d been sharing with one of the Wayne County cops disappeared from his lips. “What are you doing here?” So much for family being a blessing.

  “I just happened to be walking by.”

  Derrick knitted his eyebrows. I could see his mind working. Given Javon’s arrest, he was probably as worried about Lexie as I would have been in his place. I figured he didn’t want to question me too much in front of another officer.

  “You were walking by? From Roseville?”

  “Nah, I was shopping at Eastern Market and I saw all the lights.” I can lie about things like this with such ease it’s scary sometimes.

  “Eastern Market is great.” This was the other cop. He was eyeing me like I was a bacon cheeseburger, by the way. I might be able to work this to my advantage. Men are always attracted to me when they first see me. It’s after they talk to me for more than a few minutes that they grow wise to what kind of person I really am.

  “Isn’t it though?” I tried to wink. I think it came off looking deranged. When I try to flirt it comes out as spazz.

  The other cop gave me an odd look. I wondered if I had something stuck in my teeth. Then I realized that, in my haste to get to Lexie, I hadn’t worn a bra this morning. Hey, use what you got.

  Derrick tried to smooth over the conversation – or at least aim it in a different direction. I can guarantee he didn’t want to talk about my lack of bra and the situation it might create.

  “Kevin Walker made bail yesterday afternoon.”

  “Really? Was he found down here?”

  “No.”

  “Why are you telling me this? Jake wouldn’t like you spilling inside information.”

  “Given what happened between you and Mr. Walker yesterday, Jake actually thought it was a good idea for me to tip you off. I was going to call you. I just didn’t think you’d be up this early. You kind of ran out of dinner last night, I thought you might have food poisoning.” Derrick was making fun of me..

  “I got a call from someone this morning needing help. I was up.”

  Derrick met my gaze; he seemed to know what I was talking about.

  “I hope nothing serious.”

  “It should be fine. I’m handling it.”

  “Handling what?” Crap, it was Jake. He’d snuck up behind us. He’s like a silent little cat sometimes. I need to get him one of those little bells for around his neck.

  “Just a family matter,” I turned to smile at him, wishing I had taken the time to put on some makeup. Then I hated myself for thinking that. I didn’t care what Jake thought.

  “How did you end up here?”

  “She was at Eastern Market.” This was the Wayne County cop. He was smiling at me again. I guess he’d gotten over me being a dork and was back to focusing on the fact that I wasn’t wearing a bra.

  Jake narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. “You were at Eastern Market? At 10 a.m. on a Saturday? Without a bra?” I’m so glad he advertised that for everyone to hear.

  “I was thinking about getting something to cook.” Not one of my better lies. Jake must have seen Derrick and I share a quick look, because he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me behind the barricades to talk to me.

  “Does this have something to do with Lexie?” Jake knew Lexie from our years dating. He also knew I wouldn’t give her up – despite my protestations to the contrary.

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “If you’re worried, her boyfriend didn’t implicate her in anything.”

  “I wasn’t worried.” I was totally worried.

  “You want to see inside?”

  Now this surprised me. “You’re giving me access to a crime scene?”

  “It’s not like there are bodies inside or anything.”

  I had the word why on the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it. I wasn’t going to say no to a private tour.

  Jake led me inside. He seemed more interested in my reaction than the flurry of activity going on around us. There must have been 20 cops inside collecting evidence and dusting for fingerprints.

  “What’s that smell?”

  “That’s what it smells like when you cook meth?”

  “Why can’t you smell it from outside?”

  “They installed a pretty good air filtration system.”

  “How did you guys know to come here?”

  “We got a tip.” Now Jake was lying.

  “Did Kevin Walker tell you to come here?” No, that didn’t make sense. I wondered briefly if Little Tony and Cameron had tipped him off, but I doubted Little Tony was smart enough to operate the phone and Cameron seemed content sitting back and waiting to see what would happen.

  “I can’t tell you who tipped us off.”

  “Sheriff Farrell, over here.” One of the cops was beckoning him over to a corner where there were several boxes being sifted through. I made to follow Jake but he pointed like I was a dog. “Stay.”

  “Yes sir.” I mock saluted, clicking my heels together as I did so.

  Since I’d been left alone, I tried to look at some of the documents on the table. I couldn’t really tell what they were. Mostly it was a hodgepodge of takeout menus and loose-leaf notebook paper.

  I caught the glint of silver out of the corner of my eye. I looked around to see if anyone was watching me, but Jake appeared to be interested in what was going on with the boxes in the corner.

  I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the silver item – which was partially obscured by a hubcap that was being used as an ashtray. The minute my fingers wrapped around the item I knew what it was. A flash drive. A portable computer component that carried information from one computer to another. Jackpot.

  I didn’t even hesitate; I fluidly shoved the flash drive in my jeans pocket and then looked around furtively to see if anyone saw. Jake was moving towards me. Uh, oh.

  “Are you done here?” He asked. He hadn’t noticed after all. There’s no way he would let me leave with the flash drive willingly.

  “I don’t know what I was doing here in the first place.”

  “I just wanted you to see how big this operation is – and that you shouldn’t be sticking your nose in it.”

  Why he would think that is beyond me.

  “So what are you doing tonight?”

  That took me by surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “Tomorrow is Halloween. That’s your favorite holiday. I just figured you were going to a party or something.”

  Crap. That reminded me that Carly was having a Halloween party tonight and I’d promised to go. Costumes were mandatory.

  “I’m just going to Carly’s costume party.”

  “Are you taking anyone?”

  “No.” Why, did he want me to ask him?

  “I’m going to the county costume party tonight, too.” Guess not.

  “What are you dressing up as?”

  “Han Solo.” I started in surprise. Suddenly I was turned on.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, my date is dressing up as Princess Leia.” I bet she wears the slave costume. Now I was mad. I increased my pace as we walked out of the building.

  “You’re not jealous are you?” Jake’s eyes were twinkling.
<
br />   “Why would I be jealous?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Han Solo is your favorite.”

  “So?”

  “I just thought maybe you would be mad or something. Guess I was wrong. I thought maybe you didn’t wear a bra for my benefit.”

  I guess he was wrong. I wasn’t mad at all – and I didn’t purposely kick that garbage can as I walked towards my car. I tripped over it. Honest.

  Thirteen

  After leaving Jake, I was in a pretty impressive snit when I got back to my car. Lexie had disappeared, but that didn’t really surprise me. She would show up when she felt like it. It was her world; we only visited it from time to time. I didn’t really feel like dealing with her anyway.

  I hopped in my car and took the freeway home. I couldn’t get the thought of Jake dressing up as Han Solo for some other girl out of my mind. I didn’t know what irritated me more, that he was doing it or that I cared.

  The other thing on my mind was that I had completely forgotten about Carly’s Halloween party. What with the dead body in the parking lot and getting menaced by used car salesmen it had slipped my mind.

  Jake was right about one thing, though, I absolutely love Halloween. I love the moodiness of the holiday – the general creepy atmosphere. How simple fog can seem menacing with the right lighting. I like dressing up as someone else – it’s not always ‘Star Wars’ related, just half the time. My favorite thing about the holiday, though, is the abundance of horror movies.

  I am a huge horror movie freak. I like good horror movies like ‘The Shining’ and the original ‘Halloween’ and I also enjoy horror movies that are so bad they’re good – like ‘Black X-Mas’ and ‘People Under The Stairs.’ The only horror movies I can’t really get into are the remakes (Rob Zombie should be smacked around for both those ‘Halloween’ remakes). I still watch them, though. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about – and no one wants that.

  As I drove, I let my mind wander to exactly what I should dress up as this evening. Carly had made it clear, if I showed up without a costume or put on a bathrobe and claimed I was a Jedi Knight there would be hell to pay. Given how annoyed everyone else was with me, I really didn’t want to piss off Carly just now. She’s the one person I can always rely on being in my corner – even if she’s pouting and giving me dirty looks while she’s there.