“Dorothy left town,” I say a little too quickly. “You’ll never find her.”
“I don’t need to,” Moses says, a grin spreading across his face. For a moment, I picture a man gone batts, and I’m not convinced Moses hasn’t.
“You’ll never find her,” I mutter.
“I don’t have to find her, Detective Baxter. I have a very effective means of killing someone from a distance. Believe me, if you don’t accept the job or finish it in the allotted time, I will kill her. I will kill both Dorothy and your receptionist, and I’m sure I can find a few ways to pin their deaths on you.” Moses puffs on the cigarette and exhales. “After all, if you don’t do the job, their deaths will technically be on your hands.”
I pull on the ropes, and I feel the wrap around my wrists start to come loose. It wouldn’t matter much; there wouldn’t be any way to get my hands untied and get the rest of me free before the twin goons would be on me, putting me into a world of hurt.
“What else do you have?” I ask, trying to see how much of his hand he’s willing to show. “I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t believe you have any way to kill Dorothy or Genevieve.”
Moses shakes his head and puts out the last of the cigarette. He takes what’s left of mine and snuffs it out as well.
“Cut him loose,” he says. “I don’t have time to prove it to him here and now. Just know, Detective Baxter, the death that’s about to happen is on your hands as well. You don’t get to question us without consequence, and you’ve done nothing more than try my patience.”
Rocco and Roscoe obey. They release me from the ropes and give me back my heater. I rub my wrists and glare at Moses. He shrinks back, expecting me to slug him for what he just put me through, but I hold back. It’s not that I don’t want to knock that mook’s teeth out. But doing so would get me a one-way ticket into a Chicago overcoat. He’s not worth the pain.
My eyes pierce through his cowardly stance, and I walk past.
“Abyssinia,” I grunt, ensuring the threat is clear.
“Count on it,” he replies.
I don’t turn; I won’t give him the satisfaction. Instead, I continue forward into the clip joint. In an instant, I’m hit by a wall of sound and chaos as wait staff deliver drinks and Alice sells packs of cigarettes.
I approach the cigarette girl and place a sawbuck on her tray. “Pack of cigarettes and an answer.”
Alice is uncomfortable; her body says everything. She won’t make eye contact, and her mouth is fighting a look of sheer terror.
“I’m not allowed to talk to you,” she says. “Moses is watching, and I’ll be driving a Bennett Buggy to work in no time if you don’t leave.”
“I’ll go,” I say. “Just one question.”
I see the turmoil in her face. I’m really putting the poor doll through the wringer. She sighs and leads me to a vacant area of the clip joint.
“Okay, but be quick.”
“Does Moses seem like himself?”
Of all the questions I could have asked, I don’t think she expected that one. The look she gives me is one of shock and bewilderment.
“Does he?” I ask.
“No,” she says. “I’ve seen Moses through the good and bad. He’s never been this scared. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it. The fact he told me not to speak with you is even stranger. He’s never told me to exclude anyone willing to pay good tin. I don’t know what you did to him, but he’s on edge.”
“Would you believe me if I said I haven’t done a damn thing?”
Alice exhales through her nose and covers her mouth with her hand, dragging it down to her chin. “Yeah, I believe you.”
“Good.”
“What’s going on?” Alice asks. “Moses is acting strange, you’re acting strange, Dorothy left in a hurry, and now we have Abagail singing. I don’t understand any of it.” Tears begin to fall down Alice’s cheeks. “Thomas, tell me what’s going on.”
“I wish I could, doll, but I’m afraid I don’t have any answers either. Every time I get an answer, three more questions spring up. I can’t explain any of this, and I’m about ready to quit the case. Or at least I was.”
“You were?”
I chuckle. “Your boss really bungled things. It’s clear he doesn’t want me to know anything, but whatever Dorothy heard and saw put a massive puzzle piece in my lap. Then abducting me lit a fire under my ass. I’m ready to crack this case wide open, and you can tell your boss that. He messed up and motivated me.”
“What?”
I smirk. “I know you’re spying for him. You want to know what I know, since Moses would have known I wouldn’t say a word to him.”
“I’m not spying for him,” Alice says with a sneer. “I’m spying in spite of him. I have enough information to be a stool pigeon, and I’m half tempted to do it. Don’t think I’m working for that egg any further than selling snipes.”
I smile and place a hand on Alice’s shoulder. “Don’t take it personally, dollface. I can’t trust anyone right now. I can’t say who all is in on this.”
“I understand,” Alice says, her face calming. “But if you do find something out, keep me in the loop.”
“Will do, doll.”
Alice takes that moment to leave the room and continue doing her job. I head toward the front door and am greeted with a flash of light as I realize how long I’d been out. I’d been unconscious the entire night and all through the morning. With a hit like that, I’m glad I’m not dead.
The cold air feels pleasant compared to the sickly heat Moses keeps his office in. The cars speed by as I walk down the street toward my office. As I walk, I keep an eye out for a payphone; I have a call to make.
It’s a few blocks before I find one. I put a tin in the slot and the operator’s voice chimes through the horn.
“Hi,” I say, “I would like to make a call to a Missus Genevieve Ibot. Tell her it’s Detective Thomas Baxter. She’ll pick up.”
I wait as the operator connects the two telephones and contacts Genevieve. Soon I hear her voice.
“Hello? Mister Baxter?”
“Genevieve, you need to leave the city for a short while.”
There’s silence on her end of the telephone. “Why? What’s going on?”
I almost don’t tell her; I don’t know how to explain that Moses is gunning for her. But I explain everything as best I can. I tell her to leave the city and wait for at least a few weeks before coming back. By then, I’ll have either cracked the case open or I’ll be dead. Either way, whoever is causing all the malarkey in the city will have no use for her.
“Where are we supposed to go, Thomas?” she asks. “Red City is our home.”
“You have family in Montreal,” I say. “Go visit your mother. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.”
“She would,” Genevieve says half-heartedly. “But if I go there, I don’t know if I’ll be coming back.”
I exhale through my nose and close my eyes. “I understand. It’s been good working with you, Genevieve. If I get to the bottom of this, give me a call if you need anything. I’ll vouch for you for any job, even as a detective.”
“Thank you, Thomas,” she says before hanging up.
I sigh and lean against the glass of the phone booth, placing the telephone handset back where it belongs.
Chapter 12
The Dream
I make it back to my office and peel off my jacket and hat. I hang my piece up on the next hook and remove my boots. I wander to my desk, grab what’s left of my bottle of hooch and collapse on the couch.
I remove the lid and bring the brown liquid to my lips, taking in the burning water and waiting as the grief of losing my lover and best friend subsides. To my detriment, it doesn’t.
I light a cigarette and watch as the grey smoke dances above my face. I can’t believe how everything has gone so wrong. Had I not run into that other Howard, I’d be content in believing Howard is dead and calling it
death by exposure. The coroner can’t place what killed him, and it’s hurting my head thinking about it.
The smoke burns my lungs as I inhale, and I don’t care. I can’t seem to bring myself to care about much anymore. It’s not surprising; given all I’ve lost in two days, it’s amazing I still want to finish the case at all.
My eyelids feel heavy, but there’s still a splash of hooch in the bottle. I bring it back to my lips and finish the contents without stopping. The high rushes to my head, and I put my cigarette out on the floor. It’ll leave a black spot, but I can deal with it later. I take in a deep breath and feel the world collapse around me.
***
Everything is wavy and off-kilter. I stand from the couch and my legs give out, sending me tumbling to the floor.
Instead of the hard collision, I fall through the floor and down to the next level and through that floor into the next.
I land in the warehouse of Baucus Publishing; Howard stands overtop an unconscious Genevieve. He’s grinning, an odd action for someone with a heater pointed to his face. The man in the dark overcoat and trilby is me.
“Let her go,” the other me says.
“Come get her,” Howard replies, his voice dark and scratchy.
I take a step forward to get a better view of what’s happening. “What’s going in here?” I ask, but my words go unheard.
The other me takes a step forward, and a gunshot echoes through the warehouse. Genevieve’s head snaps to the side as blood, brain, and bone spatter across the floor behind her. The other me screams and falls to his knees and drops his hands to the floor, sending his piece clattering away. I approach as Howard runs behind the machinery. Genevieve’s eyes are open as is her mouth, permanently frozen in a look of shock and terror.
I kneel beside my counterpart and shake my head. “Why did you step forward?”
He doesn’t answer, and I didn’t expect he would. I look into Genevieve’s eyes as he brings her head to his lap and cradles her, tears falling from the other me’s eyes.
“It’s fine,” Genevieve says, her expression not changing. “I don’t blame you for this.”
“You should,” I say, my heart sinking. “You’re gone because of my hubris.”
A gurgled snicker escapes from her throat. “No, I’m gone because you care about me enough to make sure I’m beyond their reach.”
“I don’t know if you will be,” I say. “I can’t ever be sure if you’ll be fine. If something happens to you while you’re gone, I’ll never know.”
Genevieve’s eyes move to look at me; I’m sure I see the corners of her mouth curve into a slight smile. “That’s the price you have to pay for protection. But you have a job to do, and if I do die, I damn well expect you to catch the son of a bitch that did it.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Don’t be afraid for me,” Genevieve says. “You saved me from this fate. What you see is if you’d failed, but you didn’t. Let this fear go, and let me go with it.”
A tear falls from my eye, and I nod. “Okey.”
I reach forward and close Genevieve’s eyes, and her face returns to the image of terror and shock. I stand and look down at the other me, crippled by the woes of failure and loss. I place a hand on his shoulder and I feel the sobbing stop for a moment. I close my eyes for a moment and remove my hand.
I turn to walk away and the world melts around me. The walls shift and change colour, closing in and adorning different coverings. Suddenly I’m in my office, and Dorothy is standing at the doorway. The other me is asking Dorothy to stay, and she tearfully says she cannot.
“Dorothy,” I mutter.
Time stops, and Dorothy freezes in place. Something around her glows, and another Dorothy emerges from her. “Hello, Thomas,” she says, her smile lighting the room.
“Dorothy,” I say, running toward her and taking her in my arms.
I smile as the warmth of emotion floods through me. I can’t quite express myself adequately on how I feel. “I understand,” I say. I don’t mean to say anything, but the words come out.
“I knew you would,” Dorothy says. “You’re smart and resourceful. You were always going to figure out why I had to leave.” She pulls away, keeping her hands affixed to my biceps. “But Thomas, you have to understand that I didn’t want to leave. I can’t explain how much it hurt me to leave you behind.”
“You did what you had to do.”
“But did you?”
I narrow my eyes, and my mouth shortens. “What do you mean by that?”
“You didn’t fight too hard for me to stay.” Dorothy’s eyes narrow, matching mine, and she lets go of my arms. “You offered to go with me but gave up immediately when I said no. You didn’t fight for me to stay or to come with me.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you don’t love me,” Dorothy says, her words quick and cutting. “I’m not sure if you ever really did. I know you wanted to and that you care about me more than most, but I’m not sure if you’re capable of feeling love for me.”
“That’s not fair,” I say.
I move to defend myself, but Dorothy puts a finger in the air. “No, Thomas, it isn’t fair to either of us. I forced you into becoming a couple. But let’s be honest with ourselves; most of our relationship was based either around orgasms or strained and unromantic conversations. I spent most of my time as a canary, and you were busy with cases — much too busy to see me often enough to really fall in love with me.”
“Dorothy.”
“I’m not upset with you, Thomas.” She turns and takes a swig of hooch. “I can’t be angry with you. I’m out there, who knows where, and scared for my life. I wish I had my man with me. I wish he’d cared enough to not take no for an answer. You could have left the city with me, but knowing what’s at the bottom of the case is too much of a draw for you. You have to know what’s going on.”
“That’s not why I let you leave,” I shout.
“We both know why you let me leave. I’ve already explained it. You know it’s true, so don’t bother denying it.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Dorothy stops and takes in a deep breath, letting out a deep exhale. She pulls out a cigarette from her purse and lights it. “I know you are,” she says. “But there’s more at play than just me leaving, or what I could tell you. You have a lot of work left to do, Thomas. I need you to figure all this out.”
“How? I don’t have any idea where to look. All my leads are exhausted and I have nowhere else to look. I’m going to have to abandon the case.”
Dorothy smiles and steps toward me. I can smell the hooch on her breath as she comes in close and plants a kiss on my lips. “There is still one lead you have.”
“Which one?”
“The job Moses wants you to do.”
My jaw hangs slack, and I take a couple steps back. “You can’t be serious,” I say. “That egg had his goons on me. He’s a crumb of a man, and I won’t do it.”
Dorothy nods her head and frowns. “That’s your decision,” she says, her voice low and dark. “Take his job, and you’ll get the leads you need to figure out the case. It’s that simple.”
“What could Moses possibly have to tell me that I don’t already know?”
Dorothy slaps me across the head. “He’s a part of it, Thomas. How can you possibly be so dense?”
“It doesn’t feel right. My gut tells me not to trust a word that man says, and that was before he changed into more of a wet smack.”
“I’m not saying to trust him. I’m saying do the job and get the information you need.”
I rack my brain to find any answer I can give, any excuse to get me out of dealing with Moses Renault. After my attempts fail, I sigh and drop my head. “I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
Dorothy approaches and once again kisses me. “I’m going to miss you, Thomas.” I try to answer her, but she places a finger on my lips. “We both know I’m not coming back. I�
��m not going to feel safe in the city, and there won’t be any way for me to know when you finish the case.”
I stare into her eyes, the same eyes that had entranced me for so many nights, the eyes that took my attention during the case where I first met her.
“I’m going to miss you,” I say.
“I know you will, and I’m going to miss you. Every day I’ll have you in my thoughts, and I don’t imagine I’ll ever get over you. Not fully.”
“I want you to stay,” I say. “I want you to lead a happy life, the life you always wanted but knew I could never give you. A husband and kids, a house in a good neighbourhood and a dog. You deserve to have it all and more.”
We kiss once more, and the world melts around me again, reforming into the roof of the Ares Corporation tower. I look over the edge and see the ground just under a thousand feet below.
“It’s good to see you, detective,” a woman’s voice says.
I turn to see Howard, Liddell, and Helen standing on the opposite end of the roof. “What’s going on?” I ask.
“You’re the detective,” Liddell says. “Figure it out.”
The glib comment infuriates me. “I expected better from you, Liddell. What are you doing with these sorts? Are you one of them?”
“I might be,” Liddell says. “I may be sabotaging your case, but I suppose you’d probably know if I were. After all, I haven’t had any contact with you since I brought you into the precinct. I let you take the lead, just as the higher-ups wanted, and look at you. You’ve practically given up.”
“I hired you to do a job,” Helen says. “I didn’t think you’d find Howard dead. That’s a failure on your part.”
“But I guess you have to ask yourself if you even believe I’m really dead,” Howard says. “The man you saw in the morgue might have been someone else. Or maybe Ruth lied about me having a twin. Or maybe she doesn’t know if I have a twin. Maybe the man she married and the man Helen loves are two different people. People separated at birth and given the same name.”
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