Mystery: Suspense: Hell Money: : A Private Investigator Mystery Crime Thriller: (horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, police, murder, dark, conspiracy) ... (Marie Avalon Mystery Crime Series Book 2)

by Josh Law

  “Ah, so you’re the noble one, eh? I’ll have to remember that later. The noble ones are the ones you really gotta keep an eye on. It’s obvious, though, yeah? Your Papito promised me a share in the immortality. That’s how he paid for my services. I did some heavy kink for that dog too. He died before settling his debts. We had a contract! You can tell I’m angry, yeah? If I’d just been paid, I’d have let your little family finish their birthday party in peace. They can still go back to living in peace, minus one washing machine Bacardi here blew to Maria! The two of you have got to come with me.”

  “What are you crazy? Guys?” Sally beat her fists into Nick’s shoulders, outraged. Nick looked at Alex with trembling lips. One side effect of their blood-combining procedure had been anticipating each other’s thoughts. They already knew how they’d have to proceed.

  “I’m sorry, Sally.” Nick let her slide to the floor outside the broken cabinet.

  “What? No! Please! Alex is too clean cut! He’s got nothing to do with any of it! And this jerk Nick-He hasn’t been alive long enough!” Sally folded her hands in a prayer-like gesture.

  “Few have the luxury of receiving their dead again, spoiled girl! Now shut up, before I ice you!” The woman waved the gun at the boys.

  “Come on, mojitos. Step lightly. Wouldn’t want to damage the package before we begin testing.”

  She left then, Sally sitting in the pile of glass screaming. Renee Vierra came storming back inside. All this while she’d been trying to evacuate her wards. She realized in a sick panic that she couldn’t find Sally, Nick, or Alex in the kids she’d counted outside.

  “Come on, baby! It’s okay! I’m going to get you out!” Renee scooped Sally off the floor

  “They’re gone! She took them!” Sally was sobbing uncontrollably.

  “What? Who?!” Renee looked out the window. She felt her stomach dolphin-flop with fear as a black El Camino rolled away from the scene.

  “The boys! Oh my God, somebody took the boys!”

  Chapter 2:

  The Dodge Demon came shrieking into Durango around lunchtime the next afternoon. Marilyn popped out of the driver’s seat, barely remembering to cut the engine and propelled herself from the hood with the strength of an Olympian.

  She landed on the doorstep of “Kiowas’ Fountain” the new favorite bar and grill in Durango.

  “She’s on her third Sazerac, Marilyn!” Matty the Bartender shouted as Marilyn stepped through the old saloon style doors.

  Matty slapped her towel down. She’d been cleaning up a shattered bottle of absinth Renee had spilled in her drunken rantings.

  “My boys! My boys!” Renee sobbed as she knocked back another Sazerac. She tumbled over the counter and reached for a bottle of mescal sobbing ugly, snot nosed sobs.

  “I’m a bartender, yeah. That doesn’t mean I support alcoholism! You’d better have some idea what happened to Nicky and Alex or we’re all going to lose our cookies!” Matty’s face twisted in chagrin when she saw Marilyn’s face go white.

  “Oh, wait, you don’t know anything either! Ooh, this is bad!” Matty gritted her teeth.

  “What? What happened to my boys? I’ve driven all night and half of today!” Marilyn was suddenly militant. Chief Riggs grabbed her around the waist as she tried to collar Matty.

  “Take it easy, Little Sure Shot! So far, no one knows exactly what became of the boys. All we know is that two females, one around 35 and Latino and one around age 13 and apparently Japanese/Latin mixed blew the back wall out of Santa Bianca’s last night. The boys came charging in with pistols that Nicky was supposed to dig up from Army’s caches all over the City and turn in to evidence. I’ll give him a pass though as they were just trying to save Sally whom that crazy braud had locked in Grandmother Evelyn’s china cabinet. They exchanged words and the boys agreed to go with the Latin woman so that she wouldn’t try and bust a plug in Sally. They disappeared in a black El Camino about 17 hours ago!”

  Marilyn sagged, almost collapsing to her knees. She’d set out 32 hours ago. Even then she hadn’t been in time.

  “I’ve been trying to call you for over 15 hours! I left Washington last night and haven’t stopped rolling accept to get gas and take a leak since!” Her hair was standing on end. She’d settled firmly as a jewel to the ring’s socket into the role of Nicky’s mother. With official motherhood had come its frantic need to protect.

  Chief Riggs smiled. It was good to have the private detective back in Durango.

  “Yeah, about that. We’ve actually been trying to contact you too, Ms. Avalon. Problem was we think that crazy woman did something to the cell towers outside of town. Sounds like a pretty steep accusation, but they had explosives. I heard them go off like small cannons and sent squad cars to investigate. Some of the towers have actually collapsed and a few are just damaged. Nobody in the area has good coverage. It’s all haywire. We’ve had guys drive all the way to Silverton trying to get back online and shoot you a text.” Chief Riggs swallowed.

  Marilyn nodded, ready to forgive. It wasn’t his fault that her son was entangled in the midst of a truly disturbing medical advancement political drama. If they worked together they’d get the boys back in one piece. They always did.

  Drawing a deep breath, she casually walked up to the bar.

  “Matty. I’d like to order a bottle of regular Aquafina. Pure H2O. Don’t spike it with anything.” She tilted her head and collared Renee who continued to swill dangerous amounts of alcohol. Matty grimaced and passed Marilyn a regular water bottle. She pulled the sip-top cap up and shoved it between Renee’s teeth.

  “Okay, if you can hear me through the buzz-roar in your ears…Listen up. Our kids have gotten taken again by some freak that no doubt was promised a slice of the government research pie. Now, you’re going to sober up and get in the car. I’m going to need a wingman. We’re going postal and hunting us a Lady-Sicario!”

  She hauled Renee to her jelly knees and pulled her outside throwing her in the Demon’s shotgun seat. It would be a few hours and a few hundred water bottles later before she had sobered enough to actually be useful. Marilyn made a mental note not to equip her with a firearm until then.

  “Marilyn…It’s…You’re back!” She laughed wetly through her teeth.

  “Hell yes. Now let’s sweep the woods. A woman messy enough to blow cell towers to slow down pursuers has definitely left some kind of bread crumb trail for us to follow!”

  Chapter 3:

  “See, now how many hostages get AC and backseat instead of the trunk? You’re lucky too because I can really pack the bodies in this little trick-rider!” The Latin lady was chowing down on some fruit gummies and shooting mock glances back to Nick and Alex who she had lassoed together with razor wire and had shoved in the back seat.

  Nick rolled his eyes and looked out the window.

  “So, you’re wondering where we are, eh? You boys ever been to Mexico anyway? Here’s hoping you’ve had your shots…Seriously, I wouldn’t want you coming down with some funky disease and then spreading your germs to my research team.” She stuffed her face with another wad of fruit gummies. She eyed Nick with suspicion and choked them down.

  “We’re going to turn into Mazatlan, boys. Mazatlan, it’s a beach city. You’ll get to meet some cute girls that can never know you’re a Sicario’s hostage. That’s right. I’m a hitwoman. They call me the Devil’s Swan. You can call me Anahi, which is my Christian name. This is my daughter Bacardi. Named her after my favorite flavor of rum, yeah? You guys can make friends, but just friends, you get me? It’s jail bait otherwise, you dogs! She’s just a little girl. Not even old enough for her quinceanera.”

  “We don’t even know what that is?” Alex shrugged.

  “Don’t talk to her. She’s making eyes at you.” Nick elbowed him, irritated.

  “That’s right. I like him. I think he’s a sexy little mojito! Like a tall cocktail and a fine rum there, boy! I’d chew you up and-”

  “Okay, shut up,
that’s just sick. He’s my brother. You touch him and I’ll break your face.” Nick bristled like a porcupine. Alex’s eyes had crossed and he slumped down in his seat.

  “Hmm? Oh, so you’re the feisty one, eh? Let’s see how much of a man you are, then. Okay, boys, let me break this down for you. First, we stop in Mazatlan. I’ve got some contacts with some corrupted members of the U.S. Black Ops to rendezvous with here, right? They were contributors to your daddy’s little science project just like me. He’d made a lot of promises. Was a real Casanova that old dog. He promised a dose of that Prescott1 adrenal extract to just about every person sat next to him at a barstool. He swore the tests would be successful soon. That everybody could share in the wealth of Eternal youth. It was more than money could buy. A lot of us thought he was nuts. But if you got a little tequila down his lips he’d start talking a lot of things that, while obscure, made perfect sense. It did seem like a long shot and decades in the future, but I’ve always said you should put your chips in while the product’s hot and then let them gain a little interest. I did a lot of services for your dad. The not so nice X-rated kind. The more I did the more receipts he had to write for me. He contracted with me to put in a good word for me. As soon as the extract was perfected-which happened when they resurrected you from the dead after 7 months rotting in the tomb, Nicolas-then I was to get the first dose of it. Whatever else came of it, for a little hanky panky I called first dibs. Now your Papito’s gone. I’ve still got you boys, though. You boys and a seriously ticked off research team that would like nothing better than to run diagnostics to get us all the product we were promised, which seems to be floating around in the adrenal glands and blood of Army’s sons.”

  “Ah, that figures. They didn’t bust the whole team, just parts of it.” Nick ran his hands through his hair in agitation. Alex swallowed looking near to throwing up.

  “Yeah, no. Leave it to the press to embellish. Your governments managed to arrest a fourth of the team. Mostly because the government is the one that sanctioned the team’s actions in the first place. They set up a couple of fall guys so that the rest could keep stepping. The team is planning on abducting the Virgin Islands rehab sooner than you realize and starting up production again ASAP.” Anahi’s eyes took on a far-away look

  “Yeah, you boys have caused quite a stir in the black marketplace. I had to rat race to you before it all went crazy. If Ashe and her convention get to you, they’ll do interrogations that won’t be half as nice as the science teams I called in. Then she’ll kill you and burn you with the hell money so you can go back to Lucifer and settle her debts for her.” Anahi was talking at a mile a minute, not making any sense.

  “Wait, what are you talking about? Who the heck is Ashe and why does she assume I know Lucifer?” Nick sat up, hair standing on end. Something in his eyes told Alex that he was remembering life in the world Here After.

  “They didn’t officially convene until the Durango Drop Science trials made big press. There’s a convention of combined religions, like Santeria, Voodoo, Satanism, etc. that were muy disturbed by your little rendezvous with death, my young friend. All of those superstitious kids thought it would be a good idea to combine their religious powers and prepare for the eventuality that you and others like you would talk. It would either change their way of life or it would prove that one of their ways was the true and only way to go down the highway to Hell. Either way, my sweet young Lazarus, ever since you emerged from the tomb spiritual people want to interview you about what it’s like in Land Way Down Under. Some of them want to go even a step further. Ashe is the chief practitioner of Santeria alive on the planet today. She’s the one that convened the convention in the first place and called for a stalemate of the religions, a full-fledged coexistence. Apparently she’s played loose with her religion anyway and has stepped off into many other fields. Superstitious people say she owes the Devil her soul and then some. She’s come up with a sacrifice to appease him instead. She borrowed it from Asian religions that send money with their loved to the Underworld, by burning fake golden bills at funerals. It’s her gospel belief that if she sends you back to Hell since you’ve obviously already been there and know the way, with some of her hell money in tow, you can be her ambassador and settle her debt. I was hired to come collect you for the job, but I’m still owed a shot of your self-resuscitating adrenaline.”

  Nick’s face twisted in disgust. Alex leaned closer to him realizing that he was about to tell Anahi off and spill the secret he was going to share before she’d interrupted him last night.

  “You can go back and tell your boss that I’ve never met Lucifer and I didn’t actually broach the Gates of Hell. I met with God on the Main Road of the Underworld, if anybody has to know. There’s a massive highway that runs between all the Spirit World. God and his angels come to take you to Heaven if you accepted salvation in life. Lucifer and his demons come for you if you don’t. There’s a path that goes to Nirvana-which is actually and evil port city for Satanic spirit trafficking disguised as Paradise to lure lost and confused souls in. There’s a highway that leads to Dante’s cage in the Inferno. It’s a much bigger place than people on this side of the fence like to think it is. Where you live on one planet the Dead live on hundreds of galaxies all connected by the King’s Highway.” Nick’s eyes blazed with provoked memories. Alex’s jaw had dropped. It was an amazing story.

  “Honestly, ‘mano, I’d love to go back and tell her that. Then she’d be off both our backs. But I can’t convince her. To tell you the truth, you probably won’t be able to convince her either. Religious zealots are always saying they want divine revelation and then when it comes they pass it off as psychosis on the prophet’s part. She’ll murder you in cold-blood before you ever get to make your case. She’s subcontracted with my research boys to singe your adrenals out of you and make sure you can’t come back a third time.”

  Anahi started chuckling as she pulled into Mazatlan. There was a small food truck parked just inside the city limit.

  “Uno secondo,ninos. If I do Enrique here a favor we get dinner tonight for free! Watch them close, Bacardi.” Tucking a Beretta in the back of her pants, she was gone.

  Bacardi spun around.

  “Hiya. Listen! I only play stupid when she’s around. I can speak English perfectly. You need my help and don’t try to argue it. I want away from her just as much as you do. So here’s me helping you escape.” She leaned over the seat with a pair of wire cutters.

  The boys stared at her dumbfounded.

  “Come on, don’t look at me like that! I’m sorry about your sister! I only played along with her long enough to form an escape plan!” The girl was as desperate as they were. Unprecedented trust united them to their common purpose. They broke out of the car, stealing as many explosives and weapons as they could and shoving them down in one of Anahi’s many tote bags. Then it was off into the Mexicana sun-set.

  Chapter 4:

  Renee woke up with the mother of all hangovers. Marilyn was beating the hood of her car in despair.

  “Marilyn?” Renee had no memory of a few hours ago at Kiowa’s Fountain.

  “Marilyn? What are you doing back so soon?” Renee stumbled out of the car head split-aching. She sank to her knees as she remembered why she was drunk.

  “The boys…” She groaned and held her belly, trying to stifle down the urge to heave.

  “I have a contact locator app on Nicky’s phone…It took getting outside of Durango for it to work. The phone towers right outside the city were out. The crazy braud that took off with our boys set off a few IEDs around the towers’ feet. We’ve driven all the way to Silverton to use my phone. Now I’m out of gas and the boys are apparently in Mexico!”

  Marilyn slapped the Demon’s hood. Renee pricked up.

  “Hey, no despair. My brother lives here in Silverton. If I give him a good reason; he’ll hook us up with a ride and some gear. Get walking.” Renee swaggered. Marilyn rolled her eyes.

  “I th
ink I should make you walk a line of chalk or something first.”

  “I’m fine. Now we have an idea of where the boys are. It’s show time.”

  “Yeah, if time is money then you and I are flat broke. Tell me it’s not far to your brother’s?” Marilyn dug her heels in the dirt. Renee spun on her ankle.

  “It’s not. Then there’s this new thing called cell-phones. I already texted him, yeah?”

  There was the sudden revving of an engine. A bright blue 80’ Dodge pickup came rolling down the highway.

  Out stepped a young man with tousled blonde hair. His boots had more red clay caked to them than the earth surrounding the street. Without them, he was probably 6’3”. Marilyn swallowed. He couldn’t be but a handful of years older than her son.

  “Ren…” He stared at his sister for a long moment, lips twisted in a painful grimace. He knew what was going down.

  “We’ve run into a bit of trouble with the kids, Chance. Think you can help us out?” Renee tucked her thumbs into her jean pockets and jutted out her chin defiantly.

  “What kind of trouble?” Chance Vierra looked Marilyn suspiciously up and down.

  “Like the Mexican mafia has abducted my son.” Marilyn swallowed. This guy was just a kid himself. It wasn’t fair to drag him into it.

  “Your Nicky Avalon’s mom, right? That boy’s pulled me out of more scrapes than I can count. We’re junk scrapping business partners or we were before he up and died. Haven’t talked to him since he’s been back around. Think it’s time to bring him home, then. He owes me 20 dollars.” He plucked a gas can from the back of his truck.

  “Good news is, we’ve got the car thing out of the way. It’s an easy fix when I keep my truck’s tank worth on hand all the time. This thing takes probably about the same. The weapons aren’t hard either. I keep a whole bunch of nick knacks in my bed.”

  He handed Marilyn the can and then climbed up into the truck’s bed.