by Kara Hart
“I can. I knew he’d do it. That’s why I am where I am right now. They can’t find me over here,” he says. “Anyway, it’s my fault. I freaked out during the last hit.”
“I know,” I say. “I saw you. You panicked. Everything was going so smoothly. Why’d you do it?”
“We were taking too long. I had to leave you guys. I had to. Ten more seconds yelling at the damn woman at the front and we’d have all been fucked,” he defends himself. “I thought I could create a diversion. I was wrong.”
“Bullshit,” I hiss. “You were always in this for the wrong reasons. You were being selfish and you know it. Admit it.”
“Selfish? You mean like you meeting with Marshall? What the fuck was that all about?” he asks. But he doesn’t let me answer. He just continues his long-winded rant. “Can you really blame me for leaving you two? I was freaked out, man. I thought you had set up a trap for us. Why else would you be talking with a cop?”
“I was getting answers for us, you idiot!” I scream, losing my cool. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t take being in a conspiracy with these guys. I just want to be alone. No, I want to be with Marshall. Fuck, I hate this so much. I’m blaming myself every second of every day. I’m the idiot.
“You were too busy sucking his dick,” he says with all the spite he has left.
“Fuck you,” I say. “You don’t know my motives. He was way off base. We were going to get away with it. They had no idea what our plan was and he was giving me all the information he could give. It was the perfect crime and you ruined it. Fuck, Elroy ruined it too. He didn’t have to talk. Marshall said the state had a shit case on him. That all just went out the fucking window.”
“We all ruined it,” he says, calming down. “We were all so naïve. Like little children. We shouldn’t have done this, but we were dreamers, right? We thought we could escape a rigged system. We thought we could make a better life, somewhere far away from this hellhole.”
“Yeah… well, now what do we do? Is there any way out of this? Let’s find a cargo boat on our own. We’ll hire a driver to the sea. It’s not that far to Louisiana. We can do it,” I say. I’m practically begging at this point. There are no more options, other than to run out the clock and get caught. We’re done for.
“My face is plastered on every single TV screen in America. The feds are after us now. There’s no doubt about that. You know it’s true too. Soon enough, they’ll contact the department down here and take over the case. Your Marshall will have no idea what’s going on anymore and you’ll be in the dark,” he says. “And then, when you least suspect it, your image will be on that television screen. They’ll bring you in for questioning and you’ll be over and done with. We’re in this together. We have been since day one.”
“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that,” I cry. I feel the tears falling down my face. They hit the carpet below me, making a dull tapping noise. My throat starts to close and I just break down. I weep.
Craig starts to cry too. He’s never cried in front of me. He’s too “manly” for that. But now I see that this has really affected him, maybe more than me. It all seems so hopeless now.
“I’m sorry,” he cries. “But you know it’s the fucking truth. We never stood a chance out there. They never gave us a fair shot, so we had to fight back. We had to!”
“Don’t give up now, Craig. You can’t give up now. Stay where you are. Stay in hiding. Get food and water when you have to, but stay in hiding, God dammit. I beg of you,” I say.
“There’s nothing else I can do,” he says, now calm. “My time is up.”
He hangs up the phone, but I’m screaming, “Craig! Craig, no! Please!”
There’s no response on the other line. He’s giving up. I feel broken. I’m shattered to pieces.
23
Marshall
I glance at the piece of fabric on my dresser. I can’t get it out of my mind. Was that piece of pantyhose left there as a distraction for me? If it was, it’s confusing, to say the least. If not, it’s the smoking gun. It’s my answer to finding this woman.
I pick it up and stretch the fabric out, looking at it in the light. It, of course, doesn’t give me any concrete answers. It’s just a piece of fucking fabric. Worst of all, I should have turned it in when I found it. But I don’t play by the rules. That’s how I win. I work the cases in my own way. Up until now, I’ve never had any trouble doing so.
Now, I’m fucked because there’s probably DNA evidence all over this small piece of pantyhose. It holds the key to the whole damn thing. I sigh and put it back down. All of this makes me exhausted. I even think back to what Adam said, even though it’s bat-shit crazy.
All of those women I fooled around with… is one of them responsible for this? Shit, is Virginia responsible for this? What if she is and I’ve just been in the dark this whole time? It would break my fucking heart. I’d go completely insane. The only woman that I’ve ever bared my soul to is the woman I’ve been hunting down recently?
No fucking way. I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Yet, the fucking thought persists in my stupid head. Why? There’s not a shred of evidence that she’s involved. In this line of work, we need evidence. We need truth. This can’t be true. I’ll lay down my badge before I believe it.
I hear a knock at my door, which is curious. No one comes over here, except for Adam. And I know he’s back at home, thinking about the case. I open the door and I see Virginia, staring at me. She’s holding flowers and a bottle of Singleton whiskey. “Happy birthday, officer,” she says, smiling.
“Birthday?” I laugh, letting her inside. “It ain’t my birthday, sweetheart.”
She just shrugs and kisses me. “So what? I thought we could celebrate. You’re about to finish this case,” she says confidently. No, she couldn’t be involved in this. She wouldn’t be this chipper about things. “You’re going to get promoted, right?”
“Shit,” I sigh. “So you heard the news, I guess? That wasn’t supposed to get out.”
“What does it matter if it does?” she asks. “I never understood why cops get pissed when things like that leak out. You got the guy. He’s done for. Congratulations.”
“It pisses us off.” I open the whiskey and smell the flowers. “Because we haven’t actually caught the fool yet. Now he knows we’re onto him. It makes it that much harder to catch him.”
“You’ll find him.” She ignores me. “There’s no way he’s hiding out forever. A guy gets hungry. He gets thirsty and wants a drink. He’ll wander from his hole and someone will recognize him. And then you can get your promotion.”
“Well, you’re probably right about the first thing. But there won’t be any promotions for me. The department hasn’t got shit for money. It’ll be another 20 years until a guy like me is promoted,” I say. It’s the cold, hard truth.
“Anyway,” I continue. “You came at the wrong time. The media is having a frenzy on this case right now, but they have no idea about the real story. The fucking FBI wants in the case now. They claim we’ve done a poor job on it. Now, they’re coming to investigate our claims. I’m fucked, Vi. I shouldn’t have taken any of this on. I should’ve given all the responsibility to my partner.”
She just hugs me, as pure as she is. “Everything will work out for you,” she says. “Trust me like I trust you.”
But I can’t. I have no trust anymore. All of that has been stolen from me and it’s no fault but my own. I’ve put myself in an awkward position by not reporting everything I know. Now, I’m pretty certain I’m going in the trash. I’ll lose my job by the end of the year if the federal agents have anything to do about it.
“Okay,” I say out of courtesy. “Sure. We can get through this.”
She kisses my chest and rests her cheek against me. Suddenly, none of this matters, I’m transported into reality. Sometimes you forget what really matters in this life, and then it hits you right in the face. This is one of those moments. I tend to have a lot of th
ose lately.
“You know, I’m still thinking about that woman,” I admit. “Not like obsessively, so don’t worry. Adam’s just got me all freaked out.”
“How?” she says, absentmindedly.
“I don’t know,” I sigh. “He told me I should really look into all of the women I’ve been with in the past few months. Kind of takes the fun away from it all, you know? I mean, it’s a violation of their privacy. Not all of the encounters ended on good terms either.
I keep looking at her, wondering if it’s true. Is she the woman I’m looking for? I glance at my dresser and see the pantyhose just lying there. I look back at her legs. They’re covered by pantyhose tonight, but they’re a different type of pattern. Stop it, Marshall. You’re going fucking crazy over this. She’s not the one.
“That Adam guy doesn’t seem to lead you anywhere productive,” she laughs.
“He’s got a good heart,” I say. “But you’re right. He doesn’t have an amazing track record. Not yet, anyway.”
Her hand falls on my chest and she kisses me, taking off my shirt. “You’ll find her,” she says. “You’re strong. You’re powerful. You have the world in your hands and you don’t even know it.”
She gets me fucking hard. So hard that I flip her over and bend her over on that couch. She screams with laughter that turns into a deep moaning. “Marshall,” she whispers. “You don’t seem so worried anymore.”
“I want to block it out with that ass of yours, baby,” I say, completely enthralled with her. If she is the one, I’ll have to throw the damn case out. I’ll have to…
I don’t finish the thought. Fuck even thinking about that stuff right now. It’s not worth my time. I unzip my jeans and my cock comes springing out on its own. There’s no time to take my clothes off. I simply push her little dress over her butt and pull her panties down, enough for me to slide myself in.
She’s already moaning for me. When I reach my hand under her lips, I feel her wetness spread across my palm. “I’m going to fuck you hard,” I tell her. I’ve got a powerful feeling in my chest and I need her to lift up my spirits.
I aim my cock at her and slide myself in between her warm lips. I’m enveloped by the best goddamn feeling in the world. And then there’s a heavy knock on my door. “Noooo,” I groan. “Who the hell is that?”
“Don’t stop,” she moans, grabbing my thighs and pushing me forward. “Ignore it.”
But I can’t, despite how good she feels. I pull myself back and slick my hair back, putting my cock away. My balls are aching like heavy weights. “I swear to God, if it’s Adam, I’m going to kill him. I’m straight up going to take my pistol and shoot him.”
“Marshall…” she sighs. “Stop. It’s fine.”
“It ain’t fine. It’s bullshit,” I say, swinging opening the door.
Standing in front of me is Adam, of course. Only, he’s surrounded by a bunch of suited-up motherfuckers, and they look like they mean trouble. “Warren Marshall, I presume,” one of them says to me.
I glance over at Virginia, who quickly sits up straight and adjusts her dress. “Who’s asking?” I question him.
“I’m sorry to disturb you sir,” he continues. “The name is Freddie Macker. FBI. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Pleasure? In what fucking way? So now I’ve got a clear understanding on this. The feds have finally decided to move in on our case. What else is new? I look over at Adam who just has a simpleton buggy-eyed look. I want to sock him in the face. Dammit, why does he always piss me off? The bastard never puts up any sort of fight.
“Can’t say I’ve been waiting to meet you folks,” I admit “What do you want with me and my case?”
“The case has now been combined with ours. We’re looking for Craig Richardson as well. We have some a good tip that he could be involved in a murder that happened over six years ago,” he says. “I’m sorry we have to move in on you like this. I used to be a cop myself. I hate to put another officer in this type of position. Forgive me.”
“You’re forgiven,” I mutter. Sellout cop bastard. Now I want to sock him in the face too. In fact, just let me sock everyone in front of me right now. “Just give me a second and I’ll meet you at the station in fifteen. Cool?”
“Actually, sir. We’ve got firm rules on this sort of thing. You’ll have to come with us. Safety reasons, of course,” he says.
Dammit. Looks like I’m going to have blue balls all night. “Sure. Got it,” I say. “Well at least give me five minutes to explain the situation to my girlfriend here.”
“Girlfriend?” Adam blurts out. What an idiot.
“No need,” she says, getting up. Her whole face is red with embarrassment. I feel fucking terrible.
“Vi, I—”
“You don’t need to explain anything. I get it. Your job. It’s important.” She’s feisty as hell right now. I don’t blame her. “See you tomorrow, maybe. That is, unless you’re too busy at the station. Bye.”
She walks out, pushing past the FBI agents. Freddie lowers his sunglasses and smiles at me. “She’s one hell of a catch,” he says. Adam laughs too.
“Yeah,” I scratch my head. “She’s worth it, alright.”
“Let’s hope,” Adam says. That’s when I do it. I sock him right in the face. Down he goes.
24
Virginia
“Argh!” I scream into my pillow. “Murder? Murder!” Huge gasping breaths go into my lungs and my body is shaking so badly that I think I might have a stroke. The FBI is involved in this. Craig was right. He knew all along. Now, things are going to get insane. Did he really murder someone? Why didn’t any of us know? I guess that was before we met him…
It takes over twelve hours before I hear anything from anyone. The phone rings and it’s an unidentified line. Craig. I answer. “What do you want?” I ask him. “I guess you didn’t take your life, did you?”
“How’d you know it was me?” he asks.
“Are you really shocked?” I say, trying not to scream. “Who else calls me?”
“Your daddy, Marshall,” he laughs.
“Go fuck yourself. I know where you’re hiding. I’m about to head right over to the feds and tell them,” I lie. “You deserve to get caught. You deserve the harshest sentence possible. You lied to us. You convinced us that life would be easier after this. You’re just another con man.”
“Back the fuck up,” he says. “The feds? They’re involved now? I knew it.”
“Yeah, congratulations. You guessed right. I guess you knew because of the murder you committed six years ago, right?” I ask. “I guess you really had to get out of the country. You had to convince a couple of innocent people like us that you wanted to help, that you were a justice warrior.”
“Who told you that? Marshall? Are you with them now?” he asks.
“Maybe I am. If so, you’re done for,” I say, out of breath and ready for a fight. “It’s all so clear now. You used both of us so you could find safe harbor elsewhere.”
“I guess you have me all found out,” he chuckles. “Frankly, I figured you would have figured it out a long time ago. I was kind of freaking out when you first talked to Marshall. I thought you pegged me right then and there. Turns out, you’re not as smart as I thought.”
“Spare the mad-genius speech.” I roll my eyes. “I know where you are.”
“Where am I?” he laughs. “You don’t know shit.”
“I’m not an idiot. Remember that time we got shit-faced at your place? Remember?” I ask him.
“I remember falling asleep. That’s about it,” he says. “What does that have to do with anything.”
“You showed me that picture. You told me about the hole,” I say. “The ditch out by the swamps. I saw the small cabin you built. You promised to take me there, right before you tried to kiss me and I denied your ass.”
“Stop talking,” he says. “Don’t say anything more. They could be listening.”
“Yeah they could,”
I laugh. “Where was it again? By which freeway? Near Louisiana, right?”
“Shut the hell up!” he screams. I’ve cut a nerve. Of course he went there. It’s just so obvious. Even if they haven’t found him yet, they will soon enough. It’s not hidden enough. Cars drive by there all the time and the locals over there know every nook and cranny.
“I’m going fucking crazy,” he says, after breathing heavy. “I don’t know what to do. But whatever it is, I know these are my last days being free.”
“You’ll get out eventually,” I tell him. “You won’t be in there for life.”
“I killed someone, dammit. I killed him,” he starts to break down again, just like yesterday.
“Who?” I ask him. “Tell me.”
“I was young. Just really young and angry. I don’t know why I did it. I was drunk,” he says. “I was coming home from a party and so was this kid who had been talking to my girlfriend all night. I was wasted, Virginia. I wasn’t in control. He looked at me and smiled when we stopped at the same light. I didn’t smile back. I felt like he was taunting me.”
“Was he?” I ask him.
“I don’t know. All I know is that when he did it again, something went off in me. It was like a quick switch. Everything went hot black. I grabbed my pistol and pointed it at him. My window was down. I could feel the cold breeze reaching in the car, begging me to do it. I pressed the trigger down. His face… I saw his face turn, like he was going to vomit. It was like he was looking at the devil himself,” he says, crying. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to pull a trigger. I had shot a gun once and it seemed much harder. But that night, it was really easy. It went off and the gun fell on my lap, hot and smoking. I glanced up and he still had that same look on his face. Only this time, he was slumped over. I sped off and no one said anything about it to me. No one. Not until… you.”
A chill runs up my spine. For the first time, I feel really scared of the guy. I’ve never cared much for morality, but there’s a huge line you can cross. Anyone can tell you there are circumstances that surround any situation. Craig, however, has something dark in him. It’s a shade of dark I never want to cross.
