by Kyle West
Vivian angrily snaps, "What? Just tell him its Vivian Baylor damnit!" Claire puts Vivian on hold and soon Claire comes back on the line, "Ms. Baylor, he's not picking up. I'll have to take a message. Give me a number ma'am."
Barbara Jean hears Vivian yelling on the phone, and comes to the back of the store to see if everything is ok. Vivian takes the phone from her ear and quickly says to Barbara Jean, “I’m sorry ma’am, everything is fine, I apologize.” Barbara Jean walks away. Vivian then nervously, and angrily whispers to Claire, "I got a man chasing me right now, trying to kill me! Please tell Inspector Clark that I have the money with me and…."
Claire interrupts, "Ma'am if you need some assistance, I can call 911 for you."
Vivian takes a second, then responds, "Ok, yes! He's already killed three people! Please tell them to hurry down here!"
Claire advises Vivian to stay where she is and that the police will be there shortly. Vivian gives her the phone number to the souvenir shop. She tells Claire, "Tell Insp. Clark where I am! Tell him to come get me!"
Claire tells Vivian that she will try to get Insp. Clark on the phone again. She puts Vivian on hold again.
Vivian then sees Keith walking outside. He stops in front of the souvenir shop window. Keith has a psychotic look in his eyes as he looks in the window! Vivian, with the phone still up to her ear, ducks down to hide.
Claire comes back on the phone line, Vivian whispers to her, "The man is outside, right now! Please tell them to hurry!"
Claire informs Vivian that Insp. Clark isn't picking up his phone, "I called the police for you. They're on their way. Stay on the phone with me."
Barbara Jean walks back to tell Vivian, "Its closing time for me sweetie. If you're buying, bring it up front!" Vivian hangs up the phone and slumps to the floor. She is
sitting against the wall so that Keith will not see her. Barbara Jean sees Vivian sitting on the floor, "Little Lady, what are you doin' down there?"
Vivian quickly stands up, "I'm waiting for the police. They'll be here in a minute to come pick me up."
Barbara Jean, petite in size with enough attitude and fire for a woman five times her size, responds, "Police?! I don't want no damn police in my place! I run a respectable establishment here! You gonna have to go now baby!” Barbara Jean grabs Vivian by the arm and walks her to the front of her store.
Vivian stops her and pleads, "No, don't go up there! I didn't do anything, they're just coming to pick me up then we're leaving! Honest ma’am!"
Barbara Jean responds, "I don't want no trouble around here! I don't mess with them, they don't mess with me! Understand! No siree! You're gonna have to wait outside honey! C'mon, I gotta lock up!” She pulls Vivian to the front of the store.
A nervous Vivian asks, "I have to make one more call, I beg you, just one more call."
Barbara Jean stops, looks at a terrified Vivian, thinks for a moment or two, "You got thirty seconds baby. Thirty seconds! Hurry up!"
Vivian runs back to the pay phone and calls Insp. Clark on his cell phone. This time she leaves him a message on his voice mail. Vivian's message is…"Insp. Clark, its Vivian Baylor! My cell phone is dead and I won't be at that number I just left with your secretary. The lady here is making me leave. I'm goin' to try to get down to the French Market, and if they close I’ll go down to Riverfront Park. I’ll be waiting for you Insp. Clark. Please get down here as soon as you can! It’s Keith Insp. Clark! Keith killed my husband, he killed them all!" Insp. Clark's voice mail cuts off and Vivian hangs up the pay phone.
Vivian turns around and Barbara Jean is standing right behind her. She grabs Vivian's trembling hands and in a soft, soothing voice, says to her, "You're in trouble aren't you darlin'? Here. Take this." She gives Vivian a cell phone for her to use and sixty dollars.
Barbara Jean continues, "You look like a good girl. But I can't have no trouble here. Take it baby."
Vivian’s eyes well up in tears as she gives Barbara Jean a hug. Vivian then takes a small piece of paper out of her purse and jots a phone number down on it. Vivian then tells her, "Please call this number for me ma’am. If it goes to voice mail…please, please leave a message there for me! Just say that Vivian is on her way, Okay?"
Barbara Jean nods her head yes. As the two women turn to walk to the front of the store, Vivian spots Keith outside the store window staring right at them! Vivian jumps in fear! Barbara Jean senses danger from the look in Keith's face and knows that he means Vivian much harm! She never takes her eyes from focusing on Keith, "Come with me."
Barbara Jean leads Vivian to the back door of her souvenir store, unlocks the heavy metal door and shows Vivian an easy escape from Keith out front through the masses of people on Decatur St., "He won't be able to move an inch for about thirty-five minutes with the parade about to start. You just be careful baby." Vivian gives her another hug before she leaves through the delivery entrance in the back of the souvenir store, then runs through the back alley, then down Dumaine Street.
Chapter 20
8:16 pm
There is police activity and emergency vehicles in front of The Westin New Orleans Hotel. They are investigating Starr's murder up in Vivian and Keith's room. Det. Roussel is steadily talking amongst the other detectives, when his cell phone rings. It’s Off. Dees calling, he tells Det. Roussel, "I'm down here in the Quarters, on Decatur. You're not gonna believe this one. A call came in a few minutes ago from the feds. They got a call from a woman who said
someone was trying to kill her and she was trapped in a store down here. Guess who it was? Vivian Baylor. So we're down here now, but she's gone, the store is closed. Nobody's here but the store's owner."
Barbara Jean is in ‘A Tisket A Tasket’ and can be heard in the background screaming at the cops. She is telling them that she cannot help them and for them to get out of her store.
Det. Roussel snaps, "Why didn't they pick her up?! I just got off the phone with the feds an hour ago. Those assholes knew I had an APB out on her?! Where the hell did she go?!"
Off. Dees replies, "We're looking for her now detective. It's crazy down here, Krewe du Vieux is about to start." Off. Dees hears and sees a commotion a block and a half away. He sees uniformed officers running towards the disturbance.
He tells Det. Roussel, "Gotta call you back, the savages are restless again."
8:22 pm
Det. Roussel is at the District 7 stationhouse on the phone. He called the F.B.I., in Washington D.C., to see if they can identify the fingerprints of Barone, Rome, and McKenna. Det. Roussel wants to find out why their fingerprints come back as ‘CLASSIFIED’, and if so, for what reason. Det. Roussel knows there is a connection between these men. Det. Roussel expects the federal run around and that's exactly what he gets. His calls are transferred to a number of offices, and F.B.I. personnel all over America. Finally he speaks to an Agent Warren Nicholas in the Atlanta office.
Det. Roussel learns that after the five former M.I.C.O. soldiers were listed as AWOL, the government concealed their identities instead of deleting their existence. This was done so as not to raise flags of the recent abuses and wrong-doings of the C.I.A. With the numerous conspiracy cases pending, the Agency felt that if those personnel records totally disappeared all of a sudden, it would raise huge suspicions to Congress.
Det. Roussel tells Agent Nicholas that he has three murder victims whose identities are classified evidence. He explains to him that he needs him to disclose the identities of the men in question for next of kin purposes. The detective says, "I want to fax you what I have and let you…"
Agent Nicholas interrupts, "You're in New Orleans? We have someone there. Give me your number detective? I'll have him call you."
Det. Roussel responds, "This is very important Agent Nicholas. This case is priority down here, and demands a lot of urgency."
Agt. Nicholas again interrupts, "Detective, if those files you have are 'CLASSIFIED', they're classified for a reason. This is obviously a federal matter you are de
aling with. Send me what you have and we'll look into it. What is your number again?"
Det. Roussel tries to keep his cool, "Look, I have three dead bodies that I can't ID! But you can! Why is there a problem here?!"
Officer Favours walks up to Det. Roussel's desk and hands him another folder file. He tells the detective, "The lab told me to get this to you ASAP."
Det. Roussel snatches the file folder, quickly looks at it and springs up from his chair. He then sarcastically tells Agt. Nicholas, "Make it four. Thank you, you've been a big help!" He then rudely hangs up the phone. Det. Roussel puts the file folder down on his desk, and loudly yells out in the squad room for Off. Dees. He then points to another officer and says, "You, get Dees for me!"
On Det. Roussel's desk, lays the open file of the investigation of Jesse Baylor's murder.
He asked the forensics lab to run Jesse's fingerprints. On the top page of the file, printed in bold red ink across the page reads…‘CLASSIFIED. NO ACCESS’.
8:33 pm
At the F.B.I. Building in New Orleans, Claire, Insp. Clark's assistant is at her desk. She is on the phone, actually on hold with New Orleans Police Department. Behind Claire, the door to Insp. Clark's office opens. He walks behind Claire while she holds the phone up to her ear with her shoulder, "Sir I have an urgent message for you." Claire hands the memo note to Insp. Clark.
The Inspector raises the note to his face to read it. It is not the same man that Vivian has been dealing with and talking to the last four days as Insp. Clark! The real Insp. Clark, with a look of puzzlement on his face, "Vivian Baylor? Who is Vivian Baylor?"
"She wants you to call her as soon as you can. She says someone is after her down in the French Quarter. I'm on the phone with N.O.P.D. downtown, getting them to pick her up."
The real Inspector Clark asks, "Did she say where she was from? I have no idea who this is?" Insp. Clark turns and walks back into his office and says to Claire, "Let me finish up in here, then I'll see what this is all about."
Chapter 21
8:58 pm
Vivian walks down to the French Market, a historical area down near the river, on N. Peters. She gets a bag of Pralines from Loretta’s as she waits to meet the man she knows as Inspector Clark. The Mardi Gras festivities have spread down to the area, as the festivities and energy surrounds her. A particular group of men with Mardi Gras masks on, surround her and dance, which sends here into a panic. After twenty seconds or so, Vivian breaks through the circle of dancing men, and runs down the along the riverfront. In the distance, she notices the man she knows as Inspector Clark waving to her. He is sitting on a bench in Riverfront Park, as Vivian expected. Vivian runs to him nearly collapsing in his arms. Out of breath because her asthma is flaring up, and emotionally drained, a fearful Vivian tells Insp. Clark, "He killed them all! He killed them all Insp. Clark! He's around here somewhere! He knows I have the money! Keith killed my husband!"
Insp. Clark consoles Vivian, "I know. It’s okay now. Don't worry about a thing, Mrs. Baylor. Relax. Now where did you see Keith last?"
"I don't know! I got away from him when I was in the Quarters! I hid in the store! And he's not even Jesse's brother! He just killed one of those 'guys', the one with the suit on. There was blood all over! That's when I ran!”
Insp. Clark looks around and notices that he and Vivian are attracting attention, "Did he hurt you? We need to get you to the hospital now. You don't look very good. Where is the money?" He helps her walk down the Riverwalk path, away from park, "Just breathe and relax, you'll be fine Vivian."
Vivian’s asthma is making it hard to catch her breath, she takes out her inhaler to help. "Where is the money Mrs. Baylor? We need to get that taken care of and get you to the hospital and make sure you are alright. I have to report it as 'found' to the government as soon as possible."
Vivian, struggling to catch her breath, "It was in Jesse's travel bag! I couldn't believe it was there!"
"The bag that was in your hotel room? The money has been in your room this whole time?" Insp. Clark and Vivian are walking east, towards the less lit end of the Riverwalk path, where there is a small children's park.
9:17 pm
Vivian and Insp. Clark enter the children's park, "I parked over here near the park. After we get a doctor to look at you, I'll take you in so we can detail the money and officially close the case. You really did good Mrs. Baylor. You are a brave lady. By the way, do you have an attorney?"
Vivian tells the inspector, no. They walk by a sign that says the children's park closed at 8:30 pm, about forty-five minutes ago. The park is empty except for a few maintenance people, cleaning the park. Overall the park is dimly lit.
Vivian, still struggling to walk on her own, "I'm just so glad this is all over now. I just want to go home. I do feel a little better now, I don't think I need a doctor."
"Officially I have to make sure you are alright or I'll have hell to deal with at work. Best to be on the safe side Mrs. Baylor."
Vivian then almost collapses.
"Whoa! Here, sit down. Your legs are weak. Just rest a minute." He sits Vivian down on a park bench. Vivian explains to him that she has asthma and that she'll be fine.
Insp. Clark responds, "We're in no rush. Let's sit here and relax. The car is right over there." After a few seconds, Insp. Clark asks, "Do you have the money with you? Or did you put it up somewhere safe?"
Vivian replies, "I have it with me. In my bag."
"You have three hundred million dollars on you right now? That's not safe."
"I know, that's why the first thing I did was call you."
Insp. Clark looks around the immediate area and says, "Good. Good. Let me have it, let's make sure we have all of it."
Vivian reaches for her personal bag, hanging on her shoulder, and opens it. She's searching in the large purse, "I don't understand how this works, but the money is on this flash-drive, and these CDs go with it." Since the park area is dimly lit, Vivian is having trouble finding the disc in her bag. She says to herself, "Is this the one?"
Insp. Clark then walks behind the bench Vivian is sitting on, "Good. Did you tell anybody you were coming to meet me tonight?" He takes a pair of black gloves and a short rope out of his pocket. Vivian is concentrating on the contents of her bag, she cannot see Insp. Clark behind her, "Nobody knows where I am. My phone isn't even charged up."
Insp. Clark slowly puts the black gloves on. Before he could get one glove on, Keith comes running from behind the half-lit carousel ride and yells, "Vivian!" Vivian quickly looks up and stares at Keith with terror in her eyes! Insp. Clark quickly puts the gloves back in his pocket, and looks up to see Keith running towards him and Vivian on the park bench. Insp. Clark comes from behind the bench and immediately draws his pistol! He asks Vivian if that is Keith, Vivian emphatically tells him, yes!
Insp. Clark yells at him, "That's far enough! Let me see your hands!"
Keith stops on a dime, puts his hands up, "Man, there's no need for that. I'm unarmed! I mean Vivian no harm!" Insp. Clark rushes over to Keith and pats him down for a weapon.
Vivian yells, "He got a gun! He killed that guy back at the hotel!
Keith snaps back, "I don't have a gun. I did not kill anybody Vivian! I came back to the room right before you did and I saw what you saw! I was trying to tell you all of this before! I was worried about you and I knew we were both in danger! Vivian, who is this guy?" He looks at Insp. Clark and asks him the same question.
Insp. Clark responds, "Bureau of Investigations. The name is Clark. Just keep your hands where I can see them." Insp. Clark and Keith stand right under a street light.
Keith stares him up and down, he is completely stunned in awe. He shakes his head, "Oh no, Jesus Christ.! Unbelievable….”
Keith looks over at Vivian on the park bench and says to her, “You do know who this is? What’s going on here?"
Vivian, slightly confused, "Save it! I know everything! Just save it!"
Insp. Clark, stil
l holding his gun on Keith, forcibly leads him over the park bench to sit Keith down. Vivian quickly stands up from the bench, and walks and steps a few feet away from Keith to feel safe.
Keith looks up and stares at Insp. Clark, "I must say, you look good for a dead man."
He continues, “Vivian. First thing…I didn't kill anybody. Second thing…this guy is no FBI man. He worked with Jesse. He’s a former M.I.C.O. commando soldier just like the rest of those 'psychos' as you call them! What the hell is going on here Vivian?"
Insp. Clark taps his 9 mm automatic pistol on Keith's shoulder, "Just keep your mouth shut!"
Keith turns around to get a closer look at Insp. Clark, turns to Vivian and says, “It sure is…Vivian, this is Tim Novak. I’ll ask you again, what is going on?!"
Keith can see from the look on Vivian's face that she doesn't recognize the name 'Tim Novak'.
Insp. Clark, with the gun pointed at Keith, turns to Vivian and asks, "This is the one who killed the guy up in your hotel room?"
Vivian, looking a little bit confused, slowly nods yes.
Insp. Clark says, "Mrs. Baylor I’m gonna cuff him here to this bench and have N.O.P.D. pick him up. I need to get you looked at the hospital and then back to the office. Step over here Mrs. Baylor." Insp. Clark waves Vivian further away from Keith.
Keith, still sitting on the park bench says, "Vivian listen. I know this guy. He was also involved with Jesse stealing that money along with the rest of those guys. Do you know this?"
Vivian snaps, “Keith, you're wrong! He's with the F.B.I. and your ass are going to jail!" Then as if a light went on in Keith's head, he leans back on the park bench, and says in a stunned tone, "Oh. Wait a minute! Damnit, it’s you! I got it. You knocked them all off. This is no good."
Vivian, somewhat confused, hesitantly asks Insp. Clark, "Aren't you going to arrest him Mr. Clark?"
Keith shouts to Vivian, "No. Vivian this guy is here to kill you and me! He ain't arresting nobody! Don't you get it?! I hope you didn't find that money today. If you did, you and me both, are dead!"
