by Kyle West
Chapter 23
Vivian checks to see if she has all of her limbs, and if it is her own blood she is covered in. She carefully crawls over to look out of the gaping hole through the back wall of Fort Dupre. She sees a crane and wrecking ball, moderately still swinging, outside the fort. She looks immediately down, and sees Novak's mangled and pulverized dead body, lying on the bank of the Mississippi River. The area of death and destruction is now lit with a serene-like moonlight.
Vivian then hears over the police loudspeaker, an officer shout, "What the hell was that?! You guys down at the construction site watch, out for explosives!"
Vivian leans as far as she can out of the hole in the wall, and screams out to the police, "Over here! Help! Please help me!"
She then hears a voice outside, struggle to call out her name. Vivian looks at the cab of the wrecking ball, about one hundred-fifty feet away. She sees Keith on his knees, hanging half-way out of the cab of the wrecking ball. In a difficult, and whispery voice, he tells Vivian, "Stay low and crawl out of there. The ball might swing back." She makes her way through the hole in the fort wall, and carefully walks down the embankment of the riverbank, to the cab of the wrecking ball.
Vivian sees the serious wounds to Keith's back, neck, and hand and says, "Oh my God! I thought you were! The police are on the other side, just hang on Keith!" Keith struggles to ask Vivian if she is hurt, she tells him, "My ankle hurts, and I was scared to death, but I'm ok I think. Don't talk, you hang on!" Vivian hears the police officers rushing through the front of the fort. The officers, with guns drawn are yelling, "Police! Police!" They flood the main level of Fort Dupre.
Vivian says to Keith, "You know you just saved my life, right? Thank you, Keith."
Keith struggles to respond, "That's the least I can do for you."
Vivian tells him, "I'll be right back. Let me get the police over here to help you."
As Vivian starts to walk away from the cab of the wrecking ball, Keith grabs her by her arm and says, "Is he dead? Wait, wait, the flash-drives, the package. Where is the package Vivian?"
Vivian softly pulls her arm away, and holds Keith’s hand and says, "I don't want to hear any more about that Keith! You need medical attention, let me get them over here so your insides don't just slide out of stomach! I'll be right back!"
As Vivian walks away, Keith struggles to yell, "I met Mrs. Liles today. She really is a sweet lady."
Vivian stops in her tracks, she doesn't look back at Keith, and stands there for a few moments.
Keith continues, "She told me to tell you that Fifi is fine." Vivian never looks back at Keith, stands in place for a few more seconds, before walking back up to the fort to direct the police down the embankment to assist Keith.
Vivian looks up to the large hole in the fort wall and sees four or five police officers, with guns drawn, shout, "Police! Get down on the ground! Get down! Keep your hands where I can see them!"
Vivian quickly throws her hands up in the air, and shouts, “This man is hurt bad!"
The officers again order Vivian to get on the ground. Keith tells Vivian to sit down on the ground and be quiet. Keith says to the officers, “I need some help guys, I'm bleeding over here!"
Nervous at the sight of the officer's guns, Vivian sits down and rambles to the officers, "The guy down there (Novak)! He shot those policemen back there! Please get an ambulance!" One of the officers calls for an ambulance on his radio. Keith, still kneeling in the cab of the wrecking ball, says in a weak voice to Vivian, "I know Vivian. I know."
Vivian turns to Keith, and responds, "Um. What are you talking about?" Keith continues on discretely…so that the officers cannot hear him, "Fifi. Mrs. Liles told me you left your cat with her. Were you moving? Going on a trip or something? How long was Mrs. Liles gonna watch Fifi for you?"
Vivian stares at a weakened Keith, but does not speak. Keith continues, "From what Mrs. Liles told me, it sounded like you were planning a long, long trip with Jesse. I went to your house today and found enough plant food to feed the Amazon, but couldn't find a flower or plant anywhere!"
Vivian angrily snaps, "You did what?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Keith interrupts, "You was in this, or your husband got you mixed up in this, from the get-go Vivian.”
Vivian interrupts, "Excuse me? Thank you for saving my life! But I don't need your help anymore! Thank God!"
The police officer watching Vivian and Keith cannot hear their conversation, as he is paying more attention to the surroundings in and around the fort.
Keith then says to Vivian, "So let me see if I got this right. Jesse was leaving town. You was supposed to meet up with him, wherever, a few days later, right? You tell Mrs. Liles you don't know how long you'd be out of town, and ask her to watch your cat, you get rid of your plants, and you forward your mail…and your condo is up for sale for a few weeks, all of this a good week before Jesse is even dead? You weren’t coming back were you?"
Vivian slowly turns away from Keith.
"Vivian, somebody was going to figure this out sooner or later."
Vivian pauses to think for a second, then uncomfortably responds, "You're wrong. I didn't know anything about that money. Jesse told me we were going on the honeymoon we never had, a long honeymoon. He told me everything with the military was over and done with. He told me not to tell anybody anything, not even my mother! But he never told me about any money and that's the honest truth!" Vivian then starts to cry.
Keith and Vivian then see Det. Roussel step through the hole in the fort wall. The detective gives Vivian the "eagle eyed" look as he listens to police officers brief him on the details at the scene of the crimes, in the children's park and fort. Det. Roussel's face is tight lipped and angry. He makes his way down the steep embankment, to talk with Vivian.
Vivian immediately says to the detective, "He's bleeding bad. He needs to get to the hospital fast!"
Officer Dees sticks his head out of the hole in the fort wall, and yells to Det. Roussel that an ambulance is on its way. Roussel doesn't speak to Vivian as he looks over at a severely injured Keith, still in the cab of the wrecking ball. He then turns to look over the mangled body of Novak, lying dead about thirty yards away. Det. Roussel turns around and tells the patrol officers to go inside the fort, and leave him alone to talk to Vivian and Keith. Det. Roussel sticks his hand out for Vivian, to help her stand up. They walk over, and join Keith at the cab of wrecking ball.
Vivian immediately says, "That guy over there killed my husband detective! It wasn't me. I’ve been telling you that since I met you! This man here helped me get away from him. He was trying to kill both of us too! He killed the two cops up at the park! I saw him do it."
Det. Roussel cuts in and snaps, "Mrs. Baylor, I told you before, I don't like being made a fool of! I asked you over and over to tell me what was going on, what you knew about your husband's death, and you told me you knew nothing! I have proof and evidence that you did! I have proof that your husband's death is linked to other murders in my city, my district, this past week and now that includes three police officers, and I can connect you to all of this! I have you on obstruction right now, and I'm working on conspiracy to commit murder! You better start telling me who these people are, right now, or I swear you will be in a cell in an hour!"
Before a scared and nervous Vivian can respond, Keith says, "Hey, I'm bleeding over here real bad! Why don't you go and see why that ambulance is taking so goddamn long! Go find out what the problem is?"
Det. Roussel doesn't appreciate Keith's disrespect, he responds, "What? Your ass is gonna stay right there and bleed until I say so asshole. So get comfortable, you got me?"
11:17 pm
The paramedics make their way through the hole in Fort Dupre, and rush down to Keith in the wrecking ball cab; also coming down the embankment towards Det. Roussel, Vivian, and Keith, is Detective Huntley and another man.
The man with Huntley, a large Black man, dressed in a sweatsu
it, says with a strong voice, "Are you Det. Roussel?” Det. Roussel doesn't respond, and says to Huntley, "This is a crime scene for Christ's sakes! Get him out of here!"
As the paramedics tend to Keith, the strange man ignores Det. Roussel, and says to Keith, "Damn dude! You look like you was in a M.M.A. fight with a twenty foot gator!" The paramedics are checking Keith's vital signs, as the stranger asks them how Keith is doing.
One of the paramedics, Joey responds, "He got cut up pretty bad. No major arteries hit, but he's lost a lot of blood. But he'll live."
Det. Roussel again tells Det. Huntley, "Get this guy out of here! Now!" He motions to the various patrolmen up at the hole in the fort, to remove the stranger from the crime scene.
Keith looks up at the stranger and says with a smile, "That's what I'm talkin' about. Big Poppa is on the J-O-B!" An officer grabs the stranger by his arm, as the man says to Det. Roussel, "I spoke to you earlier. Troy Nicholas, F.B.I.." Agent Nicholas then turns to the officer who is handling him, and sarcastically tells him, "Go see if you can find me some donuts and coffee, thanks. Cream and sugar!"
Agent Nicholas says to Keith, "Uh, Lance, you were here to investigate back accounts and transactions, not to fight the Green Berets!"
A confused Vivian snaps, "Lance? Who is Lance?!"
The paramedics carefully remove Keith from the cab of the wrecking ball, and strap him onto a stretcher. Keith looks up at Vivian, and in a businessman's tone says, "Lance Battiste. I'm with the Treasury Department but you can call me Lance," he sarcastically adds. Vivian is absolutely shocked, and angry.
Lance continues, "I'm here in New Orleans on assignment. It was my job to track down the three hundred million dollars, and get it back to the government. It’s the main piece of evidence needed against the C.I.A. in our corruption case against them."
Agent Nicholas in a very jovial mood, cuts in and says, "Yeah, gather evidence and track back accounts. Not to be one of the X-Men or something."
Vivian, in an angry tone asks, "You work for the damn Treasury Office?"
Keith, now Lance, responds, "Um. Yes. The Treasury Department."
Det. Roussel jumps in, "I want to see some I.D. around here! I have three dead cops, and if this has any connection to my bodies, I want some answers!"
Agt. Nicholas, never looks at Det. Roussel, takes out his ID, and rudely tosses it to the detective. He opens F.B.I. Agent Nicholas's billfold, "Agent Nicholas, I need you to come downtown. Does this man here have identification?" He points down at Lance.
Agt. Nicholas again ignores Det. Roussel, and spiritedly says to Lance, "Alright, 'John Shaft', where's the money so I can get the hell out of here. It’s hot as hell down here! Ain't it February?! Damn!"
Off. Dees, walks back up the embankment, and under his breath, directs to Agt. Nicholas, "Welcome to New Orleans, don't stay too long."
Lance struggles to say, "Oh what, and it's snowing up in Atlanta or something?" He adds, "The money out there on the corpse." Agt. Nicholas quickly summons one of his assistants, Agent Watson, from inside the fort, to go process Novak's body, and inspect the immediate area around him, for the money and any other evidence.
Lance adds, "It's a flash-drive and some CDs you're looking for." Lance tries to turn his body around in the stretcher, and tells Vivian, "Tell him what it looks like. What size flash-drives? What color are they? How many? Any writing on it? Tell him."
Before Vivian can respond, Agt. Nicholas snaps, "Wait! What? You told me she had the money. Hard drives and CDs? This bullshit? D.C. wants this three hundred million back!"
Lance cuts in, "It's not in cash Troy, it never was. Intelligence stashed it in an account somewhere on the globe. They stored all the info you need to find it. What, you thought the money was in a big green duffle bag like in Scarface or something? My man, you gonna have to do some work too." Agt. Nicholas laughs, and quickly summons another federal agent on the scene, Agent Maher, to help Agent Watson search for the package.
Agt. Nicholas turns to Det. Roussel and discreetly, respectfully tells him that he will officially sit down and talk with him when they are finished on the crime scene if he needs him to.
Det. Roussel tells Agt. Nicholas, "Anything your guys find out there is evidence under the jurisdiction of the New Orleans Police Dept. You do know that right? We have an investigation going on here, dead officers, this is a New Orleans Police matter."
Agt. Nicholas, with a sarcastic smile on his face, puts his arm around Roussel's shoulder, "Look, I'm not here to make enemies. But I can if I have to sir. Now this is a federal matter and I can really fuck up the next few days for you detective. I can, and will put all of your men, behind desks, including your ass. We don’t want that. Just let me do what I need to do, okay boss?"
Det. Roussel wisely says nothing, as Agt. Nicholas walks back over to Lance, who is still on the stretcher, talking to Agt. Maher.
12:42 am
Vivian is now sitting on the step of the wrecking ball, getting her ankle wrapped by the other paramedic Janine. Lance, on the stretcher, asks paramedic Joey, to roll him closer to Vivian to talk to her. Joey tells Lance, that they need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible because of his blood loss.
Lance responds, "This will take a few seconds, man. I need to talk with her."
Lance says to Vivian, "Is your ankle broken?" Vivian nods, no. "Hey, I'm really sorry I had to lie to you about everything. I didn't know who was real, and who wasn't."
Vivian interrupts, "Yeah. That's funny comin' from you! Tell me, why didn't you just arrest everybody from the beginning? You could've saved a few lives if you did. Did that ever cross your mind, Mr. Federal Agent?"
Lance sarcastically responds, "Federal Treasury Officer and no, I don't arrest people. 99% of the time I'm behind a big desk in an air-conditioned office, with lots of paper in front of me."
"You could've done something. You should've done something. It's part of your job to save lives too, Keith, Lance, whatever your name is! I'm no crime fighter Vivian. My job was to find the money, keep you alive, and get back to D.C. Look at me, this definitely ain't in my job description. My insurance might not even cover this! Vivian, we're alive. God got us out of that bathroom and even with five less fingers, I'm still alive! We went up against some real mean mothers. We're here, and they ain't! That's real talk."
She doesn't respond, but she does understand what Lance has told her.
Lance tells Vivian that he is bound by his job to report to the government if she was involved with the theft, and/or possession of the money. Lance tells Vivian that he does not have solid evidence against her to indict her on conspiracy charges.
Lance adds, "And since we got the money back, no harm, no foul. I know you've been through a lot lately plus, I owe you for saving my life... twice."
Vivian doesn't respond.
"Well it looks like I'm gonna be laid up for a while. I need the time off to be honest with you. When I do get my strength back, I'm gonna take my nephews out on my boat, and we're just gonna go fishing in the Keys or something. This case really took a lot out of me."
Vivian softly responds, "Yeah, about two pints of blood." Lance tries to laugh, but his pain is too much to do so.
She apologizes for making Lance laugh and tells him, "I need to call my mama and let her know I'm alright. I'm gonna go spend some time with her, I'm not leaving New Orleans for good though. I’m going to have to start life over as I know it, but as you said, I'm alive. Life won't be the same without Jesse, but life must go on." Lance struggles to free his arm from the stretcher to reach out and hold Vivian's hand, to wish her good luck.
Vivian thanks Lance and adds, "Now when you do go back to work, make sure you stay behind that big desk. America ain't safe with you out on the street." Lance gives Vivian a friendly wink.
Agt. Nicholas walks over to Lance, and looks at Agents Watson and Maher on the riverbank looking for the flash-drives and CDs that Novak had in his pocket.
Agt.
Nicholas yells, "What the hell are you guys doing out there? Building sandcastles?! C'mon guys, tonight! Tonight!"
Agt. Watson quickly turns, and yells to Agt. Nicholas, "Sir, we found pieces of plastic CD cases, and a computer flash-drives or something. It’s smashed up pretty good. Even this guy's cell phone got flattened!" He tosses Novak's phone to Agt. Nicholas.
Agt. Watson adds, "This guy is like a bag of broken glass, every bone in his body is broken. You want us to keep looking?"
Agt. Nicholas sarcastically responds, "No, why don't you guys take a break. We can grill up some steaks, and bust open a couple of cold ones! I want all of the pieces of the computer disks, flash-drives, whatever…and the cases! Every piece! Hurry up! This place is giving me the creeps!
12:20 am
Joey the paramedic says, "I'm trying to back my ambulance up to the front for this guy (Lance). My partner needs for you guys to clear the path for us!"
All of the police vehicles have blocked the pathway from the children's park up to Fort Dupre.
Lance then leans over to Vivian and says, "I guess that's my ride. I wanna thank you again for doing what you did you are some woman. You take care of yourself, Vivian."
Joey the paramedic, and two New Orleans officers on the scene, lift Lance up the embankment, into and through the hole in the back wall of the fort.
Vivian is about to respond to Lance, when she starts to feel very weak, and almost faints.
Agents Nicholas and Watson, reach to catch her, raising a little commotion. Vivian catches her balance, leaning on the wrecking ball step. Lance, now in the fort on level ground, yells for someone to help Vivian. Lance then tells Joey the paramedic to take her with them to the hospital.
Vivian responds, "No. No, I'm fine. I'm asthmatic, it’s just hard to breathe with all the soot and dirt out here. I just need my medicine, that's all. My purse. Where's my purse? My medicine is in my purse."
Lance yells out to the police officers and agents on the scene to look for Vivian’s purse.
