by Jade Kuzma
“Leave? Where are you going?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “Somewhere. Anywhere. I’ve lived in Ivory all my life. That’s more than enough money for me to get a new start somewhere. I… I was thinking about maybe going to school.”
“School?”
“Art school. I always enjoyed painting. But… I guess that’s out of the window considering I’m helping you get away with killing someone.”
I could see the hurt in her eyes. I didn’t know much about her. But for some reason, I wanted to do everything I could to make sure she got out of this all right.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not gonna kill him.”
“What? But you just—”
“You’re right. You already gave me too much information. You’re already linked to me now. I’m sure more than enough people have seen me around town with you.”
“Then what are you gonna do?”
“Is this about the money?”
It was a relief to see the smile come back to her face.
“That’s part of it, yeah. But I’m still supposed to meet up with this Walsh guy eventually. It’d be nice to know if you’re gonna do something crazy.”
“I’ll find him before your meeting with him. I’ll have a talk with him.”
“A talk?”
She raised an eyebrow at me.
“Yes, I’ll have a talk with him,” I said. “Once he realizes what he did, he’ll understand his mistake and I’m sure things will work out.”
“Why do I think it won’t be as simple as that?”
She sighed a deep breath then pounded the rest of her drink. She kept her eyes locked on me, giving me a blank stare as I looked back at her.
“There’s more to it than what you’re telling me,” she said, shaking her head. “You didn’t come all the way to Ivory to deal with some guy just because he killed your cat. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“What do you want me to tell you? Do you want the rest of my life story?”
“If that’ll help me figure out what the fuck is going on, sure. You paid for my company for the night.”
I chuckled softly.
“It’s good to hear you laugh,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you always look so fucking serious. You look like you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, like somebody is following you. Being paranoid is never a good look for anybody.”
“Some people call it being paranoid. I call it being smart.”
“How is being paranoid smart?”
“Life is always out to get you,” I said. “There’s always someone out there watching you. Maybe not all the time but eventually, the things you don’t notice are the things that fuck everything up.”
She nodded and looked over my shoulder.
“I think I’ve had a little too much to drink for you to try and wax philosophical with me.”
“…I’ll deal with Walsh. You don’t have anything to worry about, okay?”
“Sorry, but your words don’t give me any reassurances. If Blade found out that I even told you Walsh was coming to Ivory—”
“What’s the deal with Blade? Why would you work for a guy like that?”
I said it bluntly because it was the first thing that popped into my head. But Asia shifted in her seat as soon as I said it. I could tell she was uncomfortable just from her reluctance to give me an answer.
“You don’t have to—”
“It’s all right,” she cut me off. “I don’t blind myself to the obvious. I don’t enjoy being employed by a man like Blade. It’s just a working relationship we have together. That’s it.”
“So, you two don’t have anything else going on?”
“I already told you he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just… He’s just my boss.”
“Are you sleeping with him?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. I would have thought she was offended but a sly little smirk formed on her lips.
“What business is it of yours who I sleep with?” she asked.
“Male curiosity.”
“I bet. They say women are gossipy but guys are even worse apparently, always wanting to know who’s sleeping with whom. You want to know the last time I sucked his dick—”
“And when was that?”
I didn’t hesitate. The smirk on her lips told me she was comfortable. She kept her guys locked on me.
“I don’t remember,” she said. “I haven’t kept track. But it’s been a long time. I can assure you.”
“Too bad for him. You know what you’re doing.”
Even with the dim lighting of the bar, I could see her pale cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“Is that right?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Did you like my technique?”
“I sure did. Maybe you and I can…”
I looked over her shoulder.
Is that…
It was so dark I could barely see the man standing in the corner. I squinted my eyes to try and make him out.
“…Charles?”
“It can’t be…”
“Charles, what the fuck are you looking at?”
She turned around and stared at the corner of the bar.
“That guy,” I said.
“What about him?”
“It’s him. It’s Walsh.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “Are you sure?”
It was him. I’d seen his picture every day for the past month. His hair was a little longer. He was trying to grow a beard to cover his face. But I knew that it was him.
I popped up from my seat. Asia jumped up and put a hand on my chest.
“Charles—”
“Get out of here,” I said. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your money. I’m gonna settle this shit right now.”
“Charles, I don’t think you should—”
“Get outta here!”
“Okay, okay.”
She put her hands up and started backing away.
Walsh was standing alone at the corner of the bar. He didn’t notice me walking up to him, his attention taken by the cell phone up to his ear. But as soon as I got near him, he turned his head and his eyes widened.
“Oh, shit…”
He muttered then immediately started running.
“Motherfucker!”
I shouted then raced after him as he started running through the bar. He moved out the back of the place and rushed through the back alleys. I chased after him. The dark alleyways weren’t going to stop me.
I could hear him huffing and puffing as he continued running in the darkness. I knew it was only a matter of time until I caught him.
He kept ducking through the alleys until he ran back out onto the streets. The asshole was moving so fast that he ran into a parked car. That was just enough time for me to catch up to him.
I grabbed the back of his collar and tossed him to the ground.
“Listen,” he said as he put his hands up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry—”
A hard fist across his temple shut him up for a second.
“Fuck!” he yelled out. “I’m sorry!”
I gave him another punch to think about.
“I’m sorry!” he pleaded with me. “Please! Don’t hurt me!”
“It’s too late to say sorry, motherfucker!”
I’d been waiting for this moment for too long. I raised my fist up to shut him up for good but as soon as I did, I was interrupted.
“Freeze! Hands up!”
I looked up and saw the police cruiser parked right in front of me. I was so distracted by Walsh that I didn’t even hear the sirens or see the flashing lights.
Fucking idiot…
“Don’t move, asshole!”
Two cops kept their pistols pointed at me. I sighed as they shoved me to the ground and put my hands behind my back. I didn’t fight i
t when they cuffed me and stuffed me into the back of their cruiser.
I looked out the window and saw Asia standing in front of the bar I just ran out of. She stared back at me, that damn innocent look on her face as the cruiser moved in the opposite direction.
Chapter 8
CHARLES
It wasn’t the first time I’d ever been inside of an interrogation room. The bright lights. The shadows. The dead silence. It was all shit cops did to try and intimidate everybody.
I leaned back in my seat and stared straight ahead, waiting for them to get on with it. I could practically hear them from behind the mirror on the wall next to me.
A few moments later, someone finally came in to say hello.
Some hard-nosed bitch in a pantsuit walked into the room and closed the door.
I’d seen her type before. Hair tied-up in a ponytail. Chest stuck out like she had a stick up her ass. A hand in her pocket so I could see her badge clearly. And she had to put her nose in the air so she could look down at me.
Law enforcement always had to make sure it was known that they were better than guys like me. It was a constant a reminder that I was evil and she was good.
She tossed a manila folder onto the desk in front of me, her eyes still locked on me.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“I’m a little sore. I was in a bit of a scrap.”
“A bit of a scrap, huh?”
“That’s right. I got into it with another guy.”
“You got into it with another guy… Witnesses at the scene say you were on top of the guy and pummeling him. You don’t appear any worse for wear.”
“My knuckles are a little bruised.”
I clenched my fist and smirked up at her. She didn’t smile back, that hard-nosed looked still in her eyes.
She picked the folder back up and started sorting through it while she paced back and forth in front of me.
“You would think that you idiots in clubs would stop getting into trouble, especially when you’ve all got records. Your prints are on file, so it’s not hard to look you up.”
I sighed through my nose and waited for the inevitable.
“Charles Lawrence. Aggravated assault and battery. Multiple cases. Unregistered weapons possession. Multiple cases. You’ve got quite the rap sheet for a man who’s been out of the service for years.”
“I had to make up for lost time.”
I stared at her, trying to get her to smile but she wasn’t having it. I guess being in the interrogation room meant I wasn’t going to find any amusement.
“I’ve been in Ivory for almost a year now,” she said. “I’ve gotten to know all of the clubs. I’ve gotten to know all of the members. Now, I would have assumed that this was just some scuffle between you and some guy over some dumb shit like him looking at you funny. But that wasn’t just anybody you beat up. That was Jamie Walsh.”
“Was it? That’s news to me.”
“Nice try. You almost got away with it. The cops in this town are too stupid to put two and two together. But I’m not.”
She leaned forward across the table and pressed her palms down on it as she glared at me.
“Surveillance says Walsh showed up in Ivory just this week,” she said. “A few days later, you show up in Ivory. Next thing you know, you’re on top of him, trying to beat him to death.”
“I wasn’t trying to beat him to death.”
“Oh, and I suppose those punches were to make him feel good.”
“They made me feel good.”
I shrugged and gave her a smirk. She still wasn’t having it.
“Do you have something to tell me, Lawrence?”
I didn’t hesitate in shaking my head.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess it’s just a coincidence.”
“I’ll bet it is.”
I could tell she was trying her best not to roll her eyes. She had to keep playing the role of hard-ass cop even though she and I both knew that shit wasn’t gonna work on me.
I sank deeper into my seat as she began pacing back and forth in front of me again.
“Let me explain something to you,” she said. “I know that you’re not involved in something bigger. I know this shit you have going on with Walsh is something petty. Frankly, I don’t give a shit what it is. But I’m going to tell you something for your own good.”
She stopped pacing.
“Do you know who Jacob Holmes is?”
The name sounded familiar but I shook my head.
“No, of course you don’t,” she said. “Clubs in this town don’t have a clue what’s going on. Holmes is better known by his alias Blade.”
Asia’s boss.
I didn’t react to it.
“Tell me why I should give a shit about what you’re telling me,” I said.
“You should care because we have surveillance on Holmes. And we have surveillance on all of the people he’s associating with, including Walsh. Holmes is up to something. He’s trying to set up a distribution center right here in Ivory so he could push his drugs to all of the cities surrounding this area.”
“I still don’t see why I should give a shit about any of this.”
“No, of course not. You’ve got… whatever personal vendetta with Walsh you have that you don’t even care about all of the months of work it took to set up a federal operation to take down Holmes.”
She leaned forward across the table and pressed her palms into it as she glared at me.
“Let me make one thing clear to you, Lawrence. Once I get enough evidence, I’m going to arrest Holmes and everybody he’s associated with. If you do anything to jeopardize this operation, I won’t hesitate to arrest you, too. Do I make myself clear?”
She stared at me like she was trying to break me. But the hard look she gave me just made me laugh.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Jane Lieberman. I’m a federal agent—”
“Yes, I can read your badge. The lights are really bright in this room.”
“That’s too bad. I can’t turn ‘em down.”
“That’s all right. I can handle the lights…”
I kept smirking at her. I didn’t have to say much more to make it clear to her that I didn’t give a shit what she said to me.
“Listen, Agent Lieberman—”
“I don’t want to have to arrest you,” she cut me off. “Stay away from Walsh. Stay away from Holmes. I’ve warned you. If you’re anywhere near them, I have no problem planting evidence on you and making it appear you were complicit with them.”
I had to hide back my surprise.
“You’re admitting that you’re willing to frame me?” I said. “On camera.”
“They’re not recording this interview right now. This shit is between you and me.”
“Is it? Then I could punch you right in the mouth and nobody will know.”
“It’s gonna be pretty hard to do that with handcuffs on you.”
“I’m willing to try if you are.”
“I can assure you… punching me in the mouth is the last thing you want to do.”
I swallowed and gave her a nod. I had to applaud the bitch. She knew what she was doing.
It was clear that Lieberman had her mind made up. There was no way I could make her see things from my perspective.
“Stay away,” she said. “And give your club the same warning.”
“They’re not my club. I’m a nomad—”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m watching you and everybody else who wears a patch. If anything happens without my consent, you’re gonna have to answer. You got it?”
She raised her eyebrows at me as she waited for my response.
“You got it?” she repeated.
“Yeah… I got it.”
“Good.”
“Am I free to go?”
She stared at me as she picked the manila folder up from her desk. She opened the door and an old man in a police uniform wa
lked in a few seconds later.
“Give him a night in jail to think about it,” she said to the old man.
I rolled my eyes as the older officer walked up to me.
“Come along now,” he said. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Lieberman had her eyes locked on me the entire time while I left the room.
I turned to the old man and read the badge on his chest.
“Sutton,” I said. “Sheriff Sutton. Isn’t it a little late for an old-timer like you to be up?”
“Very funny,” he replied. “You’re lucky I have a sense of humor or I’d slug you right in the eye.”
“I’m glad one of us does.”
“This is Ivory. There’s always something that has to be dealt with. Even at this time of night.”
“Crime doesn’t sleep.”
Sutton escorted me through the police department.
“Do I really have to spend a night in jail?” I asked. “That’s not gonna accomplish anything.”
“You gotta learn your lesson. You just can’t go around punching people whenever you please.”
“I can’t imagine I’m the first man whoever got into a fight. Not in this town.”
“Don’t worry. There’s plenty of room behind bars for you.”
Sutton brought me to the other side of the station where there were a couple of cells waiting. Most of them were occupied by guys who looked like they were drunk when they were arrested. Thankfully, Sutton gave me a cell I could have all to myself.
I leaned up against the bars as he uncuffed me.
“Hey, Sutton. Lemme ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“That Lieberman chick. How do you like her?”
“I like her well enough. She’s got a job to do and she’s doing it.”
“Is she? I hear she’s been in town for a year now. Has anything really changed?”
He looked up at me and gave me a blank stare.
“Humor me,” I said.
“Lieberman is a tough gal. Even for someone who works for the government. Frankly, I gotta admit that the town has seemed a little quieter ever since she showed up.”
“But she’s got that operation going on. You know about it, right?”
“What operation?”
“Holmes. The whole thing with Blade.”
