Wrong Time to Die (Sam Leroy Book 2)

by Philip Cox

  He took one of the escalators up to Level 2. Not much to see here, except more Bloomingdales and a Toys R Us Express. He spent twenty minutes or so mooching around the toy store, looking at the shelves stacked with electronic toys, games and associated equipment. He fingered through the dozens of games here. One of them, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, took his eye. He studied the images on the front of the case, and the information on the back of the case. he was seriously tempted, but the $59.99 price tag was too much, and he had recently maxed out his credit card on a new console, anyway.

  He put the case back on the shelves, and moved away from this section, walked past the stuffed toys section which was full of mothers with young kids browsing the assortment of pink and white and yellow bears, rabbits and assorted animals, and stopped again at the Toys for Boys area. Clearly Hot Wheels was back in vogue right now: here there were dozens of boxes of different products. He looked at one box: a Track Builder Total Turbo Takeover Track Set; this seems similar to one his mother bought him many years ago, either for a birthday or one Christmas. He recalled laying out yards of plastic track with a loop in the centre, and watching the two cars taking the loop, sometimes dropping off if they were not travelling fast enough.

  Always playing on his own.

  He was done in the toy store now. He replaced the box on the shelf, and walked past the checkouts to the exit. Once outside, he looked around. He saw a juice bar, walked over and bought a grape juice crush.

  Sitting at one of the tables, he pondered over how this mall had changed since his last visit. Many years ago, when he was still in his teens, Kevin would come over, sometimes on his own, sometimes with a group of friends. Maybe to look at some of the shops, but normally to get some Chinese or Mexican food, and take in a movie. Now the place had changed; not really how he remembered it, if it was ever how he remembered it.

  Sitting here, with his glass of fruit crush, Kevin felt lonely.

  A movie.

  There was still a movie theatre here; he recalled seeing the huge AMC sign as he got off the bus. Maybe he would take in a movie first, then go to the supermarket and take care of business. Finishing his juice, he took the escalator down to the lower level and sought out the theatre.

  He found the 15 screen AMC on the other side of the Shopping Center. Looking up at what was on offer, he saw that this afternoon, they were showing the original version of Cape Fear – the 1962 version with Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen. The first performance was due to begin in fifteen minutes, so he paid his $15 for a ticket, bag of popcorn and soda included, and made his way to the auditorium. As he waited for the movie to start, he looked around. He was one of six in the theatre: three Hispanic looking ladies near the back, and two middle aged couples nearer the screen. Kevin sat back in his seat and began eating his popcorn.

  The movie started. At the first piece of dialogue, Kevin realised his mistake. The movie had been dubbed into Spanish. He closed his eyes, slowly shaking his head. What a putz – hadn’t he noticed before he bought his ticket? He considered leaving and trying to get his $15 back; or should he stay? He wanted to avoid any confrontation outside, so took a mouthful of soda, more popcorn, and slid down in his seat.

  Even though he neither spoke nor understood Spanish, he knew the plot of the movie well enough to be able to follow the action. To a degree, that is. After an hour, he had had enough. At the point where the Bowden family flee to their houseboat on the Cape Fear River, Kevin left the theatre. He got a strange stare from the girl at the ticket desk - a different girl from the one who sold him the ticket – which he returned. At the other side of the foyer, he noticed a poster for Cape Fear: he wandered over, and checked to see if it actually said that the movie would be dubbed into Spanish. It did - Kevin had just missed it.

  Kevin checked the time. Nothing left to do here now; only what he had actually come here to do. Kevin knew that there was a Gelson’s store here, and that was the whole purpose of his trip. Sure, he could have found a supermarket nearer to home, but that morning he had felt like taking a long bus ride, and having a kind of nostalgia trip. Not that the place was anything like he remembered. What was that expression? Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.

  He raised an eyebrow at some of the prices in Gelson’s. This was not your normal 7/11: more an upmarket Whole Foods Store. However, Kevin easily found the items he was looking for, and was soon walking across Santa Monica Boulevard for the bus back home.

  He did not have long to wait, and was soon travelling back Downtown. He peeked inside the brown paper Gelson’s bag, and checked his purchases. Pulled out his phone and sent a text message

  Within a couple of minutes he received a reply. cool we just need 2 decide when - catch u after work. good job.

  Kevin sat back in his seat, his chest slightly puffed out with pride. Good job.

  He knew how.

  Now it was just a matter of when.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  SLOWLY CLOSING SAM’S door behind her, Julia looked around. Was he at home? The text Sam had sent her earlier said he had been up all night the night before, and had gone home early to get some rest. They had no plans to meet up tonight, but on the way home from school she decided to go to his apartment and surprise him. Probably fix him some dinner too; she knew that on nights such as this he would be nuking something, or a takeout burrito.

  She had made out his car parked outside, so knew he was in. No lights were on: the glow from the streetlamps bathed the darkened room in a greenish-white glow. She was just about to call out his name, but heard heavy snoring coming from the bedroom. Smiling, she laid her bags on a chair, slipped off her shoes, and tiptoed to the bedroom. In the darkness, lit solely by the streetlamps, she saw him lying on his back, still dressed in shirt and pants. At least he had taken off his shoes. Next to him on the bed lay his phone and laptop. Smiling, she slipped off her panties and lay on the bed next to him.

  After a minute in which he had not noticed she was lying next to him, Julia leaned over and slowly kissed him on the lips. Sam made a murmuring sound, and moved slightly, but kept on sleeping.

  Julia sat up slightly, and put her hand on the front of his pants. Asleep there too. She carefully undid his zipper and put her hand inside. After a few seconds she began to slowly move her hand; after a few more, he began to respond. She worked some more, until finally his eyes opened.

  ‘You,’ he said softly. ‘It’s you.’

  ‘You were expecting someone else?’ she replied, taking her hand out and undoing his pants.

  ‘Maybe,’ he growled, turning over onto her.

  Julia reached down and tugged at his pants and shorts. They said very little over the next few minutes: just a series of grunts and cries.

  When he was done, Leroy rolled off her, reached out and switched on his bedside lamp. ‘Well, I didn’t see that coming,’ he said, rubbing his face. ‘Excuse the pun.’

  ‘I’d gotten your text just before I left, so I thought I’d surprise you.’

  ‘Which you did. How long you staying for?’

  ‘I have some marking to finish off; so as long I can get an hour or so to do that, I can stay over, if that’s what you meant.’

  ‘That’s good for me. You eaten?’

  Julia shook her head. ‘You kidding? I’ve just left the school. You?’

  ‘Nah. Let’s get takeout.’

  ‘Let me check your refrigerator first. See if I can fix us something. No need to waste money all the time.’

  ‘Whatever you say, ma’am.’

  Julia stood up, kicked her panties over to one side. No need to put them back on. ‘Go get some more sleep, Sam. I’ll wake you when it’s done.’ She pointed. ‘Better put that away first. Not looking at its best right now.’

  ‘What?’ Leroy looked down. ‘Oh, yes. Sorry.’ He hastily pulled his clothing back up and lay down again.

  Julia was able to fix them both a Spanish Omelette and sliced tomatoes, and they sat at Leroy’s kitc
hen bar eating.

  ‘So, you had a late night last night,’ she asked. ‘What happened?’

  ‘It was to do with this case we’re on. It’s a possibility that drugs are involved and I spent some time with an officer from the GND.’

  ‘GND? What’s that?’ Julia asked.

  ‘Gang and Narcotics Division. The two areas are normally interlinked, so that division deals with both.’

  ‘Where’d he take you?’

  ‘She took me Downtown. 38th Street.’

  Julia pulled a face. ‘Rather you than me.’

  ‘Mm. Anyway, I got back here just after one this morning. Didn’t sleep a wink, then had an early start as Ray and I had to go over to Catalina.’

  ‘Busy day then. No wonder you’re bushed.’

  Leroy nodded. ‘What about your day?’

  She shrugged. ‘Same old, same old. Actually that’s not quite right. Something strange happened today. And yesterday also.’

  Julia then related the story about the figure in the silver sedan the night before, and by the school bus that morning. ‘When I noticed him today,’ she added, ‘I walked across the road to confront him.’

  Leroy winced. ‘Not too wise, honey. But what happened?’

  ‘Well, as soon as he saw me coming over, he started the car, and raced off. I could smell the tyres burning. Thank God the kids weren’t crossing the street at that time.’

  ‘And it was the same guy as the day before?’

  ‘I’m pretty sure it was. I told the Principal this afternoon, and he said he would get the security guards to keep an eye open, before we involve the LAPD.’

  ‘Mm. What did he look like?’

  ‘The Principal said it was probably a parent who had lost custody. It normally is when that happens. Thing is, Sam: I know it’s an odd thing to say, but he just didn’t look like a parent.’

  ‘What did he look like, then?’

  Julia closed her eyes while she thought. ‘Not young, not old – thirties or forties, I guess. Dark, maybe black hair. I think it was dyed; same colour everywhere, no grey; you know? Wore glasses.’

  Leroy paused and said, ‘Middle-aged, dark hair, glasses. Anything else?’

  ‘Don’t think so. He just looked weird.’

  ‘Weird is a bit of an emotive term. Depends on your point of view. But seriously, what you’ve told me doesn’t give away much. Did you get the licence number? Make of car?’

  Julia shook her head. ‘Sorry. Just that it was a sedan. Silver.’

  ‘Okay. Well, your security guards are looking out for him. Just be careful, Julia. And if you do see him again, try to get the plate.’

  ‘I will, yes.’ She tapped the table. ‘Oh, yes, I remember one other thing. It was the way he looked over. His head was at a slight angle.’

  Leroy sat up. ‘What? Like this?’ He tilted his head at a slight angle as he looked at her.

  ‘Yes, that’s it. Why? Do you know him?’

  He shook his head. ‘Nah. Don’t think so.’

  Julia gathered up the empty plates. ‘I saw you had some strawberry ice cream. I’ll get some of that for dessert.’

  As Julia went into the kitchen, a frown crossed Leroy’s face. Surely not?

  This was the last thing he needed right now.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  ‘OUR FIRST CALL’S to a David Pine,’ Quinn said, as Leroy arrived at the Homicide Desk the next morning.

  ‘Give me five minutes,’ Leroy said as he walked past the desk in the direction of Lieutenant Perez’s office. ‘Maybe ten.’

  Quinn nodded, but by that time, Leroy was already opening the lieutenant’s door. He shrugged his shoulders, and continued working on his PC.

  Ten minutes later, Leroy appeared. ‘Ready when you are.’

  ‘Everything okay, Sam?’ Quinn asked as they walked down to the parking lot.

  ‘Tell you when we get in the car.’

  ‘Well?’ Quinn asked as Leroy pulled out into Butler.

  Leroy shook his head. ‘You remember the George Davison affair?’

  ‘The one where the captain….the old captain, I mean, was...?’

  ‘That’s the one. You came back from honeymoon half way through it. Just after Liza Domingo was killed.’

  ‘Yes, I remember. Why?’

  ‘Well, if you recall, Davison’s PA, Counsel, whatever the hell the little shit was, was never apprehended.’

  ‘That’s right. He just disappeared off the radar. Mason, wasn’t it? Dwight Mason.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s him. Well now he’s shown up again.’

  ‘Shit, Sam: where?’

  ‘I think it’s him. Ninety percent sure. He’s been showing up at Julia’s school.’

  Quinn looked over, open mouthed.

  ‘She’s seen him twice,’ Leroy said. ‘Once waiting at the school gates end of day, then across the street as she was getting some kids on a school bus. She walked across to him, but he sped off.’

  ‘How did she know it was him?’

  ‘She doesn’t. He seems to have dyed his hair and done other stuff, but it’s the body language she described that clinched it for me. You know - that odd, leaning gait he had.’

  ‘But there’s an APB out on him. Where’s he been?’

  ‘God knows. Remember he’s one clever son of a bitch, and with all the connections he had… I don’t know. But there’s one other thing. I don’t remember if I ever told you, but when I was off at home on account of my leg, he called me on Julia’s phone.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘The creep must have followed her to a park - she was there with a couple of girlfriends - and lifted it from her bag somehow. Called me on it, just to tease me and make a couple of threats.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Said something like see how close I can get to your girlfriend.’

  ‘Son of a bitch! What did you say? And why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘He just hung up. Must have passed the phone back the way he took it as she came home with it, didn’t know anything about it. And I was off, you were at work; I just didn’t see you for days. The point is, he was just playing with me, teasing me. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when Julia told me.’

  ‘What have you told her, then?’ Quinn asked.

  ‘Not much. Definitely not the full picture. Didn’t even tell her about the first phone call. Don’t want to worry her unnecessarily. She says it’s probably some disgruntled parent - maybe a father who’s lost custody, or visitation rights, that sort of thing. She went to the school Principal, and he’s told the security guards to keep any eye out for him. I spoke to Perez, and he’s arranged for a couple of cars to stake out the school. One each gate – there are two.’

  ‘Uniform?’

  Leroy shook his head. ‘No. He wants to get him, not scare him away.’

  ‘Why didn’t he get us to? Someone else could cover Hutchinsons, surely?’

  ‘He said I’d be the last person he’d use. Said he couldn’t afford for me to get my hands on him.’

  ‘Why? Surely he doesn’t think you’d….?’

  ‘He does.’

  Quinn snorted. ‘You can’t be serious.’

  Leroy looked over his shoulder as he joined the freeway. ‘Er, he might have a point. A few years back, when he and I were partners, I came close to doing something to a guy we’d picked up. He’d raped and killed a five year old girl. Anyway, Perez had to pull me off him.’

  ‘Jesus, Sam.’

  ‘I know. But it was a long time ago.’

  ‘Hm,’ Quinn murmured. ‘Would probably have done the same myself.’

  ‘Anyway,’ Leroy said breezily, ‘Perez said he’ll keep me up to date with developments, so we can focus on our own case. Right: here’s Fountain, 5400 block. Two or three miles further on, I guess.’

  As they headed towards David Pine’s address, they both sat in silence.

  But those words of Dwight Mason’s kept going through Leroy’s head.


  How close I can get to your girlfriend.

  TWENTY-SIX

  ‘THERE IT IS,’ said Leroy as he pulled up just before the intersection between Fountain and Sweetzer. Through his windscreen, he looked up at the seven-storey whitewashed corner building.

  In fact, it was seven storeys high on Fountain Avenue and, owing to the sharp incline on the corner, was six storeys on North Sweetzer. The ground floor on the Fountain Avenue side comprised two wide entrances to an underground parking garage. On the corner, between two overgrown and weed-infested pieces of lawn was a pathway leading to a flight of steps which in turn led to the front door.

  ‘Apartment 16,’ Quinn added.

  ‘Come on, let’s go,’ said Leroy getting out of the car.

  Adjacent to the dark wood entrance door was an entry phone, a bell for each apartment. Leroy picked out the one marked 16, and pressed the button. Some buttons had slips of card giving the name of the occupant in a slot, but the slot for 16 was empty.

  ‘I hope our information is correct,’ Leroy muttered, looking down at the street intersection.

  Momentarily a buzzing noise came from the entry phone. ‘Yes?’ a voice enquired.

  Leroy leaned towards the grille. ‘David Pine?’

  ‘Yes; who is this?’

  ‘Detectives Leroy and Quinn, LAPD. May we come up? We need to ask you a few questions.’

  There was silence.

  Leroy repeated, ‘Mr Pine?’

  ‘Er – yes, come up. Apartment 16. On the fourth floor.’

  There was another buzz and a click from the door. Quinn pushed it open. Inside was an old bird cage type elevator, and a flight of stairs. There was a door marked SUPER to one side of the stairs.

  ‘Let’s take the stairs.’ With Quinn following, Leroy leapt up the stairs, three steps at a time. When they reached the fourth floor, Leroy knocked on the faded green door marked 16. A few seconds later, the door slowly opened, restricted by a chain. A figure appeared in the gap: a little shorter than Leroy and wearing only shorts.

  ‘Can I see your ID?’