Becoming Juliet

by Paula Marinaro

  Juliet, who had absolutely no interest in pursuing this line of conversation with P.J. McCabe, found herself being drawn in.

  “How?”

  “Well, for a starter…you decided on a weapon based on an internet video.”

  “I was being sarcastic.” Juliet totally lied.

  “Yeah, well we both know that ain’t true.” He moved closer.

  “You don’t think I am capable of sarcasm?”

  “Babe, I think you are capable of a lot of things.” P.J. told her. “But maybe truth tellin’ ain’t high on that list.”

  “I beg your pardon?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “You can beg all you want, Juliet. But that ain’t gonna change anything.”

  “Are you seriously going to stand there and call me a liar, Mr. McCabe?” Her voice held all the outrage she felt.

  “That’ll do for starts, Miss Jones. Or is it Mrs.?” His eyes darted to that twisting action of hers around the ring finger. Juliet followed his gaze and immediately dropped her hands to her sides. It was in that very moment that Juliet realized that P.J. McCabe might become a problem for her. Because whereas Juliet had chalked P.J.’s curiosity to just being nosy before, this felt different. He wasn’t letting his interest in her go. If anything, P.J. McCabe seemed more determined than ever before to find out her story. If he kept on butting his nose in where it didn’t belong, Juliet risked exposure. And while Kenny’s case had been tried, and the intense scrutiny into her life had been mitigated as a result, he still had pending trials in two other states for the killings of three other women. It was more important than ever that while those trials were pending, Juliet kept herself hidden. Kenny had committed those murders before he had met Juliet, so she would not have to testify. But with those trials would come more exposure to the past cases, and more stories about the marriage of Lucy and Kenny Brewster.

  And Juliet was afraid that it wouldn’t stop there.

  Her biggest fear, her secret terror, was that somewhere along the way, some young, snot nosed reporter looking to make a name for himself would make it his mission to find out what had happened to Lucy Brewster. The interest, speculation, and suspicion would become headlines again. Juliet would be hounded again, threatened again and sickest of all, there would be a resurgence of that heinous and disturbed type of person for whom Ken Brewster had become a sort of cult hero. They would leave sacrificial gifts on her doorstep, and haunting messages on her answering machine. And when all those things happened, if all those things happened, Juliet would lose this hard won battle for her sanity. And that would mean the end of her. Because Juliet would not survive that again.

  Now faced with the interest of this guy standing in front of her, she knew that P.J, McCabe presented a real danger to herself and the fragile grip she had on a new life, a life worth living.

  “Do you really want to know why I need a gun?” Juliet leaned into P.J. and hissed ominously. “I need a gun because there are dark forces at work in this world. The darkest things? Those things are the hungriest. They feed on creatures who dwell in the bowels of hell. And the worst thing is, the most monstrous thing, is that they also feed on the victims who are strong enough to survive them. They are hunters who will never stop searching. Never stop coming. I can’t stop them. You can’t stop them. They are unstoppable.”

  P.J. narrowed his eyes at Juliet and fought to hold that gaze steady. Because she had begun to seriously creep him out. The last thing he had expected from her was to turn all mystical and morbid on him. And now seeing that intense look in Juliet’s eyes, P.J. had no doubt that she believed every word she said, and that she was doing her very best to deal with whatever this was, all alone.

  “So, if you can’t stop them what do you plan to do?” He asked gently.

  “I plan to use what they are looking for against them.” Juliet said with tired resolve.

  And what do you think they are looking for?”

  “Me. They are looking for me.”

  P.J. thought about Juliet even more after the party. They were confused, jumbled thoughts as he tried to reconcile the crazy from the truth. The more P.J. tried to cipher the situation out, the more tangled up in it he became.

  Aside from the large creep factor of the last conversation he had had with Juliet, there was something else that had begun to bother P.J. And that had less to do with her than it did with him. Because although you could take the man out of the lifestyle, you couldn’t completely take the lifestyle out of the man, P.J. had been using his gun shop business to store and procure illegal weapons for the club for a while now. It wasn’t all the time, or otherwise a common practice, but it was often enough and a dangerous enough risk to put P.J. away for a long time.

  And while P.J. didn’t think Juliet had been sent to Port Harbor to investigate him, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility either. However, he also had to concede that Juliet didn’t look the part. She didn’t have that desperate, coked out look of an informant, or the confident, smooth, swagger of a federal agent. Still, the huge possibility remained that Juliet Jones was not who she said she was. And P.J. meant to find out the truth because of what had happened to Tommy Two Times.

  Two Times, a valued HSMC soldier, had gotten his road name because he had been a good earner. No matter what the job, TT had always managed to find a way to bring in about twice as much as the average take. Two Times had been blessed with good looks, a strong body, and a brilliant criminal mind. He had joined the Illinois chapter of the Saints, rose quickly in the organization and was about to be patched in as Sargent at Arms when he got pinched by the bureau. Now, Tommy Two Times, was doing ten to fifteen in a nine by twelve cell, courtesy of a blonde bombshell who had just happened to be a federal agent.

  Lesson learned.

  So P.J. did what he had always done when he needed information that was otherwise not readily available, he called his Uncle Jules. Jules was definitely the go-to guy when it came to ferreting out information that no one else could find. He was the magic man when it came to the dark web.

  “Talk to me.” Jules answered the phone.

  “Since when does it take you five rings to pick up?”

  “Since your aunt has me out in the yard, doing domestic bullshit.”

  “Don’t we got prospects for that?” P.J. laughed.

  Jules grunted and P.J. could hear the flick of a lighter and the sound of his uncle inhaling. After a brief pause, Jules asked, “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I just want you to run a check for me.”

  “You got a name?”

  “I got a name but I’m pretty sure it’s bullshit.”

  “What’s the name?”

  “Juliet Jones.”

  Jules let out a laugh. “Jones is like the fifth most common name in the United States, brother. As far as aliases go? Jones is slicker than snot on a doorknob. I run that, I’m gonna get about five hundred hits minimum. I’m good, but I ain’t that good. I need something else to go on.”

  “I don’t have much else.” P.J. said.

  “You think we need to put eyes on her?” Jules wanted to know.

  “No. Not yet anyway.”

  “What’s your interest here, brother?”

  “It’s personal.” P.J. answered honestly.

  “Yeah, well we all know how that can go.”

  “I’m right there with you, man.” P.J. told him. “Can’t say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that she might be working for the feds.”

  “Always good to keep it real.” Jules said. Then he added after a slight pause, “Our ties in the bureau right now are tighter than a cat’s ass under water. If they sent someone out, I’m pretty confident we’d know about it.”

  “Good to hear.” P.J. felt a small wave of relief wash over him. “My gut instinct is that she’s in trouble. I want to help her out if I can.”

  “What makes you think she’s in trouble?”

  “She blew into town from nowhere, man. Then she tried to bu
y a gun from me with false credentials.”

  “What was the name on the license?” Jules asked as he took another hit off the joint that he was smoking. P.J. could hear the whir of the club’s computer system start up in the background.

  “She took it back before I got a chance to see it.” P.J. was starting to feel like an idiot. He really had put in the call with nothing to go on.

  “You’re getting’ rusty on me, brother.” Jules frowned over the phone lines. “See if you can get a look at that license. In the meantime, start writing down everything you know about her.”

  “Like I said, I think anything I got on her is bullshit. Look man, sorry to waste your time. I realize now I got crap to go on and crap to give you.” P.J. was embarrassed. He should have known better.

  “Yeah, I heard you, brother.” Jules affection for P.J. was evident in his voice. “I don’t think you heard me, though. I said write down the stuff you know about her. Observable shit like body piercings, tattoos, scars, or any defining marks. She got any friends in town? She go away weekends? Entertain any company? You’re right, brother, shit like licenses, plate numbers, even social security cards can be bought for a price. So, you got to go with what’s observable. Find that chink in her armor. Put down any small detail you can think of, and that’ll give me a start. Does this Juliet Jones chick got any ink?”

  “Not that I can see.” P.J. said.

  “So, you ain’t boning her yet?” Jules gave out a low whistle. “I’m impressed.”

  “Yeah well…it’s not like that.” P. J. told him.

  “Well, then what’s it like?” Jules persisted.

  “She’s got this paranoia thing going on. I’d like to get to the bottom of it.”

  “Yeah, well you know what they say about that.” Jules scoffed. “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. No judgement here, and you know I got your back. The only time I’m gonna come down on this hard is if you think she’s a threat. I’ll put out some feelers.”

  “I’d bet my left nut that the only threat she poses is to herself. But it wouldn’t hurt to check.” P.J. told him.

  “Well, like I said, I’ll make inquiries.” Jules replied. “At least knowing that she isn’t working with the feds will be a start.”

  “Thanks, Jules.”

  “You wanna thank me?” Jules inhaled deeply. “Do us all a solid and call your damn mother. She’s threatening Reno if she doesn’t hear from you soon, it’s gonna be road trip time. And we are all too busy for that kind of shit right now.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just fucking Colombians pulling their bullshit again. Nino is up to something; we just don’t have a handle on it yet. Same old, damn same old. By the way, I might send a couple of cases of weapons for you to hold on to.” Then Jules added with meaning. “I’m gonna let Claire know that you’ll be coming home soon.”

  “Tell Jet I’ll make room in storage.” P.J. said. “And yeah, tell mom I’ll make the trip.”

  “Okay, good. In the meantime, I’ll find out what I can about your woman.”

  “She ain’t my woman.” P.J. said. But by that time, Jules had already hung up the phone.

  “I can’t believe how quickly the weather has turned in just a couple of hours.” Layla exclaimed as she stood next to Juliet. They had come out of the movie theater to find that a threatening storm had begun to intensify. Now, as they looked out from the wall of windows just above the exit door, the two friends discussed their options.

  “I wonder if we should just ditch the cars and call Reggie to come pick us up?” Layla frowned.

  “I think we’ll be okay if we leave right now, don’t you?” Juliet peered out through the glass doors and into the stormy night. “It’s not like we’re hours away from home. And we’d just have to have Reggie drive us back here in the morning to come get our cars.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. It’s a moot point anyway.” Layla said as she zipped up her jacket and put the hood up over her head. “I just remembered that Reggie dropped the minivan off to have the wheel bearings checked. He’s with the kids at his mom’s house. I’m supposed to pick them up from there.”

  “We can do this.” Juliet told her, even as a loud clap of thunder shook the sky.

  “You think so?” Layla peered out into the storm and sighed. “We’re gonna get wet as hell.”

  “Not me, I ran track in high school. But you? I bet you run all gawky and slow...kind of like a pageant queen on crack.” Juliet teased her friend.

  “You wouldn’t be challenging me to a race would you, Miss Jones?”

  “A race yes, but a challenge? I don’t think so!”

  “Well in that case, last one back to their car is a rotten egg!” Layla squealed with laughter as she darted first for the door.

  “Cheater!” Juliet’s voice rang out merrily to Layla. But when the two friends got outside, they were hit with the force of the storm. The rain came down in freezing torrents and the gusts of wind made them catch their breath. They huddled together as they ran to their cars.

  “Reggie’s mom’s house is only a couple of miles from here!” Layla shouted out over the gale force winds. “Follow me, we can all stay the night there!”

  Juliet shook her head and pressed the button to unlock the car. She was standing in a puddle and her feet were already getting soaked through her canvas sneakers. Juliet just wanted to go home, dry off, and spend the night waiting out the storm with some beef stew, and the classic movie channel.

  “I’ll be fine!” Juliet assured her friend, then hopped into her car.

  It had only been a matter of a few minutes after Juliet hit the highway that she began to question the wisdom of trying to outrun the storm. The rain came down in long, torrential sweeps, while the howling and determined wind waged a war against Mother Nature. Branches bent and bowed dangerously close to power lines. The black night sky split with bolts of white lightening, while thunder shook the trees from their roots. Juliet leaned close into the steering wheel to get a better look at the road ahead.

  Visibility was bad and getting worse. The white lines of the highway faded in and out beneath the waves of rain. When a heavy truck passed Juliet going at a speed that was nothing short of suicidal, her car got hit hard with the impact of a backsplash the size of a small tsunami. Juliet swerved hard and had barely gotten her vehicle under control when the dashboard lights began to turn on and off as if under a voodoo spell. Lightning and thunder erupted almost simultaneously as fat, full raindrops continued to bullet her car with machine gun like intensity. Juliet had bravely white knuckled it since she had left the movie theater, but when she lost the beam of a front head lamp, she had had enough. She could barely operate the vehicle with the strength of two headlights but driving with a single beam would be impossible. Juliet had just decided to pull over when she saw the entrance to the long, dirt country road that would lead her home. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks and sighed in great relief as she drove her car onto the exit.

  But once she had left the lights of the highway behind, Juliet found herself surrounded by complete darkness, both on the road ahead and on the road behind her. The deep violence of the storm had swallowed up the moon and the stars in its battle for dominance. Now, as Juliet and her small car bravely forged onward, she began to lose her sense of direction. Her turn should be just ahead. She should be seeing it anytime now. A small turn to the right and Juliet should be home.

  But as her vehicle swayed with the gale force winds, and Juliet bumped along a road that had all but washed away, she began to doubt her direction. After a few moments, a slow but undeniable certainty filled her, and Juliet knew exactly what road she was on.

  “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” Juliet swore aloud and pounded her hand against the steering wheel. In her desperate haste to get out of the storm, Juliet had taken a wrong turn.

  A very, very wrong turn.

  “What the hell?” P.J. watched the security mon
itor as he saw the light of a single headlamp come bouncing down the road towards his house. He adjusted the screen on the camera to no avail. The rain was coming down so hard that even with the special lenses that he had had installed, P.J. couldn’t make out more than the lone headlight in the long shadows.

  But he knew one thing, no one came out in a storm like this, especially on a bike. Nino’s crew is up to something Jules’s words flashed through P.J.’s mind. His eyes swiveled again to the slow approach of the lone headlight. They’d have to be crazy to come after him on a night like this. But then again, the storm had come up quickly. Nino and P.J. had a history and P.J. had been waiting a long time for Nino to make a move. Up to this point the head of the Colombian crime organization had left P.J. alone, but now things had apparently heated up. P.J. wouldn’t be at all surprised if Nino had decided to come after him for those guns. The guy on the bike that was now headed towards P.J.’s house was most probably a scout.

  After a small contemplation, P.J. decided on the 9 millimeter. He loaded it, put the safety on and stuck it in the back of his waist band. Then P.J. threw on a black leather jacket and pulled a Scully hat over his head. After pushing a buck knife into his left boot, he headed out into the storm.

  The wind howled like the opening of a horror movie and pushed against P.J.’s chest. Rain came down in torrents, and trees creaked out a warning as their branches bent under the weight of the storm. With freezing fingers, P.J. pulled his weapon out from the back of his waistband and moved it to the deep front pocket of his leather jacket for easy access. He had planned to use the cover of the trees to circle back around whoever had the balls to trespass on his property. But now, because of the force of the direction of the wind, he was going to have to meet the fucker head on.

  Juliet’s car was stuck. And it was her own fault. When Juliet had realized that she had mistaken the road that led to P.J.’s house for the road that led to hers, she had tried to turn the vehicle around. She had successfully backed up to a horizontal position across the road, but it was when she had tried to complete the turn that the trouble started. Juliet’s wheels had spun and spun and spun. The more she had tried, the deeper she had dug the car in. Now her vehicle sat straight across the road, and bumper deep in the thick muck and mire that the storm continued to create.