Joe sent her a text, telling her he had eyes on the back exit. Arden wished there was a way to get him into the club, but it looked like she’d have to go solo.
The server returned and extended his lowered hand to Arden. There was something in his palm. Arden shook and snuck the small packet into her sleeve. The man seemed impressed by her sleight of hand. “Freshen up. Knock three times on the VIP lounge 2. It’s upstairs. Oh, and don’t make a scene.”
The server walked away.
Arden slipped the small packet out, seeing it was a gram of cocaine. Arden slunk into a dark corner. She could see the server watching her. Arden mimicked snorting a line off the side of her thumb. In reality, she cut into the baggie with her fingernail and let the powder fall away. She put on bug-eye sunglasses that were in her small purse and headed for the green neon sign reading VIP above the entrance to the stairs. A few girls flirted with the bouncer standing guard. He saw Arden coming and stepped aside, letting her hike up the stairs.
As she conquered one step at a time, the music was washed away and all she could hear was the violent thump of the bass. She reached the top of the stairs, uncertain what Mr. Finn had in store of her. She texted Joe, giving him a quick update. A pretty blonde stepped out of a nearby door. Black mascara tears stained her cheek. There were splits on her fishnet stockings. Red scratches raked across her pale flesh. She hurried for the bathroom door.
Arden looked for VIP room 2 and saw it was the same room the girl had come from. Arden took a breath. She knocked three times and waited.
A minute passed. She was tempted to knock again, but over the years of tracking similar pervs, Arden had learned that these types of appointments were very particular about who they granted audience and the proper procedure to do so.
Two minutes passed.
The other girl still hadn’t returned from the restroom.
Finally, the lock clicked.
The shiny door knob rotated.
The door inched open.
Through the crack, she saw a smartphone screen with Arden’s picture. “This you?” A voice asked.
“See for yourself,” Arden replied.
The door opened more.
She saw a young handsome man. His sleeveless shirt accentuated his muscular arms. His skinny legs sprouted out from basketball shorts. His head was shaved. He had a dumb smile and a single gold earring. There was something cartoonish about him.
“Well, hello,” he said with a large grin.
Arden wanted to cringe. She kept her seductive smile instead.
“May I come in?” Arden asked.
The man stepped aside.
She looked around the lounge. It was more like an office. There was a couch facing a desk. Jackie Finn sat in the leather chair. There were three cameras pointed at the visitor’s couch. One faced it head on and two looked at it from forty-five-degree angles. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here.
The man let her inside.
Jackie had his hands folded on the desk.
He smiled at Arden. “Hey. I’m Jackie. That’s my good friend Bo.”
Bo closed the door behind Arden.
Arden put her purse aside and placed the empty plastic baggie on the desktop. “Thanks for the gift.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Jackie asked.
Arden glanced to the cameras. “Those on?”
Jackie shook his head no.
“Good,” Arden replied. “I was hoping we could have some alone time before we got started.”
Arden crawled up on the desk and toward Jackie. He smiled widely and leaned back in his seat, making Arden work to reach him.
Jackie asked, “I don’t know your name yet.”
“Does it matter? I was going to lie anyway,” Arden replied. She gently wrapped her fingers around his throat.
Bo watched her, nodding giddily.
“Tell your friend to give us some space,” Arden said to Jackie.
“I like Bo,” Jackie replied.
“You’re going to like me more,” Arden tightened her grip around Jackie’s throat.
Jackie glanced at Bo and silently told him to go.
Grinning stupidly, Bo stepped out of the room. “Save some for me.”
The door closed behind him.
“That door locked?” Arden asked.
“Don’t worry. No one will bug us.”
“So it is locked?”
“Yeah,” Jackie said as he looked at Arden’s chest.
Arden moved closer to his lips. “Good.”
She could smell his minty breath.
She moved her left hand up from the man’s neck, up the side of his face, and to the man’s slicked hair.
“Hey,” Jackie complained at first and then smiled. “Watch it, okay. I put a lot of work into that.”
Arden grabbed his hair tighter and violently yanked his head back.
“Hey!” he shouted, growing angry.
His Adam’s apple bulged in his exposed neck. Arden jabbed it with her right hand as hard as she could. The man doubled over, gagging. Arden quickly stood on the desk and kicked him in the jaw. His desk chair slammed over. Arden jumped on him. Jackie struggled to breathe and tried to guard the side of his face as Arden whaled on him. She didn’t know where the violent outburst came from, but she didn’t let up. When the man stopped resisting, Arden straddled his chest and pinned his arms under her knee.
Jackie struggled to breathe. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Blood leaked from his busted brow, nose, and lips. His eyes swelled.
“Tell me about Scarlet Gales,” Arden asked up.
Jackie wheezed.
“Talk or I’ll hit you in the neck again,” Arden threatened.
Jackie tried to speak, but only a broken rattle escaped his throat.
Arden opened and closed her throbbing fist. “You know who I am, right?”
“The… witch…” Jackie said breathlessly.
“That’s what they call me.” A cruel smile curved up Arden’s face. “If you want to share your friend’s fate, resist. If you want to go down the road less traveled, start talking.”
“I don’t know where…” Jackie winced in pain, “the girl is…”
“What about Garold Grey?”
“I don’t know.”
Arden struck in the same bleeding eye.
He yelped in pain.
“I don’t know!” He tried getting up, but Arden’s legs kept his arm pinned.
“I showed mercy to the others, but I’m getting impatient,” Arden threatened.
Jackie cried out. “You don’t know what they’ll do to me.”
“You should be more concerned about who’s in front of you.”
“I can help you. I know what you’re really after.” Jackie winced.
Arden tilted her head slightly. “And what’s that?”
“Vengeance,” Jackie coughed.
Arden didn’t reply.
Jackie wheezed, still fighting to regain his breath. “For your sister.”
Arden’s world froze. Her jaw fell open. “What?”
“The whore six years ago,” Jackie replied. “You’re not the only one doing research on their enemies. I’ve been reading up on you since the videotapes started being shown in the news. I know ways to help you.”
The room started to spin around Arden. Flashes of Patricia’s cadaver filled her vision. It was like the room had turned into a water-soaked ditch and her little sister’s defiled body stood there.
Jackie continued. “I can take you to the men who raped her. I know them.”
Arden’s blood rushed through her body. She glared down at the man. “You’re lying.”
“I don’t owe them anything,” Jackie said. “You let me go and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“I have a better idea,” Arden said and punched him in the throat.
Jackie gagged.
Arden got off him. She rolled him over and tw
isted his arm behind his back. She kept bending it until she heard the joint pop.
Jackie screamed through his teeth.
Arden got up and rushed to her purse. She unzipped it and pulled out her phone. She glanced over to the desk. Jackie pushed against the floor to stand but collapsed under the weight of his non-functional arm.
Arden called Joe.
He answered. “Hey,”
“We need to extract Finn.”
“How?”
In the corner of her eye, Arden noticed Jackie reaching for his cellphone. “Give me a sec.”
She quickly marched over to him and stomped on his hand holding the phone. He gasped in pain. Arden kicked the broken phone to the corner of the room. She glanced at the window. “How good of a catch are you?”
“… Decent,” Joe replied.
Arden looked down at the small parking lot beneath the window. “Come around the back. Call me when you get there.”
Jackie crawled to his desk and reached for his drawer. Arden kicked him in the stomach. She opened the drawer, noticing the gun within.
Arden grabbed it. “This what you’re looking for?”
A look of horror overtook Jackie’s face. Arden went to the window. It was bolted shut. Arden slammed the butt of the pistol against it. After the third hit, it splintered. The seventh hit shattered it.
She looked back.
Jackie was crawling his way toward the door. “Bo! Bo!”
Arden walked over to him and aimed the gun at the back of his head. He looked over his shoulder. “You won’t do it.”
“You want to bet?” Arden asked. “Get up and walk.”
Jackie, still struggling to breathe, struggled to get to his feet, but did so. Arden directed him to the window. He looked out at the lot. “No. Never.”
Joe’s car pulled up and he opened the trunk.
He rushed under Arden.
Arden kept the gun aimed at Jackie’s back. “Jump.”
“You’ve got to be--”
“Jump or I push you!”
“Someone, help – Aaaah!”
The rest of what he said was lost after she shoved him. His body twirled and landed in Joe’s arms. He was forced to take a knee. Jackie was too shocked to run. Joe threw him inside the trunk and slammed it shut.
Arden heard Bo banging on the door. “Yo, Jackie. You finished yet?”
Arden glanced down at Joe.
Joe gestured for her to jump.
Throwing caution to the wind, Arden leapt out the window. The wind against her was exhilarating. She landed in Joe’s arms. He oof’ed and helped get her back on solid ground. They drove away. Arden felt the adrenaline pulsing through her like speed. Her entire body shook. She didn’t even feel her bruised knuckles.
“That was reckless,” Joe remarked.
“What part?” Arden asked.
“All of it.”
Arden held her swelling hand. “He knows who killed my sister.”
Joe seemed annoyed. “What does that have to do with Scarlet?”
“Maybe nothing. Maybe everything,” Arden replied. She watched the city blur by.
They drove back to their headquarters.
Joe checked out the area before pulling in behind the condemned house. There were local drug dealers watching them from the steps of another building, but they didn’t ask any questions. It had been like that for weeks.
Arden got out and opened the back door for Joe. He popped the trunk. Jackie scrambled out, yelling. “Help!”
His cry was cut off when Joe tackled him and covered his mouth. “Scream and I’ll snap your neck.”
Arden quickly grabbed the duct tape and handed it off to Joe. He wrapped it around Jackie’s mouth and his eyes. Joe, twisting the man’s only good arm behind his back, led Jackie into the building. Arden closed the door. Joe took Jackie to one of the spare bedrooms. Arden held the man at gunpoint until his arms were taped together. After they finished, Arden pulled the tape from his mouth.
The man cursed them out.
Arden waited until he stopped before saying. “Tell me about the men who attacked my sister.”
“I only know their first names: Benny, John, and Duke.”
“Last names?”
“I don’t know, but they run a brothel on the outskirts of town.”
“Where?”
“I’ll show you,” Jackie said.
“Not happening,” Arden said firmly.
“How else are you going to know what they look like?” Jackie asked. “We don’t have to be enemies.”
Arden glared at him.
Jackie continued. “The only way to get in contact with them is to pose as a buyer. They don’t mess with no-names. I can help you in, but you’ll have to let me go after. Promise?”
Arden glanced at Joe.
He shrugged.
Arden took a breath. “Let me think on it. If you try to escape or do something stupid, I’ll dislocate your other shoulder. Understand?”
Jackie nodded.
Joe and Arden sealed him inside the dark room.
Joe held up the lantern. They made their way back into the kitchen.
“Are you sure about this, Arden?” Joe asked.
“Not at all,” Arden replied. “But it's our best chance at getting some witnesses. It could tie in with the human traffickers associated with Scarlet.”
“Or not,” Joe said.
“It's what we have to work with,” Arden barked.
Joe didn’t look pleased by her outburst.
Arden calmed herself. “Please, Joe. Stick with me on this one. I might have a way for it all to work out.”
“How?”
“We go to Macon and talk to the detectives,” Arden said.
“Kovac and Dawkins. I haven’t seen those guys in years,” Joe replied.
They hadn’t talked with the detectives since they moved to Atlanta, but they were the ones who helped Arden find Jessica a few years ago.
The next morning, Joe decided to stay back with Jackie while Arden changed her clothes and took the trip to Macon. The open road gave her time to think.
Bringing Jackie back to her home was risky, but it was all she could do. She didn’t see any other better options. This was her only chance at avenging her sister. All of her research had been lost. Yes, there was a high probability that Jackie was lying, but Arden had to risk it. She felt the craving, much like a junkie when they’ve not taken a hit in a long time. It awoke her senses.
She thought back to the talk she had with her pastor. He told her to let God and the police take care of her sister’s killers. The police were against Arden, and she wasn’t sure where she stood with God. Quite frankly, it felt good to beat on Jackie. Every punch made her feel powerful. It was like she’d finally gained some control back in her life. The high lasted for forty more minutes before regret seeped into mind. She remembered all the girls she’d helped over the years. She told them about their created value. How special they were in God’s eyes. That was why she started her crusade. It was never to punish evil. It was to save the disenfranchised.
Arden tightened her grip around the steering wheel. Tears welled in her eyes as guilt twisted in her heart like a knife. How far had she fallen? Could she ever get back up? Why? Your life is already over. Might as well have a little fun before the candle snuffs out, a voice told her. Was it her own? Was it an unseen enemy? She didn’t know anymore. Perhaps God had put her on this journey to be his hand of judgement. Perhaps she was on the road to hell with no way out.
Arden questioned if she was ever changed. Before her sister, she partied endlessly, used people, slept with countless men, back stabbed, and she threw it all away when her sister died. Was her faith just a facade she tricked herself into believing? Was it all just some illusion to give her some false sense of purpose? She must’ve imagined that peace she felt when she was born again. It was probably some product of brain chemicals brought on by a long-needed desire to have a new life. Had all those
times she thought she heard God speak been just her own consciousness? A million more questions and doubts swirled in her mind.
She blinked and realized she’d arrived in Macon, Georgia.
In the historical district, pre-Civil War relics stood alongside modern architecture. There were plenty of ghettos and a huge music scene.
Arden pulled up to a coffee shop near the Macon Police Department. It was a stop for many cops. She would have to be careful. As soon as the owner put on the “Open” sign, Arden headed inside and took a seat in the far back. She sipped from the coffee cup and waited.
A few cops showed up and grabbed a cup before heading out. None of them paid mind to Arden. Finally, Detective Dawkins entered. In his late forties, he had salted brown hair and deep lines on his jowls. A small smile lingered on his clean-shaven face. His eyes were dark, old, and droopy like a dog. He wore a cream-colored sports coat with dark brown elbow patches that didn’t fully match his checked gray and white pants. His shirt was wrinkled and there was an old mustard stain on the middle.
He ordered coffee and walked over to the concession table to get some creamers.
Arden moseyed her way over there.
“It’s been a while,” Arden said quietly.
Dawkins glanced over. His eyes went wide. “Holy--”
“Don’t cause a ruckus.”
“Right, because I don’t have the state’s number one criminal two feet away from me,” Dawkins said sarcastically. “You better talk quick.”
“I was hoping we could share a cup of coffee,” Arden said.
“There’s plenty of joe in the Precinct. Come on down,” Dawkins replied.
“It’s burnt and tastes bad,” Arden said.
Dawkins spun the creamer in his coffee with a stirring stick. “You have until I’m done mixing my sugar and then I arrest you.”
“Dawkins, it’s me you’re talking about.”
“You’re wasting time,” Dawkins replied.
Arden slipped him a flash drive.
Dawkins pocketed it. “It’s not going to give my computer a virus, is it?”
“Not likely,” Arden replied. “I need you to watch that.”
“Okay…”
“I’ve already started to dismantle a very corrupt and dangerous operation, but I need someone to have my back.” Arden said.
“Well, that’s not vague,” Dawkins said and tossed out his stirring stick.
Secrets Boxset: A Riveting Kidnapping Mystery Collection Page 28
