12: Crime SuspenStory

OUR STORY SO FAR:  The night of the McCarthy Paints Christmas Party has come and the Vice Squad is sending in their snitch equipped with a purse that is also a video camera.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Vaughn, the clean up man from out of town, has completed his mission and is headed off on a plane, but not before being called upon for one more job.

Based on true events.
Leo didn’t understand people who disliked Christmas. It was a moment to stay indoors, relax, reflect on the accomplishments of the year. People seemed to act with more respect, weren’t so quick to raise their voices. The rest of the year was for haggling and negotiating, all that other bullshit, Christmas was when you let it slow down and took a break from it all.
He walked over to the bar by the piano looking for the Vodka but Carolyn had already had her way with it. All that was left was the brandy and the whisky, the whisky would have to do. She was out of the house still, doing what? Shopping? Whatever it was, it involved spending a large amount of Leo’s money.
“In the corner boss?”  Bobby asked and Leo turned from the bar to the young man in the hall gripping the top end of a vertical fourteen foot pine tree.
“Not in here Bobby, in the den,” Leo said.
“The den?”
Good kid, capable. Not that sharp though.
“The den, one room over. Come on now.”
Leo pointed and Bobby backed out, nodding his head towards Vlad who was laboring with the pine tree’s trunk.
“Just throw it up boys, I got to get over to the Duck,” Leo called out, and went back to the whisky.
It was an easy day, all he had was the meeting with the cowboy and his runt side kick, then he would get ready for the party. He was thinking of possibly calling the new girl at Nip, Candy or Mandy or something. Gorgeous, with skin like porcelain, a body that made your heart ache. He hadn’t had a chance to see her since he got back and he was thinking she could meet him late, after the party, get the room at the Palomar.
He sipped his drink as Charlie floated across the white carpet towards him.
“That girls here,” Charlie said.
“Girl? What, the cleaner?”
“The young one. I don’t know how she found the house but she got a cab to bring her up.”
Leo put his glass down. By young one Charlie meant Judy, but what-?
“What the hell you talking about?”
“She’s at the door. I tried to tell her to get but she says she ain't going nowhere till she has a word with you.”
He went out through the hallway to see for himself and sure enough there she was, standing in her red bubble coat in front of the window by the door.
“Darl’n?” he said. She looked at him with the smile that he had admired until he didn’t anymore.
“Hi Leo, I hope I didn’t -”
“What are doing here darl’n?”
He looked through the big window, scanning the driveway for his wife’s car.
“I got’a talk to you Leo. I’ve been trying to get around to seeing you in person. I didn’t want to just call-”
“So you came to the house? You can’t be coming up here sweetheart. This isn’t acceptable. If you want to talk to me then you find me at the club or you make an appointment with Charlie or something. You don’t come up here.”
Leo used every fiber of himself to stay in control, not lose it right then and there.
“I would have. I tried to find you to talk but I couldn’t. I wouldn't have come all the way up here if it wasn’t important.”
He knew he had made a mistake. She was too young, nothing but a hick, probably a junkie. He knew some of the girls were on meth, and pills, all kinds of shit; as long as they didn’t let it affect business it was overlooked. But this, the girl showing up like this; this one had been a mistake.
He nodded at her, taking a breath before he said: “Alright, what was so important?”
The girl was looking at him with those blue eyes, she was damn pretty, pain or not.
“I’m pregnant,” she said and Leo nodded.
“So you need a little money? Something to help out while you take the time off?”
The girl was staring at him, he could see her bottom lip trembling.
“It’s yours Leo. That’s what I mean.”
He kept his face still. He didn’t think she had it in her to pull this.
“What are you talking about darl’n?”
“You're the only one I’ve been with. And I’ve thought a lot about it Leo: I understand you have your life, that this ain't maybe what you expected. But I think it’s a blessing. I think it means something to us, that we should at least try to make it work. I’m not going to push it on you but I want you to be a part of the baby’s life. You know what I mean? It’s not something we should worry about or be burdened by, it’s just what happens from love sometimes.”
Leo watched it all come out of her, the nonsense, the babble, all disjointed.
“Love?” he said.
She was looking back at him and he could tell she believed it. At first he thought it was a con but it was much worse.
“I remember how you said you sometimes wished you’d had kids of your own, how you thought you might have missed out. I didn’t mean for this to happen but it did, like it was meant to be.”
“Now listen sweetheart, I don’t think-”
He stopped short. She waited for him to finish and he could see the fear and the hope in her eyes, genuine. He had to be careful.
“I can’t believe this,” he said and forced himself to smile.
She threw her arms around his neck, held him close.
“I’m so happy,” she whispered in his ear and Leo was sick.
“You gotta get going, darl’n. I want to see you but I have to think about how to, how to move forward with the whole thing.”
“I know. I was shocked too,” she said.
“Right, I’m shocked,” Leo told her.

“When can I see you?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you what, we can meet and really talk, in a few hours or so. You come and meet me at the paint store, you know where that is right?”
She nodded quickly, oblivious, a stupid kid.
“Good, you meet me there at five, before the party. And we’ll talk about how we do this whole thing, okay? You gotta go now though.”
Her smile dried up when he mentioned the party but she leaned forward and desperately kissed him on the cheek. She stopped short before walking out the door.

“There’s something else,” she said.

“We can talk about it later.”

He touched her lightly on the back, helping her through the the door.

Charlie crept up the hall and watched Judy get into her cab.

“You got a problem?” he said.
“Get the guy from out of town on the phone, I need to talk to him,” Leo replied and headed towards the den to see if Bobby and Vlad had finished with the tree.

****

Claudia let the phone drop from her ear, she wasn’t leaving another message. Judy had always tested their patience, making them wait, always late, but this was way beyond that. She glanced over at the three other detectives sitting in the vice office, absorbed in their own cases. She dialed Dan.
“Yeah?”
“Any sign of her?”
“Nothing,” Dan muttered.
“Maybe you should go in?”
“I am in. I found the super and showed him my badge. I’m sitting on her couch right now.”
Claudia wasn’t going to let the panic in the pit of her stomach take over, she forced it back.
“I don’t care if she shows up or not, that little brat is going to jail,” Dan said.
“When you find her you need to be calm. This isn’t the time to put more pressure on her.”
“Pressure? That’s the problem, we let her get away with murder all the God damned time. She just has to go in there with that fucking purse. What’s the pressure?”
Claudia hung up. Judy had never been an easy read, always dull and unfocused, but this felt different, like betrayal. The thing that made Claudia grit her teeth and want to smash her cell phone against the wall was that they had been so foolish. She herself had been foolish. Hanging their last chance at intel on a naive girl, one that whined and dragged her feet through the whole process.

Claudia shuddered from the thought that she might have almost expected this, or something like it. She pushed the anger away and there was already an alternative forming in her mind. Instead of trying Judy again she grabbed her car keys off her desk and headed for the office door.

****

Judy walked the six blocks from the coffee shop to McCarthy Paints with the horribly feeling that the police were going to jump out at any second. She kept her eye on the street, looking for a flash of red from Claudia’s Honda. She had no idea what the dick cop drove and that made her stay close to buildings and shop doors, rushing by busy intersections

She was pretty sure if they had surveillance on her they would have appeared. She had spent the past few hours in the coffee shop, watching the door, realizing she hadn’t really thought it out, she hadn’t packed or prepared. The day of the party had crept up and that morning she realized that she had no choice but to make a full break.

She knew she was doing what was best for the baby by going to Leo. They were in it together now. When she first got out of the cab at his house she had been choked with doubt but that had gone away when she had taken him in her arms and held him. Protecting her baby meant protecting the baby’s father and now that he knew they could deal with the future together, including dealing with the police.

She reached McCarthy Paints and it was closed up, the doors locked, no lights visible through the windows. She made her way along the building to the cyclone fence where the gate was open to the back parking lot. There were a few trucks parked, along with a green Cadillac that looked familiar.
“How you doing there?”
Judy swung around and found a man standing near the dumpster smoking a cigarette, watching her. It took her a moment to realize it was the man she had spotted at Paradise Isle over a week ago, the man the police had wanted her to identify.
“I’m looking for Leo,” she said.
The man gave her a strange grin, dropped the cigarette on the cement.
“You must be Judy. Leo wanted us to bring you over to him. He got delayed I guess.”
The man shrugged and Judy turned when she heard the door of the Cadillac open behind her. Oscar Rayne stepped out, looked at her, then nodded at the other man before reaching back inside and popping the trunk.
“We just got to take a quick ride to meet Leo,” the man said. “He had a meeting but he should be done soon.”
He walked passed her towards the car, then stopped short.
“Let me see your phone,” he said.
“My phone?”

The grin flashed again before he reached out and snatched it from her. She tried to speak but his hand was over her mouth and the man was forcing her towards the car with her left arm pulled back behind her, the right reaching out, wild. She could feel his breath on her neck and ear, she could taste his cologne on her tongue, then she was in the trunk. He slammed it closed and Judy’s world went dark.

*****

The girl’s apartment was small and tacky, it was all pinks and cheap shitty furniture with clothes strewn about on the floor and in chairs like the bedroom of a teenager. Dan sat on the little Ikea couch and thought about calling his wife. He had been there for over three hours, his irritation building upon itself, exhausting him. He had almost nodded off a few times and had to go to the sink to splash water across his face and along the back of his neck.

Whe he found Judy he would put her right in the cuffs and drive her to Santa Rita himself. The little idiot had never taken him seriously, barely looking at him when he spoke. Claudia didn’t help when she was constantly contradicting him and speaking over him, taking the girl’s side. This McCarthy investigation was going down the drain like the others before it. He had thought right at the beginning that trying to take it on was a mistake when they got the green light, but Claudia had insisted. She had made him a believer. Maybe things would have turned out differently if someone had listened to him for a change.

Claudia was calling again and he picked up, hoping she hadn’t found the girl before he did.
“Meet me and Alex at the garage,” she said.
“You found her?” Dan asked.
“No, I’m sick of waiting. We’re going to Plan B.”
“What the hell is Plan B?”
Dan could hear a rustling and the line crackled as Claudia put her phone down and picked it up again. He repeated his question.
“I’m not totally sure yet but I have an idea,” she said.
An idea, oh boy. Dan got the same feeling of dread he had when she had called during the pursuit of Rollins, when she had put herself in danger on a hunch and a long shot. When his partner wasn’t being reckless she was being cold and standoffish.
“Are you there?” she said.
“Yeah, I mean-”
“Do you want to see this thing through still or what?”

He could hear the hard tone now, becoming hostile.

“Yes, Jesus.”
“Then here’s what I need you to do. Instead of coming to the garage I want you to go and find Rollins and bring him to where we posted the van last night.”

“Rollins? For what?”

“Just do it. I’ll explain when you get there.”

“But the party’s in a few hours.”

“Exactly. Hurry up.”

She hung up and Dan stood in Judy’s apartment. Once this whole mess was over he was asking for a transfer from vice, this shit was for the birds.

****

Vaughn was surprised, the girl didn’t scream or yell or make much noise at all.  They crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and got off the freeway and then he perked his ears, listening for a whimper at least. He was somewhat disappointed by the silence, especially out there where no one could hear her.

The kid flipped the headlights on as they drove up to the Marin headlands, like they had discussed at the paint store. Vaughn looked out passed the kid, the bridge and the City all laid out along the water, a real nice sight with the sun almost down, the sky closing in dark purple. He turned on the radio and lit a cigarette. Elvis was singing gospel, the chorus building up in volume as they reached the top of the ridge. Perfect music for a funeral, Vaughn thought.

They unloaded her and she finally made some noise, asking: “Where are we going, I don’t-” before Vaughn slapped her and told her to keep her mouth shut. Tears were streaming down her face and she was whimpering when they entered the cement tunnel that lead to the headlands. There was still some light, early enough for some dumb shit tourist or ranger to be lurking about. Vaughn pulled the tape he grabbed from the paint store and put a strip over the girl’s mouth while Oscar held her hands behind her.

They came out the other side of the tunnel and the sun was gone, the last of it’s light lingering on the horizon. The salt of the ocean was strong in the air. Vaughn pulled his gun and pushed the girl along with the barrel of the silencer, Oscar walked along the perimeter. They could see the girl’s shoulders shaking. She was very young, it made Vaughn wonder what she had done, what she knew. Not that he cared, a job was a job.

The ocean was vast beyond the cliff and before they reached the ledge Vaughn put his hand on the girl’s shoulder and pushed her to the ground. She crumpled easily, still shaking, as a light rain began to fall down upon  them. Vaughn snapped a round into the chamber and remembered that it rained when the Croat went too. It was funny, like a ceremony, like the world knew that someone’s time had come and marked the occasion with water.

He aimed the gun at the girl’s head and then remembered he still had two suits at the cleaners in Glendale. He needed to pick those up right when he got back or the Koreans were going to charge a fee. He was thinking about the Koreans and his clean suits when the bullet from Oscar’s gun drilled through the back of his head came out his eye.