Part One: Crime SuspenStory

Based on true events.
He sat up straighter in his chair and focused on the arrival entrance again, clearing his mind of stupid trivial thoughts that were beyond him anyway. Like always, he was at work, and when he was at work it was best not to think beyond the matter at hand. He watched an old couple come out of the baggage exit, looking around dazed, then he watched a young private in military garb stride out in his boots and look at the poster of Mayor Gavin Newsom on the wall that read: Welcome to San Francisco. The private sneered and moved on, preparing himself for civilian life.
A man came out of the baggage exit next and Oscar knew it was the man he was waiting for. It wasn’t just that the man was similar to how Pat had described he would look: tall, dark haired, in a grey suit; it was the way he carried himself. There was a pace to the man’s walk that was different from all the other people in the airport. It was exact, with a lightness and a purpose in the stride.
The man was pulling one carry on bag and wore dark glasses. He didn’t remove the glasses when Oscar stood up to approach him.
“Vaughn?” Oscar asked.
The man nodded. Oscar turned around and led the way to the escalator and down to the exit. The wind pulled at them as they made their way through the parking lot to the dark green Cadillac parked in E Section. The man didn’t walk with Oscar, he walked a few feet behind him, and Oscar didn’t like it.
“You have a good flight?” Oscar asked.
He turned his head and looked at the man who stared back through the glasses, not saying a word. They got to the car and Oscar unlocked it, expecting the man to get into the passenger seat next to him. Instead the man threw his bag into the back seat and sat down alone on the leather. Oscar started the car, maneuvered it through the lanes to the exit, then accelerated on to Highway 101.
They had been silent for almost five minutes on the freeway before he looked up into the rear view, catching a glance of the dark glasses again.
“Where you coming from?” Oscar asked.
The man didn’t answer; the head and the glasses turning slightly into the window, looking out at the barren field beyond the freeway and the dark green bay beyond that.
“I said where you from again?”
Oscar watched as the glasses finally turned from the window, looking directly into the rear view.
“Just drive,” Vaughn said.
Oscar felt his neck and scalp heat up. The first words that had come from the backseat sounded less like a request, more like an order.
“Drive where?” he asked.
“The titty club?”
“Which one?”
“The one Leo owns.”
Oscar moved his glance from the rear view and out at the neighboring cars, trying to hide his irritation.
“Leo owns three,” he said.
Vaughn turned his head back towards the passing bay.
“You know which one,” the man said with decreasing effort. “Where the drop is right now.”
Oscar nodded and concentrated on the road, determined to be silent for the remainder of the ride.

Dana and Bianca were dancing together now. Pat watched them do the dance with little interest and the six or seven men that sat around the stage bathed in red light watched with very little interest as well. Dana and Bianca themselves seemed the least interested, weaving around the pole, grinding their bodies together like they were half asleep. Pat turned around in his stool, away from the stage, catching Shari’s eye as she made her way along the bar.
“Double whisky,” he said to her. She tightened here eyes at him and puckered her thick red lips with displeasure.
“Leo’s on vacation. Don’t give me any shit huh?”
He held his hands in the air in protest and she grudgingly turned around and reached for the bottle on the shelf. Pat took another look at the door but nothing had changed. Bill still stood there yawning, watching Dana and Bianca, thinking about something else. Shari brought Pat the drink, he sipped it, checking his watch again. 4:12, the guy should have been there by now.
Someone came through the door and Pat looked up again only to be disappointed to find Marvin Rollins limping across the carpet towards him.
“Pat, why I gotta come all the way over here to make a drop? The Duck’s four blocks from my place,” Rollins said. He laid an envelope on the bar.
Pat sipped his drink, letting the man wait for an answer. He couldn’t stand Rollins. He hated the man’s ratty hair cut, a leftover from some period before nineteen eighty six, the man’s ugly cheap shitty clothing, the man’s smell, God damn, the smell. Everything about Marvin Rollins bothered Pat. Unfortunately Rollins had worked for Leo for over fifteen years and that meant he had to be tolerated.
“None of your fucking business,” Pat finally said.
He swiped the envelope off the bar, shoving into the inside pocket of his jacket. Rollins stood there, still waiting for an answer. Pat sipped his drink, the smell from Rollin’s skin and clothes wafting over to his bar stool, up into his nose. He turned back towards Rollins, ready to reprimand the shit heal again, but Rollins simply scowled and made his way back towards the door before Pat could open his mouth.
As soon as Rollins was out the door another man came in. Pat only needed a glance to know it wasn’t a customer. The man was wearing a gray suit, an expensive one, and had his hair slicked back cleanly, with dark glasses hiding his eyes. Pat waited for the man to approach him but the man stood at the end of the bar. He seemed to be looking passed Pat, towards the office. Pat threw the rest of his drink back and walked over to the man.
“I’m Patrick,” Pat said, extending his hand out to the man.
“You have a package for me,” the man said.
Pat let his hand drop. He watched the man’s face for a smile or nod or greeting of some kind. Nothing came but a cold silence. Pat turned around and strode to the office, leaving Vaughn at the bar.
He unlocked the door and found Dick still sprawled out on the couch inside, watching a soccer match with the same sneer he always had.
“The guy show up?” Dick asked in his slurred Irish mutter, not looking away from the screen.
“Yeah,” Pat replied. He crouched down in front of the safe in the corner.
“What is he like then eh? Big guy?”
“Not really.”
“He must be a tough bugger no?”
“How should I know? He’s just standing there.”
Dick’s head finally twisted around, a perfectly round head, scarred on the right temple and red all over.
“You gonna mouth off to me then eh?”
Pat didn’t answer. He pulled the taped up cardboard box from the top shelf of the safe and traded it for the envelope Rollins had dropped off. He could feel Dick staring into his back. He refused to take the bait and get in an argument. Working with someone like Dick was a series of ongoing and pointless confrontations. Like Rollins, Dick had worked for Leo for a long time and there was no point in allowing it to get to him. The key to Pat’s job was to go along with the program and not care too much. That’s why the drinking helped.
Dick finally quit waiting for Pat to respond, turning his round head back towards the soccer match.
“Aw fuck it. What do I care then? They want to go out of town with it then what the fuck do I care?” he said and went silent.
Pat walked back into the club, down the bar to Vaughn. The man still had the glasses on even though it was dark in the club. Pat didn’t like not being able to see the man’s eyes.
“There you go,” Pat said and handed the box over.
Vaughn held it for a moment, weighing it in his hands, before turning around and walking passed Bill to the street outside. Pat watched the door swing closed behind him, hoping he would never have to see the silent asshole again. He didn’t like him. The man had rushed off without a thank you or a God damned word. Then again, who could blame him? It was depressing being in a place like that in the middle of the afternoon.
Pat snapped his finger at Shari, gesturing for a refill of his whisky glass.

The green Cadillac sat parked on the side of the street and Oscar watched the traffic go by from the driver’s seat. There were tourists wandering through the wind, trying to find those sights in San Francisco that they had seen on postcards and in movies. Young couples laughed together, hand in hand as they Christmas shopped. Oscar had never Christmas shopped for anyone. He had received a couple of presents from a few of his different foster families but he couldn’t remember what any of them had been. The last Christmas present he could remember was a five thousand dollar bonus Leo had handed over the year before, a present that was meant to say he was appreciated and that he had a place in the crew. The bonus had meant he was moving up.
He looked over at the entrance to Paradise Isle, looking for Vaughn to reappear, but there was still no sign. The doors sat closed with the posters of the girls on either side staring out at the streets, the looks on their faces dull but seductive. Vaughn hadn’t said he should wait, Oscar just knew that he was meant to. He had pointed out the club when they pulled up and Vaughn had simply got out of the backseat, making his way across the street without saying a word.
As Oscar watched the entrance one of the girls came out with her bag swung over her shoulder, making her way down the sidewalk, slowly, dressed in one of the sweat suits that the dancers always wore when they were done grinding on men and having money shoved in there panties. Oscar recognized her, he was pretty sure she had been working at Catnip, at least for the last six months or so. He wondered why she would be dancing at this place, and at that time of day? Paradise Isle was a shit hole, many levels below Catnip. He tried to remember the girl’s name: Jackie, or Janie, or something like that. She was a cute girl, very young.
He shifted in his seat and closed his eyes, thinking he may have reached the perfect opportunity for a nap. He was settled in when the back door opened and Vaughn was in the leather seat again with a package under his arm. The dark glasses looked up into the rear view.
“Get going,” he said.
“Where to?”
“Just drive. Go around the block.”
Oscar pulled the Cadillac out and could hear the ripping of tape and cardboard in the back seat. He looked into the rear view, catching Vaughn flip open a cell phone and concentrating on it through his glasses as he waited for it to turn on. They were around the block now. As they came along side Paradise Isle again Oscar spotted Pat walking out of the front door, lighting a cigarette. He was tempted to hit the horn at his friend but knew better.
“Yeah,” Vaughn said into the phone from the back seat “Uh huh. Where’s that? Okay. Do you know who? I understand that, just give me a couple right now. Yeah. Where does he stay? Does your guy know? Okay. Good. I’ll be in touch.
Oscar heard the phone flip closed. There was silence as they continued to circle the block.
“Do you know where Javier Mejia lives?” Vaughn finally asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Take me there.”
“That’s over in Daly City.”
Oscar waited for a response but Vaughn had gone silent.. He turned on Geary and steered the Cadillac back in the direction of the freeway.

Claudia sat looking at the different photos on the wall, trying to ignore Dan shifting in his seat in irritation. She was also impatient, and annoyed, and relatively pissed off, but she could at least control herself. Meanwhile Dan kept sighing and looking at the time on his phone, glancing back at the bar entrance. What good did it do? All it did was annoy her, drive her crazy.
Sometimes, scratch that, many times she wished she was alone on a case, that there was no need to drag along a partner that just made thing’s more difficult. She usually calmed down and those thoughts burned away. She knew it could be a hell of a lot worse and when it came down to it, Dan was a good cop. Claudia wasn’t completely sure what his reasons or ambitions were but he was competent. She was also aware that without a partner like Dan, a member of the boy’s club, they would probably not have been given the approval or independence to work the case like they were. It almost balanced out.
She sensed Dan stop his shifting and she looked up to see Judy finally making her way through the door to Skippy’s, slowly, wandering around the bar towards their table. The girl was dressed in a sweat suit, it made her look even younger than she actually was. She reached their table and flopped her bag down next to her chair, sitting down once she had made a quick sweep of the people around them.
“What the hell Judy? When we say four o’clock we mean four o’clock. Do you understand? Not four forty five or any of this shit.”
Dan muttered the words at her through his irritation.
“I don’t think I like this place,” Judy said.
“You chose it,” Claudia replied. “We let you choose. You said you would feel safer here then coming to our office again. We felt you had earned that right. Now, let’s get to work.”
The waitress came over before Claudia could continue and asked if any of the three wanted anything.
“No. Nothing here,” Dan told her quickly.
“I’ll have a jack and coke,” Judy said.
The waitress smiled at her and waddled off. Dan leaned in towards Judy.
“I think it’s time we reviewed a few things,” he said “You are here, out and about, having a drink in a bar because of us. You get that? It is not our job to sit around waiting for you. It’s your job to get here on time or things are going to be a lot different.”
“This is my last day of drinking for a while. I’m taking a break after this,” Judy said.
She sat silently, her face a blank. There may have been some sadness or anger in there somewhere but Claudia couldn’t make it out. The girl sitting next to her looked very different from the girl she had first met four months ago in Interview Room C. The girl that night had been scared, confused, ready to do whatever it took. This girl today was numb, a blank slab who didn’t seem to care about much at all. It worried Claudia.
The waitress brought Judy’s drink over and Claudia hit the button on the recording device that sat snug in her hand.
“We’re not paying for that,” Dan said, nodding towards Judy’s drink.
Judy looked back at him, still blank, sucking coke and rum through her straw. Claudia tried again to get things started.
“Alright, we need to talk about the Christmas party. It looks like we’re going to be setting up a surveillance unit for that night so it’s very important that you are in the group of girls that go in because-
Judy let the straw drop from her mouth and interrupted her.
“A new guy came in today,” she said.
Claudia let her interrupt, swallowing her irritation.
“A new guy? Someone you’ve never seen before?”
“Yeah, he came by and picked something up from Leo’s nephew.”
“What?” Dan asked.
“I don’t know. It just looked like a box or something.”
“Was Leo there?” Claudia asked her.
“Leo’s out of town. He went some where suddenly and I don’t know where.”
The blank look finally broke. Claudia saw an odd change go through Judy’s eyes as she absently pulled the straw back into her mouth, sucking at it.
“How long has Leo been gone?” Claudia asked.
“A few days.”
“And this new guy? You sure you have never seen him before?”
“Never.”
There were only a few people in the bar. The waitress came back to their table trying to earn her tip.
“One more of these please,” Judy said.
“We’re going to have you look at the pictures again and see if you can recognize this guy,” Claudia said.
“I’ve seen the pictures like five times,” Judy whined.
“It wasn’t a question,” Dan told her. “We don’t make requests. When Detective Dela Cruz or myself tells you something that you’re going to do it’s not a question. You’re going to do it. And if you don’t want to do it we can very easily haul you down to Santa Rita and you can spend a few nights there where you’re going to end up looking at pictures whether you like it or not. Your choice. In a nice warm office or in a freezing ass cell where you can-“
The waitress had come back. Dan stopped himself short as the woman laid another rum and coke in front of Judy.
“How’s everything else Judy? Anything we should know about,” Claudia asked her.
Judy rolled her eyes.
“I’m pretty much broke. Now that you got me working at this place I can’t make no where near tips I had at Catnip.”
“It was necessary. Paradise Isle is a base of operation for these guys.”
“What do I care if I can’t eat?” Judy asked.
“That takes me back to what I was saying,” Dan growled at her. “I think you’ve taken your eye off the ball a little bit. I think you’ve lost sight of the fact that we have done you a huge fucking favor. Nobody gets caught with that much meth and that much cash, still walking around like a normal person. You get what I’m saying? Me and Detective Dela Cruz are doing you a huge favor by giving you this opportunity. An opportunity. Do you know what that is Judy?”
Judy sucked her straw, staring down into the table. Dan’s face went red and he sat up straighter in his chair.
“You’re coming down to the office tonight and you’re looking at pictures. That’s the end of it. Or we can just throw you in the car right now and drive you over to Santa Rita. Your choice.”
He was laying it on thick. Claudia tried to balance it out, making her tone tender.
“Are you working tonight?” she asked.
“They don’t give me no night shifts. It’s like I’m starting at the bottom again,” Judy replied, glass eyed.
“Did you tell them the school story?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you do it? Why not enroll? You’re quitting drinking; turn over a whole new leaf.”
Claudia could feel Dan tense up. He could go to hell. His bully approach was going no where. “I got to get going,” Judy said.
She sucked up the last of her rum and coke and tossed her hair back.
“You’re not driving right?” Claudia asked.
“I’ll catch a cab.”
She stood up from the table, avoiding both of their eyes as she pulled money from her purse.
“We’ll see you at midnight on the dot. You got it? Our office at midnight,” Dan told her.
She picked up her gym bag and headed towards the door, not looking back at him or acknowledging what he had said.

To be continued.....