Chapter Three
The blond held her hand out to me, and I wanted to believe her, but you can’t trust anyone in my business – especially not those who seem to be telling the truth.
“No way, sister,” I told her, and I can tell you turning her down wasn’t easy. “You’ve got me in enough trouble.”
I turned to get Jimmy, but he was already there. I walked over to him.
“You packing?” I asked him. He nodded. “We’re taking her.”
I turned back to the blond – this time with my gun out. I walked right up to her, leveling the big barrel at her. She was cool, I’ll give her that. Crossed her arms over her little black dress and just glared at me.
“We’re going to find where Marky Malone’s got my daughter,” I said, “And then we’re gonna find your man Scotia, and tell him the deal is off. I’m not killing Malone or anyone else – unless they touch my Sarah.”
“You men, always so tough when you’ve got a gun,” was all the blond said.
I grabbed her by the arm and escorted her out to the pink Previa Jimmy had stolen, half expecting her cavalry to jump us.
Nothing.
As Jimmy drove us out of the self-storage lot and into Bayers Lake, the blond spoke again.
“Maybe I can find out where Sarah is,” she said.
I turned to look at her, gun resting in my lap.
“How?”
She was thinking fast. “Scotia. He knows things. He knows everything. Maybe he knows where your girl is.”
I thought about this. Nothing to lose, I reasoned.
“So call him.”
She pulled the tiniest phone I’d ever seen out from her cleavage. I looked the other way. She
flipped it open and dialed.
“Morning honey,” she said in that voice that made me shiver. “You know that woman, Sarah Stiller? Yeah, the cop. Where is she?’ She let her man speak. “I know, sweetie … but you can tell me. Maybe I want to visit her.” She paused, then whispered something I thought would melt the phone. Jaysus, what a woman. “Thanks, honey. I’ll see you tonight,” she said, and flipped the phone shut. It disappeared into her chest.
She gave Jimmy an address in Clayton Park West. I was impressed.
We drove deep into Clayton Park West as the sun rose up over the trees, heating up the day.
She crossed her legs, staring out the window, restless.
We got a little lost.
“You know where we’re going, Jimmy?”
He repeated the address.
“You know where that is?” I asked.
“No, boss.”
I sighed, pinching my nose. Some driver.
The blond set him straight, and led us deep into Clayton Park West, down an unfinished road to a street with only one house yet on it. We stopped a ways down the street, out of sight.
“This is the place,” she said.
“You sure?” I asked. It seemed too quiet. Maybe she was leading us into an ambush.
I pointed my gun at her again. “You really sure?”
She glared at me.
“She’s in there. I’m staying here,” she said.
“Fine with me,” I said, checking my gun.
“You got a full clip?” I asked Jimmy.
“Yes, boss.”
“Right. We go in hard, find Sarah, and get the hell out of there,” I said.
I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself, fingering my gun, getting psyched up for the
attack. Ready. One, two …
Someone knocked on the van window and I just about shot myself in the groin.
Big, stupid looking fella, full of muscles and no brains. Coulda been Jimmy’s brother. I got a grip on myself, hid the gun.
The blond gasped.
I told Jimmy to roll down the window, thinking up a story about us looking to buy a house in the area. Yeah, me, my midnight girl and Jimmy the brainless wonder, shacking up.
But the stupid fella spoke first.
“Alisa! What’re you doing here? Come to see the boss?’ he asked her, then smiled politely at me and Jimmy.
“These friends of yours?” he asked.
The blond stammered.
The stupid fella carried on.
“Mr Malone’s not here. He’ll be sad he missed you, ms, looking the way you do, if you don’t mind
me saying so,” he said, winking at me and Jimmy.
“Thank you, Bob. Yes, these are my friends. So Marky isn’t here?” she said, recovering herself.
“No ms, the boss is sleeping in the palace, Do Not Disturb. Just me and George here,” he said, then dropped his voice to a whisper: “And the woman, of course.”
The blond nodded at this.
“That’s who we’ve come for,” she said. “Malone wants to move her.”
“In that?” asked Bob, eyeing up our pink Previa.
“Yeah – who’d guess this is a gangster’s car?” she laughed.
“You and Mr Malone are always so smart,” he marveled.
“So can I see her?” she asked.
“Sure thing, come this way.”
With that, the blond stepped out of the car, motioning for us to stay put. I sat there, trying to make sense of any of it.
Two minutes later, she was back.
With Sarah.
“Hey Dad,” Sarah said, hoping in the back of the van like I was picking her up for dinner.
I stared at her. She and the blond buckled up, smiling at each other like they were old friends.
Sarah gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Alisa?” I said to the blond.
“Just get us out of here, and I’ll explain everything to you,” she said, looking nervously at the house. Bob and George were standing out front now. I realized I’d seen shifty George before – standing on a tall ship pointing a long gun at me a couple of hours ago.
I pulled my hat down low.
“Let’s go, Jimmy,” I said.
“Where to, boss?”
“I don’t know. Just drive.”
As he got back out on the highway, the blond – Alisa - explained things.
“I’m Malone’s woman,” she confessed, like I hadn’t worked that out already. “We’ve been
together a few years. He used to be crazy about me. Now, he’s just crazy.”
She and Sarah shared a little laugh.
“He’s a bad man, Malone,” Alisa said, serious again. “I guess I’ve always known that, but lately, he’s been ruthless. This challenge from Scotia, he’s going mad about it. This has been his city for so long, he can’t stand the thought of losing it. And to some Dartmouth chump he’s never even seen,” she said, taking a breath. “So he’s gone mad. And I’ve along gone with him. Right till he kidnapped Sarah. When he found out Scotia had hired this assassin to kill him, he lost it. He swore he’d get revenge – especially on you, Stiller. He’s always admired you, thought you were cool. Then, you went to work for Scotia.”
“But Malone stopped paying me! What am I supposed to do, get a job at McDonald’s?” I asked.
She ignored me.
“Malone had promised me no innocent person would get hurt. He told me to pretend to hire you, offer you a stupid amount of money. It was some last test of your loyalty.”
“But I didn’t know who I was helping the assassin kill,” I pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. He said you two had a soul bond, going back to when you were kids.”
“Soul bond? Me and Marky?” I’d always thought he hated me.
Alisa nodded. “I don’t care about any of that. You crooks do whatever you want to each other. But then, standing on the waterfront this morning, I find out he’s kidnapped Sarah.”
The pair of them exchanged a look.
“You two know each other?” I asked.
Sarah nodded.
“Alisa and I went to school together,” Sarah explained. “We went our separate ways after university-”
“Yeah, you became a cop and she became a gangster’s woman,” I interrupted.
Sarah ignored me: “And every now and then, she calls me up with a tip when something bad’s about to go down.”
“And you…?” I asked, but Sarah just looked uncomfortable and went quiet.
Alisa went on with her story: “So when I heard Malone had taken Sarah, I knew it was over between us. And I knew you wouldn’t trust me at all if you knew I was with Malone. So I made up that I was Scotia’s woman.”
“But you don’t even know him,” I said.
She shook her head. “Who does? He may have an ego bigger than Citadel Hill, but he keeps his face private. But he’s going to show all at the Buskerfest – he’s planning a big parade of him and his men, right along the waterfront, to show everyone this is his city now. Malone is planning to take them out.”
“How?” asked Sarah, back into cop mode.
Alisa hesitated, but then went on: “Malone is going to lead his best men right down to the waterfront and pull off a Valentine’s Day-style massacre. That’s what he told me. Shoot dead Scotia and all his lieutenants, right where everyone will see it. Then, he figures, the city’s his forever.”
“We’ve got to stop them,” said Sarah.
“Why?” Alisa and I said together, then looked at each other. I let her finish the thought.
“We don’t have the death penalty anymore, so why not just let the scum sort each other out?” she asked.
“Because scum have bad aim. Think about it, Al. Buskerfest. The place will be full of innocent people just out enjoying the shows. And then these fools start shooting each other up – people will get hurt.”
“So?” I said, but no one was listening to me anymore.
Alisa furrowed her brow, then said: “You’re right. Let’s stop them. Let’s start with Scotia. Maybe we can talk him out of this.”
“Are you crazy?” I said. “What, just pop round for tea and ask him if he doesn’t mind not taking over the city just now?”
But like I said, no one was listening to me.
“Do you know where we can find Scotia?” Alisa asked Jimmy, who was concentrating real hard on driving.
“Yes, ms, I know his area.”
“Well, take us there,” she said, sitting back.
Jimmy took us over the bridge and into Dartmouth.
Went past Scotia Court, down toward Fall River, and then turned into a tony driveway. Jimmy looked a little confused.
“Scotia Court’s back that way,” I helped.
“Sure boss, it’s just, I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Jimmy said, getting upset.
I sighed, pinched my nose.
“And you think maybe this person knows where Dartmouth’s number one hoodlum is,” I said, pointing to the swanky middle-class house in front of us.
“Maybe,” he said, sounding a little hurt.
The garage door started up.
“Well, why don’t you ask him,” I said, forgetting you need a brain to get sarcasm. “Don’t be mean,” Sarah said, putting her hand on my shoulder.
Jimmy lurched the van inside the garage, saying, “Whoops!”
“Reverse is the one that goes backwards,” I said, as nicely as I could.
The garage door came down behind us.
It got dark.
Jimmy turned the van’s cabin light on.
Turned to us with a brand-new face.
“Allow me to properly introduce myself, Mr Stiller,” he said to me, smiling a smile I didn’t like at all. “My name is Scotia.”
First published in the Sunday Daily News July 29 2007