August 16, 2010

  • One Size Cures All, Chapter 3

     

    Chapter Three

     

    "I waited bareback until a custodian pried the clamp off the thleeve."

    Ernie snickered.  He had watched the whole tape less than an hour ago. "You sound better already. Madame's soup must be a miracle cure."

    "Clothe." Jack picked up the pad and pen, and wrote, "Still hurts. Hadlock thinks I lied about Mrs. Liussa?"

    Ernie didn't answer right away. He picked up his glass, then Jack's, took them to the desk where Old Grand-Dad sat. One more drink should make the traffic tolerable.  He brought the drinks back to the table by the window. "I mentioned to the dim-bulb that maybe being shot in the face had altered her features. I think he understood the implications, that the lady you saw for thirty seconds in formal wear might have looked different on your doorstep, with being in a nightie and the facial deconstruction and all."

    "Doesn't explain why she sought my help. I did give her my name, but not that I was a PI."

    Ernie finished his drink. He stood up, went to grab his coat from the wall hangar. He stopped, looked at his old Lakin-Merky, still serviceable, but aging. It was what, a fifth wedding anniversary present? And Horace was in college now.

    "Jack, you think I'd look good in a duster?"

    "Might make your ass look big." 

    "Asshole. No, I was talking to two tall guys wearing something like dusters, some Australian shepherd thing.  I like the way it hung off the shoulders; you could carry a howitzer under the damn thing, and still look stylish. Oh well, try talking style to Mr. Thrift Store here." He pulled on his coat.  "You coming over Saturday for ribs? Mouth oughtta be healed enough by then."

    "Maybe. Always deviled eggs."

    Ernie laughed. "Right, partner. See you tomorrow." He threw down a folder on the desk. "Some info in there. Might be pertinent."

    Jack locked the door behind him. He stopped at the desk long enough to cap the bottle, and headed upstairs. 

    Funny thing, hearing about dusters twice in one day.

    Jack's sleep was fitful. His tongue felt like an egg about to hatch, some scaly thing clawing its way out of the shell and into his mouth. His neck hurt. His shoulders felt like they were being gripped by meathooks, pulling him upright in bed.

    "Mr. Moonlight, we need to talk."

    Jack could see the wall clock over Anthony 'Tony the Louse' Liussa's shoulder. Two-fifteen, a good time to die.

    "Jack, I know you neither screwed nor killed my wife, rest her soul."

    Jack found part of his voice. Thorry for your loth Mr. Liutha."

    "Don't talk, Moonlight. Use that pad, if I tell you."

    Jack nodded, and the local crime impresario continued.

    "Write, Jack. Write why my wife's name and yours are linked to this murder-suicide thing at the Civic Center?"

    The meathook on his left handed Jack a pen. He wrote: "I bought her a drink." Turned the page so Liussa could read it.

    "Where? When?" The mobster's face darkened.

    Jack took back the pad, and wrote quickly about the Yoo-hoo incident. "I love the drink, but it is hard to find. I went crazy when I saw it in the machine. Took two armloads out to car. Mrs. Liussa had no change. I gave her one, is all I meant."

    Liussa read the explanation."Nix was crazy, you know that?"

    Jack did. Ernie had told him last night that Nix had battled schizophrenia most of his adult life, that he did better work when he was off his meds. Nix had not filled his psychotropic drug scrips in a year and a half. After the shooting, there had been a clampdown on information by Nano-Bionics, who insisted that their security chief fire Jack as soon as he was freed from the drink machine.

    "You met my wife in the hall. she said she was there for a fashion show?" Jack wrote yes, that was what he understood.

    Liussa read his reply. He studied Jack for a while. Jack studied Liussa's big diamond ring and his 'look at me, ma! I'm a gangster' pin-striped suit and pink shirt. Finally The Louse spoke. "My fair lady was screwing the professor. She left the house that morning at eight. The friggin' show was at four o'clock." She'd been a wreck since Nix shot himself, and I got that maid to tell me why."

    Liussa paced Jack's bedroom, looked at his framed license and diploma from the Police Academy. He turned back to Jack. "I can't do business until the feds get off my case and outta town."

    Jack started to write. Liussa made a motion to the meathook on the right, who tapped Jack's shoulder with a sap. He yelped.

    "I said no writing unless I say write." Liussa was cool, even-voiced. Jack bet that was the wife-beating tone he was hearing. He imagined Liussa calmly telling Angie that she had brought this on herself as he pulled his heavy belt free of the loops in his pinstriped pants.

    "Find out who killed my wife, Jack. Find out before they get arrested, and are safe from me." He motioned for left meathook to pass over a cell phone. Tony punched up the phone's number, turned it so Jack could read it. "Memorize this. Call when you know something."

    Liussa threw a roll of bills on the bed. "An advance. Earn it." Right Meathook walked over to the door and opened it for the departing Don. A minute later, Jack heard several car doors slam shut. Two minutes later, and two thousand dollars richer, he was snoring.

    Two shadows peeled away from the wall of the convenience store as Liussa's Caddy rolled down the street. The longer shadow opened the trunk on an '87 Caprice. There was a rustle as shotguns were stuffed into sawed-off rifle cases. There was a clatter as handguns were dropped into a bag, a clink as knives were added to the mix. The reloaders made a satisfyingly solid thump. The Airsoft™ stun grenades made no sound as Felix laid them atop the bag full of armaments.

    "Who was assigned to watch The Louse?" Oscar asked

    "Erik, the East German. The one who let Liussa' wife slip him. He had our number."

    "He coulda called." The tall men had been caught unawares when three men with guns ran up to Jack's door as a black Cadillac stopped abreast of the office. Liussa's presence wasn't mollifying, as he was reputed to at least have been on scene for several recent murders and maimings. Some bosses like to visit the factory floor, think it helps keep them grounded.

    "Well, let's go kill the dumb son a bitch." Oscar got into the driver's seat. He waited until Felix had his seat belt fastened before driving off.

    "Oscar, you have a deep-seated belief, possibly ingrained at the cellular level, if not encoded in your very DNA, in the efficacy of assassination to solve any and all problems."

    "And you love that about me."

    "It's what makes you... You." Felix screwed a silencer on a Walther PPK as he talked.  "Me, I'm just in the mood."

     

    The phone woke Jack just after nine. As he reached to answer the call, his shoulder gave him a painful reminder of Tony's etiquette lesson.

    "You okay up there?" Ernie's voice, talking low.

    "More or lesth, got sthome good sleep." Then he caught on. "The door wath jimmied, wasn't it?"

    There was a click as Ernie hung up. "Yeah!" Ernie shouted up the stairs. "I'm making coffee. Get dressed."

    "I'm taking a shower first. Bring me a cup, we can chat through the curtains." His tongue had shrunk to about half again normal size, and Jack could form the occasional 'S' without tearing up.

    Over coffee, downstairs, as Ernie did not take up Jack's offer,  Jack told Ernie about Tony Liussa's visit. He left out Tony's hiring of him for the time being.

    Ernie wasn't buying it. "Tony came here to tell you he knew you and Angie weren't bumping uglies. Did he talk about his feelings, too?"

    "He wanted to know why our names got linked, I told him about the video."

    "Ah yes, the video." Ernie told Jack then how he had gone by the precinct first. Nano-Bionics filmed the presentation, caught the shooting on tape. Something went wrong with the sound, but a lip-reader was transcribing what she could. "I'd like to know what is going on over there. Nano-Bionics has some jerk-off security-types hanging around. Close-mouthed bastards, a guy named Krentz is the chief obfuscator."

    Jack sipped the coffee carefully; his tongue was sore enough. "Were they watching me?"

    "Probably. You get a vibe?"

    "Junie, next door. The maid? She saw two tall guys walk up to Angie after the shooting." He looked at Ernie, who was looking at him. "They wore dusters, or something like them."

    "Australian drover's coats, oilskin."

    "Gotta be the thame guysth." Jack's tongue swelling back up from too much talking. He picked up the pad. "That tall, and you got a description. Should be easy to find."

    Ernie shook his head. "Weirdest thing. I can't picture their faces. Dark eyes, I think. Bland features.

    "Perfect killers except for the height thing."

    "Stand out in any crowd not shooting hoops." Ernie agreed. "Oh yeah, got a break on the Liussa murder. The van was found out at the quarry, a spent shell on the floor. They wiped it down, but we got some prints anyway."

    Jack waited a beat. When Ernie didn't continue, Jack spoke aloud. "What did they find?"

    Ernie was somber; Jack hated Somber Ernie; he always had bad news.

    "Ever heard of Los Stremos, Jack?"

    "Guatemalan gang, making inroads."

    "Worse than the El Salvadorans, Colombians, Russians, all of 'em combined. They got to be, to scare the competition."

    "They wanna war with Liussa?"

    "Initiates have to kill to be made. And to make it worse, it has to be a civilian, not connected."

    Jack connected the dots. "So Angie's murderer has to do another, is my guess."

    "Assuming these creeps can read, they know who they shot. Might be laying low, but these guys could just as easily advertise what they did, for the street cred."

    "What are they into?"

    "The usual. They own the corners in McTavish Heights." Ernie grabbed his hat, placed it on his head.

    "Got more coffee."

    "Too fresh for me. I'll come back this evening. Keep it hot." They settled on nine or so that evening. Jack promised bad coffee and good whiskey.

    After Detective Hall left, Jack put on a jacket. His coat was still at the tailor's, getting the rip in the sleeve repaired. He stepped onto the street and made his way towards the corner where the working girls fought over the occasional, pre-lunch hour customer.

    He knew one by name. Luckily, Sharla was there. "Girl, you lookin' fine!"

    "Bullshit!" Sharla tugged at her garter, getting the seam straight. Jack remembered last year, when she first showed up. Back then she wore fishnet stockings; but dark hose covered up the bruises and tracks better.  "What happened to your face?"

    "Fell head over heelsth for a girl." Then he pulled out the pad and wrote, "I need to ask you a couple of questions. Pay for your time."

    "You know the price." Sharla said. Jack took her arm and walked her away from the other girls.

    In the shadows of the alley, Jack pulled a hundred out of Tony's roll. "What do you know about the Stremos?"

    She folded the hundred, dropped in her sweater. "Too much. Too damn much."

    Jack waited for her to go on. "They are on the move, Jack. soon we will all be working for them."

    "They come around here?"

    "Not so much, yet. They kill a civilian in every neighborhood that they plan on muscling in..." Sharla was not a dumb hooker. "The woman on your doorstep, Jack, she..."

    "Stremos. Sure of it. Can you help?"

    Sharla thought for a minute. "Willie Cucuta. He steals cars for them. I heard he wanted in. Could be your shooter."

    "You're worth your weight in gold, Hon."

    "Pay it don't say it." She looked back at the corner. "I gotta go, Jack. That bitch Delilah will take my spot if I don't."

    Jack walked back to his office, sat at his desk. He dialed the number Liussa had made him memorize. The phone rang twice, then Jack heard breathing on the other end.

    "Tell Mr Liussa I have the information he requested. The breathing stopped, replaced by a dial-tone. Jack picked up the folder that Ernie had left. He opened it. A report on the Nix affair at Duncan Auditorium was on top. Jack leafed through it until the phone rang. It was Tony himself.

    "You're line's clear. We swept your place this morning. Now talk." Jack looked at the next file in the folder as he told tony about the Stremos and their initiation follies.

    "McTavish, huh? Used to be white, now it's all brown and black." Jack was looking at a police report concerning a domestic disturbance charge three years ago. 'wife, A. Liussa, suffered ligament damage in both arms, head contusion, multiple bruises, bleeding from eyebrow cut. refused hospital. Husband treated for skinned knuckles.'

    "Well, it's gonna be red by daylight." There was a picture of Angie, from a different incident. Jack almost missed what Tony the Louse was saying. "...his name again?"

    Cucuta, Willie. And Mr. Liuthsa, he knowsth who he killed. My informant said his chest puffed out when he found out who he had chosen. He hoped you would take it persthonal, and come heavy."

    "Your voice sounds better. We're even." It wasn't a question, and sucked as a goodbye. Made what Jack had in mind even easier to do. He put the phone down, and picked up his hat and keys.

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    Go to Chapter Four