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Haunted by the Past - Chapter 11 - The Great Detective
By: RampageSports Date: February 22, 2016, 8:22 am
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Author's Note: The Spenser, Hawk, Susan Silverman and Henry
Cimoli characters belong to mystery novelist Robert B. Parker.
Mr. Parker is one of my favorite authors, and his work is a
major influence on the the way I write. Whether I even come
close to mimicking his style is open to considerable debate, but
I have chosen to use his characters in this story as something
of an homage. My goal is to handle them as lightly as possible
and to maintain them as Mr. Parker created them. Any failure on
that front is completely my own.
Oh, and yeah... Pearl has to be considered a Parker character,
too. ;)
[hr]
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 11 - The Great Detective
The two days passed without incident, and Danni and I were in my
office discussing the upcoming UMMA event when Steph stuck her
head in.
"You, uh... have visitors."
I nodded.
"Send them in," I said.
She hesitated for a moment... turning toward the lobby, then
back to me.
Finally, she shrugged and said, "Okay."
She stepped aside, and, a moment later, Spenser and Hawk
appeared.
It was not hard to see where Steph's hesitation had come from.
Just their size alone was enough to make you do a double-take.
Though my office door is built to standard dimensions, each man
seemed to have to angle his body just so to fit through.
Spenser's simple brown suit looked tidy and professional... if
maybe a little rumpled. However, he looked like a vagabond
standing next to Hawk, who was positively sublime in a lavender
three piece ensemble that I would wager cost more than my entire
wardrobe.
The two men first met as opponents, back when both boxed
professionally. Aside from that fight, I know nothing about
Hawk's pugilistic career. Spenser, on the other hand, likes to
remind people that he once fought against Joe Walcott before
Jersey Joe made it big. Of course, he tends to gloss over the
fact that he didn't fare very well in that bout. In fact, the
slightly bent and flattened shape of his nose suggests he took
too many punches on a regular basis, which probably explains why
he gave up the sport.
Gave it up as a career, anyway. He and Hawk are still regulars
at the Harbor Health Club in Boston. Both have lamented the
changes the club has gone through over the years, as it
converted from a boxer's gym to a mecca of modern fitness
activity. The owner, Henry Cimoli, defends the changes as
necessary if he wants to stay in business. After all, people
want elipticals and protein powder and machines that vibrate you
to fitness while you just stand there. Nobody's interested in
boxing, anymore.
And yet, hidden away in the back of the club, there is a room
jammed with a boxing ring, heavy bags and the like. Cimoli
keeps it as both a reminder of where he started, and a as little
sanctuary for people like Spenser and Hawk, who have been with
him for decades.
Standing in my office now, I had to admit the two of them looked
like a pair of well-dressed thugs. Appearance was all Danni had
to go on, and her stunned expression seemed appropriate to the
circumstances.
But I knew looks were very deceiving in this case.
I got up from my desk, stepped around the gaping Danni and
enveloped Spenser in a warm embrace.
"It's good to see you," I said.
"You, too," he said.
"How's Susan?" I asked.
"Resplendent, as usual."
"And Pearl?"
"Ever wondrous."
"Are you still sharing your donuts with her?"
"I shudder to think of what might happen if I stopped."
"Poor dog must weigh a hundred pounds," I said.
"She gets her exercise keeping Susan's little slice of Cambridge
bird free. Also, what are you trying to say? I'm the one who
eats the other half of the donut."
I left the question unanswered and turned to Hawk with a wide
smile on my face.
"Hawk," I said.
He reached up and removed his sunglasses.
"Mizz Richelle," he said.
"Still doing your Driving Miss Daisy impression, I see."
He didn't offer a response, nor did I expect him to.
I had once asked Spenser about Hawk's accent. I pointed out
that he seemed to have two different modes: English Literature
professor when the situation called for seriousness, and Jim
Crow slave the rest of the time. When I said the latter made
him sound like an uneducated moron, Spenser said that was the
point. When I said I didn't understand, Spenser said that was
also the point.
At that point, I gave up.
As far as I know, there are two people on Earth who can hug
Hawk. One of them is Spenser's long-time girlfriend, Susan
Silverman. The other one is me.
No doubt there are others. After all, I'm sure there have been
women in Hawk's life of a more romantic persuasion. But, I
still felt like a member of a very exclusive club.
I took advantage of that membership and threw my arms around
him.
"Thanks for coming."
"'Course," he said.
With the affectionate but brief exchange concluded, the glasses
went back on and he took up a position against the side wall of
my office. Instead of leaning over on his shoulder, he turned
his body and put his back flat against the wall. This allowed
him to face in one direction to participate in the conversation,
while also being able to turn the opposite way and watch the
door.
You don't survive in Hawk's line of work by letting people sneak
up behind you.
On the way back to my chair, I put a hand under Danni's chin and
gently pushed her mouth closed.
Keeping my eyes on her, I said, "Gentlemen, this is Danneel
Harris, RSI's team leader and a good friend of mine."
She shot a quick glance my way as I slid aside. Then, she set
her smile in place and stepped forward to shake Spenser's hand.
"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Harris," he said, "I've heard a
lot about you."
"I assure you that none of it is true," she replied, "and
please, call me Danni."
She seemed to know better than to approach Hawk, but she turned
his way and they exchanged nods before she came back around to
my side of the desk.
"Have a seat," I said to the men, gesturing toward my guest
chairs.
Spenser nodded and sat. Hawk remained exactly where he was.
"You know, I think it unlikely that a gunfight is going to break
out in the Rampage Sports lobby," I said to him.
"If I thought like that, me still bein' alive be sorta
unlikely."
I nodded.
"Point taken."
"'Sides, ol' King not known for his rational behavior," Hawk
continued. "Sorta changes the odds, a little."
I sighed in tacit agreement as the mere mention of Powers
dragged the room to the real purpose of the visit. I brought my
attention back to Spenser.
"Where do we start?" I asked.
"At the beginning," he answered.
Then, he turned to Danni. Not just his head. He turned his
whole body so that he faced her directly, creating the
impression he was focused on nothing but her and would not miss
a detail of the conversation they were about to have.
I knew from experience that he could be hanging out the window
upside down... he still wouldn't miss anything. Neither would
Hawk.
"Miss Harris," he said, "would you mind running through the
events of the day you were approached?"
"Not if you keep calling me Miss Harris," she answered.
That brought a smile to both my face and Spenser's. I even
thought I saw the corners of Hawk's mouth twitch.
Apparently, Danni was over the initial shock that had
accompanied our guests' arrival.
"Okay," Spenser said. "Danni, could you run through what
happened that day?"
"I was sitting here when Richelle was on the phone with you.
What she told you was accurate."
"I understand, but I'd like to go through it again, with you. I
also may have some questions as we go through it."
She hesitated, obviously unsure of whether she wanted to
continue. After all, she had known Spenser for less than five
minutes, and he was asking her for details about a very
sensitive matter. What happened that day was bad enough, but it
was certainly going to lead back to what happened all those
years ago with her agent come lover come assh*le-extortionist.
"You can trust them, Danni," I said.
She turned to me and our eyes met. For a long moment, it was as
if it were only she and I in the room, conversing without words.
Danni's not afraid of much, but I could see the fear on her
face. I looked straight back at her, willing her to see that
she had nothing to worry about. In what can only be viewed as a
case of poor judgment, she trusts me. It's a terrible decision
really, but I've made it my mission to live up to that trust.
My look was not only intended to show that she could trust
Spenser and Hawk, but also to remind her that she was not alone.
After a moment, I nodded solemnly. She hesitated briefly. Then
she nodded back, turned to Spenser and told her story. She left
nothing out, including the details about her former agent. For
the most part, Spenser simply let her talk, interrupting only
briefly to ask a question or two.
"I know how hard that was," he said when she finished. "Thank
you."
She nodded appreciatively, then took a half-step back.
"So," I began, "what now?"
"Well," Spenser said, "first of all, if Miss Harris..."
Danni cleared her throat loudly, and I knew her well enough to
be able to describe the expression on her face without even
looking.
"Danni," Spenser corrected. "If Danni would like, I could add a
visit to her former agent to my list of things to do."
Danni hesitated in giving her response, and it wasn't hard to
understand why. That part of her life was long buried, and she
had no desire to revisit it. On the other hand, it had now come
back to visit her, anyway. An in-person discussion with Spenser
and Hawk would likely convince Mr. Smalls not to let that happen
again.
"Why don't we table that for now?" I offered. "We could always
decide on it, later."
Danni nodded, happy to be able to put the decision off. Once
she had the chance to know Spenser and Hawk better, I was sure
she'd be in favor of the idea.
"What about the more pressing matter?" I asked Spenser.
"Well, I think it highly likely Danni's involvement in this was
simply meant as a message for you," he said, turning to include
Hawk in the conversation.
Hawk's head dipped slightly, which I took for an affirmative
nod.
"How can you be sure?" Danni asked.
"No plan," Hawk said.
Danni held on him for a moment, but Hawk didn't seem to have
anything more to add. She shifted her attention to Spenser in a
quest for elaboration.
"There is no way to be sure," he explained, "but, from what
you've told us, having you throw fights was probably not a
serious strategy."
She looked more puzzled than relieved.
"The man who contacted you gave you no details," Spenser
continued. "You don't really know what you're supposed to do,
or when. More importantly, you don't know how you're supposed
to find out."
The men waited while Danni and I chewed on that thought.
"You don't think maybe Powers just didn't think the whole thing
through?" I asked.
Hawk decided to field that one.
"Ol' King don't know much, but he real good at two things," he
said. "Makin' book and pullin' scams. Would'a had the whole
thing buttoned up tight."
I was elated at the idea that Danni wasn't truly a part of
whatever Powers was up to, but she was far from convinced.
"Seems like a lot of trouble to go to," she said. "Getting the
video just to use me as bait."
"We don't know if he actually has the video," Spenser said.
"They know about it, at least. That took some effort."
Spenser never took his eyes from Danni as he considered that.
"That's a fair point," he admitted, "but it still doesn't seem
right."
"Feels more like he tryin' to drive her away," Hawk said.
Spenser shrugged.
"It's a theory," he said.
I'm not sure anyone noticed when my fist clenched involuntarily.
"So, then what the hell is going on?" I asked, irritated that
Danni might not be free of this, after all.
Spenser looked at his watch.
"We've been here thirty minutes," he said. "Did you expect we
would have the whole thing resolved in under an hour?"
I sighed.
"Yeah, okay. So, what do we do next?"
"You don't do anything," he said. "I assume you both spend most
of your day here?"
We both nodded.
"Hawk will be here with you," he said. "He will endeavor to be
as inconspicuous as possible."
Danni and I looked at Hawk, then turned to each other with a
shared expression that said yeah right.
"What about after work?" Danni asked.
"That will be a little trickier," Spenser said. "With two of us
and two of you, coverage will become an issue."
"I have a friend with the State Police," I said. "I could call
him and see what he can do."
Danni looked at me, and the wry smile on her face told me she
smelled a story.
"I knew him growing up," I said. "He coached a couple of my
brothers in baseball."
Poor Danni looked so disappointed, it almost seemed unfair.
Though what I'd said was completely true, I'm sure she would
have been more interested in all the stuff I'd left out.
"Will he help?" Spenser said.
"I'm sure some arrangement can be made," I said.
Truth is, if I wasn't careful about what I shared, I was going
to end up with an entire barracks worth of state troopers parked
on my street.
My neighbors would be pissed. We don't have that kind of
parking availability.
"I would prefer..." Spenser began.
"I'll be fine, Spenser," I said, giving him a no-nonsense look.
I wanted Hawk and Spenser watching over Danni. No other
solution would be acceptable.
Spenser read the look appropriately and nodded his agreement.
"What will you be doing while the rest of us are here?" Danni
asked him.
"I shall go forth," he said, "and detect."
"Detect?" Danni said.
"Wait till he say ah-ha," Hawk said. "Ol' Spensah be just like
Hercule Poirot when he do that."
The six foot man with the street-wise accent and the sunglasses
had just referenced Hercule Poirot. Danni didn't know what to
do with herself, after that.
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Stephanie_100x120.jpg
Name: Stephanie McMahon
Nickname(s): Steph
Background: RSI's fighter development coordinator, former SCQ
super heavyweight champion
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