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Haunted by the Past - Chapter 33 - That Other Matter
By: RampageSports Date: April 17, 2016, 8:25 pm
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Author's Note: The Spenser, Hawk, Susan Silverman, Vinnie Morris
and Ives 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.
This time around, I listed some character references for
Spenser. I didn't list them by name, but Parker fans surely
know who they are, as they too come from the vast collection of
interesting characters in Parker's Spenser universe.
[hr]
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 33 - That Other Matter
We sat in silence, watching as police streamed in from every
direction and gathered at the house. Among the first on the
scene were Gavin and Vince. They didn't notice us — partly
because they were preoccupied, and partly because they didn't
know to look.
They had no idea we were there.
Once the first wave arrived, something resembling a plan came
together. All they knew was that gunshots had been reported, so
they carefully surrounded the house and assessed the situation.
Once they were comfortable, they swarmed in with their weapons
out.
I worried a little about someone getting hurt in the unnecessary
chaos, but Pat's instructions had been clear: just let things
play out and speak to no one until he was there.
Before long, the frenetic action dissolved into a collection of
confused cops milling around the house. No one seemed to have
any idea what they'd stumbled upon.
As a high ranking member of the command structure, Pat would not
normally be part of the initial response to an incident. So, it
was not unnatural when he arrived long after the scene had been
secured.
When I saw him, I got out and stood on the sidewalk. His eyes
found me quickly and I gave a little nod, confirming that we
were all well.
He then proceeded to take control of the situation as if I
weren't there, but a few of the officers had noticed the
exchange. Among them were Vince and Gavin, and they came
straight over when they realized who I was.
"What are you doing here?" Vince asked.
"I was just in the neighborhood."
Surprisingly, neither looked like they believed me.
"You just happen to be parked outside the house where King
Powers has been holing up?"
"Is this where he's been?" I said. "What a strange
coincidence."
By now, Danni and Spenser had joined me on the sidewalk. Seeing
Spenser brought the pieces together for the two officers.
"You did this?" Gavin asked me.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.
A crooked smile appeared on his face.
"Is that your official statement?"
"Am I being formally questioned?"
"No."
"Then I have no official statement," I said, keeping my
expression neutral. "Meanwhile, you two should probably get
back to work before your commanding officer notices."
He added a squint to the smile — as if he thought he could
somehow see the truth in my head.
"You're a pretty good liar," he said.
"I appreciate the flattery."
Vince looked at Gavin and jerked his head back toward the house,
indicating they should head back.
"You guys planning to visit Meghan tonight?" I asked as they
started to walk away.
"Probably," Gavin said.
"Maybe I'll see you there," I said.
"You going to tell us the real story of what happened on the
bridge?" Vince asked.
I shrugged.
"Among other things," I said. "Just make sure you're not in
uniform."
They shared another look as my implication set in.
"We can leave the badges home," Gavin said.
"See you then," I said.
They returned to the fray, and we got back in the car.
It was nearly an hour later when Pat approached. Danni opened
her window, and he bent down and looked in at us.
"That's quite a mess you left in there," he said.
"We weren't exactly received with pleasure and hospitality," I
responded.
"I'll bet," he said with a nod.
He lazily rolled his head left and directed his next question to
Spenser in the back seat.
"Where are your friends?"
"Who?" Spenser asked.
"Ah, I see," Pat said. "Did they shoot anybody?"
"There was a lot of shooting going on," Spenser said. "Hard to
say who shot who."
"Perfect," Pat said. "Just perfect."
"What now?" Danni asked him.
"Now, we put on our show," he said.
The show involved a few hours of question and answer at NJSP
Headquarters, which was conveniently located right here in
Trenton.
Our story was structured the way all the best bullsh*t stories
are. Simple and heavily steeped in the truth. The tale began
with my emotional state over what had happened on the bridge.
That had led to stupidly confronting Powers in an effort to put
a stop to this. Everything went predictably sideways, and
that's when the guns came out and the bodies started hitting the
floor. The fact that we were not among the carnage was simply
luck.
Not only was the story too incredible to believe, but it also
left a lot of questions unanswered. Like why some of the
bullets in those bodies had been fired from guns that were never
found. But Pat was confident he could convince those doing the
looking not to look too closely. The key to making that work
was to consistently and frequently remind whoever was asking
that this whole incident was precipitated by the shooting of
Detective Meghan Taylor.
In other words, we needed to make sure we stayed inside the blue
wall that had formed around Meghan.
The plan worked like a charm for Danni and I, while Spenser
found things a bit more complicated. By nature, cops are not
big fans of private detectives, and the distrust grows when said
detective isn't a local. However, being able to list a
Massachusetts State Police Captain, as well as both a sergeant
and a lieutenant from the Boston Police Department's Homicide
Unit among your references goes a long way. Also, it didn't
hurt that Spenser had not only put a bullet in the man who shot
Meghan, but also the man who'd sent him to do it.
The goodwill generated by the Meghan angle combined with the
early morning start to get us out on the street in time for an
early dinner.
Snow was forecast again for the overnight, and the overcast
skies that always precede a storm had already taken hold. For a
moment, I stood in the grayness and absently watched the cars
speed by on the Turnpike.
Above all else, the events of the day had left me bewildered.
After weeks of grinding through each day with Powers and Danni
and everything that went with that occupying my every thought, I
suddenly had nothing to worry about.
"What do we do now?" Danni said, voicing my thoughts perfectly.
"You go back to your lives," Spenser said.
"I guess I could remember how to do that," I said.
"It'll nice not to be in fear for my life all the time," Danni
said.
I nodded agreeably.
"True enough," I said. "Also nice not to be on lockdown,
anymore."
"I suppose," she said.
"Hawk and Vinnie gone?" I asked Spenser.
"Hawk is around," Spenser said. "Vinnie had business back
home."
Translation: someone back in Boston was willing to pay Vinnie a
lot of money to do something I didn't want to know anything
about.
"You and the Hawkster up for a celebratory meal before you
depart?" I asked.
"The Hawkster?"
I shrugged.
"I'm feeling a little punchy," I said. "What with the stress
and the adrenaline and all."
"Uh, huh," he said. "Well, we could eat. Shall I refer to him
as the Hawkster when I extend your offer?"
"That seems unwise."
"Indeed."
We had all had enough of Trenton to last several lifetimes, so
we made our way back to the vicinity of RSI and ate in a small
Italian restaurant I knew of in Eatontown. As with all such
places, its size had an inverse relationship with its
popularity, but the early hour saved us from waiting.
One of the waitresses there is the chatty type. Not unfriendly
— in fact, she's popular with many of the regulars, including
Danni and I — but she's an acquired taste, for sure. Never at a
loss for words. Calls everyone darling. Just the type that
would seem destined to rub Hawk the wrong way. As luck would
have it, she was there and made a beeline for us as soon as we
walked in.
As it turned out, she and Hawk spent a good portion of the meal
engaged in a pleasant and in-depth conversation regarding wine
and food combinations - a topic on which Hawk was so proficient,
you'd think he owned his own vineyard.
Honestly. I don't know anything about anything.
As the meal wound down, I asked what was next for each of them.
"Well, we still have that other matter to attend to," Spenser
said.
"Oh?"
"I believe I promised Danni we would deal with her former
agent."
"You're gonna fly to California?" Danni asked. "Just to take
care of Dickie?"
Spenser shook his head.
"Mr. Smalls no longer works in the film industry," he said.
"That's not a surprise," Danni said. "What's he doing now?"
"He still considers himself to be an agent, but he mostly finds
talent for advertising companies."
"So, he's a hack," Danni said, "which is really what he was all
along."
"Actually," Spenser said, "it would appear he hasn't had any
clients in years."
"So, he's not even a hack," she said.
"So it would seem."
"That doesn't change anything," she said. "He's not worth the
price of the flight."
"No flying is needed," Spenser said. "Mr. Smalls lives here,
now."
"Here?" I asked.
"Jersey City, to be precise."
"No sh*t?" I said as the little light bulb came on in my head.
"Do you have an address?"
"I do," he said.
"Care to pass it along?"
He looked a little stunned as he caught a glimpse of my
intentions.
Danni caught on too and she froze with her fork in mid-air and a
mouth full of penne vodka.
"For what reason?" Spenser asked.
"Well, I think you and Hawk have done enough," I said.
"Besides, I'm sure Danni would love to see Dickie again after
all these years. Right?"
She nodded as she quickly choked down the penne.
"Hell, yes," she said excitedly.
A bemused grin overcame Spenser as he turned to Hawk.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"Ah think," Hawk drawled, "ah's happy ah's not Dickie, right
now."
The moment inspired yet another quote from Spenser.
"'I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the
lapels,'" he began.
"'Life's a b*tch. You've got to go out and kick ass,'" I said,
finishing the line from Maya Angelou.
"I don't know where that's from," Danni said, "but I like it. I
like it, alot."
Spenser's grin broadened as his gaze shifted back and forth
between Danni and I. Then, he shook his head.
"Poor Dickie," he lamented.
I paid for the meal at the wait station — because I didn't feel
like arguing with Spenser over the bill — and we made our way
outside. Hugs and thank-yous were exchanged all around, and I
once again had the opportunity to marvel at how easily Danni had
gotten inside Hawk's tiny envelope of trust. Then, we all got
into our respective cars.
"You never paid him," Danni said as we watched the men drive
away.
"Spenser would never have taken the money," I said.
"So, that's it? After the big speech you gave him?"
I gave her a toothy smile.
"I mailed him a check this morning," I said.
"You're kind of a sneaky b*tch," she grinned.
"Why, thank you, my dear."
"What if he doesn't cash it?"
I shrugged.
"Then I'll be visiting Boston a lot sooner than I'd planned," I
said.
"I'm sure the thought terrifies him."
"Kiss my ass."
The conversation hit a brief lull, and I couldn't resist the
chance to take a playful run at her.
"It's a shame Hawk had to go," I said. "You guys were really
getting close."
"Oh, not this again."
"Hey, Hawk is not known for letting people get close to him, but
you had no trouble getting in there."
"I admit he's an interesting person," she said. "He gives off
this air of trust. Like you can absolutely count on him to do
what he says. It's very reassuring."
"Provided he's on your side," I said.
"That's a given," she said. "Anyway, I'm as surprised as you
are about how well we got along, but there's nothing else going
on."
"You sure?" I teased. "You guys spent an awful lot of time
engaged in private conversation."
"He's easy to talk to," she shrugged. "And he listens. He even
had some thoughtful insights."
"Oh, really? On what subject, pray tell?"
She rolled here eyes at my suspicious tone.
"I may have mentioned to him that there was... someone."
"Someone?"
"You know," she said. "Someone."
I wrinkled my nose in confusion for a moment before I caught on.
"Hey, wait a second. Why don't I know about this someone? And
how could you talk to Hawk about it, but not me?"
"Let's just say I had my reasons."
To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I thought Danni and
I were close enough that a topic like some guy she had her eye
on would have come up naturally.
"Well, who is it?" I asked.
She gave me a sheepish grin and an ominous silence. Like she
felt bad about keeping this secret from me, but she was going to
do it, anyway.
I started up the Subaru and slid it into gear.
"You're annoying me, now," I said.
"I know," she said. "I'm sorry. It's just not something I'm
ready for you to know."
"Well... why?"
She shook her head.
"You're just gonna have to trust me."
"Well, can you at least tell me what insight Hawk provided?"
"He said I should make my feelings known. That I'll never find
out anything if I don't take a shot at it. He said I would feel
better, no matter how it turns out."
"Hmph," I sniffed. "That's actually not bad."
Great. Replaced by Hawk, the love doctor.
"What's holding you back?" I asked.
"Circumstances," she said, adding more mystery to the already
mysterious.
"Alrighty," I said, not hiding my aggravation. "I've had my
fill of this conversation."
"Look, I'm sorry..."
"Forget it," I said. "I mean it. I'll probably yell at you
some other time, but I'm in no mood to get in a fight with you
now."
She was quiet — unsure of just how angry I was. For my part, I
offered her no help in figuring it out.
"Okay," she said finally.
With that, I set it aside. Too much was going right on this
day. I wasn't going to let something this insignificant ruin
it.
"Shall we go visit your ex?" I asked as I pushed the Subaru up
the ramp to the Turnpike.
"Hell, yes," she said again.
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/x7gm9w22n/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/9av3z511b/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/kmg56h1fj/ORourke_100x120.jpg
Name: Patrick O'Rourke
Nickname(s):
Background: Major with the New Jersey State Police, family
friend of Richelle's
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/bwegrvukf/Meghan_Taylor_100x120.jpg
Name: Meghan Taylor
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Detective, works for Major
O'Rourke
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/e0pn1hhfj/Gavin_Brown_100x120.jpg
Name: Gavin Brown
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Trooper, works for Major
O'Rourke
HTML http://s19.postimg.org/zdkkf918f/Vince_Jordan_100x120.jpg
Name: Vince Jordan
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Trooper, works for Major
O'Rourke
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