Diamond in the Rough

After leaving the two women, I took a roundabout way back to the station (once again my teachers would be proud of my vocabulary, and maybe a little shocked by it).

I should have checked the lot more carefully; I might have known what was about to happen. I walked in the door to the station and a desk sergeant said: “There he is!”

Two people turned to face me. Unfortunately, Vito Mercotti was a lot faster than Milt.

“Where is she, Jack?” He bellowed at me.

“I am a bit slow today and you’ll have to narrow it down for me. Which ‘she’ do you mean?”

Vito had reached my position and was about to grab my jacket when Milt laid a hand on his shoulder: “that would be assaulting an officer, pal. Use your words not your hands, okay?’

Vito glared at him for a second, then back at me. “Where is my wife? She came here to see you and then disappeared…”

I was mostly honest with my reply: “She came in, asking about the case, I took her for coffee, and we both left the cafe going in different directions. No clue where she is now.”

“She left her cell phone in the car. That’s not like her. I’m worried.”

It took more willpower than I expected to not ask exactly why he was worried - maybe he wanted to protect her, maybe he was afraid she heard something innocent and suspected the worst, or maybe he was really planning to sacrifice her. What I did say was: “the only thing she mentioned was something about that wheelchair guy, uh, Price I think, Morgan Price maybe? Maybe she was going to see him about something?”

Vito frowned at me, but then took out his phone and called a number. “Hi, Janis? Is Morgan around? No? Do you know if Carol has contacted him? Not to your knowledge? Thanks. Let me know if she does, or if he has any information about her, okay? Yeah, I think everything’s fine, but I just have not seen her in two hours and am a little worried. Yep, you too. Thanks.” And he hung up, looking frustrated.

Vito then shook off Milton’s hand and pulled out a nice, embossed card. “Take this and call me as soon as you can if she gets in touch.”

I smirked and reached in my pocket for one of my, far less impressive, cards. “Take mine and do the same, okay?” I replied and exchanged my card for his. He shrugged and slipped it into his pocket.

As he pocketed it, he said: “Look, I know you two had a history, and that there’s some weird stuff going down. Full moon and all. I really am worried so, well, keep an eye out for her and just… just let me know she’s okay?”. He seemed to be wanting to plead but too proud to do so.

“All I can say,” I informed him, “Is that something clearly had her spooked when we talked, but other than being very nervous she seemed fine when we parted. Really.”

He met my gaze for a moment, and years at the poker table must have paid off for me, while either he really was concerned or years of dealing with corporate executives paid off for him - neither of us read anything but concern in the other’s eyes. He then simply nodded at me, turned and nodded at Milt, and headed out. Seconds later I heard the distinctive roar of the Lamborghini as it left the lot outside.

“He does not know your tells, but I do, Jack,” Milt said. “Come back to my office and spill.”

Quietly, I followed him back to his desk - he did have a door, so I guess it was an office. My desk was opposite his and another pair of desks, currently empty due to budget cuts, shared the space with us. He pointed to a chair on his side of the desk, and I sat.

He opened with: “When you lie, you clench and unclench your left fist. You kept it in your pocket so even if he knew to look, Vito might not have seen it but I did. What is up.”

I hesitated a moment, then let out a dry chuckle. “Okay, you got me. Yeah, she came here claiming she overheard her husband talking with Stanley Scanlon and, apparently, Morgan Price, and it sounded to her like they were planning to do her harm. She came here looking for help and I passed her off to a friend to help hide.”

Milt eyed me levelly: “Other than me your only friends are two bartenders, a hooker, that clerk at City Hall who wants to be more than friends, and an allegedly reformed drug dealer. I will not ask which one, but you had better be sure that, if she is right, none of them have connections in politics or you just turned her over to the enemy.”

I frowned at this. I had at least two other friends but none of them would be of any use here. And then I realized exactly what he was saying and who some of the clients who frequented Kim’s place were and a cold feeling entered my gut.

Recognizing the expression on my face, Milt said: “Go ahead and call, I made the mistake of trusting the wrong person once and it cost me the second woman that I thought I was going to marry, so I do not want you to have that kind of guilt.”

You see, Kim stayed in business partly because she has dirt on almost everyone powerful in town, or at least everyone who, ah, steps out with women. I would trust her with my life, except she keeps almost nothing from her girls and them… two of them I do not trust. Not one bit.

Carol picked up on the third ring. “I hope you are calling about the extended warranty on my car, as I am in dire need,” she answered.

“Actually I was looking to sell you a life insurance policy, but can shift gears if needed," I answered.

I heard her delightful laugh and then: “that really you Jack? Are you free to talk?”

“Yeah, doll, though we will have to make it snappy. Had a big guy asking around about you just now and wanted to make sure things are okay.”

“I am glad you called. The guy outside the door seems cool but the girl who just came in and asked me all sorts of questions … Well, I was just about to call you when the phone rang and I dropped it in surprise.”

I winced. “Linda, Serena or Sapphire?” I asked, hoping it was Sapphire.

“She said her name was Serena, why?”

I cursed and said: “okay, where are you? Milt and I are coming to get you now. That location is no longer safe.”

“I did not catch the address but there are a few landmarks I can see out the grimy window,” she replied and started rattling them off as I put her on speaker for a moment. Milt and I both realized where she had to be and were on our way before I even ended the call.

The hotel she was at was one known for having clean beds and bathrooms, hourly rates, and not much else. It took us almost ten full minutes to get there and I jumped out of the car before it was fully parked, racing into the hotel and up to the third floor, where her room was, as fast as I could. Finding her room was a little too easy - it was the one with the unconscious or dead guy slumped in the hall outside and the door smashed in. The only good news was that her scream from inside the room told me she was both still there and still alive. I drew my gun and called out: “whoever’s in there, put your hands up. This is the police. We have the site surrounded and I am coming in.”

No response, except her scream this time was muffled.

I heard the elevator ding behind me, glanced back, and saw Milt get off. He saw my gun and drew his own piece.

I nodded at him and then jumped into the door frame - and almost screamed myself.

She was there, alive and literally kicking. She was also being held about a foot above the ground. Three arms were holding her, one pinning her left arm against her body, the other beneath her right arm holding her up. The third covered her mouth.

The reason why this bothered me was that all three arms, along with a fourth that was about to smash the window with a lamp, all belonged to the same, massive, ape-like body. Carol was being above the ground by this massive thing. It turned a huge head, one resembling a horrid cross between a bat and a panther, to face me, and it spoke, in a voice straight out of nightmares: “Diamond! My boss does not want any deaths today so stand down and you and the girl will both live at least a few more hours!”

From behind me I heard Milt voicing my thoughts exactly: “What the ..”