Murder Corporation Read online

  The waitress came over and we ordered. I got a strawberry lemonade and watched as she made it at the counter with real strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and ice.

  “I hope this doesn’t change things,” she said. “The fact that I’m suing your department.”

  “No, it doesn’t. We get sued all the time. That’s why we have our own in-house lawyers. I’m sure they’ll settle and that’ll be that.”

  “I don’t want to settle, Tommy. That’s the point. I want to find out what this unit is doing and why Remy had to die. Are there other people out there that this psychopath has killed for no reason? Do you even know who he is?”

  I folded my arms on the table. “I’m not sure what I know anymore. I don’t think Ty is a psychopath, though. Do you mind if we talk about something else?”

  Just then a tray fell somewhere in the kitchen and dishes broke. I jumped out of the booth and withdrew my gun, holding it low, my finger on the trigger. I heard a gasp from across the table. I looked down and saw the gun in my hand, noticing it as if for the first time. People around us were watching me as well. I replaced it in the holster and sat down.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  There was silence between us a few moments and then she said, “Why don’t we talk about the war?”

  CHAPTER 17

  I went back to the farm and the three guys were in the poker room again. It was filled with cigar smoke and the stench of beer and I knew they had been up all night playing. They looked at me and we stared at each other a moment before Dax kicked out the fourth chair.

  I sat down and they continued talking and joking.

  Trevor said, “So we get to her house and it’s kinda big, right. It looks like somethin’ a family would live in, not some single chick you meet at the bar. So we get inside and I listen to her bullshit about her family or somethin’, somethin’ about her pastor molestin’ her and all this shit. I mean we’re sittin’ on the couch drinkin’ and she’s cryin’ and openin’ up to me like I’m her shrink. So I’m noddin’ and starin’ at the walls and shit, and then out of nowhere, she grabs my dick. Just fuckin’ grabs it, man.

  “She pushes me back on the couch and just goes to town suckin’ it, and I’m just drinkin’ my drink and enjoyin’ it, right. Then she gets up, strips down, and says that she wants me to fuck her in the ass. So we get some lube and get up to her bedroom. And I’m into it, right. I’m not really noticin’ what’s goin’ on around me but there’s this second where I stop to lube-up my cock and I just happen to glance over to a dresser and I see pictures pinned to her mirror. And they’re like pictures of guys playin’ football and basketball, right. Young guys.”

  “Oh, shit,” Dax says, a large smile on his face as he deals the cards, “I think I see what’s comin’.”

  Trevor continues. “And so I’m tryin’ to get it into her ass but I can’t get my eyes off the fuckin’ guys in the mirror. So her bed’s right next to the window and the blinds are down, they’re like open a little bit, but they’re down enough so I can’t really see anythin’. So I grab the little cord and pull the blinds up and the moonlight comes in and I can see the whole fucking room. There’s little hearts on her dresser, fuckin’ notebooks and pens and shit. And then on top of one of the notebooks is an ID and I can make out her picture and across the top it says, ‘Silverado High School.’”

  “Oh, fuck me,” Dax says, laughing.

  Caleb had a smirk on his face as he laid down a straight and began collecting the chips.

  “So what’d you do?” I said. “You didn’t finish, did you?”

  “Fuck yes I finished. I was downstairs makin’ a sandwich when her parents got home so I got the fuck outta there.”

  “How many you want, Baby Boy?” Dax said.

  I looked at my cards: two tens, a six, a queen, and a two.

  “I’ll have three.”

  I got another ten and took out my wallet. I put a twenty into the pot and Dax checked and Caleb raised. I put in another twenty and Dax raised twenty this time. I matched and Caleb did the same.

  Trevor folded and leaned back in his chair, nibbling on some chips. I looked to Dax. He had a semi-grin on his face and was trying to appear as calm as possible. But his eyes told me he was nervous. I looked to Caleb and he was stone cold. There was no read on him either way.

  I only had another twenty and a ten in my wallet so I put them in and said, “All in.”

  “Ah, fuck,” Dax said, “I fold.”

  Caleb was eyeing me now. His gaze held mine a long time and then he took out a hundred dollar bill and said, “I raise.”

  “That’s it for me,” I said. “I don’t have any more cash.”

  “I’ll cover you,” Dax said.

  “Okay, I call.”

  Caleb put his cards down. Two pair, sevens and threes. I put down my three of a kind.

  “Oh shit!” Dax shouted, slapping his hands. “Baby Boy with the win. You couldn’t fuckin’ read him, C.”

  “Shut the fuck up and deal the cards, man,” Caleb said.

  We played a few more hands and I was up two hundred and fifty dollars when Dax got a call and had to go. I took my chips and cash and redistributed them to everybody.

  “What the hell you doin’, man?” Caleb said.

  “I’m not keeping your money.”

  “You won it. Keep it. Don’t insult us. We’re men, we can take a loss.”

  Trevor said, “So I heard you was in the Army?”

  “I was.”

  “Afghanistan or Iraq?”

  “Iraq.”

  “No shit? What was that like?”

  “To be honest, it doesn’t seem that much different from here these days.”

  “Heard that,” Caleb said. “I was a jarhead myself. Three months in Kandahar before an IED sent me home. Nothin’ serious but, enough that they didn’t think I could shoot straight. Or somethin’ like that. How’d you get home? Some’a my boys on their sixth tour.”

  I lifted my leg and pulled back the jeans, revealing the metal underneath. Caleb didn’t say anything but Trevor said, “Whoa” and then I put my leg back down and we began talking about something else when Ty stormed in.

  “All right, ladies, we got work so listen up.” He glanced around. “Where’s Dax?”

  “On the phone,” Caleb said.

  “Go find him, C.”

  Ty paced the room and didn’t speak. Trevor began playing solitaire. I got the feeling he knew something was wrong and didn’t want to make chit-chat. A few minutes later Dax and Caleb walked in and sat down. Ty closed the door before speaking.

  “We got trouble. That little chica that was with Remy is filing a lawsuit. An ACLU lawyer called IAD and they want to interview all of us again.”

  Caleb looked to me. “Maybe we should be talkin’ in private.”

  “No,” Ty said, “he’s one of us now. This affects him too.”

  Dax said, “Does she just want money?”

  “I don’t know. But they’re re-openin’ the investigation into Remy’s death.”

  There was a moment of silence. “So what?” I said. “If it was a clean shoot it was a clean shoot.”

  They didn’t say anything. Trevor looked down to the floor. I stood up. “You telling me he didn’t go for your gun?” I said.

  “It’s more complex than it sounds,” Ty said.

  “Doesn’t sound that fucking complex to me,” I said. “It sounds like you murdered him.”

  “Hey,” Ty shouted as he stepped toward me, “there’s more goin’ on here than you know. So before you throw around accusations maybe you should have all the info.”

  Caleb said, “I told you we shoulda talked in private.”

  I looked to them, each one. The only one that could hold my gaze was Caleb. I looked to Ty and the sight of him made me sick. I turned and walked out of the room. Ty shouted, “We’re in this together, Baby Boy. Don’t fuckin’ forget that.”

  CHAPTER 18

  I drove to a
bar on Las Vegas Boulevard. It was a dive with torn up seats and a jukebox that didn’t work but I knew cops liked to come here. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. I was there at least three hours before I took out my phone and texted Elis Brennen. Twenty minutes later he walked in the door and sat down next to me.

  “Have you made up your mind?” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “And I’m not a rat and I never will be. I just wanted you to know that I’m quitting and that you can stop following me. Were you just waiting in the parking lot for twenty minutes?”

  He grinned. “Yes.” He ordered a beer and didn’t speak until it arrived and he had taken a long drink. “We both know he murdered Remy, don’t we? You know what they call your group? What the unis call it? Murder Corporation. Did you know that?”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “One day’s work,” he said. “Wear a wire and get him to say that Remy didn’t go for his gun.”

  “And then testify in open court against other cops. I’m not doin’ it. But you’re right about him.”

  “I know I am.”

  I gulped down the beer and ordered another. “So I heard Maria and the ACLU are working with you guys?”

  He nodded. “You’ve been spending some time with her. She really is a knockout.” He turned and looked at me. “Do you care about her, Thomas?”

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  “She’s a problem for Ty. You’ve seen what he does to his problems.”

  I looked at him a long time. It hadn’t even occurred to me. I jumped up and threw a twenty on the bar and ran out to the Jeep as Elis followed. But I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I peeled out of the parking lot and rushed down the road and onto the freeway.

  I got to her home and parked out front without taking out the keys and hopped her fence. I ran across the yard and to her door and knocked frantically. A young boy answered.

  “Is Maria here?”

  He shook his head. “She’s at work.”

  “Where does she work?”

  “La Frontiera.”

  I rushed back to the Jeep and took off. I knew the restaurant. It was on Rockport Drive next to a bar that sold fake IDs and social security cards out the back. I sped down there the whole way, keeping an eye on my rearview to see if Elis was still following. But no cars stayed with me very long.

  When I got there, I parked out front in a handicap spot and ran in. The restaurant was dark except for neon lighting and the sunlight coming through the two windows. It was slow and most of the staff was gathered around the cash register talking but I didn’t see Maria. I scanned the restaurant. She was standing with a notepad in front of a table at the back, joking around with the men seated in front of her.

  It was Dax and Caleb.

  I walked over and Dax’s mouth fell open. They didn’t say anything. Maria was the first to speak.

  “Tommy, what’re you doing here?”

  “Just visiting friends.”

  “Who?”

  “You don’t recognize them?”

  She looked confused and then glanced down to them. Dax looked away. I saw awareness gleam on her face and she lowered her notepad.

  “You motherfuckers.”

  Caleb motioned with his head and said, “Let’s bounce.”

  They scooted out of the seat and Maria went to punch Dax in the back but I grabbed her arm. We watched them walk out as she swore at them in Spanish.

  “Calm down,” I said. “They’re gone.”

  She pulled away. “What were they doing here?”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Oh my…they were here for me. They were here for me, weren’t they?”

  “We need to go. Come on.”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her along as we left the restaurant. She tried to say something to her boss but I didn’t slow down. I got her in my Jeep and we drove off.

  “They killed Remy,” I said. “They told me they did it. They’ve re-opened the investigation into his shooting because of your lawsuit.”

  She didn’t say anything. I picked up my phone and dialed Elis.

  “Yeah?” he said.

  “I need your help. I need Maria in protective custody.”

  “That’s expensive, Thomas. And it’s going to take some pull. Technically no threats have been made against her. She might not qualify.”

  “You know what they’re going to do. I need your help.”

  “I needed your help. You turned me down, remember?”

  I closed my eyes, my guts tightening up like someone had stuck their hand in there and squeezed them. “Okay,” I said.

  “Okay what?”

  “I’ll wear a wire.”

  “And? Let me hear you say it, Thomas.”

  “And I’ll testify.”

  “Okay, okay. You’re doing the right thing. Don’t take her anywhere near the farm. Bring her to Bolden off Martin Luther King.”

  “All right. I’m coming right now.”

  I hung up and glanced over to Maria. She was staring at the passing traffic and businesses, her hair whipping in the wind. I knew it wasn’t the time to think about such things, but I’d never seen her look so beautiful.

  “You’ll be okay,” I said. “They’re going to put you into protective custody.”

  “And then what? I can’t work or see my family? What kind of life is that?”

  “It’s just temporary. Until we get a case against them. Then when they’re in custody you can go back to your normal life.” I looked to her and then back to the road. “This is more than some drug dealer they wanted gone. They wouldn’t have risked as much as they did if they didn’t really want Remy dead. What did he do?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Where did he get his supply from?”

  “What?”

  “His drugs. Where did he get them from?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere in Mexico I think.”

  “Juarez?”

  “I think so. Why?”

  “Ty said something about Remy in Juarez.”

  I got to Bolden and pulled up in front. Elis was there with another man in a suit, who came up to the passenger seat and helped Maria out. He began telling her that he was going to be taking care of her and that they just needed to fill out some paperwork. Elis came up to me.

  “We’re going to do it tomorrow morning. First thing. While they still somewhat trust you. You ever worn a mic before?”

  “No.”

  “We’ll go through it. Just get him talking. If you can get him to admit what he wants with her, all the better. But I’m really interested in Remy.”

  “Remy was a low level dealer. Why would Ty risk all this for him?”

  He was silent a while and then said, “Remy was working with us before he went off on his own and did something stupid. Ty has people in high places, Thomas. Even IAD.”

  I looked to Maria. “You can’t keep her safe.”

  “Yes we can. I’ll do it personally if I have to but she will be safe.”

  I was about to say something and my cell phone rang. It was Ty.

  “It’s him, isn’t it? Answer.”

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Baby Boy, we need to meet. Talk about what happened.”

  “I agree.”

  “Come down to Mojave Road and Twentieth. My house is the one with the pit bull out front. The gray one. You remember, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  He hung up and Elis said, “What’d he say?”

  “He wants me to meet him.”

  “So go meet him. He doesn’t know anything yet. Tell him everything’s fine. Play along. Tomorrow come back here and we’ll get you a mic, I don’t have any of my techs here right now.”

  I took a deep breath and backed away. Elis watched me as I got on the road and drove off. I headed to Mojave and the closer I got, the worse the neighborhood became. This was a high gang area where you could score whatever drugs you
wanted and I wondered why Ty would live here of all places.

  I went up Twentieth and found a red brick house with a large chain-link fence and a gray pit bull out front, locked up with a chain around his collar. I parked my Jeep and checked my firearm. I stared at the house a long time but didn’t move. It looked like a party was going on inside. I could see girls dancing through the windows and a keg of beer in the center of the living room. Bassed music was coming out of the house.

  I took a deep breath and hopped out.

  CHAPTER 19

  I knocked on the door but no one answered so I opened it. At least thirty people were packed into the house. They were mostly Hispanic but there were whites mixed in too; tattoos over arms and necks and faces. I walked through the party, getting stares, but no one said anything. I got to the end of the living room and looked into the kitchen. Ty was standing at the counter, making drinks in a blender. There were girls at the table behind him and they were laughing and drinking green drinks out of clear glasses.

  “Baby Boy!” he said. “Come in, man. You want a margarita?”

  “No thanks. You said you needed to talk?”

  “Yeah. First, we drink.” He took the drink out of the blender and poured it in five glasses. He handed me one.

  “Have a seat,” he said, sitting down.

  The women were all beautiful and heavily tattooed. They didn’t speak to me or even seem to notice that I had sat down. One of them leaned against Ty and placed a kiss on his neck. Ty put his arm around her but kept his eyes on me.

  “What did you want to talk about?” I said. “I’m pretty beat. I wanna head home.”

  “It’s only like seven o’clock.”

  “Can it wait till tomorrow?”

  “Drink up first. These are some fine ladies you’re not talkin’ to, Baby Boy.”

  I took a few sips and the woman next to me put her hand on my lap. She began talking to me about what I did and where I was from. She leaned in close, her hand running up my thigh. I pulled back but she put her hand on the back of my head and kissed me. I didn’t participate but I didn’t resist either.

  I heard something slam shut behind me. When I turned I was looking into the barrel of Caleb’s firearm. Dax was locking the sliding door that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house. Trevor came in from an entrance by the fridge on the other side of the room with a roll of duct tape in his hand.