CON TEST: Double Life (23 page)

Jomar grabbed one of the tapes and prayed that he was not about to witness a murder. He popped the tape into the VCR and pressed PLAY, but nothing appeared on the screen. He hit the rewind button and then his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He watched William slam Jerry hard into an office door and then leap backwards over the counter.

“
Jesus, Fortune! What the hell has gotten into you?”

“
You have no idea.”

“
Tell me something, dammit. This is criminal, Fortune.”

“
For a good cause, though.”

“
What’s the darn cause?”

William pulled the photos out of the envelope and showed them to Jomar. Jomar’s face lit up like a night sky on Fourth of July.

“
These photos were mailed to my wife from that Mailbox, Etc. and the little punk in the video would not simply show me the tapes so, I uh...Anyway, the tapes may show the asshole that sent the pics.”

“
Fortune, you attacked a kid to steal the tapes. You’re outta your damn mind,” Jomar said ejecting the tape and sliding in another one. “Why did you come to me, man?”

“
Because I knew that you’d help me. Any white boy that smokes bud and edits black porn has to understand what the hell I did. Someone is out to sabotage me and my marriage and the bastards have already had one unsuccessful attempt on my life.”

The tape rolled and William looked at the contents very closely. There were so many monitors to watch, all of which showed the same thing. He was confused at which one to watch. He was glad that Jomar did not ask him any more questions. That was best. He did not want to further involve any innocent people in his drama. That was his beef and he would eat it. Devour it! He would right the situation. He had no clear plan to do that, but he would use all of his mental prowess to come up with a plan to foil the bad guy’s plot. It paid off having a well-rounded coffer of knowledge in a host of topics.

All of the rules that existed were broken that day. He would demolish anyone or anything that attempted to stymie his progress. They would crumble.

“
Stop the tape!” William barked.

“
I am dammit. I saw it, too,” Jomar snapped back.

“
But who the hell is that?” William asked dumbfoundly. He looked at the tall Mexican man with ears they could cast him in the lead role of Dumbo the Musical on Broadway.

The man wore an unruly crop, reddish mustache and dark, olive skin. He had a long aquiline nose and thin lips. William scrutinized every detail. He had no idea who the son-of-a-bitch was. At that moment, no way to find out either.

“
I can’t be sure, but he looks like a bird with Dumbo ears,” Jomar said in a sly tone. Not hilariously, though it was a joke.

“
Neither can I. So why has he sent the pics to Lundin?”

“
Maybe he was hired to do the job. I do not know, either.”

“
The hired part sounded plausible, but why would Justice need to hire someone to do his filthy work?” William said. Lundin did not know him. He could have sent the pics on his own.
What the fuck
, William thought,
suppose this is not the work of Justice. To hell with that he’s involved.

William brood, as Jomar went to work. He had copied the VHS contents to a disc. When the tape transferred, he popped it into his Mac and advanced to the Mexican at the counter shipping the pictures. He had sat keys on the counter and Jomar maximized the key chain to 300%.

“
There you have it,” Jomar said, proudly.

“
What!” William said. He looked closer at the screen then raved, “You’re a genius. And you asked why I came here. I write stories, but you bring them to life.”

“
Then why am I stuck editing porn versus film for Paramount?”

William jotted the address of the private investigators firm from the key ring. He scribbled and told Jomar, “I promise you that if the suspense thriller that I am living right now becomes a movie you can edit. This is going to be a film, though. Mark my words.” William got up to leave.

“
You’re shitten me, Fortune.”

William hollered back, “I’m not shitten you, but I will shit all over this PI if he plays any games with me.”

THIRTY-NINE

L
undin arrived at Robertson Boulevard much earlier than she normally would. She parked her car and sat and pondered for a while. So many inconsistent things ping-ponged in her mind about what was happening to her husband and why. He did not know either, which forced her mind to boggle even more. The thing that bothered her most was that she had no idea if—better yet, when—unexplained things would begin to happen to her. She had not planned, or thought that she would need a plan, for someone robbing her husband, and then trying to kill him. Moreover, she thought everything was intended to hurt her. Without William her world would collapse, and whoever committed those transgressions knew that.

She got out of the car and slipped into the entryway of the loft. She noticed that the security alarm was not activated. She hoped William had hastily run out that morning and inadvertently neglected to set the alarm. She would hate to have to run into an unwanted goon. They would pay.
In my home
, she thought. That idea gave her a vicious migraine.

She entered the apartment and started straight up the stairs to the loft. She moved as softly as a kitten. She went right under the bed and retrieved a locked box and pulled out her gun. She put the gun in her waist band and then went down to the living room with the smoothness and grace of a seasoned assassin.

There was no way that she could relax, but she would force herself to until she heard from her husband. She sat on the sofa feeling that she needed someone to talk to. She looked into her beautiful, frightened eyes in the mirror and decided to do it. She hated to do it, but perhaps something good may come out of a call to her mother.

“
Hello, Darling,” Diana said, enthusiastically. Her enthusiasm quickly disintegrated. She said, “Now you know this is mother’s story time, so make it quick before Victor fires Mindy.”

“
Mother, this is very important, and I need your attention. Turn Victor off.”

“
Lundin, Victor can’t be turned off. You’re sure this can’t wait?”

“
Will is in trouble. Turn off the soaps mom and listen to me. Now is not the time to be obstinate,” Lundin said, sternly.

“
Oh...all right. If you insist.”

“
I do!”

“
What did he do now?” Diana asked as if her daughter was subjected to regular bouts with domestic violence.

“
Nothing, mom. He’s still his loving and charming self, but someone tried to kill him, and they stole all of the money from his account. Whoever is behind it even sent me pics of him with other women, but the pics are not him, though.”

“
And you believe him?”

“
Believe what?”

“
That he is not in the photos?”

“
I did not at first. But then all of the other circumstances surrounding the event makes me, mom. I know William, he wouldn’t cheat on his taxes and definitely not me.”

“
Lundin...Lundin. Why don’t you come home for a while, until he deals with this mess?”

“
What mess? You don’t even know what’s happening.”

“
I know he came from out of nowhere. I bet his past is catching up with him. And before my child gets caught up in his mess, I am suggesting you get here before you’re kidnapped or worse.”

“
You know what...”

“
Watch it young lady, I am not that afraid to fly. He has no goddamn past. No family and I think he is an ex murderer or something. I am sad to say it, but I want you to leave and come to D.C. where you belong and away from that crazy coast.”

“
You know mother, I called you for encouragement. A little hope. To console me, but as usual you’re your picayune self. Thanks for kicking me down when I am already in the basement. It’s nothing like your mother assuring that I am burning in the Earth’s core.”

“
Lundin, I am not trying to hurt you, but I’ve warned you that he is manipulative and not so damn charming. He’s hiding something, honey, but you’re so blinded by charm. Furthermore—”

“
Save it, mommie dearest. I’ll get through this alone. As always. Thanks for giving birth to me. Go back to Victor.”

“
Lun—”

The line went dead. And so was Diana Parker in Lundin’s fairy tale. Lundin could not believe that her mother would snow on her after she had been rained on. Lundin’s world crumbled around her a tad too rapidly, and she couldn’t stop it. There’s was nothing left to do but cry. She cupped her hands over her face. Let it all out you tough bitch, she thought. Let them laugh now, but they’ll all die later.

FORTY

I
nstinctively, William grabbed the steering wheel of his rental more tightly that he normally would have. He swerved in and out of traffic and breathed heavily. He exited the 101 Freeway at the Sunset Boulevard exit and came to the light. He made a right turn on a red. Fuck the traffic laws, too. He was going all out. The Hollywood sights faded in his rearview mirror. He drove through the neighborhood and thought that it was a tad seedy for a PI.

William fused all of the mettle that he could to continue what he had started. He was glad to still be alive after the attempt on his life. But he would risk his life to save his name and ultimately continue living his life.

He arrived at 1580 Sunset and rather than pull in the open space, he continued past it with the rest of the maddening LA drivers. He pulled over on a small street just as the car clock switched to 2:30.

Nothing would sting more if Jose Velasquez was not in his office. He parked the car and hoped that he was wrong. William’s heart hurt like hell. Added to the pain he was more sweaty than usual. Sweat escaped glands from his head to his feet. His heart pounded and forced him to touch his chest. It felt as if his heart had blown into a size mirroring a cantaloupe. He tried to subdue his anticipation and slow his heart rate, but what he planned to resort to controlled his heartbeat.

William sighed as he leaned over and reached in the glove compartment. He retrieved a gold colored pistol that he sat on his lap and placed his finger firmly on the trigger. Would he have to shoot someone that day? Better yet, could he shoot somebody that day? That situation would be squashed, plain and simple. Although, he had written Justice’s story, William knew Justice had no plans on going away. Not without deadly force, anyway.

William sat upright in the driver’s seat and the back passenger door opened. Reflexively, William aimed his gun at the woman. With the barrel of the gun two inches from the elderly woman’s face, William barked, “Who the fuck are you? And you better talk fast old lady; I am having a very bad fucking day.”

“
Is that how you talk to—”

William cut her smooth off. “I will splatter your brains all over this car if you do not answer my goddamn question.”

“
It’s me, Ms. Grisby,” Justice said in an elderly voice. He switched to his real voice, and asked, “You remember me, right?”

William cocked his gun.

“
Wait a minute! What the fuck you wanna kill me for?”

“
Do not patronize me, faggot. You know all about it. Before I rid the world of your sorry ass, just tell me where the fuck is my money, and why you have to fuck with Lundin? I warned you on Rodeo not to fuck with my wife!”

“
What money? I haven’t stolen any fucking money from you. You’re drunk.”

“
I hate liars,” William seethed.

“
Noooooooo! Wait! Look at the way I am dressed. I have been warned that the feds are looking for me again. Apparently my case aired on AMW and someone tipped the SS off.”

“
Am I supposed to believe you?”

“
You do not have too.”

“
Of course, I do. I need a reason not to blow your fucking brains out.”

“
Listen, the PI you’re going to see knows everything. He took the pics that was given to Lundin. Let’s go have a chat with his ass. If I am lying you can kill me then.”

“
I don’t need to wait to kill you, asshole. You have a lot of gall. Besides you’re not going anywhere with me wearing the costume.”

“
Sure I am. Let’s go,” Justice said and hopped out the back seat.

Reluctantly, William pulled himself together and stepped into the street. He scanned his surroundings and there was not a human in sight. Just cars zipping along the busy Sunset. He was prepared to do what he had to do.

With Ms. Grisby in tow dressed in a one piece floral number, William conceived every creative question to ask the PI as he walked toward 1580. The PI would have a real private eye into the interior of a coffin if he obstructed William’s investigation.

* * *

William and Ms. Grisby reached 1580 and it was a store front type of property. Surely, the man had some form of security. Probably a dog that William would send limping to Dog Heaven if he got in the way. Private investigators had the kind of dangerous job that provoked people to kill them. They ruined lives and marriages, which had brought William to 1580. They took responsibility for doing ordinary citizens dirty work. Messing with William Fortune would earn Jose Velasquez his last breath if he did not leave that office with what he wanted to know.