One Last Night (7 page)

“I’m getting bored of this now. Maybe a little video will jog your memory.”

He released the cuff from the pipe, but I couldn’t even think about trying to run. Everything was tilting and I could barely stand without his support.

We made our way down a brightly lit hallway and up a staircase. It took what felt like days to climb the stairs to the ground floor. Once there I recognized the warehouse Anna and I had run through, dodging the henchman we’d spotted there.

Fabian pretty much dragged me the rest of the way, as what little energy I had was exhausted. He pulled me into the room I’d found with Anna. Full of computer equipment and video screens. He sat me down in a chair and pressed a few buttons on a computer and I saw footage of the front of the building. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then a figure came limping into the frame, pushing a bicycle. It stopped and fiddled with something before leaving the bike and walking towards the camera. As the figure came closer I could see her face. It was me. The day I’d fallen off the bike, dinged the box and found out my employer was using his messengers to deliver drugs.

The Carly on the screen stood fidgeting nervously for a few seconds and then straightened up. She lifted the box up and when her hands were visible again, they were empty. I’d given the box to the mystery woman I had later seen with Fabian at the other warehouse.

I watched myself turn away, face obviously stricken.

“Do you see?”

I shrugged at Fabian. “See what? I remember that day.”

“Good.” He pushed some buttons again and the screen flickered off and then back on again. It was the same camera. This time I saw myself again, but I wasn’t alone. Anna was with me. My lip quivered just looking at her, even on the grainy camera footage. The pain in my shoulder was nothing compared to how my heart felt knowing she was gone.

“I remember that too,” I said, my voice thick with anguish.

“Yes. One more.” He fiddled with something again and another screen lit up. This tape was different. Better quality. And instead of the front of the warehouse it showed a room that looked vaguely familiar.

A man’s voice off-camera came through speakers I couldn’t see. “Could you repeat that, please?”

On the screen a figure sat with his body curled over a table. His head was pressed against the metal.

“Sir, please sit up and repeat that,” the disembodied voice said.

The figure sat up and I gasped. It was my boss, Mitchell. He looked awful. Even worse than usual, which was saying something. His thin hair was a mess, his face drawn and blotchy.

“I said I was just following orders. I didn’t know what they were doing.”

“So you had no idea that your employees were using your business, Courier Express, to deliver illegal prescription medications?”

“Of course not,” Mitchell said rather unconvincingly. “I’m a respected businessman. But it isn’t my job to police what comes and goes. I just run the place.”

As he spoke I finally recognized the room. It was an interview room at the police station Sam worked out of. I’d spent hours in one just like it after Mitchell tried to assault me in his office.

“Right,” the voice continued. “It’s a little hard to believe all of this was going on without your knowledge.”

“I know, I know. But those boys are sneaky. I mean I knew about some stealing and lying about hours, but it doesn’t shock me to hear they were up to worse stuff.”

“By ‘those boys’ you mean the messengers under your employ?”

“Yeah.”

“Including one Darius King? The young man found dead?”

“Uh-huh. He was the worst of the bunch. A real clever-minded one.”

At that I snorted. I hated to disrespect his memory, but Darius was anything but clever. Kind and sweet, sure. But not at all bright.

“So, Mr. Douglas. If you didn’t know what was happening with your business, then who did?”

Mitchell sat up straight and looked right at the camera. “I been thinking about that a lot. And you know I wanna help you guys. I know who did it. I know who you want to talk to. The girl. It was the girl.”

“What girl?”

“Carly Chase. She’s the one.”

My mouth hung open with shock. I glanced over at Fabian but he was watching the screen with a slight smile on his face.
Asshole
.

“She’s the one who what, Mr. Douglas?”

“She knew all about the pills and stuff. She must have. She did all the scheduling and routing. She always made sure certain boys did certain pickups and deliveries. Besides, she told me something that didn’t mean nothing to me at the time, but now I get it.”

“What did she tell you?”

“One day we were in my office. She liked to bring me coffee, you know. Flirt a little. Like the girls always do.”

I rolled my eyes.

The voice said, “Yes, and?”

“So we’re in there. I’m drinking the coffee and she’s kind of bending over a little so I can see down her blouse and all. I mean, come on. I’m human. I’m gonna look, you know?”

“Yes. Please continue.”

“So while she’s flirting she mentions that she’s got something big going on. Something that’ll set her up for life. I wasn’t really paying attention, but she seemed really excited about it. Something about all the evidence she’d ever need. Files on disk and hardcopy, she said. All the information she would need if things took a turn.”

“Did she explain what she meant?”

“No.”

“And you didn’t ask?” The voice sounded vaguely incredulous.

“Nah. Hell, I never know what the hell girls are going on about. Just pointless shit mostly, in my experience.”

“But now you think she was talking about this illegal prescription delivery enterprise?”

“Yeah, yeah I do. I bet she was keeping records of everything. She was always taking notes. Not the best employee, but she did keep track of things real well. So I figure she had all this info about what was going on. And I bet she’d use it to blackmail whoever. Get some extra money when she was ready to get out of the game.”

I wanted to punch him through the screen. “Okay, I get it. Turn it off,” I said to Fabian.

He pressed a button and Mitchell’s face was frozen in front of me. “The Slug” was too nice a name for that piece of garbage. I hated him with a burning passion. He’d caused all of this. And tried to pin it on me.

“So you see, Carly. Mr. Douglas there seems quite sure you’ve got some information to give me.”

“You’re kidding, right? That lying sack of shit? He’s clearly just trying to blame someone else, get off for what he did. Come on. You guys are working with him. You know the rest of that is a lie, why believe that I have this documentation?”

“Because,” Fabian said, leaning over me. “We found traces of it on one of the computers from the office. I snagged it from the evidence room myself. It wasn’t complete, but our computer geek said it was enough. Someone was keeping records. Someone tracked and wrote down every delivery. Every person involved.”

“But it couldn’t have been me?”

“Why not?”

“Because I had no idea any of this was going on until that day on the tape.”

“Really? Smart girl like you never suspected?”

I sighed. “No. Look, I knew Mitchell was scum. And I figured he was probably embezzling or something. But I had no idea about the drugs. I swear.”

“So then who did it? Who had the evidence? One of the messengers?”

“Maybe. I have no idea. But it wasn’t me.”

Fabian crossed his arms and sighed. “I’d like to believe you, Carly.”

“I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

He looked into my eyes for a long time. “You know, I think you might be. But it really doesn’t matter now.”

“What? Why?”

“If you had the stuff maybe we could make an arrangement. But if you don’t, there’s no choice, really. We’re gonna have to do everything possible to make you talk.”

I knew what that meant. “But you can’t. There’s nothing to know. Nothing to say.”

“It’s the only way we know for sure.”

“But you
do
know. You’re a cop, right? You can tell I’m not lying.”

“I’m not in charge here, Carly.”

“Then who is? Let me talk to him or her or whoever.”

“Maybe. Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as he left the room. The door stayed cracked open a bit so I could hear him making a phone call. I couldn’t hear everything, but he said something about a second option and then was quiet for a long time.

While I had a few minutes to myself I spent it thinking about the situation. None of it made sense. Whoever was in charge of this operation had to be smart enough to know what a spineless idiot Mitchell was. And that he’d say anything to save his own worthless hide.

It seemed impossible that they’d go to so much trouble to abduct me, terrorize me, hurt my friends just for evidence that didn’t exist. A twinge in my shoulder reminded me how far they were willing to go to get…something. It couldn’t just be about files. There had to be more to it, but I had no idea what.

Fabian walked back into the room, somewhat deflated. Obviously his conversation hadn’t gone the way he hoped.

“Well? What next? Are you going to take me to the torture room next?”

He chuckled. “No need. We can get what we need from you anywhere.”

“Whatever. Just get on with it already.”

“No more begging and pleading?”

I shook my head, wincing from the pain it caused. “Something about this while situation stinks. You keep saying that I’m lying, but I think you know I’m not. There’s something else going on here. And since it seems to involve me being alive, I’ll just assume you can’t kill me.”

He leaned against the wall, eyeing me. “Interesting. You really are quite perceptive. But don’t bother asking. I’m not letting you go and I’m not going to explain everything. That only happens in the movies.”

“Fine. So, back to my cell?”

He nodded. “Can you make it or shall I carry you.”

“Don’t touch me,” I replied gruffly. Standing up was hard and dizzying, but I took my time, desperate to avoid showing any sign of weakness. For some reason my bitchy attitude seemed to relax Fabian. He wasn’t standing as close or being as careful as before. If I was going to have any shot at escaping, I needed him lax.

Gritting my teeth as my eyes watered from the pain, I stomped downstairs ahead of him and walked back to the room I’d woken up in. On the way I caught a glimpse of another closed door, and a dim passageway that must have been the tunnel he’d mentioned. I filed those pieces of information away, hoping they’d be useful soon.

“So,” I said once I was back inside the boiler room. “Tell me about your boss. Is he a big mob guy? Drug kingpin?”

Fabian grinned. “None of your business. All you need to know is he’s a powerful man with connections and resources you can’t even imagine.”

“Seems strange that he’d waste so much time on a now-unemployed office assistant, don’t you think?”

He shrugged and put his hands in the front pockets of his pants. “I don’t ask those kinds of questions. I do my job and collect my pay. That’s the smartest and safest way to live.”

“Your job is to protect and serve, Detective Fabian.”

He snorted. “You don’t know shit, girl. You think you can shame me? Try again.”

“No. I don’t think I can shame you. I think you’ve lost all sense of honor. Carrying a badge and moonlighting as a hired thug? That’s pathetic.”

Face twisting into a snarl, he came at me quickly. “Watch how you talk to me. I’m not Sam.”

I gulped, but managed not to back down.

“Man, you’ve got it bad for that idiot, don’t you? Does all his talk about justice and overcoming adversity do it for you?”

“He doesn’t talk about that. He lives it. Sam came from nothing and has dedicated his life to protecting people. Helping. Trying to make this shit hole of a city better. He’s a hero.”

“Hero? Yeah. That and a buck won’t buy you a cup of coffee. I came from the same place he did. Went through what he did. But I wised up. Accepted the truth. Good guys never win. There’s always someone bigger and badder who’ll do anything to win. Life ain’t a fair fight. You either learn to play the game or die a chump. That won’t be me.”

“No,” I said lowly. “You’ll die a dirty cop. A disgrace.”

“I won’t care. I’ll have lived a long life, made a ton of money and done what I wanted.”

“You’re disgusting.”

He flashed a wide smile. “Maybe. But I’m right. And I think you know it. Sam told me a little about your past. You know the world isn’t all candy and flowers.”

“Yeah, I do know that. But I also know what matters is that we fight it. As long as there are good people like Sam in the world it’s worth saving. Worth fighting for.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that working out for you lately? Where did fighting get you?”

My hands curled into fists, but I held back my rage, and the deep down fear that he was right. “Whatever,” I spat out. “Is this it? Your whole diabolical plan is to talk me to death? So far so good.”

Fabian walked over and stood right in front of me, crowding into my personal space. “Nah, we’re just killing time, honey. Getting to know each other.”

“Killing time for what?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Until it gets late enough.”

“Late enough for what?”

“For your little boyfriend to be ready to do what he needs to.”

“Sam? What does he have to do with this.”

Fabian just shook his head. “It’s just about time. I’m gonna go check on him. Stay put.”

I glared and he laughed, turning to leave the room.

“Oh, by the way, don’t worry if you hear screaming. We won’t hurt him much.”

“Wait,” I shouted, but it was too late. He was gone. I heard the door lock behind him and was alone again.

“Shit.” Screaming, he’d said. Which meant Sam was close. Maybe even behind that door down the hall. If I could get out maybe I could reach him. Distract Fabian and get us both out of here. Sam had saved me too often to count. It was time I returned the favor.

But before I could even consider it, I had to find a way out of this locked room. Trying to be careful of my shoulder, I started searching the dark, dusty corners for something – anything – to help me. Half disintegrated boxes held nothing useful. Old, yellowed paper and some fabric. But over by the massive boiler I hit paydirt. The huge metal thing wasn’t operational. The building had probably been upgraded years ago, but it was cheaper to leave it there than remove it. In a wooden crate beneath it I found a set of rusty tools I couldn’t identify. And at the bottom, one I could. A crowbar.