Piece Keeper (14 page)

After looking the bike over he went inside and made
himself a drink. Lounging on the sofa listening to Merengue and
sipping cognac he finally felt his nerves beginning to relax. He
had noticed since this case begun that he had been drinking more
and more. He was once a man who hardly tolerated alcohol. He’d have
a taste every now and then but now it was becoming a reoccurrence
that he was beginning to take solace in. He was most definitely
changing. Was this the end? All his moral beliefs and values
regarding the law and justice, were they all gone? A line was
crossed. A side had to be chosen and whether he realized it or not,
he’d switched sides. Was he a hypocrite? He now questioned
everything he once thought and believed. Guilt or remorse for what
he did was not an issue. He did what needed to be done. Now he just
needed to talk, to get it off his chest, so he called the only
person in his life that would understand.

He scrolled through his contacts until he found the
name he was looking for and pressed the TALK button. The phone rang
once before it was picked up.

The scraggly, scratchy voice from years of drinking
alcohol and smoking cigarettes spoke through the phone. “What you
want, boy?”

“Hey, Dad. Still up huh?”

“Yeah, what’s going on? Everything alright?”

“It’s so-so.”

“Hmm.”

“How’s Sparkle?”

His father laughed. “She’s just fine. Lying next to
me in bed. She put up a fuss. I gave her a bath. She didn’t like
that too much.”

“Right, right.”

“What’s on your mind, son? I know you didn’t call to
ask about an old man and his dog.”

He was referring to Sparkle, his pet Pit-bull.

Black paused before speaking. “That’s kind of the
reason I called.”

His father remained silent.

“Remember Sheba?” Black asked.

“The black lab you had to put down?”

“Yeah. It was the hardest thing I ever had to
do.”

“Taking a life is never easy. Stays with you
forever.”

“How did you do it? You know… back in Vietnam?”

“Wasn’t in it long. Listen, son, the best thing to
do with that stuff is to accept it and let it go.”

“Let it go?”

“Don’t let it consume you.”

“I won’t, Pops.”

They both sat silently holding the phone.

Pops spoke first. “That all, son?”

Black wanted to talk more. He still hadn’t gotten
out what he needed to get off his chest. There was no way he could
talk about it over the phone without flat out saying it. He knew
this so he kept it to himself. “Yeah just checking on you and the
girl. See you when I get home.”

“Peace.”

“Peace.

The call was ended. Black didn’t bother finishing
his drink. He went upstairs and went to bed alone.

Chapter
Fourteen

James thought, maybe it’s time to move on. Just take
Teresa and move away. He had enough money saved up so wherever they
went they would be comfortable. But he wondered would she go. She
still hadn’t given him an answer to his proposal. He decided
whatever he was going to do he needed to do it fast. He needed to
clean up his mess here first. A life on the run was no life for
newly-weds. What were Waeltz and Black cooking up? As far as he
knew they still hadn’t found out about the overseas accounts or
about him and Witherspoon. Waeltz was fishing. He had speculations
but who had placed them there? The only person that came to mind
was Hunter. James smiled. He was glad that he had broken Hunter’s
fingers. Maybe it was time to take him to the river. As far as
Black was concerned the only connection James could think of that
Black would be privy to somehow was Brown, the old man from the
alley. It was the only thing that made sense. No one else knew he’d
been there besides Witherspoon who’d called him with the pick-up
location for the passenger. He’d accepted the package and
Witherspoon was on his way. He’d cleaned her up and left her on the
street then called the police. His list of passengers that he’d
taken to the river was getting longer and longer. It was going to
be a busy night. He figured he would get to Brown first, then
Hunter, and finish with Foster. He was undecided about Witherspoon.
Chances were he would have to go as well.

There was banging at his door taking him out of his
thoughts. He went to the door and looked through the peep hole.
Standing on the other side of the door was Waeltz. James unlocked
the door and opened it. “What do you want?” he asked blocking
Waeltz from entering.

“Can I come in?”

James stared at Waeltz for a brief moment then stood
to the side so the man could enter. He was in no mood to get
interrogated but he needed information and Waeltz would give it to
him. Once Waeltz was inside James closed the door. James watched
Waeltz as he moved around the room. He watched him as his eyes
scanned and tried to take in as much as he could.

“What can I do for you Waeltz?”

“Have one question for you, that’s all.”

“Yeah? What would that be?”

Waeltz cleared his throat and smacked his lips.

James crossed his arms over his chest.

“You think I can get a glass of water?” Waeltz
asked.

James stared back, not saying a word.

“Come on, Collins. One glass of water. My throat’s a
little dry.”

James gave Waeltz the once over before going to the
kitchen where he grabbed a glass from the dish rack and turned the
faucet on. While James’ back was turned Waeltz moved around to the
table in the center of the living room. He let his eyes scan the
scraps of paper scattered across the table; miscellaneous bills and
receipts. One caught his eye. It was a slip for a wire transfer to
his sister. Waeltz couldn’t read the dollar amount but he figure it
was something else he should look into. James returned with the
water and handed it to Waeltz. Waeltz promptly downed it in one
gulp.

“What’s the question, Waeltz?” James was ready to
get to the point.

“Just need to know your whereabouts the night Teresa
was attacked.”

“Why?”

“Rule you out, that’s all.”

“Never knew I was a suspect.”

“Where were you?”

“I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Thought you wanted to cooperate, Collins.”

“Never said I would answer. Just said you could
ask.”

James walked to the door, opened it, and held it
until Waeltz stepped out. He closed the door and leaned against it.
The walls were definitely closing in.

***

The next morning as Black was getting dressed to go
and meet Brown Morena stepped into the bedroom. She hadn’t come in
that night. Black was disappointed that she had not called but he
had been determined not to give in first by calling her. Besides,
he figured she needed her space. The two acknowledge one another
with a nod. Things had gotten so bad that they weren’t even
speaking. He’d gone through this before with Teresa. Morena was
different though. She worships my every move, he thought as he
dismissed the idea that they were too far gone.

“Going out?” she asked finally breaking the ice.

“A run to make. You go home?”

“Yeah… went to see a friend.”

“Enjoy yourself?”

“I did.”

“Good.”

She nodded and half smiled.

He continued. “This thing should be over soon. We
need to talk. Give me until then okay?”

“And if I say no?”

Black paused. Up until then he hadn’t given her his
full attention. He turned and faced her. “Baby Love?”

“I know, Cariño. After, we’ll talk. Be safe, mi
amor,” she said as he placed a kiss on her cheek and was out the
door.

He still hadn’t heard back from Seshat. They had a
rule about communication. He would have to toss the throw away
phone after twenty-four hours. He would need to get back on the
gaming website. She had taught him how to erase his digital foot
prints but he still preferred to log on as little as possible.
Although he never took any of the money they retrieved from the
tips he sent her way, the way they were going about it was walking
a thin line of unethical conduct. He pushed the thought from his
mind and climbed into the truck. Pulling out of the garage he
proceeded towards the hotel he had Brown staying at. He hoped the
old man had taken his advice and stayed. It would be a waste of
another day trying to track him down. After riding for twenty
minutes he pulled into the parking lot at the hotel on 77 N Gilbert
Street. He could hardly pull in because the parking lot was filled
with police cars and an ambulance. He flashed his badge to a
patrolman to gain access into the building. As he stepped in
someone was being rolled out, covered in a white sheet. His heart
sunk. He didn’t want to think of it but he had a feeling that he
knew who was underneath that sheet. As he held his hand up to stop
the first responder from wheeling the gurney further, he reached to
pull back the sheet as someone placed their hand down on his
shoulder. He spun and faced the person.

“What are you doing here, Waeltz?” he asked in
shock.

“Was going to ask you the same thing. You know the
deceased?”

“About to find out now.” Black pulled the sheet back
and his suspicions were dead on. Laying on the gurney underneath
the sheet was Brown. “Damn,” Black mumbled underneath his breath.
He pulled the sheet back over Brown’s face and waved the men off so
they could remove the body from the building.

Waeltz waited until the paramedics were gone. “So
that was a yes? You do know the deceased?”

“You do too.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah. The old man from when we came out of the shed
connected to the catacombs.”

“No shit. You were here to meet him? Why?”

“A witness.”

“In the Prince case?”

“Mmm-hmm. You search his room yet? And you never
answered my question… You’re a sex cop. What are you doing at a
murder scene?”

“Filling in for a buddy. I did a year as a homicide
detective in New York before I moved here.”

“I remember now.”

“You remember? Oh yeah… you pulled my file. You want
to tag along to check his room?”

“Sure,” Black said as he followed behind Waeltz
towards Brown’s room.

“When was the last time you saw him alive?”

“Last night. I dropped him off and paid for the
room.”

Waeltz knew that much. He had already questioned the
staff and saw that the room was paid for with Black’s credit card.
“Who was it that he claimed to have seen?”

“James.”

“Collins? The night of the rape? You sure?”

“Not 100%... never got to a line up. Was supposed to
go today. But I questioned the other three black cops and it wasn’t
either of them. James was the last.”

They stepped into the room to see an outline of
where Brown’s dead body had been found. People walked around the
room snapping photos and dusting for prints.

“It makes sense now,” Waeltz stated.

“What does?”

“I paid James a visit yesterday and saw some
receipts for wire transfers so earlier today I had the IT guy at
the department get a warrant to check to see who he had been wiring
money to.”

“And?”

“It was to his sister. Once every other month…
$3,000 dollars… for the past year.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. May not seem like much but on a cop’s salary
I don’t see it happening.”

“Where was he getting the money?” Black asked
fishing for information. He decided not to share the info about the
offshore accounts because he wanted to see what Waeltz knew.

“Still looking into it. My guess is drugs.”

“Yeah?”

“Just a guess.”

“Even so how does he play into the rape?”

“Still don’t know, but I will find out,” Waeltz said
as he began looking around the room.

Black walked over to the bed and spotted the
knapsack that Brown always carried.

“Over here,” he said as Waeltz slid on a pair of
latex gloves and picked the bag up. He held the bag in the air.

“Take a picture of this,” Waeltz demanded talking to
one of the forensic officers.

The tech quickly came over and began snapping shots
of the bag. Waeltz turned the bag over and dumped the contents onto
the bed. There was a flask, loose change, a few crumpled dollar
bills, a few pairs of socks rolled into balls, and an old photo.
Waeltz picked up the photo and looked at it. It was a picture of
Brown as a young man standing next to a beautiful woman and child.
He held the picture in front of Black’s face. “A family maybe? He
say anything to you about a wife and kid?”

“No.” Black removed an ink pen from his inner suit
pocket. He dug through the stuff on the bed with the pen as not to
contaminate the crime scene with his finger prints. Underneath a
few scraps of scattered paper he found an asthma pump. “Waeltz,
here.” He pointed to the pump with the ink pen. “That look like
blood to you?”

Waeltz picked up the asthma pump and held it out
towards a crime scene tech. “Bag it.”

The tech retrieved the pump and dropped it in a
plastic bag then sealed it closed.

“Maybe you had this wrong, Love,” Waeltz stated.

“How’s that?”

“Maybe he was in on it. We run that blood and it’s
hers he’s a new suspect.”

“I suppose anything’s possible, but to be on the
safe side place a warrant for James and have a unit pick him up.”
Black turned to leave.

Waeltz grabbed his arm. “Look Love, this may not
turn out pretty.”

“Too late. This thing was ugly from the word go.” He
yanked his arm from Waeltz’s grasp and left the room.

***

Witherspoon sat in his office on the phone patiently
listening to the orders being barked at him. He despised the person
he worked for yet it paid well and gave a free pass to him and his
team to cleanse the streets of undesirables. He sighed feeling
disappointed about James. He was the best clean up man he had seen
in recent years, but he had his instructions. Witherspoon hung up
the phone without saying a word. He stood to his feet, walked to
his door, ducked his head out, and called in Foster. Foster quickly
entered and closed the door.