Small Crimes (34 page)

'I
thought I was going to puke,' Tina volunteered.

'So,
chief,' Eric asked, 'where next?'

I
checked the clock on the dashboard. Kelley's would be just opening, but I
wanted to wait until after their lunch crowd. I also didn't want to hang around
Bradley any more than I had to. I had a feeling that Junior and his goons would
be looking for us.

'Why
don't we head back to your station? We can drop off the video, grab some lunch,
and then head out again.'

I
could see he was disappointed. He was still caught up in the rush of the
moment, but he saw the sense in what I was saying and didn't argue. The ride
back to Burlington seemed shorter. I guess we were all caught up in our own
thoughts. I kept playing back in my mind Tina announcing the station call
letters when we busted in on the crystal meth lab. It made me a little sick
thinking about it. Even though the call letters were in big bold print on the
camera, most likely none of them had the presence of mind to notice it. I
couldn't see any good coming from giving Junior that information. The more I
thought about it, the sicker I felt. All I could hope for was that he was in
the middle of eating something like a sausage sub when he heard the news, and
that it made him choke on it.

When
we got back to the station Eileen was waiting for us. She looked tense when she
asked Eric how things went. He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"This
guy was unbelievable,' he said. 'You should've seen him in action. God damn, it
was something.'

'His
information panned out?' she asked, her eyebrows rising in both relief and
surprise.

'Oh
yeah, I'd say so. Let me show you what I got.'

I
took a seat while the three of them crowded around a video monitor. A few other
people in the office joined them. When they were done, Eileen walked over to
me. 'So far so good,' she said.

I
shrugged. 'Have you heard from anyone about this?’

‘No.
Will I?'

'I
don't know. Your reporter yelled out your station's call letters while we were
there. I wish she hadn't done that.'

'You
think Vassey will come here guns a-blazin'?' she asked, her lips curving into
another thin smile. I didn't bother saying anything.

'I
heard things got rough in there,' she said.

'Not
really.'

'Not
really? I understand you almost choked a man to death.'

I
made a face while I shook my head. I think your people got a little too
excited. All I did was disable one of Vassey's boys while he was trying to
wrestle the video camera away from your cameraman. He was fine when I left
him.'

'I'm
thinking we have enough for tonight's story.'

She
was smiling, staring at me with her pale, almost translucent blue eyes, but she
flinched as I stared back. Her smile weakened as she looked away.

"The
story's only half done,' I said.

'I
think we have enough.'

'We
did the hard part. The rest is easy.'

She
didn't say anything.

'I
know this is Vermont. I know you're comfortable doing mostly stories about
leaves changing color, but you are a news station, right?'

She
met my stare again, smiling just enough to show her canines. 'That's right. I
remember eight years ago doing dozens of stories about a dirty cop who tried to
stab a district attorney to death.'

'Then
why not finish this story?'

Indecision
weakened her. 'We should get the police involved,' she said.

'We
won't have a story if we do that.'

'I
don't want to put my people in danger.'

'You
won't. There'll be plenty of bystanders where we're going next. Nothing's going
to happen there. I promise you that. We'll be in and out in five minutes.'

Eric
and Tina had wandered over. Eric, grinning widely, asked, 'Are we ready to rock
and roll?'

Eileen
halfheartedly nodded. Thin lines of worry creased her brow. She turned towards
the two of them. 'Be careful, okay?' she asked.

'Don't
worry about us,' Eric said, laughing. 'We got a killer here to protect us.'

When
we left, I suggested we use one of their cars instead of the van, and Eric
volunteered his Honda. First thing we did was drive a couple of blocks to a
sandwich shop and have lunch with the station picking up the bill. Then we
headed back towards Bradley.  _

I
was a little worried about running into Junior. I had no idea what he'd do if
he saw us. The only thing I knew for sure was I wouldn't put anything past him.
I felt some relief knowing he'd be looking for either my Mustang or the van. I
also knew he'd never expect us to head to Kelley's. Still, my nerves were on
edge. I tried to keep it to myself. I joked around and tried to appear at ease.
The last thing I needed were for the two kids with me to start panicking.

It
was forty minutes past one by the time we pulled into the parking lot at
Kelley's. A skinhead type with tattoos all along his neck and the side of his
face covered the front door. He did kind of a double-take when he saw us, not
quite believing what he was seeing.

As
I got closer he moved to block me. I turned him aside with some effort and
whispered in his ear, "This isn't worth getting your skull cracked open
for, is it?'

He
looked at the camera and then back at me, and I guess he decided it wasn't. He
stepped aside and let us pass.

The
place had maybe a dozen customers in it. Earl was behind the bar, and when he
spotted me he pulled out a cell phone and made a call. His eyes were focused on
me as he talked on the phone. I don't think he noticed Tina or Eric until they
were well into the club. His head tilted to the side as he tried to comprehend
what they were doing there.

I
moved quickly through the room, leading Tina and Eric towards the back area.
With some luck one of the private rooms would be in use. I nudged Eric and
pointed out the dancer on stage. She was completely naked and was staring at
us. She seemed disoriented, not quite sure whether to keep dancing or to get
off the stage.

'Get
a shot of her,' I told him. 'Vermont's a topless-only state. That's one
violation so far.'

Eric
stopped to shoot some video and then we kept moving.

When
we got past the curtains, I started trying the doors. The third one I tried was
locked. The doors were flimsy and were meant only for privacy. I doubted Earl
ever expected anyone to try breaking one down. I used my shoulder and the door
flew open on the first try. A middle-aged man was sitting on the carpeted bench
with his pants down to his ankles while a thin dark brunette straddled him as she*
bounced up and down. I had seen her dancing Saturday night. I remembered her
name was Cindy. She started to yell at us and then froze in mid-bounce when she
saw the camera and realized what was going on.

Tina
moved quickly, sticking a microphone in the brunette's face as Eric shot video
of it. She asked, 'You're performing sex acts for money here, is that right?'

The
brunette slid off the guy and tried to cover herself. The guy on the bench
looked like he was going to have a
heart attack,

I
pointed out to Tina a small container and a cocaine spoon next to him on the
bench.

'What's
that?' she asked me.

'Cocaine.'

Then,
to the brunette, she said, 'Where did you get the cocaine from?'

'I'm
not saying anything,' the brunette muttered as she scrambled to get back into a
pair of hot pants.

Tina
turned to the guy lying prone in front of us. 'How much did you pay for these
sex acts? And how much for the cocaine?'

He
rolled over on his side and tried to hide his face. 'Leave me out of this,
please. I have a wife, for God's sake:'

I
heard some noise from behind. I grabbed Tina. She tried to shake me off, but I
got her turned around and heading towards the curtains. Eric followed behind
us.

'I
had more questions,' she started to complain, and then she saw Earl moving
towards us with a baseball bat.

'I
don't know what you thought you were going to do here, Joe, but you're fucking
nuts,' he said.

'We're
leaving,' I said. 'Just get out of our way.'

'No,
I don't think so.' I could see that vein on his neck beating like crazy and his
eyes shining with murder. 'Your two friends here ain't going anywhere with that
camera, and you're not going anywhere period.'

'We
don't want any trouble, Earl.'

He
laughed at that. 'You got a sense of humor, Joe, I'll give you that.' Then he
brought the bat back so he could knock the camera - and maybe Eric's head along
with it - across the room. I dove for his knees trying to tackle him. Hitting
him was like hitting a concrete block, but I knocked him back a few feet. He
was able to stay on his feet but he swung off balance and missed Eric by a
foot.

'Fucking
asshole,' he swore. I was scrambling to get to my feet when he whacked me
across the shoulders with the bat.
I
could
see out of the corner of my eye that he swung with one hand and was off
balance, but it still hurt like hell and dropped me back to my knees. He
stepped forward and kicked me hard in the ribs, knocking me back on the floor.
He brought his foot back for another kick, but before he could deliver it there
was a dull thud and then a glass crashing next to me.

I
looked up and saw that Earl had his hand up to his eye as blood seeped through
his fingers. His face was beet red when he turned towards Tina, an open gash
along the side of his eye. He glared at her for only a second before turning
back to me, but it was all the time
I
needed.
I grabbed a piece of the broken glass and drove upward with it, driving it
between his legs. He screamed and reached down, but I knocked his hand away and
kept pushing upward. Blood was getting all over my hand.
I
wasn't sure whether it was his or mine, but I kept shoving
the broken glass into him. He fell over. I let go then and watched as he
writhed on the floor, moaning and grabbing at his wound. Then I got to my feet.

I
looked around. The girl who had been dancing onstage was standing naked,
looking on in horror. All at once she put her hands to her face and started
screaming. Milling around were all the club patrons, staring at us, trying to
decide what to do. Tina looked like she was in shock. Eric was next to her,
shaking his head as he muttered to himself ;how unbelievably incredible the
whole thing was. I grabbed Tina by the arm. 'Let's get out of here,' I told
her. She didn't seem capable of anything, but once I started dragging her, her
legs moved on their own. One of the patrons, a heavyset bearded guy in a
flannel shirt and overalls, tried to stop me. I shoved an open palm into his
chin and he staggered back. After that no one else tried anything. My side hurt
like hell. I figured Earl cracked one of my ribs, but

I
kept moving and dragging Tina with me. By the time Tina and I reached the exit
Eric came to life and sprinted after us. As we got out of there I could still
hear the dancer screaming her head off.

'We
better get moving,' I told Eric. He fumbled for his car keys and dropped them a
couple of times before he got the door opened. He was shaking like a leaf.

'Holy
shit,' he said. 'Damn. I wish I had taken video of that.'

My
hand stung. I looked down and realized I had more than just Earl's blood on me.
My hand had been sliced open by the broken glass. I took my shirt off and
wrapped it around the wound.

Are
you okay?' Eric asked.

'I
sliced my hand with the glass. I'm going to need stitches.'

'There's
a hospital in Bradley,' he said. 'Let me take you to the emergency room.'

'No
thanks, just get out of here. You can take me to a hospital in Burlington.'

Tina
seemed to wake up from the back seat. 'We should call the police.'