Small Crimes (36 page)

'We've
been looking for you all day,' Jamie whispered in my ear. Then I took another
shot to the ribs. The pain exploded in me. And then everything went black. I
felt a sensation of being picked up and thrown. And then nothing.

Chapter 20

I
couldn't have been out for more than a couple of minutes. At least, I don't
think so. When I came to I was in the back seat. Duane was next to me, a hard
smirk on his face as he stuck a nine-millimeter automatic into my side. Jamie
was up front driving.

'Look
who just woke up,' Duane said, his voice just above a whisper.

'Have
a nice nap?' Jamie asked, chuckling to himself.

Duane
shoved the gun harder into my side. 'It's not polite to ignore a civil
question,' he said, his smirk tightening on his face.

Softly,
because of the pain, I said, 'Yeah, I had a nice peaceful nap. Thanks. How's
your head?'

A
lot better than your ribs,' Jamie said. 'By the way, we're not here for any
collections, but you probably know that.'

'You
want to guess what we're here for?' Duane said, his mouth inches from my ear.
His breath smelled like raw sewage.

'Did
you watch the news tonight?' I asked.

'It
don't matter,' Duane said in a soft whisper. 'It's not going to change what's
going to happen tonight.'

Jamie
chuckled to himself over some private joke. Then he said, 'Mr. Vassey's waiting
for you. He bought himself a new butcher's apron for the occasion.'

I
closed my eyes and tried to think. I knew Junior's order was to bring me back
alive, and I knew Duane would be slow pulling the trigger. The gun was mostly
for show, he'd use it only if he had to. I had nothing to lose so I took my
chance.

I
doubled over and grabbed my side. I think you broke my ribs,' I moaned.

'Ain't
that a shame,' Jamie said, chuckling harder. Duane joined in, his body
convulsing lightly with amusement. I had my elbow drawn in as I was clutching
my side. I whipped it around as hard as I could and caught Duane under his
chin. His head snapped back and I pushed the gun away with my bandaged hand
while I punched him with my good one. The problem was because of my ribs I couldn't
get a hard enough blow in, otherwise I would've knocked him out and had his
gun. Instead he was able to fight back.

'Goddam
it!' Jamie swore. Tires squealed and the car swerved to a stop. From the corner
of my eye I saw Jamie's gun swinging towards my head. I moved, but not fast
enough to avoid it. It ended up being more of a glancing blow. It didn't knock
me out, but it slowed me down enough for Duane to pull his gun away from me. He
hit me hard across the side of my face with its barrel, opening a gash under my
cheek. He was breathing hard, his eyes blind with rage as he brought his gun
back up again. But the orders were to bring me back alive. Reluctantly he got
himself under control.

'You
okay, Duane?' Jamie asked.

'Yeah,
I'm okay. This goddam piece of shit.' Then to me, 'I'll be with you all night
tonight, watching. I promise you that.'

I
only had that one shot. That was all. There was nothing else left in me. My
abdominal muscles were spasming so bad I couldn't breathe. For a moment I
thought I was going to suffocate because of it. It seemed to take minutes
before my muscles relaxed enough so I could gasp in air again. Then I fell back
into my seat and closed my eyes. There was nothing else I could do. As I sat
there I could feel blood dripping down the side of my face. Duane leaned over,
his sour breath almost making me gag. During the rest of the trip he whispered
in my ear, telling me in great detail everything they were going to do to me.

When
the car stopped, I opened my eyes and saw we were at the side entrance to
Junior's house. He must've been waiting for us because he barreled out of the
side door and came at us at a jog.

'Hey,
Joe, glad you could make it!' he yelled.

Duane
pulled me out of the back seat, and before I knew it Jamie was on the other
side of me. The two of them were dragging me towards the house, and I just
hobbled along, unable to do anything about it.

Junior
had caught up to us and was standing in front of me. 'You think you can pull
that shit on me and get away with it?' he asked, breathing hard from his jog.
An ugly grin broke across his face. 'Whatsa matta, nothing to say anymore?'

He
brought his fist back and punched me in the stomach. It doubled me over. At
that split second I both heard a rifle shot and saw half of Jamie's bandaged
head fly away. He toppled over like timber that had been cut. Junior stared at
him wide eyed and then dove to the ground. I fell over and twisted myself
around so I could look behind me. In the moonlight I could see a rifle barrel
coming out of the bushes about forty yards away. Duane had his nine-millimeter
out and was firing towards it. An orange flame shot out of the rifle barrel,
cutting Duane just about in half, but he kept firing as he fell. He must've hit
something because a dull moan escaped from the bushes and the rifle fell.

Junior
was lying just a few feet from me, his ugly face frozen in fear. I scrambled on
top of him and started punching him flush in the face with my good hand. If I
hadn't been weakened by my ribs I would've killed him. Instead I only knocked
him out. I gave him a few more shots and then crawled off him.

It
took me a while to get to my feet. Both Duane and Jamie were about as dead as
you could be. I hobbled over to the bushes and got down on my hands and knees
to see who it was. I was surprised to find Scott Ferguson lying there. He had
taken a bullet to the chest. He was still alive, but just barely.

I
asked him who he was trying to kill, me or Junior.

His
breathing was labored, coming out in short violent gasps. His index finger
signaled for me to come closer. It took some effort because of my ribs, but I
leaned forward and put my ear against his mouth.

'Fuck
you,' he said.

I
think he died then. I looked around and saw a shell casing on the ground. I
picked it up and saw that it was a seven-millimeter.

He
must've been there for Junior. Maybe when he saw me he decided to kill both of
us. Maybe he decided Junior and I were in on Billy's death together. It was
probably something like that, but the only thing I knew for sure was if I
hadn't doubled over my head would been blown apart instead of Jamie's.

I
wiped off the shell casing with my shirt and dropped it back on the ground.

Nobody
had bothered coming out of Junior's house. Most likely he had sent his wife and
kids away for the night. His nearest neighbor was at least a quarter-mile away,
but there was a good chance somebody heard the gunshots and called the police.
I wanted to get out of there before they showed up.

I
started towards Jamie's car, moving as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast.
I was still twenty yards away when I saw the lights flashing. I stood frozen,
watching as a sheriff s car pulled up to me. Hal Wheely got out of it. His eyes
narrowed as he looked around him.

'Get
down on your knees and put your hands on your head,' he ordered.

'Hal,
I can explain this.'

He
had his gun out, pointing it at me. 'I'm not telling you again,' he said.

I
did as he told me. He pulled my arms behind me and slapped cuffs on my wrists.
Then he yanked me to my feet.

I
hobbled along as he dragged me to his car. When I tried stopping at the rear
door, he shook his head. I didn't catch on until he opened his trunk.

'You're
kidding,' I said.

But
I knew he wasn't, and I knew I had no other choice, so I got in.

Chapter 21

I
must've been in that trunk for hours. At first it was unbearable. Every bounce
felt like a knife ripping into my side. Then my arms and legs started cramping.
At some point I must've gotten used to the pain. I had to've because I dozed
off. Or maybe I blacked out. In either case, I was gone. Next thing I knew Hal
was slapping me in the face and dragging me out of the trunk.

We
were in the middle of the woods somewhere. As Wheely dragged me to. the front
of the car I could make out a cabin to the left of us. He pushed me onto a dirt
path that led to the cabin.

'Hal,'
I said, my voice coming out as barely a whisper, 'this doesn't make any sense
anymore. It's over.'

'Will
you just shut up,' he snapped.

'Did
you see the news tonight?'

'Just
shut your face!'

He
shoved me hard from behind* sending me flopping to the ground. I almost ended
up being dragged the rest of the way to the cabin. When we got inside he pushed
me over to a wood stove and then used another pair of handcuffs to cuff my
right ankle to the stove.

'Unless
you can gnaw through bone you're not getting out of there,' he said, showing me
a dead smile. 'Will you listen to me, Hal?'

He
shook his head and left the cabin.

I
was alone for maybe twenty minutes when the door opened and Dan Pleasant and
Wheely walked in.

'Jesus,
Dan,' I croaked out. "This is all over now. You don't have to do this.'

'How
is this all over?' he asked.

'Did
you watch the news tonight?'

'Yeah,
I watched it. I have to give you credit, Joe, you did a good job screwing us
over royally.'

I
tried talking, but started coughing instead. My throat was so damn dry. I tried
again. "That's not why I did it. Phil can't make a deal with Manny now.'

'He
can't, huh? Why not?'

'It
would be political suicide.'

His
thin smile disappeared as he stared at me. "That's your problem, Joe. You
have to make things so damn complicated. You didn't do shit tonight. Phil was
politically dead when he was caught in that motel room with that hooker.
Nothing you did is going to stop him from making a deal with Manny.'

'Dan,
you're wrong,' I said, but as I thought about it I realized he wasn't.

'You
don't look so sure of yourself anymore, Joe,' he said. He turned to Wheely.
'Does he Hal?' I watched as Wheely slowly shook his head. Then to me, 'Damn it,
Joe, I gave you so many chances and you just kept screwing me and lying to me
about it. And after everything I did for you? Goddam it!'

He
handed Wheely a flashlight. 'Shine this on him, okay, Hal?' As Wheely shined
the light on me, Dan took my picture with a digital camera. He seemed satisfied
with the results and put the camera back in its case.

'What
are you going to do with that picture?' I asked, my voice now a bare whisper.

'Maybe
I'll tell you later,' he said. His pleasant smile came

back
as he looked at me. 'I can't promise you anything, Joe. The only thing I can
tell you now is that I'm going to keep you alive until morning. What happens
then, we'll see. Now why don't you tell me what happened at Junior's house?’

‘Why
don't we trade?'

'Sorry,
it's not going to work that way. Now Joe, I'll tell you, I'd like nothing more
right now than to kick the living hell out of you. But I'm going to restrain
myself, at least as long as you're cooperating with me. So what happened at
Junior's?'

I
tried to answer him but I couldn't, my voice was gone. I tried to croak out
that I needed water. He looked annoyed. 'Hal, can you get him some water?'

Wheely
left the cabin. I heard a car door open and close, and then he came back with a
water bottle. He let me have a few sips, just enough so I could talk.

'Two
of his boys picked me up outside of WVRT. They were going to torture me in
Junior's playroom. I guess Scott Ferguson had gotten it in his head that Junior
and I were responsible for his brother Billy's murder.'

My
voice cracked on me and Wheely gave me a couple more sips. I cleared my throat
and tried again.