Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [reading in the dark TXT] 📗

beers and a couple of rums at Teddy’s, and I know he don’t like people smokin’ there, even outside dude, especially if you’re smokin’ weed, know what I’m sayin’? But I knew there was this nice place down by the river, where I took you the other day, and I knew the fence was always open. Hell.” He laughed. “Maybe it was me who broke the fence, I don’t remember. Sometimes my memory fails. So I went down there, like I told you, to smoke a joint and chill and look up at the stars, man. You can get a whole new perspective on life when you do that. Lookin’ up at infinity that way. So, when he come down with the chick, I recognized him, and I recognized the chick he had been talking to just the night before, tellin’ her all about how his daddy was in the movies. In TV, CBS, or NBC or some shit, man. He was gonna get her a job. An’ he’s workin in a fuckin’ bar, dude—but hey! He’s just workin’ his way through college because he is a really independent kind of guy!” He laughed. “And she is buyin’ the whole thing. Women is fuckin’ stupid sometimes, dude. No two ways about that.

“They come down the path, and I recognized him, and I recognized her, and I could not believe my eyes. I swear to God. I know I should have done something, man. I shouldn’a done what I did, I know that and I ain’t proud of that. But, dude, I was stoned and the whole thing was just like, surreal, man. I’m lyin’ there watchin’ this thing goin’ down and I’m like, dude, that is Jimmy there, man! And he is killin’ that bitch! He was like crazy about that chick, and he’s like, sitting on her and he’s kissin’ her like he’s trying to fuckin’ eat her, man!” He stared at me for a long time, then blinked, once, very slowly. “And, by the time I kind of came down—you know what I’m sayin’? and I’m thinkin’ woah, you know, like what just happened?—she’s already dead, and the cops are on the river with their lights, and he’s runnin’.”

I studied his face for a while, wondering what to ask him first. Finally I said, “Jimmy?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, man, Jimmy Fillmore. I won’t never forget that name.”

“So he ran or he didn’t run, Wayne?”

He smiled and nodded. “I know, dude. We was negotiating, and I ain’t gonna show all my hand, right? He ran. When him and the boat was gone, I put my leather on…”

I sighed and sat forward, with my elbows on the table. “You did what?”

“Oh, you know? It was a nice night, but that spot where I was layin’? It’s got like stones and stuff, and them little prickly weeds. But I like it ’cause when the cops come down the river, they can’t see you. That’s why Jimmy had to run, right? So anyhow, I put on my leather and I went to have a look. And I’m thinkin’ goddamn, man! He went and killed her! And I’m gonna call the cops. Truly, but then I thought, ‘Wayne, don’t be stupid, if you call the cops they are gonna pin this on you as sure as your name is Wayne Harris.’ So I thought I’d get me some insurance, and I collected up her shit and I buried it where I showed you.”

“Insurance against what, Wayne?”

He laughed. “Are you kiddin’ me? Have a look around, dude! I have one of those faces. Cops look at me and they say, ‘That boy’s guilty as hell! I don’t know what he’s done, but he is guilty of somethin’!’ And here we are. Ain’t it a good job I took out my insurance policy when I did?”

“Isn’t it just. So where can I find this Jimmy Fillmore?”

He stared at me for a long moment from under hooded eyes. “You got a pen?”

I reached in my pocket and pulled out my pen. He lifted his wrists and showed me the manacles. I called in the guards and asked them to un-cuff him. They released his hands and he took the pen from me, then studied the document. When they had gone, he said, “So what is your recommendation going to be, Stone?”

I thought it through, finally I said, “Can you give me Jimmy’s location?”

“If I can?”

I shrugged. I had no choice. I said, “If you can, the DA will give you your release.”

He signed the papers and handed them back to me. I signed them too.

“He’s workin’ at a bar on Lafayette and Longfellow. It’s a respectable café, you know what I’m sayin’? But the girls go in there for coffee and the dealers go in for a pie, from time to time. So if you’re lookin’ for somethin’, well maybe you’ll get lucky if you drop in at Eva Maria’s Café.” He pointed his finger at me like a gun again, only this time he wasn’t manacled. “I’ll tell you one thing for sure, Detective Stone, you get Jimmy’s prints, you gonna find them on Angela’s purse, maybe his DNA too. You should get a sample.”

I gave him his copy of the deal and stood. “Thanks for the advice.”

I called the guard and as the door clanged open, Wayne said, “Hey, Stone.”

I turned.

“What I told you is for real, man. I ain’t a bad guy.”

I turned and left.

FOURTEEN

Dehan was waiting for me when I got out. She had her ass on the trunk and her arms crossed over her chest. She had her hair tied up and her shades on and she looked beautiful and unhappy. She watched me approach and when I was a couple of feet away I handed her the file with the deal in it and