The Dead Series (Book 2): Dead Is All You Get (14 page)

“And James Stanley,” he said. “How does he fit in?”

“He was my best friend.”

“Also having an affair with Missy?”

“No.”

“Interesting. Detective Van Gundy made some notes here saying that’s what you told him.”

“I lied.”

“I see. So no romantic triangle here.”

“No.”

“How did Mr. Stanley die?”

My instinct to avoid the truth came on strong, but I resisted. I was finished with lying. I decided to tell this fat clown what really happened that day. “Missy killed him with an axe, out of fear for her life. He’d turned, and he chased us through the forest. I panicked and hid inside a ranger station.”

“Where was she?”

“Outside. With him.”

“And you didn’t try to help her?”

“No.” My mouth tasted like copper, and I realized I’d bitten the inside of my cheek.

“Wow, that’s cold. I’ll bet she was screaming too. ‘Dave, help me! Help me, Dave!’ Am I right?” The son of a bitch was having fun with this.

“Something like that.”

“What happened next?”

“She found an axe and killed him?”

“And then?”

“She ran away. But Jim bit her, so … Eventually she turned, too.”

“Well, that sucks. So all in all, not a very good day for Melyssa Soldado.” He closed the file. “Let’s take a walk.”

He led me through the French doors into the patio. When his wife saw us, she gathered up the boys and took them inside through the kitchen. We made our way to a meticulously maintained garden. The mayor stared straight ahead as we walked.

“I’ll be straight with you, Dave. I think I have enough evidence to go to trial. I can prove that, by your own admission, you were with James Stanley and Melyssa Soldado at the time of Stanley’s death. I might not be able to get a conviction on first-degree murder, but I’m confident I can get the jury to find you guilty on an accessory charge. I’ll paint the picture as romantic in nature. I’m sure jealousy will come into play. And I might suggest something kinky. Juries love that.” He turned to me. “How does that sound?”

Rage boiled in me like hot lead. The mayor bent down and picked a few brown petals off his camellias. I wanted to stomp on his fat neck and beat him with one of his kids.

“What are you after?” I said.

He straightened up, brushed himself off and got up in my grill. I could smell the beer on his breath and, angry as I was, wished I had one.

“Stay out of my business,” he said.

“What business is that?”

He backhanded me hard across the face, his class ring busting my lip open. The stinging made my eyes water. It took me a second to refocus.

“I don’t have time for your games, Pulaski. You need to stay out of my way. Or you’ll be saying goodbye to that pretty little wife of yours.”

“Leave her out of it, or …”

“Or what? A lot of people are going to be arrested over the next few weeks and months. And we’ll process them as fast as we can. I have every intention of making your case a priority.”

“There’s no evidence,” I said.

He smiled with small, pointy teeth, his orange eyes gleaming. “Don’t be an idiot. It’s like I said. We’re all pitching in. Who knows? I might have to step in later and … comfort Holly. My boys over at the police station tell me she’s a looker.” He saw my balled-up fist and smiled. “That’s all I need to seal the deal. You taking a swing at me.”

He looked past me, and I turned to find Hannity walking towards me. The fact that my mouth was cut didn’t appear to faze him.

“I think we’re going to keep Mr. Pulaski under observation for now,” the mayor said, wiping off his ring with his handkerchief. “Give him a ride to the high school. I’m sure they miss him.”

“Yes, sir.”

As I followed the cop, the mayor called to me. I wanted to keep walking, but I stopped and glared at him.

“What we discussed?” he said. “That goes for your friends too.”

Instead of walking me to the police vehicle, Hannity escorted me through a side door into the detached garage. Inside was cold and dark.

“Why are we here?” I said. But I already knew.

The light came on. O’Brien stood a few feet across from me between a silver Volvo Cross Country and a candy apple red Audi R8.

“Hold him,” O’Brien said.

Hannity grabbed my upper arms from behind and thrust his foot between mine to brace me. I prepared myself for what was coming.

O’Brien stepped closer. “We need to make sure you don’t forget what the mayor said.”

O’Brien hit me solidly in the solar plexus. The wind went out of me, and I would have collapsed if Hannity hadn’t been propping me up. O’Brien hit me again. And again. I lost count how many times. I must have blacked out. When I awoke, my abdomen was on fire. The older cop was gone. Hannity tried getting me to my feet. I made it as far as my knees and vomited, the pain shooting straight up through the top of my head like a volcanic eruption.

Finally, Hannity got me to stand and walked me outside to the police cruiser, where I collapsed on the backseat.

O’Brien stayed behind and Hannity drove me. He kept eyeing me in the rear view mirror. I avoided his gaze. Finally, he spoke.

“You gotta understand, Pulaski,” he said. “The mayor has a lot on his plate. The governor breathing down his neck, the feds, Black Dragon. He wants what’s best for the community, is all.”

“So I should keep my mouth shut.”

“You should do like the rest of us and help get this community back on its feet.”

“Easy for you to say. You guys are not even from around here. What, did LA have a yard sale? Who are all those other cops?”

“A community is a community.”

“Sure. Can I ask you something? Did you ever lose someone?”

He hesitated. “My sister. Drunk driver.”

“Sorry. Well, we lost a lot of people too—good people. And now I come to find that the mayor might be involved. That’s why he’s threatening me, isn’t it? Doesn’t that kind of thing piss you off?”

The cop drove past the command center guard station and parked in front of the administration building. Turning around, he stared at me. “Yeah, it pisses me off. But I’m keeping my head down. It’s the only way to survive around here. The sooner you learn that, the better chance you’ll have to make it out of here alive.”

He got out and opened my door. I stood looking at the administration building, the people coming and going, the kids playing. I saw the community starting to thrive. Priorities. It was all about priorities. I felt lost.

When I got to my trailer, Holly and Warnick were waiting for me.

“Dave, are you okay?” she said, touching my swollen lip with her finger. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” I said, pushing her hand away. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

I found the sofa and sank into it, groaning from the pain. Holly unbuttoned my shirt and gasped at the massive red and purple bruising emanating from my abdomen.

“Oh, Dave, what did they do to you?”

“Taught me a lesson, apparently.”

Warnick stood in front of me. “Pederman wants to see you. I’ll tell him it can wait.”

“No,” I said. “I’ll see him.”

“You sure?”

“I’m coming with you,” Holly said, looking at Warnick.

We met Pederman in one of the conference rooms. He didn’t look happy to see the three of us.

“I thought this was going to be a private meeting,” he said.

“This concerns me too,” Holly said.

Pederman sighed, rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and disappointment. “I see they roughed you up.” He glanced down at what I guessed was a report. “Dave, why didn’t you tell me about the murder investigation?”

“Because I was never charged with anything. I didn’t think you needed to know.”

“Does this mean he’ll lose his job?” Holly said.

Pederman sank into a chair and sighed. “Well, the background check never turned up anything, so I think you’re fine. But, dammit, I need you to be honest with me. Any other secrets I should know about?”

“I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as Pederman digested this. Holly squeezed my hand. Finally, Pederman said, “You wouldn’t be the first.”

“Mr. Pederman,” I said. “How involved is Black Dragon with the mayor?”

“Well, originally he was the one who gave us the contract to restore order.”

“Is he involved in the day-to-day?”

“No. But I have to file a report once a week. Why?”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that he didn’t let the police handle this? I mean, they brought me to his house.”

“It is unusual.”

“Are you going to let us continue investigating Evie’s death?” Warnick said.

“I’m thinking the police should handle it.”

“Something tells me they would bury it,” I said.

Pederman turned to Warnick for confirmation.

Warnick cleared his throat. “We know it was Creasy who called the cops. In fact, he probably called the mayor directly. That’s why they grabbed Dave.”

“And it was the cops who beat him up,” Holly said.

Pederman threw the report across the room. “I hate this political bullshit!” Then to Warnick, “How many men do you need to continue this?”

“This unit should be enough—including Springer.”

“Look, I’ll give you more time, but I expect some concrete results. We have other priorities. We have to get this town ready to turn over to civilian control, asap.”

Pederman stopped me at the door on my way out. “How bad did they hurt you?”

“I’ll live,” I said.

We sat under a tree outside our trailer—Holly, Griffin, Warnick, Springer and me. My abdomen was throbbing—the ibuprofen hadn’t kicked in yet.

“The mayor belted me in the mouth,” I said. “Then he threatened me.”

“Was that before or after the cop worked you over?” Springer said.

“Before.”

Warnick got to his feet and began pacing. “So, are we to assume the mayor’s involved with Robbin-Sear?”

“Why not?” Holly said. “It could be something as simple as money.”

I touched my lip and winced. “Well, he did warn me to stop the investigation.”

“What if we do the opposite?” Springer said. “Find out everything we can about the operation.”

I looked at Warnick and Springer. I didn’t want to tell them, but I had to. “I’m going to stop.”

“Dude, you can’t,” Springer said.

As much as I hated the mayor, I was scared that he could actually do what he promised—get me out of the picture and assault Holly. It made me sick and I wanted no part of it. I had no plans to tell her what he’d said but I would do my best to keep her away from him.

“Look, this guy may be a sleaze, but he’s dangerous. And he’s got the cops working for him. He could ruin Holly and me. I can’t take that chance.” I put my arm around my wife.

“You sure this is what you want?” Warnick said.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m out too,” Holly said.

I got to my feet slowly. “You guys do what you want. But the mayor’s warning applies to you too.”

Springer laughed. “He ain’t got nothing on me. What do you say, Warnick? Do we go on?”

“No, let’s let it lie,” he said. “For now.”