Now that my new book, The Bachelor Party is out, I thought that this would be a good time to post a short story about Jack Roscoe. This is the kind of story that you can expect from a Jack Roscoe murder mystery.
I lined up the white ball with the eight ball to the corner pocket, drew the cue back, then took the shot. The white ball hit the eight ball and it rolled to the corner pocket, stopping right on the edge of the pocket. Christ.
I looked up at my friend, Scott Campbell and shook my head. He ran his hand through his brown hair, walked around to the center of the table, lined up the white ball with the eight ball, hit is slowly, watching the eight ball go in the side pocket.”
“Nice try Jack.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were lucky to win that one.”
“Want another game?”
I took out my wallet, gave Scott $20. “Some other time. I need work on my game.”
“You always do.”
“Shut up.”
“Just having fun with you. Next round is on me.”
“Sure. I’ll have a Jack and Coke.”
He smiled and walked over to the bar. Then I heard a voice. “Are you Jack Roscoe?”
I turned and looked at the man. He was taller than me, about 6-6, short curly dark hair, with a high forehead and bushy eyebrows, and beneath that dark eyes, and beneath that a small nose, and beneath a beard that wrapped around his mouth.
“Yeah.”
“I recognized you from the picture. You put Mike Verducci, Claudio Balducci’s right hand man in prison for murdering that baseball player.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“So, how would you like to help me nail a mobster?”
I narrowed my eyes, gazing at him. “You want me to help you nail a mobster?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would you want to do something like that?”
“Can we sit at a table?”
“Sure.”
I walked over to a table, sat down, watched as he sat across from me. “My name is Roy Collins. Look, here’s the thing. I need a bodyguard. I’ll pay you $5,000.”
I nodded my head, smiled. This should be a winner. “When do I get the money?”
“After I collect it from the mobster?”
“How much are you going to collect?”
“$300,000.”
“Really. So I just go down there and you get the money and that’s it.”
“Yep.”
“And why would this mobster give you $300,000.”
“I saw him beat up a blond haired woman. Then he shot her in the head. I have a few pictures.”
I clasped my hands behind my head. “So what you’re telling me is that you’re blackmailing this mobster?”
“That’s right.”
Oh for Christ Sakes. Please tell me that this is a dream and I’m going to wake up.
“So, are you interested/”
Of course, I could say no, but then this guy would leave and get himself killed. So I had a better idea. “Sure. Why not. I have nothing better to do.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. Just let me go to a pay phone” - I stood up - “and call my office manager.”
“She’s still working?” He looked at his watch. “It’s 6:30.”
“Sure. She loves her job. I pay her overtime to work until 9pm. Business is slow.”
“Okay. Don’t you have a cell phone?”
“Nah. Can’t afford it.”
“Okay. I’ll wait right here.”
Yeah, wait right at the table you stupid moron. I can’t believe that this idiot is trying to blackmail a mobster. I walked to the pay phone booth and closed the door. Then I dialed the police, asked for my best friend, Joe Nolan, chief of homicide detectives.
“Joe. It’s me.”
“Oh no,” Joe replied. “What the hell did you do now?”
“Now is that anyway to greet your best friend.”
“I’m still trying to get through all the complaints that I get about you.”
“Ah come one, I’ve got a good one. A real live one.”
“I’m listening.”
“I have this guy at a table. Witnessed a murder. Said that a blond woman was killed.”
“Really.”
“And here’s the best part. He saw a mobster do it and he has pictures.”
“You’re kidding. You have the pictures. Who is the mobster?”
“Well, I don’t have the pictures yet.”
“What do you mean, Jack?”
I bit my lower lip. “Well, to tell you the truth, he wants to blackmail the mobster. So the mobster agreed to pay him $300,000.”
There was silence at the other end. I imagined Joe putting his hand over his temples and shaking his head. He tends to do that when I’m around.
“Jack, are you playing pool and drinking at Willie’s tavern?”
“Yeah.”
“Have a nice night?”
“Come on Joe. You gotta believe me. Would I lie about something like this?”
“That’s true. All right. This better be on the level. Keep him there and I’ll send a squad car to pick him up. Then we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Great. Thanks.”
I hung up the phone, opened the booth and walked back to the table. Roy stood up and started to leave.
“Hey, wait for me,” I said.
“You must think I’m real stupid.”
“Nah. You’re a genius. Who else would come up with the idea of blackmailing the mob. Let’s play some pool now. If I win, I get $10,000. How does that sound?”
“You called the police.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that. They don’t even like me. I called my office manager.”
“You talked to her for a long time.”
“I told her I wanted to go out with her. We argued.”
He started to walk faster and I walked towards him. “Have a nice night,” he said.
“Don’t do this. You’re gonna get yourself killed.”
He opened the door and ran down the block. I ran after him and watched him get into a cab. Then the cab drove by me and turned on to Main Street. Oh for Christ Sake.
The next morning, the phone rang. I looked at my digital clock and saw that it was 6:33. I threw the covers over my head and the phone rang again. I grabbed it, brought the phone under the cover and put it to my ear. “You got the wrong number.”
“Jack, don’t pull that trick on me,” Joe said. “It doesn’t work.”
“Okay. Look, I’m real tired. I’m sorry that I couldn’t catch the moron. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Jack, you stay on this phone until I tell you to get off.”
What a grouch. “It’s 6:34.”
“And I want you over at 15 Delancey Street in Apartment 4B at 7:30. How does that sound?”
“Why?”
“I want you to identify a body. I think it’s that guy that you told me about last night. He’s dead.”
I threw the covers off and sat up. “Great. Wonderful. You know, I didn’t help this guy and now I gotta get up early and identify him.”
“Jack, just come over here and get this over with. His sister’s here and she doesn’t believe a word I’m telling her.”
“Fine.”
“You can still get to your office at 9:00.”
“Are you kidding? Linda is there at 8:30. I don’t show up until 10:30.”
“The life of a boss. Now get down here. Okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”
I heard the dial tone and put the phone back on the receiver. “Why do I have to deal with all the nuts?”
Half an hour later, I knocked on the door and a woman opened for me. She stood in the frame and pressed her lips together. In high heels, she was about 6-0, with blond hair and blue eyes, large breasts that seemed to be pushing out of the fabric of her white blouse, and long shapely legs in white nylons. “Are you Jack Roscoe?”
I yawned and nodded my head. “Yeah.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull” - she pressed her lips together - “but I’m really upset about all this.”
“Yeah. So am I. I’ve been up since 6:30.”
“And I’ve been up since 5:00,” she yelled. “I have a lot of cases and depositions to deal with.”
Wonderful. She’s a lawyer. “Don’t let me stand in your way. I’ll just go home and get back to bed.”
“Just get in here. I want to know if you were with my brother last night.”
“You know what. I wasn’t there. I made the whole story up. Now I’m going home.” I turned and walked away.
“Jack, get in here?” Joe demanded.
I turned and saw him in the frame next to the woman. He was taller than her, with an ebony complexion. His eyes were dark, his body filled out his suit like a football player.
“Say please.”
“Jack.”
“All right. All right.” I walked inside and Joe shut the door.
“Jack, this is Amanda Collins.”
I nodded my head and looked at Roy. He was lying on a couch with two bullets in his chest. His eyes were closed and his dark shirt was stained with blood.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Thank you,” Joe said.
“I don’t believe this,” the woman said.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe that he would even talk to me about this.”
“Why didn’t you stop him?” she demanded.
I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows. “Well, I thought about shooting him in the leg but obviously, that would have been a problem. Then I would have called the hospital. Ask for health insurance….”
“You know, I don’t like your attitude.”
“Well, I don’t like lawyers. Then again, who does?”
“Why the hell would my brother even come to see you?”
“He said that he read about me in the papers. He could have called my office and my office manager probably told him that I was down in Willie’s.”
“What do you do, stay there all day?”
“Yeah. I play a lot of pool. My office manager meets all the clients. I can take you over to her apartment and you could meet her and her big dog, a German Shepard named Rufus. Maybe we can catch her before she feeds him.”
“You’re so obnoxious.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I thought all lawyers were like that. Trying to make you feel at home in the courtroom.”
“Will you two cut this out already?” Joe yelled.
“Fine,” she said.
“Can I go home now?” I said. “I’m really tired. And I don’t have to be in until 10:30.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
The blond woman ran her hand through her hair, put her hands on her hips. “Hey, wait a minute. This is crazy. My brother wouldn’t know a mobster from a hole in the wall. And I still don’t understand why he went to see you.”
“Jack Roscoe is a private detective,” Joe said. “He has a reputation for putting a lot of mobsters in jail. Even though he’s a jerk, I have to say that he does a good job at what he does.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” I replied. “I think.”
“Well, he is a jerk.”
“Like I said, anything to make you feel like you’re in a courtroom.”
Her eyes crept to the ceiling and her nostrils flared. “Okay. You’re a private detective. I’d like to hire you to find my brother’s killer.”
“Oh for Christ Sakes.”
Joe laughed, patted me on the back. “I’ll leave you two alone. Try not to fight.”
“I’m leaving too,” I said.
“Hey, wait a minute. I said that I want to hire you.”
“Look. Your brother did something really stupid. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “So, you’re scared?”
“Reverse psychology doesn’t work with me. I’m a very busy man and I don’t work for lawyers.”
She put her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together. “Oh really. Now you wait a minute. That’s discrimination. Do you know that I can sue you for that. Fine. Walk out of here. I’ll see you in court.”
“Okay. I’ll look into it.”
“That’s more like it.”
I nodded my head and looked at her blue eyes. “Now you listen to me. You want me to do this, then I’ll do it. But if we’re working together, then I don’t want you using the word lawsuit. I know that it’s probably the biggest word in your vocabulary along with settlement or a million dollars and terms like let’s run the company out of business and let’s do everything we can to get our client off or I’ll see you in court. When you talk to me, you stay away from words and terms like that. Got it?”
She nodded her head yes, licking her lips. “You’re a real comedian.”
“Joe thinks so.”
“No I don’t, Jack.” He turned and walked out of the room.
“All right. Does your brother have any friends? You know what that word means, right?”
“Knock it off already. He has a girlfriend. Here name is Sara Hamilton. She lives down the block. She was here earlier with her brother.”
“Fine. I’ll start with her. Anyone else?”
“He’s a freelance photographer. Had a few shows in Soho. He’s been struggling.
“Okay. I’ll contact you. And I promise to give you an accurate hourly report. If you want, my office manager will even put down when I went to the bathroom. The last thing I want is for you to think that I over billed you?”
“This isn’t funny anymore.”
“Hey, if there is a problem, I understand. I’ve been fired before.”
“Look, I didn’t get along with my brother all that well.”
“That’s a surprise.”
“I know he isn’t all that smart but this is too strange to believe. Something is wrong here. He doesn’t know anything about mobsters.”
“All right. I said I would look into it.”
“Thank you. And no more lawyer jokes. They’re not funny.”
“Oh, come on. Some of them are hilarious. Here’s one. Bernie Madoff and a lawyer run into traffic. Who gets hit by a car first?”
“Who cares Mr. Roscoe?”
“Okay. You knew that one already. I got another one….”
“Just find the person who killed my brother.”
“Fine.” I turned, walked out of the room and saw Joe in the hallway. He took a stick of gum out of his mouth, unwrapped it, stuck it in his mouth, and chewed on it. “Did you enjoy yourself?” I asked.
“Yep. You know, for once, you were pretty funny.”
“Well, now that I’m stuck with this case, would you please give me Sara Hamilton’s address?”
“Yeah. Don’t expect to get far with her though. She said that she doesn’t know anything.”
“Fine.”
An hour later, I knocked on the door of Sara’s apartment and the door opened. She was shorter than me, about 5-5, with short black hair that fell over her ears, dark eyes covered by black rimmed glasses and a small aquiline nose. “Yes.”
“My name is Jack Roscoe. Can I talk to you about Roy Holmes?”
She looked at the ground and her hands shook. “Look, I answered questions from the police already.”
“I know. But I’d really like to find out who murdered him?”
The door opened wider and a man towered over Sara. He was taller than me, about 6-5, with brown hair that was cut shorter than mine, a jagged scar on his forehead, brown eyes, and a beard that wrapped around his mouth. “Who the hell are you?” He said with a small southern accent.
“I’m a private detective. I’m looking into the murder of Roy Holmes.”
“From what I heard, some mobster killed him. What the hell does this have to do with my sister?”
“I just want to see if she knew anything about what happened.”
“We already talked to the police,” the man said. “Does my sister look like she hangs around with mobsters?”
“No.”
“Look, why don’t you get the hell out of here” - he stroked his jaw with his thumb and forefinger - “before I throw you down the stairs and kick your ass out the door.”
I put my hands on my hips and looked into his eyes. “You’d have a very difficult time doing that with a broken arm. And you would have to spend time picking all your teeth up from the floor with the other arm.”
“You wanna start something?”
“Just say the word.” I replied.
“Please, no fighting,” Sara said.
“Okay,” the man said. “You’re lucky my sister is here.”
I took my wallet out of my jacket pocket, grabbed a card, put it in her hand. “My address is on it if you want to come down and talk later.” Then I looked at him and said “You’re welcome to come down alone this afternoon. Be more than happy to settle this in the parking lot. I think I would enjoy it.”
“You got a big mouth,” the man said.
“And I got a big fist to match.”
“Maybe I will come down.”
“Just make sure that it’s after lunch.”
“Come on Billy, let’s go inside.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said.
She turned and shut the door. I should have punched that guy out. What a creep.
20 minutes later, I stepped into my office. My secretary, Linda Lopez, stood next to a filing cabinet going through some files. She was shorter than me with long auburn hair that framed her cocoa complexion. She wore a blue skirt that was just above her knees and matching jacket. She turned to see me and smiled.
“Wow, you’re early,” she replied. Her voice was low, sultry, husky.
I looked at her long legs in those black nylons as she walked back to her desk. She probably knew that I was looking at her legs.
“Working on a case,” I said.
“Well, somebody called here three times looking for you. Wouldn’t leave a message. Just said that they would call back.”
“Okay.”
“So, who hired you?”
“A lawyer.”
She raised her eyebrows and leaned against her desk. I looked at her dark eyes and my throat went dry.
“I thought that we didn’t work for lawyers.”
“She said she would sue me.”
She laughed, sat on a metal chair, crossed her legs. Christ, doesn’t she even know what she does to guys like me.
“Guess it had to happen. I’m glad you’re getting more work. Why did she hire you?”
“Her brother was blackmailing a mobster. He got killed doing it.”
She put her hands on her knees, swinging her legs. “Sounds like a nut case.”
“Yeah. I really didn’t want the case. But now we’re stuck with it. So, if she calls, just tell her wait for me to call her. Don’t put any of her calls through. Let her fire me if she doesn’t like it.”
“That’s silly.”
“So what.”
“Jack, her brother was killed. She’s paying your fee.”
“We don’t need the work. And her brother was killed because he was an idiot.”
“I’m still going to put her calls through.”
“So, you won’t listen to your boss.”
“Nope.”
“Isn’t that grounds for dismissal?”
“You won’t fire me. I do a better job than any secretary that you had. And deep down, I know you’re a nice person and you like me. For the work that I do, that is.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You’re digging pretty deep though. All the way to China.”
“No. I’m not. I like you. My family likes you. And Rufus likes you.”
“Yeah. Just give him a dog biscuit and he’ll be your best friend.”
“It’s not funny after 100 times.”
“I think it is.”
“Fine. Now go into your office and do some work.”
“Can I go home at 5:00?”
“I guess so. It would be nice to see you here at 9:00.”
“I’ll think about it.” I walked inside my office, sat down in front of my computer and turned it on. I turned and looked at Linda as she went through the mail. What a gorgeous woman. I can’t believe that I got her to work for me. And she always dresses up in skirts that are just above the knee and tight blouses and sweaters. That’s from working in an advertising agency. I could tell her that she can dress casually but then I say to myself Jack Roscoe, are you nuts?
I saw the Windows menu come up and went to Yahoo to play some pool. Then I thought of Billy and I shook my head. Why didn’t he want me to talk to Sara? I mean, being a jerk comes naturally to him but I just didn’t like the guy. That scar on his forehead makes me wonder if he was in some kind of fight. Maybe in prison. I heard the phone ring and Linda picked up. Then she pushed a button on her phone and I was on the speaker.
“Hi. It’s Joe Nolan.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I picked up the phone and put the receiver to my ear. “So, anything new?”
“Yeah. We found a blond haired woman on the beach. Shot in the head. Angie Sayers. She was a prostitute.”
“You think this is the woman that Roy saw?” I asked.
“She hung around with a lot of mobsters. Could be? We’re looking into it. Hopefully, we’ll find out who was with her last night.”
“Well, I tried to question Sara but I met another guy. He looks like trouble a mile away.”
“Yeah, we had a tough time with him. That’s her cousin. And when I got back to the office, I did a check on his records. He’s a pretty nasty individual.”
I wiped the perspiration off my forehead and leaned back in my chair. “Why am I not surprised.”
“This is interesting. Get this. Guy comes from South Carolina. Name is Billy Drummond. He beat up his girlfriend. One time, he broke her nose and her ankle. Lawyer got him off. Yet nearly a year later” - here, he coughed - “he’s in some bar and he beats the hell out of a guy for talking to his girl. He breaks his nose and his arm and he goes to prison for a year.”
“Is that right? Don’t we have a wonderful judicial system?”
“Yep. He’s been living in Huntington for about two years. Been in and out of jail. Drunk driving. Robbing a liquor store. Smashed a Jack Daniels bottle over the guys head before he robbed him.”
“I should have punched this guy out.”
“Jack, I am tired of going over this subject with you. Especially after what happened to Mike Verducci.”
“Hey, I kept my promise. I didn’t beat him up until I got a confession.”
“Jack, stop beating people up. I can’t cover for you forever.”
“Why do we always have to talk about this?”
“Because I get complaints about you all the time.”
“You’re just mad because I win at cards on Friday night.”
“Jack.”
“All right. I’ll behave myself.”
“Yeah, right. I’m going to see the commissioner for lunch. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”
“Good. Then I could get rid of this case.”
“Now that’s what I want to hear. Stay out of trouble.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” I hung up the phone and signed into Yahoo for pool. Then the phone rang again. I waited for a table and saw that my opponent was Archie500. Then the intercom rang and I looked at the phone.
“Jack. It’s that guy. He keeps calling but won’t leave a message.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to him.” I picked up the phone and put my feet up on the chair.
“This is Jack Roscoe.”
“Mr. Roscoe. I’d like to talk to you about Roy Holmes.”
I narrowed my eyes and took my feet off my desk. “Who is this?”
“That’s not important. We saw you coming out of his apartment with the police. Are you working on his murder?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I have some information for you.”
“Who is this?”
“Just listen. Now, in my line of work, I always say that if someone tries to blackmail you, then it never ends. They keep coming back for more.”
I grabbed the handle of my chair and nodded my head.
“I see that I have your attention. Now listen very carefully. This is important. We gave this man his money and he took it home. We followed him. And we waited outside for an hour. Then we went up.”
I licked my lips and drummed my foot on the floor.
“I kicked the door in and you know what we found?”
“What?”
“A dead body. His. He was lying on the couch.”
I took a deep breath and drummed my fingers on my desk. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because we got careless. While we were waiting, a woman came out of the building carrying a sports bag. You ever see the Rocky movies?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, this woman looked like Adrian.”
Son of a bitch.
“That’s what I wanted to say. Have a nice day.” The connection broke and I listened to the dial tone.
I stood up and walked out of my office. “Linda. Call Joe Nolan. Tell him to meet me at Sara Hamilton’s apartment.”
“Jack, what’s wrong?”
“Just do it. I’ll explain later.”
She grabbed the phone and I ran out of the office.
Half an hour later, I ran up the stairs to Sara’s apartment and she opened the door. She tried to shut it but I grabbed the door and shoved her inside. “What the hell is the matter with you?” She shouted.
I shut the door and clicked my teeth together. “I didn’t think you had it in you lady but you did. You killed Roy.”
“What. What are you talking about? I loved Roy.”
“Yeah, then what the hell were you doing coming out of his apartment after he was murdered.”
She pressed her lips together and her eyes filled with tears. “No. They did it. The mobsters.”
“No, they didn’t. They came up and your brother was already dead. I’ll just bring you in for a Paraffin test. I’m sure that there are burns on your hand.”
“I don’t think so,” a voice said across my shoulder.
I turned and saw Billy with a Smith & Wesson in his hand. “Now sit down, both of you.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Sara said to Billy.
“Just shut up.”
“You told me Tony Colucci must have killed Roy.”
Tony Colucci. Collector for Vincent Pagano. He controls the mob on the West Side of New York.
“You swore that he was alive when you left.”
I remembered that the window was opened by Roy. “So you climbed out the window after you shot Roy. Then you tell your sister that Tony did it. I’m surprised that she believed you.”
He walked over to me and pointed the gun at my head. “Shut the hell up.”
“You bastard,” Sara screamed. “I never wanted the money. Roy wanted you to like him because” - the tears were choking her voice - “he wanted to marry me. I told him that it didn’t make a difference. I didn’t even want the money.” She put her hands to her face and cried.
“You know, they ought to put a picture of you in the dictionary under the word Rat. Better yet, slime ball. That really fits you.”
“That’s it. I’ll kill you.”
“I don’t think so.” I slammed my hand against his wrist and threw the other into the elbow. He screamed in pain and the gun fell to the ground. I threw a right jab to his mouth, then slammed a side kick to his stomach. He clutched his stomach and fell to the ground. I bent down, grabbed the gun, and walked over to Sara.
“I hate him,” she said. “I hate him. My parents hated him. But he wouldn’t leave me alone.” I shook my head and patted her on the shoulder. Then I looked out of the corner of my eye and Billy stood up. “You’re gonna have to shoot me because I’m not going back to prison.”
I shifted the cartridge in the gun, dropped it and the gun to the ground. “Cops will be here in about 10 minutes. You’re going back to prison forever. And by the time they get here, you’ll be begging them to take you back.”
“You son of a bitch.” He pulled a knife out of his pocket and walked towards me. He swung the knife and I jumped back. Then he swung again and I grabbed his wrist with my left hand. I twisted his hand and he dropped the knife.
“I heard that you beat up your girlfriend. Broke her nose. Let’s see if I can do the same thing. I threw a right to his nose and his head snapped back. I threw another right to his nose and he screamed in pain. “Let’s try again.” I dropped his hand, threw another right to the nose, saw the blood streaming out. Then I threw a front kick into his nose and he staggered back to the kitchen, falling to the ground.
“You bastard,” he yelled. “You’re a dead man.”
He stood up, wiped the blood from his nose, threw a right. I blocked it with my left hand, threw a combination right and left and right to the face, then slammed an elbow to his mouth. He crashed into the wall and screamed again.
I walked towards him and licked my lips. “Kind of tough getting your ass kicked, isn’t it,” I said.
“Go to hell.”
“You’ll be there soon enough.” He walked towards me and I threw a right to his jaw, followed by a backfist to the other side of his jaw. Blood spurted out from his mouth. I thew a front kick to the front of his mouth. He staggered back to the wall, blood poured from his mouth now.
“Ready to start begging to go back to prison? You can get on your knees anytime you want.”
He wiped the blood from his mouth, screamed, and charged towards me. I grabbed the freezer door and slammed it into his face. His body went slack, his feet came out from under him as he fell to the ground. I looked in the doorway and saw the bathroom. “Hey Billy, your nose and mouth are bleeding. Let’s get you cleaned up before the police get here.”
I grabbed him by the neck, dragged him into the bathroom, then stuck his head in the toilet bowl. He gurgled and screamed some more. Then I flushed the toilet and watched the blood go down.
I picked his head up and looked at him. His face and hair was wet and his eyes were glazed over. I grabbed him by the back of his neck again and dragged him into the livingroom. Then I looked into his eyes, cocked my fist, and saw his eyes close. “The hell with it.” I dropped him to the ground and he groaned in pain.
Sara sniffled, wiped tears from her eyes. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I really enjoyed it.”
She walked over to the closet, took out the sports bag, brought it over to me. “Here. Like I said, I never wanted the money.”
I took the bag and heard the wail of sirens.
“Am I gonna get in trouble?”
“Everything will be okay. I’m sorry for Roy.”
“Me too. I’ll really miss him.”
I heard footsteps and then the door opened. “Jack, what are you doing here?”
“Take it easy, Joe. I can explain everything.”
John looked Billy, then put his hands over his face. “Nooooo.”
I lined up the white ball with the eight ball to the corner pocket, drew the cue back, then took the shot. The white ball hit the eight ball and it rolled to the corner pocket, stopping right on the edge of the pocket. Christ.
I looked up at my friend, Scott Campbell and shook my head. He ran his hand through his brown hair, walked around to the center of the table, lined up the white ball with the eight ball, hit is slowly, watching the eight ball go in the side pocket.”
“Nice try Jack.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were lucky to win that one.”
“Want another game?”
I took out my wallet, gave Scott $20. “Some other time. I need work on my game.”
“You always do.”
“Shut up.”
“Just having fun with you. Next round is on me.”
“Sure. I’ll have a Jack and Coke.”
He smiled and walked over to the bar. Then I heard a voice. “Are you Jack Roscoe?”
I turned and looked at the man. He was taller than me, about 6-6, short curly dark hair, with a high forehead and bushy eyebrows, and beneath that dark eyes, and beneath that a small nose, and beneath a beard that wrapped around his mouth.
“Yeah.”
“I recognized you from the picture. You put Mike Verducci, Claudio Balducci’s right hand man in prison for murdering that baseball player.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“So, how would you like to help me nail a mobster?”
I narrowed my eyes, gazing at him. “You want me to help you nail a mobster?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would you want to do something like that?”
“Can we sit at a table?”
“Sure.”
I walked over to a table, sat down, watched as he sat across from me. “My name is Roy Collins. Look, here’s the thing. I need a bodyguard. I’ll pay you $5,000.”
I nodded my head, smiled. This should be a winner. “When do I get the money?”
“After I collect it from the mobster?”
“How much are you going to collect?”
“$300,000.”
“Really. So I just go down there and you get the money and that’s it.”
“Yep.”
“And why would this mobster give you $300,000.”
“I saw him beat up a blond haired woman. Then he shot her in the head. I have a few pictures.”
I clasped my hands behind my head. “So what you’re telling me is that you’re blackmailing this mobster?”
“That’s right.”
Oh for Christ Sakes. Please tell me that this is a dream and I’m going to wake up.
“So, are you interested/”
Of course, I could say no, but then this guy would leave and get himself killed. So I had a better idea. “Sure. Why not. I have nothing better to do.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. Just let me go to a pay phone” - I stood up - “and call my office manager.”
“She’s still working?” He looked at his watch. “It’s 6:30.”
“Sure. She loves her job. I pay her overtime to work until 9pm. Business is slow.”
“Okay. Don’t you have a cell phone?”
“Nah. Can’t afford it.”
“Okay. I’ll wait right here.”
Yeah, wait right at the table you stupid moron. I can’t believe that this idiot is trying to blackmail a mobster. I walked to the pay phone booth and closed the door. Then I dialed the police, asked for my best friend, Joe Nolan, chief of homicide detectives.
“Joe. It’s me.”
“Oh no,” Joe replied. “What the hell did you do now?”
“Now is that anyway to greet your best friend.”
“I’m still trying to get through all the complaints that I get about you.”
“Ah come one, I’ve got a good one. A real live one.”
“I’m listening.”
“I have this guy at a table. Witnessed a murder. Said that a blond woman was killed.”
“Really.”
“And here’s the best part. He saw a mobster do it and he has pictures.”
“You’re kidding. You have the pictures. Who is the mobster?”
“Well, I don’t have the pictures yet.”
“What do you mean, Jack?”
I bit my lower lip. “Well, to tell you the truth, he wants to blackmail the mobster. So the mobster agreed to pay him $300,000.”
There was silence at the other end. I imagined Joe putting his hand over his temples and shaking his head. He tends to do that when I’m around.
“Jack, are you playing pool and drinking at Willie’s tavern?”
“Yeah.”
“Have a nice night?”
“Come on Joe. You gotta believe me. Would I lie about something like this?”
“That’s true. All right. This better be on the level. Keep him there and I’ll send a squad car to pick him up. Then we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Great. Thanks.”
I hung up the phone, opened the booth and walked back to the table. Roy stood up and started to leave.
“Hey, wait for me,” I said.
“You must think I’m real stupid.”
“Nah. You’re a genius. Who else would come up with the idea of blackmailing the mob. Let’s play some pool now. If I win, I get $10,000. How does that sound?”
“You called the police.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that. They don’t even like me. I called my office manager.”
“You talked to her for a long time.”
“I told her I wanted to go out with her. We argued.”
He started to walk faster and I walked towards him. “Have a nice night,” he said.
“Don’t do this. You’re gonna get yourself killed.”
He opened the door and ran down the block. I ran after him and watched him get into a cab. Then the cab drove by me and turned on to Main Street. Oh for Christ Sake.
The next morning, the phone rang. I looked at my digital clock and saw that it was 6:33. I threw the covers over my head and the phone rang again. I grabbed it, brought the phone under the cover and put it to my ear. “You got the wrong number.”
“Jack, don’t pull that trick on me,” Joe said. “It doesn’t work.”
“Okay. Look, I’m real tired. I’m sorry that I couldn’t catch the moron. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Jack, you stay on this phone until I tell you to get off.”
What a grouch. “It’s 6:34.”
“And I want you over at 15 Delancey Street in Apartment 4B at 7:30. How does that sound?”
“Why?”
“I want you to identify a body. I think it’s that guy that you told me about last night. He’s dead.”
I threw the covers off and sat up. “Great. Wonderful. You know, I didn’t help this guy and now I gotta get up early and identify him.”
“Jack, just come over here and get this over with. His sister’s here and she doesn’t believe a word I’m telling her.”
“Fine.”
“You can still get to your office at 9:00.”
“Are you kidding? Linda is there at 8:30. I don’t show up until 10:30.”
“The life of a boss. Now get down here. Okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”
I heard the dial tone and put the phone back on the receiver. “Why do I have to deal with all the nuts?”
Half an hour later, I knocked on the door and a woman opened for me. She stood in the frame and pressed her lips together. In high heels, she was about 6-0, with blond hair and blue eyes, large breasts that seemed to be pushing out of the fabric of her white blouse, and long shapely legs in white nylons. “Are you Jack Roscoe?”
I yawned and nodded my head. “Yeah.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull” - she pressed her lips together - “but I’m really upset about all this.”
“Yeah. So am I. I’ve been up since 6:30.”
“And I’ve been up since 5:00,” she yelled. “I have a lot of cases and depositions to deal with.”
Wonderful. She’s a lawyer. “Don’t let me stand in your way. I’ll just go home and get back to bed.”
“Just get in here. I want to know if you were with my brother last night.”
“You know what. I wasn’t there. I made the whole story up. Now I’m going home.” I turned and walked away.
“Jack, get in here?” Joe demanded.
I turned and saw him in the frame next to the woman. He was taller than her, with an ebony complexion. His eyes were dark, his body filled out his suit like a football player.
“Say please.”
“Jack.”
“All right. All right.” I walked inside and Joe shut the door.
“Jack, this is Amanda Collins.”
I nodded my head and looked at Roy. He was lying on a couch with two bullets in his chest. His eyes were closed and his dark shirt was stained with blood.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Thank you,” Joe said.
“I don’t believe this,” the woman said.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe that he would even talk to me about this.”
“Why didn’t you stop him?” she demanded.
I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows. “Well, I thought about shooting him in the leg but obviously, that would have been a problem. Then I would have called the hospital. Ask for health insurance….”
“You know, I don’t like your attitude.”
“Well, I don’t like lawyers. Then again, who does?”
“Why the hell would my brother even come to see you?”
“He said that he read about me in the papers. He could have called my office and my office manager probably told him that I was down in Willie’s.”
“What do you do, stay there all day?”
“Yeah. I play a lot of pool. My office manager meets all the clients. I can take you over to her apartment and you could meet her and her big dog, a German Shepard named Rufus. Maybe we can catch her before she feeds him.”
“You’re so obnoxious.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I thought all lawyers were like that. Trying to make you feel at home in the courtroom.”
“Will you two cut this out already?” Joe yelled.
“Fine,” she said.
“Can I go home now?” I said. “I’m really tired. And I don’t have to be in until 10:30.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
The blond woman ran her hand through her hair, put her hands on her hips. “Hey, wait a minute. This is crazy. My brother wouldn’t know a mobster from a hole in the wall. And I still don’t understand why he went to see you.”
“Jack Roscoe is a private detective,” Joe said. “He has a reputation for putting a lot of mobsters in jail. Even though he’s a jerk, I have to say that he does a good job at what he does.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” I replied. “I think.”
“Well, he is a jerk.”
“Like I said, anything to make you feel like you’re in a courtroom.”
Her eyes crept to the ceiling and her nostrils flared. “Okay. You’re a private detective. I’d like to hire you to find my brother’s killer.”
“Oh for Christ Sakes.”
Joe laughed, patted me on the back. “I’ll leave you two alone. Try not to fight.”
“I’m leaving too,” I said.
“Hey, wait a minute. I said that I want to hire you.”
“Look. Your brother did something really stupid. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “So, you’re scared?”
“Reverse psychology doesn’t work with me. I’m a very busy man and I don’t work for lawyers.”
She put her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together. “Oh really. Now you wait a minute. That’s discrimination. Do you know that I can sue you for that. Fine. Walk out of here. I’ll see you in court.”
“Okay. I’ll look into it.”
“That’s more like it.”
I nodded my head and looked at her blue eyes. “Now you listen to me. You want me to do this, then I’ll do it. But if we’re working together, then I don’t want you using the word lawsuit. I know that it’s probably the biggest word in your vocabulary along with settlement or a million dollars and terms like let’s run the company out of business and let’s do everything we can to get our client off or I’ll see you in court. When you talk to me, you stay away from words and terms like that. Got it?”
She nodded her head yes, licking her lips. “You’re a real comedian.”
“Joe thinks so.”
“No I don’t, Jack.” He turned and walked out of the room.
“All right. Does your brother have any friends? You know what that word means, right?”
“Knock it off already. He has a girlfriend. Here name is Sara Hamilton. She lives down the block. She was here earlier with her brother.”
“Fine. I’ll start with her. Anyone else?”
“He’s a freelance photographer. Had a few shows in Soho. He’s been struggling.
“Okay. I’ll contact you. And I promise to give you an accurate hourly report. If you want, my office manager will even put down when I went to the bathroom. The last thing I want is for you to think that I over billed you?”
“This isn’t funny anymore.”
“Hey, if there is a problem, I understand. I’ve been fired before.”
“Look, I didn’t get along with my brother all that well.”
“That’s a surprise.”
“I know he isn’t all that smart but this is too strange to believe. Something is wrong here. He doesn’t know anything about mobsters.”
“All right. I said I would look into it.”
“Thank you. And no more lawyer jokes. They’re not funny.”
“Oh, come on. Some of them are hilarious. Here’s one. Bernie Madoff and a lawyer run into traffic. Who gets hit by a car first?”
“Who cares Mr. Roscoe?”
“Okay. You knew that one already. I got another one….”
“Just find the person who killed my brother.”
“Fine.” I turned, walked out of the room and saw Joe in the hallway. He took a stick of gum out of his mouth, unwrapped it, stuck it in his mouth, and chewed on it. “Did you enjoy yourself?” I asked.
“Yep. You know, for once, you were pretty funny.”
“Well, now that I’m stuck with this case, would you please give me Sara Hamilton’s address?”
“Yeah. Don’t expect to get far with her though. She said that she doesn’t know anything.”
“Fine.”
An hour later, I knocked on the door of Sara’s apartment and the door opened. She was shorter than me, about 5-5, with short black hair that fell over her ears, dark eyes covered by black rimmed glasses and a small aquiline nose. “Yes.”
“My name is Jack Roscoe. Can I talk to you about Roy Holmes?”
She looked at the ground and her hands shook. “Look, I answered questions from the police already.”
“I know. But I’d really like to find out who murdered him?”
The door opened wider and a man towered over Sara. He was taller than me, about 6-5, with brown hair that was cut shorter than mine, a jagged scar on his forehead, brown eyes, and a beard that wrapped around his mouth. “Who the hell are you?” He said with a small southern accent.
“I’m a private detective. I’m looking into the murder of Roy Holmes.”
“From what I heard, some mobster killed him. What the hell does this have to do with my sister?”
“I just want to see if she knew anything about what happened.”
“We already talked to the police,” the man said. “Does my sister look like she hangs around with mobsters?”
“No.”
“Look, why don’t you get the hell out of here” - he stroked his jaw with his thumb and forefinger - “before I throw you down the stairs and kick your ass out the door.”
I put my hands on my hips and looked into his eyes. “You’d have a very difficult time doing that with a broken arm. And you would have to spend time picking all your teeth up from the floor with the other arm.”
“You wanna start something?”
“Just say the word.” I replied.
“Please, no fighting,” Sara said.
“Okay,” the man said. “You’re lucky my sister is here.”
I took my wallet out of my jacket pocket, grabbed a card, put it in her hand. “My address is on it if you want to come down and talk later.” Then I looked at him and said “You’re welcome to come down alone this afternoon. Be more than happy to settle this in the parking lot. I think I would enjoy it.”
“You got a big mouth,” the man said.
“And I got a big fist to match.”
“Maybe I will come down.”
“Just make sure that it’s after lunch.”
“Come on Billy, let’s go inside.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said.
She turned and shut the door. I should have punched that guy out. What a creep.
20 minutes later, I stepped into my office. My secretary, Linda Lopez, stood next to a filing cabinet going through some files. She was shorter than me with long auburn hair that framed her cocoa complexion. She wore a blue skirt that was just above her knees and matching jacket. She turned to see me and smiled.
“Wow, you’re early,” she replied. Her voice was low, sultry, husky.
I looked at her long legs in those black nylons as she walked back to her desk. She probably knew that I was looking at her legs.
“Working on a case,” I said.
“Well, somebody called here three times looking for you. Wouldn’t leave a message. Just said that they would call back.”
“Okay.”
“So, who hired you?”
“A lawyer.”
She raised her eyebrows and leaned against her desk. I looked at her dark eyes and my throat went dry.
“I thought that we didn’t work for lawyers.”
“She said she would sue me.”
She laughed, sat on a metal chair, crossed her legs. Christ, doesn’t she even know what she does to guys like me.
“Guess it had to happen. I’m glad you’re getting more work. Why did she hire you?”
“Her brother was blackmailing a mobster. He got killed doing it.”
She put her hands on her knees, swinging her legs. “Sounds like a nut case.”
“Yeah. I really didn’t want the case. But now we’re stuck with it. So, if she calls, just tell her wait for me to call her. Don’t put any of her calls through. Let her fire me if she doesn’t like it.”
“That’s silly.”
“So what.”
“Jack, her brother was killed. She’s paying your fee.”
“We don’t need the work. And her brother was killed because he was an idiot.”
“I’m still going to put her calls through.”
“So, you won’t listen to your boss.”
“Nope.”
“Isn’t that grounds for dismissal?”
“You won’t fire me. I do a better job than any secretary that you had. And deep down, I know you’re a nice person and you like me. For the work that I do, that is.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You’re digging pretty deep though. All the way to China.”
“No. I’m not. I like you. My family likes you. And Rufus likes you.”
“Yeah. Just give him a dog biscuit and he’ll be your best friend.”
“It’s not funny after 100 times.”
“I think it is.”
“Fine. Now go into your office and do some work.”
“Can I go home at 5:00?”
“I guess so. It would be nice to see you here at 9:00.”
“I’ll think about it.” I walked inside my office, sat down in front of my computer and turned it on. I turned and looked at Linda as she went through the mail. What a gorgeous woman. I can’t believe that I got her to work for me. And she always dresses up in skirts that are just above the knee and tight blouses and sweaters. That’s from working in an advertising agency. I could tell her that she can dress casually but then I say to myself Jack Roscoe, are you nuts?
I saw the Windows menu come up and went to Yahoo to play some pool. Then I thought of Billy and I shook my head. Why didn’t he want me to talk to Sara? I mean, being a jerk comes naturally to him but I just didn’t like the guy. That scar on his forehead makes me wonder if he was in some kind of fight. Maybe in prison. I heard the phone ring and Linda picked up. Then she pushed a button on her phone and I was on the speaker.
“Hi. It’s Joe Nolan.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I picked up the phone and put the receiver to my ear. “So, anything new?”
“Yeah. We found a blond haired woman on the beach. Shot in the head. Angie Sayers. She was a prostitute.”
“You think this is the woman that Roy saw?” I asked.
“She hung around with a lot of mobsters. Could be? We’re looking into it. Hopefully, we’ll find out who was with her last night.”
“Well, I tried to question Sara but I met another guy. He looks like trouble a mile away.”
“Yeah, we had a tough time with him. That’s her cousin. And when I got back to the office, I did a check on his records. He’s a pretty nasty individual.”
I wiped the perspiration off my forehead and leaned back in my chair. “Why am I not surprised.”
“This is interesting. Get this. Guy comes from South Carolina. Name is Billy Drummond. He beat up his girlfriend. One time, he broke her nose and her ankle. Lawyer got him off. Yet nearly a year later” - here, he coughed - “he’s in some bar and he beats the hell out of a guy for talking to his girl. He breaks his nose and his arm and he goes to prison for a year.”
“Is that right? Don’t we have a wonderful judicial system?”
“Yep. He’s been living in Huntington for about two years. Been in and out of jail. Drunk driving. Robbing a liquor store. Smashed a Jack Daniels bottle over the guys head before he robbed him.”
“I should have punched this guy out.”
“Jack, I am tired of going over this subject with you. Especially after what happened to Mike Verducci.”
“Hey, I kept my promise. I didn’t beat him up until I got a confession.”
“Jack, stop beating people up. I can’t cover for you forever.”
“Why do we always have to talk about this?”
“Because I get complaints about you all the time.”
“You’re just mad because I win at cards on Friday night.”
“Jack.”
“All right. I’ll behave myself.”
“Yeah, right. I’m going to see the commissioner for lunch. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”
“Good. Then I could get rid of this case.”
“Now that’s what I want to hear. Stay out of trouble.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” I hung up the phone and signed into Yahoo for pool. Then the phone rang again. I waited for a table and saw that my opponent was Archie500. Then the intercom rang and I looked at the phone.
“Jack. It’s that guy. He keeps calling but won’t leave a message.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to him.” I picked up the phone and put my feet up on the chair.
“This is Jack Roscoe.”
“Mr. Roscoe. I’d like to talk to you about Roy Holmes.”
I narrowed my eyes and took my feet off my desk. “Who is this?”
“That’s not important. We saw you coming out of his apartment with the police. Are you working on his murder?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I have some information for you.”
“Who is this?”
“Just listen. Now, in my line of work, I always say that if someone tries to blackmail you, then it never ends. They keep coming back for more.”
I grabbed the handle of my chair and nodded my head.
“I see that I have your attention. Now listen very carefully. This is important. We gave this man his money and he took it home. We followed him. And we waited outside for an hour. Then we went up.”
I licked my lips and drummed my foot on the floor.
“I kicked the door in and you know what we found?”
“What?”
“A dead body. His. He was lying on the couch.”
I took a deep breath and drummed my fingers on my desk. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because we got careless. While we were waiting, a woman came out of the building carrying a sports bag. You ever see the Rocky movies?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, this woman looked like Adrian.”
Son of a bitch.
“That’s what I wanted to say. Have a nice day.” The connection broke and I listened to the dial tone.
I stood up and walked out of my office. “Linda. Call Joe Nolan. Tell him to meet me at Sara Hamilton’s apartment.”
“Jack, what’s wrong?”
“Just do it. I’ll explain later.”
She grabbed the phone and I ran out of the office.
Half an hour later, I ran up the stairs to Sara’s apartment and she opened the door. She tried to shut it but I grabbed the door and shoved her inside. “What the hell is the matter with you?” She shouted.
I shut the door and clicked my teeth together. “I didn’t think you had it in you lady but you did. You killed Roy.”
“What. What are you talking about? I loved Roy.”
“Yeah, then what the hell were you doing coming out of his apartment after he was murdered.”
She pressed her lips together and her eyes filled with tears. “No. They did it. The mobsters.”
“No, they didn’t. They came up and your brother was already dead. I’ll just bring you in for a Paraffin test. I’m sure that there are burns on your hand.”
“I don’t think so,” a voice said across my shoulder.
I turned and saw Billy with a Smith & Wesson in his hand. “Now sit down, both of you.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Sara said to Billy.
“Just shut up.”
“You told me Tony Colucci must have killed Roy.”
Tony Colucci. Collector for Vincent Pagano. He controls the mob on the West Side of New York.
“You swore that he was alive when you left.”
I remembered that the window was opened by Roy. “So you climbed out the window after you shot Roy. Then you tell your sister that Tony did it. I’m surprised that she believed you.”
He walked over to me and pointed the gun at my head. “Shut the hell up.”
“You bastard,” Sara screamed. “I never wanted the money. Roy wanted you to like him because” - the tears were choking her voice - “he wanted to marry me. I told him that it didn’t make a difference. I didn’t even want the money.” She put her hands to her face and cried.
“You know, they ought to put a picture of you in the dictionary under the word Rat. Better yet, slime ball. That really fits you.”
“That’s it. I’ll kill you.”
“I don’t think so.” I slammed my hand against his wrist and threw the other into the elbow. He screamed in pain and the gun fell to the ground. I threw a right jab to his mouth, then slammed a side kick to his stomach. He clutched his stomach and fell to the ground. I bent down, grabbed the gun, and walked over to Sara.
“I hate him,” she said. “I hate him. My parents hated him. But he wouldn’t leave me alone.” I shook my head and patted her on the shoulder. Then I looked out of the corner of my eye and Billy stood up. “You’re gonna have to shoot me because I’m not going back to prison.”
I shifted the cartridge in the gun, dropped it and the gun to the ground. “Cops will be here in about 10 minutes. You’re going back to prison forever. And by the time they get here, you’ll be begging them to take you back.”
“You son of a bitch.” He pulled a knife out of his pocket and walked towards me. He swung the knife and I jumped back. Then he swung again and I grabbed his wrist with my left hand. I twisted his hand and he dropped the knife.
“I heard that you beat up your girlfriend. Broke her nose. Let’s see if I can do the same thing. I threw a right to his nose and his head snapped back. I threw another right to his nose and he screamed in pain. “Let’s try again.” I dropped his hand, threw another right to the nose, saw the blood streaming out. Then I threw a front kick into his nose and he staggered back to the kitchen, falling to the ground.
“You bastard,” he yelled. “You’re a dead man.”
He stood up, wiped the blood from his nose, threw a right. I blocked it with my left hand, threw a combination right and left and right to the face, then slammed an elbow to his mouth. He crashed into the wall and screamed again.
I walked towards him and licked my lips. “Kind of tough getting your ass kicked, isn’t it,” I said.
“Go to hell.”
“You’ll be there soon enough.” He walked towards me and I threw a right to his jaw, followed by a backfist to the other side of his jaw. Blood spurted out from his mouth. I thew a front kick to the front of his mouth. He staggered back to the wall, blood poured from his mouth now.
“Ready to start begging to go back to prison? You can get on your knees anytime you want.”
He wiped the blood from his mouth, screamed, and charged towards me. I grabbed the freezer door and slammed it into his face. His body went slack, his feet came out from under him as he fell to the ground. I looked in the doorway and saw the bathroom. “Hey Billy, your nose and mouth are bleeding. Let’s get you cleaned up before the police get here.”
I grabbed him by the neck, dragged him into the bathroom, then stuck his head in the toilet bowl. He gurgled and screamed some more. Then I flushed the toilet and watched the blood go down.
I picked his head up and looked at him. His face and hair was wet and his eyes were glazed over. I grabbed him by the back of his neck again and dragged him into the livingroom. Then I looked into his eyes, cocked my fist, and saw his eyes close. “The hell with it.” I dropped him to the ground and he groaned in pain.
Sara sniffled, wiped tears from her eyes. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I really enjoyed it.”
She walked over to the closet, took out the sports bag, brought it over to me. “Here. Like I said, I never wanted the money.”
I took the bag and heard the wail of sirens.
“Am I gonna get in trouble?”
“Everything will be okay. I’m sorry for Roy.”
“Me too. I’ll really miss him.”
I heard footsteps and then the door opened. “Jack, what are you doing here?”
“Take it easy, Joe. I can explain everything.”
John looked Billy, then put his hands over his face. “Nooooo.”