Deadly Treatment (17 page)

The phone’s shrill ring startled them both. DC took a deep breath and picked it up. This time Shannon wanted to hear both sides of the conversation, so they both held their ear to the ear piece.

‘Hello?’ DC began.

‘Is that the blackmailing scum?’ Ginger asked.

‘That would be us. Is that the adulterous associate?’ DC replied, with his trademark grin on his face.

‘Touché! I suppose I deserved that,’ Ginger said, but then he continued, ‘Now, what’s all this pish-posh about one hundred thousand dollars? I believe you already have ten thousand dollars of my money, and I have nothing to show for it.’

‘On the contrary, I think your secret’s still safe — and to the best of my understanding, you still have a lovely home life, a diligent employee, and some fun on the side — all for the rock-bottom price of ten thousand dollars. Hell, for that price I’d buy a life like yours for myself.’

Shannon gave him a nasty look, but he just smiled at her.

‘Listen to me you blood-sucking bastard, I’ve paid you ten grand, I’ll add another ten to that to get rid of you. But I want everything: pictures, negatives, and whatever else you’ve got. Then I never want to see, hear, or smell your disgusting carcass ever again. Do we understand each other?’

DC paused for a moment.

‘Now you’ve gone and upset my feelings — not an easy thing to do — but all those hurtful things you’ve just called me …’

‘Cut the bullshit. Do we have a deal?’ Ginger butted in.

‘You’re certainly not in a playful mood are you? Maybe you’re not getting enough at the moment.’ Then DC’s jovial tone grew serious.

‘Time you listened to me. Don’t think for one minute that I’m playing with you. Believe me when I say I am happy to destroy you and your family by exposing your infidelity. Now, you can either pay the piper the full amount we asked, or you can pay the consequences — It don’t matter to me, either way — you’re going to pay. Now do
we
understand each other?’

There was a spell of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a meek.

‘Okay.’

Her memory skipped forward again.

With one hundred thousand dollars in cash spread all over their living room floor, they were both rolling around in it like school children in a pile of autumn leaves.

‘This is the most amazing feeling I have ever had,’ she cried.

‘That will come later,’ he joked. ‘Let’s just enjoy this for the moment,’ he said covering her with the notes.

‘It went just how you said it would.’

‘Of course it did, honey. What else did you expect?’

‘I don’t know what I was expecting; it was just so easy. He turned up on the dot, dropped off the cash, and disappeared. It was funny you getting him to leave the money at the Gingerbread club

They both laughed together.

‘How much shall we get from him next time?’ She asked as the laughter died away.

‘I think he’s paid enough for his freedom; plus he was — as you say — prompt and hassle-free. I say we give old ginger his life back. Besides, half the fun for me, is finding new victims to play with.’ The grin had returned.

‘More nights at the Marriott and other high class places — you’re not gonna get any complaints out of me,’ she agreed.

‘Oh yeah, that reminds me, wait here a minute.’ He got up and went to the spare room quickly returning with a brown leather toiletries bag.

‘Speaking of high, have a look at this.’ He unzipped it and emptied the contents onto the floor. A tableau of syringes, a spoon, a lighter, an elastic tube, and a bag of dirty brown crystals all lay amongst the hundred dollar bills. Shannon reached for the bag of dirty brown crystals and turned it over in her hands.

‘Is this was I think it is?’ she asked

‘You better believe it honey;
it’s grade A, top of the line heroin. Care to join me?’

Mesmerized, all she could say was ‘Set it up.’

The high was mind-blowing, the drug taking her mind to places she normally couldn’t begin to imagine. With her husband by her side, and more money than she’d seen in her life, things were beyond perfect.

Hours later, there was a harsh rap at the door, and startled, they looked at each other. Neither of them were expecting any visitors so Shannon quickly hid the gear
behind a cushion while DC went to answer the door. He looked back to ensure she had cleared the area before he opened the door. He was immediately thrown backwards to the floor as the door hit him hard in the face. Before he had chance to get up, a heavyset guy with a square jaw and thick neck grabbed him and dragged him over to where Shannon was standing. It all happened so fast, she hadn’t even let out a scream.

‘You — stay there!’ he yelled at her.

Then he threw DC on the couch beside her. His dark, almost black eyes glared at her, in them all she saw was evil.

‘Good evening,’ came a voice from the doorway, and open-mouthed, they both looked over to see Old Ginger enter the house.

Lying in her bed in Vegas, Shannon shook her head to break free of her memories. She lit up a soothing smoke, and once finished, she finally managed to fall asleep.

LA Police Station

‘
T
hat’s him,’ he said, as he tapped his chubby finger on the photo.

The fat tourist, still sporting his Universal Studio baseball cap, and his wife were sitting opposite the detective. They were side-by-side, but the wife; although large herself, was totally engulfed, hidden from the detective’s view by her obese husband as he leaned forward and examined the picture.

‘Are you sure that’s who you saw?’ The detective asked.

‘Sure as I’m sitting here — I know it was dark, but that boy was standing beside the cab. Elephants never forget!’ He motioned towards his stomach.

‘How did he look?’ Detective Rodriguez asked.

‘What do you mean, how did he look? He looked like that.’ He said tapping the picture again.

‘No,’ he said sighing quietly, ‘what I meant to say is, did he look scared or anxious, happy or sad, that sort of thing.’

‘Oh,’ the big man said as he leaned back in his chair.

‘He looked fine,’ the wife squeaked as she emerged from behind her husband.

‘Yup — he looked fine,’ the big man nodded, ‘Otherwise we would’ve said something to them.’

‘Can you describe the man he was with?’ the detective asked.

‘Long-haired and bearded, he was sort of loutish. Other than that, he was sort of average height and stocky.’

‘And he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt,’ his wife chipped in. 

Detective Rodriguez took a few notes, and then exchanged his notepad for a map. ‘I’ll get the compositor in here soon so you can give him a thorough description, but can you point out on the map here exactly where you were.’

Once again, the big man leaned forward, the chair groaning under his weight. He tilted his head this way and that to get his bearings, and then ran his finger along Mulholland Drive, stopping at the point where the bends turned to a flat. ‘Right there,’ he said.

The detective turned the map around and quizzically examined the spot the man had pointed out. ‘Are you sure.’

‘You bet your ass I am. Look,’ he said as he produced his own tourist map from his back pocket, and laid it over the detective’s map. ‘There’s no more houses after that point; it’s top of the hill,’ he announced knowingly

‘And you say the house was on the city side of the hill …two nights ago?

‘Yes it was — why?’ the man asked a little concerned.

‘Two nights ago, the house you saw Joshua at blew up and burnt down to the ground!’

After several follow-up phone calls, the detective made his way to Erin Costello’s house to bring her up to speed with what the couple had told him. He was armed with, among other things, a printout of the photo-fit identity the compositor and the couple had come up with. He was greeted at the door by Erin who offered him a coffee which he readily accepted. Then, he moved on into the living room where he found, as he should have expected, Malone and Taylor were waiting.

‘You said you had news about Joshua?’ Erin asked the detective as she returned from the kitchen. The detective took the coffee from her and added milk and sugar from the table.

‘We have reason to believe your son has been seen at a house on Mulholland — being dropped off by a cab.’

‘Mulholland?’ she asked with raised eyebrows.

‘Yes, seems a couple saw him in a cab that pulled into the driveway of the house that was burned down.’

‘The one that was in the news?’ Erin asked, looking like she was trying to recall the details about it.

‘Yeah, bit of a mess,’ he added, nodding his head slowly.

‘So, what was he doing up there?’ Taylor asked.

‘That’s what we’re trying to find out,’ the detective replied.

The three of them were speechless.

Detective Rodriguez reached into his black leather folder and pulled out the identikit picture. ‘The couple said your son was with this man.’ He handed the pictures to the eager three.

‘Do any of you recognize him?’ he asked.

They all took their time looking at the picture, and slowly all three shook their heads.

‘Have you got any idea who he is?’ Malone asked.

‘Unfortunately, he doesn’t match anyone in the system,’ the detective said with a sigh.

‘So, whose house was it anyway?’ Taylor asked.

‘Louise Hughes, the ex-wife of some hot-shot movie actor. She’s got more money than sense; which, to be honest, isn’t saying much. To be straight, I think I’ve got more money than what she’s got in the brains department,’ he said pulling out a picture of Louise Hughes, arm-in-arm with her ex-husband.

‘I recognize him,’ Erin said, ‘…but only from the movies and mags,’ she added before they could get excited.

‘What would Joshua be doing visiting her, or him for that matter?’ Taylor asked.

‘I was kind of hoping that Erin might have been able to answer that question,’ the detective replied half-heartedly.

‘Sorry,’ she said softly. ‘How is he?’ she asked.

‘Again, that’s a weird thing, they said he looked fine, even relaxed. Certainly nothing that drew any attention to the fact he’d been abducted. But that could be for any number of reasons.’ The detective was going to add things like ‘being held at gunpoint’ but thought better of it.

‘Well, at least we know Joshua is still around here,’ Malone chipped in.

‘Yeah, but who the hell is he with, and what is he doing with him?’ Erin was looking at the identikit picture. ‘Surely, he should have asked for a ransom or whatever these types of bastards usually want. Why my little boy? Why Joshua?’ She implored as she started to cry.

Malone let her bury her head in his shoulder as he looked at the pictures on the coffee table.

‘First a warehouse, now a house…What’s the connection between the two fires?’ he asked the detective.

‘So far, there is no connection between them. According to the LAFD report, although the toy factory fire wasn’t an accident, the arson investigator is looking at charging one of the company’s competitors. The guy’s got a shady history and no alibi. Mind you, the jury’s still out on the owner’s background too. And although the house has been deemed suspicious at the moment — which is their talk for
arson
— so far there’s nothing that links the house to the toy guy or his competitor.’

‘What time was Joshua seen with him and what time was the fire?’ Malone asked, trying to get things straight in his head.

‘Looks as though there wasn’t that much of a time difference between when he was seen and the fire … under an hour,’ Rodriguez answered.

‘Surely that makes no sense. Why would an arsonist be driving around LA in a cab for starters; and stranger still, why with Joshua?’ asked Erin who had stopped crying and was now wiping her eyes.

‘A good question, and one we’re following up on. We’ve contacted all the local cab firms, and none of them have any record of taking a passenger to Mulholland at that time.’

‘So, do you think the cabbie is in on it?’ Taylor asked.

‘That’s what it looks like; if it was a cab at all,’ the detective replied.

Erin exploded ‘You think it wasn’t a cab? How the hell are you gonna find my boy if you don’t know who he was with — and you don’t know how the hell he got there? What kind of bullshit story did the couple tell you? Are they even sure it was my Joshua
they saw?Shit! You guys couldn’t find the nose on your face!’

‘Please calm down, Miss Costello. All I’m saying is that we are exploring all aspects of this case, and we want — in fact we need — to be sure we’ve covered all the angles! I’ve come here today as a courtesy to keep you informed of the events as they occur, — not to be abused, that’s for sure,’ Rodriguez snapped indignantly.

The
room
went
silent
as
the
detective’s
words
hung
in
the air.

‘I’m sorry.’ Erin’s apology fell helplessly out of her mouth.

Malone stood up and paced around the room, circling the opposing couches.

‘What if the fires
are
related?’ he started. ‘What if the LAFD investigator was wrong and the guy who did the toy factory wasn’t the competitor? What if Joshua saw the guy? And for that matter, if the cabbie is involved, then what if two guys set fire to the warehouse, and what if they both grabbed him?’ 

‘That’s a whole heap of
what ifs
,’ Rodriguez said shaking his head.

‘What would they grab Joshua for? Surely they’re arsonists not kidnappers,’ Taylor followed.

‘Like I said, they grab Joshua because he’s a witness to them setting the fire — the timing fits — leaving his bike there for Azibo to find. LAFD arrives, but they’re long-gone, and with Joshua in tow.’

‘Then?’ Taylor asked.

‘Well… hmm, I don’t have an after that just yet, but the first part of the story fits.’

‘Not according to the LAFD inspector,’ Rodriguez added skeptically.

‘But then the rest of it doesn’t make any sense either — why would they take him out on another job with them?’ Erin interrupted. ‘Surely they’d keep him hidden somewhere; I doubt they’d be giving him a tour of the city in the back of a cab.’

‘I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t get a babysitter or something.’ Malone was getting frustrated because he didn’t have all the answers.

Detective Rodriguez remained silent as he thought about the photos he’d seen of the decimated house. There was hardly anything left of it after the explosion. A horrible thought had just crossed his mind:
maybe they took the kid there to kill him.

‘I need to go and check on a few things; I’ll call you when I hear some more,’ he said as he suddenly stood up to leave.

‘Maybe we’ll go up Mulholland and take a look at the house,’ Malone suggested.

‘Probably not worth it; there’s not that much to see up there,’ Rodriguez stammered as the images flashed through his mind. ‘Sit tight and I’ll give you a call soon,’ he said and abruptly strode out of the house.

Across town, Elwood was starting to get irritated. He was thousands of miles away from his home awaiting further instructions from his boss, and his contract was not completed — a pet hate of his — he was in the human equivalent of a flight holding pattern. The sub-standard motel he’d checked into was depressing, but it was close to where Vince and Scott lived, so it was adequate; nonetheless, the whole Cain situation was making him crazy. Finally, his boss called with his new set of orders — they were not what he’d been expecting.