Jason Deas - Cameron Caldwell 01 - Private Eye (23 page)

Cam dropped his face to his knees. “What in the world do I do now?”

“I think some gratitude is in order.”

Cam pulled his head up, looked Claude in the eyes and laughed. “I shouldn’t be laughing.”

“Damn right you shouldn’t be laughing. You should be on your knees thanking me for saving your life from a sorry existence in a prison cell.”

Cam put his hand on Claude’s and said, “Thank you, Claude. Aside from my parents, I’ve never had anybody do anything so selfless for me in my entire life. You really put your neck out for me and I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me.”

“I hated Billy and Darren, so it wasn’t completely selfless.” Claude grinned.

“I just don’t know if I can accept the lies and move on.”

“You don’t have a choice. Or should I say, you don’t have a good choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“The council met this morning and they know everything I know. Because some of our members are involved, we came to the decision that you pick your fate.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Cam waved his hands in front of Claude’s face until he stopped talking. “You’re telling me that Daphne and Hank know everything?”

“Yep. And you forgot Turner.”

“So, you all decided I get to choose my own fate?”

“Sort of. You have two choices.”

“Oh, God. I can’t wait to hear these.”

“Choice number one is we leave things how they are—let it play out and Darren takes the fall for all of it.”

“Problem,” Cam said holding a finger up. “I’m afraid I told Blanca I saw you hiding Billy’s wallet under the couch.”

“By the way, I knew you were in the attic.”

“How did you know?”

“Well, I smelled you for one. When a person drinks like a fish their body puts off a smell as it tries to burn off all the alcohol. And, I saw some insulation under the door.”

“I guess now it’s beside the point. What about the wallet?”

“That’s your problem to figure out. You can tell her you lied, you can tell her you did it, again, your problem. You’ll figure it out.”

“And what is choice number two?”

“You take the blame for Billy’s murder if your conscience can’t live with the other choice.”

“And what about Darren?”

“He got some bad shine. It happens.”

Cam stood and began pacing in front of the couch as Claude remained seated. “And what if I don’t agree to go along with either of the choices?”

“Then the council voted for choice number three.” Claude stood and walked across the room. He opened a locked cabinet and retrieved a gun. He turned and pointed it at Cam’s chest. “The bullets are in the freezer.”

“Turner was able to build it?”

“Yep. It’d be a shame if you had a heart attack at such an early age.”

“The council really voted for this?”

“If you refuse choice number one or two, yes.”

“Daphne voted for that as well?”

“She abstained.”

“That makes me feel a little bit better that all of you don’t want me dead.”

“None of us want you dead. It’s just our last resort.”

Cam eyed an old metal trash can. He walked to it and put his foot into it with all his strength. Being empty, it flew across the room. As soon as it landed he was on it again with another fierce kick. This time the can collapsed in on itself as it flew through the air. As it landed on its side Cam was in the air. He came down on it with both feet. The can crumpled. As it twisted in on itself it pulled Cam’s legs away from him and took him to the floor. He recovered quickly and crawled back to the can. With two swift elbows he drove the remaining raised metal to the floor.

“Feel better?” Claude asked.

“A little bit.” He stood. “I guess I’ll take door number one.”

“Good choice,” Claude said, as his cell phone rang.

He held the phone to his ear and listened.

“Roger that, we’re on our way” he said, hanging up.

“Who was that?”

“Turner. Seems some old friends of yours are in town for a visit.”

Chapter Thirty-six

Claude tossed the heart attack gun to Cam and sprinted to the freezer. He grabbed a cooler sitting next to it and filled the bottom of it with ice. In the middle he set a tray containing two ice bullets and on top of that more ice.

“Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Cam asked.

“The church,” Claude answered heading for the door. “I’ll tell you why in the car.”

On the way he told Cam the plan and what Turner was telling his two old friends.

“Two?” Cam asked. “This won’t work. He must’ve brought his brother. This is messed up, Claude. I can’t kill another person. I can’t do this.”

“We’ll distract the brother somehow. And from what I understand it’s kill or be killed. Turner told me all about the situation. He told the council this morning.”

“Can’t anybody keep a secret in this town?”

“Yes, we can. A secret to anybody in the council belongs to the council. It doesn’t go any further than that.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Yes.”

As they entered the church lot, Cam noticed it was empty.

“Park your car by the front door.” Cam did as instructed. “Give me the gun.” Claude moved ice around inside the cooler, fumbled with the gun, set it in the cooler, and closed the top. “It’s ready. Now do what I said and we’ll be there for you.”

“Why couldn’t we do this at my house? I don’t understand why I have to kill someone at a church?”

“Trust me.”

“Fine,” Cam said, grabbing the cooler and heading inside.

The front door was open, just as Claude said it would be. Cam entered and walked to the altar. He sat next to the pulpit with his cooler by his side.

Turner arrived at the gas station after making another call or two. He walked in to find one of the men chewing happily on a piece of buffalo jerky and the other pacing nervously.

“Gentlemen,” he said, entering the station with as much joy as he could muster. “I hear you’re searching for a car.”

“We are,” Rowdy said, offering him his hand. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. Our father is ill and has dreamed of such a car for a long time. When my brother and I saw it, we knew we had to buy it for him, no matter what price its owner might ask.”

“I understand,” Turner replied.

“Do you happen to know who owns it and where we might be able to find him?”

“His name is Cameron Caldwell,” Turner said, as he looked for a spark in Rowdy’s eyes. They lit up like fireworks. “Just so happens he’s over at the church in town right now. He’s had some trouble finding work since he arrived in town and does some light maintenance and janitorial work over there. Take the main drag north and you’ll probably find him in the sanctuary vacuuming. I think the Wednesday night service let out about two hours ago. He’s probably the only one there. Front door’s probably still unlocked.”

“You’ve been a big help,” Rowdy said, offering him his hand again.

Turner squeezed and pumped his fist and said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you something about Cam. Although he’s a really great guy, he seems to have quite a drinking problem. By this time of the day he is usually pretty into the sauce. Be fair with him if you make a deal. I’d hate to see him get screwed out of some money because he was drunk.”

“I’m a fair man,” Rowdy said. “He’ll get exactly what he deserves.”

On the drive over to the church, Dell asked, “I thought we weren’t going to get him until the morning?”

“Why wait when we have the perfect opportunity now? You heard the man—he’s drunk now and all alone. We couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.”

Dell grabbed the Dr. Pepper bottle off the floorboard again and began spinning it around in his hands.

“I don’t like this,” Dell said.

“It’ll all be over in about ten minutes. If you want to stay in the car you can. I would actually prefer if you stay in the car.”

“I’m coming in,” Dell said, squeezing the bottle nervously.

“Suit yourself. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

The sign for the church was dimly lit. Rowdy pulled into the church lot as he spotted Cam’s car by the front door. He parked his car next to it and shut off the engine. Before getting out of the car he checked his gun.

“Let’s do this,” he said to Dell.

The two men exited the vehicle and walked toward the front door of the church. Rowdy carried his gun and Dell still had the Dr. Pepper bottle in his hands. Rowdy eyed the bottle, started to say something smart, but held off.

Pulling at the front door, Rowdy found it to be open just as Turner had said. The two men stepped inside slowly to find the sanctuary dimly lit. Looking around it didn’t take too long to find Cam. He was crumpled on the floor next to a cooler by the pulpit. Rowdy and Dell crept forward up the main aisle. When they were near the first pew, Cam stirred and sat up. Rowdy and Dell froze.

“What’re you doing here?” Cam said, with a pretend slur just as Claude had instructed.

“Just checking up on our old buddy.” Rowdy pointed to the cooler sitting next to Cam. “I see you’re still staying drunk. Tsk-tsk,” Rowdy said, waving his finger back and forth. “What’s at the bottom of those cans that’s so appealing?”

“It makes me forget what you did.”

“Oh, Cam. Why don’t you tell me how you found out about that and maybe I’ll tell you why I did it.”

“Your brother told me,” Cam lied.

Rowdy pulled his gun from his belt and put it to Dell’s head.

“I should have known all of this heartache was because of you. You have been nothing but a source of grief for me.”

“We would all be happy if you wouldn’t have been so greedy,” Dell said, with the gun at his temple.

“Your simple mind doesn’t know up from down.”

“It knows right from wrong, Rowdy. And you killing Clarence and trying to make it look like Cam did it is wrong. Mom would be so sad.”

As the two brothers argued, Cam opened the cooler and retrieved the gun. Claude had loaded it for him and had set it atop the ice for quick retrieval. He pointed it at Rowdy and said, “Excuse me boys.” They both stopped the argument and looked at him. “Put your gun down, Rowdy.” Cam wasn’t slurring.

“You put yours down,” Rowdy said, pointing his gun at Cam. “I came here to tie up all my loose ends and I’m not leaving without you in cuffs.”

“I don’t believe that,” Cam said. “You’re here to kill me. If we went to a trial, you would lose. The only way out of this for you is with me dead.”

“You’re not as stupid as you sometimes seem,” Rowdy said.

“Just tell me one thing before you kill me,” Cam asked. “Why did you kill Clarence?”

“Put the gun down and I’ll tell you.”

Cam looked at the heart attack gun and set it down.

“I did it for the money. I killed Clarence for the money. My parents died and left me with this stupid asshole,” he said, pointing over his shoulder to Dell. “How am I supposed to take care of him without a lot of money to soothe me?”

“I’ve always thought Dell was a decent man,” Cam said.

“Then you should live with him. Too bad you’ll be dead, because he’s nothing but a stupid piece of meat inside a human body.”

Dell had been twirling the Dr. Pepper bottle around in his hands. As Rowdy spoke he clenched his teeth and gripped the bottle. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it until Rowdy called him stupid for the last time. When he did, Dell couldn’t take it any longer and reared back his hand with the bottle neck gripped tightly in his fist. He swung it at Rowdy’s head and closed his eyes as the bottle made contact with his brother’s temple. The gun fell out of Rowdy’s hand and he dropped to the ground.

Chapter Thirty-seven

“We got it all on video,” Turner said, emerging from the shadows. Blanca stood behind him.

Cam remembered the setup for the funeral when they arranged it to catch anything Darren and Alice might have said.

“Why didn’t you tell me the video equipment was still here? I thought you’d taken it back home.”

“We didn’t want you to act like you knew you were on camera. I think we have enough to put Rowdy away for the rest of his life.”

“Rowdy’s not moving,” Dell said, standing over him. He put his ear to his chest and listened. “He’s dead. Probably had a heart attack after I hit him.”

Cam walked over and put his hand on Dell’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, buddy. I know you loved your brother.”

Dell grabbed Cam’s hands. “Do you think Clarence can rest in peace now?”

Cam squeezed Dell’s hands and said, “Yes.”

“Then Mom will be happy.”

“I think she’d think you’re a hero.”

Dell smiled.

Blanca and Cam sat at the police station in her office. Two empty cups of coffee sat on the edge of her desk.

“And how am I not supposed to arrest you right now?” she said, after he’d told her everything.

“Things happen in life that don’t always go by the book.”

“This is a stretch, don’t you think?”

“So is Johnny Papers.” Blanca stood up and tried to protest and Cam shushed her. “This is my Johnny Papers.”

She sat back down and said “OK. I’ll close the case. What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to find Daphne.”