Shattered Shell (6 page)

"Friend of yours?" I asked, as Felix let me in. There was classical music playing ---perhaps Haydn --- that instantly cut us off from any outside sounds.

"More of an acquaintance than a friend," Felix said. "Here, let me take your coat." He had on pressed blue jeans, a heavy blue chamois shirt, and soft brown slippers, which on anybody else would have made me laugh. However, Felix is not one to accept unexplained laughter sent his way. He was built almost as solid as the man who had just left, with thick hair combed back and a blue-black stubble of beard.

I followed Felix into the living room, and he tossed my coat over an easy chair. Felix's living room is light, airy furniture, with a couple of magazines tastefully arranged on the coffee table, with that day's copies of the
Boston Globe
and
New York Times
. Windows looked out to the ocean below, and there were no shrubberies, trees, or snow-covered lawn furniture out there to provide a hiding place for someone coming up to the house. Like me, Felix is a fairly recent immigrant to this resort seacoast, but his source was the North End of Boston, where he learned his trade. He once told me his income tax sheet lists his occupation as security consultant, and if you believe that, you probably believe we bombed Iraq to make Kuwait safe for democracy. Since my own tax sheet says I'm only a writer, I've never accused him of being a liar.

"Was that why your phone was off the hook?" I asked, sitting in a matching easy chair, which was done in a light eggshell blue. "Had some business to conduct?"

After turning down the volume on the CD, Felix sat across from me on the couch, grinning easily. "Sort of. When I'm dealing, I hate distractions. Did you try to call?"

"Yeah, which is why I'm here. You getting involved in anything interesting?"

Felix shook his head. "No, not this time. Old Nick is a neighbor from down south, and he has a shipment of, um, well, let's say some pharmaceutical items coming ashore in a few weeks. He wanted to know if I'd be interested in coming along as a chaperone."

''I'm sure. And what did you tell him?"

He rubbed at his pants leg. "Like I've told you before. Nothing to do with drugs. Nothing. The quality of people you get involved with import-export are rotten types, guys who'd turn you in or blow you away if they thought it would help them. That doesn't make for job security or an attractive career. So I said, nope, no thank you. And there were no hard feelings, all around."

"I can tell."

"So. You up to something?"

"That I am, and I'm stopping by to see if you'd be open to having your talents rented for a week or two."

Though the smile was still on his face, there was now an edge there, and I could tell he was getting just a bit uncomfortable. "Oh? For you, Lewis? What's the matter, someone steal a computer disk or something?"

I took a deep breath, knowing I wasn't going to enjoy the next ten or fifteen minutes. "No. An acquaintance of mine was raped last night. Her closest friend, one Diane Woods of the Tyler Police Department, wants help in tracking down the rapist. She knows me and I said yes. Now I'm here, asking for your expertise."

The smile was now gone. "You'll excuse me if I don't start responding enthusiastically, and please don't take offense, but are you out of your fucking mind?"

I sighed. "I've been wondering about that, and I have no choice. Diane's my friend, and I owe her. I can't say no to her, and I won't."

“Sure you can," Felix said. "Put an 'n' and an 'o' together, and take it from there. Look. This is a cop, of all people, asking you to get involved in something very heavy indeed because she can’t afford to be so public and do the hunt herself. And knowing Diane, I'm sure once this guy is ID'd, she ain't going to send him a Valentine's Day card."

“You guessed right."

"Who's the acquaintance?"

"Kara Miles of Newburyport. A wonderful woman, and close friend of Diane's. I know her some and it made me sick seeing her last night, what had happened to her."

"You say she's friends with Diane Woods?"

"I did."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No."

He shifted in the couch. "So you want my expertise. What do you think, I've got the entire North Shore section of Massachusetts wired, I can make a couple of calls and have this guy wrapped up for you by next Monday'?"

"No, but you have an eye for things, and I know you have good reflexes. That's what I need. We both can do a pretty good tracking job, but you're better when it comes to hands-on stuff. If I'm somewhere and something's going south on me in a hurry, I might hesitate, and hesitation might not be healthy. In the same situation, I think you'd be washing your hands while I'm still debating. Am I right?"

"Oh, quite right. And how do you think Detective Woods will feel, knowing you're asking someone of my character to join you in this little quest?"

I leaned forward, rested my elbows on my legs. "She sends her best. She wants this guy bad, and I know she'd be very happy if you helped me on this."

That seemed to make Felix think. "So it's that serious. Hmmm." He rubbed at the stubble on his chin and said, "If we're successful, then she'd be in our debt, right?"

I sat up. "Forget it. This is a straight hire. Don't think just because you're helping Diane, she's going to ignore you trying to rob the Tyler Cooperative Bank. This is a straight business proposition."

He slowly nodded. "All right. Glad that's spelled out, then."

He got up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen, and then came back out with two open bottles of Molson Golden Ale, and I was touched. Felix has never expressed a fondness for my favorite brand, but here he was, keeping a few of the green bottles on ice for me. I took the offering and clinked the bottleneck to his, and he sat back on the couch.

"If I'm in, then we're going to get some ground rules and understandings, right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," and for once, I was telling the truth.

"Fine," he said. "If the job is to find this guy, then that's what we do. No side business. Nothing vigilante. We find him and present him to Miss Woods, and it's up to her to decide what happens next. You got me for the next couple of weeks, but if nothing comes up, no leads, no nibbles, not even a breath, then I'm out. I've got better things to do than to chase down ghosts. Either way, I get paid. Which reminds me," and he looked up at me with a grin. "Who gets the bill?"

“I’ll take care of it. And another thing. If you're in and I'm paying, then I set the direction, I set the pace. If things get too weird and I decide it's over, then it's over."

He winked. "I'm in. And I wouldn't have it any other way," and I wished then I knew if he was telling the truth.

I stayed for a bit longer, nursing my beer, and we talked about the weather and we both wondered if the Red Sox were going to do anything this year, and I said that as much as I hated for it to happen, one almost wished for another Russian Revolution, because that's the only time the Red Sox ever win a World Series. Felix laughed and said, "You must know a lot about the Russians, considering your past job and all that."

"All what?" I innocently asked, and Felix laughed again and said, "One of these days, you old spy, I'll get you to talk," and I said not on this day, and then I refused a gracious offer to replace the empty beer bottle with a full one. Felix took the empty bottle away and he came back and sprawled out on the couch and his voice got quiet.

"You know this is going to be tough," he said. "I'm not bullshitting you. We're going to be spending some time rooting around in the mud, looking at bad things and talking to bad people that most citizens like to think don't exist. We're going on a trip to the dark side, because we're looking for one sick and nasty man, and I doubt he's going to be very happy when we start knocking on doors and start asking for him. You've got to be ready, because chances are, it's going to get a bit hairy along the way. You understand?"

I nodded. "I've known that ever since I said yes to Diane. I'm not happy about it, I'm not looking forward to it, but I don't see that I have much choice."

His arms were spread out on the rear of the couch, and I noticed the bulge of muscles, even with the thick shirt. "You thought yet how we're going to conduct this little investigation? You don't plan to pretend to be a cop, do you?"

"No, I don't, but I figure my
Shoreline
business card will help out. I'll just say that I'm doing a story about violent crime against women, and that I'm using Kara's case for research. You can be my trusted photographer and assistant. I assume you know which end of a thirty-five-millimeter camera is up, right?"

"I do." He brought his hands together in a sudden clap and said, "In a couple of weeks I'm off to the Cayman Islands on a courier job, but besides that, I'm your man. Give me a call in a few days, and try to get some leads from Diane. See if she can clear the way with the Newburyport cops. I'd hate to get rousted the first day on the case."

"Not a problem."

"Good. Let me walk you out."

I put on my coat and we went outside, the cold air wrapping itself around my face and hands. Felix talked as we went to my Rover. With my fingers on the door handle, I turned to him and said, "Who are we looking for, Felix? Any guesses?"

He shook his head. "Anybody and everybody, and the only requirement is that he can pee standing up. He can be a biker, a minister, a schoolteacher, or a stockbroker. Only requirement is that he has the need to hurt. That's it."

"Could be a lot of guys. With your record, somebody could say that you belong on the list. Criminals all."

If it's possible, Felix almost looked hurt. "That was a rude thing to say, and you know it. Whatever things illegal I get involved with, there's a reason for it. It may not be a good reason, but it's a reason. Enforcement. Courier jobs. Protection. I do it for the money and because I'm good at it, but there's no compulsion in there, nothing that makes me go out and hurt people. Especially women. Don't equate me with the creature that hurt your friend. That's a whole 'nother universe, and even the lowest of us out here know it. Look at prisons. Guys on the bottom of the totem pole are the rapists and child molesters. They usually don't last long."

"If we do what Diane wants, he might not last long, either."

He cocked his head at me. "You're really going to do this, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" I said, finally opening up the door.

"I thought back there that you'd say we'd be doing this, but only going through the motions. Following empty leads. Wasting time and efforts. Hoping that the cops would eventually find this guy, or hoping that Diane would finally calm down and tell us to stop. I didn't think even you'd have the gumption to get along on a dirty ride like this."

I remembered the decision I made last night before falling asleep, and I said, "You're pretty close, but not on the mark. No, we're going to do what we can, make this as real as possible. But if we do come up with this bastard, I'm going to try my best to see that Diane doesn't do something she might regret."

"She might not let you."

"I know. But I'm going to try."

He gave me a slap on the shoulder. "Sometimes that's all we can do. Give me a call when you can, and you know what?"

"What?" I said, climbing into the front seat.

"As sick as it might sound, it's been a quiet winter, and I'm almost looking forward to getting back to work."

I gave him my best disgusted look as I started up the engine.

"You're right. It does sound sick."

Then I left North Tyler and went home, and eventually fell I back to bed, the Molson's and the previous late night sending me back to sleep.

Chapter Four

Sometime during my afternoon nap the phone rang again and I stumbled downstairs. It was Diane, and she sounded slightly better than she had the night before.

"I'm back home now, and Kara's with me," she said, her voice tired. "She's going to be staying here for a while, and screw the town and the gossipers if that's a problem."

"How is she holding up?"

"Oh..." and the torment in that one syllable made me close my eyes, "she's holding up, but sometimes I think she's the one holding me up. Last night at the hospital I was scared and I was pissed, but right now, I'm just pissed." She stopped, and I could hear her breathing. "You haven't changed your mind about anything, have you?"

"Not a bit."

"Thanks," she said. "Look. Give me and Kara a day off tomorrow, all right? And then we can see each other on Monday, look at what we got, and start things rolling."

"That's fine," I said, secretly relieved I wouldn't have to start anything before then. "Will you have anything for me?"

"Oh, on Monday I'm going to try to chisel some stuff out of Inspector Dunbar," Diane said wearily. "Using professional courtesy and that crap, so at least you should be able to see his preliminary report. Tyler and Newburyport cops have a pretty good working relationship, so I should get copies of his case stuff without much of a hassle."