Chapter Eleven
Sometimes I wish I could die and come back as a gay man. They certainly knew how to live. I was driving down Sunset on my way to work with my stomach full and happy. I got breakfast in bed and Jeff and Jason even cleaned up my apartment for me while I soaked in a bubble bath. They made me feel like I was a kid living with my parents again when there was always food in the fridge and toilet paper in the bathroom.
I parked in the lot behind the office and walked in on a cinnamon roll high. When I got a couple feet past Harry’s office I stopped, then back stepped. Manuel was sitting behind the desk on the phone. He motioned for me to come in and shut the door. It was surreal to see him casually sitting there in his usual baggy jeans and T-shirt looking as sexy and masculine as ever, which wasn’t easy considering he was surrounded by silk flowers and Harry’s eye candy all over the walls.
He got off the phone and waited for me to say something.
“What?” I asked. How much trouble could I be in? All I did this morning was gorge on cinnamon rolls.
“Shut the door.”
“Why?”
“Goldie would you please just shut it?”
Since he asked nicely I got up and closed the door wondering what was going on.
“That guy Davies was found dead in his apartment this morning,” he said.
“Oh, my God,” I said putting my hand over my mouth. “How?”
“Execution style,” he said. “Gunshot to the back of the head.”
“Do they know who did it?” I asked.
“No. Do you?”
I waited for him to indicate he was kidding, but he just sat there waiting for my answer.
“You’re joking right?”
Silence.
“You’re serious about this?” I asked.
“Does it look like I’m serious?”
I knit my eyebrows together in concentration. “I can’t imagine you not being serious. So how could I tell if you weren’t?”
Before he sighed and looked down I could have sworn I saw one corner of his mouth turn up into an almost smile.
“Did you talk to Davies after I dropped you off last night?”
“No. Why?”
“He tried to call you around midnight.”
My heart started to race. What? “How do you know that?”
No answer.
“Did your friends from last night talk to him?”
“No,” I said.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” I answered. “They would have told me if they had. Besides we never even gave him our numbers.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” He asked.
“I don’t think so.” I couldn’t think of anything else that would help.
He stared at me for a minute then stood up obviously finished with what he came for. Then he walked over to me and slipped a piece of paper into my hand.
“Try to stay out of trouble Goldie,” he said.
I looked down and saw the familiar writing. It was the paper I had given Ronald last night with our fake names and the time we were supposed to meet him.
I turned to ask Manuel how he got it, but he was gone. I looked down the hallway, but all I saw was Hector’s wide body blocking any view to the back door.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hector asked.
And the morning had started out so well.
“I swear all I did was eat cinnamon rolls,” I said still in shock at Manuel’s news.
Hector narrowed his eyes at me. “And you didn’t bring any for me?”
He was a man with a one track food mind. “I had them at Jason’s,” I said.
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought Hector might have done a little squeal of annoyance.
“Damn. I bet they were good too. I bet that fucker can really cook.”
I reminded him about Yolanda.
“When people give me food it don’t count,” he explained.
“Fine. Next time I promise I’ll bring some for you.”
Hector made a face. “Fuck that. Next time you’re going to call me so I can come over. I ain’t getting stuck with any table scraps.”
“It’s a deal,” I said trying not to laugh picturing Hector in Jeff and Jason’s apartment.
My phone rang. It was Bryan.
“Ronald Davies was murdered last night,” he said. “He was last seen in a bar with a good looking petite blond and two gay guys who got in a fight over teeth bleaching. Does that sound like anyone you know?”
My stomach twisted and I felt like I was ready to be sick. Hector almost got his wish about me sharing the cinnamon rolls with him. My face must have showed what I was feeling because Hector mouthed ‘What’s going on?’
I ignored him and said, “Nope. Doesn’t ring a bell.” Then squeezed my eyes shut waiting for him to go off. But instead I heard him sigh into the phone.
“Stevie this is big. I want you to stay away from anything to do with Davies or Mrs. Howard. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“Are you just saying that? Or do you actually mean it?”
“Mean it,” I said. “Totally.” I cringed. That didn’t come out as convincing as I hoped.
I heard him scowl then hang up.
Hector shook his head. “Girl, even from this end I could tell you were bullshitting.”
I told Hector what Manuel and Bryan told me.
“Shit Goldie what are you going to do?” Even Hector was at a loss.
I wasn’t sure, but I knew I had to tell Mrs. Howard what happened.
We were driving to Cheviot Hills to talk with Mrs. Howard. I already called Jeff and Jason and warned them what was going on. They were unconcerned and proceeded to ask me if I wanted to go for a run with them tonight to burn off the cinnamon buns. From the sound of their voices they had hit the mimosas after I left. The panic would set in later.
“We’re going to see the old lady?” Hector asked.
I nodded.
“Do you think she knocked off the old guy?”
“No. She doesn’t seem the type.”
“Goldie, there isn’t any type when it comes to a woman getting fucked over.”
He was right. “But then why wouldn’t she have done it right after when no one could connect them. Why come to us for help?”
“For one thing she didn’t come to us. She came to you. And for another, maybe she did that so she could set you up. Did you ever think of that?”
I shot my eyes over to Hector. “No, she wouldn’t do that.”
“The fuck she wouldn’t. She doesn’t know you from shit Goldie. Why wouldn’t she?”
We knocked on Mrs. Howard’s door. She opened it right away as if she was expecting us.
“Did you get the money back?” She asked rubbing her hands together.
“No. We didn’t,” I said not wanting to tell her what really happened.
“You fell for him didn’t you?” she asked. “I don’t blame you. He was truly talented, if you know what I mean.”
Unfortunately I did and fought back my gag reflex.
“Hell, no. She didn’t,” Hector said then muttered his usual shit.
For once I was grateful for his outburst. I waited for him to carry on and tell her what happened. But instead he nudged me with his elbow and with exaggerated eyes motioned to Mrs. Howard. Usually he couldn’t keep his mouth shut but now when I needed him to blab the news so I didn’t have to, he suddenly turned into Mr. Discreet.
“Mr. Davies was murdered last night,” I blurted out.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Murdered?”
We nodded.
“By whom?”
“We don’t know. When was the last time you spoke to him?”
“Not for a couple of weeks when I said I wouldn’t loan him anymore money,” she said.
“And he never tried to contact you after that?”
“No dear,” she said.
“What
are you going to do about your brother now?”
I felt bad for her. She ended up worse than when she started. Now she’d never get back her money and would still have to face her brother.
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she said waving her hand around. “It will be fine.”
I was surprised by her change of demeanor, but everyone acted differently to these type of things. Maybe she hadn’t had time to digest it all. Hector and I said our good byes and left. We stopped at a donut shop so I could buy Hector a cinnamon roll. He had been dropping hints about how hungry he was since we left the office. He was in junk food heaven now that he found a loophole in Yolanda’s orders. If I bought it for him it wasn’t cheating.
“You know something about that old lady wasn’t right,” he said while he shoved in a piece of donut.
“What do you mean?”
“She didn’t seem that bummed she wasn’t going to get her money back. And didn’t you tell me she was scared shitless about her brother finding out about her fuck me loan?”
I nodded.
“Well how come suddenly she’s mellow ‘bout him finding out?”
He was right. She was petrified when she mentioned him before.
“And she should have been more upset about not getting her money back shouldn’t she?” I said.
“Yeah ‘cause she ain’t getting any fucking money from a dead guy,” he said finishing his donut and chucking the bag in the trash can. “I think we need to watch the old lady.”
Hector and I had a very unproductive day sitting in front of Mrs. Howard’s house. We didn’t get any answers instead all we got were stomach aches from all the junk food and tingling asses from not moving all day. While sitting there in a vitamin deficiency delusion I decided to break into Davies apartment that night and take a look around. I thought if I broke into his apartment I could get some answers. I didn’t tell Hector about my plans. I knew he’d want to tag along and even though his gift would have come in handy he wasn’t exactly someone who wouldn’t be noticed.
I waved good bye to Hector and he honked his horn blasting mariachi music back. I pulled into my garage then when I knew Hector was long gone I pulled back out and headed towards Laurel Canyon to make my way to the valley.
Davies building was in the typical seventies style where they threw out all aesthetic value for practicality. It was five stories with about ten apartments on each floor.
I parked a block away and waited to follow one of the residents in. When I saw a guy in his twenties entering the building I made my move. I figured if he questioned me I’d just flirt a bit and worm my way in. I had just made my way up the steps when I felt someone tug my ponytail.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I did a mental cringe when I recognized Manuel’s voice.
“Nothing,” I said turning around and giving him a smile. “How ‘bout you?”
Manuel waited for the real answer.
“I want to know why Davies called me last night,” I said. “Something doesn’t feel right to me. And by the way how did you get that piece of paper on it before the police did?”
Silence.
“It’s because you’re a cop aren’t you?”
I didn’t really expect him to answer, but I thought I’d give it a try.
“A lot of questions,” he said.
“They’ve built up because I never get any answers,” I said. “How did you know he called me anyway?”
Bryan didn’t mention it when he called, which told me Davies phone was picked up before the investigators arrived. But it was only a matter of time before they checked his phone records and they traced him to me. I dreaded being interrogated and having to explain the whole shaving business.
“You snatched the phone before anyone else got there didn’t you?” I asked not waiting for his answer.
He gave me a half-smile. “Do you want to break in or not?” he asked, clearly not willing to tell me anything.
“What’s with all the secrets?” I asked, irritated at his silence. “Hector can vouch for me. I’m okay. Really.”
“It’s better for you not to know.”
His cryptic answer only made me want to know more.
“Why?”
His eyes locked with mine. “If you don’t stop the questions I’m going to put tape over your mouth, throw you over my shoulder and take you home.”
I pursed my lips together. “You wouldn’t.”
He said, “Try me.”
I didn’t think for one minute he wasn’t serious. Manuel didn’t seem the type of guy to make threats.
“Fine,” I said crossing my arms over my chest. “Are you still going to help me or not? Or am I not allowed to ask that?”
He ignored my smart ass question and walked towards the front door. He pulled something out of pocket and within a couple seconds had the door opened.
“Let’s go,” he said his eyes searching around the area.
I headed for the elevator, but Manuel tugged on my shirt to follow him up the stairs.
“Why are we going this way?”
“Less chance on being noticed,” he said “Most people are too lazy to take the stairs.”
And I understood why. Davies’s apartment was five flights up and I was out of breath trying to keep up with Manuel. If his stair climbing was any indication, Mystery Man definitely spent a lot of time doing cardio.
Manuel cracked open the stairwell door and took a look around. Davies apartment was next to the stairs. There was police tape across the door. I followed Manuel and waited while he picked the lock. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but within seconds he unlocked the dead bolt. He gently pulled back the police tape and went inside. I followed and shut the door behind me.
“I’ll check out the bedroom. Have a look at his desk and see what you can find,” he said.
I blinked trying to see where he went. Manuel must have been part feline because apparently he didn’t need to wait for his eyes to adjust to the light. I squinted and tried to take a look around. Then wished my eyes hadn’t adjusted. The apartment was decorated in sleazy bachelor style with leather sofas and an assortment of pornographic pictures strewn about the room.
“What a pig,” I mumbled to myself.
I made my way through the living room helped by the street lamp light streaming in through the window. Instead of a dining room table there was an oversized desk with stacks of folders. I picked one up and opened it only to find a picture of an older woman and her details from the web dating site Mrs. Howard had mentioned. Davies had carefully listed the alias he had given her and all the lies he had told her about himself. The file also showed how much money he had gotten and the dates. I went through more files and they were all the same.
“What’d you find?” Manuel asked looking over my shoulder.
“He certainly was organized,” I said and handed over the file on Mrs. Howard.
Manuel quickly glanced through it. “And busy,” he said rolling the folder and putting it in his back pocket letting me get a glimpse of abs that looked like they had been chiselled from stone. I must have had my mouth hanging open because an extraordinarily large amount of saliva had pooled in my mouth that I had to either gulp down or risk drooling.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Just then there was a loud bang that sounded like a firecracker. The dining room window shattered sending glass flying all around us. Manuel shoved me against the wall away from the window and covered my body with his just before another shot blasted through.
“Are you hurt?” He asked looking me over to make sure I was still in one piece.
“No,” I said my voice quivering.
“Stay here,” Manuel said reaching behind him and pulling out a gun from under his shirt. He crept close to the broken window with his gun drawn.
I was never good at waiting. I crawled across the floor using some of Davies porno magazines as make shift cushions to avoid the broken
glass. I peered out the window behind Manuel and saw the scary looking guy from the bar racing away in a familiar looking Ferrari. Where were Fidel and Emil?
“What part of stay was confusing?” He asked.
“None,” I said. “I just didn’t want to.”
His expression was not a happy one. “Next time I tell you to do something you better do it.”
“Okay,” I said. But not really meaning it. I didn’t want to make him more pissed off than necessary.
I could tell by Manuel’s expression he didn’t believe me, but let it go for now. “Did you recognize him?” Manuel asked.
I nodded. “He’s the creep at the bar I told you about.”
We could hear sirens in the distance. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here”, he said, putting his gun away and pulling me by the hand as we made our way out of the building. Manuel motioned for me to follow him to his car, which was parked along the side street behind the building.
As we drove away my heart was pounding so fast I felt like it was going to bust through my chest. I glanced at Manuel, who looked just the same as he always did. Calm and totally in control.
“Do you know who that guy is?” I asked when I finally was able to slow my breathing.
“Yeah,” he said.
I waited for more, but he didn’t say anything else.
“And?” I asked tapping my hand on my leg.
Manuel hesitated, and I could see he was thinking about whether to tell me the truth.
“Is it that bad?” I asked.
He glanced over and said, “They put a contract on you.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Me? Why?” I asked. There had to be a mistake.
“They think you stole something from them. If they can’t get it back they’re going to make you pay. That’s how it works,” he said.
“But I didn’t steal anything. I swear I’m telling the truth,” I said wanting to scream.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “They think you did.”
“This sucks,” I said leaning my head back and shutting my eyes wishing this whole thing would go away.
He passed over the folder we had taken from Davies apartment and pulled out a DVD along with it.
I stared down at it confused.
“It seems like Davies kept track of his women in other ways too,” he said.
I glanced down and saw the DVD had a big white label with the date and Mrs. Howard’s name across the top.
“Oh my God,” I said when I finally clued in. No wonder he was killed. A slew of women being taped from numerous unflattering angles was enough to piss anyone off.
Manuel didn’t say much on the drive home and I didn’t have the energy to ask any more questions. I was too busy thinking about what he told me and getting more freaked out by the minute.
When we got to my apartment he parked his car and walked me up. Manuel took the keys from me and opened the door. He took his gun out from the back waistband of his jeans and told me to wait while he checked out my apartment. I couldn’t have been that freaked out because I couldn’t resist trying to get another peek at his abs when he lifted his shirt.
“It’s clear,” he said holding the door open for me.
I tossed the file and DVD on the coffee table. Then I sat down on the sofa, grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest.
“What am I going to do?” I asked.
He threw my keys on the counter and sat in the chair next to me. “You should stay somewhere else until I can get this worked out,” he said.
I wasn’t going to take his suggestion about going somewhere else. I was tired of being afraid. “How can you work this out?”
He didn’t answer.
“Isn’t it time you opened up with the secrets? I have a guy out there who gets a major payday to kill me. How can me not knowing be better?”
“There’s worse out there than Ortiz,” he said.
My ears perked up. “Is that the scary bar guy’s name?”
He gave a barely perceptible nod.
“First or last name?”
“Does it matter?” He asked.
He was right. It wasn’t like I was going to send him a party invitation.
“How do you know him?” I asked.
“We have some mutual acquaintances.”
His phone vibrated. He glanced down and read a message. “I’ve got to go,” he said and stood up to leave. “Where are you going to stay tonight?”
“Here,” I said letting my eyes wander not wanting to look at him directly. I wasn’t afraid of Manuel, but he could be a little intimidating.
“It’s not a good idea,” he said.
I crossed my arms in front of me refusing to budge.
“I’m not going to run,” I said. “Even if I wanted to I wouldn’t want to put anyone else in danger.”
Why should they be included in my bullseye?
“Ortiz isn’t sloppy,” he said
How comforting to have such an expert marksman after me.
“I’m still not going,” I said as forcefully as I could.
His eyes met mine and held. “Then I’m just going to have to call Hector to stay with you.”
What? My mouth hung open and I did a little foot stamp thing that I did when I was in first grade and couldn’t shake the habit. “You wouldn’t,” I said. Hector raiding my empty cupboards, disfiguring my living room sofa with his bulk and nagging me was almost as scary as the idea of a contract on my life.
“I’m sure he could even bring a couple of his kids,” he added.
He took his phone out and started to punch some numbers. I tried to grab it out of his hand, but he reached out and grabbed my wrist so quickly I hadn’t even seen it coming.
Boy did he fight dirty. I made a face at him. “Okay,” I said. “You win.”
“I usually do,” he said releasing my wrist.
“So where’s it going to be?” He asked.
I took my phone out and pushed Jeff and Jason’s number in so hard it almost fell out of my hands. I asked if I could crash at their place for a while, before I even got off the phone they were already mixing up a pitcher of apple martinis knowing what I needed even before I did. The only hardship of staying with them was to my waistline otherwise it was like being at a permanent spa.
“All done,” I said. “And if my butt gets huge from them stuffing me with food it will be your fault.”
He looked me up and down in a way that made me feel like I should blush. “I’ll take my chances.”
I gulped as a wave of heat went straight to my lower regions.
After that I didn’t have much to say. With that one glance he had effectively silenced me. He walked me up the one flight of stairs to their apartment. When Jason came to the door he practically purred at the sight of Manuel who gave him a miniscule nod in response and told me he’d be in touch.
“That man makes my soldier stand at attention every time I see him,” Jason said handing me a drink.
I readily took a very unladylike swig. “Thanks for the visual,” I said and held out my glass for another round.