A Sticky Situation (10 page)

MAXINE

The Domino Effect

Somehow, I regained consciousness and I slowly opened my eyes. When I realized that I was lying on the floor inside of a very dark house, I rolled over and scrambled to my feet. I staggered a bit when I stood up because I was still a little lightheaded. I held onto the wall and took a couple of steps in the direction of the living room when I noticed that everything had been turned off. The entire house was in complete silence. You could hear a pin drop, which was a clear indicator that Sean and his two coconspirators had long been gone. I had to be sure, so I reached underneath my jacket to retrieve my nine-millimeter Glock holstered to my waist, but it wasn’t there. I panicked. I snatched my suit jacket off and patted my entire upper body and waist area, but still it wasn’t there. Suddenly, it came to me that one of them cowards took my gun.

“Oh shit! What am I going to do?” I asked myself as anxiety started running through me. I needed to call Karen, so I reached in my pants pocket for my cellular phone, but that was gone as well. “What the fuck!” I screamed. I had an alarming feeling that I was out of my comfort zone. I was unarmed and unequipped. Both my firearm and my phone were gone, and I knew that I would have to answer to my supervisor because of this. A full-scale investigation would be launched, and I might be sent home or put on strict administrative duty because of it. Shit, I didn’t need this type of drama in my life right now.

The only thing I could think to do was use the telephone in the house, but when I looked for one, there were none in sight. I walked through every room in the house, and all the outlets were bare. It looked as if someone disconnected every phone in there. I knew it could not have been anyone else but Sean, so believe me, that bastard was going to get his.

Running out of every option under the sun, I decided to get out of there and find the nearest pay phone. I looked for my car keys and they, too, were gone.
Oh shit, my car!
I thought to myself as I raced to the front door and opened it. To my relief, my car was still there, so I let out a long sigh and tried to figure out what I needed to do next. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was a little after eight o’clock, so that meant I had been unconscious for a little over six hours. In that time, Sean could’ve been on a plane, traveling to another country. He could also be hiding out somewhere in this area. I promised myself that I would find his ass, if it was the last thing I did.

After three minutes of pacing back and forth, a car drove by and pulled into the driveway of the home next door, so I sprinted over there before the driver could park the car.

“I’m so sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if I could use your phone to call the police?” I asked.

I was out of breath as I peered into the driver’s side window directly at a very young-looking black man. He had to be in his early twenties because his facial features were not fully developed and he didn’t have a speck of facial hair. His ball cap was turned around backward and he was blasting the hell out of 50 Cent’s new CD,
Curtis
, but when he saw how in distress I was, he immediately turned down the volume.

“You want to use my what?” he asked, as if he’d only heard bits and pieces of what I had said.

“I said, I need to call the police. I was wondering if I could use your phone,” I told him.

“Yeah, sure.” He handed me a cellular phone. “Is everything all right?”

I took the phone from his hand and started dialing. I attempted to answer him, but by the time I opened my mouth to speak, the 911 operator came on the line and asked me what my emergency was. I told the woman who I was and briefly explained what had just transpired between my parolee and two unknown suspects. In return, the woman told me that a police unit would be sent out to the location very shortly. I thanked the 911 dispatcher for her help, hung up, and immediately got my supervisor on the line. I knew she wouldn’t be at the office at this hour, so I called her at home. She answered on the third ring.

“Hi Karen, this is Maxine.”

“Hey, what happened to you? I thought you were coming back into work today.”

“Karen, I am standing outside the residence of one of my parolees, and I need some help.”

“What’s the matter?”

I sighed. “I was struck in the back of my head with a firearm and knocked out cold for over six hours.”

Shocked, she screamed through the receiver of the telephone. “What!”

“Karen, that’s not it,” I told her while shaking my head. “My gun was taken and so were my car keys. I’m standing outside of the residence, waiting for the police to show up.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, I am not.”

I reiterated what happened, from beginning to end. When I was done, she told me that she was going to make a report to start an investigation. She also stressed to me about how important it was to get my government-issued firearm back.

“We can’t have those guys running around in the streets with that gun,” she emphasized.

I agreed to assist in this investigation in any way I could.

“Give me the address where you are, because I’m on my way,” she insisted.

“Are you sure you want to come out this time of the night?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

Once I had given her the address and assured her that I would watch for her, I got off the line with her and called AAA to have them let me into my vehicle and tow my car to my place. I started to call Seth so he could bring me the other set of car keys, but I knew I couldn’t take the chance of having him around Karen and having her remember who he was. I figured that would be the worst thing I could ever do, so I pressed the END button on the phone and handed it back to the young man.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

By then, he had gotten out of his car and sat on the hood. You could tell thoughts were running through his mind because after he stuffed his phone back into his pocket he said, “All that stuff happened to you for real?”

“What’s your name?” I interjected.

“Lamont.”

“OK, Lamont. Yes, it did.”

“You actually saw them with drugs?”

I nodded my head.

“Man, I knew it,” he said and snapped his finger.

His comment sparked my curiosity. “You knew what?”

“I knew he was doing something illegal over there.”

“How did you come up with that assumption?”

“Because he was always home during the day and while he was there, I would always see at least two guys come by in expensive cars and drop off a large duffel bag.”

“How did these guys look?”

“I can’t tell you how they looked in the face, but the way they were dressed told it all.”

“What kind of cars were they driving?”

“I remember one of them driving a black Infiniti with twenty-inch rims, and the other two cats were driving a burgundy Yukon with twenty-two inch rims and a funny-colored green Mercedes Benz wagon.

“Was this every day?”

“Almost every day.”

“How often during the course of the day?”

“Once or twice, but never more than that.”

“Did you ever catch them exchanging any large sums of cash out in the open?”

“Nope. Sean never did anything with them outside. He always would let them go in the house.”

“How well do you know Sean?”

“I have known him for a long time because my parents have been living here for as long as his parents lived there.”

“Had y’all hung out?”

“Yeah, we use to shoot ball every Saturday, but when those guys started coming around, I started seeing less and less of him.”

“Are his parents out of town?”

“Yeah, they’re out of town.”

“How do you know this for sure?”

“Because I seen them when they packed their luggage in their car and left.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Two days ago.”

“Do you have any idea where they could have gone?”

“I overheard my mom telling my dad they drove to Delaware to visit family.”

“Did your mother say when they were supposed to return?”

“Nah.”

I asked him a few more questions until I saw the police arrive, and then I excused myself. There were two uniformed officers and two detectives on the scene. After I gave them the required information they needed to file a report, everyone went inside Sean’s residence to get more evidence of the crime that took place. While all of this was going on, Karen drove up. Her face was in disarray when she got the chance to look at me face-to-face.

“Are you OK?” she asked me the moment she came within a couple feet of me. Karen wore a sweatsuit and sneakers.

I took a deep breath and said, “I will be after all this is over.”

“So, what did the police say?” she asked.

“They didn’t say much. I did all the talking.”

“Where are they now?”

“Inside the residence.”

“Is someone in there?”

“No, but I’m assuming they are taking pictures and collecting whatever evidence they can to build this case.” I rubbed the back of my head.

Karen looked at my head and said, “Was that where the guy hit you?’

“Yes,” I said and frowned as if I was experiencing an excruciating pain. “I got a small knot right above my ear.” I leaned my head in her direction.

She felt the small lump and said, “You need to seek some medical attention for that.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Because that’s a pretty big lump.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I told her. “All I want to do is go home after I leave here.”

“So, what are you going to do about your car?”

“I just called AAA, so I am going to have the driver tow my car to my house.”

“Do you have a spare key at home?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, how are you going to get inside your place?”

“I have a spare key hidden outside in one of my plants.”

“Don’t you think that could be kind of risky?”

“It is to a certain degree, but I have an alarm system and neighbors who are extremely nosey. So, if anyone wants a free go-to jail–card, they can get it.”

“Well let’s get you home, then,” Karen said as we watched the AAA tow truck pull up.

Right before I left the scene, Karen and I both spoke with the detectives in depth about the start of this investigation. She told them that she planned to launch an investigation of her own and that it would result in criminal charges. After they handed me a copy of their report and their business cards, we all left. I jumped in the car with Karen and we both had the tow truck driver follow us to my apartment. After he released my car, Karen and I went inside my place. I tried to assure her that I would be all right, but she insisted on making sure I got into my apartment safely. When we entered the living room area, I flipped up the light switch. Karen made references about how she adored every piece of décor I had in the room, then she paused as if she had seen something really strange.

I looked in the direction in which she was staring and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She walked over to the mantel right above my fireplace and picked up a wooden framed picture of Seth and I and said, “Wait a minute. Who is this guy? I swear I know him from somewhere.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The guy posing in this picture with you.”

“Which picture is that?” I asked, even though I already knew what picture she was referring to.

“This one right here,” she pointed out and showed me the photo.

My mouth was dry as hell and my knees were about to give way. I literally almost passed out. I mean, there I was, standing in my living room with my supervisor while she was holding a picture of me kissing Seth.

I took a deep breath and said, “Oh, you don’t know him. That’s my friend Alex.”

“Yes, I believe I do. I never forget a face,” Karen pressed the issue.

My heart pounded uncontrollably as the sweat began to seep through my pores. I honestly was at a loss for words but I knew I had to come up with something. “You’ve probably seen him on television, because he plays on a minor league baseball team.”

“No, that’s not it.” She placed the picture back down on the mantel.

“Would you like something to drink?” I tried to divert her attention away from Seth.

“No, I’m fine,” she said. “I really need to be heading on home.”

Karen turned around and walked to the front door. I followed her.

“Thanks again for coming to my rescue,” I told her.

“No problem, but I want you to get some rest. As a matter-offact, I’m ordering you to take a leave of absence from the job. You have been through so much these past couple of days, and I feel like you’ll never recover from it unless you take some time off.”

I thought for a brief moment and then agreed with her. I would take the leave of absence. Karen hugged me and left. Once she was gone, it felt like a two-hundred-pound man was lifted from my shoulders. What a relief that was!

After I locked the door I raced into the kitchen, grabbed the cordless phone, and immediately called Seth’s cell phone, but I didn’t get an answer. I hung up and called him eight times, back to back, and he still didn’t pick up. Knowing for a fact that he was still avoiding my calls had my blood boiling. What was so screwed up about this whole thing was that I couldn’t do anything about it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten. When I opened my eyes again, I felt just a tad bit better. It wasn’t enough to jump around with excitement, but it was enough to say
the hell with him,
and keep it moving.

I ended up calling a locksmith to change my locks. I couldn’t afford to let anyone come up in my house with any surprises. Afterward, I took a long, hot bath and called it a night. Before I went to sleep, I called Heather and told her everything. She and I stayed on the phone for about an hour or so until she got a visit from a guy she used to date. I warned her not to give up the cookies, but I knew she wasn’t going to listen to me. It had been a while since she’d been intimate, so I knew my words went in one ear and right out the other.