Fresh Kills (14 page)
Authors: Bill Loehfelm
“Hey, Julia,” he said, walking over to us. Standing beside me, he tapped the driver’s side of the windshield. “Expired.” He walked around the back of the car, locking his thumbs in his belt. His fingertips tapped at the badge next to his belt buckle. “And you’ve got a taillight out.”
“Hello, Carlo,” Julia said, grabbing her bags from the backseat.
Purvis rocked back on his heels, tilting his chin up as Julia walked away from him. “John, I need to talk to you a moment,” he said, watching her back as he spoke to me. “Just a few little things that need clearing up.”
I put myself between them. “Write me a fucking ticket, you got problems with the car.”
He finally looked at me. “I can let the car problems go,” he said. “I know grief can be disorienting. That it’s distracting. That maybe you’ve mixed up your priorities right now.”
Julia stopped at the front door, turning toward us. “You want to come in?” she asked, glancing back and forth between Purvis and me. She didn’t want him in the house any more than I did. The invite was to prevent Purvis and me from being alone, and to hopefully find out what he had to say about my “priorities.”
“We’re fine out here,” I said.
Her eyes settled on me. She stared me down hard, her cheeks red with anger and confusion. I had a bad feeling there was guilt all over my face, but she ground her teeth on her questions, breathed deep through her nose.
“I’m sure my brother knows what he needs to do these days,” Julia said. She turned to Purvis. “He’s been a huge help to me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” She disappeared into the house. She left the door open as she walked away.
“We won’t be long,” I said.
Purvis leaned around me to look into the hall. “You’re not,” I said, stepping into his line of sight. “You’re not checking out my sister while I’m standing right here.”
“What? No. Of course not. I could go for a cup of coffee, though.”
“So you can talk more cryptic shit in front of Julia? Make me look like an asshole? You’re outta your mind. That badge has made you crazy.” I walked away from him, out onto the lawn. Purvis followed. “You got something to tell me,” I said, “get it over with.”
“First of all, Waters wanted to update you on the investigation. I hate to show up always bearing bad news, but I have to tell you, we haven’t got much. We’re looking again at the store’s security tapes, reinterviewing potential witnesses. We’ve got people canvassing the other shop owners on the block, but we’re not expecting anything new from them.”
“The gun?” I asked.
“Useless,” Purvis said. “So far, at least. No prints, no serial number.”
I didn’t believe him. He’d lie to me just because he could. I knew I should be the one trying to trace that gun.
“So you came all the way over here to tell me you’ve got nothing to tell me,” I said. “Bullshit.”
“Waters and I want you guys to know we’re working hard. We can still get somebody for this.”
“Waters forgot how to use a phone? He couldn’t call to tell us this?”
He tossed his head. “Mr. Fontana, down on the corner, he was there, at the deli. I had to come over and talk to him so I figured I’d save Waters the trouble, handle it myself.”
“What’d Fontana tell you?” I asked.
“He asked when the funeral was.”
“That’s nothing you need to know.”
“Well, I thought I might—”
“Forget it,” I said. “Fucking forget about that.” I walked away, to the sidewalk. He was smart enough to wait for me to come back to him. “Look, if you’re using my father’s murder to get near my sister, I’m gonna knock your fucking teeth out. Again.”
Purvis looked at me like I’d slapped him, but he recovered quickly and didn’t back down. “It’s not like that. Jesus. You don’t like me, that’s fine, but you gotta treat me with respect now. I’m not your punching bag anymore.” He paused, straightening his tie. “This isn’t just another case to me. I know Waters knew your dad. Julia and I were friends. We were friends once, you and me.” He stopped again, licked sweat off his top lip. “Look, I always felt bad about how your father gave you . . . such a hard time.”
“We don’t need any favors from you, thanks,” I said. “Forget all that ‘used to be’ shit. It doesn’t count for a fucking thing. After today, you don’t need to come to the house. Don’t come to Scalia’s. Julia doesn’t need the stress. Waters can call. It won’t hurt our feelings. I can meet him somewhere if he needs to talk in person.”
“Waters and I will decide the best way to handle things,” Purvis said, hitching his thumbs in his belt again and straightening his shoulders, back to playing the badge-toting tough guy. “You don’t get a say.”
“The hell I don’t. Tell me this, does Waters know about you and Julia? Is he weighing that in his decisions?”
Purvis blanched. “He knows.”
“Did he ask why I told him to keep you away from Julia?” Purvis feigned a yawn, but he knew I had him. “So what if he did? I told him the truth, that she and I had a history. That we dated when we were younger.” He paused, took off his sunglasses. “That it didn’t end well and maybe you were still pissed about it.”
“So you left out the fact you kicked her out of your car in the middle of the night? That I had to pick her up at a pay phone on the edge of the projects?”
I waited. He didn’t say anything. He just looked sick.
“She was fucking sixteen and you left her alone in a crack-infestedghetto because she wouldn’t put out,” I said. “And then you went and told everybody she did anyway. In graphic detail.”
“For chrissakes,” Purvis said, “that was years ago.”
“She was hysterical when I found her. Her lip was bleeding. Her blouse was torn.”
Purvis looked away from me, rubbing his palms on his cheeks.
“I was stupid,” he said. “That stuff was accidental; I was just clumsy.” He studied the streetlights along the block. “It was a bad night. I felt bad about it. I told her I was sorry. I left her alone after that.”
“After I beat your ass all over your front yard,” I said.
“You want me to apologize again? Let me in the house,” he said. “Or tell her for me that I’m still sorry. It was stupid. Mean. I guess I was still pissed about Molly.”
“Julia had nothing to do with that.”
“I know,” he snapped. “Molly was my first girlfriend. You took her from me. That can fuck a guy up for a while, you know?” He rubbed his hands on his shirt. “I don’t care about that now, you know, but then, it made me a little crazy.”
“Please, we barely hung out by the time we got to high school,” I said. “I heard all this a long time ago.”
“I know, but my point is, look, maybe now I’m trying to make something up to Julia,” Purvis said. “Get her some justice. You ever think about that?”
“You’re a fuckin’ hero. You wanna do her some good? Stay away from her. She’s got enough to deal with this week.”
“Fine. Whatever,” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out. God, there is no fucking talking to you. And you know what else? There never was.” He put his sunglasses back on; he was a cop again. I knew he regretted trying to talk to me like a human being. I might’ve even felt bad for him, but I had Julia to think about. Fuck him if he couldn’t understand that.
“When I was down at the deli, doing my follow-up,” he said, “Vito told me about your visit.”
“So?”
“So you can’t do that shit,” Purvis said. “You scared him half to death.”
“Good.”
“He had nothing to do with your father’s murder,” Purvis said. “You’re lucky I’m not arresting you.”
“Please. I’d like to see you try.”
“Get a grip, John,” he said. “What would that do for Julia’s stress level? She really needs her brother in jail while her father’s in the morgue?”
“You let me worry about my sister.”
“I wish you would,” Purvis said. He rested one hand on his hip and leaned forward, actually pointing a finger at my chest with the other. “Stay away from the deli. And don’t let us hear you’ve been near Fontana.”
I stared down at his finger. He stepped back and crossed his arms.
“My father was shot in the middle of the sidewalk in the light of day,” I said. “On a crowded corner, outside a busy store, and you and Fat Nat can’t buy a clue. This is New York, there’s people everywhere all the time.” It was my turn to point the finger. “Either the two of you are bumbling idiots, or you’re full of shit about what’s really going on. Neither one sits well with me.”
“Gimme a break,” Purvis said. “And get your finger out of my face. I’ve been a cop for ten years while you’ve been pulling your tap all over town. Waters has been a detective longer than you or I have been alive. What the fuck do you know about investigating anything other than the bottom of a bottle? I got news for you. Nobody gives a fuck what sits well with you and what doesn’t. The sooner you learn that, the better it’ll be for everybody.”
“You’re about to learn,” I said, “how it feels to be in traction.”
Purvis backed up a few steps. “I’d say you’re about to learn what the inside of a jail cell looks like, but you already know.” He folded his arms again. This time, though, one hand reached inside his suit jacket. It rested on his gun, I was sure.
I probably should have been frightened, or at least chastened. Twice already that day, my mouth had made somebody reach for a gun. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice told me that was a bad thing. It wasn’t hard to ignore; I’d had plenty of practice. Anyway, I couldn’t imagine Purvis drawing down on me, never mind shooting me, any more than I could that kid outside the Mall. Instead, my head filled with images of me and Purvis back in the schoolyard at P.S. 42, each threatening the other with our respective powers: physical violence for me, a main line to authority for him. All that was left was for us to tough-talk our way to a face-saving truce.
Purvis seemed to be thinking something similar. He threw his hands in the air and walked away back up the lawn. My father would’ve thrown both of us in the street for parading all over his grass like this.
“You’re not worth the paperwork,” he said.
“Who helps you with the big words?”
“Waters probably will be calling you,” Purvis said, almost smiling, slipping his hands into his pockets. “He’s got some questions, routine shit about your father’s habits. I was supposed to ask you, but I don’t think now is the time.”
“My father went to work every day. Nights and weekends, he got drunk and hit people,” I said. “Those were his habits.”
Purvis sucked his teeth, looking like he was debating what to say next. “We’ll keep you posted.” He headed for his car. He stopped after he opened the door and leaned his elbows on the roof. “I see David, Molly’s David, down at the courthouse every now and then.”
“Go for it,” I said. “See what it gets you.”
“Do everyone a favor,” Purvis said. “Stay home, like a good boy. Stay outta trouble.”
“Do everyone a favor,” I said. “Kill yourself.”
Purvis smiled his little shit-eater’s grin, the one that hadn’t changed since grade school. “Stay away from the crime scene. Stay away from any and all potential witnesses. Interference in a police investigation is a crime. This is your first, and only, official warning.”
“Shove your warning up your ass. I’ll do whatever I damn well please.”
“Go for it,” Purvis said. “See what it gets you.”
I flipped him off as he drove away.
“What did Carlo have to say?” Julia finally asked, moving over to the table.
“A whole lot of nothing,” I said, popping the cap and tossing it into the sink.
“They’re not getting anywhere. They’ll never catch who did it, will they?”
“At least not yet,” I said. “It’s only been a day.” I wanted to ask her what difference it would make, why she even cared, but had she asked me the same questions, I wouldn’t be able to answer them, either.
Julia sipped from her mug, staring over the top of it. “You were out there awhile, to be talking about nothing. Why was Carlo talking about your priorities?”
I realized she’d taken to sitting where our mother used to, at the head of the table. My father had liked to sit where he could reach me. I leaned against the counter. “He was just fucking with me, being a dick. We caught up a bit. Talked about old times.”
“You promised,” she said. “I know you’re up to something. Just don’t let it interfere with what we have to do this week. Don’t let it come back on me or this house.”
Other books
The Last Death of Jack Harbin by Terry Shames
Hornet's Nest by Jaycee Ford
The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
Fugue: The Cure by S. D. Stuart
American Blood by Jason Manning
Bound to Night by Nina Croft
No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis
The Patrimony by Adams, Robert
CHASE: Complete Series by Leo, Cassia
Lauren's Designs by Chater, Elizabeth