No Such Thing as a Free Ride (11 page)

Crystal’s shoulders slumped, the magnitude of her situation finally catching up with her. “I fucked up so bad. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. But it just came out. And now it’s not just Bunny I have to worry about. She’s going to tell everyone I was the one who got you involved in street business.”

The news report said the woman who was murdered was a case worker for homeless youth. Did Bunny thinks Olivia Bowen had somehow gotten all up in her business too? Wow. If she did kill Bowen, I got off lucky. If I hadn’t knocked Bunny out, I could’ve been the warm-up act.

“Crystal, did Bunny and Olivia Bowen know each other?”

“I don’t know. I stayed away from Bunny as much as possible. Why?”

“I was just wondering what their connection might be. If she is involved in this woman’s death, what would be her motivation?”

“Maybe she got pissed off because of Star.”

“What do you mean?”

“That Bowen lady was Star’s case worker.”

I tried to keep the “Why
the hell
didn’t you tell me” tone out of my voice and said calmly, “Crystal, that’s the kind of information that could be very helpful. I’m wondering why you didn’t mention it sooner.”

She shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I had to remember I was dealing with a teenager trapped in an alternate universe. What was obvious to me wasn’t always the case with Crystal.

I needed time to sort all this out, but right now, there was a more pressing problem.

While Crystal helped herself to another cupcake, I got off the couch and sauntered over to the television, and casually deposited the gun in the plastic palm tree my parents sent me from Florida. The thing is hideous, and I suspect the cat has used it as a litter box on more than one occasion, but I can’t throw it out. That would hurt its feelings.

Now that the lethal weapon was out of plain sight, I turned back to Crystal. “Listen, kiddo, I don’t know how to say this except to just, well, say it. I think we should tell the police about Star going missing. Her disappearance may be tied in somehow to Olivia Bowen’s murder.”

Crystal’s delicate blond eyebrows arched and I could feel the heat rise from her body.

“Now before you get all bent out of shape, just hear me out. You said it yourself that everyone was going to blame you anyway for the police showing up, so it’s not safe for you to go back there. And what if by withholding information from the cops we end up endangering Star’s life? Look, Bowen was Star’s case worker. Star’s missing and Bowen’s dead, and Bunny was involved with them both.”

“But what if I’m wrong about Star? What if she’s fine and she doesn’t want to be found?”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

Her silence spoke volumes.

“Listen, the important thing right now is getting you to a safe place. I can arrange for that if you’ll let me.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. But for once you don’t have to.”

*****

It was after two and Crystal reluctantly agreed to stay at my place overnight. As she so graciously put it she couldn’t go back to her squat, and all the good outdoor crash spots were taken so she might as well hang out with me. She fell asleep immediately, curled up in a fetal position on the couch with Adrian sacked out beside her. She didn’t seem to be concerned about the whereabouts of her gun. I think she was just as happy to be rid of the damn thing.

After Crystal had gone to bed I went around and checked doors and windows. A couple of months ago I’d had an alarm system installed, but for some reason it kept going off every time Mrs. Gentile used her microwave. I never got around to getting it fixed, but I turned it on now and prayed she didn’t get an urge for popcorn at three in the morning.

I’d talked a good game about finding Cyrstal a safe place to stay, but I had no idea where to start. If retribution on the streets was as harsh as she’d described, I couldn’t put my friends in jeopardy by having her stay with them. Besides, Crystal wasn’t exactly what you’d call easy to be around. Bunny knew where I lived, so that ruled out my place … which left me with one choice, and I’d already imposed on him enough… so, what’s one more favor, right? I’d make the call in the morning.

As it turned out it wasn’t necessary. Nick called at 7:00a.m.

“Did I wake you?”

Well, speak of the devil. I was just lying here making passionate love with you in my head.
“No, you didn’t wake me. What’s up?”

“I got a call from Raoul’s brother, Octavio. He has a friend who recognized Star from her photo, and she agreed to talk to you for a little monetary compensation.”

“How does she know Star?”

“Seems they shared the same employer.”

“She works for Little Red?”

“Unfortunately. The guy’s a real sweetheart. A couple of months ago he thought she was holding back some of her night’s profits so he threw acid on her leg. Told her next time it would be her face. Scarred her up pretty good. And scared her enough to want to get out of town. She’ll talk to you for the price of a ticket back to Georgia.”

The mental image that accompanied Nick’s words seared my insides.

Crystal
had said Little Red was mad that Star had disappeared on him. Could that have been just an act to cover up the fact that he’d done something to her?

“This young woman mentioned seeing Star get into a silver van a while back,” Nick continued, “and she hasn’t seen her since.”

“When was this?”

“It could’ve been last week, it could’ve been last month. Street time is hard to pin down.”

“So did Octavio say how I can get in touch with his friend?”

“You got a pen?”

I grabbed a pen and a pad of paper off the nightstand.

“Her name is Harmony Valentine.”

“For real?”
Like I have room to talk with a name like Brandy Alexander.

“As real as it gets on the streets, darlin’.”

I thought for a minute. “When Harmony saw Star climb into the van, was she close enough to I.D. the driver?”

Nick laughed. “In a manner of speaking. She said, and I quote, ‘All those white assholes look alike.’”

“Then I guess it’s too much to hope for a license plate, huh?”

“Normally, yes. But this was a vanity plate so it stuck in her head. SLIMEY 1.”

Wow. How appropo was
that
?

He recited Harmony’s phone number for me along with the obligatory reminder to be careful.

“Um, Nick, there’s just one more thing. There was something on the news last night about Bunny.”

“I’ve already heard, Angel. Looks like Crystal’s going to need a safe house for a while. I’ll put in a call to Sal. I’m sure he’d be willing to take her.”

Sal, AKA Father Salvador Domingo is Nick’s childhood friend, the yin to his yang and the head honcho at a parish in the badlands.

“I really owe you, Nick.”

“You don’t owe me a thing, darlin’. Glad to help.”

I hung up and jumped in the shower. I was exhausted, having slept a total of about four minutes. I hadn’t dared open my bedroom window last night on the off chance that Bunny decided to hop on by (I make God-awful puns when I’m stressed) and my bedroom was like a sauna.

Rocky was sitting in the bathroom sink waiting for me when I got out of the shower. I’ve tried to teach her about personal space, but she’s not too good with the concept, so I brushed my teeth and spit in the toilet so’s not to disturb her.

Since I wasn’t scheduled to work today, I pulled on a pink wife-beater undershirt and some ripped jeans, ignored the dark circles under my eyes and headed downstairs.

Crystal was awake and playing with the dog. They both stopped when they saw me and followed me into the kitchen. She sat down at the table and began fiddling with a bowl of wax fruit my mother bought for me the last time she came to visit. My mother is big on things that don’t spoil, need watering or have to be replaced. I took a box of Cheerios out of the cupboard and set it on the table. Then I filled her in on my conversation with Nick.

Crystal absently rubbed her teeth against her tongue stud. “Look, if you want to tell the cops about Bowen being Star’s case worker, fine. And you can tell them that Bunny had it in for Star. That’s common knowledge on the street anyway. But don’t go shooting your mouth off to them about anything that Harmony Valentine bitch says about Little Red. Because if it turns out that Star is really okay and the cops start hassling her pimp, he’ll kill her.”

“But if she knows something and Star’s in trouble, then what?”

“Can’t you check it out? I mean isn’t that your job?”

My job is to dress up like cauliflower and host the Lehigh Valley Summer Veggie Festival. But somehow that didn’t seem quite as professional.

“Okay,” I told her. “I’ll see what I can do. But if I find out anything that would indicate this guy is involved in Star’s disappearance, I’m going straight to the cops.”

She didn’t argue the point which relieved me no end. Teenagers are hard work.

“Your mom called while you were in the shower.”

“Um, you answered the phone?” I pulled out a bag of dog food from under the sink and began to fill Adrian’s bowl.

“Yeah. She asked to speak to you but I told her you were busy turning tricks and you’d get back to her.”

“You what?”
I spun hard and kibble flew out of the bowl rolling in every direction on the kitchen floor. Rocky appeared out of nowhere and began pouncing on them like tiny round mice.

Crystal laughed. “
I’m kidding.
I didn’t even pick up the phone. She left a message. I didn’t know you had a brother. She wants you to call him… What’s a ‘J Date’?”

*****

I dropped Crystal off at Frankie’s gym on the pretext of him needing help cleaning out a storeroom. I figured it would be tough for anyone to get to her in a gym full of sweaty, iron-pumping boxers, and my uncle would make sure she stayed out of trouble. To insure that she wouldn’t balk at the idea, I told her he’d pay her ten bucks an hour.

“Ten bucks? Really?” Frankie said. “That’s a hell of a lot more than I used to pay you to keep
you
out of trouble.”

“That’s okay, Uncle Frankie, mom made up for it by slipping me an extra fiver to keep
my
eye on you.”

I swung by the police station on the way back from the gym. Bobby was at his desk talking to someone on the phone. I could tell by the relaxed way he was smiling and nodding that it was a personal call.

I stood by the door but he didn’t invite me in. Instead, he held up his index finger in the universal sign for “hang on a minute” and kinda hunched over his desk, his voice dropping to a whisper.

I’ll bet he’s talking to a girl! Oh, fine. He’s entitled. After all, he’s a free agent… is it my imagination, or do his eyes seem bluer, his dimples more pronounced, the muscles beneath his Oxford shirt with the rolled up sleeves more… more… muscley?

There must’ve been something wrong with those Cheerios I ate for breakfast, because I got a sudden sick feeling in my stomach and I didn’t feel much like talking to Bobby anymore. In fact, for some inexplicable reason, I felt like strangling him. I turned to leave.

“Yo, Brandy, wait up. I’ve got to go,” he mumbled into the phone. “I’ll catch you later.”

He hung up and motioned me forward.

“Are you sure?” I asked, and if looks could kill I’d be talking to a corpse. “I mean I wouldn’t want my police business to interfere with your personal phone call.”

“What crawled up your butt this morning?” He was smiling, which made it worse.

“Bite me.”

DiCarlo leaned back in his chair, his smile widening. “Think I’ll leave that to your new boyfriend. I heard he’s back in town.”

“FYI Nick’s not my boyfriend, although I do find it interesting that you bother to keep tabs on him. Jealous?”

“Strictly professional curiosity, Sweetheart. It’s my job to know what the criminal element is up to.” Before I could get in a good one about his current dating status he called a truce.

“Brandy, let’s just admit it’s weird for us to think of each other going out with someone else. Okay? I’ll start. I hate it. Especially knowing you have real feelings for this guy. And if he hurts you I’ll kill him. But I respect your right to move on in your life. Now, is there anything you want to say to me?”

“Your fly is open.”

Bobby automatically glanced down.

“Made you look.”

He straightened up, blushing. “You’re a piece of work, y’know that?”

“So I’ve been told. Listen, Bobby, I really did come here for a reason. I have some information you may find helpful in the Olivia Bowen case.”

“Yeah?” He was all business now. As much as DiCarlo had always tried to discourage me from getting involved in police matters, he trusted my instincts and recognized my ability to get the job done—no matter how ineptly I went about it.

He opened his desk drawer and extracted a notebook and pen. “What have you got?”

I started at the beginning, leaving out only the part about Little Red, because I’d promised Crystal I’d check that out myself.

“So where is this girl, Crystal, now?” Bobby asked when I was finished. “I’m going to need to talk to her.”

“She’s—unavailable.”

The pulse in Bobby’s temple flared and throbbed and I knew I was skating on thin ice.

“Look, Bobby, you’ve said it yourself. To kids in Crystal’s position, cops are the enemy. I’ve told you everything she’s told me. If you try to talk to her she’ll run or stonewall you, and what good will come of that? Just give me a few days to try and convince her you can be trusted. Okay?”

“Do I have a choice?” By the resigned way he tossed his pen onto the desk, I knew it was strictly a rhetorical question.

I got up and walked around to his side of the desk and laid a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks.”

“Piece of work,” he muttered, shaking his head.

*****

Harmony Valentine was all of 20 years old, but she looked like she was pushing 40. Freebase cocaine had taken its toll on both her youthful appearance and her attention span. She sat across the table from me, tapping out an erratic rhythm with dirty, chipped nails, her eyes darting back and forth, her foot swinging in perpetual motion, interrupted only by the occasional, unintentional kick to my shin.