Two Bits Four Bits (18 page)

“So, he opens it up and
there’s nothing in there but a videotape with no label. Like one of
those blank ones like you buy to tape something on. And Russell
starts in immediately speculating on what might be on the tape to
make it important enough to keep in a safe deposit box. At that
point, I’m just glad Darrell hadn’t left his key in the bigger box,
the one with all the cash in it.”

“Anyway, this was late on
a Friday afternoon when this happened, and Russell decides he just
has to see what’s on the tape. So, we leave Darrell’s safe deposit
box empty and Russell stays around to help me lock up the branch
for the weekend. We drive downtown and lock ourselves in his office
where he has a TV with a VCR. He puts the tape in and it’s pretty
grainy and it’s in black and white. At first I think it’s a
homemade porno movie with this middle-aged guy screwing this
younger looking girl. Then, there’s a close-up on the girl’s face
and I realize it’s me when I was about sixteen or seventeen. I
start recognizing things in the background and can tell that it was
filmed in the apartment Monica and I lived in, the one Sandy paid
for.”

“You never knew you were
being filmed?”

“No, never. When we moved
in the place had already been fixed up and decorated. In the
bedroom there were already mirrors all along one wall because guys
always like to watch themselves when they were doing it. They must
have been those kind you can see through from the other side,
because that’s where it looked like this was filmed
from.”

“So, Russell recognized
you?”

“Not right away, but he
did after a few minutes. I told him it wasn’t me, but he knew it
was. I could see that it looked like too much of a coincidence for
me to be on that tape, so I told him everything, about working for
Sandy as a prostitute, about the cash deposits, about
everything.”

“What was his
reaction?”

“It was kind of strange. I
expected him to be mad about me working for Sandy and running that
cash through his bank, but he didn’t seem to be. He asked me some
questions about what Sandy was like and stuff like that, almost
like he was in awe of him. But, he didn’t seem too shocked with any
of it.”

“He just kept watching
that tape of that old guy doing whatever he wanted to me, and there
wasn’t much this guy didn’t do. I begged Russell to stop watching,
but I think it actually turned him on a little bit seeing me that
young. He kept watching and when the guy finished, the camera
zoomed in on his face and Russell just said ‘Holy shit’ and then
‘No way’. I didn’t even really remember the guy but Russell
recognized him right away. It was that politician guy, G. Travis
Kirkland.”

“G. Travis Kirkland, the
U.S. Senator?”

“That’s the one. Of course
back then he wasn’t a bigshot or anything. Just another john
getting his jollies with a teenaged girl, and there were a lot of
them back then. I would have never known I’d been with him if I
hadn’t seen that tape.”

“Did it bother you,
finding out that Sandy taped you like that?”

She shrugged and gave a
crooked smile.

“It didn’t really surprise
me. It sure isn’t the worst thing that ever happened to me back
then. I don’t think it would have made a difference if I’d known he
was doing it while I was with those men. I didn’t have much
self-respect at that point. I was just a piece of property for
Sandy to treat any way he wanted. Monica and I stayed high a lot
during that time. We could get as much weed as we wanted, but Sandy
made sure we didn’t get anything stronger.”

“So, what happened to the
videotape?”

“Russell took it with him
over the weekend and then met me at the branch early on Monday
morning and we put it back in Darrell’s safe deposit box. Darrell
came back in a day or two later and said he had been looking all
over for his safe deposit key. He acted like it was my fault that
he left it here or something. Darrell always was a jerk
though.”

“Why do you think Darrell
had the tape in the other safe deposit box in the first
place?”

She shrugged. “I dunno.
Maybe he was gonna try to use it against me if I decided not to
play along with what they were doing with the money or
something.”

“Did Russell say anything
more about the tape after that weekend?” I asked.

“Not right away, but he
started asking even more questions about Sandy and his different
businesses and sort of wondering aloud how much cash they
generated.”

“He knew that Sandy was
into drugs and gambling?”

“Yeah, he knew. Sandy
really doesn’t have any girls working anymore. There’s not enough
money in it I guess. I think he still gets some money from the guys
who do run the girls, but he’s not directly involved like he was
back in the day.”

“But Russell did bring the
tape up again?”

“Yeah one other time, the
weekend before he was killed. Kandy and Russell and I were having
some drinks and getting pretty frisky. Russell wanted to watch me
make love to Kandy and he said something like ‘Or, I’ve got a movie
we could all watch together’. It took me a minute to pick up on
what he was talking about and I shut him down before he could say
anything else about it and before Kandy could catch on.”

“So, he made a copy of the
videotape?”

“I never saw it, but that
would be my guess.”

“Any idea what he was
going to do with it?”

“No, but something must
have happened that week before he got shot.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve
been thinking about it since that night in the pool. I think he
must have contacted Sandy.”

“Why do you say
that?”

“Well, Darrell usually
came in on Thursday or Friday, and if he didn’t then Sandy would
call and tell me how much to deposit to each account. But Darrell
never came in at all that week and when Sandy finally did call, he
didn’t say anything about the deposits. He sounded pissed about
something. Said he was disappointed in me, but then wouldn’t
explain what he meant. He just hung up on me, and I haven’t heard
from him since. It isn’t like Sandy to not call me at least every
few days, just to shoot the shit and see how I’m doing. I had my
cell with me since that night and he still hasn’t called. When I
try to call him back, he lets it go to his voicemail.”

“And, you think Russell
had something to do with that?”

“Russell was out of the
office all day on Tuesday and then when he came by the branch on
Wednesday he was acting really happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen
him act. I said something about it to him and he said something
like Sandy Doyle is a pretty nice guy. So, I asked him if he had
met him, and he said he’d bumped into him at the Odessa Country
Club, which I know is total bullshit because Sandy wouldn’t be
caught dead there.”

“You think Russell went to
see Sandy on the Tuesday before he was killed?”

“That’s the only way he
could have met him. And, I think he let Sandy know that he knew
about the tape. Russell wasn’t stupid. He knew what a videotape
showing G. Travis Kirkland screwing a teenaged prostitute could be
worth.”

“Why do you think Sandy
was keeping the tape at your bank instead of somewhere in
Odessa?”

“I don’t know. But he
didn’t want me to know about it or he wouldn’t have had Darrell
open another safe deposit box to keep it in. He couldn’t keep it in
the bigger one because I would get into that one to get cash to
make deposits with.”

“How do you think Sandy
would react to Russell if he did happen to pay him a visit and
brought up the tape?”

“Sandy would be pissed as
hell. He might not let Russell see that, but believe me he would
be.”

“Mad enough to kill
Russell?”

“I’ve been thinking about
that and I just don’t know.”

“Did you see anybody that
night?”

“No. It was dark, of
course, and the only lights in the back yard were those little
lights along the walkways. We were making love when it happened.
Russell had me up against the edge of the pool and he was behind
me, so I was facing away from the gate. I never heard anybody come
through the gate and I don’t even remember hearing the gun. Russell
just suddenly jerked and then fell back in the water. I turned
around and saw there was blood in the water and he was sort of
hanging there under the water, not moving anymore. Then I noticed
the gate was standing open.”

“What did you do
then?”

“I freaked. I jumped out
of the pool and ran to the bedroom door, but it was locked. I
pounded on the door, but Kandy didn’t hear me I guess. I was scared
that whoever shot Russell might come back for me, or might be
inside the house. And, for a second there I thought maybe Kandy had
shot him and run inside and locked me out. I was just so confused I
grabbed my clothes and got the hell out of there.”

“Where did you
go?”

“I started to go home, but
on the way there I started thinking about how Sandy had sounded on
the phone, all pissed off at me. I had a sort of an intuition that
whoever shot Russell might have been sent by Sandy. And, if that
was the case they would know where I live. So, I kept driving until
I got to my Granny’s house.”

“Does Sandy know where
your grandmother lives?”

“No. I always kept that a
secret so I would have someplace I could go when things got bad.
But, I’m not staying with her anyway. Jimmy found me a safe place
to stay until I can figure out what’s going on.”

“Why don’t you let me take
you back to Elmore? We can talk to the police and tell them what
you know about the shooting. They can protect you if you think
Sandy’s after you.”

She studied me
carefully.

“So, you’re really not a
cop?” she asked. “Of any kind? FBI? DEA?”

“No I’m not. Come back to
Elmore with me and talk to the detectives.”

“And go to jail for
helping Sandy launder money? I think I’ll take my chances staying
here.”

“Just tell them what
happened that night.”

“You won’t tell them what
I told you? About Sandy and the money?”

“Solving the murder is
what’s important right now. That’s what Kandy asked me to help with
and that’s what I’m focused on.”

“Is Kandy okay?” she
asked. “I mean I can’t believe I thought she might have been the
one who shot Russell that night. I was just so confused and
scared.”

“She’s holding up fine,
considering the circumstances. Of course it would help if you
talked to the detectives to corroborate her story.”

She stared at the pool
game going on at the other end of the building for a few seconds
before slowly shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, but I just
can’t. Not until I talk to Sandy.”

She stood up suddenly and
started toward the front of the building, wiping her eyes as she
went.

“Jimmy! Let’s go,” she
said.

I followed her to the
front of the building, but the largest of the pool players stepped
in front of me, holding the butt end of his cue like a
club.

“You and I are going to
wait here for a few minutes,” he said, smiling.

I made Eva take one of my
cards and got her to give me her cell phone number before they
left, heading back down the road the way we had come, leaving a
cloud of red dust behind them. After watching them go, I turned to
my captor.

“What’s your name?” I
asked.

“Most people just call me
Mad Dog.”

“Okay, Mad Dog. I’m Buddy.
Care for a quick game of nine-ball?”

* * * *

CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO

The next morning I was
sitting in Lita’s Little Mexico enjoying a plate of huevos
rancheros, topped with an extra helping of Lita’s green chile
sauce, when John Donnelly dropped a copy of the Elmore Sentinel on
my table. The headline on the front page read ‘POLICE SEEKING LOCAL
WOMAN’ above a picture of Eva Trout and a story entitled ‘Bank
Employee Missing Since Chilton Murder’.

“I thought I might find
you here,” he said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “You
spend so much time in here you should ask Pete about renting office
space.”

“You know that’s really
not a bad idea,” I said, thinking about the convenience of having
an endless supply of hot coffee and sopaipillas within steps of my
desk.

“Seriously,” he said. “You
ought to consider moving back to Elmore. Angie tells me you’re not
happy with your job situation in Austin. There’s plenty of work
around here to keep you busy. And, it would give Angie another
reason to stay around here and work for me.”

“I’ve been thinking about
it,” I answered, digesting his comment about my presence giving
Angie a reason to stay in Elmore. I had forgotten how much I missed
my hometown until I had come home. Although I’d been preoccupied
with Russell Chilton’s murder lately, I had to admit to myself that
Angie was one of the reasons I’d been thinking about extending my
stay.