Mike Jastrzebski - Key Lime Blues

The sirens were getting closer and her eyes darted from my face to the gun and back again. Suddenly, she swung her purse toward the gun, but I’d been waiting for her to try something. I grabbed the purse and jerked it away from her.

“Give me that.” She kicked at me, taking aim at my balls again, but she’d used all her tricks on me before.

I turned and took the kick on the side of my leg. “You’re some piece of work, you know that?”

She kicked out again and I thought she was going to throw herself at me, but a police cruiser came skidding around the corner.

She glanced at her purse, looked back at the cop car, and yelled, “You son of a bitch,” before taking off running down the street.

I started after her, but the car slammed to a stop and a young police officer jumped out and drew his gun.

“Stay where you are and put down the gun.” His voice quivered, and I was afraid that he was going to shoot me. I hesitated for only a second before setting the pistol and the purse down on the sidewalk. As I raised my hands above my head, Destiny disappeared into the shadows.

By the time Davies arrived I’d been spread-eagled, roughed up, cuffed and thrown into the back of a police cruiser. If this kept up I was liable to develop a few phobias of my own. Maybe Elvis and I could form a support group and discuss what triggered our fears. Hell, if we bonded, maybe I’d even let him read my aura. Then again, probably not.

When the officer shoved me into the back seat of his car, I pleaded with him to call Detective Davies. If I couldn’t convince her to cut me loose, I was going to spend the night in jail. Doing so could cost Tanya her life.

Tanya would be arriving home from work at any time. I was worried about what Willie would do to her when she got there. Not only was he angry enough with me to hurt her just for the hell of it, but also, he wouldn’t be able to find the diamonds because they weren’t there. I was afraid that when he couldn’t contact Frankie, he might even kill Tanya.

I decided to tell Davies pretty much everything that had happened, including most of the information I’d held back the last time we spoke. I trusted her, but I had a problem with depending on the cops. I’d done it before, and as a result, Celine Stewart was dead. True, that was the FBI, but I figured a cop was a cop was a cop.

The FBI had done everything by the book, but the book had gotten Celine killed. I couldn’t help but feel that if I’d handled it myself, she’d still be alive. Her father felt the same; after all, I’d convinced him to go to the cops.

The case had wiped out any thrill I’d once felt about being a private investigator, and any confidence I might have had in the competence of the authorities. It’s why I quit the business, and I didn’t want to be responsible for someone else getting killed, especially someone I cared for. Now, while I waited for Davies, I found myself once again in that position. I didn’t like it one bit.

I was trying to figure out how I could break out of the car when Davies drove up. She was dressed island casual; beige shorts, a white blouse, and sandals. She was still clutching her oversized purse. She spoke to the officer who had cuffed me and walked over to where I was confined.

She stopped outside of the passenger side rear door and drummed her long fingernails on the top of the cruiser. She tapped out an irritating little riff that echoed throughout the car, and then opened the door and stooped down. “You know, I haven’t had more than three hours of unbroken sleep since I met you. I’d say you’re becoming a real pain in the ass, but that would be way too much of an understatement.”

“The past few days haven’t been a vacation for me either,” I said. “Now can you quit enjoying yourself so much and get me out of here?”

“You’re kidding, right?” she asked. “Are you abrasive by nature, Darling, or do you have to work at being an asshole?”

I thought about a retort, but I didn’t have time for games. “I need your help,” I said.

Davies laughed and backed away from the door. “Get out,” she said.

I slid across the seat, swung out of the car and stretched to my full height. “Could you get me out of these?” I shook the cuffs.

She ignored my request. Leaning back on her right hip, Davies gazed at my face as if it were a road map. Without looking away she reached into her suitcase of a purse and pulled out her cigarettes. She shook one out and tucked it into the corner of her mouth. Only then did she look away from me as she dipped her hand back into the bag and rummaged for a lighter.

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “You want my help? Let me tell you Darling, you’re in no position to ask for help. In fact, you should be on your knees begging me to let you help me.” She lit the cigarette, took a deep drag and blew a stream of smoke into my face.

I coughed and turned my head away. “I’ll beg, if that’s what it takes.”

“It’s tempting, but you need to help yourself.” Davies pointed at the cop who had arrested me and at the burning house. “You need to help me understand what the hell’s going on around here.” She paused for effect, and then took another deep hit of nicotine.

“The responding officer saw you waving a gun around. He observed a woman running away from you and you were holding a purse. This indicated to him that you had robbed her. On top of this, you reek of smoke and look like a bum. All this leads the officer to suspect that you may have started the fire that’s only now being brought under control. What about any of this makes you think I should do anything besides throw you into a cell?”

I groaned. “It’s not like it looks.”

“It never is. Why don’t you tell me what the hell’s going on and maybe I won’t throw your ass into the slammer-and that’s a real iffy, maybe.”

We both realized that I didn’t have much choice. I started talking. I told her about Destiny bludgeoning Frankie, about her telling me she’d killed Billy and Bob. When I told her about the diamonds she flicked her cigarette butt into the road. “Stay here.” She walked over to speak with the officer that had arrested me.

She took her time, but returned with Destiny’s purse. By the time she got back I was shuffling back and forth alongside the car and wondering what my chances would be if I took off and started running. When she reached my side, she opened the purse, took out the bag of diamonds, and shook them into her hand.

She let out a whistle and raised an eyebrow in my direction. “So this is what it’s all about?”

I nodded. “It is.”

“And where’s this Destiny chick?”

“I don’t know.”

“Describe her to me.”

I gave her a hurried description and told her Destiny’s real name. When I finished, she dug into her shorts pocket, took out a key and removed my cuffs. “I’m not quite sure why I’m doing this,” she said. “I’m thinking my life would be a lot easier if I threw you into a cell and forgot about you for awhile.”

“So you believe me?” I stretched my arms and was glad to be out of the restraints. I’d spent too much time with my arms bound behind me in the last couple of days, and my shoulders were doing a slow burn while my blood surged throughout my arms.

“What you’re telling me seems to match other information I now have,” Davies said. “We found a witness to your friend’s murder. Guy was sleeping on the beach. He heard what he thought was a car backfiring and when he looked around he said he saw a redheaded goddess running away. Needless to say he’d been drinking. We didn’t take his testimony too seriously.”

“Destiny admitted she killed Billy and Bob. She said Billy killed Nick.”