Josh Stallings - Beautiful, Naked and Dead

From the window of my room in the dive we took turns watching the Coast and the Best Western through my field glasses. Around six thirty I brought in some Chinese and black coffee. What I wanted was a tall scotch, a fist full of whites and the love of a lying woman but my old ways were likely to get me killed right now. Evolve or die, those are the choices we are given, evolve or die.

Helen sounded worried when I called her. “Cass said she was just going for a walk, get some air, that was four hours ago. She still isn’t back Moses.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, she’s a tough girl.”

“Bingo!” Gregor said.

“Look Helen, I have to go. Call me when she comes back.” I gave her the number at the Best Western and hung up. Out the window I could see a Cadillac double parked in front of the Barbary Coast.

“They went inside,” Gregor said. Fifteen minutes later the sweater boy, now in a tweed suit and the beef in sweats came out of the club. They got in the Cadillac, pulled a U-turn and parked in front of the Best Western. I could see the sweater boy go into the hotel and after a few minutes come out. They sat in the car, waiting.

“Let’s roll,” I said to Gregor. The nasty little cut-down shotgun hung on a leather strap under his trench coat. He dropped the CZ75 into his huge outside pocket. If this thing went sideways they were going to pay hard.

The fog was a light mist as I crossed the street moving up to the back of the Cadillac. Taking the potato, I crammed it into their tail pipe, pushing until it sealed it closed. I crept along below the window line then popped up into the driver’s window. The sweater boy’s eyes went wild, he started to reach into his jacket. Gregor tapped on the passenger window with the two barrels of his shotgun. The men in the car didn’t know who to look at. I burned holes into the sweater boy’s eyes, as his hand hovered in his jacket.

“Do you really want to do this here? Really? I’m here to make a deal. I’m tired of running and I just want to get the hell out of this thing. So if you and monkey boy over there want to calm down, take your hands off your piece and listen. I think we can all go home happy campers. But you want to play who’s got the bigger balls, well then someone’s going down. Odds are it ain’t me.”

“Do what the gentleman says,” a voice from the back said.

“You ain’t my boss Leo. I ain’t backing down ‘til his goon lowers that cannon.”

“I think you should kill him.” Leo sat in the back, his suit was perfect, he was dead calm.

“So do I, but I doubt it will solve my problem with your boss. Ok boys keep your hands wherever you want them, grab your dicks if it makes you feel better. I have a one-time offer. No negotiations, you want the girl, I want out. You be at the Cow Palace parking lot at midnight tonight with forty grand and a guarantee from your boss that I walk away. You do that and she’s all yours. You fuck me and I drop her off at the feds.”

“Fuck you dead man, you don’t give us terms, we tell you how it goes, who the fuck do you think you are?” sweater boy spat at me.

“One more thing, just you two show up for the drop. I see Leo or anyone else there, I roll.” Over the roof of the car I nodded at Gregor and he took off down the sidewalk. I spun running into the slow moving traffic. Behind me I heard the Cadillac fighting to turn over, the starter motor grinding, but with no place for the exhaust to escape it was futile. As I rounded the corner I heard the loud blast of the seals blowing on the exhaust pipes, the Cadillac rambled down the street but I was safely down an alley.

From the room, I checked the messages over at Best Western, Helen hadn’t called. If the mob boys had Cass, then I was about to walk into a death trap. I called Sanders. “I’m ready to deal.”

“Alright, bring in the girl and we’ll see if we can keep you alive,” he said.

“Couldn’t do it if I wanted to, dropped her at the airport and told her to get lost.”

“What?”

“You heard me, she’s in the wind.”

“Then why am I talking to you?”

“Same reason you let me walk last night. Do you know how they hunt wolves? They stake out a lamb, then hide in the brush and wait. Baaa. See I don’t mind being your lamb, but we’re going to play it my way. Who is Gino Torelli?”

“That’s classified.”

“So that’s how we’re going to play it, fine. Have a nice life, officer.” I started to hang up.

“Wait, McGuire, did you have an offer in mind or did you just call for a pissing contest?”

“You’re going after Sabatini, right? He’s the brass ring you suits are all fighting to catch. I can deliver two of his soldiers. Solid busts and you take the credit.”

“And in return you want what?”

“The truth, everything you know about Torelli, Cass, the whole enchilada.” There was a long pause while he mulled over his options. “Look, Sanders, I have you by the short hairs and I’m tugging. This deal goes down at midnight. You in or out?”

“Ok,” he finally said.

“Be at the Cow Palace parking lot at midnight. They’ll be packing and if you search their car I’ll make sure you find enough to hold them.”

“We’ll need just cause to search them, I can’t get a warrant on some ex-con’s word.”

“If you and your crew happened to be rolling by and heard gunfire, you would have to respond, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then that will be your signal.”

“Be careful.” He said without meaning it.

“What the hell, if they kill me, you’ll really have something to take them down for.” I said and clicked off. What I didn’t tell him was I had taped our conversation with the small digital recorder that I had picked up that morning. Trust no one and you can’t get burned. Out of the closet I took a dress I bought for my latex girlfriend. Gregor gave me an odd look.

“I’m not wearing that.”

“No Gregor, you are not. Now let’s roll.” In a back alley I popped the trunk, Gregor gave me one of his rare smiles when he saw the sex doll. The detail work on her body was frighteningly real. From her perfect pink nipples down to her heart shaped pubic hair she was a necrophiliac’s dream date. It took both of us to dress her, she wasn’t light. Bending her knees we sat her in the front seat and belted her in. It was scary how lifelike she looked at a quick glance. Placing the wig and glasses on her head I started to feel a little queasy. I had turned a fuck doll into a faux Cass, who was, at least for me a faux Kelly. It was truly three degrees of screwed up.

Gregor shook his head sadly when I rolled into the bad section of the Mission District and bought $20 worth of crack from a pre-teen working the corner. But he had the good grace not to ask any questions. That was one of his better qualities, he took it as it came and trusted himself to be strong enough to dig out of any hole I dug for him.

A three-quarter moon hung over the bay as we drove down toward the Cow Palace. It was a huge tin structure used for concerts, county fairs and now deadly trades. We arrived with thirty minutes to spare. I snapped the lock on the parking lot gate with a pair of bolt cutters. Pulling to the far end of the lot I parked under a light. I left Gregor in the Crown Vic and walked out about a hundred yards and stood waiting. My nerves were jangling, I had picked the wrong night to quit drinking. Patting my pocket I felt the reassuring weight of my.45, cocked, locked and ready. Someone was going down tonight. With any luck it wouldn’t be me.

Two beams moved slowly through the gate shooting shafts into the dust. A black Lincoln appeared behind the headlights, it rolled to a stop, blinding me. I heard a door open and sweater boy moved in front of the lights, in his outline a pistol was clearly held in his hand. “Where’s the bitch?” he said pointing the pistol at me. I raised my left hand, keeping the right close to my pocket. Inside the Crown Vic Gregor flashed a light on the girl.