By DocPaul
Chapter
Eleven: Grief…
“Liz!
Wait!” Max scurried after Liz down the front stairs leading into their home.
He was partially dressed, with his shirt not all the way buttoned and his tie
dangling from his neck. “You didn’t tell me you were leaving.”
Liz
checked her watch. “Sorry. Didn’t realize that you cared. I told you before
I showered that I had an early appointment.”
“For
the baby?”
“No.
Work.” Liz almost tapped her foot impatiently. Now he wanted to talk? “Max, I really have work to do. What is
it?”
Max
frowned. She had gone to bed before he had last night, and by the time he
crawled under the covers she was sound asleep. He had a late business meeting.
The last time they ate together was…well, he really couldn’t remember.
“Look,
I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately, and we haven’t hardly said two words
to each other. I thought maybe we should touch base.”
Liz’s
eyebrow went up at that. “Touch base?” Crossing her arms in front of her,
she looked him up and down. Damn him. She had loved him for over ten years, and
he was more a stranger to her now than ever before. “Let me guess, you
penciled in time for me this morning? How inconsiderate of me to have my own
business to attend to and not drop everything for your whim.”
Max
sighed. “Okay, both barrels. Let me have it. Get it out. I deserve it. I know.
So let’s clear the air.”
Liz
looked down at her watch, and then at him. “Tempting offer, but I really
don’t have time for the usual ‘you ignore me…I’m sorry’ routine. Maybe
later?” Liz didn’t let him get a protest in as she quickly got into her car
and took off for the City’s Public Records office. She didn’t even bother to
look back at him in the rearview mirror. Her mind was already on the task at
hand. Brody Davis and
The
woman at the information desk looked up as she entered. “Hi. I need to see the
last five years of the City Planning Commissions records, and all records in the
public domain regarding public construction bidding. I also need to see the
filed corporation records on Davis Construction and Valenti Construction.”
“Why
do you need these records?” The woman looked Liz over without a smile.
“I’m
doing research on corruption in the City Planning Commission Offices in regard
to large construction contracts. And your name would be...?” Liz asked
politely. “You realize that all information is a matter of public domain and
can be assessed by any citizen? Full disclosure is…”
The
woman sighed. “What were the companies again, and how many years back?”
“Davis
and Valenti. Five years.” Liz watched the woman walk away to access the
records. “Thank you,” she called after the woman sweetly.
Liz
spent the entire morning surrounded by dusty volumes of minutes, contracts and
details. Her sandwich for lunch was eaten early because she was hungry. She was
slowly eating as she drank a chocolate milk. When her phone rang, she was in the
middle of reading the minutes regarding the Maps Project.
“This
is Liz.”
“Anything?”
Liz
sighed. “Kyle, tell me you aren’t going to hound me over this. I’m working
as fast as I can. You’d be amazed at what I’ve already learned.” Liz
sucked more milk through the straw. “Brody’s company took a hard hit over
five years ago when he was divorced. His wife was entitled to half the net
worth, plus a hefty settlement for child support. It almost ruined him.”
“He’s
still kicking, Parker.”
“True.
The interesting thing is why! He picked up an infusion of hard ready cash. A
silent partner, and given the nature of your marker and his access to buy it
out, I would hazard a guess that his silent partner isn’t someone who wants
his co-ownership to be known.”
Kyle
stared at Maria’s store through the windshield of his car. Michael had left
home that morning to come here. He entered about two hours before for breakfast,
and Kyle sat outside staking out his brother’s movements. “You think Brody
is in with the Mob, or some kind of land deal or money laundering?”
“I
don’t know. I mean, I’ve got no real knowledge or experience with local
organized crime, but from all indications….Kyle, I think this death threat is
a real one. Michael could be in a lot of trouble.”
Kyle
swore and rubbed his face. “So, how much can you dig up safely and fast? I
can’t follow Michael around forever. What if I make a mistake? What if I
don’t see it coming?”
Liz
gathered up her trash. “First thing, you need to stay calm. No freaking.
Second, we need to tell Michael. I really can’t see any other possibility.
Even if we find the evidence, it’s still uncertain whether we’ll find it in
time, or even at all.”
Kyle
rested his head on the stirring wheel. “You’re right. Dammit!” He took
deep breaths, trying to calm down. “Okay, you keep digging, and I’ll do the
Michael thing.”
Liz
was quiet for a moment. “Kyle...you promise?”
“Yeah,
I hate having to admit to him that I screwed up again, but I can’t let him be
at risk. Let me take care of this.” Kyle was quiet for a moment. “Thanks for
your help, Liz, but don’t do anything that will make them aware you’re
looking. Take care of yourself and that baby.” Liz smiled at his concern.
“I’ll
call you if I get anything.”
Kyle
sat back and continued to watch Maria’s shop and home. This was going to be
hard.
~~~
Maria
walked Michael down the stairs. They paused in the shop as they stood talking
with Stan, who was opening that morning. Neither of them noticed that Jinx the
cat had once again found her way out of the upstairs apartment. She was
delicately sniffing at candles on the shelves, stopping to lick a paw, and
checking the shop for mice.
Maria
kissed Michael goodbye. “Don’t pout.”
Michael
made a face, ignoring the smile on Stan’s face. “I don’t pout! Look,
Maria, I’m serious. I have to go to this stupid thing. I’ve got two tickets.
You should come with me.”
“I
hate those things.”
“So
do I. So let’s go and hate them together.” Michael put an arm around her
waist and pulled her close to him. “It’s for a good cause. For the Community
Center. I thought you Coalition types were hot into community service.”
“You’d
be surprised at what gets me hot, Guerin.” Maria laughed at the face he made.
“Really, are you coming to the Coalition meeting tonight?”
“Sure.
I’m one of the big bad developers. I’d like to see the other side of
things.” Michael tapped her nose. “Before you judge me though, you might
look at my plans for the restoration and improvement of the area.”
“Hmm.
The man has plans! Bring them. We’re reasonable people. We’ll listen.”
Maria played with his shirt. “You come tonight, and I’ll go with you to this
thing.”
Michael
kissed her again, reluctantly pulling away. “Tonight then.”
They
were moving apart when the front door bell rang announcing a customer. It was
that little flash of gray that caught Maria’s eye, as Jinx the cat found a way
outside.
“Jinxy!
No!” Maria went to chase down her cat. “Michael, stop her!”
They
were both out the door searching for the cat. Michael saw her first. She had
already crossed the street and was on the other side sniffing at a pole. He
quickly crossed over and nabbed the cat, as Maria gave a huge smile with a hand
on her chest in relief. Michael was crossing the street to rejoin Maria when a
car screeched around the corner and barreled toward him, accelerating at a
screaming rate of speed.
Kyle
had been watching Michael chase down the wayward cat. It took a few moments for
the sound of a starting car to alert him, that and the rev of an engine. He saw
the car pull out from the side street up a few blocks from where Michael was
waiting to cross the street. Kyle pushed his car door open, and was out of it,
rushing to intercept Michael before the car could.
Maria
blinked. One moment she was waiting as Michael brought back Jinx, and the next
moment in a flash a car was bearing down on him. Suddenly he was in harm’s
way, and the next second he was tackled to the curbside by Kyle. Both men were
in a heap of limbs, as they struggled to sit up. Michael was bleeding a little
from where his head had hit the pavement.
“Michael!”
Maria rushed to his side, her anxiety was apparent as her hands flew
over his entire body, and she checked him out for wounds and broken bones.
Hysteria was on the very edge of her voice. “Baby, oh God! Michael, are you
alright?” Maria was crying as her hands moved frantically, and she was
practically incoherent.
“Maria!
It’s okay! I’m okay.” Michael pulled her into his lap where he laid
sprawled on the sidewalk as Kyle was sitting next to him. It took a few moments
for any of them to hear the loud plaintive wail from the street. Michael was
rocking a shaking Maria in his arms, but the sound wasn’t from her.
Jinx!
All
three got to their feet, staring in horror at the cat in the street. Jinx was a
thin, gray-striped cat, and she was huddled in a ball, yowling in pain. There
was blood streaming from her mouth. Maria called her name and rushed to her
side, as Michael and Kyle followed.
“Michael...!”
said Maria in pain.
“Kyle,
go into the shop and have Stan find a box or something to put her in!” Michael
knelt next to the cat while Maria was saying Jinx’s name over and over in a
soothing voice. When Kyle had hit Michael, he inadvertently let go of Jinx and
the car must have struck her. She was holding her front paw underneath her body,
and Michael’s heart hurt when the cat’s eyes started filling with blood.
“Maria…”
Michael tried to find a way to get her to leave the cat, but there wasn’t
anything he could say. Kyle rushed out with Stan. They had a cardboard flat.
Michael picked Jinx up gently, as she cried in distress, and Maria was openly
crying now too.
“My
car,” said Kyle, licking his lips. “It’s over there.” Michael nodded,
carefully placing the cat in the crate, and then with Kyle and Maria got into
the car as they took off for the vet’s office.
It
little over an hour later when they returned to Maria’s store. Stan had called
Tess to tell her what happened, but the loft was eerily quiet, except the sound
of sobbing. Kyle paced the place, but he couldn’t settle down. Michael had
taken Maria into the bedroom, and Kyle could hear his voice talking to her in a
low tone. He closed his eyes. Maria had come out of the back room from the
vet’s office holding Jinx’s collar. She had just stood there, dry-eyed,
holding that small collar with a little bell. She had had Jinx put to sleep. The
crying didn’t start until she got home.
Tess
rushed into the apartment as Michael came out of Maria’s room. He couldn’t
get her to stop crying, and for once he felt helpless to make it better.
“Maria?
Where is she? What happened?”
Michael’s
face was strangely bleak. “The cat was run over by a car. We…” Michael
cleared his throat. “We thought she had internal injuries and a broken leg,
but she must have been just clipped in the head. Jinx’s jaw was broken, and
she was suffering high cranial pressure. It had left her blind. They could fix
her jaw, but they couldn’t promise that they could get the pressure in her
head down, or that she wouldn’t be blind for life.”
Tess
started to cry, wiping away a tear, she looked at the hallway leading to their
bedrooms. “Is Maria in her room? Is she okay?”
Michael
shook his head. “She’s lying down, but I couldn’t get her to stop
crying.” Tess started towards the bedroom, Michael stopped her. “She had
them put Jinx to sleep.”
Tess
was openly crying now, she and nodded. “Poor Maria!”
Kyle
frowned. It was just a cat, but he was feeling a little weepy too. “Maybe if
we get her something else to think about, and…”
Tess
shook her head. “I’ll take care of her.” She squeezed Michael’s hand.
“It’s alright, I’ll stay home today.”
“Maybe,
if I….”
Tess
shook her head at Michael struggling to find something to make it better. “You
don’t understand, Michael. Jinx wasn’t just a cat. She was Maria’s
mother’s cat. She was all that Maria had left of Amy.” Tess started crying
again. She shook her head and went into the bedroom with Maria.
Kyle
and Michael stood there, both uncertain what to do. They could hear both women
crying. “Maybe we should…” Kyle stopped talking. He really didn’t know
what to do.
“C’mon.
Let’s leave them alone for a while.” Michael pushed Kyle out the door. “I
want you to follow me to the office.”
“Sure…”
Kyle was suddenly suspicious. “Why?”
“Just
follow me, Kyle.”
~~~
Kathleen
was answering the phone and sorting through invoices when Michael came through
the door. He was…untidy. More than that, his shirt was splattered with blood
from his head, along with cat blood, and there was a scrape and a tear on his
sleeve where he had hit the pavement.
“Michael!”
The unflappable Kathleen came around the desk in a hurry. “What happened?”
Kyle
came through the door, and he met his brother’s eyes. “That’s what I want
to know. Kyle, you want to tell me what the hell happened this morning?”
“I…”
Kyle moved on his feet. Damn. Couldn’t Michael be happy that he saved his
life, and sort of forget the rest?
“You
were at Maria’s place. Why?”
“I…,”
said Kyle faltering again. Shit. “I was keeping an eye on you.”
“An
eye on me?” Michael frowned. “So you just happened to be there just in time
to save me from being run over?”
“What?!”
Kathleen’s face held enough shock for the group of them. “You were almost
run over? Did anyone get the license plate of the car? Call the police?”
Michael
shook his head. “It happened too fast. Maria’s cat was hit, and we spent an
hour at the vet’s.”
“Is
the cat okay?” Kathleen looked at the two young men. “Is Maria?” She
barely knew the girl, but what she did know about her, she liked.
“No.
She’s devastated. They put the cat to sleep.” Michael pushed his hands into
his pockets. “That still doesn’t tell me why my brother was watching over
me? Does it Kyle?”
Kyle
looked from Kathleen to Michael, and back again. Some days…it really sucked to
be him.
~~~
Michael
Guerin in a rage was a sight to behold. Max sat on the edge of the desk and
watched as Michael paced the room bellowing at Kyle and at the walls in general.
Kathleen frowned, and occasionally left the room, but she soon returned to keep
watch over Michael.
“How
stupid can you be?” Michael’s hands were flopping around in a fury. “You
stole my bids!”
“I
didn’t have any choice!”
Michael
stopped and looked at Kyle in anger. “Sure you did, Kyle. You always have
choices, but you choose bad ones. Do you…can
you imagine how much money you cost my company? My crews? All for your little
gambling debt?”
“I
said I was sorry! It was only supposed to be that one time, but Brody
blackmailed me into another time.”
“Prescott
and Jenkins. I knew it! I knew something was off! I thought it was my dislike of
Brody that was making me paranoid.” Michael glanced at his brother. “Why
didn’t you come to me? Tell me? Give me a fucking chance to bail you out?”
Kyle
sighed. Looking at the ground, he shook his head. “I didn’t want you to do
that, Michael. That would be just another example for when you had it over
me.”
“Don’t
start this sibling rivalry shit again! There is no comparison. We are two
separate and different people. You hate being compared to me, well guess what? I
hate it too.” Michael stopped in front of Kyle. “You should’ve trusted
me.”
Kyle
bit his lip. “I do. I started working with the crew, and I knew what I was
costing them, and you. That was why I refused to give Brody the bid to the Maps
Project. I couldn’t do it. Your workers need the job.” Kyle shut his eyes.
“That’s when he threatened your life.”
Max
looked at Michael and shook his head. Nothing. There was nothing they could do
at this point. “Kyle, do you have any proof? Anything at all?”
Kyle
looked at Max and shook his head. “No. But I have a friend searching for
documentation. I can fix this. Maybe…”
“A
friend?” Michael said with his eyes narrowing. “What friend?”
Kyle
looked between the two men. Oh, this wouldn’t be good. “Liz. Liz Parker.”
“My
Liz?” Max couldn’t believe it. He was going to wring Kyle’s scrawny neck.
“Tell me you’re making this up!”
Kyle
shook his head, as Max swore and took out his cell phone to call Liz. “Maybe I
should leave.”
Michael
breathed deeply. “No. You need to stay here.” Michael looked at his younger
brother, and shook his head in wonder. How could one person get into so much
trouble without really trying? “Look, Kyle,” Michael licked his lips.
“Despite everything, thanks for saving my life.”
Kyle
hadn’t expected that. He ducked his head and nodded at Michael. Smiling
slightly, he almost looked embarrassed. “I’ll go see if Kathleen needs me to
do anything.”
Max
hung up the phone as Kyle left the room. “I should break his neck for
involving Liz in this.”
Michael
sat on the edge of the desk. “Maybe you should talk to Liz. She let herself
get involved, and she didn’t tell you about it. Why do you think that is?”
Max
rubbed his face. “I’ve been a little busy and distant with her lately,
okay?” Max swore and dialed Liz’s cell number again. “I tried to talk to
her this morning, but she was off to do work. Guess I know what work that was
now, don’t I?”
Michael
closed his eyes. “She’s not answering, Max. It doesn’t mean anything is
wrong. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you, so she’s not picking up.”
Michael glanced at his friend. “You’ve been cold to her since she told you
that she was pregnant.”
“Don’t
start with me, Michael. I asked her to marry me, didn’t I?”
Michael
shrugged. “Maybe you should’ve asked her before
she got pregnant. What was it? Almost ten years together? Think you could
convince the woman that you love her in all that time?”
Max
looked at Michael in shock. “You….you
are going to lecture me on being in love? Until recently you had no idea what
the hell that meant.”
“You’re
right. I didn’t. Now I do. I’m in love with Maria, and she has a past that I
can’t understand, and one she’s unwilling to talk about. I want to be
married to her, and thought of marriage to me makes her hyperventilate.”
Michael picked up a heavy paperweight off his desk and contemplated how much
damage it would do his office wall. “I want you to do me a favor, between
trying to get Liz to answer your phone calls. I want you to find out everything
you can about Maria DeLuca from
“She
means that much to you?” Max felt flattened. It was his day to be tossed
around, and his concept of the world was totally skewed.
“That
much.”
~~~
Liz
stared at her phone again and frowned. Max. His cell number popped up again. Her
indicator showed she had voice mail. Max again, no doubt. Liz turned off the
phone. She had no time to worry about Max right now.
Her
investigation led her to a company front. It was a paper trail that made no
sense. Brody was floating too much money through a company that was financially
crippled. When Michael took over Valenti’s and made it big, taking contract
after contract from out from under Brody’s feet, he further weakened Brody’s
company. Yet, there was still money moving through the company. That was the
problem. Too much money.
Brody
needed large contracts to hide the flow of money. He had to be laundering money
for someone. Who it was, didn’t matter. What mattered was Brody’s company
was too exposed for an audit. The lack of large contracts made the paper trail
too obvious. It gave motive to Brody’s blackmailing of Kyle.
Liz
sat back, staring at Brody Davis’s estate. He was a business man. No business
man would do business without records. Complete records. Brody couldn’t keep
them at his offices. No. He would keep private books in his home office. He
would keep them where he thought they would be safe.
“Don’t
worry, little one. I’m not going to go in there. I just want to look around
and see what the security looks like.” Liz said to her unborn child. She had
spent a lot of time lately talking to her stomach. Liz parked her car in an
overgrown access road, out of the way. Getting out, she slowly made her way
around the house that was surrounded by a high wall. Looking though an iron back
gate, the house looked quiet. No one was home. Liz’s hand was on the bar when
the gate moved under her hand. It was open. The lawn service must have not
locked it when last they used it.
Liz
pushed the gate open, and let herself through. Looking around, she went towards
the house. Leaning against a wall, she watched as a woman came out of a side
door. Cook? Maid? Liz looked both ways, and quickly ducked into the open door,
dodging into a side room. Her heart was loud in her own ears, and she swore her
breathing sounded like a freight train.
The
house was large. Quiet. The only activity she could hear appeared to be coming
from the kitchen area. Moving down the dark hall, she entered a large open
rotunda. It was the entry room leading to the stairs and the large living room
and a den on the right. Liz went for the den. Opening the door cautiously, she
went inside. Damn. She hadn’t meant to come this far. No flashlight. No
camera. Nothing. This was stupid! Liz searched for her phone, but she had left
it on her car seat, turned off.
Entering
the room, she shut the door, and went to the desk. Searching the drawers that
were open, she tried to open ones that were locked. Prying with a letter opener,
she finally got a bottom drawer open. It was a desk vault. Liz quickly looked at
the closed door.
Kneeling
beside the desk, she stared at the vault. Damn. Combination? Liz shut her eyes.
Finally reaching into her back pocket, she took out her black notebook that she
had recorded information into while doing research. Brody’s birthday. She
tried those numbers. No.
Liz
bit on her lip. Trying a few other combinations. Nothing.
Liz
sat back as the vault opened. Reaching up on the desk, she pulled the desk lamp
down next to her. Turning it on, she pulled documents out of the vault. Kyle’s
debt. It was there. All of it. Even the blackmail. Liz pushed that into the back
pocket of her jeans. Taking more information, she quickly searched. It named
three City Council members who where part of a ‘development’ company that
Brody represented. Damn! Liz needed all that information.
She
followed the information and the ledger. It showed bribes. Pay-offs. And it
showed huge amounts of money that Brody laundered through his company. Liz was
so engrossed in the information, she never noticed the figure moving up behind
her silently.
There
was a flash of light. Pain. Then nothing as her body hit the floor.