An Organized Crime Thriller Book Series
Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan
Series Excerpt
Ordinarily when Rico and Jerry worked together, they were a team. Rico did the talking—assuming talking was necessary—and Jerry stayed in the background to act as a lookout and to provide additional muscle in case of surprises. But sometimes circumstances dictated that they alter that routine. They had split up earlier that day because they knew one of two people had taken the necklace, and they needed to identify that person as soon as possible. It didn't take two people to pay a visit to either Robert or his wife because neither of them was going to put up a fight. The same logic applied to the task at hand, so Rico decided that Jerry would focus on Evelyn and he would focus on Robert. He broke the news to Jerry on the sidewalk outside Litvak's building.
Jerry was nervous. He could strong-arm a deadbeat with the best of them, but this was different. It required people skills he didn't have. He stood with both hands in his pants pockets, shoulders hunched forward, eyes sheepishly on the ground. “You sure you want me to handle this?”
“I wouldn't've asked you if I wasn't sure.”
Jerry raised his eyes. “You know I'm not the best at this kind of thing.”
“Yeah, I know.”
He knew the answer to his next question but he asked it anyway. “This is a black lady, right?”
“Right.”
“So won't it look funny—me coming in and asking about her, I mean?”
“Listen, I need you to do this,” Rico said. “So suck it up.”
“If you say so.”
“I say so.”
Rico dropped Jerry off at his car and Jerry went directly to the college where Evelyn worked. Even after Rico's pep talk, if you could call it a pep talk, he had still wanted to beg off. But after Rico took the fall for him with Litvak, he owed it to him to do his part to make things right. He just hoped he wouldn't screw things up and make matters worse, if that was possible.
Jerry steeled himself and walked into the main office as casually as possible. The administrative secretary, a pretty young black woman, sat behind a metal desk facing the door.
“Hi,” Jerry said. “I wonder if you could help me.”
“I'll try,” the secretary said.
“I'm trying to locate one of your professors, Evelyn Rogers.”
To Jerry's immense relief, the secretary didn't give him a second look. She entered Evelyn's name in the computer on her desk and pulled it up on her screen.
“Evelyn Rogers,” she said, repeating the name to herself. She didn't ask for any additional information, but Jerry was so anxious that he volunteered more.
“I'm a friend of a friend visiting from out of town on business. I didn't call ahead of time because I wasn't sure about my schedule. But we finished early and I couldn't…I couldn't reach her at home or…or on her cell, so I thought I'd try her here since my meeting was just around the block.”
With a couple of minor glitches, it came out just as he had rehearsed it twenty or thirty times during the drive there. It didn't matter that he hadn't stopped to catch his breath or that his explanation sounded like a mini-speech. The important thing was that he got it out. Now he just hoped she wouldn't ask him any follow-up questions, like what business he was in, the name of his company, or how his friend came to know Evelyn, because, with that speech, his mind had reached its capacity to memorize, and he doubted that he could ad lib.
He was lucky. The secretary was new in her position. Friendly and garrulous, she'd never heard the expression “loose lips sink ships” or any contemporary analogue thereof.
“So how do you like our fair city, Mr.…?”
“Uh, Jones.”
“How do you like our city, Mr. Jones?”
“Oh, I like it a lot.”
“Where are you from, Mr. Jones?”
“Uh, Philadelphia.”
“I really like Philadelphia. I have relatives there. You don't know any Hendersons, do you?”
“No, I don't.”
“What part of town do you live in?”
Shit, Jerry said to himself. He had never been to Philadelphia and knew nothing about its neighborhoods.
“Well…” he began.
“Oh, listen to me, going on and on and wasting your time. Evelyn is out for a week, and…Come to think of it, somebody told me she was going to Honolulu for a second honeymoon. I'm sure she'll be upset that she missed you. But I know she'd rather be in Honolulu, wouldn't you?”
“I sure would,” Jerry said with a sigh.
“I'm sorry I don't know what hotel she's staying at. Should I leave a note for her that you stopped by?”
“No, don't bother. I'll see her next time, but thanks anyway.” Ecstatic, he left the building humming. That wasn't so bad. He had to resist the urge to jump in the air and click his heels together. When he called Rico on his cell, he hoped for a pat on the back, but he didn't expect it and Rico didn't surprise him.
“We can't wait a week. Let me see what I can find out on this end.” Rico had a longer drive and had just arrived at Robert's original store. He sat in his car not yet sure what he'd say. After a couple of minutes, he went in and asked for the manager.
“Hi. Walt Montgomery.” Rico extended his hand.
The manager, a middle-aged black man, shook it and smiled. “Hello. Sylvester Littlefield. How can I help you?”
“I'm an old friend of Robert's.” No reaction. Did the manager know anything about Robert's childhood? Rico didn't. What if he grew up in an all-black neighborhood and this guy knows it? He probably knows less about Evelyn's background than Robert's. He took a chance. “And Evelyn, too. She and I were kids together. I'm sure Robert never mentioned me. Till a few days ago I hadn't talked to either of them in years.”
“I see,” Littlefield said, somewhat skeptically.
Not great, but okay. “I bumped into Evelyn downtown a few days ago and she mentioned the second honeymoon in Honolulu. Boy, she and Robert are gonna love it over there.”
“A few days ago? I guess she knows him better than he knows himself. He just decided to go today.”
Shit! That was close. “Well, you know how he is. She told me she was going to have to work on him.”
Littlefield let his guard down a little. “Well, she succeeded.”
“Listen, she mentioned the name of the hotel and I forgot it just like that.”
“Why don't you call him on his cell?”
“Truth is, by a strange coincidence I have to fly there today and I want to surprise them. Of course, I wouldn't want to horn in on the honeymoon. Maybe lunch or something.”
Littlefield hesitated. “Quite a coincidence, all right—Honolulu, I mean.”
“Yeah, my company does a lot of business there.”
“And what kind of business would that be?”
Rico didn't miss a beat. “Import/export.” He smiled confidently.
“I see.” The manager looked uncertain.
Rico wondered whether he'd laid it on too thick. He casually looked around to see how many people were in the store. One customer and two other employees. This wasn't the kind of situation where you took a guy out or even roughed him up unless you had to. Littlefield was a minor player in this drama. Rico didn't have to go through him to get to Robert. That would create a lot of complications he didn't need, including tipping Robert off. Going around him made more sense. It'd be tricky but not impossible. He'd have to use his head rather than his .45, which he preferred. Let's try it again. He turned back to Littlefield and renewed his smile.
“Excuse me,” Littlefield said unexpectedly. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Walt. Walt Montgomery.”
He said he and Evelyn knew each other as kids, Littlefield thought, and he knows about the store and the second honeymoon, so he's not a perfect stranger. Still, something seems a little out of place but I can't put my finger on it. Of course, I could call Robert, but that'd spoil this guy's surprise.
He already knows they're in Honolulu. What possible harm could come from telling him the name of the hotel? He had to make a command decision.
“Mr. Montgomery, follow me and I'll give you the number and the name of the hotel.”
“Thanks a lot,” Rico said. “And remember. If you talk to him before I do—”
“Not a word. And tell him not to worry. I'll hold down the fort.”
“I sure will.”
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