“Are you crazy?” Julia screamed at me from the front of our office building. “I mean… You… You… You just…” Julia sputtered into silence.
Just then I heard a familiar voice behind me saying, “Brian, it’s Kelly from the FBI. Tom’s here, too. Are you ok?”
Julia, finally getting over her shock, went to talk to her client. The woman was rather hysterical saying something about her husband probably going to now be angry about the damage to the car and blame her for it.
In truth… The dent in the hood came from the head of one of the car jackers. But… I guess the husband wasn’t going to care about that, him not even bothering to show up with his wife for the appointed session, from what I gathered, anyway.
Kelly said to me quietly, “We were across the street watching these guys, them being suspected of having been involved in a rather violent theft ring. We were just getting ready to move when we saw them grab the woman and try to force her into the car. Where the hell did you come from?”
“I was on the side of the building talking with one of our tenants,” I replied. “They had just gone back to their office when I heard the woman screaming.”
Tom said to me, “You’re interference probably saved her life but…” I sighed saying, “Yeah… I know… It complicates things.”
I then walked over to the RAM and sat down on the step bumper as the Newton PD arrived. Tom and Kelly explained to them what happened and the cops, glancing my way, seemed to feel they didn’t need to speak with me about anything at all. And then the husband showed up and began berating his wife, telling her that if she wasn’t such a dumb whore this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened.
I had been sitting with my eyes closed listening, right up until he started yelling at Julia. Then I finally walked over and intentionally stepped in between him, his wife and Julia saying, “Yeah… She’s a dumb whore alright.”
He then said loudly to everyone, “See? He even agrees! Get in the car and meet me back at the house you stupid bitch. I’ll deal with you later.”
I looked at Julia and winked, her understanding coming in a flash that was none too soon. She casually began moving the woman away from where the husband and I were standing as I then said, “She was such a dumb whore she couldn’t even let herself be abducted by the thugs you sent to kill her. You should know that the hood didn’t need to get dented. But they wouldn’t stop when I asked so…” I paused gesturing at the car before continuing on saying lightly, “They did put up a good fight though,” I finished with a smile.
“You son of a…” As the man began yelling again, he started to move. Only. I was a bit faster, deflecting the punch he sent my way and throwing him completely off balance. He hit the ground hard, and it was all Kelly and Tom after that.
Kelly then came over to me saying, “I’m missing something here. Murder for hire didn’t seem to be a part of their resume.”
“Check the husband’s bank transactions. You are looking for an electronic transfer,” I said quietly.
“You know this because?” an officer asked who had been listening in. “Kelly knows my source,” I replied.
Kelly wordlessly nodded and gave the officer a look that pretty much let him know that his mouth should stay shut from here on in. Tom seemed to be backing her up to that end as well saying to the officer, “Let’s have a chat with our newly acquired friend in handcuffs on the gurney over there. Maybe he’ll make our work easy today.”
“The ambulance is here?” I asked no one in particular. I didn’t notice one pulling in.
“Yeah…” Tom laughed. “There’s an EMT walking around the parking lot with a jar trying to find the one guy’s teeth. I’m going to have to study the footage we have Brian. I think I might be able to learn a few new moves from this incident. Where did you learn to use a cane like that, anyway?” Tom finished.
“You aught to know,” I said with a smile. Tom chuckled and said, “Well… I think your wife just locked up the office and wants to take you some place. So… We’ll leave you two in piece.”
“Threats and promises,” I said chuckling. As I finished speaking, Kelly came over to us and said to Tom, “It wasn’t an electronic payment like our source thought. It was a cash payment drawn from several different accounts; the husband hoping not to draw attention to the transactions if anyone caught on. Him and the head thug on the gurney just confessed.”
“What made them fess up so quickly?” Tom asked. Kelly simply put a hand on my shoulder and said laughing, “We might have intimated that a newspaper article would be appearing with pictures of them getting their asses handed to them by a blind man. They seemed to be in quite the hurry to talk after that.”
Julia and I left a few minutes later, stopping in town to get gas for the RAM and a late afternoon lunch. I don’t think she stopped holding my hand for more than a few seconds from the time we pulled out of our parking lot to the time we went to bed.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” Julia said as she drove. “I just… It was quite the scene for a few seconds. Awe inspiring in a way but frightening.”
I gave her hand a squeeze and asked, “I’m guessing they found the knives and gun in the parking lot?”
Julia said, “Yeah… Those items and a few teeth.”
When we got home, I suggested we hit the tub together and Julia felt it was a great idea. “It’ll give me a chance to check your body over thoroughly for injuries,” Julia said slyly, which she did and then some. “It was a great night.”