And The Beat Goes On

This had nothing to do with the law and everything to do with me in particular. What the fuck did Tommy and I have in common...

Suddenly it hit me like a ton of fucking bricks. What Tommy had already told me the last time we'd spoken he'd said, "He couldn't think of very many people who didn't like Julia."

I only knew one. And I hoped I was wrong. As quickly as I could, I ran back across the parking lot and got to my car. Once inside the car I got on the computer inside and tried to do a search. The computer jammed and froze.

"Cheap ass fucking thing," I yelled. I'd left the door open and a couple of nuns who were walking towards the hospital looked at me with outraged looks on their faces.

"Sorry sisters," I said sheepishly. I picked up the radio and called the station. "This is Fogerty," I said. "I need some information from the police records."

"Detective Fogerty, I know you're kind of old but you have access to that information on the computer in your car," said the snarky voice of the dispatcher. I was sure that it was one of those younger civilian women that we had at the switchboard.

"Excuse me miss," I said in my sweetest voice. "What's your name?"

"Anna, Detective Fogerty," she said. "Anna Willis and don't worry about it. I know you older guys aren't really used to modern technology. If you did you wouldn't be wasting my time asking me to get information for you that you could get yourself; like I was your secretary or something. You're lucky that in that rough gruff old man way you're kind of cute. Maybe I could even give you some tips on how to use that computer someday."

"I don't think that'll be possible Anna Willis," I snapped. "Because you're not going to be with us for that long. You see I'm a detective...gold shield. That means when I say jump, you ask how high. The reason why I didn't get the information off of my computer isn't because I didn't know how it's because the computer is frozen. And according to the last memo we received, we aren't supposed to try to repair them in the field. And as for wasting your time, when I don't get the information I need...people can die or be hurt. Do you understand that?"

"Uhm yes sir," she said. "I can get you that info really quick. I am so sorry. It's stress. My life isn't going well sir."

"Don't bother," I snapped. "I've got Arnie Chang on my cell phone running it down for me already while you were giving me your manifesto about cute, gruff, old people."

"Is there anything I can say to make this better?" she asked.

"Maybe not for me," I said sweetly. "But there's something you can say to the next guy you run into while doing your job."

"What would that be sir?" she asked.

"Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order," I said and turned off the radio.

"Come on Arnie I need this info fast," I said.

"Fuck, Fogerty," said Arnie over the phone. "I have no address for the guy but I do have known associates from his prison days and before. I'll call his PO and see if he can get us an address."

"What about his friends any addresses for them?" I snapped.

"Gilbert Gottfried...No address," said Chang. "Lucas Tanner...No address. Samuel Lincoln...No Address. Shit Fogerty, these records suck," he spat in frustration.

My head ache got worse. It was bad enough with me thinking that Tommy thought that Melinda had something to do with this. At first I thought that maybe he was so upset about Julia's disappearance that he was paranoid. After all, how the hell could Melinda do this? We clearly saw men on the video. What would Melinda have to do with this?

But that second name that Chang had read off was Lucas Tanner. I'd recognized that name from the wallet I'd taken from the guy who was fucking Melinda the previous night. I really don't believe in coincidences.

"Alright Arnie," I said. "I think I have an idea about this. I need you to have a tac team standing by. I'll get back to you as quickly as possible."

I hung up on Arnie and called home. The phone rang ten times without being answered. I dialed Melinda's cell phone. She picked it up on the second ring.

"Hey, Fogerty," she said. "Why are you waking me up? You know I need my beauty sleep. And you'd think that someone who is expecting to get between my legs would want me all rested."

I could hear the sound of a car engine over the phone. I could also hear the muffled voice of another person.

"I'm sorry Melinda," I said. "But I need a favor. Could you go into my room and check to see if I left my spare piece in the top desk drawer? I just chased some asshole through an alley and I was sure that I had my throwaway piece on me, but it's gone now. I'm really hoping I left it in that drawer, because if I didn't, I've lost an unregistered gun in a bad neighborhood. Anyone who gets hurt or killed with that gun will be my fault."

"God damn it Fogerty," she snapped. "I'm not your fucking maid."

"Please," I whined. "It'll only take a second and I'll owe you one. Forget it Melinda. You never do anything for me anyway. I'll come home and check myself."

"Wait a minute," she said. "I'll do it." She waited for a moment during which time I heard no footsteps or anything to indicate that she was moving but I still heard the car's engine and even muffled traffic sounds.

"Fogerty, it's not there," she said. "Maybe you should go back and try to find it."

"Thanks," I said. "I'm working on the case of that old lady who got killed. I'll probably be home very late. So we should probably plan on tomorrow night instead of tonight."

"Fogerty, you don't get to dictate when we have sex," she said. "I'm not one of your whores."

"Sorry, I guess I should have realized that by now," I said sadly. I'd been trying to cover up the pain I was feeling but I was sure I'd shown signs of it. Melinda had clearly lied to me. She wasn't at home. She was headed somewhere in a car and she wasn't alone.

My headache got another step worse, the beating continued. I was beginning to get used to it. I was becoming friends with the beat. It was kind of like living in a movie and having one, long, monotonous drumbeat as my fucking theme song. Wherever Melinda was and wherever she was going, it was time for me to put the toys away and become a grownup. As much as I wanted to track down Melinda and her fuck buddy, I had to go home first. I needed that wallet so I'd be able to figure out where he'd go. I guess I wanted to find him without her around. That way there'd be a chance that I could keep her out of this.

My plan was to go to the house and get the wallet. Then I'd call Melinda and tell her to get her ass home and to come alone. Once she got to the house, I'd cuff her if I had to. I'd keep her there while I went out and found Lucas. Then I'd beat Julia's location out of him if I had to. But I'd make sure that Melinda was kept out of it. Tommy was my friend, but Melinda was my everything.

* * * * * *

Melinda

I felt bad about lying to Fogerty. In fact, I felt bad about everything I'd done to him for the past three years. With every passing second I felt myself becoming more myself. By the end of the day my biggest stumbling block to getting my husband back would be out of the way.

"So the redhead's husband is loaded huh?" asked Lucas.

"He's not her fucking husband," I snapped. "He's mine and he always will be."

"Uhm yeah, whatever," he said. He was looking at me strangely. "But exactly how much moolah does the guy have?"

"I guess he's got about twenty million or so," I said. "But don't get any ideas."

"I'm not getting any ideas," he said. "But I'm just thinking that your plan sucks. I mean what the fuck do you get out of this."

"What do you care?" I asked. "You've already been paid. I sold my parents' house to pay you four off."

"Fuck that," he said. "You paid us chicken feed. You sold the old folks' house for eighty grand. We got twenty apiece. That's not a lot when you consider that kidnapping is a Federal rap. Instead of you getting to take red out, I'm thinking we should sell her back to her old man. She hasn't seen you yet and she doesn't know that you had anything to do with this. There's no need to be greedy. I say we sell her back for a million each. With a million dollars you can buy all of the guys you need."

"Maybe you and me could even end up together and pool our money," he said winking.

"We need to stop by the house to get my equipment on the way to talk to Josh and discuss this," I told him. I had plenty of the stuff I was planning on using on the redhead, so if necessary I'd give Lucas some too. As I said the day before, I was pretty much done with Lucas anyway.

He smiled at me and patted me on the leg as he drove. The bastard actually thought that I'd go along with his change in our plans. He also thought that he'd rung my chimes the previous evening. He thought I had the hots for him and would do whatever he wanted. What a dumb ass. He'd really be surprised when I jammed that needle of my special Neurotoxin up his ass. I guess there really is no such thing as honor among thieves...er...kidnappers or whatever we were.

We made good time cutting across town. But we really didn't need to. Fogerty would be out all day working and then going back to look for his backup piece afterward. We had all of the time in the world.

We got to the house and walked right in. "I'll be just a moment," I said. Lucas sat down on the couch and put his feet up as I walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

I walked right into a grim faced Fogerty. "So much for that beauty sleep," he said. "He pulled out his cuffs with one hand and his service revolver with the other.

"How'd you know I wasn't here?" I asked in shock.

"You couldn't have looked in my desk drawer," he said. "It's locked. I tried to keep you out of this, Melinda. But you fucked my plans up. You're going to have to go to jail with your asshole friend there."

"What are you talking about Fogerty?" I asked. "I didn't fuck him anymore. I saw how badly it hurt you. I just brought him over to tell him there wouldn't be any repeats. Besides you can't arrest us for having sex because you're jealous."

"Melinda, you are one stupid bitch," he said. "I know you had something to do with Julia disappearing and Tommy does too. He has some kind of black ops team of his old military buddies. If I don't find Julia in less than an hour those guys will kill anyone involved until they get her back."

"Fogerty, get real. Tommy loves me. He'd never hurt me," I smiled. "In fact, this may be just what he needs to snap him out of this and get us back together."

"Melinda, you're deluded," he said. "When it comes to Julia, Tommy doesn't give a fuck about anyone. He'd slowly push a dull spoon through your forehead to keep her from smelling her own fart. You don't mean shit to him. He's over you. He's moved on with his life. Shit, what does it take to get through to you? He divorced you and married someone else. He has a kid with her and she wants to give him another one. He's done with..." I was so pissed by what he was saying that I threw myself at Fogerty.

In the split second that I passed between Fogerty's gun and Lucas, Lucas moved. He knew he had to get out and to get out he had to go through Fogerty. Lucas had no intention of going back to jail on a kidnapping charge. Fogerty's police training and his love for me kept him from shooting. The idiot still loved me despite everything I'd done.

Lucas grabbed a book off of the coffee table after ducking behind me and threw it at Fogerty's wrist. Fogerty was still distracted by watching me. His gun went flying and Lucas lunged at him, knocking me out of the way. Fogerty was the taller of the two but Lucas was bigger and more muscular. His fist slammed into Fogerty's jaw and Fogerty's head snapped back from the sharp impact.

Fogerty was also giving away at least twenty years and had that broken toe. "I'm not going back to jail," spat Lucas. He lunged again and this time Fogerty side stepped and brought his knee up into Luke's midsection. Luke gasped and almost threw up from the impact but on his way down he managed to grab Fogerty and pull him down to the floor with him. He rolled over and started to pound Fogerty.

Suddenly the front door splintered and a guy calmly walked in mumbling. He had one of those headsets on and was talking into it. "I told Tommy this guy is the slowest, dumbest cop in the world. Yeah I got it. Some guy is kicking his ass...hold on," he said. I ducked into the kitchen while I waited to see what would happen. Without very much effort, he snatched Luke off of Fogerty by the back of his shirt. Luke started sputtering and the guy stared at him. Luke raised his hand as if he was going to punch the guy.

The guy looked at Luke with nothing but amusement. He didn't try to block Luke's punch or anything. He let it hit him but he shifted his weight so the punch landed on his chest. The guy must've been a slab of muscle because the punch appeared to hurt Luke's hand more than it hurt this guy. Then he just squared up and punched Luke three times in succession. His punches, twice in the stomach and once in the face sounded like thunder and each punch got louder. Boom... BOOM... BAM. The first punch knocked the wind out of Luke. The second nearly lifted him off of his feet and the third knocked Lucas down and out. As each punch landed, Luke made little mewling sounds like a woman being fucked.

I realized then that it was time for me to get the fuck out of there. I looked back around the corner to see what he was doing before trying to unlock the back door. He'd pulled out a very long pistol and was lining it up with Likes head while still talking into the headset.

"Wait," said Fogerty who was still on the ground.

"I don't take orders from you Detective," said the man. "I'm supposed to protect you but other than that you and I should not converse." Then he started talking to the guy on the other end of the headset. "I was just explaining the facts to the detective. He has no idea how lucky he is...What?"

Even as he spoke, he was lining the long pistol up with Luke's head. "Shit," he spat. "Are you sure? It's just that we've always been told that the simplest solution is usually the best. I don't feel like having to cart this guy around. I should just shoot him and have this shit over with. He was part of the kidnapping. The bastard tried to take Tommy's wife. Fuck that, kill them all I say...so what? I always say kill 'em all. Alright, I'll give him to the detective. But you can't hold me responsible if he farts or something and I pop him. You know how nervous and jumpy I am. "

He actually kicked Luke's unconscious body and called him an asshole. Then he started talking again. "What, the nutty bitch? Was she here? No, I didn't kill her yet. Was I supposed to? I mean shit if she had anything to do with this she has to go too, right. That's what the detective was trying to do isn't it. He was trying to somehow save her dumb ass. That's why it's taking him so long to do this when we practically gave him a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. What I don't understand is why he's so hot for her. Look at what she did to Tommy in the first place. If I had her in my sights I'd have capped her ass on general principles. You know we're all professionals, right. But shit, I'd do her for free."

Hearing him say that made me realize that Fogerty had been telling the truth. Tommy had just called in some of his old buddies and he apparently only wanted one thing. He wanted that red headed whore back at any cost. Even I was apparently expendable. He had sent someone to protect Fogerty, but the man had no qualms about killing me. Maybe that wasn't exactly correct. I hadn't actually heard the man say that Tommy had authorized my murder, but apparently he had an opinion about me and thought that killing me wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

As I tried to ease my way towards the kitchen door, I knocked a pot off of the shelf and the man reacted like lightning. I snatched the door open and ran out closing the door behind me to slow him down. I jumped off of the porch and ducked into the empty space under the porch. Just as the door opened, I grabbed one of the paving stones that we'd put under the porch and threw it at the fence. It clanged off of the fence and made him think that I'd run out through the fence. He jumped down off of the porch with his legs right in front of me. I pulled one of my syringes out and jammed it into his leg.

The man screamed and I smiled. I ducked back under the porch where he couldn't see me. He started shooting and bullets whizzed past me. It was only by luck that I wasn't hit. "You fucking bitch," he screamed.

"Keep yelling moron," I said. Then I moved to a different place under the porch. He popped off two shots directly at where I was only a few moments before. I wanted him to get angry. It would carry my cocktail into his system even faster. He was already lying on the ground trying to crawl under the porch with me. Very soon he wouldn't be able to stand and then he'd be totally helpless.

He was smarter than I gave him credit for though. He started talking into his headset again. "The bitch drugged me with something powerful. It must be some kind of paralysis agent. I'm already having trouble moving. Send help quickly," he said.

I ran out from under the porch and out of the yard. Several bullets whizzed in my direction but clearly the man could no longer aim. I jumped into Luke's car and left. I had no time to check on Fogerty or Lucas. I had no idea how close the man's associates were or how many there were or even what they looked like.

This whole situation had gone from bad to worse in seconds. I had no idea what I should do or where I should go. My thoughts were running rampant through my mind. Fuck men, they ruined everything every time. A little over three years ago I was happily married to my true love. I was taken advantage of by men and lost it. While I was fighting and trying to get him back another man, Fogerty, took one look at me and screwed my life up even worse. Now, I was so close to getting Tommy back, that I could smell it and men have ruined that too. First the guys that I hired and paid good money have decided that they weren't getting paid enough. At least Lucas did. He'd already told me that he thinks Josh had fallen for the red head. Then he himself decided that killing her wasn't worth the risk and we should just sell her back to Tommy. Didn't that moron realize that the whole purpose of this was to keep her away from Tommy so I could have him back?

Once I got a dose of my special cocktail into her, it wouldn't kill her but without swift medical attention, she would simply waste away. I was sure that it wasn't painful. I know that Fogerty loves me. Like the guy said, Fogerty had done everything he could to keep me out of this. If the chips were down, I know I could count of him. A part of me wondered what I'd ever done to deserve the devotion that man had shown me. Another part of me realized that it was the way love makes people react. I know that there is simply nothing I wouldn't do for Tommy.

I drove quickly. I went to my parent's house where we'd hidden the red head. I couldn't bring myself to call her by her name. That would humanize her. It would make her a person and I didn't want to see her as a person. I liked just seeing her for what she was. She was only another obstacle keeping me away from my husband.

I pulled up in the driveway and went up onto the porch. I used my key and opened the door. Before I made it into the living room Josh and his friend Eric came out of concealment training guns on me. When they saw that it was me, they relaxed. "Melinda, do you know what the fuck you got us into?" asked Josh.