A Kiss Between Murders

"Then what were you doing there?"

"I'm just trying to find out who killed Jimmy Morgan. Why were you and Evelyn spending time with Jimmy? Was Evelyn seeing Jimmy behind your back?"

Another home run hit me, almost knocking my seat backward. I didn't want to take too many more of those.

"My Evy loved me." His hand was squeezing my face like it was putty. "Sure, she had clients but they were just business. She would've never two-timed me. Besides, I told you. Jimmy had a girlfriend."

Tommy stood and pried the meat hook free. "You know I've done a lot of work in this place. And I've been doing this for a long time. You'd be surprised the amount of pain a person can take before they die." He reached up and attached the hook back on its chain. "The worst part is how much time it takes. I had this guy a couple of years back. He hung up there for almost two days before he died."

"I think I know who killed Evelyn, Tommy." I wasn't ready for a chalk outline just yet so I had to go for broke.

"Yeah? Well, you're gonna tell me and then we'll get this show on the road."

"I don't think so. You can kill me, Tommy, but you won't ever find out who took your Evy away from you."

"I'll make you talk." He finished with the hook and turned to me. He lifted me out of the chair like I was made of paper. Tommy smiled like a kid about to open his Christmas presents. One of us was going to enjoy this and it wasn't me.

"Not before her killer gets away."

"Tell me." He was squeezing my arms so tight it felt like they would snap at any moment.

"I'll do better. I'll show you."

"I don't think so."

"Then you're never gonna get the person who took away the love of your life."

He lifted me up and moved me in front of the hook. I struggled but it was no use. I was going to be shish kabob and spend my last moments with Tommy's ugly mug escorting me into the next world.

He held me above the hook for what seemed like an eternity then he threw me down on the ground. "How about I just beat it out of you?"

"Do your worst Tommy. But you won't get squat from me and you definitely won't get it in time." He reached down and pulled me up by my lapels.

"Fine. We'll do it your way. Let's get going."

He shoved me toward the door while still holding on to my collar. I was bluffing about the amount of time we had left, but I had an idea as to who the murderer was. He dragged me through the door to a car parked in the alley. Tommy pulled me to the passenger door and opened it. He shoved me inside and slid in beside me.

He gave me the keys and said, "Drive."

I started the car and pulled out of the alley. At the intersection my mind was racing. I had no gun and nothing to use as a weapon. Now I was wishing I had shot the sonofabitch before. I just had to hope for the best. I turned left and headed for Mulholland. It was time to check in again with Mona, although I'm sure she wasn't expecting a threesome.

I thought of Emmett Phillips driving up on Mulholland, probably to see Mona. I figured he was the lucky one. He didn't know what was waiting for him. We didn't talk at all and the silence was anything but calming. Tommy had that grin again on his face as he stared dead ahead.

It was the longest drive of my life but not long enough. I parked in Mona's driveway and Tommy yanked me out of the passenger side and held on to me tight. He didn't waste any time. Instead of knocking he busted down the door. I was grateful he didn't use me as a battering ram. He threw me through the doorway where I landed at Mona's feet. I was getting tired of being thrown around.

"What are you doing here?" Mona was dressed this time. I guess she was getting used to men breaking into her home.

"Hello, darling." Tommy picked me up and threw me on the couch.

"Sit down." He said to Mona.

"Listen Tommy...." He took a step toward her and she shut her trap and joined me on the couch. She shifted her leg and pressed it against me. Christ, did her motor have an off switch?

"Start talking, McCabe." Tommy sat down opposite us. Far enough away so I couldn't reach his gun, which was dangling in its holster at his side.

"In the garage outside is a car with damage to the front end. It seems that Mona and Jimmy went for a drive last week and had a little accident. Mona's boss, Emmett Morton, was driving up Mulholland on his way to see Mona. The two of them were having an affair. He never made it to the top of the mountain because he was run off the road by the happy couple."

I could see from the look on Tommy's face that he was surprised by the murder.

"I take it you gave Emmett some encouragement to sell his half of the company?"

"You bitch." Tommy made innocent look guilty. "I was paid to make sure he gave up his rights to the company. Then he was supposed to get out of town."

"He was on his way up here when he went off the road," I said. "What did you tell him Mona? That you'd run away with him? You and Jimmy were waiting for him on the road. As soon as you saw him you ran into him from behind and over the edge he went. I assume it was Emmett's brother Harold that hired you. But whatever he paid you wasn't enough. You got greedy and decided to blackmail Harold. How much was it, Mona?"

"One hundred thousand." Mona smiled. She may have looked frightened before, but now she was cool as a cucumber.

"Cunt!" Tommy snarled. "You pay me a measly five hundred to put the squeeze on Emmett and you and Jimmy pick up a cool hundred thou."

"You knew Jimmy had some contacts, so you got him to find Tommy." I kept going. "Tommy gets the papers signed and you bump off poor Emmett and keep poor Tommy out of the big payoff. Then you figure you deserve more so you blackmail Harold and he pays big. He's afraid you'll spoil everything for him. So what happened?" I kept talking hoping for a moment when Tommy would lose his cool and I could make my move.

"There was no share for you because you weren't in it. But your girlfriend was." Mona stared Tommy dead in the eye. The predator was back and she was enjoying taunting him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Evelyn knew about it because Jimmy told her."

"That's a lie. She would have told me." He looked like he'd just found out Santa Claus wasn't real.

"You dumb ape. Evelyn was two-timing you with Jimmy. She and Jimmy were gonna walk away with the money and stiff me. Jimmy told me he'd hidden the money and I wasn't gonna see a cent of it."

"So you killed him." I was looking at Evelyn but I could feel Tommy's rage growing. "You were waiting outside his place the night I came over. What did you tell him? That Tommy here was onto him? That he was as good as dead? That would explain why he took a shot at me when I came in the door. Too bad you didn't know that Jimmy had your keys. That pretty much blew away your story of not having seen him in years."

"I wasn't gonna let that bastard steal my money. It was supposed to be the two of us. Not that cheap slut."

"Where's the money?" Tommy took out his gun and pointed it at Mona's head.

"Jimmy hid it."

Tommy stood up and Evelyn stiffened. I shifted closer to the edge of the couch hoping for the right moment to move. Tommy turned to me and barked, "Get back." I leaned back and saw Mona dig her hands between the sofa cushions. Tommy's attention was still on me. What was she doing?

"Jimmy never told me. I was sure he had told Evelyn, but she didn't seem to know either." Mona continued as Tommy slowly moved back a couple of paces.

"Why did you kill her?" Tommy had tears rolling down his eyes.

"Besides the fact that she was double-crossing me with Jimmy, she was a loose end, Tommy. You know more than anybody that loose ends always need to be tied up" Mona said.

Tommy wiped his eyes with his gun hand, and Mona's hand came up quick from the cushion. She held a .38 in her hand and shot him once in the chest. Tommy stumbled back, dropping his gun, and fell into his chair. He gasped for air.

Mona stood over him and pumped two more shots into his chest. She signed her work with a bullet to the head. This was my chance. I shot off the couch and dove through the open window . I heard two more shots behind me and felt one of them hit my arm.

I rolled onto the ground and scrambled for the bushes taking a long tumble down an embankment . With every branch and stone whipping my head I was lucky I didn't have a broken neck when I came to a stop. It was dark and I didn't have a flashlight so I had to move slowly through the trees and rocks. My whole body throbbed with pain and I was losing blood from my arm.

I had to get to a phone. Lights sprang up in the distance. With a pounding heart, I dove behind a tree but then realized it was a truck approaching. My ride out of here. I nearly got run over diving out in front of it. The driver screeched to a stop and I ran to the passenger side.

"Hey pal," I said through the open window. "Can you give me a lift into town?"

"Jeez, mister. Do you know your face is bleeding?" He looked worried.

"Yeah. I cut myself shaving. There's a ten in it for you if you can take me without any more questions." That seemed to do the trick. He unlocked the door and we drove off.

I must have passed out after I told him where to go because I didn't remember the ride. I don't know how long it took, but he dropped me at my office and I stumbled upstairs. Once inside I pick up the phone and dialed my good friend Dobbs. I noticed Vera's purse was still here. That kid was always forgetting her purse.

"Listen, Dobbs. Take this address down, 5433 Price Avenue off of Mulholland. You'll find an empty house with a broken window and a dead body. The stiff is Tommy Hooks and no I didn't kill him. You're looking for Mona Morgan. Yeah, that's right. The sister. You can come pick me up at my office. I'll fill you in on the rest."

I hung up. The room was glowing red from the Troubadour. Any other night I would have enjoyed a little window shopping form my neighbor across the alley, but I wasn't really in any shape to make a purchase. I pulled up a chair and faced the window. What the hell. It never hurt to look.

I sat down and took off my belt and wrapped it tightly around my arm. With a heavy sigh I waited for the show to begin. Unfortunately the curtain went up on the wrong performance.

"Mr. McCabe. You kept me waiting." Mona stepped into my office. The gun she had emptied back at the house was now pointed at me. I didn't have to ask if it was reloaded.

"Miss Morgan. I would've thought you'd be long gone by now." She moved behind me.

"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye." She caressed my temple with the gun.

"The police know all about you. They're on their way here. If I were you I'd make a getaway while I still could."

"That's a very good idea. I just need to know one thing."

"You wanna be pen pals. I'm flattered." Blood was dripping into my eye but I left my hands in my lap. I didn't know how itchy her trigger finger was.

"Where's the money?" She pressed the barrel against my head.

"How would I know?"

"Because you're a smart man. You put all the pieces together and I'm sure you have an idea in that pretty little head of yours."

"I might have an idea or two. But why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't..." She cocked the gun.

"You won't shoot me without getting that money."

"Actually, Mr. McCabe. I already have a substantial amount. I am greedy. Just like you said. I want it all. And if I can't get it from you then you're no use to me and I'll have to figure it out myself."

"Is that why your brother was gonna cut you out? Because you got too greedy? Maybe he thought you were going to try to rip him off and he just beat you to the punch."

"My brother was a weak, ungrateful bastard. I gave him a break, a chance to cash in with this job. And what does he do? He falls for a red head and decides to run away with her and all the money."

"Love makes a man do strange things."

"And what would you do for love?" Her hand moved down my chest to my crotch.

"I have a feeling that you're unlucky in love."

She whacked me across the back of the head with the gun. I was seeing stars and it didn't help when she yanked my head back by the hair. She moved in front of me, the gun still pressed against my forehead.

"Last chance, Mr. McCabe. It doesn't have to end like this."

I looked her in the eyes and smiled. If a man can't choose the way he dies he can choose how he dies. "It always had to end like this."

She stepped back a few paces and pulled the hammer back. "Goodbye, McCabe."

I closed my eyes. I heard the shot. Blood splattered my face. I opened my eyes and saw that what used to look like Mona now resembled a bowl of spaghetti. She fell down dead as a door nail.

Someone shouted from across the alley. "Are you OK, Mike?" The red neon flashed and I saw a woman through the window, a gun in her outstretched arm. She bent down and poked her head out the window. It was Vera. "Mike?"

"Yeah. I'm OK." She disappeared into the dark room. I stepped away from Mona's body and lay down on the couch. Mona. She might have had half a chance if she'd left town while the getting was good. But she just couldn't let that money go. Sure I knew where the money was. Jimmy had told me himself. That night at his apartment when I thought he said,"liquor." He was saying locker. The only place no one would think to look. His locker at Going the Distance. His old gym.

When Vera arrived I was somehow still conscious. She knelt beside me and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe some of Mona off my face. "Jesus, Mike. You sure know how to pick 'em." She looked at Mona's body and from the look on her face I thought she was admiring her aim.

"Yeah. I'm a great judge of character. So you're moonlighting next door? Interesting job."

"Well, I've only got one client. That is if he's still interested in my services."

"I'm still interested. How did you know I was here?"

"I came back for my purse when I saw you go up. I got to the apartment just in time."

"Whose apartment?"

"Empty."

"How did you get in?"

"I jimmied the lock." She smiled.

"Do all girls from Kansas pick locks?"

"I told you Mike. I'm from L.A."

She kissed me and her hand moved down my arm. I jumped at the pain.

"Sorry." She looked like she was about to cry.

"How about we wait until I get patched up?"

"I think I can keep a future date open for you."

"The hell with the pain." I pulled her down with my good arm. As our lips met I could hear the sirens outside.