Tailspin

Her arm crossed against mine to touch me while she was sucking and licking my tits.

I went up once again, my hips straining for the ceiling, while she made me cum a second time.

"Sky, I taught you all that?" I asked her after I'd caught my breath.

"Oh yes. No one's as fucked up as you are Max. That's why I love you. Because you're fucked up in the right ways."

Chapter Four

Why Did it Have to be Lily?

So DaVanna was behind the money and likely behind something involving Maddy's death. Why else would she try to quash the murder investigation?

Proof I could find. Bobby had slow rolled the investigation, and little had been done in the way of neighborhood reconnaissance. I went through the file. All the steps that were done were done by the book, but they should have been much further along. If I was right, there was no need to gather a list of suspects because there was only one - - DaVanna.

The report said that there was never a camera in the basement area, so it was unlikely there was video of her fall. Of course, the camera covering the back door was malfunctioning. None of the other camera footage yielded any suspects.

I went back to Bailey's. The bar was closed and there was still yellow caution tape across the front door. The back door to Bailey's outlet into a narrow one way alley. It was my favorite place to take a smoke break. That's how I met Leah, a girlfriend I briefly had. I noted in the report that they interviewed the law firms directly across the alley and that they had no footage of the back door. The alley was pretty long, and there were at least a dozen businesses they hadn't interviewed. The first two I tracked down yielded nothing, but the third had a camera pointed down the alley, so you could see the faces of the people in the front seat of any car driving down the one way alley.

I ran their recording of that night. A few minutes past midnight, when the bar was closed but Maddy was still there cleaning up, I saw a car approach the camera and then the face of the man I called Mr. Tattoo. He manned the back door to Lily's store. I did some research on him and discovered his name was Minh Tran, and that he'd had been arrested for assault multiple times, without a conviction, no doubt due to DaVanna's intervention when she was at the Prosecutor's office. I tangled with him twice, and he was DaVanna's guy to get dirty work done. Even though I could recognize his face, his most distinguishing characteristic was the colorful dragon tattoo that circled his right forearm. So he was there. It wasn't a coincidence that I saw his face the same night that Maddy died.

Why would DaVanna do it? It had to be blackmail. It's what DaVanna specialized in, having blackmailed her younger sister for the better part of her life. That would make sense. But I had no idea what secret Maddy had that was worth her getting killed. There was one way to find out if my theory was correct. So my next stop was with Candy.

I hadn't seen Candy in a few days, though we texted all the time. I went to her house. It was already dark but the lights were on. I knocked on the door. She answered. She was bleary eyed but awake. I followed her into the kitchen, where she poured me a cup of coffee and warmed hers up.

"I'm working on the service," she said. "Maybe next week. I'm juggling my job, Maddy's funeral, and taking care of the bar. Max, I'm not sure I can handle this. I have a full-time job as a hygienist and I'm booked solid for the next two months. I'm going to have to take over Bailey's and you know I've never been the business woman. I came up with the ideas. Maddy was the operator. Let's face it. I don't have a clue how to run a business."

"Candy, the bar is shut down right now so it's just paying the bills until you can figure this out."

"That's just it Max. There doesn't seem to be any money in the business."

"That can't be right," I said. "Maddy's been packing them in."

She showed me the business checking account balance. There was less than a $1,000 left in it.

"Can you go online and show me the bank statements?" I asked her.

We went to her home office. She cued up the bank account and we reviewed the last six months. There were three unexplained $10,000 withdrawals.

"Do you know why she'd be drawing that kind of money out of the business?"

Candy shrugged her shoulders. "Maddy never discussed the business with me."

"Anything happening at home for her?"

"You know Maddy as well as I do," said Candy. "She was straight as an arrow."

I told her about Minh Tran, the kind of business he was in, and how he was seen leaving the area of the bar the night Maddy had died.

"No," said Candy, "I have no idea why a man like that would be there or why Maddy would meet with him, if she did."

It didn't look like I'd get anything more from Candy, but the cash disappearance certainly supported my theory that she was being blackmailed. I remembered they had a younger brother who had trouble with drugs and was in and out of rehab.

"What about Lucas?" I asked her. "Could he have been the source of trouble?"

"Well he's certainly been in trouble. You know that. I think he's in County jail on a distribution charge."

I helped Lucas cut a deal with the Prosecuting Attorney's office to get him into rehab instead of jail. He escaped the rehab facility, and when he was captured on the streets he was put in prison. Of course, DaVanna was the Prosecuting Attorney when I helped his lawyer cut a deal with one of her deputies. That had to be it. Somehow DaVanna was using that against Maddy, maybe offering protection for Lucas in prison. It was starting to fit together.

* * *

It was past 11 p.m. when I got back to the Royal Palms. I parked in my usual spot next to the pool and glanced up towards my room. I saw that the curtains were drawn but there was a light on inside. I made a dash across the parking lot and up the stairs. I waited outside the door with my service revolver out and my heart thumping in my chest. I heard noises inside my room. Then silence.

The door slowly opened. I bull rushed it, slamming the door inward against the intruder and knocking him flat on his back. I pounced on him, pinning him to the floor and ripping off his ski mask. He was a she. It was Jasmine, Lily's assistant and sex slave.

"Let me go!" she shouted at me while I sat on her chest. She was wearing all black.

"That won't be happening darling," I said. "Did you find what you wanted?"

"Get off of me!" She kicked and twisted, but I outweighed her by at least thirty pounds.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't we visit my friends at the station?"

I called for a unit to pick her up. We waited in silence for several minutes. I was able to cuff her, and when the unit arrived she was read her rights for booking for a breaking and entering. She also had a set of picks for the lock, which would enhance the charge. I'll bet she fled China to escape criminal charges there. No amateur would have been sent to do this job.

* * *

I went back to the station to see what kind of fish we'd caught. Jasmine's real name was Li-Mei Wong. She was in the United States on a tourist visa and of course didn't have a green card. Bad luck for Jasmine. Good luck for me. She'd be booked and released, and probably bailed out by Lily. Jasmine would be kept at the County lock-up in the central business district, and I'd be there to have my tete-a-tete with Lily.

In the meantime, I went back to the business that had the security footage of the alley. They had fortunately stored the last ninety days, and I was able to go back to the two previous $10,000 withdrawals, and each night I found Minh Tran aka "Mr. Tattoo" in the security footage. There wasn't a withdrawal the night Maddy was killed. It seemed like Minh was the bag man, and on the day that Maddy died she didn't have the money so she was roughed up. I don't think he intended to kill her, but she must have lost her balance and fell down the stairs. He put the case of beer on top of her to make it look like an accident.

Now I had what I needed for my confrontation with Lily.

* * *

County lock-up was a zoo. The area for booking and discharges always looked like a mob scene, with handcuffed people being escorted in and families of released prisoners crowding the waiting room. I found out that Jasmine's bail had been posted and that she was due to be released at 10 a.m. I got there at 9:30 and waited with a cup of coffee and a donut from Bea's. I saw some familiar faces go by, including Sharon, who was nabbed on a solicitation charge.

"Hey Sharon," I called out. "What happened?"

The charging officer let her stop and talk to me.

"Busted in a motel room . . . Max, can you help me?" she asked. She was wearing a super tight top and spandex pants. There was nothing left to the imagination.

I knew the charging officer. Worked the West End.

"Emil . . . this one belongs to me . . . a CI."

Emil came closer.

"You're not trying to bullshit me, are you Max?"

I lowered my voice so only he could hear me. "She's the one that gave me the tip that led to Bickel's retirement."

A smile broke on his face. The story about Bickel's bust was already urban legend at the station. "She did that?"

"Uh huh."

Emil unlocked Sharon's cuffs.

"Get lost honey," he told her.

Sharon kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks Max."

Fair is fair.

* * *

I only waited a few minutes more before Lily made her appearance. She was wearing a Western style women's business suit and was flanked by two goons wearing black leather jackets. She spotted me as soon as she came in.

"I figured I'd see you here," she said to me.

"We seem to meet in the most unusual places. Lose something, like your little sex slave?" I asked.

She frowned at me. "Max, you demonstrate your ignorance every time we meet. Jasmine's a submissive, not a sex slave. Honestly, sometimes you really disappoint me."

"Jasmine's also going to be a convicted felon," I added.

Lily looked around. "Max, this isn't the place for this discussion. Let's go back to my car."

She then spoke in Chinese to her two guards. I presumed she was telling them to wait for Jasmine. I followed her outside to her Rolls Royce. There was a driver who I didn't recognize. He opened the back passenger door to let us in.

I was back in Lily's motor coach, a luxury ride with glove soft leather seats and all the amenities of a hotel suite. Memories of the sex we had in that back seat flooded into my mind. She wore the same seductive perfume. I suppressed my more primal urges to conduct a civil conversation.

"I see that Jasmine, or should I say Li-Mei Wong, is here on a tourist visa. She doesn't even have a work permit. Being convicted of a felony ought to be good for an all-expense paid trip back to China. I'm sure the authorities there won't be pleased to have a convicted felon back in their country. I suspect she's had trouble with the law back there. It's an understatement to say she won't be treated very well."

Lily sighed. I'd finally gotten the better of her. "All right Max. You've bested me on this one. What do I need to do for you to drop the charges?"

"I know that DaVanna was behind Maddy's murder. I've got the proof that her henchman was there the night of her death. And I've got her bank account information to prove she was funneling cash to DaVanna, presumably for blackmail money. Am I getting warm?"

"Max, I don't have time for this cat and mouse. What exactly do you want?"

"DaVanna."

"I'll have to think about that."

"You knew I was going to ask. She's a liability, Lily. A loose cannon. She's attracting the kind of attention you don't need. And I imagine she's not the kind of person where you see a long term relationship. It's more a relationship of mutual interest and convenience, am I right?"

She folded her hands in her lap. "She has been . . . a challenge. How good is your case against her?"

"It's solid now. I've got the surveillance footage and the money trail. The noose is tightening and it's only a matter of time before we bring her in."

"And if I cooperate?"

"Jasmine goes free."

"I'll think about it."

"You've got 24 hours before I press charges."

"You'll get my answer before then. Goodbye Max."

Score one for Max.

* * *

The next day was the day of Maddy's funeral. Grief was a given. All of her family from Baltimore was there. I met most of them and all of them wanted to know what was going on with the investigation. I told them that I was in Vice, and that her death was being investigated by Homicide. Most of them didn't understand the rigid compartmentalization of the police department.

Alessandra and Lesley were there, as well as many friends from high school. The room for the service, which held three hundred people, was filled to overflowing. Candy was too shook up to take the podium and asked me to speak for her.

Maddy, my dear friend. We were best friends in high school and best friends to the day she died. Thirty-two years old. As Nigel would say, I was gutted. Thoroughly gutted. Anger welled up in me. But I didn't want to stay mad. It was a day to celebrate her life. The large crowd was a testament to her impact on the community. Bailey's had become an institution and it was Maddy's doing. Her death left a gaping hole in my life.

I said goodbye to her, but to a closed casket. I hadn't had the time to grieve properly, but I hoped I'd nail DaVanna soon and allow myself the time to give her a proper send off.

Until then, it was farewell to my best friend and confidante.

* * *

When I got back to the Royal Palms late that night Lily's Rolls Royce was idling in the parking lot, right under room 204. She must have made up her mind on what she was going to do with DaVanna.

The rear passenger door opened. Lily was inside, her legs crossed, in her high necked Chinese gown. Our eyes met and she blinked deliberately. I nodded and got into the back seat, closing the door behind me. I slapped the bulletproof partition and the car revved, starting its way out of the parking lot.

"I can't keep you out of my mind," she said to me. The sexual tension between us that always lurked just below the surface was now front and center.

I knew I was betraying Sky. That I was going to fuck it up. But there was an attraction between Lily and me that I was too powerful to resist. Or so I told myself.

I reached behind her and unfastened the top of her gown. She unzipped it and let it fall off her shoulders, exposing her frilly demi-bra.

"You know this is wrong," she said, as if it needed saying. She let me unhook her bra and seize her brown nubby nipple in my mouth. I raked it lightly between my teeth. She shuddered. I got a sexual rush that gave me chills.

The motor coach made a right turn. I saw streetlights flash by through the heavily tinted windows. She kicked the gown off. She wasn't wearing any panties.

"I'm wet. You make me this way," she said.

I knelt on the plush carpeting, finding my way between her finely toned legs and seeking the heat between them. She opened her knees to allow me safe passage and there I saw the straight black hair of her pussy, glossy with desire. She was giving herself to me, and that meant she was parting ways with DaVanna. Our imminent coupling was her way of saying goodbye to her girlfriend.

She reclined against the back of the bench seat and slid forward. The sweet gamey smell of her pussy was all around me. The low rumble of the car's engine was the soundtrack for our lovemaking. I didn't want her to cum so I prolonged my ministrations, slowing when I sensed her dam was about to break. I wondered if this would be the last time we'd be together.

I couldn't edge her again. She came hard, and unleashed a torrent of Chinese profanities in a voice that was anything but ladylike. We were both panting like racehorses. I pulled a tissue out of a dispenser built into the door and wiped my face. Exhausted, she looked at me.

"Max . . . Max . . . why did it have to be you?" she asked.

Even in my sex crazed state, I couldn't help but think of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. "Of all the gin joints . . .". I had asked myself the same question as well.

"Sometime the fates are cruel Lily. I feel the same way about you. There's an animal magnetism between us. We both think we're in control of our lives but we're not. That much has been proved by where we are."

"Max, we can only live for today. And today I want you."

I unbuttoned my blouse and put her hand on my bra covered breast.

"You can have me, just for today."

I didn't know if I was going to tell Sky, and if I did, how. As Lily said, we were living for today, and that was an issue for tomorrow.

She helped me take my bra off and then started making love to my breasts.

"So big . . . and perfect . . ." she said between licks and sucks. It was hard to believe that my chief nemesis, one who our department coined "Public Enemy Number One," was worshipping my breasts.

She went back and forth between them, then taking a pause.

She looked into my eyes with her immaculately made up face.

"I want so badly to pleasure you with my tongue, but I can't stay away from your breasts," she confessed.

"That's OK Lily. Just touch me."

Her slender fingers found my sex while she continued to worship my breasts. The heat of the moment carried me away, and before I could stop it a breathtaking orgasm took hold of me. I clamped my legs around her fingers until the waves of pleasure turned to ripples. She held me. I could swear I felt a tear drip down off her face.

"Lily, you're crying."

She sniffled. "No I'm not."

We were lovers, but there were still so many secrets between us. Ones that we would never share. I'm sure she was feeling the effects of one of those dark secrets.

"I hope they're tears of joy," I said.

"They are Max. In my own way."

Her answer raised more questions, but it wasn't the time to ask. So I went where this tryst would eventually end.

"How are you going to give me DaVanna?"

She straightened up her clothes and smoothed her dress with her hand. I picked my bra off the floor and dressed. It was going to be an awkward conversation, especially after what we'd just done, but it was a conversation that had to be done and finished.

"You were right Max. She was blackmailing Maddy, offering protection for Lucas. She staged a picture where Lucas was about to be raped by one of the prison guards."

My skin crawled when I heard that. No wonder Maddy emptied her piggy bank.

"So how are you going to deliver her to me?"

"Max, I can't do that. Even for Jasmine. I think I've done more than I should by confirming your theory. You're going to have to figure out how to close the snare."

"Maybe just a little?" I asked.

"Max . . ." she said, shutting me down.

She rapped on the partition between the driver and us. The car made a right turn into the Royal Palms parking lot. The car stopped and the driver came around to my side to let me out.

"I'm not good at goodbyes," I said.

"This isn't goodbye Max."

"But tomorrow . . ."

"Let's see what tomorrow brings," Lily said.

* * *

Two days later there was a buzz in the station when I got in. Lesley was anxiously waiting for me in the break room.

"Have you heard?" she asked me.

I was in no mood to play games. "Tell me."

"DaVanna's dead."

"What?"

"She hung herself."

I sat in one of the chairs. She hung herself? She'd never do that. She loved herself too much. Then I thought, could it be? Was Lily capable of that? I wanted to work it through my mind but it was too much of a coincidence.

"Where?" I asked.

"In her closet. With one of her belts."

"Fuck," I said.