CHAPTER 39 - THE HEAT AND THE HERO
LINDON AND SLICK’S HOME - TWO DAYS LATER
HALLWAY
JOSIAH
“He has told her?” I ask Mel, and she nods. Everyone is emotional. Slick lit up the stairs and locked herself in the bathroom. Both Brian and Emmett have been trying to get her to unlock the door ever since.
“I’ll get it.” Gus whispers as the doorbell rings. “Hey, Gran…” He breaks down in this new arrival’s arms.
“What am I dealing with?” She demands. When she is caught up, she too has tears in her eyes. “Just why?” She looks around. “Take him, Mel. I’m Debs by the way, she’s Jen, she’s Sandrine, and she’s…”
“Edna Fey!” I gasp. “It has been a long time. Are you well?”
“Been better. Now come on, ladies, we have another girl to comfort.” I start to follow them up, but she shakes her head. “No, Josiah, not now.”
EDNA
My heart breaks as I hear Brian pleading with Slick to just open the door. “Slick. It’s Edna. I’ve got Debs, Jen and Sandy with me. The boys will go…”
“Slick either open it or I kick it in!” Brian shouts. “You have ten…” We are all shocked when Emmett shoulders it open.. “...where the hell did that come from?!”
“You find strength when you need it! Oh, my doll!” Emmett cries, getting into the bath and hugging Slick. “Christ, it’s freezing! Turn it off!”
Brian shuts down the shower, before getting on her other side. “You…”
“Just wanted to give them a break.” She mumbles. “Harriman could never catch me, small and quick.” She begins to shiver. “It infuriated him, so I said the morning of the day we left that I would take a beating. He had gone han, as in hammers and nails, on them the night before, the look on his face was one of utter joy. And when he said he looked forward to hearing me screaming underneath him, I said that would not happen. I would never let him hear my pain. We rowed back and forth, but before he could start, he was called in. We were packed and gone with what we could carry within the hour, as we didn't want to arouse the suspicions of the neighbourhood cops. The rest you know.”
“Jesus!” Debs exclaims. “Let’s get you all out of those wet things!”
BEDROOM - HALF AN HOUR LATER
At least they are dry. Brian and Emmett are still on either side, holding her close. I sent Sandy, Debs, and Jen down for food and hot drinks. “May I come in?” I open the door to Josiah, he takes a seat. “So, Edna, how have you been?”
“Fine, got in a few scrapes, but am getting my life back on track. Don't need to know how it’s going for you.” I smile.
“You two know each other how?” Slick rubs her eyes.
“We’re both from the same village in Nigeria. When his mother moved to America, she took me with them. Josiah stayed on the straight and narrow, me not so much.” Josiah chuckles softly. “So what are the next steps?”
“Who posted bail for Cameron?” Brian scowls.
“Cameron did. Despite what he said about Nancy wiping him out, he had other accounts, which she was not privy to. They both did.” Josiah stuns us with that. “He just needed the paperwork signed off. It was pure spite by both of them to hurt Lynette and Lindsay, but it has backfired for them.” His eyes twinkle like diamonds. “Nancy has been disowned by Lynette and Lindsay. Oliver is writing up the papers to make it legal. Cameron is filing for divorce, and Slick, there is just one other thing you and I need to discuss.”
ALLEGHANY COUNTY JAIL - LATE AFTERNOON
INTERVIEW ROOM THREE
MELODY
“So the trial date is in six weeks.” I pause the reading of the notes, as he’s not stopped staring out of the window since he came in. “Mr Grassi, please pay attention. As…”
“I need to be moved to another jail or cell.” Grassi announces.
“Because?”
“I share a cell with Hiram Pickles, who is the half brother of Slick Phoenix. He’s been threatening me, vowing to get revenge because of what I did before!”
“What threats? You’ve never mentioned them.” I look across at the guard, who too looks surprised. “Why haven’t you?”
“I was too scared to.” He thumps into the chair opposite. “So, can you get me or him moved?”
“It’s not that simple. A complaint has to be lodged, then investigated, and…”
“In the meantime, I sleep with one eye open?!” He scowls.
“You shared with him previously, why has his association with Ms Phoenix come to light now?”
“Pickles recently just told me. So you will lodge the complaint today?” He orders. I sigh before taking out the iPad and signalling for the recording to begin. “The first threat of Hiram Pickles made against me was during visiting hours over a week ago…”
“Nature of threat?” I ask.
“As I said, he told me he’s her half brother.”
“Statement of fact.” I grit out. “Has he since that time either physically or verbally threatened you?”
“No...but I can see it in his eyes he wants to.” He looks completely serious.
“Mr Grassi, unless you can provide tangible proof of his behaviour, then I cannot lodge a complaint based on ‘it’s in his eyes’!” He glares at me. ”Now can we get back to the more serious matter of the trial? You are in the frame for this…”
“Why?!” His whine rips through me!
“Because the second set of toxicology reports have come back, whilst Cameron-Peterson put it in the other food, there wasn’t enough to cause the reaction that almost killed him. That was all down to the dishes you admitted to placing near him, knowing they were his favourites. There were higher concentrations of nuts in those dishes than anything else.”
“He…” His lament is stopped by hammering on the door, which the guard opens.
“What is…” Our guard demands.
“Pickles is kicking off! Asking for Chen! You her?!” I nod. “I am Guard Folkes! Now come on!” He barks, once Grassi is cuffed to the table, screeching in ‘pain’, I am sprinting down the hall after Guard Folkes.
When we get there, a yelling Hiram Pickles, we've never met but I have read his rap sheet, he’s in for being misguided by his habits of drugs and booze, is struggling to make himself heard above the voices of the other guards.
“Everyone quiet!” Folkes bellows. “Now, she is here, tell us what is going on?!”
“He says he has three of them, but we all know from his boasting…”
“Three of what?” Folkes demands.
“Pens, solid silver pens, why would he have them?!”
“Let him up!” I order. “Show me.”
“No, can’t. It’s in his personal effects box, he mentioned them a couple of times. Most of the time I don't pay him any attention, but then I heard him say ‘we three, now four, have one each‘. That other friend of his, Lindsay, she must be the fourth. Don’t you see?!”
“I am not sure, but can send some…”
“Leave that with me, Ms Chen.” Folkes interrupts. “And someone go get his box! Continue, Pickles.”
INTERVIEW ROOM THREE - THREE HOURS LATER
MICHAEL
I look up when the door finally reopens. A fed up Melody comes in. “Care to tell me what you were hoping to achieve?”
“Achieve what?!” I snap back. “Now she’s back you can take them off, they are really hurting, you put them on too tightly!” He fumes at the guard..
“What were you planning with these!” She spits, putting three plastic bags on the table in front of me.
I gaze at the pens, then at her. “So, I have pens, big deal.”
“There are only five of these in the Pennsylvania area. They are handmade. You have three, Slick Phoenix has one, the only other person to have one is Lindsay Peterson, but hers is with Gus Marcus Kinney. She gave it to him a couple of weeks back, as she is yet to meet up with his father.”
“Still not understanding.” I retort..
“You took them. I watched the surveillance footage from the diner, you took them.” She stares coldly at me. “Luckily for you they managed to give him enough to stabilise him in the ambulance…”
“What was in the ambulance?!” I try to calm my breathing.
“Epinephrine.” My heart stutters and my guts churn. “So care to tell me why you have three epipens? Because this, the red tagged one, has only your fingerprints on it. The green and blue tagged ones have the fingerprints of Mr and Mr Taylor-Kinney...and you.”
“I…”
“Was going to be the hero and save his life?” Chen questions. “Thus making him ‘yours again’, but in order to do it you had to make sure that his husband couldn’t save him, so you took them.”
“They got in the way, I knew I had time. I…”
“Nancy Peterson is turning state's evidence against you.” I gape at her. “Like I said, the tox reports came back. What she admitted to putting in the food would’ve given him a nasty stomach ache, but that’s it. But you gave him too much. You overpowered his system.” She stands up whilst looking at me with revulsion. “No matter what, you would continue to hound him, wouldn’t you? And one other thing, you get your wish. A cell by yourself.”
“Who is going where?”
“You stay.”
“So where is he going?”
“Wherever he wants.”
“What does that mean?”
“Today is his release date. It wasn’t until he was getting other prisoners' numbers that he remembered the pens, and refused to leave until he talked to me.”
SLICK AND LINDON’S HOUSE - EARLY EVENING
LOUNGE
SLICK
I had such a long Ems-Brian-sammich sleep, then Josiah wanted to talk, seems he is heart set on this. “You need restitution!” He argues.
“I don’t need the money! He is going to jail. This will not bring her back!” I point out.
“I know that, which is why you should demand this!” He pulls out a piece of paper. I stare at it, then show it to my brothers from other mothers. “I want to get that.” As I take in the picture of Fremlick’s house in Maryland, I can feel myself wavering and begin to shake my head. “Wait, once it is yours, I can think of nothing more deserving than this being used as a...hmm safe house, some judges residences, because of their high profiles, are not registered in their names, so this could be an extra line of defence.”
I look at my brothers one more time, their eyes are determined. “Get it.”
“Thank you.” Josiah smiles.