Rhuarc Black's Scrolls Index Page 6 страница

Canon snorted in answer. “Yer girl here, she put a gun to ma head three nights ago. I ain’t never see her before that. ”

Sergei nodded quickly. He had not truly expected a different answer. He kept tabs on Natalya and the girls that infrequently populated her bed, as much as he kept tabs on Grigory and the whores that surrounded him day and night.

Sergei allowed his eyes to fall on Natalya’s prone form. He could not help the grimace from his face. Natalya had been lucky. That bullet could have cost her life. She had been lucky twice. Sergei needed no doctor to tell him that someone had taken care of that wound long before now. Enough to stop Natalya from bleeding to death.

Finally Sergei Armanov looked at Canon. His voice was low, his accent heavy. “My men will drop you off wherever you want. ”

Canon stared at him hard before nodding slowly. “Ya’ll need to take care of ma ride. Torch it. No evidence. Your boys, they get me a bottle of booze and an eightball. Popo won’t touch me then. ”

Sergei smiled slightly. “It will be done. ”

For the first time since he had entered this room, Sergei saw Canon’s eyes avoid his own. He watched carefully as her eyes first came to stop on Natalya. A small smile creased her lips before being replaced by a look Sergei could only describe as determination.

Canon looked around the room then. As soon as she spied a notebook on the dressing table she moved towards it purposefully. Sergei watched patiently as Canon struggled with the pencil in her left hand.

Finally Canon tore the piece of paper from the notebook. Quickly she moved to her oversized jacket where it lay forgotten beside the bed. Sergei tensed as Canon rummaged through the jacket pockets. One could never be too careful.

He almost exhaled in relief when Canon stood up again, a dog-eared book with a colourful jacket in her hands. Carefully she put the torn piece of paper in the book.

“If the popo haul me in, this... this’ll make sure I never testify, ” Canon said giving the closed book to Sergei.

Sergei accepted it slowly, looking at it curiously. Canon took her jacket off the floor, wearing it quickly.

She nodded toward Sergei before moving towards the door. Her hand was on the handle when she turned back to Sergei. Canon’s voice was low. “When Snow comes round, she might wanna finish it, ” she said gesturing at the book in Sergei’s hands.

Sergei glanced at the sleeping woman on the bed before meeting Canon’s serious eyes. He could hear the message, both the obvious one and the one between the lines.

Sergei nodded his understanding. Canon glanced once at Natalya before turning and leaving the room.

****************

“One of us... ” ~Detective Nick Fischer

       Detective Miles Edwards nodded at the nurse curtly. She took a deep breath before snapping the sheet from the corpse’s face.





       Miles looked at the bloodless face impassively. There was no mistaking the identity of the dead woman in front of him. This was no scam, no elaborate charade for Canon to disappear.





       No, Roberta Carver was clearly dead.





       Miles nodded at the nurse again. Her movements were abrupt as she put the stained sheet over Canon’s face.





       Miles turned away from the gurney. His steps were slow as he neared the door.



















       Miles nodded as Detective Nick Fischer motioned him inside the small interrogation room.





       “What do you want, Miles? ” Fischer asked as soon as the door closed behind Miles.





       Miles’ voice was hoarse, his eyes haunted. “Why? I just don’t get it, Nick. I don’t get it. ”





       Fischer sighed once and shook his head. His voice lost the professional tone. “They fooled you, Miles. ”





       “What? ” Miles asked immediately.





       “You don’t even know, do you? ” Fischer sighed.





       “What the fuck are you talking about? ” Miles shouted unmindful of where they were.





       Fischer’s voice was low but sharp. “Everyone knows. Everyone. Canon don’t mix business and pleasure. ”





       Miles shook his head in immediately denial. “What? That’s bullshit. Fatima Aiser, aka Barbie-doll. ”





       “You are a fool! ” Fischer hissed, looking at Miles with contempt.





       “What? ” Miles shouted, taking a quick step towards Fischer. They had been friends in the Academy but Miles did not care how many bridges he had to burn. He would get to the bottom of this no matter what it cost.





       Fischer stood his ground. “No one knows what went on between Canon and Barbie. There are rumours but that’s all they are. Believe me, more than one cop tried to flip Barbie on this. They never got anything. Whatever happened, no one knows about it. And if someone knows they ain’t talking, ” Fischer said, each word careful and precise.





       Miles passed a hand through his hair, his breathing hard. “But I was told... that was the only way in. ”





       Fischer pursed his lips. “The way into Canon. Yeah. But not the Kats. The moment your undercover officer got into Canon’s bed, your case was over, ” he said with another shake of his head.





       Miles grasped his temples, his eyes closing as if in pain. “God! Fuck! ” he swore.





       Fischer leaned against the room’s bare wall. The disappointment was clear in his tone. “I don’t get you, Miles. You’ve never been around here before. Not once. Yet you had an undercover operation for almost a year? Hell! Where did you find the funding for it? ”





       Miles looked at him shaking his head. “I don’t know. The orders came from the top, ” he admitted finally.





       “Bullshit! ” Fischer hissed. “That’s bull and you know it. ”





       “What? ” Miles asked immediately.





       Ficher’s eyes were cold as he looked at Miles. “Whoever it was, they fucked you up. And you... you got sloppy, Miles. You didn’t learn your suspect. You didn’t try to find out. ”





       “I was told this was on the hush. Your precinct isn’t to be trusted. You got too many ties to the Kats, everyone knows that, ” Miles said plaintively.





       Fischer rubbed the stubble on his face as he usually did when tired. “Yeah... that ain’t a lie, ” he admitted slowly. “And we got the lowest stats of all the city. Fuck, man! It ain’t no sense to go after the Kats. There ain’t no crime here. No bodies on the street, no citizens complaining. Why the hell spend that kinda money on an undercover operation here? Someone played you for fools. ”





       “Bullshit. Bullshit... ” Miles said in denial.





       “Fuck you, Miles, ” Fischer spat out moving towards the door.





       Miles moved quickly in front of him, blocking him from leaving. His voice was conciliatory. “No! No! Nick! Please... I need to know. That fucking dealer says there’s no mole. That... they followed me. They got Amanda because of me. ”





       “Canon told you that? ” Fischer asked immediately, his eyes narrowing.





       “Yeah... yeah... ” Miles admitted after a moment.





       Fischer nodded at once. “Then that’s what went down. ”





       “What? ” Miles cried out.





       Fischer sighed. “Listen to me. You don’t know this part of the city. This ain’t your usual dealing thing. The Kats ain’t like that. Shit! I don’t know what the Kats are like. But Canon ain’t like that, ” he said in a low earnest voice.





       “That’s bullshit, man, and you know it! Everyone’s making out like this bitch is a fucking saint. Bullshit! She ain’t! Nowhere near. She’s a dealer and a banger and a goddamn killer, ” Miles said angrily. He was so tired of everyone treating a gangbanger like an honest citizen.





       Fischer shook his head in wonder. “You think I don’t know that, Miles? Yeah. Canon deals and bangs. And sure as hell, she’s killed. No bodies though. No blood on the street. Detectives here have tried to make a case for years. Never got nothing. Every now and again some fucker from downtown will come here thinking he’ll make his name on Canon and the Kats. You know what? They all left with their asses hanging out. Just like you have. ”





       “And that’s alright with you? ” Miles asked belligerently, his anger getting the better of him.





       Fischer’s gaze was angry, his voice impatient. “You know nothing do you? Ah... Miles.

       The citizens here, they protect them. Hell, even the reverends protect them. And the cops? The cops won’t do nothing about it. Cause there is nothing to be done. People in this neighbourhood, they’re safe. They’re happy. The Kats keep the peace. For real. We get to do our jobs. No interference. No fucking gang killings. It’s a different life. ”





       “Then you’re the fool, Nick, ” Miles replied contemptuously.





       Fischer smirked, his eyes turning cold and impassionate once again. “Maybe... But I’d take an honest banger over a piece of shit cop or DA everyday of my life. ”





       “So that’s how it is, ” Miles asked him in a hard voice.





       Fischer nodded, the smirk never leaving his lips. “That’s how it is, Miles. You’re putting Canon in not for dealing, not for banging, not for killing. You’re putting her in for not letting one of us bleed out in the gutter. One of us, Miles! One of us... ”

















       Miles Edwards opened the door slowly, his nose wrinkling at the smell of blood, antiseptic and disease that permitted the hospital. He did not turn to look at the dead body on the gurney as the door closed behind him.





       He had been young then. Young and foolish. Now he knew better. He had been played for a fool back then. Even so, he refused to shed even one tear for a killing scumbag like the one laid out on the gurney.





       Nick Fischer had been right all those years ago. The Kats’ part of the city was quiet. In the rest of the city gang killings and drug deals gone bad were a common occurrence. Not where the Kats ruled.





       Yet Miles knew equally well that there was blood on those streets as well. It was hidden, not displayed in drive-bys and shoot-outs for the world to know. Yet everyone knew, even if no one talked about it.





       The Kats kept their territory not through strength or bribes but through terror. Not the obvious terror that the other drug-dealing scum specialised in. This terror was different, more insidious than anything Miles had come across.





       Methadone clinics and homeless shelters were protected where the Kats ruled. Citizens went to work each morning and to church each Sunday feeling safe. Parents sent their kids to school and let them play on back yards without fear of a stray bullet taking their lives away.





       Miles’ steps were slow and measured as he traversed the hospital’s blindingly lit corridors. He would not shed a tear for Canon. Such as her did not deserve his tears. But he was sad. Not for Canon but for the people left behind.





       And people disappeared. One moment they were there and the next they were gone. Everyone knew even if no one dared say it out loud. You went against the Kats, Canon made certain not even your cold lifeless body would be found. Miles hated it but he could not deny the truth of it. Terror kept the streets safe.





       *************************



       “This is a debt I have to pay” ~Snow





       The music was turned low as the car sped through the empty city streets even as the sun rose. Natalya could feel Vladimir glancing at her every few moments. His worry was something palpable.





       She was grateful, though. Vladimir had seen too much in his life. Too much to waste time and breath in empty words.





       Natalya was looking at the buildings passing in front of her eyes sightlessly. There were people around but none of them caught her attention. A part of her wanted to scream, another wanted blood.





       Yet they were thin voices in her mind, mere distractions. Natalya closed her eyes. There was nothing out there she wanted to see. Nothing she wanted to hear.



















       Natalya gritted her teeth, trying to force the pain down. The pills on her bedside table were a constant temptation. Yet she could not take them. She had to keep a clear head. She had to...





       Vladimir’s voice as he talked to her uncle was tight, the anger clear in it. Although Sergei’s face seemed expressionless, Natalya could see his anger in blue eyes that seemed frozen.





       Chester Holmes, the attorney that had been with them since they had first come to America, looked on, lips pursed in his usual expression of deep thought. Natalya glanced at him quickly and then looked away. As always Chester would help them but it was not up to him to make decisions or advice on them.





       Natalya looked down on her lap and the dog-eared book there. It was open, the page marker untouched in the middle of the page. Natalya did not dare touch it, no matter how much she wanted to. Her fingerprints should not be on that piece of paper.





       Yet she could not help but read the rounded childish letters again and again. As soon as Vladimir’s contacts with the police had given them the heads-up, Sergei had their contacts in the hospital look into this information.





       Natalya swallowed hard. She had not seen the file, just gotten the bare strokes of the case. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes if a too hard life had not dried them out of her long ago.





       Natalya shook her head. No wonder Canon seemed lost half the time. She was.





       Vladimir’s voice was getting more and more heated, even as Sergei’s eyes froze more and more. Natalya looked at her hands. She had always been proud of her hands. They were strong, capable hands. They were beautiful too, attractive, well taken care of.





       Her voice was strong and even. “Let Chester do his job. This is a debt I have to pay. ”





       Natalya did not look at Chester as he looked at her in surprise. He was used to being left out of the conversation as his clients conversed in Russian until they were ready to give him his instructions.





       Instead Natalya’s eyes looked steadily, unflinchingly at Sergei.





       Long moments passed as Sergei looked at her, a million questions in his eyes. Natalya’s gaze never left his eyes.





       Sergei’s voice was heavy. “Ваши отпечатки пальцев на автомобиле. ”





       Natalya raised her chin. She spoke in English. Chester needed to understand how important this was. “I’ll burn them off. My prints are not on file. Not anymore. They’ll have nothing. ”





       Silence reigned as Natalya stared into Sergei’s eyes, her eyes never moving. After a few moments both Chester Holmes and Vladimir looked away from the pair.





       Almost a minute passed in silent communication between Natalya and her uncle.





       Sergei was the first to look away. His voice was raspy. “Вы уверены в этом? ”





       Natalya nodded. “I am certain. This is the way it has to be. ”





       Sergei grimaced even as he shook his head in a rare expression of anger and denial. Finally he nodded at Natalya.





       Slowly Sergei turned his gaze to Chester Holmes. His voice had regained its usual evenness. “You will represent this woman. Give her our assurances. We will... make certain her time inside is... safe and comfortable. Yes, Chester? ”





       Chester Holmes stood up, gathering his briefcase in an easy movement born of long practice. “As you wish, Mr. Armanov. ”





       Chester waited for Sergei’s dismissing nod before moving towards the door. Natalya’s heavy voice stopped him in his tracks.





       “Get a copy of this book, Chester. A new one. Put in the pagemarker from this one. Hopefully she will trust you if you have this, ” Natalya said throwing the book at him.





       Chester caught it in mid-air. Carefully he leafed through it. A moment passed as he studied the torn paper serving as a page marker.





       Chester Holmes was not a stupid man. He looked at Natalya and nodded silently.





       Natalya watched Chester Holmes as he left the room. Only then did she turn to look first at her uncle and then finally to Vladimir.





       Her voice was strong, not a single tremor marring its coldness. “подготовить, что вам нужно. Я готов. ”





       Vladimir looked away from her burning gaze but he nodded slowly. Without a word he left the room.





       Natalya took a deep breath, her eyes falling to her hands. She looked at them carefully, committing them to memory. She would never see them unmarred again.





       Finally she raised her head, looking straight at Sergei. Her voice was cold, business-like. “Grigory. ”





       Sergei closed his eyes for a moment, a rare show of weakness. When he opened them again, his gaze burned. His accent was so heavy that Natalya thought he was speaking in Russian.





       “He is my son. He is a fool. Things like this cannot happen. I will take care of Grigory. ”





       Natalya looked at him steadily before nodding slowly. She needed no more. She was no hotheaded idiot needing to bay for blood. If Sergei Armanov said he would take care of something, then it was done.

















       The car stopping brought Natalya out of her thoughts abruptly. She opened her eyes, looking around. It took her a moment to realise that they were not in front of the building she lived. Rather they were standing in front of the impressive looking townhouse, Sergei had bought a couple of years ago.





       Natalya looked at Vladimir questioningly. He shrugged in answer and then turned and got out of the car.





       Natalya shook her head. Another day she would have simply ordered Vladimir to take her to her own place. She was no little girl to need her hand held.





       Not today though. Natalya just sighed and opened the door of the car. She had neither the energy nor the will to get into an argument now.





       *************************





       “... ya gotta get clean. For real. ” ~Canon





       Barbie heard the minister’s words. Good words, inspiring and gentling at the same time. Reverend Wallace was a good man and a fine speaker. And he knew what to say in occasions such as these.





       Barbie let her attention wander away from the minister’s words. There was nothing there she had not heard before and nothing she would not hear again.





       Her attention returned slowly to the coffin dominating the stage. A part of her could still not believe that it was Canon in that coffin. Her eyes closed behind her dark sunglasses, her memory unbidden bringing forth scenes of the past.















       Barbie kept her eyes closed but she could not escape the sounds from the TV placed at the opposite wall. She had tried enough times to get to it, somehow lower the volume.





       The cuffs had a longer chain than any pair she had ever seen before. Certainly enough for her to get to the toilet-bowl next to the bed but nowhere near enough for her to get to the TV. Barbie had even tried throwing things at it. But pillows, toilet rolls and paper plates did not do much to the sturdy TV set.





       Right now Barbie had the thin pillow over her head trying to drown out the sounds but it did not help much. She could recognise her own voice clearly, as well as Canon’s hoarse tones. She could tell every sound, every moan and plea coming out of her lips as the tape went on and on in an endless loop.





       As the gurgling sounded loud and clear in the confines of the tiny room, Barbie felt her stomach lurch as it always did. Even after three weeks, the shame had not left her; it had not even faded. Barbie scrunched her eyes tight but she could not stop the images burned in her brain from parading across her eyelids.





       The images would not stop and with them they brought the remembered taste that made her stomach turn. Barbie felt that she would never be able to wash the taste of piss from her mouth, just like she would never be able to forget her own voice pleading and begging.





       Not that she had the opportunity to forget. The constant loop of the video made certain that she heard every word, watched each shameful act again and again in a never-ending presentation of her shame.





       The shakes had stopped weeks ago but Barbie would give anything for a quick fix right now. She shook her head under the pillow. There would be no fix, she knew that, not as long as Canon had her there.





       The sound of the steel door unlocking made Barbie sigh in relief. With quick movements she took the pillow off her head. As Canon came in, a big KFC box in her hands, Barbie sat up, the chain connecting her to the wall rattling as she moved.





       Canon nodded at Barbie as she sat the box of fast food on the bed and then patted the pockets of her oversized jacket until she found what she wanted. A moment later a handful of paper napkins joined the box on the bed.





       “Thanks, ” Barbie said with a smile, gesturing at the food.





       Canon shrugged in answer.





       Barbie cleared her throat. “Canon... ”





       “What? ” Canon husked as she went back to the half-open door and lifted a large-sized soft drink from the floor just outside.





       “Turn that shit off, man. Please... ” Barbie said, licking her lips.





       Canon glanced at her before closing the door carefully. She did not say a word as she walked the few steps to the bed and left the paper cup on the floor next to it.





       Barbie sighed in agitation. Her voice rose, pleading. “Please, man! Canna take no more. It ain’t like that no more. ”





       Canon did not answer, merely turned on her heel and walked to the door.





       Barbie could see her opportunity for relief from the constant stream of sound and vision assaulting her slipping away from her. “Come on, Can. I be clean. Three weeks like. Ain’t no need for that shit no more, ” she cried out desperately.





       “Eat your dinner, Barbs, ” Canon answered finally, as she opened the door.





       Barbie shot up from the bed, going as far as the chain on her wrist allowed. “Please, man... please. I hit bottom, Can. I on the up now. ”





       Canon closed the door once more before turning back to face Barbie. She looked at Barbie for long moments before she cocked her head and her eyes narrowed in thought. Finally she snorted once before taking a small vial, a syringe and a spoon out of her pocket. Without a word she left them at the table next to the still playing TV.





       Barbie turned away, her shoulders hunching. “Aw shit, man. Don’t do that, ” she said in a small voice.





       Canon’s voice was hard, unyielding. “Why, Barbs? Hook still there? ”





       Barbie took a quick breath. She turned then to face Canon, willing her eyes to stay on Canon’s face and not stray towards the fix that she craved. She tried to make her voice unconcerned. “Nah. Just don’t wanna look at the shit. Word, man. ”





       “That right? ” Canon asked, cocking her head to the side.