Kill Me Friday (A Bryson Wilde Thriller / Read in Any Order) Read online

  “Beige,” she said. “We should paint the ceiling beige.”

  “Good one.” To Alabama, “So what’d you get today? Anything?”

  “I didn’t get as much as you, but I got a few things.”

  Alabama’s story was one Wilde didn’t see coming. Warner Raven, using the name Mark Pinkard, frequented the Morning Glory brothel up on Colfax quite a bit. He had a particular fondness for a 21-year-old beauty named Wildflower, who let him get kinky.

  “Kinky how?”

  “He’d tie her up.”

  “And do what?”

  She shrugged.

  “I don’t know, I didn’t get into it,” she said. “But here’s the interesting part. Wildflower dropped off the face of the earth two months ago.” Wilde cocked his head. “At the same time, Raven stopped going to the brothel.”

  “Interesting.”

  “I thought you’d say that,” she said. “There’s more. Now he’s going to another brothel, one called Pirate’s Cove.”

  Wilde knew the place.

  It was over on Market.

  He could walk there in six minutes.

  “Is he getting kinky there?”

  “They wouldn’t say,” Alabama said. “All I could find out is that he uses only one of the women there, someone named Anne Bonny.”

  “Anne Bonny is the name of a female pirate,” Wilde said. “If memory serves me, she was Calico Michael’s woman.”

  Nicole looked puzzled.

  “How would you possibly know that?”

  “It’s called the GI bill,” he said. “To get your degree they make you learn all kinds of things you don’t want to learn.”

  “You went to college?”

  He nodded.

  “Guilty.”

  “Under the GI bill—”

  “Right.”

  “So you were in the war?”

  True.

  He was.

  “Air force. I was a gunner in a B-52,” he said. “I was the guy who sits in the bubble under the plane and pulls the trigger if the bad guys show up.”

  “I didn’t know that,” she said.

  “Well, now you do.”

  “Did you ever shoot anyone down?”

  “Had to,” he said. “That was my job.” A pause then, “Want to see my war scar?”

  She did.

  She did indeed.

  Wilde pulled his hair up to show his left ear. On close examination, there was a slight dip at the top. “A bullet took that off. One inch over and you’d be talking to a bag of bones right now.”

  Wilde filled Alabama in on the fact that he and Nicole had made an unexpected visit to Raven’s house. He told her about the wall safe and the ten boxes of photo-club porn.

  “I’ll go over there later and go through the photos for you,” Alabama said.

  Wilde shook his head.

  “I already checked,” he said. “There’s nothing in the boxes except photos.”

  “Did you look at every one to see if the woman was Jessica Dent or Constance Black?” she asked. “Because if they are, you have your connection.”

  Wilde looked at Nicole.

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” he asked.

  “Good question.”

  56

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Evening

  The plan was simple. Durivage and Zongying took positions across the street from the hotel and waited for the hitwoman, Nicole Wickliff, to show up. Now, early evening, the sun was softer, the shadows were longer and the air had lost its bite.

  The asphalt was no longer sticky.

  In another hour, it would be downright nice.

  Durivage wouldn’t admit it but he was nervous about tonight.

  Dawson would come for him.

  One of them would die.

  A cab pulled to the curb and a sensuous woman stepped out.

  “That’s her,” Zongying said.

  Durivage nodded.

  “Stay here.”

  He headed across the street at a brisk walk, followed the woman across the lobby and entered the elevator with her. She looked at him and said, “What floor?” The words were in English but had a French accent.

  “Trois,” Durivage said.

  The woman didn’t move and instead wrinkled her face, surprised to hear a French word. Durivage reached past her and pressed three. Heartbeats later the space shuttered and started to climb.

  “You’re in town to kill Emmanuelle Martin,” Durivage said.

  The woman stared at him.

  Then she tilted her head inquisitively and said, “And how is it exactly that you know that? Did Petracca send you here to help me?”

  “No,” Durivage said. “I’m going to say something and only say it once so listen very carefully. There’s a train leaving Denver at nine o’clock tonight. Be on it. If you’re not, then I’m not going to have any choice but to do something I’d rather not do.”

  “Like what? Kill me?”

  The elevator jolted to a stop.

  A bell rang.

  Durivage stepped out and said, “Nine o’clock.”

  The woman laughed.

  “Don’t run off,” she said. “We’re just getting to know each other. Why don’t you come to my room for a drink? We’ll have a party.”

  “Nine o’clock,” Durivage said.

  The woman hardened her face.

  Sternly.

  Defiantly.

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  Durivage headed off.

  He didn’t turn around.

  He kept his face pointed straight ahead and said, “Nine o’clock.”

  57

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Evening

  There weren’t that many female attorneys in Denver and when men stumbled on them their natural tendency was to get them on their backs and put a new notch in their belt. Jina didn’t know why that was but did know that it was what it was. Case in point, lots of men even tried to get her in bed, as plain as she was. So she needed to be careful of Stephen for that reason alone, not to mention that he might be a spy for Taylor Lee.

  They met at Keables Sandwich Shop at 18th and Stout early evening, took seats at the end of the counter and ordered burgers and cokes.

  She wore a grey skirt and a white blouse.

  Stephen still wore his suit but had the tie loose.

  The talk was small.

  Jina purposely kept it off the law firm and off Taylor Lee.

  Suddenly, the small got big when Stephen said, “Hey, you’re still in good with Taylor Lee, aren’t you?”

  Right.

  She was.

  They met for coffee or lunch every couple of weeks.

  “So what was it that almost got her canned back in February?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” he said. “I was just curious.”

  “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “She never mentioned it?”

  No.

  She didn't.

  “So she almost got canned?”

  Stephen nodded.

  “Don’t say you heard it from me, but there were pretty strong rumors going around the halls that she had screwed something up,” he said. “We all expected her to mysteriously be gone one day, with some kind of announcement that she’d quit to take a job somewhere else or some such thing. Then all of a sudden everything seemed back to normal. I never could figure it out.”

  “If something was going on, she never told me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Honest,” Jina said.

  “I believe you.”

  Jina sucked coke out of a bottle through a straw and asked, “Do you work with her on any cases?”

  No.

  Never.

  “She’ll say hello in the hall if we pass but that’s about it,” he said.

  “She’s pretty, don’t you think?”

&nb
sp; Yes.

  He did.

  “Stunning,” he said. “Did I say that out loud?”

  Jina smiled and nodded.

  “Don’t repeat it, okay?”

  She pulled an imaginary zipper across her lips.

  Then she said something she didn’t expect. “After we eat, do you want to take a walk or something?”

  Stephen looked at his watch.

  “Sure, but it’ll have to be quick. I have a photo-club meeting at eight.”

  Jina wrinkled her face.

  “You’re in one of those?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I don’t know. I just never pictured you as the type.”

  58

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Evening

  While Nicole took a cab to her hotel to shower off the heat and change into fresh clothes, Wilde bought Alabama a sandwich and salad at Baur’s on Curtis Street.

  “So what’s the plan for tonight?” she asked.

  Wilde chewed what was in his mouth and said, “I’ve been contemplating on whether to let you go through Raven’s camera-club photos. The more I think about it the more I don’t like it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Play it through,” he said. “Suppose he actually is the killer. And suppose, just for the sake of argument, he catches you in his house. What do you think will happen next?”

  Alabama brushed it off.

  “He won’t catch me. There’s no way.”

  Wilde shook his head.

  “It’s a bad idea,” he said. “I can’t let you take the risk.”

  She slapped him on the face, softly, but enough to get his attention.

  “Read my lips,” she said. “This needs to be done. It’s going to take hours. Who else is going to do it if I don’t?”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Look,” she said. “The boxes are in his bedroom closet and the bedroom has a window, right?”

  Wilde nodded.

  “Correct.”

  “Wilde,” she said, “if I say right, and it is right, you’re supposed to say right, not correct.”

  He smiled.

  “Sorry.”

  “When you say correct you’re just upsetting the balance of the universe.”

  “My fault.”

  “What I’ll do is leave the bedroom window open while I’m in there,” she said. “If he happens to come home, I’ll just jump out. I’m a good jumper. I know how to roll.”

  Wilde thought it through.

  He still didn’t like it.

  Alabama squeezed his hand.

  “You’re getting me off the streets,” she said “You’re even letting me move in with you.”

  Wilde winced.

  He’d forgotten about that.

  Well, that wasn’t exactly true.

  He hadn’t forgotten, he just hadn’t had time to think about it much.

  “By the way, they delivered the futon this afternoon,” Alabama said. “The bottom line is you need to let me earn my keep. I don’t want any handouts.”

  Wilde shook his head.

  “I’ll tell you what, you can pay for the dinner.”

  “Bryson, you know what I mean,” she said. “I know it’s risky. I appreciate that. I’ll be careful, I promise. I can also get into the safe while I’m there.”

  The words took Wilde by surprise.

  “You know how to break into a safe?”

  She rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the question.

  “We’ll hang around outside his house tonight,” she said. “If he goes out, you and Nicole follow him and I’ll head in.” She held her hand out to shake. “Deal?”

  Wilde hesitated.

  Then he shook her hand and said, “Deal, but just for the record, I’m still the boss.”

  Alabama laughed.

  “You stopped being the boss the minute you hired me,” she said.

  “Yeah, well, you know it and I know it but the rest of the world doesn’t so at least pretend, especially when Nicole’s around.”

  Alabama studied him.

  “Don’t fall for her, Bryson.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. Just don’t.”

  He smiled.

  “You know what bad advice is?”

  No.

  She didn’t.

  “When you have good advice but deliver it too late, that’s bad advice.”

  59

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Night

  Wednesday night after dark Durivage and Zongying were stopped at a red light at Broadway and Colfax when a taxi skirted through the intersection. Durivage’s heart raced.

  “Follow that taxi,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Emmanuelle’s in it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  Zongying waited for green then made a quick left on Colfax and stepped on the gas. Two blocks later the taxi pulled to the curb and stopped. Zongying did the same, staying as far back as she could.

  A woman got out of the taxi and headed east on foot.

  Durivage and Zongying got out and followed.

  “Is that Emmanuelle’s walk?”

  Yes.

  It was.

  “I’m almost positive,” Durivage said.

  The woman zigzagged through the streets, farther and farther into the mansions of Capitol Hill.

  She never turned around.

  “What the hell is she doing?” Zongying asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Suddenly the woman disappeared into the yard of a stately mansion. Durivage and Zongying kept walking at a normal pace, to all intents and purposes just two people from the neighborhood out for a stroll. When they got to where the woman dropped off, they looked in that direction.

  A flashlight flickered inside a dark house.

  Just for an instance, then it was gone.

  “I know that house,” Zongying said.

  “You do?”

  “It belongs to a socialite named Grace Somerfield. She was murdered in there Saturday night.”

  “Really?”

  Yes.

  Really.

  “Someone robbed her and slit her throat,” she said. “So what’s your friend Emmanuelle doing in there?”

  “Good question.”

  60

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Night

  Jina got home Wednesday evening to find a man sitting on the sofa in the dark smoking a cigarette. He didn’t make a move when the lights went on. He just sat there staring at her. She had time to run back out the door but didn’t. She knew who the man was—he was big, with long hair and a hard, manly face. Strong arms stuck out of a T-shirt. The sleeves were rolled up, the left one held a pack of cigarettes. In other circumstances he would have been attractive.

  “You’re Taylor Lee’s client,” she said.

  The man flicked ashes onto the floor.

  “Very good,” he said. “I want the scroll and I want it now.”

  “Someone stole it.”

  He wrinkled his face.

  “Is that so?”

  Yes.

  It was.

  “Who would do such a thing? No one knew you had it besides Taylor Lee.”

  “A professor knew I had it,” Jina said. “I took it to her to learn about it.”

  “Are you saying she stole it?”

  “I don’t know who stole it,” Jina said. “Maybe she told someone about it. Maybe that person told someone else. All I know is that someone broke in here when I wasn’t home and took it.”

  The man stood up, walked to the window and looked down.

  Then he turned and said, “It’s not yours.”

  “I know that.”

  “I don’t think you understand what’s going on here,” he said.

  “Look, I’m sorry that—”

  The man took a step towards her and p
ointed an index finger at her chest.

  “Don’t,” he said. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to get that scroll back into the hands of Taylor Lee by noon tomorrow.”

  “But—”

  “Stop! Don’t say a word. Just listen. You’re going to get that scroll back into the hands of Taylor Lee by noon tomorrow. She’s going to give it to me. I’m going to go away. We’re all going to live happily ever after.”

  Jina swallowed.

  “That’s impossible.”

  “We both know you’re lying,” he said. “If noon comes tomorrow and I don’t get a call from Taylor Lee to come by her office and pick it up, two things are going to happen. Do you want to know what they are?”

  Jina shook her head.

  “No.”

  “Too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway,” the man said. “First, Taylor Lee is going to die. It won’t be pretty. It won’t be pretty at all. Second, you’ll be next. Am I being clear enough?”

  He flicked his cigarette at her.

  It bounced off her forehead and fell to the floor.

  The man walked over, ground it out with his foot and gave Jina a kiss on the cheek.

  “Noon tomorrow.”

  Then he was gone.

  61

  Day Two

  July 16

  Wednesday Night

  Wednesday night the brutal heat of the day dissipated into the thin Rocky Mountain air and life got bearable again. Wilde and Alabama sat in the MG a half-block down from Warner Raven’s house, waiting for him to head out into the darkness and steal a woman. Wilde had a Camel cupped in his hand with the tip out of sight.

  Nicole was supposed to call him early in the evening, when she was ready to be picked up.

  She never called.

  Wilde swung by her hotel an hour ago.

  She wasn’t in her room.

  She hadn’t checked out.

  No one at the front desk had seen her all day.

  “What are you going to do if you catch him in the act?” Alabama asked.

  “You mean, actually taking someone?”

  Right.

  That.

  “I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.”

  Alabama sighed.

  “How did you manage to stay alive before I came along?”

  Wilde dipped his hat lower.

  “It’s a mystery, isn’t it?” A pause then, “I wonder where Nicole is.”