Private Deceptions

I put my hands up and allowed them to take my gun. Thinking that I could take out most of them, if not all them, before they got off too many shots. Unarmed would be little tougher. But I wasn’t worried; I always carry a spare.

"Who are you?" Rocky asked smiling.

"I’m the guy Lisa Ellison called you about."

"Let him come!" He shouted, no longer smiling.

I sat down at the table across from him. "I’m looking for Jake Rollins."

"Haven’t seen him."

"What was he involved in?"

"Who are you?"

"I told you, I’m the guy Lisa Ellison called you about."

"She said you were some kind of private investigator. Who you workin’ for?"

I looked around the table.

With a wave of his hand, Rocky dismissed everybody.

"What was Jake doin’ for Chilly?"

"I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. You got a lot of heart to be involving yourself in this shit. Who hired you?"

"Mrs. Childers." Since Rocky and Jake were friends, I didn’t see any harm in telling him that I was working for Mrs. Childers. Besides I thought that I would get more out of him that way.

"Gee hired you, huh?" Rocky sat back in his chair and thought for a second. "Well if I find out anything about Jake, I’ll tell Gee myself."

"Fair enough." I got up from the table, unsure of whether he would he kill me as soon as I got outside. Two women were dead. It’s about that shit. Maybe another, at the hands of Diego Estabon. "I took care of mine, Chilly. What about yours?"

I walked over to the guy that had my gun. "Can I have my gun back."

It was a statement, not a question.

The guy looked at Rocky, who shook his head no. So I rammed my left elbow into his face and took back my gun with my right hand. Just in case anyone in the room thought I was going to do something stupid, like try to shoot my way out of there, I held my hands up quickly. My finger was on the trigger just in case I had to. Rocky held up his hand and laughed, so naturally everyone else in the room laughed too. I pointed the barrel at Rocky. Once again, every other gun in the room was pointed at me. Rocky smiled at me and walked forward. He stopped before me. "I like you." He looked around the room. "You got heart." Repeating the words Chilly said to him. His crew laughed. "Let’s see if you know when to back down."

I did. But this wasn’t the time. I was a player in this game now. I couldn’t fold. I had to stand, but not be stupid. I lowered my gun, but just a little, and started backing out of the room slowly, watching Rocky’s eyes. His eyes switched to the right. I felt somebody coming up on me. I quickly extended my arm and caught him in the neck. I was lucky, but they were impressed.

I made it outside without getting shot. I started for my car, but something told me to keep walking. I walked down to the store on the corner. I went inside and looked through the window. Rocky had sent three men after me. Two arranged themselves outside the store, while the third came in after me. Over the objection of the clerk, I went in the back room looking for a door. I opened the door and pushed down a trashcan before moving into

the shadows inside the store. As the man ran pass me, I grabbed him. With my arm firmly wrapped around his neck, I had thoughts of breaking it, but I didn’t. I hit him twice in the head with the butt of my gun.

I went out the back door and moved slowly down the alley. Staying in the shadows. The second man approached. I froze. He walked past me. I watched him pass and he went in the store. They both came out firing blindly down the alley. I aimed and fired a few near misses. They took cover. I continued to fire and moved very quickly out of the alley. I took the long way around the block to get back to my car. The third man held his post outside the store in spite of the shooting. I got in the car and drove away.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

When I got back to my office, I immediately checked my messages to see if Mrs. Childers had called, which she hadn’t. It was late and she might not be able to get out of the house to meet me. What I had to tell her would keep until morning anyway, because to be honest, it wasn’t much. And on top of that it was only speculation. I could only speculate that Jake was hiding. And if Rocky was a man of his word, which I couldn’t count on, he would tell Mrs. Childers all about the events of the evening, anyway. Still, I decided to wait awhile, just to see if she would show.

It still bothered me that we never found any camera equipment in Jake’s apartment. The pictures and the video were quality. It was obvious that Jake took his photo sessions seriously. I got the pictures from the file cabinet, along with my bottle of Johnnie Black. As I sat there drinking and looking at the pictures, two things hit me all at once. The pictures were definitely taken in at least two different places. I popped in the videotape we copied from Jake’s apartment. I sat watching, without really watching, fast forwarding for the most part. Comparing the video to the still pictures that I had, and tried to get a sense of where they were taken. I turned off the video, I had seen enough. I began to sort the pictures into piles based on outfit or the lack of one. The difference in location was apparent now. The second thing that hit me was a bit more subtle. Some of the pictures appeared to be taken in rapid session. Maybe taken with a high-speed shutter. That in itself wasn’t all that, but it was the angles they were shot from. The camera wasn’t on a tripod, or some other stationary object. Somebody was taking the pictures. Pamela taking the pictures while Jake did LaShawn and vice versa?

"But, no it isn’t."

I looked closer at the pictures and thought back to what Lisa Ellison told Rocky. He thought it was Pamela, but it was LaShawn. It was LaShawn in every picture with Jake. What little outfit there was may have been different, but it was LaShawn. If it was LaShawn in every picture having sex with Jake then what was Pamela’s involvement in this?