Crime After Crime by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt & Stephen Puleston

Author:Debz Hobbs-Wyatt & Stephen Puleston [Hobbs-Wyatt, Debz & Puleston, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781907335266
Publisher: Bridge House Publishing
Published: 2012-11-08T22:00:00+00:00

*

Beverly only told Jacks where she wanted to go after she got in his car.

They rode in silence for a while before Jacks decided how to talk to her about what she was doing.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he finally said.

“No need to worry. Jake Stein’s a wimp. He won’t do his own killing, besides, you’ll be there to watch my back and make sure things turn out right.” She managed a smile that touched him in spite of himself.

“Hell, what’s this about, lady? Why can’t he wait to see you dead?”

She sighed and lit a cigarette. It made her cough, but she smoked it anyway.

“I couldn’t afford the medicine,” she began. “It was ten or twelve grand a year. I took it on and off. Most of the time I didn’t take it. I had met Stein through Myron back when I was singing. He could see that I was sick, and I was desperate. He said he would pay for my medicine if I would do this one thing for him.”

She paused for a long time, and stared out of the side window as if she had no intention of continuing.

“What?” Jacks said.

“Sometimes…” her voice choked, “sometimes you do bad things because you have to.” She turned back toward Jacks with tear-dampened cheeks. “Jake Stein didn’t own Def Watch. He just acted like he did. His father-in-law owned the business. I guess Jake got tired of watching the money pass through his hands without stopping, so he asked me…” her voice faded briefly, “he asked me if I would be available at a birthday party for his father-in-law.”

Jacks listened with unrestrained curiosity. He listened to what she said, but more importantly, he listened to what she didn’t say.

“Available? Available for what?”

“What the hell do you think?”

“Wait. Wait. He knew what was wrong with you, right?”

“That’s why he wanted me. Jake Stein wanted to be rid of his father-in-law. Tate could have shot him, stabbed him or run him down, but it would have all pointed back to Stein. What could you say, though, about a grown man stupid enough to catch AIDS from a hooker? I was his sixtieth birthday present. Don’t look so shocked. I still looked pretty good with make-up and without these cuts on my face. Anyway, he paid for the drugs for about a year then I guess he decided that I wasn’t dying fast enough. He didn’t like having someone alive who could testify about what he’d done.”

Jacks brought the car to a stop across from the entrance to Stein’s office.

“What’s the plan?” he said.

“Myron won’t leave me alone. He’s got the guilts. No reason though. I was a big girl. One of these days we’ll make a wrong move and Ramar Tate will kill him too, just for the hell of it. I don’t think I could bear that. I’m going to beg Stein to leave us alone, convince him that I won’t talk. I won’t live another year anyway.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.