The Gumshoe Diaries (10 page)

The sun set had gone unnoticed and the large
apartment had become dark and silent. Jai set the cell down on the
end table beside him without flipping the phone closed. He stared
at if for a moment then pushed the number one on the keypad. It was
Lu’s cell phone number on speed dial. Rising from the sofa Jai
walked over to the window slowly, while Lu’s phone rang faintly in
the background.

“Hello?
Peaches
, is that you,”
squawked Lu’s voice over the speakerphone? No reply.

“Come on Jai, don’t play games it’s really
busy down here!” Still, no reply?

“Oh for the love of Pete, I’m coming right
up,” Lu said annoyed. He removed his apron and walked out of the
kitchen toward the lift, his cell phone still pressed to his ear.
Lu was pissed, he hated when Jai got moody like this, as if he
didn’t have enough to deal with on a busy, rainy day! The elevator
doors closed and Lu started the slow climb to their 36
^th
floor apartment. Still no sounds on his phone save the eerie static
of silence.

“
Jai,
Jai,
” he called, not
exactly shouting but darn close!

The doors opened as he arrived home and Lu
exited in a huff. He passed through the foyer and then quickly
crossed the living room to the sofa. He called out to Jai and heard
himself over the speakerphone on Jai’s open cell resting on the end
table.

“
Honestly,”
he sighed. He ended the
call by closing both cell phones. He scanned the dark room, which
was dimly lit by the glare from the city lights streaming through
the large bay window. He couldn’t see well and squinted as his eyes
adjusted to the dark. He didn’t hear anything either except for his
own movements. The refrigerator motor switched on suddenly and
startled him. Lu recoiled abruptly and fell back onto the sofa,
seating himself unintentionally. He clutched at his chest for a
second composing himself and took a deep cleansing breath. He
closed his eyes as he exhaled and then opened them slowly.

“This is so silly,” he muttered tiredly,
scooting forward on the sofa to stand up.

“I don’t have the time or patience for your
nonsense tonight Jai Lai. I’m going back to work. You know where to
find me when you’re through brooding,” he shouted as he stood.

Lu walked back to the elevator without
looking for his partner any further. What was the point? Jai was
just setting him up for yet another bickering session. Lu hated
those tiffs. Truth be told so did Jai, as he admitted time and time
again.
“I can’t help myself, it’s the way I was raised,”
he
would say as soon as the storm passed and it was time to make up.
Lu tried to understand, he really did, because at the end of the
day he genuinely loved his partner with all of his heart. But it’s
true what they say about
expecting leopards to change their
spots
, it’s not fair to expect the impossible. But behavior
isn’t rigid, it’s fluid, and while people are what they are,
changes are possible if they come from within. However, they can’t
be coaxed or demanded.

Unconditional love is a rare and precious
gift but always comes at a cost, and always to the one who gives.
Lu had realized all of that some time ago yet was still learning to
take the high road. He wanted to give the man he loved the freedom
to be himself. I admired that, sort of, but I’ll never understand
it. I’m too selfish to grasp the concept of unconditional love.

The elevator doors had started to close when
the shot rang out, the sound made louder by the complete absence of
noise in the seemingly deserted apartment…
BAM!
Lu stuck out
his hand to keep the doors from closing. The brushed aluminum
panels hesitated and then reversed direction, allowing him the
opportunity to squeeze past. He walked rather than ran toward the
ringing sound of the explosion. Strangely, he felt calm even though
his mind was racing through a litany of possible scenarios. He
entered the hall and made his way to his bedroom. He could smell
the cordite as it wafted toward him. The odor was caustic and made
his nostrils flare. His skin became cold and he could feel the
goose bumps forming on his bare arms. At the end of the long
hallway, Lu entered the room that he and Jai had shared for so many
years. It was where they loved, where they fought, and where they
were a couple, in and out of like with one another but forever in
love. He stopped at the foot of the bed and stared down at the
lifeless form of his life partner.

Jai lay motionless, his open eyes staring up
at the ceiling. The pillow he lay on was still smoking from the
muzzle blast and a small trail of blood seeped from where the
gunshot had scorched his hairpiece (a little secret he had guarded
closely in life). The weapon, still in his right hand, lay
partially tucked beneath him at the small of his back. His legs
were crossed the way they were when he worked the crossword on
Sunday mornings. He didn’t look as dead as he was, well except for
the blood maybe.

Lu fought the urge to be angry at Jai’s
selfish action. Then, he fought off the urge to cry. He settled on
being comfortably numb and lay down beside his companion. On his
side he studied Jai’s lifeless eyes and reached over to close them.
He tried this several times but they would not stay closed. He
wondered why? It always worked in the movies? He traced his index
finger over the length of Jai’s form, beginning at his forehead and
ending at the wrist of his right hand. Lu touched the gun in his
hand, it was still warm. A tear rolled down his face as he pulled
the weapon from Jai’s hand. He held it and raised it high above the
two of them, admiring the dullness of it. It was black and square
like, with hard angles and it was lighter than he had imagined. It
almost didn’t seem lethal at all, almost like a toy? He grasped it
firmly and pointed it at the ceiling fan, counting the blades as
they swung past the barrel. He gently laid it back down on Jai’s
chest and wept softly. That was how I found them hours later when
Marco called me from the restaurant. He was afraid to call the
cops, and I could understand why. Romeo and Romeo were dead and for
what? My job just became more than I bargained for.

****

(“all in all you’re just a nuther brick in the
wall…”)…Pink Floyd…1979

Chapter Thirteen

Alexandria Hotel, Los Angeles…Thursday, Feb
19, 2009…9am

No doubt about it, I was being watched, my
spider sense confirmed it. They had to be cops! The oinkers must
have been tailing me from the get go, beginning at USC the other
day, and then ratted me out to the boss-man, which meant that Lt.
Celaya knew Judy Looney had been talking to me. It also meant that
I should expect a personal invitation downtown for a
come to
Jesus
meeting
with that fat headed beast and his flying
monkeys,
marvelous!
You know, getting grilled is the pits,
I know
, I used to do it for a living. It’s not just a matter
of being questioned; tactically there’s quite a difference.
Typically, when someone is being questioned it’s to rule them out
as a suspect. A grilling however involves a ride on the
big
blue choo choo
courtesy the LAPD as they railroad you toward
a confession. And make no mistake; they’ll get it, one way or the
other, they’ll get it!

So, to recap,
questioning
, easy quick
and painless,
grilling
, well, let’s just say that a good
grilling will leave a mark or two! As a general rule I prefer to
avoid either! However, given my naturally nosey nature and general
don’t give a flip attitude that didn’t seem likely, because I am in
Oscar’s crosshairs,
again!
You know, for a smart guy I seem
to be lacking common sense more often than not these days? Let’s
face it; I enjoy winding up that palooka way too much. It’s a
wicked little pleasure, I know, but I hope to outgrow it someday.
Hell, I’m getting too old to be a full time smart ass anyway.
Besides, the price of chuckles keeps getting higher and higher the
older I get. Seriously, I should be more careful where he’s
concerned because I’m pretty sure that under the right
circumstances or given the slightest provocation the flatfoot would
put one right between my eyes! And who could blame him? My lack of
respect for him is legendary in this town. I’ll be the first to
admit that our little feud is totally sour grapes over his
involvement in my early
“retirement
,” more on that
later.

I quickly crossed the room to the small
writing table resting cozily under the corner window of my shabby
one room apartment, and debated whether or not to call Judy Looney
again so soon. I don’t know why it was such an internal issue? It
should’ve been a short debate at best; I mean professionally it was
a no brainer. She was a source of critical information, right? I
needed that brain of hers; she was a key element in solving this
case. I decided face to face would be best. A grin spread across my
face and made me feel a little high-schoolish. I’m not a child,
really
, I’m not, but I’ll admit that I can see where I might
seem like one at times given my arrested adolescence, much more on
that later! Look, there’s chemistry between us, I’m aware of that.
Okay, it’s totally laced with sarcasm, but like my old mother used
to say,
“the girl who treats you worst, loves you most.”

Sure, Judy Looney was attractive in her own
way, physically I mean. And it wasn’t just her nice features (nice
cans), that attracted me either. Actually,
brace yourself
;
it was her intelligence, and the comfortable smile that came with
every shared moment. I could be myself around her, without
compulsion to put on airs. I dunno, lately I just wanted to be
around her more often. I’ve even caught myself looking for reasons
to drop by the campus. I’ll be honest, being easy on the eyes might
have had a little more to do with it then I let on, but hey, I’m a
man aren’t I? Listen, her head might be packed solid with gray
matter, but the rest of her is firm where it should be, soft where
I like it and she smells good. What can I say, that’s what’s
important to me these days, go figure? Ah well it was moot anyway,
she was Ronnie’s girl now, and they were madly in love, or so they
kept telling me,
whatever
! I should quit pining over
nothing. Sometimes I wish I could kick my own ass!

Something caught my eye suddenly, just
outside the window? I studied the group of people crossing the
street and counted noses. Nothing out of the ordinary, whatever I
saw had merged with the crowd and disappeared. It was getting late
and if I was going to catch Judy at home before Ronnie rolled in
from the office I needed to get a move on. I grabbed my keys off
the desk and turned to leave, then suddenly whipped around to look
out the window once more. Something was making the hair on the back
of my neck stand up, like I had just shuffled across a shag carpet
in my socks. I stared out the window for a few seconds not exactly
sure what I was looking for?

“
Ah, bag it,”
I muttered and left the
room.

--

Hollenbeck Station, Los Angeles…Friday, Feb
20, 2009...6:30pm

--

“
Until I say you’re done,
that’s when,”
Oscar Celaya shouted into the handset as he
slammed it back onto its cradle! The five o’clock shadow poking
through his weathered face had grown thicker by a couple of hours,
and the hot headed lieutenant was tired and pissy. It was Friday
night and way passed supper time. Hell, these days bed time wasn’t
far off either for an old man whose work day started at 5am. He had
put a couple of gold shields on both our tails; that would be Judy
Looney and yours truly. One of shields was a newbie transfer from
Parker Center. Apparently I was boring them to tears. Maybe they
were the ones giving me goose bumps back at my apartment the other
day? I didn’t see them when I left, but I knew they were around, I
could smell their bacon as soon as I hit the pavement. Odds are the
jack-holes were around the corner at Clifton’s swilling coffee and
stuffing their fat oinker faces!

Lt. Celaya leaned back in his chair and
rubbed his tired eyes. He decided it was time to call it a day.
Fishing out his car keys from his center desk drawer, he got up and
put on his worn and torn sport coat, the one with the patched
elbows. It was his town and country look. He watched the busy
precinct going about their business through the glass that
surrounded his office. Slipping his arm into the coat sleeve he
shook his head slowly and rolled his eyes. The night shift was
never dull, there was crazy shit happening from dusk to dawn, it’s
when the animals roam the city. He rapped on the window signaling
for a skinny sergeant to meet him at the door. The startled officer
took a quick sip of her coffee and rushed around to see what he
wanted.

“Yeah LT, what’s up,” asked Sergeant Ann
Kowalski?

“Annie, do me a favor will ya? If my phone
rings again, and it will, tell the chuckleheads on the other end of
the line that they can go home,” Oscar said yawning.

“Sure LT, any reason we can’t just have
dispatch call them now?”

“
Yeah
, two reasons,
BE
–
CAUSE!
”

Sergeant Kowalski knew that tone and decided
to zip it before she wound up Corporal Kowalski. Oscar waived at
the room as he headed toward the exit and home to his teeny bopper
wife who would re-heat dinner and yammer on and on until he fell
into blissful slumber. Actually, if I know Oscar Celaya, he’ll hit
Tito’s Tacos on the way home and choke down half a dozen taquitos
with cheese and extra guacamole.
Hmmm
, actually that sounds
pretty good right about now. Maybe I’ll grab a bag–o–tacos my own
self and treat Dr. Judy to a little snack and chat? I tipped my hat
at the precinct building as I drove by on the number 30 bus then
leaned back and closed my eyes for the rest of the twenty minute
ride. I would have slept too except for this nagging moment of
anxiety that I couldn’t explain?