I had a couple of later meetings with Purple Girl, weeks apart. Like my meetings with Frank, I let everybody think I was meeting with some informant in out-of-the-way place. Which in a sense I was. I had some details to give her about various gangs in the city, and she had pointers about various gangland killings that I could use. And, of course, money. Although that mostly went straight to my friendly accountant. Things went fairly well until our last meeting, when she drugged me and I woke up to find myself chained to the wall.
Not exactly the wall, actually. The plastic rope tied my feet together and disappeared up some ruined chimney. My hands were tied behind my back, and also around my waist. I couldn't move them an inch. Purple Girl was standing next to another length of rope, which also disappeared up the chimney. When I tried to stand, she pulled on her rope, and mine pulled my feet out from under me.
So obviously her idiot friends thought that I had been cheating them in some way. Fuck. An idiot can kill you as dead as anyone with a sensible reason.
I tried to sound as if I was exasperated by another of life's little problems, and not as if I was at the mercy of a band of psychotic killers who liked to dress as cartoon characters while they were killing people.
"So I take it that someone thinks I have not been completely straight with you", I said. "Well, if you can tell me what they are worried about, I'm sure we can get this straightened out, before the NYPD goes looking for their missing detective. It would be very embarrassing for both of us if they broke in here and found us like this…"
She yanked on her rope again, and left me with my legs heading up into that ruined chimney, and my back resting on the floor. I looked up at her standing over me, and she booted me in the head. Fuck, but she kicked hard. There must be steel in those boots. I think I passed out for a second. It took me a moment to realise what she was saying.
"No", she said. "I know you have been very honest with me. Just not with the people of New York. Your mistake."
After a moment she went on. "So this is what is going to happen. Tomorrow morning, your best friends in the police are going to be dead. Your favourite accountants will be dead. You will be dead. And besides your body they will find all the proof you gave to me about how nice you were to the bad guys who paid you off. And all the other corrupt officers you told me about. It will be in a lot of journalists' inboxes as well. You're gonna be famous."
"Fuck", I shouted, "You're a bunch of criminals yourselves…"
Another boot to the head.
"Do you know why that rope leads up a chimney?" she asked. "In the old days a man who committed treason was hanged, drawn and quartered. But bitches were burned alive."
I think I started to beg before being booted again.
"And since you spent all that time as D'Amicos bitch, I'd say you're a bitch. I'm gonna soak you in gas, haul you feet first up that chimney, and set fire to you. Smoke rises, so you won't choke. It will take a long time. I might even get to finish you off afterwards."
She gave me a moment to take that in. I remembered what Frank had planned for her friends. I remembered what had happened to Frank, and everybody who worked for him. I didn't doubt she meant every word she said. I was just…numb.
She added: "And then I'm going to kill your family. All four of them."
"They never did anything!" I shouted.
"They took your dirty money. They took your money, they knew you were dirty, and they stayed quiet about it."
I stared at her. I've never seen a face alive with such contempt and hatred. I couldn't think of anything to say. It was like she was at the opposite side of the universe, too far away to hear anything a normal human being could say to her.
Then she kneeled down and tied a hood over my head. The world went black. I could hear her footsteps walking away. Just before the door shut she said, "I hope you've made your peace with God."
Fuck.
Fuck.
If there is a fucking God, he'll know I never did anything to deserve this. I provided for my family – is that a crime? And my kids, even my exes…
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck…