Ch. 43

Valerie was down in the basement records room compiling some case files and notes for Detective Maitland when Kelli Allen's cell phone began buzzing in her pocket. For a brief moment, she was thrown off by it—her own phone was in her purse and it took her a second to realize which persona was being contacted. Taking a steadying breath, she paused and looked around the room to make sure she was still alone and then on the third ring, she answered, "Yeah, Kelli here." "Yo, Honey, it's Dizzy." "Hey, Dizzy, what's up?" "Got you an appointment. Come down here aroun' noon, see if what's here's worth your while." "Why, whatchu got?" "Gotta come see." "Cool. Noon? That'll work." They disconnected and Val began the mental preparation of going back into the lions' den. She had a little over two hours until noon, which meant she would have to hustle to finish the compilation for Maitland, deliver whatever information she found to him, get over to the gym, change, and make her way over to the pool hall. Remembering her promise, she immediately sent a text to Anna with an update.

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Randy Hill was waiting for Val when she finally emerged from the basement and he gave her a wide smile as he asked, "Hey Val, wanna go grab some lunch?" "Oh, Randy, I'd love to but I have an errand to run and I don't know how long it'll take me. Raincheck?" "What're you doing? Maybe I can go along with and we can have something after." "No, trust me, this isn't the kind of errand a woman likes having a guy along for, if you get what I mean." All manner of gynecological horrors dancing around in his head, Randy quickly backpedaled, telling her, "Gotcha. We can absolutely take a raincheck. You go take care of 'whatever you've gotta' and I'll catch you later, ok?" "You've got it." She gave him a smile and a wink before making her way down the hallway to the back door and the patio area of the PCPD. Walking toward her in the hallway with a rapidly spreading grin at seeing her was Dante and her heart sank a little. She had been hoping she would be able to get successfully out of the precinct without seeing him. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him but she was concerned that he would want to know what she was doing and where she was going—she really didn't want to lie to him. Somehow, she would have to learn Creative Truth-Telling 101, she supposed. As expected, he stopped her, wondering, "Hey Angel, where're you headed?" "I have an errand to run, Dante, and I'm kind of running late so I don't really have a lot of time to talk…" Val winced inwardly at the puzzlement on Dante's face and she held her breath as he slowly answered, "Ok. I don't wanna keep you from anything… Is it something I can help with?"

"Not really, it's just something I need to take care of. If it works out, I'll tell you all about it—if it doesn't, it won't matter anyway. It's not a big deal, Dante, just something I need to do." Flashing what she hoped was an innocent-looking smile, she darted down the hall and out of the back door of the PCPD.

Against his will, Dante's radar went on full alert. He trusted Val but unless he was mistaken, she seemed to be being a bit evasive. Of course she had the right to her privacy so even though something was telling him to investigate further, he decided to let it go. Whatever it was, he was sure she would let him in on it if he needed to know. Still, he thought with a frown, it wasn't like her to be so secretive…

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"Hey, Honey. Didn't think you were comin' for a minute." "Tole you I would. I got turned aroun' comin' down here—not used to your streets. You on a timetable or somethin'?"

"Not me. Take a pew—wait here." Dizzy disappeared into the back of the pool hall and Kelli used the time alone to settle her nerves. Dizzy called her name twice before she realized he was trying to get her attention. He gestured for her to follow him and her heart rate shot through the roof. "Here we go, girl," she thought as she trailed him down the hall to an office. Outside the office door, Dizzy gave her an apologetic look as he explained, "Gotta pat you down. Nothin' personal." "Gotta do what you gotta do," she agreed. Satisfied that she wasn't carrying any weapons or bugging equipment, he nodded and then opening the door widely, he said, "This's the girl I was tellin' you 'bout, Joey. I'll leave you to it." He shut the door and Kelli found herself face to face with Joe "Joey Robbs" Scartone, who was seated behind a desk. Anna's advice came flooding back to her as she adopted a casual, uninterested air, waiting for him to speak first. When he finally did, he told her, "Take a seat. Dizz tells me you came all the way from Philly to do business wit' me. You can't get the guns you need from home—you have to come here? Sounds kinda strange to me."

"It ain't that I can't get guns in Philly, it's that I wanted untraceable ones. I figured if I got 'em from somewhere else, I wouldn't run into any problems later. Dizzy made me think we could make that happen but if we can't, no big."

"Don't be so hasty, little girl. I didn't say we couldn't, did I? Jus' that what you're sayin' seems weird to me. Dizz also tole me you want the guns for your man. He can't buy his own piece?" Rolling her eyes toward the ceiling and then frowning as she stared at the floor briefly, Kelli eventually raised her gaze to Joey Robbs, explaining, "Look, I'm not tryna turn this into a case, ok? If he tole you I wanted a piece for my man, he shoulda tole you why. I ain't jus' lookin' for any kinda Sig. I'm after some Scorpions. Ol' dude back home said you the man who could get 'em, so I made the trip. You either got 'em or you don't. You don't, I gotta come up wit' somethin' else to give my man for our anniversary, that's all." They stared at each other for what felt to Kelli like forever. "Call him." "What?" "Your man. Get him on the phone." "This's s'posed to be a surprise for him-" "I look like I care 'bout that? Call him," he added, pushing the phone on the table in her direction. Glaring at him, Kelli rapidly punched the buttons which would connect her. "Alex's Auto Body and Repair, go for Alex." "Alex," Kelli began saying before the phone was snatched from her hand. "Who'm I speakin' to?" "Alex. Why? Who'm I speakin' to?" "You don't need to know my name." "Then we don't need to be talkin'," Alex said in disgust, preparing to hang up. "Hold up, Alex. Got someone here who says she knows you, name of Honey. Ring any bells?" "Honey?" Alex almost denied knowing anyone with that name but he remembered his sister's instructions just in time and he added, "Only 'Honey' I know is my girl Kelli and it better not be her because her ass just disappeared on me without tellin' me where she was goin'. If she's there, put her on." Handing the receiver back to her with a speculative look, Joey shook his head and said, "Your man doesn't sound too happy with you." "Alex? Hang on," she tried to say and then held the receiver away from her as she was blasted with an earful of 'angry Alex'. "But-" she interjected again and then paused as he continued going off. Finally, Kelli was able to interrupt her "boyfriend," yelling, "Alex! Stop yellin' at me! I didn't tell ya where I was goin' 'cause it's s'posed to be a surprise, ok? Look, I ain't tellin' ya where I am! If I get what I came for you'll see soon enough, a'ight? Jus' let me do what I came here for, damn! I'll see ya when I get home! Yeah, I love you, too!" She handed the receiver back to Joey Robbs with a frustrated sigh, asking, "Ya happy? Now I'm gonna catch hell for tryna do somethin' I thought my man would like! He better be ready to kiss my behind when I get back! 'f I didn't love him, it wouldn't even be worth all this drama." Kelli shook her head and stared off into space, supposedly thinking about all the "trouble" she was going to be in when she was reunited with Alex.

"How'd you know I had Scorpions?" Joey broke into her reverie to inquire. "I didn't know if you had 'em or not. Like I said before, ol' dude said he knew someone who could get anythin' anybody wanted, for a price. I took a chance. You had 'em, you had 'em; you didn't, you didn't, that's all." "You know who I am?" "Yeah. 'Joey'." "Besides that. You knew my name before you came to town, didn't you?" "I tole Dizzy that I heard your name was Joey. More than that, I didn't know or care. I ain't from here an' sorry, but where I'm from, 'Joey Robbs' don't mean jack. I'm startin' to think you jus' got me twistin' here, though. You don't have what I want an' I don't need no more trouble with my man, so I should jus'-"

"I don't know you from a can o' paint, either, little girl, but I can't be too careful. You wouldn't be able to prove where I got what I got from, anyway. Yeah, I got some Scorpions. How many you want?"

"Two."

"Cost you three 'Gs'." Kelli began laughing softly and then she muttered, "Ok, I guess I got that comin'. I mus' look like Boo Boo the fool to you. Nineteen fifty." "I look like I'm runnin' a charity? Twenty-eight hundred." Kelli had to remind herself of her true mission because she was beginning to enjoy herself as she bargained with Joey Robbs. She couldn't say she liked the man but she wasn't finding him nearly as threatening as she thought she would. It wouldn't do to forget who he was or why she was here. Aloud she countered, "Twenty-three fifty, man." Joey squinted at her narrowly, responding, "You know how much you'd pay for these on the market? Twenty-three fifty is lowballing it, big time." "'f I was buyin' 'em out there, I'd figure I'd pay full price, but I ain't though. 'f you could unload 'em for three, why you still got 'em? I can go twenty-three fifty but that's it. We can't deal, we can't deal." She waited expectantly on his answer, her heart hammering away inside while she outwardly appeared casual.

"You got it on you?" he eventually queried with a slight smirk. "Yep." "Let's see it." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her wallet. Carefully, Kelli counted out two piles of one hundred dollar bills, ten in each. Joey's eyebrows rose when she stopped counting momentarily. He nodded at the table and she slid the last three hundred fifty down by the other bills. Laughing, he got up from behind the desk and walked over to a wall safe. After turning the dial a few times, he reached in and removed a metal case. Sitting the case on the desk, he made eye contact with Kelli, who was trying valiantly not to show her excitement. He flipped the locks on the case and swiveled it so she could see the merchandise she had just purchased. Leaning forward, she nodded and smiled, remarking, "Pretty." Robbs let out a guffaw of disbelief, answering, "Pretty? Guess that's one word for 'em. Bargain, more like. Gotta let you know, little girl, I don't usually haggle over the price of my merchandise, but I like your face. It's a very pretty face. I hope it always stays a very pretty face." Startled, Kelli's gaze flew to his and she blinked a couple of times in shock, unable to halt the involuntary movement. "Meanin'?" she had the presence of mind to ask. "Meanin' I'm handin' over my merchandise on a whole lotta trust, girlie." "Handin' over? Like I didn't jus' pay you almos' three grand?" "No, like I don't know you or how you came to be here, only what you're tellin' me. Meanin' that you're gonna walk outta here with two o' my guns and after that, I don't know. If I get any heat after this transaction, though, I think I'll know where it came from. You need to know somethin' 'bout me. Two things I don't like—bein' played an' bein' screwed over. I'm a patient man an' I can wait as long as I have to when gettin' payback. If you're screwin' wit' me here, I promise you, the last words you'll ever say'll be 'Please don't'. Won't be no mercy comin' though. You understandin' me?"

For a moment, all pretenses were dropped as Kelli swallowed audibly. "Stay cool," she reminded herself, noticing her breathing had accelerated. "I understand you, man, but look. We don't have to go through wit' this if you think I'm tryna bring some beef to your door. I can take my money an' bounce. Totally up to you." Once again, they stared at one another across the desk. Kelli forced herself not to be the one to look away or flinch first but it was a struggle. Snorting aloud, Joey mentioned, "You got balls, little girl, I'll say that much." "Been tole that before." "Guess they breed 'em tough in Philly, huh?" "Tough enough." After a slight hesitation, Robbs slid the case across the desk toward her. "The guns're yours—the case's mine." "I don't even get the case? How'm I s'posed to get 'em outta here?" "Sounds like you gotta problem that ain't mine to fix," he snickered. "I'll jus' tuck 'em into my waist under my coat, I guess. No big." Joey reached down into a drawer of his desk and removed a soft cloth. He picked up one of the weapons and began wiping it down. Willing herself not to panic Kelli halted him with, "Before you do that, I've gotta favor to ask." "You already got a deal. What else you need?" "Show me how to load it."

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Kelli controlled her breathing with an effort. She was almost at the finish line—she couldn't afford to blow everything now. The suspicion was back on Joey Robbs' face in full force as he asked incredulously, "You expect me to give you ammo, too? Mags'll cost you extra. You don't know how to load one of these things?" Deciding to unburden herself, Kelli confessed, "Ok. You were kinda right and so was your man Dizzy. It's a lotta gun and I don't usually carry. But I'm wit' Alex now, an' HE does. I mighta tole him I know my way aroun' guns 'cause I wanted him to be impressed with me. I think I know how to load it but I wanna be sure. Not tryna look like a fool when I give him his, or when we go shootin'."

"You goin' through a lot of trouble for your Alex."

"'F I didn't think he was worth it, I wouldn't bother. He's worth it. How much extra are the mags?"

"Fifty each. But here's the deal. You don't get 'em until you're outta my office and out by the front of the pool hall."

"You gonna show me how to load it out there? Why?" "'Cause you might NOT know who I am, and you might. For all I know, you're a ringer brought in to take me out. What kinda fool I look like, gettin' taken out with my own gun?"

Kelli rubbed her forehead with her hand as she scrambled for the right words to keep the deal from going south. "This's your turf, right? I drop you, I don't even make it to the front door before someone out there takes me out. I don't know how hitmen work but I'm thinkin' I already spent too much time in here to make it outta here safely wit' no one knowin' what I did. Kinda pointless, ain't it?" Again she held her breath as she waited for his response.

With a small exhalation, Robbs walked back to his safe and retrieved two loaded magazines, plunking them down on the desk in front of her. Still watching her, he took one of the guns out of the case and held it in his left hand, explaining, "It's simple, little girl. Take the mag like this and pop it up in place wit' jus' a bit o' force. This here's the slide, ok? Pull it back an' let it go. Push down on this little lever on the side, an' you're ready to rock and roll. Unload—press the magazine catch an' it falls right out, ok? Pull the slide back to make sure it's empty, check it, an' let it slide back in place. It's almos' idiot-proof." Kelli reached for the other gun and magazine. Hesitantly at first, she followed his instructions. After a couple of tries, she grew in confidence as she loaded and unloaded the pistol faster and faster. With a huge smile she told him, "You right! I got this!" Laughing at her in spite of himself, he told her, "Ok, slow your roll, Annie Oakley. Tole you, it's simple." Agreeing with him, she further mentioned, "It makes sense for me to go loaded, since I ain't got nothin' to carry 'em in." "Fine," he told her, motioning for her to hand him the gun she was holding. He wiped down each weapon and then handed them back to her on the cloth, watching as she tucked them both into the waistband of her jeans. "You gotta license to carry concealed? You don't, you in trouble if you get popped wit' those like that."

"Ain't worried 'bout gettin' popped—not plannin' to hit a liquor store on my way home or anythin'. Drive the limit, be all upstandin', get over the state line, surprise my man. He's gonna freak when he sees these!"

"Well ain't love grand?"

"Yeah, it is. Glad we could do business. I don't s'pose you want me spreadin' the word 'bout where I got these but 'f my man's happy wit' 'em, I might be back for somethin' else."

"Naw, don't 'spread the word'. Jus' enjoy the deal you got. We're done here."

"Cool." Walking her to the office door, he reminded her, "Don't forget what I tole you. Any heat comes my way, I know who you are and how to find you." "No sweat. I got what I wanted, my man's gonna get what he wanted—that's it."

As she left the pool hall she kept chanting mentally, "Stay cool, Kelli, stay cool." She didn't think she was imagining the eyes boring into her back when she climbed into her rental car and drove away. Taking a circuitous route back to the fitness club, she tried not to be paranoid, continuously checking her rear view mirror. Had she done it? Had she gotten away with it? When she was satisfied that she wasn't being followed, she pulled into the parking lot of the fitness club and made her way to her locker on shaky legs. Reaction continued to set in as Val looked around the room after opening her gym bag. She removed the two pistols, placing them inside. She changed into her work clothes and left the locker room, carrying the bag to her car. She wasn't sure what exactly she had just accomplished but a sense of elation finally swept over her once she realized she had actually sat across from Joey Robbs and walked away. Now all she had to do was stop shaking and get it together. She was going to be late coming back from her lunch break and she was going to have to make up a plausible excuse to Jordan for her tardiness.

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Val entered the PCPD the way she had left—by the back door. Now that she had done what she had set out to do, she couldn't stop the paranoia. She made a brief stop in the restroom and texted Anna: "It's done, for what it's worth. I got the gear. Debrief later." Making her way to her desk in the squad room, Val put her gym bag on the floor and she sat down forcefully, releasing her first stress-free breath since leaving the precinct earlier. As expected, Jordan, followed closely by Dante and Randy, made a beeline to her desk. Right away, Jordan started in with, "You're late, Spencer. You-" Jordan paused mid-sentence, scrutinizing her before going on, "You don't look so good, that's what. You ok?" Dante was studying her face intently when she answered, "I'm fine, Commish. Sorry I'm late. My errand took longer than I thought it would." Dante closely observed her for a moment longer and then he added, "I'm assuming you had an appointment with the eye doctor."

"The eye doctor? No, why?"

"No? I didn't know you wore contacts. Since when are your eyes brown?" The color contacts. In her haste to get back to work, she had forgotten to remove them. They were all waiting expectantly for her to explain and she took a deep breath and then said, "Yeah, about that. Funny story…"

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