SMK: Too Close to Home – Chapter 4
Lee walked into the dimly lit, smokey room and looked around. This time of day, staff were busy getting the place ready for the regular night crowd. A few favored customers had access even during the day, and it was one of these favored customers Lee was looking for.
Purposefully ignoring the scantily clad singer practicing on stage and trying to breathe through the sickeningly sweet, earthy smelling haze that floated through the room, he scoured the booths and dark corners. There. The man was in the far corner – a drink in his hand and a woman in short shorts and a low-cut and cropped shirt on his lap. Lee rolled his eyes; there was more than one reason he wouldn't want to bring Amanda here.
Lee strode purposefully toward the booth. Out of nowhere, two very large men in suits stepped into his path, arms crossed and biceps bulging. "Where do you think you're going?"
Lee looked at Goon #1 on the right and smiled a big, cheeky grin. "Oh, hey there! I need to see Marco."
"Marco isn't seeing anyone today." Lee looked toward Goon #2 on the left. Man, he was a big guy, and considering Lee's considerable stature, that was saying a lot.
"Look pal…" He kept his grin in place. "…would you just tell him Lee Stetson wants to talk to him?"
"Why should we?"
Lee didn't need to get official on them; money broke many barriers. "Hey man, I'm just here to pay him some money I owe him. You don't really want me to tell him you're the reason he didn't get his dough, do ya?" The two men looked at each other; Goon #1 jerked his head back toward the table, and Goon #2 nodded and turned to go talk to Marco. Lee smiled smugly. "That's what I'm talkin' about."
Lee looked around the giant of a man to see Marco nod his head while talking to the other guy. Goon #2 walked back toward them. "Marco said to frisk him first."
"Seriously?" Lee glanced at Marco again and caught the mocking smile on his face. He rolled his eyes and spread his arms out. "You should know I'm packin'."
Goon #1 looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"
"Man, you think I'm comin' to this part of town without something to defend myself with?"
Goon #1 looked back at Marco who nodded his head almost imperceptibly. "Alright, Marco says to let you through." He stuck a finger into Lee's face. "But if I even see a twitch toward that piece, you're history. You got that?"
"Yeah, I got it." Lee frowned and looked him up and down. The guy didn't need to know Lee could tear him apart with his bare hands, so he adopted a well-practiced peeved but discomforted expression. They stepped aside and let him through. As Lee walked toward Marco, he saw him summon a girl from the other side of the room. Great. Just what he needed.
"Lee, my man!" Marco didn't bother shoving the woman off his lap or offering his hand. Everything was about holding power and control and keeping other people off balance. "Have a seat." Lee slipped into the booth as Marco looked up and communicated something to the girl coming toward the table. "Tabby, my friend needs some company."
Tabby, dressed just like the other woman, came and slipped into the booth beside Lee; he'd left as little room as possible hoping she wouldn't try to slide in, but she didn't take the hint. He decided not to move, though. He knew if he scooted over toward the wall, she would just crowd him; that's what she got paid to do. Better that she had less room to sit and was uncomfortable.
She slipped her arm around Lee's shoulders, and he had to hide the disgust that slithered through him. It wasn't her fault – she was under the control of someone outside of herself. He was more disgusted at the blight on society that held her here. In the past he would have played along to keep up appearances, but it was something he could no longer bring himself to do.
"Marco, I'm not really interested in any girls tonight. I've got something much more important to talk with you about."
Marco tilted his head, stared at him through squinted eyes, then glanced at Tabby and gave her a head nod indicating she should leave. "You, too, Cookie." He gave the girl on his lap a gentle nudge. She pouted but got up and left.
Lee took a deep, relieved breath and watched the girls leave. They were almost young enough to be his daughters; it made him feel ill – especially since he was about to be a father himself.
Marco tilted his head. "You feelin' alright?"
"Why? Because I'm not interested in a girl young enough to be my daughter?"
"She's an adult, man. What's your beef?" Marco studied him a moment, then sagely nodded his head. "Right." He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and stopped to light it. "Word on the street is you've acquired yourself a ball-and-chain."
"I'm not here to discuss my personal life, Polachek. You heard anything about the hit on Peralta?"
"I'm not sure that's something I can talk about and still keep my current level of good health, Stetson."
"So, you're saying there's actually something to talk about."
"I'm saying, if you want to maintain our cover, we need to look like we're doing a little business. And if it's not the girls…" Marco looked toward Lee's jacket pocket. "…you know what I mean?"
Sighing, Lee pulled his wallet out of his inside jacket pocket, opened it, and pulled out several bills stored there for just such an occasion. He tossed them on the table.
"Not good enough, man." Marco raised his voice so the goons would hear him. When they looked his direction, he motioned them over with one move of his chin. "My friend here is a little reluctant to pay off his loan, boys. Let's take him to the other room."
"Hey, now. Wait a minute!" Lee adopted a panicked look and began shouting. "I paid you half, man! I just asked for a few more days!" The goons grabbed him by the arms, dragged him down a short hallway, opened a door, and threw him in. Stumbling over a chair, Lee knocked his shin on a low, wooden table. "Ow!" He reached down and rubbed his leg as Marco came into the room. "What's this for, man? You've always given me an extra day or two to get everything together!"
"Yeah, well, not this time." Marco looked over at his goons. "Explain it to him, gentlemen."
Goon #1 grabbed Lee's shoulders from behind and held him in place while Goon #2 plowed his fist into Lee's stomach. He'd been ready for it and had tightened his abs, but it still knocked the wind out of him. "Oof! Marco, come on man…" The next hit was to his jaw and whipped his head nearly off his shoulders. That was going to leave a mark. Goon #1 pulled him back into a standing position giving Goon #2 another shot at him. "Okay, okay!" Lee held up his hands in front of his face, but Goon #1 pulled them down and behind his back leaving Lee wide open and defenseless. "Come on, Marco! We can make a deal!"
"No deal. Boys?" The next punch to the gut doubled him over involuntarily, and Goon #1 let him fall to the ground. He curled around himself to protect his vital organs, not knowing exactly how far Marco would let them go. Goon #2 took a step to get ready to kick him, but Marco held up a hand. "That's enough. I think we've gotten our point across. Go ahead and wait for me outside while I work things out with our friend here."
As soon as the goons left, Marco reached down and offered Lee a hand. Grabbing it for leverage, Lee pushed himself off the floor with his other hand. Once on his feet, he braced his hands on Marco's desk and tried to take a deep breath. "Seriously, man?" Still leaning over, he turned his head to look at Marco.
Marco put a finger to his lips. Pulling a fresh cigarette from what was probably a gold cigarette case, he used the scanner hidden in the case to check for bugs. Satisfied, he snapped it closed. "Sorry, Scarecrow." Marco moved behind the desk and sat in the chair. "I needed a reason to get you out of the public space."
"Yeah, well, next time, just ask." Lee used his finger to wipe the blood that was dripping from his lip.
"You know it doesn't work that way, pal." He waited for Lee to sit in the chair across from him. "Now, about Peralta." Marco sighed. "I don't really have a lot of information. People are being unusually quiet about it – which tells me something big is going down." He took a pull on his cigarette. "There've been rumblings about a take-over that might have something to do with Foster, but I'm not sure."
"Does Foster have a following embedded in the organization here on the east coast?"
"Very possibly, but it's really hard to get anything concrete."
Wincing at the movement, Lee pulled a picture out of his inside suitcoat pocket and pushed it across the table. "Alright, then what about this."
Marco pulled it closer to himself and studied it a moment while Lee pulled his hankie out of his back pocket to blot his lip. When Marco looked up, he roll-tapped his fingers several times on the table. "What do you want to know?"
"Who does she work for?"
"Well now, that gets complicated."
"Doesn't it usually?" He pulled the hankie away from his lip and looked down at the blood on it. He shook his head and put the hankie back to his lip.
"Sometimes it gets more complicated than others." Marco leaned back in his chair and studied Lee. "Tania has certain…shall we say…talents that allow her to kind of free-lance."
"What do you mean, free-lance? She sells her services to the highest bidder?"
"No, it's more complex than that." Marco stood, walked over to a mini bar, and poured a shot of whiskey into a lowball glass. "Tania has …assets…under her control." He picked up the glass and took a swig. "I guess you could say she rents them out."
"Are we talking about prostitution here?"
"No, at least, not in the way you're thinking."
"Then what are we talking about?"
"Mules."
"All the cartels use mules, Marco. What's so different about hers?"
"Young mules."
"Are you saying she rents out young people to different drug cartels? What? For a cut?"
"I've told you all I know." Marco took another shot of the liquor. "Why are you asking?"
"Word is she's been spotted in D.C."
Marco raised his eyebrows. "Interesting."
"How so?"
"Last I heard, she'd moved her operation out west."
"Is Lee going to be home for dinner?" Dotty pulled a pie from the oven.
Amanda added some basil to the sauce she was stirring on the island cooktop. "He called about 30 minutes ago and said he'd be home in an hour, so I'm assuming yes."
"Was he on a location scout today or something?"
"Something, Mother."
"Is there a reason you're not going with him lately, Dear?"
Amanda turned and looked at her mother. "No, he had to do an interview today, and I just didn't want to go along."
"Is everything okay between the two of you?"
"Well, that's a silly question." Amanda grinned at her. "Of course it is, Mother." She turned back to get garlic out of the cupboard. "It's just that the person he needed to interview isn't known for being a very nice guy, and Lee is being protective is all."
"Well, you know how much I love Joe…" Dottie pulled a kitchen towel from the drawer and laid it over the pie. "…but I must admit, it's nice seeing a man so serious about taking caring for you for once."
Turning and leaning against the counter, Amanda allowed a soft smile to spread across her face as she gazed at her mother. "Yeah. With Lee, I never have to doubt where his priorities are."
"Hey Mom," Philip came trotting down the stairs into the kitchen. "When's dinner?"
"About thirty minutes." Amanda turned to the stove to set water to boil for the pasta.
"Why so late?" Philip reached for the lid to the cookie jar, but Dotty swatted his hand away.
Amanda turned to face Philip "It's not so late; it's only a little late. Why?"
"I just wondered is all."
"Lee's running a little behind." Amanda watched her oldest son's face harden. "Philip?" Setting the pasta package on the counter, she reached out to touch his shoulder. "Hey. What's goin' on?"
Philip shrugged his shoulder, pushing her hand off in the process. "I don't know what you mean." Turning away, he opened the fridge and pulled out the carton of milk.
Amanda watched while he poured his drink. "Is something going on at school?"
"Nope."
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"I just wanted to know why dinner was late is all. I've gotta go to Brad's to work on a Social Studies project, but if dinner's late that kind of messes with my plans."
"I'll tell you what. Why don't you grab a snack, and I'll save you some dinner for when you get home."
"I'd rather just eat dinner on time." Philip mumbled, then chugged the last of his milk and set the glass down.
Amanda quirked her eyebrow. "Philip, is this about Lee?"
He grabbed a package of Pop-tarts from the cupboard and rolled his eyes. "Why does everything have to be about Lee?"
"Maybe it's about the new girl in his Geometry class." Jamie came into the room, passed behind Philip, and flicked him on the back of the head.
Philip turned suddenly and swatted Jamie's hand away. "Watch it, Barf Bag."
"What's her name, Philip?" Jamie taunted. "Melissa, melissa…" He thumped his chest with the palm of his hand, mimicking a beating heart. "…oh, Melissa."
"Alright boys." Amanda broke the pasta and put it in the boiling water. "That's enough." She turned back to face them. "Philip, I'm sorry about dinner. I'm happy to save some for you if you'd like to go ahead and go to Brad's."
"Yeah, I guess." Philip headed up the stairs and came back down with his backpack. "Alright. See ya later."
"Before ten o'clock, Philip."
"Seriously?"
"You know what your curfew is, young man. Be here before ten."
He opened the door and walked out. "Whatever." The door slammed behind him.
Amanda flinched and looked over at Dotty and Jamie. Jamie wouldn't make eye contact with her. "Jamie? Anything you need to tell me?"
"Hey guys!" Lee called as he came in the back door and shed his coat. "I'm so sorry I'm late." He came up behind Amanda, wrapped his arms around her waist, and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Hmmmm. Spaghetti?"
"Ugh, Lee," Dotty wrinkled her nose. "Why is it that the two of you come home so often smelling like you were at a five-alarm house fire?" She stopped suddenly and stared at him.
"I know. Sorry, Dotty." Lee kissed Amanda on the cheek again. "Do I have time for a shower?"
Amanda reached up and patted him on the cheek, making him flinch. She turned and looked at him. "A quick one…" She took in his swollen lip and bruised face. "…What happened to you?" She reached up to gingerly touch his cheek, but he gently grabbed her hand and pulled it down.
"Rough interview is all." He smiled at her as much as his swollen lip would allow. "I'm okay. I promise."
"Hey, Lee, you think you could help me with some History homework after dinner?" Jamie reappeared in the kitchen and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Hey, what happened to you?"
Lee offered a crooked smile. "Occasionally, interviews go south, Pal. But I'd love to help you with your homework." Lee rubbed his hand over Amanda's back. "Be back in a jiffy."