Blood Red

Tom climbed back into the van and started the engine as Doug took Maggie by the arm and started leading her toward the house. “Oh, and Doug?”

“Yeah?” The man looked back at him, a little worried.

“Have a good time. Don’t worry if they scream, just turn the music a little louder.” He smiled and Doug smiled back.

Then Tom was driving away. Oh yes, they would learn their lessons. It had been easily three years since he’d worked out a frat party like this one, but the girls came back with a lot less attitude and worked just fine when it was all said and done.

Except for Sarah. Sarah had been a little too roughed up by the time the boys were done with her. Not physically, because the frat had played by the rules. Emotionally. Something about her fiancé being one of the frat brothers had just ruined her.

She’d killed herself a few days later. When they found her, she’d been sitting in a dried pool of her own blood. She’d written the word WHORE across her chest with a razor and then slit both wrists.

Sometimes he still missed her. She was feisty and liked to try to slap back when he started in on her.

He wondered idly if one of the girls from this party would crack that badly. “Maybe Liz. She’s close to burning out anyway.”

He turned on the radio and drove on autopilot. He had to get home. Lenny was supposed to be waiting for him. So was Lenny’s little girl.

III

Danny had just climbed into bed when the phone rang. “Better be good,” he answered as he lifted the receiver. The digital alarm clock reminded him in bright, cheery letters that it was just after nine P.M.

“It’s better than good.”

“Jesus, Richie, I was actually gonna sleep tonight.”

“Not anymore. Get your ass out of bed.”

“Are you serious?”

“Danny, you’re whining. You sound like a baby when you do that.”

“You sound too happy. What happened?” He sat up in the bed and reached for his pants. They were already dirty, but he didn’t care.

“My buddy made a mistake.” Oh yes, Boyd was sounding far too happy.

“Who? Tommy?”

“Who else? Get dressed. We’re gonna go bust his ass.”

“You’re lucky. I’ve been wanting a good reason to slap him around. He is gonna resist, right?”

“Hell yes, he’s gonna resist. Danny Boy, I can bet he’ll resist all over the place.”

“Good, ’cause as much as I love you like a brother, I ain’t getting dressed if he isn’t resisting.”

“You can arrest him just as good in your pajamas.”

“Joke’s on you. I don’t wear pajamas.”

“Please tell me you wear something.”

“I could, but I’d be lying.” He slipped the pants over his bare skin. He didn’t have time for underwear.

“Next time, lie to me.”

“You say the sweetest things.”

“Fuck you. Get dressed. I’m at your door in ten minutes, Danny.”

Boyd hung up on him.

Danny met him outside seven minutes later. Boyd had brought coffee. Lots of coffee.

“So what’s the scoop?”

“You ready for this?” Boyd was smiling a lot. It was a smile of pure piss and vinegar joy.

“Yeah, shoot.”

“So I get home, take care of the esses.” Esses was Boydese for shit, shower, and shave; along with sleep and sex, he figured they were all Boyd needed for true happiness. The sex part and the sleep part were rarities. “And I get a phone call from Newton over at the precinct. He knows I’ve got a hard-on for Pardue.”

“Richie, everyone knows you’ve got it bad for Pardue.”

“Whatever. Shut up and let me finish. Okay, so he calls me up and tells me he’s got some interesting stuff for me. Seems our buddy went looking to find out about who might have stolen all of his money.”

“Getouttatown.” Danny’s face split into a gigantic grin. “Somebody stole his money?”

“Not just somebody, Danny Boy.” Boyd was nodding his head like a bobble head Taco Bell mascot. “Seems somebody with a few computer tricks hacked into all of his accounts and made his life savings go away.”

Danny slapped the dashboard as he laughed, narrowly missing spilling hot caffeine all over his lap. “Oh, that little fucker. I gotta send him roses.”

“Yeah, you know he was pissed the other day. I guess he got his revenge. And roses? Screw roses, I’m gonna buy him a night with your sister.”

“He did look like he needed to get laid.”

“Yeah. Anyway, there’s a college boy named Ryan Harper. Seems he’s done stuff for Pardue in the past.”

“Yeah, I know the name. Small change, trying to keep his nose clean since he did six months.”

“Yeah, that one. Whatever he did for Tommy, it was the sort of thing that made Pardue figure he might have stolen from him or know how to get in contact with the thief. So Pardue threatened him and his girlfriend.”

“And?”

“He carried out his threats. Pardue didn’t think he’d go to the cops, what with him being involved in criminal activities himself. I guess he doesn’t get that some things are more important than being outside a jail cell.”

“Pardue wouldn’t.” Danny shook his head. “How bad is the girlfriend?”

“Bad enough, but she’ll recover.” The smile had left Richie’s face. He took poorly to people getting hurt. “Anyway, Harper pressed charges and so did the girl.”

“And we get to make the bust?”