The partners in crime co.., p.17
The Partners in Crime Collection, page 17
″Yes, sir,” one of the officers said as they led Drina away.
As the other detectives came out of their offices to see what the yelling was about, and they saw Drina being led away – they broke into applause.
Jamie wasn’t having any of it, not after how they treated Joey. He headed towards Sarge’s office and knocked on the door.
″Come in,” Sarge said.
″Drina Popov is under arrest. We have her confession on the recording. I need to go talk to Joey.”
″Jack okay with handling the recording and paperwork?” Sarge asked.
″Yes, Jack is okay with that,” Jack said from behind Jamie. “Go ahead, partner. Go talk to him. Let him know it’s done.”
″Appreciate it,” Jamie said to Jack, then looked back at Sarge.
″Yes, go. See you tomorrow,” Sarge said.
Jamie went to grab his stuff, wrapped up a couple of pastries, and left. A few minutes later, he was knocking on Joey’s door.
Dai answered and gave a faint smile. “Nice to see you. Come in?”
″I’ve got some news,” Jamie said. “And pastries.” He handed the package to Dai and stepped inside.
″If that’s Kennedy selling something, I’m not buying,” Joey called out from the library.
″Fuck you, Mahoney. I’ve got news, among other things,” Jamie yelled back.
″Whatever. Come say your piece,” Joey grumbled.
Jamie stepped into the library and leaned against the door frame. “So, Drina Popov confessed to the murders of her brother, her father, and Saul Mizzotta, and the arranged murder of Nicky Carrera. She’s being booked right now. Seems Mike’s murder was unintentional, and Saul panicked and called The Priest. Drina was managing the organization and had a thing for Mikey, and it just got messy from there. She’s also put out an unofficial hit on Katie and Paulie.”
″Paulie gave a statement that I had no knowledge of anything he was up to, but I’m still not going back. He really fucked his life up.”
″I heard. And I don’t blame you,” Jamie said. “I would like to invest in your business, though. Mike left me some money. Are you interested?”
″I’ll think about it,” Joey said.
″Oh, quit being a turdhead,” Dai said to Joey as he came in with bottles of water. He handed one to Jamie and then put another beside Joey. “You know you need more capital to do what you want with the business, so take it and be gracious. Your cranky-ass attitude to someone who is your friend has to stop. Jamie didn’t do anything to deserve your bullshit. He’s just convenient.”
″Eh, it’s fine,” Jamie said after he took a swallow of water. “I don’t blame him for being cranky. I just don’t have many friends and I really don’t want to lose one because he’s having a bad month or three.”
″It’s only been a few weeks. Maybe a month,” Joey replied. “Not months, plural.”
″It’s six weeks,” Dai said.
″Okay, okay. Jeeze, I can’t handle the both of you up my ass,” Joey complained.
″Not my job. His? Maybe. Not mine,” Jamie teased and Dai burst out laughing while Joey just shook his head.
″So how’s the new partner?” Joey asked.
″She’s no Michael Donovan, or Joey Mahoney, but she’s damned good. Jack Forbes is her name and she’s sharp, funny, and so far seems to have great instincts,” Jamie said.
″Don’t fall for her,” Joey said.
″I don’t think she’s into men. I saw her watching people when we went to lunch, and every hottie that turned her head was female. Besides, I’m not shopping for a new partner. I still love Elise.”
″I heard you bought a new place,” Dai said. “You moved in yet?”
″Not until next weekend, I hope. If everything is finished by then,” Jamie said.
″I’ll bring the steaks for the grill when you have your ‘break in the new place’ party,” Dai said.
″They call it a housewarming,” Joey told him.
″Whatever it’s called. I’ll bring steaks. Make sure you have a good grill,” Dai said with a grin. “I haven’t grilled out in a while.”
″You do realize I have a grill on the patio out back, right?” Joey said.
″Okay, so I can grill here, too? Fantastic,” Dai said.
″Alrighty, I’ll leave you two for now. Let me know about the investment, Joe. I’m serious, okay?” Jamie said.
″I’ll let you know. Thanks for coming by with the update,” Joey said.
Dai followed Jamie back out to the door. “Thank you for coming by. He needed to apologize but he was afraid you wouldn’t accept. This was a good compromise.”
″He’s my partner, even if it wasn’t for very long. That’s family, no matter what,” Jamie said.
″Chosen family is sometimes stronger,” Dai said.
″So very true,” Jamie replied.
Dead & Buried: Chapter Twenty-Two
Mike sat on the roof of Jamie’s new house and watched the party going on below. Jack, Joey, Dai, Sarge, Jack’s son Avery, and a few others had gathered for a cookout and to watch the Sox in the playoffs.
“Don’t you miss being down there?” his companion asked.
“I do,” Mike said. “But I’m pretty lucky that I have a friend that is willing to make accommodations for me. He listens to me and helps me feel useful.”
“And he solved your murder?”
“He did. Turns out my murder was an accident, but it was part of a chain of events that took down two criminal organizations before the case was done. That’s pretty good teamwork, if you ask me.”
“And you think he can figure out what happened to me?”
Mike turned to look at the teenager that sat beside him. “Noah? I think if anyone’s going to figure it out, it’ll be Jameson Kennedy. But he’s not going to be doing it alone. I’m going to help.”
“But you remembered some of what happened to you. I haven’t. Well, not yet, anyway,” Noah said.
“And they haven’t found your body yet,” Mike replied. “Once we figure that out, the rest will come.”
Jack handed Avery a bottle of soda, then took a second one out of the cooler for herself. She shifted her chair a bit so the sun wasn’t in her eyes, and carefully avoided looking at the young woman standing beside Avery’s chair.
“I know you see me,” the girl said.
Jack covered her mouth with her hand, her words barely audible. “Not here. Wait until later.” A shiver ran through Jack as she took a swallow of her drink. She really wanted something stronger, but she was driving Avery back to campus after the cookout.
“Go to the bathroom, we can talk there,” the girl said.
Jack got to her feet and set the soda on the arm of her chair. “Be right back,” she told Avery and ducked into the house. The half bath was under the stairs and she stepped inside, locked the door, and turned on the water. “Ellis, you can’t just show up and demand I speak to you. I’ve already had to rearrange my life because of this shit.”
“Like I chose to die and end up being a ghost that only you can see?” Ellis replied. “I was twenty-two years old, clean, and trying to start a new life. My death? It’s on your hands.”
“No, your death is on Samson Rhodes’ hands. He’s the one that shot you. Quit playing the guilt trip card. It doesn’t work. I had to give up my job, my friends, my family, my home – because you wouldn’t leave me alone. You cause me trouble here? I’ll ignore you until the end of time. I swear it,” Jack hissed at the girl’s shade.
“There’s another ghost here,” Ellis said. “I told him not to tell Jamie about me, so relax. His name is Michael Donovan. He talks to Jamie all the time.”
Jack leaned back against the sink and stared at Ellis. “He...what?”
“Y’know how I talk to you? Mike talks to Jamie. You should probably talk to him about me. He’s like the only person in the world who would understand.”
“I don’t know. I’m still so new here,” Jack said with a sigh. “Look, just leave me alone today, okay? I want to spend time with my new team and with Avery. Come find me when I get home tonight if you need to chat.”
“Whatever,” Ellis said and disappeared.
Jack rested her head against the door and pulled herself together. What were the odds that she’d end up with the one partner that might understand? But could she really take that chance? The only reason she was able to get a new job was because her last boss kept the crazy talk out of her file – as long as she got out of his precinct. It had cost her everything.
Jack, Avery, Joey, and Dai had stayed behind to help clean up after the party. The Sox had won and were headed to the World Series, so the celebration had gone on after dark. Now he had the house to himself, and Jamie grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed upstairs after he locked up and set the alarm. Elise had called earlier in the day and they’d had a really good conversation about the kids, about her life down there. Things seemed to be going really well. She was happy he’d got himself a home of his own and that Mike’s murder was wrapped up. Closure for the kids was important. He was going to head down there and room at Mr. Donovan’s place for a long weekend. He needed to talk to the kids about the case and spend some time with them. Elise and Mike’s father had come up with the plan and Jamie was all for it.
Malina had gained guardianship of Maxim – so he had a mom that loved him, watching over him now. They were staying in Paris, but with everything being sold off and dispersed after Drina’s conviction, they had enough money to live very comfortably while Max continued his studies.
Jamie had invested in Joey’s PI business and it looked like he might actually get a return on his investment. Not that he was worried about that – it was just nice to see his friend happy and healthy.
“You done partying it up?” Mike said as Jamie sat on the side of the bed.
“Was a good time,” Jamie said.
“I’m glad. No, really. You deserve some fun and relaxation,” Mike replied.
“I’m going to sleep in tomorrow, then go for a run on the beach, and when I come back from Florida, I’m going to get myself a rescue dog. It’s time I got myself a companion,” Jamie said.
“Just don’t get one of those little fluffball things. Get a dog that can run the beach with you,” Mike suggested. “Speaking of companions, I have someone for you to meet.”
“Another dead person?” Jamie asked.
Mike gestured to someone, then took the hand of a teenage kid.
“Aw, hell,” Jamie said with a sigh.
“Jamie, this is Noah Riggs. He died sometime over the last twenty-four hours, but his body hasn’t been found yet. Tomorrow morning, after your run, maybe you could help us look?” Mike asked.
“Like I’m gonna say no?” Jamie replied. “Hi, Noah. When it’s daylight, I’ll help you look. Maybe someone will have called in a missing person or something by then.”
“Thank you, sir,” Noah replied. “But no one will call it in. I live in a group home and they don’t check who is and who isn’t around every night. They kinda don’t care much.”
Jamie scrubbed his hands over his face and rolled fully onto his bed. “I’m too drunk and tired to even think clearly right now, so let me get some sleep and we’ll work on it tomorrow.”
“See?” Mike said. “I told you he’d help. That’s what we do. We solve murders. Even though I’m dead now, I still work with the best partner in existence.”
A faint snore drifted up from where Jamie lay across his bed.
“Uh huh,” Noah replied as he eyed Jamie’s half-dressed body sprawled across the top of the blankets. “If you say so.”
THE END
Dead Wrong
First published by Graffridge Publishing 2021
Copyright © 2021 by T.K. Eldridge
Dedication: Taking risks is part of life. Putting yourself out there for love is one of the greatest risks of all. I'm so proud of my son for taking risks. Love you, Wayne.
Epigraph: “Once I catch you in one lie, it makes me question everything you said.” -Frank Ocean
Dead Wrong: Chapter One
Noah checked his reflection in the window one more time before he got off the bus at the last stop on Shore Drive. He was finally starting to fill out, and it was about three months before he turned eighteen. He had started to think he’d never catch up to the other guys his age, but the time spent lifting weights was finally showing in the strain of his t-shirt across his chest and the tightness in the arms of his favorite button down shirt. Noah hoped he’d get a couple of new pairs of jeans before school started but living in the group home meant it was a crap shoot. He’d probably end up getting some hand me downs from the bigger boys when the Res noticed his jeans were too short. The new Resident in Charge, or Res, was the worst one yet. He spent all of his time on his laptop and had to be reminded to order groceries on a regular basis. They never lasted that long, so there wasn’t really a point in trying to train the Res in how to take care of the twenty-five kids that lived in the house at any given time.
For Noah, he learned early that the only person he could truly count on was himself. He went to school, worked at the local fast food joint, and bought what he needed. Tonight was special, because he’d bought something for his girlfriend, Soraya. A delicate gold necklace with a heart that had been engraved with their initials rested in a black velvet bag in his pocket – a token of their first six months together. It had taken him four of those months to save up enough to get the gift. No cheap stainless steel electroplated gold for his girl, no sir. Soraya was used to the finer things, so he couldn’t be giving her some cheap crap for their anniversary. There were only a few memories Noah had of his mother, and one was her telling him that you should start something as you mean to go on. Do it right, give it your best, because once you set the bar, you knew where the beginning of things would be and could mark your progress from there.
Someday he’d be able to buy her emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, but for now, it was just a tiny heart in real gold. He’d have to make sure to give it to her away from her friends. Noah knew they were only her friends and he was allowed to hang with them because she wanted him there. They were all children of the well-to-do in Harbor and he didn’t belong. As far as the group were concerned, Noah ranked lower than the kids of their household help – and he knew it.
Noah had met Soraya Halston at school when they’d been put in a group in Chemistry. Her humor, intelligence, and quick wit won him over as much as her honey blond hair and bright green eyes. Her best friends, Ashley Wentworth and Hailey Sewell had spent most of the past six months trying to talk Soraya out of being with him. The other two in their group, Montgomery “Monty” Weatherby and Spenser Newport had welcomed a third male, until they found out he was a throw-away kid. They tolerated him for Soraya’s sake, but they went out of their way to make him feel uncomfortable. Noah just did his best to ignore the jabs and snarky comments so he could spend time with Soraya.
Tonight they were supposed to be having a bonfire on the cliff above the beach and Noah looked forward to cuddling with Soraya on one of the huge logs that surrounded the fire pit. He made his way along the path through the trees, the light from the bonfire a beacon that led him on. Noah could hear the laughter and chatter of the group, his hand curled around the velvet necklace bag as he stopped to gather his nerve.
Noah had been so focused on seeing Soraya, he never heard the step behind him. The blow to the back of his head dropped him to the ground, the scent of pine needles strong as he tried to suck in a breath to scream. Nothing seemed to be working right. He felt hands grab him and lift him up, then he was flying through the air. Noah bounced once off the cliff wall, so he never felt himself land at the bottom. His last thought was of Soraya.
Dead Wrong: Chapter Two
The late Michael Donovan sat on the roof of Jameson Kennedy’s house, watching his still-living partner flip burgers on the grill while the Red Sox battled the Yankees in the playoffs on the outdoor screen. Jameson – Jamie to his friends – had a new partner in Jacquelyn Forbes. Jack and her son Avery sprawled on the porch couch, while ex-cop, now PI, Joseph Mahoney and his partner, Dafydd Llewellyn, and their Sergeant Lincoln Tremont sat at the table.
“Don’t you miss being down there?” Mike’s companion asked.
“I do,” Mike said. “But I’m pretty lucky that I have a friend that is willing to make accommodations for me. He listens to me and helps me feel useful.”
“And he solved your murder?”
“He did. Turns out my murder was an accident, but it was part of a chain of events that took down two criminal organizations before the case was done. That’s rather good teamwork, if you ask me.”
“And you think he can figure out what happened to me?”
Mike turned to look at the teenager that sat beside him. “Noah, I think if anyone’s going to figure it out, it’ll be Jameson Kennedy. But he’s not going to be doing it alone. I’m going to help.”
“But you remembered some of what happened to you. I haven’t. Well, not yet, anyway,” Noah said.
“And they haven’t found your body yet,” Mike replied. “Once we figure that out, the rest will come.”
Mike had been dead for several months and he was still in the process of figuring things out about being dead and interacting with the living. The only person he’d met so far among the living that could see him was Jamie. If he touched another ghost, then Jamie could see and hear them too, otherwise he could only see Mike.
Word had got out among the newly dead that if they were murdered, they could find Mike and maybe get help. He hadn’t let Jamie know about this development yet. Before Mike died, he and Jamie had been partners for eight years. They had grown as close as brothers, but after Mike died, they learned even more about each other. Jamie’s ex-wife, Elise, was now parent to their two kids, Maureen and Kevin, as well as Mike and his insane criminal ex-wife, Kathleen’s two kids, Colleen and Eddie. Mike’s father had moved down to the Florida Keys where Elise now lived with the four kids and bought the house next door to help. Getting the kids out of Harbor, Massachusetts and away from the news and drama had been a wise choice. Mike had gone down there to see his two, and they looked as happy as two kids who’d lost both of their parents could look.
