“I did NOT sign off on this! This was not the deal!” The warden was furious. Two of his men were dead, along with two other guards, who no one in the entire prison could identify. “Everyone is on my ass! Sheriff Wilkes, the press, the families, and now the governor is on his way! If I’m going down for this mess, I’m taking all of you with me!” His fingers were squeezing the burner phone so tightly, that something cracked deep inside the phone. Warden Joseph Cooper was locked in his office. Chaos ensued on the other side of the door. The news was blaring across his TV.
“… Yes, that’s how it happened, as we understand it. It seems there was a shootout between the notorious Brass Bonds Motorcycle gang and the guards that were transporting death row inmate, Jasper Connor, who was imprisoned for the death of local businessman, Lucas Jackson …”
The voice on the other side was calm, collected and humming a song. It was “All My Life” by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville. It was also the warden’s wedding song.
“Dammit, Whitey! Stay the fuck away from my wife!” The plastic of the burner phone was stressing under his angry grip.
“Listen, Joe. Calm the fuck down. Just calm down. All of this is under control, and fixable. As of right now, no one knows you’re involved, right?” Whitey was too casual in his tone for the warden to calm down, but yet, he found himself nodding into the phone.
“Yeah. I don’t know. Whitey this is fucked up. All of this is your fault!”
“Joe, listen to me now. You’re going to do what I say, just as I say it, and I promise you that we’ll get out of this. You’ll get to keep your job, your pension, and I won’t even fuck your pretty little wife. Man, I bet she looked stunning when you two danced to that song. She probably even looked … virginal.”
Big Stu laughed as he listened to Whitey break the warden’s balls. “Whitey, you’re terrible.”
The warden was not amused. His assistant swung the door open to his office, and he held his hand up to halt her, “Not now!”
“But, Warden, Sheriff Wilkes is on the phone. He needs to speak with you.”
“I said, NOT NOW!”
The voice on the other end of the phone spoke up, “Joe! You tell her to keep the Sheriff on hold! Do not blow him off, or it will piss him off and make him come looking for you! Tell her to keep him on hold, and then give me your full, fucking attention!”
The warden’s eyes flared as he looked back at his assistant, who looked like she was about to cry, but he kept his voice calm and in control, “Julie, tell the Sheriff to hold on. Tell him I’m on the phone getting some information, and I’ll pick him right up.”
“Good. Well done, Joe. Now let’s get to work. When you pick up the Sheriff’s call, you’re going to tell him that you never signed a transfer order for Jasper Connor. You’re going to tell the Sheriff about how Jasper got a pretty little lawyer named Lauren Holden to pay off some guys to help him escape. Then tell him to go find Lauren. I have a feeling he can find her with his very own niece, Misty.”
The warden nodded into the phone as he listened. His forehead was beading with sweat. His eyes shifted from his assistant, Julie, who was talking on the phone, to the steady red light on the phone console. His heart was pounding as he waited for it to start blinking.
“Oh, and Joe … don’t fuck this up, or I promise you, I will indeed fuck your wife.” Whitey started humming the warden’s wedding song again, then disconnected the call.
Then, that little, red, steady light started to blink.
***
“Lauren, honey. Wake up.” Misty was touching Lauren’s shoulder gently. Lauren’s eyes shot open just as she sat straight up.
“Where am I? How long have I been asleep?” Lauren looked around trying to get her bearings on where she was. They were in Misty’s house still. Lauren had nodded off on her couch after playing the voiceover of the tape for Darla Lovell, attorney extraordinaire, and love slave to Whitey Smith. Lauren rubbed her head, “I feel like someone stabbed me in the eyes.” She woke up with a brutal migraine.
Misty handed Lauren her cell phone, “Darla called you a few times. I didn’t dare pick it up.”
Lauren looked at Misty horrified, “Why didn’t you wake me? Misty! You should have woken me up! How long have I been asleep?”
Misty smiled apologetically, “It’s only been about three hours. I didn’t have the heart to wake you. You looked so tired, Lauren. She only started calling a half hour ago.”
Lauren swiped the phone from Misty’s hands, and stared at it as her thumb moved across the screen to review her missed calls. The last one of the three was only a few minutes ago. Lauren bit her lip as she considered calling Darla back, and what their next move would be. “OK, need to think a minute. I need your computer, and we need the horse, and one of those USB cables.”
“Ok. That’s not a problem. We have it right here.”
Misty was staring at Lauren, a bit nervous for her. The laptop was sitting right there, with the horse, and the cord that they used to watch the video on the laptop. “Lauren, honey, you sure you’re ok?”
Lauren nodded, rubbed her eyes, and sat in front of the laptop, “Yes, yes. I was just shaking the sleep out. Let’s get this footage duplicated, now. You’ll need to get a copy to your uncle, and I need a copy and the original.” Lauren’s fingers flew across the keyboard. As she began to put some precautions in place, Darla called again.
“Don’t answer that just yet.” Lauren didn’t take her eyes off the computer as her fingers flew. “Let it ring four times. She hates it when the phone rings four times, self-important bitch.”
On the fifth ring, Lauren tapped the enter key, and watched the files transfer from the flash drive in the horse’s ass to the computer. Then she answered the phone, “Yes, Ms. Lovell. What can I do for you?” Lauren’s voice was rather chipper.
“Stop the bullshit, Lauren. Whitey wants to meet. He’ll cut Jasper loose IF you give him the video, and it has to be everything – originals and copies.”
“Darla, you know just as well as I do, that it takes moments to copy files these days.” Lauren looked at her watch, “It’s been a little over three hours since we spoke. I could have a hundred copies by now. Besides, Whitey doesn’t have Jasper and I’d prefer we keep it that way. Tell Whitey to call off his monkeys and just let Jasper leave town. I have no interest in showing anyone the footage but you and Whitey.”
Darla laughed, “And Whitey is supposed to just trust you, Lauren? Surely, you can’t be that naive.”
Lauren smiled into the phone, “Yes, Darla, I fully expect him and you to trust me. For one, I’m not nearly as sneaky or intelligent as you or Whitey when it comes to a life of crime, and I’m not ashamed of that fact. I just don’t want to see Jasper hurt any more for a murder he didn’t commit. I will give you and Whitey access, so you can see just how tight a grip I have on his short and curlies with this footage. I do not intend on turning over every copy, but I also don’t intend on turning over ANY copy. I just want to stop playing games, and I want Jasper to disappear … of his own accord, of course.”
As she waited for Darla’s response, Misty’s dog, JC, started to bark at the back door. “Well, Darla, whaddya say? I show you the footage. You convince Whitey to stop looking to hurt Jasper, and we’ll be done with all shitty business.”
Darla covered the phone with her hand and mouthed to Whitey, “She’s somewhere wherethere’s a dog.” Then she heard Misty’s voice calling after the dog.
“JC! Get down!”
Lauren tried to mute the phone with her hand. Darla laughed. Lauren was no threat, no criminal, and certainly no match for Darla Lovell and Whitey Smith. Without speaking to Whitey, Darla moved to close the deal.
“I think you’re right, Lauren. We should, and can, make a deal, but Whitey needs to see the video. Email me the login info and we’ll contact you. Where are you? We’ll come to you.” While she waited for Lauren to answer, Darla mouthed to Whitey again, “Dog’s name is JC?” Darla shrugged and Whitey’s eyes lit up. She could tell by his expression that he knew exactly where she was, and it couldn’t be more perfect for his plan. In fact, he looked outright giddy.
Lauren tried to sound calm, even though she was worried Darla heard Misty call that damn dog. “Good, I’m glad to hear you say that. It doesn’t have to be ugly or messy. I’ll make sure Jasper never contacts Whitey again, and that he leaves town tonight. I just don’t want Whitey going after him anymore, Darla. I’ll email you the link now.” She completely and deliberately ignored Darla’s request to know where she was. “I’ll call you back in one hour, Darla. Watch the footage.” Then she disconnected the phone.
***
“I don’t know what I ever saw in her as a lawyer. She’s so stupid.” Darla was staring at the phone, amazed. “Whitey, it can’t be this easy. Do you know where she is?”
Whitey was pouring two glasses of scotch and grinning, “Her stupidity gets me hard.” He took the glasses and walked over to Darla, who was sitting on the couch in Whitey’s back office. He stood before her and pushed his groin toward her face.
“Whitey. We have to deal with these loose ends. You are meeting Lorenzo Mauriello tonight. Jasper could walk in here any moment. Lauren has video footage that’s probably on its way to Misty’s uncle, the Sheriff … I can’t blow you right now.”
Whitey lifted an eyebrow, “Darla, don’t make this difficult. Now … suck my cock.”