"Tiki Moon" drabbles by Christopher

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 291

Tiki Moon #291

"Soooo," Scarlett said, dragging out the word, "not much of a conversationalist in the morning, are you?"

I grinned, "It's just that I have something to do tonight and I need you to stay here."

"Got a date with another woman?" she asked in jest.

"Actually, yes."

"Excuse me?!" she yelled as she slammed her plate down on the coffee table.

"With Deborah Newstead. She's coming back to town and I'm taking her to the Tiki Moon tonight to confront Morty and Nick. And I'm having Harrigan meet us there to arrest them."

"I want to come too," she said...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 290

Tiki Moon #290

I hoped I'd put the fear of a deity into Morty. I meant it when I told him I didn't want to have to go looking for him.

Deborah had made the suggestion that we use the Tiki Moon, since that was the place that Morty had hired me to kill her in. I was wondering how I was going to keep Scarlett on ice until I could get this meeting over and done with.

She had gotten up and made us some breakfast in my tiny little kitchen and we sat on the couch and ate in relative silence...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 289

Tiki Moon #289

Deborah called me back in a couple of hours and said she'd be returning to Los Angeles by the evening. So I gave Morty a call at the mansion. After several rings it was picked up.

"Hello?" the voice said.

"Morty?"

"No, this is Nick."

"Well, this is Groucho. Put Morty on."

I heard a sigh and then the phone being put down. After a minute Morty got on the line.

"Yes," he said.

"Morty, you and Nick meet me at the Tiki Moon tonight at 9 pm."

"Why?" Morty asked.

"Business. Don't make me come looking for you, Morty."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 288

Tiki Moon #288

She told me that she would call me later in the day with the details of her flight. I told her I would call Morty and have him and Nick meet us that night.

I sat there looking at the phone for several minutes after I'd hung up the receiver. I was afraid the excrement was going to slam into the wind-generating device the instant Deborah found out about Scarlett and me. And the reverse would happen when Scarlett found out about Deborah and me.

Either way, I was about to be caught in a veritable hailstorm of shit...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 287

Tiki Moon #287

"Great. Listen, you need to see if you can get a flight and get back down here."

"Okay," she said, "I'm looking forward to seeing you, Jake."

Oh, damn. "I'm looking forward to seeing you too, Deborah. Look, you can call me and tell me the details of your flight and I'll come pick you up and then we'll go confront Morty and Nick. I really think we should do it in public just in case they don't want to be friendly. I've seen a side of Nick that I don't like."

"Okay," she said. "I know the perfect place."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 286

Tiki Moon #286

"Yeah," I said. "I think we're going to have to put the screws to Morty and Nick to see if we can get them to turn State's evidence against Stan North. Offer them a reduced sentence on the conspiracy to commit murder charge to implicate North. That is if you're okay with that and the D.A. goes for it."

There was a silence and then she said, "Yes, I'm okay with that. Maybe it will put my company back in good standing. Because when this comes out my company's going to take a hit. Maybe nailing North will help that."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 285

Tiki Moon #285

The phone rang several times and then the receiver was picked up.

"Uh.....Hello?" a sleepy voice said.

"Deborah, it's Jake."

"Jake, hi. Any news?"

"Yeah, everything I suspected was true. Nick is bribing the City Planner's Office. Phil Garfield found out and tried to shake them down, so they hired Mr. Saint to kill him. I heard North, Morty and Nick talking and I saw the payoff. Oh, and I killed Mr. Saint."

"Really? I didn't see that coming."

I chuckled, "Yeah, it was a real eye opener for him, as well."

"So, d'you want me to come back now?"

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 284

Tiki Moon #284

Scarlett said, "We might as well try it on for size."

She started disrobing. I didn't want her to be the odd man out so I joined her. We slid into my small bed. It was narrow but we managed.

I awoke at 8 am and figured I should get up and call Deborah so she could make arrangements to fly down from Mount Shasta. It was Sunday so she might have difficulty chartering a plane. I wanted to give her enough time to find a flight.

I went in the living room and grabbed the phone, dialing her number...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 283

Tiki Moon #283

Scarlett finished packing a suitcase and we headed to my apartment in Glendale. When we got there I gave her the 10 cent tour which was worth about three cents. I could tell she was thinking that my apartment could probably fit under her bed.

"It's nice, Jake," she said, trying to be diplomatic.

"It's one step up from being homeless," I said truthfully.

She went and opened the door to the bedroom.

"Oh, that's going to be cozy, isn't it?" she said with a grin.

"I'll sleep on the couch."

"You will not!" she said, shaking her beautiful head...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 282

Tiki Moon #282

"Oh, we'll manage," she said with a grin.

"But, I'm afraid the accommodations won't be up to madame's usual standards."

"Maybe not, but I'm sure the company I'm keeping will be five-star," she said as she went to her bedroom to gather up her belongings.

I sat down on the couch. I was thinking about my next move. I had to call Deborah the following day and get her back to town. Then we would have to confront Morty and Nick. I'd have Harrigan waiting to arrest them once Deborah took all her pent-up frustrations out on them...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 281

Tiki Moon #281

I told Scarlett to gather up enough clothes for a few days.

"Are we going on a vacation?" she asked as she winked.

"Yeah, an all-expense paid trip to Jake Randolph's cheap apartment. Sunbathe under a naked light bulb on Jake's threadbare couch. Thrill to the views of scenic Glendale out of his dirty apartment window."

She laughed, "Jake? Are you expecting trouble? Is that why you don't want me staying here?"

I nodded, "Until I get Nick behind bars I just don't want you staying here alone. It shouldn't take but a couple days. I'm sure we'll manage."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 280

Tiki Moon #280

I told Harrigan I would come around to the precinct soon to see him and he nodded, then I took Scarlett home. We went in her building, up to the elevator and that damned squeaky-voiced operator was in there again!

"Good evening, Miss Wilcox," he said, totally ignoring me.

"Good evening, Fred," she said, smiling.

He closed the scissor gate and we went northward.

"Second floor," he said in that grating voice.

We walked to her apartment and I asked, "Is he always in there?"

"Yeah," she said, grinning, "but I'm not even sure if he really works here!"

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 279

Tiki Moon #279

"Uh...absolutely, Scarlett," Nick said. "Paid vacation all next week. Try to relax and forget about this."

Scarlett smiled and looked at me. I think she was having the same ideas I was. But business before pleasure. I had to get the rest of this wrapped up.

Nick kept looking at me. I think he was wondering what the hell I was doing there. I could see the wheels turning in his mind, contemplating whether or not I was a cop. He looked over and saw Mr. Saint lying there and retched.

Soon he would be retching for a different reason...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 278

Tiki Moon #278

"Yes!" she said angrily. "If you hadn't needed me to come in after hours to do this stupid paperwork I wouldn't have been here!"

He looked somewhat relieved. "Oh, yes... Of course."

I interjected, "I think you should give Miss Wilcox next week off with full pay to make up for almost getting her killed, Nick."

I was trying to get her out of the office and away from danger until I could get Deborah back and get Morty and Nick under arrest. It wasn't because I wanted to stay in bed with her all week.

Well, there was that...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 277

Tiki Moon #277

I wasn't quite ready for a confrontation with Nick yet but I didn't have a choice because he saw me and looked like he'd swallowed his own tongue.

"Hello, Nick," I said. "Someone came in and tried to kill Miss Wilcox here. Isn't that just awful?"

Nick looked petrified and began stammering, "Yes...yes...uh, yes...it is....awful... Are you... alright...Scarlett?"

Scarlett had daggers in her eyes that she somehow kept from hurling at Nick. She just said, "Yes, yes. I'm fine. No thanks to you!"

"Me?" Nick asked.

I thought she was going to blow the whole thing wide open right there...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 276

Tiki Moon #276

"Yeah," I said as I looked at Mr. Saint's corpse, "at least he's off my back."

Harrigan nodded, "But without concrete proof of their involvement, Jake, we can't arrest any of them."

"Well," I said, "you can't arrest Stan North yet. But I think you'll soon be arresting Mort Alexander and Nick Berman."

"Is that a fact?" Harrigan asked.

"Yes," I said, "I've got to make a call tomorrow, though, and have someone return to town."

Harrigan knew I was talking about Deborah and nodded in agreement.

"What's going on here?" Nick Berman said as he came into the office...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 275

Tiki Moon #275

Harrigan put his arm around me and walked me to a corner of the office. It kind of freaked me out him being that close.

"Jake, it's your word against theirs. Who do you think they'll believe? The head of the City Planner's Office or a, no offense, two-bit detective that has history a mile long of trouble with the City of Los Angeles?"

I hadn't thought of that.

"Shit! So I'm back to square one?"

"Well, you killed Mr. Saint. That's gotta count for something," Harrigan said, trying to light up the bright side with a wickless candle...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 274

Tiki Moon #274

"Stan North?" Harrigan asked incredulously. "The head of the City Planner's Office?"

"The very same," I said. "They hired Mr. Saint there to kill Scarlett. They also used him to flatten Phil Garfield. And Berman has been bribing North. He pays him every month. They're using that influence to get a heads up on new city projects. And they're bribing city building inspectors to sign off on substandard work."

"And you have proof of this?" Harrigan asked.

"I heard them talking about it, Harrigan! They admitted it all!"

"So you don't have any hard evidence then?"

"Well, no. Just me."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 273

Tiki Moon #273

"Randolph," Harrigan said as he shook his head, "why do you have to collect dead bodies? Why can't you collect baseball cards like any normal adolescent?"

"Because I don't chew gum," I said sarcastically. "I'm not in the mood for lectures and I'm not in the mood for you being an utter bastard, Jim. I'm really not."

Much like me with him, Harrigan knew when to drop the drama and just play it straight.

"Okay, what happened?" he asked.

"Nick Berman, the vice president of this company, Mort Alexander, Deborah Newstead's husband, and Stan North plotted to have Scarlett killed."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 272

Tiki Moon #272

Harrigan got there in record time, about the same time I heard the sirens of several other police cars. I went down to the front door to greet Harrigan. I told him the power had been cut to the building. He instructed an officer to check it out and within a few minutes they had the lights back on in the office.

We went up to the office. Harrigan saw the gruesome scene of Mr. Saint's lifeless body still oozing blood and also spied the other guy hogtied over by Scarlett's desk.

Harrigan just shook his head at the scene...