"Tiki Moon" drabbles by Christopher

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 251

Tiki Moon #251

"Or rather," I continued, "he's too cowardly to do it himself so he hires people to do it for him."

Scarlett shook her head, "I can't believe this, Jake."

"He's going to call you in the morning saying there's some emergency paperwork that has to be taken care of and could you come in to the office late Saturday night to do it. I heard the whole plan, Scarlett."

She started shaking.

"Hey, hey," I said, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, kid. Your proposed assassin and myself have been heading for a showdown for a while."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 250

Tiki Moon #250

"Where is she?" Scarlett asked.

"She's in a safe place for now. But I'll be calling her back here soon because we're nearing the end of this thing now, I think."

"Well, what was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Nick discovered that you took Phil Garfield's files out of the office. He's going to have you killed."

She looked shocked. "Is this a joke? I've known Nick Berman for four years. He wouldn't do something like that. Maybe he's a crook but I can't believe he's a coldblooded killer."

"Well, he is."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 249

Tiki Moon #249

"Excuse me?!" she said in a rather irritated tone. "What d'you mean she's not dead."

"I mean she's still alive. I faked her death. I had to draw out her husband Morty and Nick."

I explained it all to her, that Deborah had called me and got me to pose as a hitman so Morty could hire me to kill her, that I faked her death so I could find out if anything illegal was going on at the construction company.

However, I did leave out the minor detail that Deborah and I knew each other in the Biblical sense...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 248

Tiki Moon #248

"What is it?" she asked as she led me in and closed the door. She was wearing the same pink bathrobe she was wearing the night before. I was wondering if she was naked underneath. No, Jake, concentrate.

We went over to the couch and sat down.

"Listen," I said, "all my suspicions have been confirmed. Nick Berman had Phil Garfield killed and is bribing the City Planner's office."

"Did he have Ms. Newstead killed?" she asked.

"Yeah, about that," I said. I knew I could trust her now that they were about to have her killed. "She's not dead."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 247

Tiki Moon #247

The elevator came to a stop and the little guy said, "Second floor."

I looked down and saw he had a wedding ring on. How his wife put up with his irritating voice was beyond me.

I got down to Scarlett's apartment and knocked on the door. It was almost 1 am.

I had to knock several times and finally heard "Just a minute" come from the other side.

The door swung open and Scarlett was standing there all bleary-eyed and adorable.

"Jake!" she said, grabbing me and hugging me. "Everything okay?"

"No," I said. "We've got a problem."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 246

Tiki Moon #246

I decided it was too dangerous not to tell Scarlett. I just hoped she had enough confidence in me to go through with it.

I retrieved my car and drove to her apartment building.

I went in and up to the elevator. The same little man in the red jacket with the squeaky voice was in there. Didn't this guy ever sleep?

"Floor please," he said as I got in.

"Second," I said using the same squeaky tone he had. The mockery was lost on him as he closed the scissor gate and took us up to the second floor...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 245

Tiki Moon #245

Morty, Nick and Stan continued discussing more of their illegal activities. Apparently the Commonwealth Construction Company had been bribing city building inspectors to sign off on substandard work that wasn't up to code. It just got better and better.

They ended their clandestine meeting with Stan saying he'd push through the new permits to get the art gallery project back on track. They all left the site as I sat behind the trailer trying to figure out how I was going to save Scarlett, contemplating whether I should tell her of the danger or just be there to stop it...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 244

Tiki Moon #244

So that's it. An art gallery that would be a front for money laundering. These guys were apparently into far more than just bribery. But I had bigger worries, like keeping Scarlett alive. I dragged her into this and if something happened to her it would be my fault.

"I can have Scarlett work late tomorrow night at the office," Nick said. "She'd be the only one there."

Stan nodded, "I'll give Mr. Saint a call and have him take care of it."

Sorry, Stanley. Scarlett wouldn't be there alone. I had a score to settle with the Lone Ranger...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 243

Tiki Moon #243

"You don't know it was her," Morty said. "You can't just kill a girl based on your suspicions."

I guess Morty had forgotten that he'd hired someone to kill his own wife.

"Mort," Nick said, looking into Morty's eyes, "we've come too far to have this all blow up in our faces."

"Exactly," Stan said. "And once this art gallery is finished we can use it for money laundering. And I have word about some new areas of Los Angeles that they're about to start expanding. Gentlemen, we are on the cusp of becoming far richer than we are now."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 242

Tiki Moon #242

"Something else has come up," Nick said.

Morty and Stan looked at Nick apprehensively.

"I went to look for Phil's files last night and they were gone. I checked this morning and they were back. The only one in the office yesterday evening and this morning was Scarlett Wilcox."

Oh shit.

"I think she's snooping around. Deborah always liked her and I used to see her talking to Phil around the office when he'd come in to get his paycheck or something," Nick said.

"Well," Stan said, "we'll have to take care of her."

"Wait just a minute!" Morty said...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 241

Tiki Moon #241

"I mean," Stan continued, "you're the one that let that Garfield clown stumble on to our little arrangement."

Aha. So, Garfield's hit-and-run wasn't a random incident.

"I tried to pay him off but the bastard wanted more money than I pay you!" Nick said angrily.

"Well, he's dealt with now. And Deborah is out of the way, so it should be smooth sailing from here," Morty said. Stan looked at him with disgust. It was obvious he had little affection for Morty.

"Well," Stan said, "if anything else comes up I'm quite sure Mr. Saint can handle it."

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 240

Tiki Moon #240

They went into the trailer and turned on a light. I peered through a window at the back end of the trailer.

There was a table with some blueprints on it and a giant toolbox in the corner. There were a few pictures of pin-up girls tacked to the walls, but other than that it was very sparse.

Nick put the case on the table and opened it.

"Here's your monthly payment," Nick said, "but we've got to get this project underway again. We're losing too much money."

"Well," Stan said, "haven't we tied up all the loose ends?"

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 239

Tiki Moon #239

He had left the car lights on and he stood in front of it, biting the end off a cigar and lighting it. He milled around nervously for a few minutes and then Morty's car pulled in, and he and Nick got out. I was close enough to be able to hear them, but just barely. I really had to listen close.

"Evening, Stan," Morty said. So I was right.

"Hello, Alexander. Berman, let's get in the office and get this crap over with, huh?"

Nick was carrying the same case they had my money in at the Tiki Moon...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 238

Tiki Moon #238

I parked down from the construction site on a side street, but close enough for me to make a run for it if things got a little too hairy. I hopped the construction fence and made my way to the office trailer. I camped out behind it and waited, all the while hoping I would get the info I needed to break this case.

Sometime around 10 minutes to eleven the gate swung open and a Cadillac pulled into the lot. A man I'd never seen got out, and I presumed it was Stan North of the City Planner's Office...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 237

Tiki Moon #237

I went and had dinner at a small diner on the edge of Pacific Palisades and then went to a drive-in movie in Santa Monica to kill some time before the meeting. A movie called Impact was showing, about a wealthy industrialist who was presumed dead after an accident orchestrated by his wife and her lover. But he lived and secretly began plotting his revenge. Apart from gender reversals it wasn't that far removed from my current case.

The show wrapped up at about 9 pm so I scooted on back to Pacific Palisades to wait for the meeting...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 236

Tiki Moon #236

The sun would be setting soon so I drove to Pacific Palisades and found the construction site. I parked a block down from it and just studied the layout. There was a construction fence all the way around the site. There was a small trailer, most likely an office, off to one side and the rest of the site was mounds of dirt, stacks of lumber, steel beams and other materials needed for the construction of a building.

I was hoping the meeting would take place in the trailer, that way I could sneak up to the back and listen...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 235

Tiki Moon #235

I finished my coffee, gave those sultry red lips a hard kiss, and left to go get myself prepared for my appointment in Pacific Palisades. I went back to my apartment and slept until 3:00 pm, when I got up, showered and dressed all in black. I got my .38 and cleaned it, loaded it, and put it in my shoulder holster under my arm.

The meeting between Morty, Nick and Stan North was scheduled for 11:00 pm, but I wanted to ride out there before dark and have a look around.

According to Scarlett no one was working there...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 234

Tiki Moon #234

I managed to get some coffee made by the time Scarlett emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and looking gorgeous in record time.

She grabbed the cup of coffee I poured for her and took a big gulp.

"Mmm, not bad," she said.

"Better than the Molten Java?" I asked with a smile.

"The coffee? No. The service? Definitely."

"Listen," I said, "I've got a meeting I have to crash late tonight and I probably won't get back for a while. Can we go out for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Of course. Just be careful, Jake Randolph."

"Always," I said, grinning...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 233

Tiki Moon #233

I opened my mouth to speak and she said, "And no, you can't join me or I'll never get to work. Now get dressed, young man, and then go make us some coffee."

"Yes, ma'am," I said as I watched her walk stark naked to the bathroom. She obviously knew she was a knockout because there wasn't an ounce of self-consciousness about her.

I, on the hand, wasn't that confident, so I waited until she was out of the room before I got up and started dressing.

I went to the kitchen and started looking for the coffee pot...

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Jake Randolph in "Tiki Moon" Pt. 232

Tiki Moon #232

"Yeah," I said, being coy.

"You know, some day you're going to have to tell me your last name," she said playfully.

"Ah, it's more mysterious this way."

She reached down under the covers and squeezed an area that generally shouldn't be squeezed.

"Randolph!" I said as my eyes were watering. "Jake Randolph!"

She released the pressure. I figured she already had enough information to betray me with if she was going to, so I told her. Plus, I'm pretty good at reading people. And I could tell she was a decent person.

"I better grab a shower," she said...