Devlin Haskell: Bulldog Part 19

Oh its you, I said when I opened the door.

Did you get him? she whined.

Yes, I lied.

She opened the door, gave me a big kiss and suddenly seemed her old s.e.xy self. I got a bunch of take out and some more wine, she said and walked into the kitchen.

I followed.

Did you shoot him?

No, I set one of the traps and he just threw himself onto it, sort of a suicide thing I guess.

You did get him, right?

Yes, hes out in your trash bin. I set some traps under your sink just in case there might be another one, but I didnt see any signs.

Oh, G.o.d, I hope not. I dont know if I could deal with another one.

Hopefully you wont have to, whats for dinner?

Theres this great little Thai place I just love so we can eat healthy and it will taste good, too.

I must have made a face at the word healthy.

I think you can miss out on pizza just one night and youll live.

Chapter Forty-Three.

We were working our way through the second bottle of wine, Heidi was laughing, feeling no pain and completely relaxed. I wasnt far behind her and after the past couple of days it was feeling pretty good.

It was one of those pregnant pause moments. Wed been joking and laughing and then we were suddenly quiet for the briefest of seconds at exactly the same time. The unmistakable sound of a mouse trap snapping reverberated through the kitchen like a howitzer going off. Then we heard high pitched squeaking coming from under the kitchen sink.

Heidi looked at me, whined, Dev and jumped off her kitchen stool and onto the kitchen counter, kicking over the wine bottle in the process. Dev, do something, d.a.m.n it.

The squeaking continued and occasionally something rattled from under the sink. My first thought was to just shoot through the cabinet door.

G.o.d, Dev, dont just stand there stupid, do something. I think hes trying to open the door.

I was going to clean up the wine you spilled.

Leave that. Oh my G.o.d, listen to that thing. Do you think hes hurt? she said and then her eyes began to tear up.

I didnt want to open up the cabinet door, but I was running out of options when all of a sudden the squeaking stopped.

Oh G.o.d, now what? Heidi half screamed, she was still on top of the kitchen counter with her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. Her face was buried between her knees.

I think I better open another bottle of wine.

Dont you dare, not until you deal with that, she said and pointed beneath her kitchen sink.

All right, all right, I said then took a deep breath and cautiously opened the cabinet expecting to see a dead mouse. Instead the thing jumped onto the kitchen floor dragging the trap behind him.

Heidi shrieked.

The thing startled me and I went to stomp him with my foot. It must have been the wine because I missed and just caught the trap. The pressure was enough to cut his tail off and the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d shot across the kitchen floor, minus his tail and dripping blood along the way.

Oh my G.o.d, Heidi screamed.

He was at the kitchen door trying desperately to squeeze underneath and getting stopped by the riser on the floor.

Heidi continued screeching.

I grabbed the wine bottle off the floor and backhanded it at him. The bottle caught him just as he rose up on his hind legs. He splattered in a b.l.o.o.d.y mess against her white enamel kitchen door.

Oh G.o.d, I cant look, I cant look. Clean it up, Dev. Get rid of it, please, Ill do anything, just get it out of my house.

I grabbed a handful of paper towels and wiped up what was left of the mouse, then picked up the trap and opened the drawer with the wastebasket. I dropped everything in the wastebasket then pulled the trash bag out, knotted it and marched out to her trash bin.

Heidi was still on the kitchen counter when I came back in. I wet some more paper towels, cleaned up the little trail of blood running across her kitchen tiles then wiped the door clean. I sprayed some Windex on the door for added measure and wiped that off.

Ill be back in a moment, I expect you to be off the counter and sitting on the kitchen stool by the time I return.

She stuck her tongue out at me, but didnt say anything.

By the time I came back in the kitchen, she was on the stool, but she was sitting cross legged making sure her feet were nowhere near the floor.

How would it be if I opened another bottle of wine and we can put this all behind us? Maybe youd feel more comfortable in your living room. I said. I was on my hands and knees, mopping up wine from the kitchen floor with a sponge.

Ill wait for you out there, she said and quickly exited the room. She was back to happy a gla.s.s of wine later.

We both slept in late the next morning, but only because we were up a good portion of the night paying and collecting the debt. Just in case any little visitors might still be lingering, I banged around the kitchen while I put the coffee on the next morning, then I went out and picked up caramel rolls and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

Chapter Forty-Four.

I didnt make it into the office until well past the noon hour. Id gone home to get cleaned up then swung by Caseys just to check on things. Everything looked fine, both the front and back door were in one piece. I was still worried about her coming back to town tomorrow, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I could only hope Bulldog a.s.sumed one of the low-life renters hed brought in had gotten their hands on the money and disappeared.

I thought it might not be a bad idea to check in on Swindle Lawless, aka Cougar to see if Bulldog had tried to shake her down. If she was the main attraction at Nastys for the after-work-banker crowd I figured she probably arrived an hour before, right around four. I was in the parking lot waiting for her.

She drove in about fifteen minutes before she was due to go on stage. I might have missed her, in fact I was ready to take off after sitting in the parking lot for the better part of an hour waiting for her to show up. At first I thought it was a motorcycle with rumbling pipes, then I saw the Lincoln with the cracked windshield, buckled hood and the trunk held down with an elastic cord.

Swindle pulled into a parking place, sc.r.a.ping the side of someones car in the process. An alarm sounded on the car and she backed out of the spot then hurriedly pulled into another spot a row over. I was pretty sure shed been talking to Bulldog. At least I thought it was probably a safe guess once I saw her black eye.

Swindle, I called and then hurried to cut her off before she made it to the Employees Only door. The car alarm continued to chirp.

She attempted to dodge me and go around the far side of another car, but I was too fast and caught up to her.

Hold on, Swindle, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment.

Not really interested, sweetheart, she said then looked at me and said, Hey, I know you, dont I? Howd you know my name?

Yeah, Swindle, its me, Dev Haskell. I was buying you some shots the other night, hoping to get a little more personal, but it didnt quite work out.

Theres always tonight, Denny.

Whats with the eye? I asked.

Oh nothing, a little misunderstanding is all, someone thinking wrong, or just not thinking at all.

Your friend Bulldog?

That son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h better watch it if he knows whats good for him. Accusing me of stealing. I got no idea what in the h.e.l.l hes even talking about.

I heard hes been shaking down a lot of folks.

Not you, too. Why is everyone suddenly interested in Bulldog? First it was Tubby, then that young fool that was the bouncer.

Fat Freddy?

Thats the one. Why all the sudden interest in Bulldog? Ungrateful is what he is, he aint getting anymore from me after the other night, thats for d.a.m.n sure. Hes cut off as far as Im concerned. Not that he was any good at gettin it up, anyway. Look, we should maybe link up after, Ill give you a discount, but Im on in a couple of minutes. All them suits just cant seem to get enough of old Cougar. Whatd you say your name was again?

Dev.

Ill remember that and Ill be looking for you in there, Des. You just remember to tip me real nice now, hear?

Yeah, Swindle, Ill do that.

She headed toward the Employees Only door, unb.u.t.toning her blouse along the way. She punched in a code on the key pad and by the time she had the door open the blouse was hanging over her arm. Shed just begun to undo her belt when the door closed behind her.

As I walked back to my car I thought, Well, there was my answer, Bulldog was still looking. The car she sc.r.a.ped was chirping intermittently now. I couldnt think of anywhere else to go so I headed down to The Spot.

Chapter Forty-Five.

I hadnt been at the bar for very long and for all practical purposes Id been behaving myself. Mike was bartending and I was content to sip and just think. Casey was due back in town tomorrow and after seeing Swindle sporting a black eye I had fresh concerns. I had just signaled Mike for another when my phone rang.

Haskell Investigations.

Dev?

It was Heidi and she sounded frightened. I really didnt feel like dealing with another mouse. Yeah, Heidi, whats up?

A rough voice snarled across the phone, You better get you a.s.s over here if you ever want to enjoy your little friend, again.

The juke box was playing. People were talking and laughing. Mike was sliding a fresh pint across the bar to me. I was unaware of everything except Bulldog on the other end of the phone.

Im coming, so help me, you touch her and Ill kill you.

Sure you will, Bulldog laughed. Better hurry or were gonna start without you, he said then hung up.

I left Mike holding the beer with a shocked look on his face and ran to my car. I pulled a U-turn across Randolph and blasted through the red light on the corner. I was climbing the hill, doing about sixty on the city street and picking up speed. At the Lexington stoplight I veered into the right turn only lane, gave a quick look then shot through another red light. I figured Bulldog heard me from a block away as I skidded around the corner then screeched to a stop halfway up the block in front of Heidis house. There was a long green Jaguar parked across the street. I was pretty sure it was the same vehicle Fat Freddy slit the tire on the other day after he stole Bulldogs protection money.

I hurried out of my car and ran across the front lawn pulling the pistol out of my belt as I went. The front door was wide open and all the lights in the house were off. I jumped up the front steps, stepped inside and then waited. My heart was pounding so loudly I couldnt hear anything else. My eyes began to grow accustomed to the dark and I could begin to make out the shapes of living room furniture.

Maybe just set the piece on that table against the wall, a voice growled from a far corner. I could just barely make out two figures, it looked like Bulldog had Heidi on his lap.

Are you okay, Heidi?

Just do like I said or the b.i.t.c.h is going to get it.

Let her go, Bulldog. She cant help you with whatever it is you want.

This is the last time Im telling you, dumb s.h.i.t. Put that gun down or your girlfriend is going to have a great big hole in her pretty little head.

Its down, Bulldog, Im putting it down, I said and set the pistol on the small table then I turned to face Bulldog and raised my hands.

Move away from that table, he said.

Are you okay, Heidi?

She might be coming with me, Haskell. I kind of like the way we seem to fit together, he laughed then bounced her on his lap and grabbed her chest.

A slight sound seemed to escape from her lips.