Chapter 4
Some Place was a cop hangout, a bar that let me in because I was AJ‘s boy. I parked the bike in the alley by the dumpster and slipped into the back by the delivery entrance. The kitchen was going full tilt, it was Wing Nite and the place was crowded.
"Hey, Jade," Wheeny greeted. He was retired Boston Vice who‘d bought the bar and ran it like a deli. "Your dad here for Parmesan Garlic?" Dad was a legend for the number of wings he could put away. I shrugged.
"Sent me a message to meet here."
"What‘s up?"
"Don‘t know."
"Grab a plate. Help yourself." He thrust a china plate into my hands and scooped out a sampling of wings, Honey Barbecue, Garlic Parmesan and Buffalo. "Thanks," I found a corner that wasn‘t underfoot and went to town on the pile until nothing was left but a tower of bones.
Murphy poked his head into the kitchen, saw me and gestured. I followed him out to the taproom and was greeted by his old team.
"Where‘s Dad?" I looked around. Their faces were flat, grim and my heart sank. "No," I shook my head, denied it. "NO! Where‘s my dad?"
"You need to come with us, Jade."
"Where? Take me to Dad. Mom?"
"Where have you been, Jade?" Murphy asked me. I turned to him.
"The library. I was at the library. Dad called me, told me to meet him Some Place. I came right away."
"What time did you get to the library?"
"Why? What‘s this about, Murphy?"
"There‘s a warrant out for you, Jade. You shot your Mom and Dad and ran."
I fell to the floor, my face white, screamed denials, clawed my way up and tried to run for home. Many hands grabbed me.
"Jade, we know you didn‘t do it," he said urgently. "I need to swab your hands to prove it."
I held them out. "Test me, polygraph me. I didn‘t kill my father or my mother! My library card was swiped at the south side branch. It‘s time stamped when I entered and when I left. I can prove I haven‘t been home since 7am this morning when I left for school."
"You need to come with us, Jade. We‘ll hide you until we get to the bottom of this."
"Who says I did it? Who found them?"
"Homicide from the 672. Someone called it in as a domestic disturbance. Anonymous tip."
"Why me?" Murphy pushed me out the back door surrounded by Dad‘s buddies. I felt confused, terrified, and adrift even surrounded by the most macho bunch of dudes with whom I‘d ever been.
They hustled me into a dark car crammed with gear and settled around me, took off onto I95 and headed out of town towards the border.
"Where are we going?" I asked trying to make room for my shoulders. I was squished between Murphy, Reilly, Denato and Jalvers were up front, and Pierce was driving.
"Vonage‘s cabin in the Berkshires," Murphy answered.
"Tell me what happened, Murphy."
He glanced at me and then away. "They sent a black and white. Found your dad with a bullet in the back of his head. Your mom was shot once. In the head, too. Your schoolbooks were on the table with drugs inside. And money. Over $5000. Implications were you are a dealer, they found out and you shot them."
"With what?"
"Your dad‘s Sig Sauer."
"It wasn‘t me."
"I know that, Jade. It‘s got to be someone with a grudge or---"
"Or what?" I asked.
"Or it‘s about what you can do."
"I‘ve been doing it for 13 years, Murphy," I returned. "Why now?"
"There‘s an article in the Times about you, Jade," said the Sarge, Reilly. "Came out two days ago. Doesn‘t mention you by name but it‘s got enough detail to mark AJ and you if you dig a little. And someone dug. The FBI had agents at two of the precincts and they sent them to the 4-7, dug through reports and came up with AJ‘s name, solve rate, and started asking a round about him and you."
"About me?"
"Where did you come from? Where were you born? Who knew you before you just appeared at AJ‘s," Murph answered.
"Did you know I was…adopted?"
"We were all there, Jade. We saw your mom. You."
"What will they do to them, to Mom and Dad?"
"Take them to the morgue, do autopsies, release the bodies for a funeral."
"I have to see them, to say goodbye, Murphy. I have to be there."
"They‘ll be expecting that."
"They who? Let me out!" I reached over and tried to open the door but they pulled me back and held me. I tried kicking and screaming yet couldn‘t move an inch until finally, one of them put me in a chokehold and held me until I passed out.
I rolled over in a bed that smelled funny. Like it had been stored in a basement---sort of musty and cold. The sheets were flannel with moose on them and matched the bedroom and curtains. The room was done in knotty pine, the furniture rustic, like an old cabin. I saw rifles mounted on the walls out through the open door. Bars closed off the windows, screwed into the wood with lag bolts. I tried to get up and made it as far as my feet on the floor but my shoulders wouldn‘t move. I jerked; found my wrist was handcuffed to the headboard.
"Hey! Anybody here? Hello?"
Murphy came around the corner, and stuck his head in the room. He had changed out of his uniform and wore jeans, flannel shirt and down vest. His issue pistol was on his hip. "Sorry about your head. You were hysterical, had to calm you down. How do you feel?"
I jerked the chain. "Let me go."
"Can‘t. Not until you promise not to do anything stupid."
"Like what?" I said bitterly. "I don‘t know where I am or how I got here. I don‘t have any money or---" I felt in my pockets but my cell phone was gone, too. "Where is everybody?"
"Dropped the team off when we got to Worcester. Reilly took everyone home but me."
"My Dad?"
"Cap‘n is planning their funeral. He had no other family but you. And us."
I swallowed. "They still think I did it?"
Slowly, he nodded. "BOLO out for you, warrants and VRT Team. FBI has agents looking for you, too. Guys in suits with sunglasses, blacked out SUVs and shiny badges."
"Men in black?"
"We used to be the men in black, Jade. Are you hungry? How‘s your head?"
I did have a headache and a sore throat. "I‘m thirsty. Got anything?" I sat on the edge of the bed and eased the ache in my shoulder.
"Water, soda, Mike‘s and beer. I don‘t recommend the beer on top of a headache and getting drunk is not a smart option right now."
"What am I going to do, Murph?"
He hesitated. "First thing, we have to find out why AJ and Franny were killed, Jade and why you were fingered for it."
"I was at the library, looking up stuff about me on the Internet. Do you think I called them down on mom and dad?"
"No, Jade. You‘re not responsible for this. Don‘t blame yourself. It was the bastard who leaked the story to the papers." He walked away, came back with a glass of Coke and two Tylenol. I took them, lay back down on the bed, and wallowed in self-pity.