Jeff,
finds himself in Atlanta Magic
Town
Chapter 24 of Magic Town ...
YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS ANOTHER
EXCITING CHAPTER!
Monday, 12:28 PM: A Bad Meeting
Jeff and
Shonna escaped Magic
Town
If you enjoy this, please take time to LIKE this on Facebook!
Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
- Chris Lamela
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Author contact: Chris Lamela,
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Magic Town, Chapter 24
Monday,
12:28 PM: A Bad Meeting
A large arm appeared from behind a crate pushing the girl, she stumbled
forward.
Perkins appeared at the end of that arm from behind the crate holding a
gun in his right hand.
“Oh, Perkins, it’s you, thank god!” Shonna smiled happily looking to the
heavens in thanks. “Thank god.” She lowered her gun, slowly realizing something
was wrong watching this tall man turning his gun toward her. “Perkins, what are
you doing?” Shonna started to raise her gun again, Perkins raised his higher
pointing his gun straight at her with an absolutely blank expression. She
lowered her gun again.
Jeff stood examining the tall man before him, imagining that there would
be some kind of malice in his expression, hatred, something, anything!
Nothing.
A totally vacant face.
Perkins pushed Jennifer hard from behind, she tripped forward, Jeff
reaching, catching her as she started falling to her knees. He pulled her back
up seeing a gash over her left eye, blood trickling down. “Jennifer, what are
you doing here?” He looked past her, “Perkins, what’s she doing here? What’s
going on here?”
Shonna spoke in a calming voice, like she was talking to a child, “Perkins,
a lot has happened today. You were in that room, the bar, those people have all
murdered each other.” She gestured with calming hands, “You need to put that
gun down Perkins so no more people get hurt.”
“Sorry there Shonna, but he told me I gotta
do this.”
Shonna looked at Jennifer, “But why her? Why is she here?”
“He said that she knows too much, been up to the room of the congressman
and he might a’ told her things.”
“Perkins, who is he?” Perkins
didn’t answer. “Is he Joel? Is he the one that is giving you all these orders?”
“Yep.” Perkins gave a small smirk at using Shonna’s trademark reply. He raised
his gun higher, pointing it at Shonna, signaling Jeff with his gun to get next to
her. Pulling Jennifer with him, Jeff stepped sideways toward Shonna. Jennifer
peeked around Jeff, looking at Shonna. Jeff saw she recognized Shonna from his
room on Saturday, she straightened up again looking straight ahead to Perkins.
“Perkins, what are you doing?”
Shonna looked at him confused. “Why are you doing this?”
Perkins scowled fiercely, “Shonna, or what is it? Who are you?” His
expression made Jeff shiver. “He told me that you was lyin’ to us all and that
you are some kind of cop.”
Shonna stood wordlessly. Jeff looked to his right to see her studying Perkins
intently just like she had done at the club with Joel.
Calculating.
“This was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.” Perkins’s
voice had a whimper, “I had money for my family. I bought my mother a house. I
coulda never done that!” His expression turning to anger, “Then you have to
come along and screw it all up!”
“Perkins, I know you made a lot of money from this, but it was all
illegal. A lot of people are getting hurt. People are getting killed. Killed Perkins,
do you understand that? Those people in the house on Saturday. You saw them
Perkins. This has all gotten way out of hand.” She pleaded, “Look, Perkins, we
don’t want to hurt you.” She leaned over laying her gun down on the floor.
“You’re innocent in all this, I can help you make a deal. You were forced to
help. We are your friends.” She glanced at Jeff. “This man here, we brought him
into this to try to help. To help you.
Perkins, we are the good guys.”
He stood shaking his head, Jeff realized that she was trying to keep his
attention, to draw him nearer to her. “Perkins, listen to me. They’re all dead.
Joel, the mayor, the chief, everyone.” He stared back at her blankly. “We heard
it, you saw them all pointing guns at each other, you were there,” she glanced
at Jeff who nodded. “They all murdered each other,” pointing with her thumb
back in the direction of Magic
Town
Perkins motioned for Jennifer to come over to him. She turned to Jeff her
face begging, he could only nod that she should do as Perkins was insisting.
She moved slowly toward Perkins, cowering with her hands held up toward him. He
signaled for her to come closer, she approached him slowly with her hands up to
defend herself.
When she got within arm’s reach he reached out, his enormous arm coming
down on her, striking her THUMP! on the head with the butt of his pistol, she
crumpled to the floor.
Jeff jerked forward, Perkins swung the pistol back at him.
Jeff looked at the form of the woman laying on the floor stunned, “Why
did you do that?”
“This don’t involve her, I don’t know what he was thinking, she don’t
know nuthin.”
Perkins walked toward them. “Now both of you turn around.”
Jeff felt a panic thinking to himself, So this is what it feels like when you are about to be murdered. He
turned around as Shonna did the same. They could hear Perkins’s breathing––could
hear his heartbeat in his breath.
Perkins put the gun to the back of Shonna’s head, Jeff turned his head
to see the metal poking into her dark cherry-wood hair. She glanced at Jeff,
“Well so much for my judge of character, huh?”
She winced from the gun pressed into her skull.
Jeff suddenly realized that they had to stall.
Stall.
Stall.
Stall.
“Perkins?” Jeff asked, hearing a half-grunt in response. “How did you
guys find out about the girl and me? How did you know?”
“Someone told me she went to yo’ hotel room on Saturday, she had a piece
of paper with some hotel room on it.”
Jeff tried to quickly piece it together. That means Perkins didn’t see
his name, he didn’t write it on the paper. Perkins
must know that I’m not the congressman! Who does he think I am? It was hard
to think straight but panic kept him going.
“So you guys staked out the hotel?”
“Didn’t need to, she told us everythang.”
“How did you find out about her, about her knowing me?”
“Somebody told me.”
Pick! flashed through Jeff’s
brain.
“And Joel gave you orders to kill her?”
“Yeah, but she’s nuthin. Shy little mouse like that won’t talk ‘bout
nuthin.”
Jeff mulled this quickly: he used
his own judgment!
He didn’t follow orders!
There was a chance!
Jeff and Shonna exchanged glances that told him she figured this out
too!
Shonna spoke in a very contained voice, “Perkins, you’ve always liked
me, I’ve always been good to you, haven’t I?”
“I knows dat, and dats why it hurts to be doing this.”
“Your name, Perkins,” Shonna tried to glance around at him, he poked the
gun into her neck, “why couldn’t we find out anything about you?”
“Cause you don’t know my name, dat’s why.”
“What is your name, Perkins?”
“Perkins’s my last name, took it from some man my mother lived with so
ain’t no record of me. Don’t even remember my real name.”
Boy, we sure missed that detail
Jeff thought to himself.
“Why are you doing this? Do you really need to do this?”
“They are going to pay me a lot of money.”
“How much? I can arrange to pay you more.” She waited. “Perkins, you
don’t want to kill an FBI agent. Did you know that? I work for the Feds.” Her mind
swirled.
Buy time.
Buy time.
Buy time.
Wait! Jeff found an opening, he couldn’t believe Shonna missed it! “Perkins,
you know they all murdered each other up there. There’s nobody left to pay
you.” Jeff could detect uncertainty in the slight movement of the gun at Shonna’s
neck.
It was working!
Shonna tried to turn her head, the gun wasn’t forced quite so hard to
make her look straight, “You love your mama, don’t you Perkins? You bought her
that house, you’re her special son. If you do this you will never see her
again. When she hears how you killed a Federal agent and an innocent man she
will be devastated. She will be ashamed of you. Ashamed!”
He pushed the gun hard again into her neck again, “I already done things
to make her ashamed of me!”
“What, Perkins! Come on, it can’t be that bad!”
“I killed all those people.”
She started to turn her head again to look at him, he poked the gun
harder into her neck making her wince.
“Perkins, what people?”
“The congressman, his bodyguards, that woman.”
“It was you?”
This news made Jeff feel like his legs were going to give out. So much for Snake Arm was all he could
think. Damn he wished he was right about that one!
“You were the only shooter in that house Saturday morning?” No response.
“And you went back in, why?”
“The girl was still alive, she called out.”
“He went back in!” Jeff thought
as he felt his knees shaking, clacking like castanets––he was surprised he
couldn’t hear a rapid wooden clacking sound bouncing off the walls.
“Oh, Jesus, how could I have gotten this so wrong?”
Shonna murmured. She could almost hear Jeff’s tension as she glanced just
slightly to her right trying to reassure him.
“And what about Magic
Town
“That was me. Antonio, his guards.”
“But we thought it was Snake, wasn’t it Snake?”
“Snake went back with me when he told me he wasn’t sure I killed
Antonio. He figured out that Antonio was wearing a vest and I didn’t want to
make the same mistake I made with the girl on Saturday.”
“So it wasn’t your blood in the hallway, it was Snake?”
“Yeah, he was in front of me at the door, took all the shots.” Jeff felt
a flash of regret that he didn’t shoot that sixth round, maybe it would have
hit this mark.
Shonna paused.
Think think think.
Stall stall stall stall.
“Did you kill the girls in the counting room too?”
“She was gonna call the police, I had to. The other one…” he didn’t
finish.
“Oh, Perkins. Was it you who took all the records?”
“Me and Joel.”
“Oh, Perkins, what can we do here? Is there anything we can do so you
won’t kill us?” She glanced at Jeff as though trying to give him some kind of
signal, but he couldn’t make sense of it.
“Sorry Shonna, deys nothin’ cause I got to do this.” He paused in
confused thought, “Even if they don’t pay me, you know everything now. You
shouldn’t asked all those questions so I wouldn’t have to do this.”
Shonna took a matter-of-fact tone, “Look Perkins, you shot all the
others facing them, at least do the same with us.” Her voice was relaxed like
she was asking any normal favor rather than the favor of not being murdered,
“That’s only fair right?”
She slowly turned around to face Perkins, now with the gun in her face
as Perkins gasped, took two steps back in surprise. Jeff turned around to face Perkins.
She looked sideways at Jeff in a wry tone, “Say Jeff, how’s your
insurance?”
He looked at her confused thinking why the hell was she asking about his
insurance now? Like his wife was going to get his life insurance?
“I said, how’s your insurance?”
Oh, insurance!
Jeff shot a quick eye to Shonna speaking up, “Perkins, wait! Let me
talk!” Perkins took another step back, the gun now pointing at Jeff. He felt an
almost out-of-body sense as he took the smallest step toward Perkins who made a
slight flick with his gun warning him not to step closer. Perkins stood with
his stoic blank expression as though all feeling, all sense had left him, just
him holding the gun on two people, just following orders, confused by all this
new information.
Shonna spoke softly, Perkins turning the gun back to her, “So Perkins,
you really want to do this. To kill the only woman besides your mama that has
ever protected you, that has ever helped you.”
Jeff glanced at her suddenly remembering what they talked about in that
meeting: the reluctant shooter! Her new tactic is the reluctant shooter!
Jeff studied Perkins face, the blank expression being slowly replaced
with confusion.
The reluctant shooter!
Jeff motioned with his hands to make Perkins turn the back gun on him, “You
said they are going to pay you. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But look, I
know you’re going to kill us––and I sure
wish you wouldn’t––but I’ve got to know…I don’t know…I have been through a
lot here and I just need to know.” He glanced at Shonna who was ever so slowly
moving to her right away from Jeff. “Look at me, Perkins, here, look at me. I
need to know. Perkins look at me!” Perkins
turned to Jeff facing him squarely. Jeff spoke in a softer voice as he ever so very
slowly circled left around Perkins away from Shonna, Perkins turning slowly following
Jeff with his gun as Shonna kept easing away from Perkins’s vision, now moving
a little more quickly.
Jeff looked deeply into Perkins’s eyes. He could read Perkins’s
reluctance, witnessing the struggle between his orders and his secret love of Shonna.
Jeff knew that Perkins had given himself judgment with Jennifer, the single act
that suddenly made all this so confusing. Had he just followed orders with Jennifer
this would be so much easier for him.
Jeff was reading a book in Perkins’s eyes, pages unfolding, laying
before him as though opened in the palms of his hands.
He could read the story in those eyes, the struggle, the uncertainty.
Stall stall stall.
He looked down at Perkins’s gun, “Silencer, huh? I’ve never actually seen
one. Seen them in movies and all.” Jeff stopped his motion when Perkins finally
had his back to Shonna. “So that’s why we never heard any noise from the house.
Nice touch.” Jeff was surprised at the casual tone of his voice as Perkins
tried to keep his stoic blank expression, but it was too late––the book had
been pulled from the shelf, now laying open between them. Jeff watched the
swirling of conflict, Perkins desperately grasping to know what to do. The
confusion.
Jeff could see the doubt in Perkins’s
eyes!
Jeff remembered the blank expressions on the police captains’ faces in
the Chief’s office, the mayor’s staff, he wasn’t close enough to read their
eyes. For them it was like there was no there, there. Perkins was different. His
eyes were screaming the terrific churning of emotions, the doubt. Jeff could
see that glimmer of confusion on Perkins’s face growing to uncertainty.
Yes, the reluctant shooter!
That was it! Ask questions to make him more confused, keep Perkins’s
attention focused on him.
More confused!
More reluctant!
“So tell me, Perkins. Please, I want to know before you kill us. There’s
no harm in telling us, right?” He gave a nervous laugh, “I mean, who are we going to tell after all, right?”
“I don’t know what you want,” Perkins’s expression was genuinely
confused with a puzzled tone to his voice.
“Who ordered all this?”
“Joel.”
“Yes. Yes, you told us that already, didn’t you. Is Joel going to pay
you to kill us?” Perkins nodded still watching Jeff intently. “You know, Joel’s
probably dead over there,” he made a quick nod toward the direction of Magic Town
Perkins whole face suddenly flushed with worry, his eyes glancing left,
right, doubt turning back toward Jeff.
Jeff glanced around Perkins seeing Shonna now ten feet away. He had a
quick flash in his mind how really good
she is at that move, Amazing, he
thought. She made a motion like she was reaching into a coat pocket, he gave
just the slightest nod.
Perkins turned his head, seeing Shonna so far away he spun on his heals,
holding the gun up at eye level at her when she shouted, “Insurance Jeff!”
Jeff yanked the gun from the stinky coat pocket cocking it as he jammed
it against the back of Perkins’s head––Perkins whirled in a wild swing Jeff
twisting away as the enormous left fist grazed his chin he fell backward onto
the floor his gun spinning away toward Jennifer Perkins stepped over Jeff bending
to pick up the gun Jeff saw a streak of silver light come crashing down on Perkins’s
back CLANG! “UGH!” Perkins collapsed
to his hands and knees as his gun flew out of his hands sliding across the
floor Jeff leapt around Perkins diving for the nine-millimeter gun laying a few
feet away grabbed it spinning around seeing Perkins on his knees with the snub nose
raised at Jeff!
CLANG! PAP! a bullet whipped past Jeff’s ear.
Jeff watched in horror at Perkins on his knees, eyes rolling up,
collapsing forward face-down onto the concrete revealing Shonna standing behind
him holding an eight foot galvanized pipe.
Shonna smiled, shrugged. “Insurance!”
Shonna threw the pipe down with a resonating rattling clang echoing in
the cavernous space, stepped over Perkins to Jeff, they both flopped down onto
the floor panting, leaning against a crate, “And boy that is one tough
son-of-a-bitch!” They both broke out in great relieved laughs.
Shonna pulled Jeff’s face to him, looking at his chin, “Did he hit you?”
He rubbed his chin, “Grazed me. I don’t know how he missed me, it was
close, that son-of-a-bitch would have knocked my lights out.” He laughed, “I
think he was aiming for the mole!” They both laughed again.
Jeff looked over at Jennifer, still in the pile where she had dropped.
“Wow, we did it!” Jeff smiled leaning over to give her a quick kiss on
the cheek. “Or should I say, we lived
through it!” They both laughed so loud they could hear their laughter echo
around them.
Jeff realized they were hearing more sirens. “Sounds like ambulances?”
“Yeah, I guess someone managed to live through that hell in there, you
think?”
“Wow, I guess anything’s possible, don’t you think?”
“Yep!”
-----------------------------------------------
NOW READ THE NEXT CHAPTER IN
Also, if you enjoyed this, please give me a LIKE on Facebook to help spread the word! And thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment