Tainted Waters

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

"Tony."

"Jaico. This mean you got more work for me?"

"Yes. Actually I do. I need you to follow someone. She's not to be hurt. Got that?"

"Yeah, follow her. Keep tabs on her. Don't touch. What you willing to pay for this?"

"The same as usual. The white and pink pills. If you do this right, a case of your own. How does that sound?"

"Cool but I want some upfront. I'm gettin' kind of low."

"You get caught selling that s**t, Tony, you're dead. You know that, right?"

"Who will give a s**t about some two-bit hustler selling some drugs? It's not like you're giving me enough to make a living."

Jaico rolled his eyes. He knew for a fact the little weasel was making good money on it. But he was small-time, far enough away that it shouldn't ever come back to him. And he was good at his job. He'd done a few contracts for him and had always come through.

"When can you be here?"

"I'm less than a half-hour away."

"What? Why are you still around?"

"Let's just say that I've been enjoying myself a little before I left. The last job was not what I'd been expecting. Never had to knock off someone that old before. Anyway, good for you I'm still hangin'."

It was good that he was still there, but the fact that he hadn't followed orders this time bothered Jaico. Then he reminded himself that the guy was good at what he did, and it gave him time to pursue more important things. He thought about what he was doing later that night. Time was not going to go fast enough. "I'll have a vehicle and package at our drop-off. It'll tell you what you need to know."

Ozz didn't mind outsiders being brought in as long as Jaico was going to keep a close eye on them. A very close eye. But he had better things to do. It had always worked out. He always got results. His boss didn't need to know how he accomplished that. He was all about the end result, anyway. Jaico just figured he might as well get some benefits. And it wasn't like he wasn't doing his job, he now had to get some answers for the man.

After confirming everything with Tony, he hung up. Glancing in the mirror in the hall as he passed, he stopped to smooth back his hair. Once he had it how he liked it, he went into his bedroom and pulled on his new tight-fitting shirt, partially buttoning it before heading out for his night. He couldn't help but smile when he hopped into his red convertible. His father's words telling him he'd never amount to anything just made him grin. One day he'd go back and shove it in the old man's face. He'd done better than good. He had life by the tail.

~~~~

Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't eaten at the funeral and that she had no food at home. Sam decided she better pick up some groceries. Looking down at her dress, she realized how impractical it was but knew there was nothing to eat at home. She backed up and turned left. A big black SUV pulled away from the curb just down from her mother's. It made her pause for a minute, but she wasn't sure why. Putting it down to the fact that she'd had a few stressful days, weeks, months, she headed out of town. Twenty-five minutes later she drove into Bentley and, after taking a few side streets, she pulled into the grocery store parking lot. Twenty minutes later, she wondered if it had been worth fighting the crowd for twenty-five dollars worth of groceries, but at least she had something to eat for a few days. As she came out of the store, she noticed several stores in the strip mall. One jumped out at her—Locks-R-Us. The key. She needed to get one cut.

"Hi, Jim."

"Sam. Uh … hi. What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, I'm not here about a job." She smiled half-heartedly and barely refrained from shaking her head when she saw him visibly relax. "I need two copies made."

She had worked for Locks-R-Us briefly the year before. Jim, who owned and had run the place for thirty years, had been pretty set in his ways. He had not appreciated her rearranging his board, so that like blanks were together. It had made sense to her, but it hadn't to him. He knew where every key was and hadn't needed her to reform him to some new layout. It hadn't mattered that she couldn't find any blanks because there was no order. She hadn't lasted long. And obviously, he didn't want her back.

Five minutes later, feeling like she was being shoved out of the store with false but firm kindness, she made her way to her car and opened the driver's door. She bent down to flip the two bags of groceries over onto the passenger seat. The car beside her backed out. As her eyes tracked its movement, she couldn't help but notice a black SUV, sitting about ten stalls down, beside a three-ton truck that was also leaving. Her first thought was that the vehicle had been trying to hide, but then she realized how silly it was that she even thought it was the same one that she'd seen at her mom's.

It's nothing.

She slid into her seat, rested her elbows on the steering wheel, and pressed her index finger against her mouth. Was she seeing what wasn't there? Or should she just accept that she was a little jumpy? Funerals always had that effect on her. She avoided them when she could. It was just a reminder of her father. Something she tried to avoid. Starting her vehicle, she pulled out of the parking lot. She'd gone a block when she realized how ridiculous she was being. No one had pulled out behind her. She reminded herself it was a grocery store; people were going to go there.

Fifteen minutes later, she turned into the parking lot beside her apartment building. She walked through the front entrance and up the three flights to her place. Taking just enough time to put away the groceries, she realized that the feeling of being watched, followed, of something going to happen hadn't left her. She'd tried. On the drive back, she'd told herself over and over she just needed a break. A change of scenery and things would be fine. Only it still didn't feel that way. Her gut though was telling her that something else was going on. Since it rarely led her astray, she looked out her balcony window. It was the same view that had been there the day she'd gotten fired. And probably every day since she'd moved in. She just hadn't paid much attention to it. Some high rises. A busy street. Nothing out of the norm. Satisfied that it was just her overwrought nerves, she went into her bedroom and hurriedly stripped off her good clothes and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. Pulling out her overnight bag, she filled it with clothes for the lake. It was as she was checking to ensure her bedroom window was closed, which faced a different avenue than her balcony did, that she saw the black SUV. It was parked across the street mostly hidden by poplar trees.

Too coincidental.

After slipping on her runners, she grabbed her backpack, her sleeping bag, and pillow and headed out, down the back stairs to the parking lot and out the side door that no one ever used. The area was quiet, except for a few people arriving home. They were so zoned out though; they didn't even acknowledge her. After dumping her stuff in her car, she sprinted across the open lot and slipped through the hole in the fence that some kids had made by kicking out boards.

She ran a block and a half, rounding the end of hers and snuck across the street. Since there were some big trees lining the sidewalk, it was fairly easy to sneak up to the vehicle without being seen. Especially since they probably had no clue, she was on to them. Finally, close enough to check out who might be inside, she realized that all the windows were black. Other than the outline of a head, on the driver's side, she had no idea who was in there. And it looked like only one person. She immediately glanced around, taking in the area, checking to see if someone was watching her. Or worse, coming at her. A few vehicles passed by, while a few people could be seen walking in the distance.

Before going back the way she'd come, she quickly wrote down the license plate number. Once back at her Grand Am, she climbed in. From where she was parked, she knew that unless the person in the SUV got out or moved it, they wouldn't be able to see her until she had left the parking area. Her lot exited onto a major thoroughfare, Kelvin Street. She only had one option and that was to turn right. The black vehicle also had the same option. The only thing she had was surprise. Taking a deep breath, she started her car, backed up, put it in drive, and hit the gas. She cramped the wheels hard as she hit the road.

Fishtailing as she entered the busy street, she got more than her share of honks. In her rearview mirror, she saw the SUV turn the corner behind her. He was coming fast. He was following her for sure. Even though it was nearing the end of rush hour, the traffic was still fairly heavy and slow moving. Turning right at the next set of lights, she zipped to the end of the block, turned right, went a block, turned left, then right, then right, then left and then zipped through a gas station and bounced down a rutted alleyway. A few more turns and she found herself on Allenby, a road most people avoided. It was a little rougher than most streets, with a lot of potholes. Zooming down it, she zigged and zagged until she could shoot onto Highway 321 which would get her out to the lake.

Constantly looking in all her mirrors, she had yet to see the black SUV again. Just to make sure, she took a few turns and ended up on a secondary highway which she normally avoided because of all the craters and washboard covering it. What should have been a forty-five-minute drive, took another hour and a half. She took almost every side road she could. If the guy wanted to keep an eye on her, she was determined not to make it easy for him.

The question was why someone would want to? Who had she pissed off? Lately anyway.

~~~~

"What did she do today?" Jaico held his cell phone to his ear with one hand, while his other one fondled the breast that he'd just released from its confines. The brunette woman's lips were trailing south down his hairless chest. He was trying to pay attention to Tony, the man who was Sam's tail.

"She went to the funeral. Took her mom home. Got groceries. Got a key cut. Went home. Then took off."

The woman had his pants unzipped and was going down on him. He threw his head back, biting back a groan.

"Okay. Good. So, she went to the funeral, got groceries, went home. Got it. Keep on her."

"No. She …"

Jaico clicked off the call and pulled the woman up, falling with her onto the bed. He'd inform Mr. Ozz later as to what Sam had been doing.