The Master Ring
Chapter 5
It was just after ten when I parked my car behind Sean’s rusty Reagan. I killed the lights and had a smoke while I waited. A few minutes later, Sean appeared.
He got right to the point. “So what do you know?”
I shrugged, a very painful exercise after my afternoon’s activities. “I don’t know anything, actually. I was contracted to find Allison and deliver a ring to her. That’s it. They said it was part of a collection that Allison would want completed, but they didn’t give me any details beyond that. This is Chrystal Heights, ya know? Illegal artifacts get moved around all the time. I figured the less I know, the better.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I hear you, mac. Look, you can’t see her because she’s in hiding, all right?”
I gave him my best surprised look. “Hiding? From what?”
“A situation,” he said. “And I ain’t saying more than that. But here’s the deal, mac. She needs that ring.”
“I’m all about giving her the ring, bub,” I said. “I don’t get paid if she doesn’t get the ring. But Miss Hannah said no, remember?”
“Miss Hannah is trying to protect Allison,” said Sean. “If you tell her about your delivery, she’ll probably change her mind.”
I held up my hands. “I’ll pass on that. I can barely move as it is.”
“That’s true, isn’t it?” he said, a sudden gleam coming into his eyes. “Say, you don’t happen to have the ring with you now, do you?”
I gave a casual shrug. “As a matter of fact, I do. When you said you could help me, I thought you might mean you were taking me to meet her.”
Sean sighed, then said, “Mac, I’m really sorry about this, but I’m gonna have to ask you for that ring.”
I looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, give me the ring or I’ll drag you back into the bar and hand you over to Slab. Then I’ll call Miss Hannah and tell her you tried to break into her room.”
“That ain’t five by five, pal,” I said. “I ain’t done nuthin’ to you. Why are you dropping a bushwhack on me?”
“Sorry, mac,” he said, trying to puff himself up to look more dangerous. “I ain’t got no problem with you. But Allison needs that ring. Hand it over.”
I had protested enough at that point and was in danger of overplaying my hand, so I just settled for a glare. Then I growled, “Ah, the hell with it. This case has been nuthin’ but trouble from the get-go. Here’s the ring. Good riddance.”
I thrust the ring box into his hand. He accepted the box and said, “That’s the spirit, mac. Win some, lose some.”
I didn’t bother to answer. I got into my car and started the engine. He was walking back into the bar as I pulled away.
I parked about a mile away. Three cigarettes later, the little red dot on my tracker unit started moving.
The red dot stopped moving about twenty minutes later.
It was a house. Sean’s car was parked in the driveway. I parked on the street with the front of my car facing out, in case I needed to make a fast getaway.
I closed my car door and made a show of flicking away my cigarette. Then I made my way to the front door. I knocked three times.
Sean answered the door. He was holding the ring box that I had hidden the tracker in and shaking his head.
“Bad move, mac,” he said. “Miss Hannah is about five minutes away.”
“That’s fine. I only need three.”
“You’ve really dropped your sixes, haven’t you?”
“Probably,” I said. Then I raised my voice. “Allison? Good evening. My name is Jack Wolfe. I believe we have a couple of very important matters to discuss.”
Veronica showed up at my office early the next evening.
“I’m here,” she said. “So what’s the news?”
I poured two drinks. I carried them over to my desk and handed her one. “It’s time to celebrate. This case is almost closed.”
Veronica perked up. “You found where the girl with the master ring is?”
“Yep,” I said, holding up my glass. “Jack Wolfe, crack detective, solves another baffling case!”
Veronica laughed delightedly and we kissed. Then we tapped glasses and drank our wine.
“So what happens now?” asked Veronica, hiding a yawn with her hand.
“Now we finish our drinks,” I said. “Then we’ll eat some dinner and make sweet, sweet love. After that, I’ll show you the location and you’ll write me a check. Case closed.”
“A check?”
“Of course a check,” I said. “You didn’t think I worked free, did you?”
“Oh! Of…of course not. Of course you get paid. How silly of me to think otherwise! Of course I’ll write that check…as soon as I confirm the address, of course.”
“That makes sense, I suppose. To business then!” I said, raising my glass again. We tapped glasses again and finished our wine.
Veronica yawned again. “You know, I’m not really hungry, Jack. Perhaps we could…you know…could…give me the address…address now…”
“Veronica?” I said, catching her arm as she swayed. “You okay?”
“Y-yes…yesss…fine…just…need a nap…”
“Good idea. Lay down on the couch.”
She was out in seconds. I covered her with a blanket. It was time.
I was sitting at my desk having a smoke when she opened her eyes a few hours later.
“Oh…oh, my goodness,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I have no idea what came over me.”
I shrugged. “Stress, most likely. You’ve been worried sick about your sister.”
“True.”
I blew a stream of smoke. “Anyway, you woke up just in time. I’ve got some news. Can you get your sister here within the next hour or so?”
Veronica blinked. “What do you mean? Why?”
“Because Allison and the ring are going to be here in about an hour, that’s why.”
“What?!” said Veronica. “But…but how…?”
“Allison thinks she’s picking up the other ring. I convinced her I have it here. I told her to come alone for my protection. Can you get your sister here within the hour?”
“Yes…yes, of course!” said Veronica. She went to her purse and grabbed her phone.
Forty-five minutes later, there was a knock on my office door.
I looked at Veronica. She looked at her phone.
“Carina’s still about fifteen minutes away,” she said.
“That’s fine,” I said.
She gave me a tight smile.
The door opened. In walked Allison.
Veronica stood up and smiled. “Hello, Allison,” she said.
Allison stopped and stared. “Sylvia,” she whispered.
“Sylvia?” I said mildly.
“Yes,” said Veronica, not taking her eyes off Allison. “It’s not important, Jack. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m thinking it could be important.”
“I’ll explain later.”
Allison was staring at Veronica. “You…you dyed your hair. But you’re Sylvia…!”
Veronica sighed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. Allison, come over here and sit down while I explain to Jack what’s happening.”
Allison obediently walked over to Veronica and stood next to her.
“Yes, Jack, I’m Carina, okay? I told you I was Veronica because I didn’t want anybody to know where I was. I couldn’t take any chances, so I told you I was my sister. It’s something my sister would have done for me anyway.”
Allison started to speak. Carina turned and said, “Don’t say anything.”
I chuckled and said, “You sure are bossy for a girl wearing a slave ring, sweetie.”
Carina gave me a smug smile. “I have the master ring. Always did.”
“I know,” I said. “You needed me to find Allison because you had tricked her into putting on the slave ring, but she somehow got away from you before you had time to program her, didn’t she?”
A look of annoyance flashed across her features. “Yeah. She gave me the slip.”
“She did indeed. And you knew she’d go straight back to Hannah and you had no chance of getting Allison back. But you needed your ring back. The other half of the master-ring set.”
“Of course I did!” said Carina. “The master ring is useless without the slave ring.”
“And that’s when you brought me in, right, Carina? Or should I call you Sylvia? After all, that’s your real name, isn’t it?”
And that’s when she showed the first flashes of irritation.
“What makes you think Sylvia’s my real name?” she asked, eyes dark.
I shrugged. “I’m a detective. That’s what I do. Although it admittedly took a while for me to put everything together. But once I realized I had traced a year and half of a girl’s history almost effortlessly, I started thinking maybe things were going a little too smoothly. Two people who didn’t like me giving me all the information I needed? Didn’t feel right. Made me wonder, but I didn’t have anything solid to base my suspicions on. And then my new assistant reported that a dark-haired girl that really looked like Tonya’s old roommate stopped by for a visit not long after I left yesterday.”
“What does that have to do with me, sweetie?” said Sylvia. “I’m blonde now, remember?”
“Changing hair color’s as easy as changing a wig, sugar,” I said, “but you didn’t change your license plate number. My assistant has a thing about license plate numbers.”
Sylvia’s jaw tightened.
“Anyway, that pretty much clenched my suspicions, but as a final bit of insurance, I called Benny, a friend of mine on the Heights police force, and he connected me to the Westwood mansion to speak with Veronica Westwood. She’s a bit put out with you, sister. I’d stay out of North Heights for the foreseeable future.”
“Whatever,” said Sylvia, reaching into her purse. She pulled out a revolver and pointed the business end in my direction. “Sorry, Jack. It’s been a slice, but it’s time for me to go.”
“You seem to have lost that aristocratic edge you were speaking with a short time ago.”
“Yes. I thought I mastered it pretty well for my role. Mastered. See what I did there?”
I laughed. “Yeah, sweetums, I see what you did. Well, I gotta say you were quite well-prepared. Are you going to tell me why you use the rings to capture unsuspecting women?”
Sylvia smiled, but said nothing.
“Well, don’t bother. I’ve already figured it out. Kate’s old trailer. You and Tonya catch a girl and use the ring to turn her into a round-the-clock hooker. Then you sell the girl to the highest bidder, take the ring and find another victim.”
Sylvia shrugged. “Close enough. It’s a tough world. You shouldn’t take it so personal.”
I raised my eyebrows in mock indignation. “Of course I take it personal. You tried to use me to continue your white slavery ring. I do have to hand it to you for selecting me in the first place, though. But that was Floyd’s idea, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” said Sylvia. “We needed a patsy detective smart enough follow the breadcrumbs we handed him, but too dumb to see through the whole play. Floyd mentioned you used to live at Crosswinds and it was perfect. He even said you had a white knight complex that would make helping a damaged damsel-in-distress irresistible.”
I shrugged. “A weakness, I suppose. But I did figure you out.”
“Fine, Jack. You figured it all out. Bully for you. But I’m bored now. Let’s go, Allison. You’ve got work to do.”
Sylvia started for the door, the revolver still trained on me. Allison, however, stayed where she was at.
“Hey!” said Sylvia, “I said ‘let’s go’!”
Allison glared at Sylvia. “Hey, Sylvia…why don’t you put down the gun, then take off all your clothes and play with yourself? Do it right now.”
Sylvia blinked in sudden surprise. Then she said, “Yes, Mistress,” and set the gun on my desk. A moment later she began stripping off her clothes.
Sylvia looked at me with shock in her eyes as her clothes dropped to the floor. Then, her spectacular body naked, she dropped to her knees and began sliding her fingers into her sex.
“Jack!” she said. “Please! I…I can’t stop…!”
“Oh, that,” I said. “Yeah, I slipped a mickey into your wine earlier tonight. After you passed out, I took the master ring off your hand and used it to take the slave ring off Allison. She came over then and put the slave ring on your finger while you were sleeping. You know, the same way you did it to her.”
Her composed features showed the first signs of panic. “Please, Jack! We can work this out together. Just…just help me get free…!”
“Help you? I don’t think so, sugar. In fact…” I raised my voice then. “Why don’t you guys come join the party?”
A door on the side of my office opened and in filed Miss Hannah, Slab, Sean and two muscular pretty boys. Slab was dragging a cuffed and gagged Tonya. She was naked. Slab pushed her from behind and she fell to her knees next to Sylvia.
Sylvia looked at Tonya, eyes wide.
Tonya said, “Mmmmmppphhhh! Mmmmmppphhh!”
Miss Hannah smiled that chilling smile. “I must congratulate you on setting this trap, Mister Wolfe. And please accept my apologies again for the…unpleasantness that took place yesterday afternoon. I assure you we will find an adequate use for these two sluts.”
I gave a generous shrug. “Water under the bridge.”
Miss Hannah leaned down until her face was inches away from Sylvia’s. “You will learn what it feels like to be an anonymous sperm receptacle, sweetie. Every waking moment.”
The pretty boys got the girls up and walked them out toward their cars. Sylvia and Tonya were still naked, but that’s the Heights for ya.
Miss Hannah gave me a significant look. “You truly impressed me yesterday, Mister Wolfe. Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”
“Thank you, Miss Hannah, but I prefer being my own man. I’ll pass for now.”
She cupped my cheek with a soft, gloved palm. Then she smiled and walked out the door, followed by a beaming Allison.
The door close. I sighed and poured myself a bourbon. It looked like I wasn’t gonna get paid for this case. At least not in greenbacks.
I tossed back the drink and found myself smiling. Win some, lose some, right?
“So our first case is a success,” said Lynn.
I nodded. “Yep. Nice work, kid.”
“Sylvia and Tonya getting off easy, though, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they be in jail?”
I gave a humorless grin. “I suspect Miss Hannah’s attentions will make Sylvia and Tonya wish they had been arrested instead.”
“Hmm,” said Lynn. “True. But what about the rings? Shouldn’t they be turned in?”
“Turned in to who? Besides, do you wanna be the one to take those rings from Miss Hannah?”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Exactly. Anyway, we got the job done and the bad guys are off the streets. Let’s take our victories where we can.”
“All right, boss,” said Lynn.
“Hey, Floyd,” I said.
“Cracker fucker,” he said, shaking his head. “The fuck you want? I thought you weren’t coming back.”
I shrugged. “Unfinished business. Just one more thing I wanted to talk about.”
He scowled. “Yeah? Well, I ain’t got fuck-all to say to you, Jack.”
“I just wanted to let you know that Tonya and Sylvia are out of business, so you won’t be getting a cut anymore.”
“Wha-wha-wha…!” he said.
I gave him a cold smile. “I said your slimy little underworld business deal is finished, mug.”
He stood there blinking, a stupid look on his stupid face. Just another Chrystal Heights backstreet slimeball. And then, just for old times’ sake, I kicked him in the slats. He fell to the ground clutching his jewels as the coppers moved in with their warrants.