Robert finally sent me home to sleep. He was right, There wasn’t anything more I could do at the station, and I needed the sleep.
I stopped at an all night diner, grabbed a bite to eat. It occurred to me I hadn’t eaten since the middle of the day Friday. Suddenly I Was hungry. I kept seeing the scene in my mind. Brenda standing firing her revolver, I Just couldn’t picture what happened next. That's what scared me. What if she was taken? Who and why take her. I gnawed at me. My mind kept going in circles trying to make sense of it all. Not knowing. That was the worst. I had to know if she was alive or not.
Eventually, I found my way back to our bungalow. By now it was almost light. As I carefully checked around the building, before opening the front door. Given what had just happened. I figured it was best to be extra careful. Once in, I went through the rooms carefully. I didn’t expect to find any surprises. But I was being paranoid. “Jim, you're being paranoid”, I said to myself, as I checked the last room. “Yeah I know, But..” I answered myself. Satisfied I was alone, and everything was untouched. I picked up the phone.
“Walt, She’s gone,” I said simply. When he answered.
From there I explained what had happened earlier that night at the bar.
He said he’d be right over.
A half hour later he arrived. His big Mercury four door, pulling up in my driveway. Having seen and heard him pull in I met him at the front door.
While he drank coffee and made himself a sandwich for breakfast, I filled him in on more details about the night at the bar.
“Jim, You're dead on your feet. Go sleep for a while. I’ll hit the streets and see if I can find anything out.” He ordered me. I didn’t need to be told twice.
In my bedroom. I stopped. I just stared at the big bed. Knowing Brenda wasn't there to hold me when I started shaking again. And I knew I would. I always did, when I was under pressure. I remembered how I’d had the flashbacks to the war, last year.
It had been a long time since I’d been back to the war, in my head. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to sleep. But I knew I had too.
After Walt left I made sure the house was locked up again. I headed for the bathroom. My guns were never out of reach the entire time. Returning to our bedroom, I finally laid down to sleep. By now it was pushing 8 am.
To my surprise I did sleep. I woke up around noon. Feeling slightly better, a little less punch drunk from lack of sleep. I called Bob.
“Any news?”
“On Brenda no, But I do have an id on the guy she left dead.”
“Ok, I’ll be down in a little bit. Thanks, Bob.” I didn’t expect him to have anything new on Brenda, But the Id on dead guy hopefully would lead somewhere.
I cleaned up again and had a thought. I wanted to check the bar again. Something didn’t look right last night. I wasn’t sure what it was. So on the way to see Robert, I made a side trip to the bar.
I talked to the officer sitting in the squad car out front. No, he hadn't seen anything. I unlocked the front door and went in. Everything was exactly as it was last night. Save the body. All that was left of him was an outline of where he’d fallen.
I glanced into the stockroom. Other than being a mess, Nothing seemed to be missing. I stood in Brenda office door. From there I could see the safe. It was locked, Going over, I examined it more closely. It didn’t show signs of having been tried to be forced open. In fact there no signs that anyone had entered her office last night. No signs of a struggle. If they tried to grab her in the office, there would be a mess. No mess. Just a note on her desk. Just as it was occurring to me, that she’d escaped. I saw the note. It definitely wasn’t there before. I grabbed it. Neatly folded the Brenda like to do. It was in her hand.
“Jim,
I’m ok. They didn’t get me.
I came back about 9:30 this morning to get my purse and some money.
Meet me at our movie place. I’ll wait for you.
Love Brenda”
The sense of relief that flooded me was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. At least I knew now she was safe.
It was then I noticed her pocket book was gone. I opened the safe. There was another note in it listing the money she’d taken. Smart girl, I thought.
Robert can wait. I closed up the safe and took the note.
I headed back out the way I came in. Nodding to the cop in the squad car I got into my Ford and took off. Once I was clear of the bar I parked.
Our movie place. Someplace she’d know I’d know. It came to me. The movie theater, where I had shot Edward Lane when I was seventeen. And years later, I had killed his father, It all had happened at the same place. The one place Brenda knew I’d know, without naming it exactly. I hadn’t been back there since the day I shot Edward Lane. For the longest time, I just stayed away from the street. I didn’t want to go near it. Over the years I had never been in the building.
But today was different. Brenda was there. So I pulled up outside. After my usual careful check of the immediate area, I headed to the front door. Buying a ticket, I made myself take my time going into the darkened theater. Standing just inside the lobby doors. I let my eyes get used to the darkness, and the light coming from the screen. I glanced up at the screen, Just in time to see Cary Grant and Claude Rains on the screen, Then I remembered the film listed on the marquee, was Notorious. But I was more interested in the audience. Mainly finding Brenda.
After my eyes adjusted I spotted her towards the back of the seats. Noting that she was near an exit. I barely made my way over to her. Sitting down next to her. I had to resist the urge to hug her. I was so glad to see her in one piece.
“I got your note,” I whispered to her. She glanced at me and nodded. A few minutes later we quietly slid out of our seats and back to the lobby.
We didn’t say much until we were in my car.
Once we were safely in my car. I pulled her over to me and hugged her.
“I’m so glad you're safe again hon.” Was all I could manage in between kissing her.Feeling her arms around me again. I realized how much I loved her, and scared I was that I could have lost her. When we finally untangled ourselves. I returned to business.
“Tell me exactly what happened last night, Hon,” I asked as I started my car.
She then spent the ride up downtown to the police station, going over in every detail exactly what had happened. How she was frustrated about my not calling her. I then explained how the client we taken on the other day, wanted me to follow him, and find out about the person we were supposed to meet. I explained how it had become a long boring wild-goose chase, and I never found a phone I could get to, or that worked. She said she understood and was mostly worried that something had happened to me.
I told her about my getting to the bar, about 2:30 last night, and finding the bar wide open. Calling Robert and spending the rest of the night at the bar. Eventually getting home and sleeping all morning.
When we'd finished catching each other up on our actions, I told her we were on the way to see Robert. He had an Id on the guy she shot last night.
We knew the way to Robert Clay’s office. We’d been there many times.
Knocking on his half open door I nudged it in the rest of the way.
“Bob, guess who I found.!” I announced. Bob looked up from his paperwork as I stepped in. Then I pulled Brenda in from just outside the door.
The look of surprise and relief was priceless. He all but dumped a pile of papers on the floor, in his rush to get over to Brenda and hug her. I stood aside and let Him
“What, How? When Where?” was all Bob could manage. Once we had coffee and had found chairs, and settled down. Brenda told us exactly what had happened, and how she had managed to get the revolver and shoot the guy. The noise and percussion of the gun going off in the small space had surprised them, just enough that she’d she barely managed to get out of their reach, and out of the bar. Brenda then told us about hiding in an alley several blocks away and remembering the homeless shelter, nearby. How she had managed to get a good meal and talk the lady in charge into letting her stay the night. She explained how she called early and no one answered. At first, she didn’t dare risk coming back. But she had to because she had no money or her pocketbook. She carefully pulled out her revolver. Handing it to Bob, “Here the gun I used. It's been fired once, and I replace the spent casing.” With that, she pulled out the empty shell and handed it to Bob. Bob had the gun cataloged and entered as evidence. And a steno girl came in to take down Brenda’s statement, Once all this was done, Brenda read it and signed it.
“Now about the man you shot last night. His name was Willie Black. A small-time hood, who has worked for a variety of the more upscale hoods in the area. At one time he even worked for Drossel. Before the war, I don’t think he lasted long there, as he wasn’t mean enough for Drossel. Philp Drossel was a name from my past. Over the last close to ten years I had had run-ins with both his son and him. Eventually killing both in self-defense. I tried not to think about him anymore. “I mentioned Drossel only in passing. Who he was working, for now, is still a mystery. What’s he’d been doing since the war ended is an even bigger mystery? He seemed to have completely dropped out of LA over the last few months. And, when and how he returned is a mystery. Along with who else he was involved with.” Bob concluded.
“Bob can I use your phone I want to call Walt and let him know we have Brenda safe and sound,” I asked. He nodded. So I called Walt. He was home.
“Walt, I’m happy to report that we have Brenda back.
Yes, she’s right here with me, in Bob’s office, she just finished giving him her statement. Yes, we’ll be over as soon as we get done here. Oh, Bob has an ID on the punk she shot last night. Willie Black, It seems he hasn’t been around LA for the last several months, I’ll fill you in when we get there.” I promised Walt.
Brenda took her copy of her statement, and I took a couple of pictures of Willie Black, one before Brenda, and one after Brenda.
We got up to leave. Brenda gave Bob a hug again,
“I’m so glad your back, You know you had us scared there for a while.”
“It’s good to be back,” Brenda replied. Bob said he’d cancel the APB and Missing persons on her as we were leaving.
By the time everything was done it was almost 3 in the afternoon, We were both hungry again. For the first time in at least a day, I felt like eating. It had been a long time since she'd eaten breakfast at the homeless shelter. We drove by the shelter, Brenda introduced me to the lady who ran it. We thanked her for her help. I noticed a small Italian restaurant down the block. I suggested it to her. She quickly agreed. So we parked on the street in front of the restaurant. As usual, I took my time, locking the car. Just because Brenda was back, didn’t necessarily mean that she was out of danger. Someone knew what happened last night. Besides Wille Black, who wasn’t talking. In the car, I had given Brenda a different revolver, from the trunk. My Colt .45 rode in its shoulder holster as usual along with the back-up .38 on my belt.
The restaurant was small. Darkly lite with accent lights sprinkled around the room. Giving just enough light to see where one went, and read the menu. It suited me just fine. After spending most of the afternoon in the bright offices of the police station, the change was nice. I made sure to sit so I could see the front door. I wasn’t as near an exit as I’d like, But I let it slide for now. I was hungry, as I knew Brenda was. Once seated I broke our rule of no alcohol, during the day. I ordered a bottle of Champagne. I generally don’t drink it, but this was a celebration, I was so glad to have Brenda back, I splurged. The drinks came, with two chilled glasses, and an ice bucket for the bottle. I had no intentions of drinking the whole bottle, at least not here. The waiter presented us with menus. We finally chose an appetizer of a salad and dressing. Once that was cleared away the main course came; Two large helping of spaghetti and meatballs, with a side order garlic toast, and coffee. Neither Brenda or I are big champagne drinkers, we only had a glass each. We topped off the meal with a couple of pieces of apple pie. During the meal, I took stock of the restaurant. I noted the small stage down at the other end, along with what looked like a small dance floor. On the way to the restroom, I noticed the signs advertising various shows in the evening. I suspected that they did most of their business after 9 pm.
I paid for our meals and left a tip. The service was excellent, and the food filling and very well done.
Outside it was still hot, but I noticed clouds coming in from the ocean. It was going to be nasty tonight. When The rain came in from the coast, it usually cooled things off, and most of the time it turned into a thunderstorm.
We headed for Walts.
I glanced at my watch, it was now 4:30 in the afternoon. The downtown traffic was starting to tie up. I wound up taking a couple of side streets that ran parallel to the main drags. But I did manage to get us to Walt’s in a decent time.
To say, Walt, was glad to see Brenda back in one piece was an understatement. We all were. Brenda once again, told how she was getting ready to close up and heard the noise of them breaking in the storeroom. Grabbing the revolver, she managed to shoot one of them and gain enough time to get out.
She also told about staying at the homeless shelter overnight, and finely going back to the bar, missing me, and leaving the note. Hoping I’d figure out what she meant by “our Movie Theatre”. Which I did, eventually.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I poured the rest of the champagne. Even between the three of us, we barely managed to down half a bottle.Walt thought we should stay here, at least tonight. While I wanted desperately to get back home, and our bed. I agreed at least for tonight because it was probably not safe at our place.
I stopped at an all night diner, grabbed a bite to eat. It occurred to me I hadn’t eaten since the middle of the day Friday. Suddenly I Was hungry. I kept seeing the scene in my mind. Brenda standing firing her revolver, I Just couldn’t picture what happened next. That's what scared me. What if she was taken? Who and why take her. I gnawed at me. My mind kept going in circles trying to make sense of it all. Not knowing. That was the worst. I had to know if she was alive or not.
Eventually, I found my way back to our bungalow. By now it was almost light. As I carefully checked around the building, before opening the front door. Given what had just happened. I figured it was best to be extra careful. Once in, I went through the rooms carefully. I didn’t expect to find any surprises. But I was being paranoid. “Jim, you're being paranoid”, I said to myself, as I checked the last room. “Yeah I know, But..” I answered myself. Satisfied I was alone, and everything was untouched. I picked up the phone.
“Walt, She’s gone,” I said simply. When he answered.
From there I explained what had happened earlier that night at the bar.
He said he’d be right over.
A half hour later he arrived. His big Mercury four door, pulling up in my driveway. Having seen and heard him pull in I met him at the front door.
While he drank coffee and made himself a sandwich for breakfast, I filled him in on more details about the night at the bar.
“Jim, You're dead on your feet. Go sleep for a while. I’ll hit the streets and see if I can find anything out.” He ordered me. I didn’t need to be told twice.
In my bedroom. I stopped. I just stared at the big bed. Knowing Brenda wasn't there to hold me when I started shaking again. And I knew I would. I always did, when I was under pressure. I remembered how I’d had the flashbacks to the war, last year.
It had been a long time since I’d been back to the war, in my head. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to sleep. But I knew I had too.
After Walt left I made sure the house was locked up again. I headed for the bathroom. My guns were never out of reach the entire time. Returning to our bedroom, I finally laid down to sleep. By now it was pushing 8 am.
To my surprise I did sleep. I woke up around noon. Feeling slightly better, a little less punch drunk from lack of sleep. I called Bob.
“Any news?”
“On Brenda no, But I do have an id on the guy she left dead.”
“Ok, I’ll be down in a little bit. Thanks, Bob.” I didn’t expect him to have anything new on Brenda, But the Id on dead guy hopefully would lead somewhere.
I cleaned up again and had a thought. I wanted to check the bar again. Something didn’t look right last night. I wasn’t sure what it was. So on the way to see Robert, I made a side trip to the bar.
I talked to the officer sitting in the squad car out front. No, he hadn't seen anything. I unlocked the front door and went in. Everything was exactly as it was last night. Save the body. All that was left of him was an outline of where he’d fallen.
I glanced into the stockroom. Other than being a mess, Nothing seemed to be missing. I stood in Brenda office door. From there I could see the safe. It was locked, Going over, I examined it more closely. It didn’t show signs of having been tried to be forced open. In fact there no signs that anyone had entered her office last night. No signs of a struggle. If they tried to grab her in the office, there would be a mess. No mess. Just a note on her desk. Just as it was occurring to me, that she’d escaped. I saw the note. It definitely wasn’t there before. I grabbed it. Neatly folded the Brenda like to do. It was in her hand.
“Jim,
I’m ok. They didn’t get me.
I came back about 9:30 this morning to get my purse and some money.
Meet me at our movie place. I’ll wait for you.
Love Brenda”
The sense of relief that flooded me was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. At least I knew now she was safe.
It was then I noticed her pocket book was gone. I opened the safe. There was another note in it listing the money she’d taken. Smart girl, I thought.
Robert can wait. I closed up the safe and took the note.
I headed back out the way I came in. Nodding to the cop in the squad car I got into my Ford and took off. Once I was clear of the bar I parked.
Our movie place. Someplace she’d know I’d know. It came to me. The movie theater, where I had shot Edward Lane when I was seventeen. And years later, I had killed his father, It all had happened at the same place. The one place Brenda knew I’d know, without naming it exactly. I hadn’t been back there since the day I shot Edward Lane. For the longest time, I just stayed away from the street. I didn’t want to go near it. Over the years I had never been in the building.
But today was different. Brenda was there. So I pulled up outside. After my usual careful check of the immediate area, I headed to the front door. Buying a ticket, I made myself take my time going into the darkened theater. Standing just inside the lobby doors. I let my eyes get used to the darkness, and the light coming from the screen. I glanced up at the screen, Just in time to see Cary Grant and Claude Rains on the screen, Then I remembered the film listed on the marquee, was Notorious. But I was more interested in the audience. Mainly finding Brenda.
After my eyes adjusted I spotted her towards the back of the seats. Noting that she was near an exit. I barely made my way over to her. Sitting down next to her. I had to resist the urge to hug her. I was so glad to see her in one piece.
“I got your note,” I whispered to her. She glanced at me and nodded. A few minutes later we quietly slid out of our seats and back to the lobby.
We didn’t say much until we were in my car.
Once we were safely in my car. I pulled her over to me and hugged her.
“I’m so glad you're safe again hon.” Was all I could manage in between kissing her.Feeling her arms around me again. I realized how much I loved her, and scared I was that I could have lost her. When we finally untangled ourselves. I returned to business.
“Tell me exactly what happened last night, Hon,” I asked as I started my car.
She then spent the ride up downtown to the police station, going over in every detail exactly what had happened. How she was frustrated about my not calling her. I then explained how the client we taken on the other day, wanted me to follow him, and find out about the person we were supposed to meet. I explained how it had become a long boring wild-goose chase, and I never found a phone I could get to, or that worked. She said she understood and was mostly worried that something had happened to me.
I told her about my getting to the bar, about 2:30 last night, and finding the bar wide open. Calling Robert and spending the rest of the night at the bar. Eventually getting home and sleeping all morning.
When we'd finished catching each other up on our actions, I told her we were on the way to see Robert. He had an Id on the guy she shot last night.
We knew the way to Robert Clay’s office. We’d been there many times.
Knocking on his half open door I nudged it in the rest of the way.
“Bob, guess who I found.!” I announced. Bob looked up from his paperwork as I stepped in. Then I pulled Brenda in from just outside the door.
The look of surprise and relief was priceless. He all but dumped a pile of papers on the floor, in his rush to get over to Brenda and hug her. I stood aside and let Him
“What, How? When Where?” was all Bob could manage. Once we had coffee and had found chairs, and settled down. Brenda told us exactly what had happened, and how she had managed to get the revolver and shoot the guy. The noise and percussion of the gun going off in the small space had surprised them, just enough that she’d she barely managed to get out of their reach, and out of the bar. Brenda then told us about hiding in an alley several blocks away and remembering the homeless shelter, nearby. How she had managed to get a good meal and talk the lady in charge into letting her stay the night. She explained how she called early and no one answered. At first, she didn’t dare risk coming back. But she had to because she had no money or her pocketbook. She carefully pulled out her revolver. Handing it to Bob, “Here the gun I used. It's been fired once, and I replace the spent casing.” With that, she pulled out the empty shell and handed it to Bob. Bob had the gun cataloged and entered as evidence. And a steno girl came in to take down Brenda’s statement, Once all this was done, Brenda read it and signed it.
“Now about the man you shot last night. His name was Willie Black. A small-time hood, who has worked for a variety of the more upscale hoods in the area. At one time he even worked for Drossel. Before the war, I don’t think he lasted long there, as he wasn’t mean enough for Drossel. Philp Drossel was a name from my past. Over the last close to ten years I had had run-ins with both his son and him. Eventually killing both in self-defense. I tried not to think about him anymore. “I mentioned Drossel only in passing. Who he was working, for now, is still a mystery. What’s he’d been doing since the war ended is an even bigger mystery? He seemed to have completely dropped out of LA over the last few months. And, when and how he returned is a mystery. Along with who else he was involved with.” Bob concluded.
“Bob can I use your phone I want to call Walt and let him know we have Brenda safe and sound,” I asked. He nodded. So I called Walt. He was home.
“Walt, I’m happy to report that we have Brenda back.
Yes, she’s right here with me, in Bob’s office, she just finished giving him her statement. Yes, we’ll be over as soon as we get done here. Oh, Bob has an ID on the punk she shot last night. Willie Black, It seems he hasn’t been around LA for the last several months, I’ll fill you in when we get there.” I promised Walt.
Brenda took her copy of her statement, and I took a couple of pictures of Willie Black, one before Brenda, and one after Brenda.
We got up to leave. Brenda gave Bob a hug again,
“I’m so glad your back, You know you had us scared there for a while.”
“It’s good to be back,” Brenda replied. Bob said he’d cancel the APB and Missing persons on her as we were leaving.
By the time everything was done it was almost 3 in the afternoon, We were both hungry again. For the first time in at least a day, I felt like eating. It had been a long time since she'd eaten breakfast at the homeless shelter. We drove by the shelter, Brenda introduced me to the lady who ran it. We thanked her for her help. I noticed a small Italian restaurant down the block. I suggested it to her. She quickly agreed. So we parked on the street in front of the restaurant. As usual, I took my time, locking the car. Just because Brenda was back, didn’t necessarily mean that she was out of danger. Someone knew what happened last night. Besides Wille Black, who wasn’t talking. In the car, I had given Brenda a different revolver, from the trunk. My Colt .45 rode in its shoulder holster as usual along with the back-up .38 on my belt.
The restaurant was small. Darkly lite with accent lights sprinkled around the room. Giving just enough light to see where one went, and read the menu. It suited me just fine. After spending most of the afternoon in the bright offices of the police station, the change was nice. I made sure to sit so I could see the front door. I wasn’t as near an exit as I’d like, But I let it slide for now. I was hungry, as I knew Brenda was. Once seated I broke our rule of no alcohol, during the day. I ordered a bottle of Champagne. I generally don’t drink it, but this was a celebration, I was so glad to have Brenda back, I splurged. The drinks came, with two chilled glasses, and an ice bucket for the bottle. I had no intentions of drinking the whole bottle, at least not here. The waiter presented us with menus. We finally chose an appetizer of a salad and dressing. Once that was cleared away the main course came; Two large helping of spaghetti and meatballs, with a side order garlic toast, and coffee. Neither Brenda or I are big champagne drinkers, we only had a glass each. We topped off the meal with a couple of pieces of apple pie. During the meal, I took stock of the restaurant. I noted the small stage down at the other end, along with what looked like a small dance floor. On the way to the restroom, I noticed the signs advertising various shows in the evening. I suspected that they did most of their business after 9 pm.
I paid for our meals and left a tip. The service was excellent, and the food filling and very well done.
Outside it was still hot, but I noticed clouds coming in from the ocean. It was going to be nasty tonight. When The rain came in from the coast, it usually cooled things off, and most of the time it turned into a thunderstorm.
We headed for Walts.
I glanced at my watch, it was now 4:30 in the afternoon. The downtown traffic was starting to tie up. I wound up taking a couple of side streets that ran parallel to the main drags. But I did manage to get us to Walt’s in a decent time.
To say, Walt, was glad to see Brenda back in one piece was an understatement. We all were. Brenda once again, told how she was getting ready to close up and heard the noise of them breaking in the storeroom. Grabbing the revolver, she managed to shoot one of them and gain enough time to get out.
She also told about staying at the homeless shelter overnight, and finely going back to the bar, missing me, and leaving the note. Hoping I’d figure out what she meant by “our Movie Theatre”. Which I did, eventually.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I poured the rest of the champagne. Even between the three of us, we barely managed to down half a bottle.Walt thought we should stay here, at least tonight. While I wanted desperately to get back home, and our bed. I agreed at least for tonight because it was probably not safe at our place.