The Three Dollar Phoenix by Walt Sautter (rooftoppers .txt) 📖

/> She had graduated from high school and junior college, the kinds of things he never got the chance to do and that made him real proud. He always told Ed he didn’t want a kid as dumb as he was.
“I’m Ed Bennett” he stammered.
“Yes, I know. Sam’s told me about you many times” she answered as she walked towards the window and opened the shades.
“What has he told you?” Ed replied.
“The best!”
Ed’s train of thought began to wander as he perused her shapely, brown form outlined against the window light. The penetrating rays pierced her blouse and skirt providing a vivid silhouette against the brightness. Suddenly, he found himself staring and struggled to snap his attention back from its brief fantasy.
“How did I wind up here?” he asked.
“Sam brought you home last night. You were out of it. I undressed you and put you to bed to sleep it off. When I asked him what had happened all he said was you’d explain it when you woke up. He doesn’t talk much, you know.”
She paused.
“You will, won’t you?”
“As much as I can” answered Ed and with that he began to relate to her the events of the past several weeks.
She sat attentively at the edge of the bed beside him as he laid out the pieces of the puzzle that tormented him. As he spoke, the fire that had driven him to the edge of peril, again rekindled and by the time he finished, his eyes were once more aglow with emotion.
“Now, all I need is a phone and a little help.
Do you know where I can get either one?” he concluded.
“I know where you can get both “ Melinda replied and with that left the room.
She returned in a moment carrying the phone he requested and plugged it into a nearby wall.
“There’s the phone and here I am. You’ve got two out of two. Now, generally wishes come in threes so if you’ve got a third one just let me know” she said coyly.
Ed hesitated, smiled and picked up the phone.
“I want you to call this number, ask for Mike and tell him you want to meet him at Finnegan’s Wake. It’s a bar. He knows where it is, Tell him you have a case for him and you have to see him but you can’t come to his office. Be persuasive. I’m sure you know how.”
He repeated the number to her.
“What if he doesn’t go for it?”
“I bet you’ll know how to fix that” Ed replied as he handed her the phone.
She dialed. Mike answered and within several minutes she had made the necessary arrangements.
“Five o’clock. That gives me plenty of time.
Will you make another call for me Melinda?” he asked.
“Why stop now?” she replied.
“I want to call a guy named Charlie. I don’t even know if he’s home now. He might be on the road. We’ll see.”
“Tell him you have an old friend of his who’s in town and wants to see him. Say you’re her secretary. He’ll ask who the friend is and you tell him it’s a surprise. Put him on. Give him the initials P.S. as a tease. He went out with a girl at school with those initials and that will probably get to him.
Make the time for tonight, about seven o’clock at the same place, Finnegan’s. If he can’t make it tonight, try tomorrow night. If he goes for that initial bit, he’ll be there tonight.”
Ed dictated the number and Melinda called. The phone rang several times and Charlie finally answered.
Again, Melinda danced through the conversation with uncanny skill and within minutes the second meeting was set.
“Melinda you’re beautiful” exclaimed Ed with a broad smile as she hung up the phone. He grasped her by her shoulder and planted a firm, exuberant kiss on her lips.
As he momentarily recoiled from his impetuous move, they both stopped and stared into each other’s eyes. For that instant their emotions merged together as one and each spontaneously felt a deep penetrating warmth.

Chapter XVI

A cold, penetrating drizzle met Ed as he opened the car door.
“I’ll call you when I ‘m done here.”
“Probably in a couple of hours” he said as he stepped out.
“Good Luck” Melinda replied as he closed the door.
The crowd at Finnegan’s was thin. A few regulars sat at the bar. They looked up with the interest granted all new faces as he entered. All but one of ten tables was empty. Mike was late but that really wasn’t unusual.
Ed ordered a beer and carried it to a table at the back of the room, off towards the far corner. Within minutes, Mike arrived.
He stood momentarily in the doorway, looking about the place, searching for Melinda.
Ed was about to call to him but hesitated. Mike looked different.
His unfamiliar dress caught Ed by surprised and temporarily struck him mute.
The double breasted, bell bottomed suit was gone, as were his wire rimmed glasses and his shoulder length hair had been transformed into a short, stylish coiffure.
For a minute, Ed wasn’t quite sure if it really was Mike.
Mike’s gaze slowly moved from face to face and soon peered through the dimly lit room toward Ed’s table. Ed regained his composure and called to him as he squinted in his direction.
“Ed?” he responded as he moved to the back of the room.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you” Ed answered.
“Melinda’s a friend of mine. I had her call” he added in a quick, voluntarily explanation.
“I was worried about bugs.”
Mike pulled up a chair and sat down slowly still looking perplexed.
“What’s with the new threads, Mike?”
“For a minute, I wasn’t sure it was you.”
“New image! Too many girls telling me I remind them of their Dad’s high school yearbook. Kinda got me feeling down.
I was thinking about it for a long time but I finally got myself up to doing it just a day or two ago. what do you think?”
“A metamorphosis. A caterpillar to a butterfly” Ed replied with an uncertain smile.
“Three hundred bucks worth” Mike added, sardonically.
“I need your help” interjected Ed in a more sobering tone.
“Where the hell have you been? I dropped you off to buy a car from that Big Harold guy and you disappear from the face of the earth.”
“I tried calling that shit house you moved into. I even went down there a couple of times and nobody knows anything. What’ s the story?”
“I met some old friends and they wanted me to go for a moonlight swim with them” Ed answered, sarcastically.
“It’s a long story and I’m not really up to it now.”
“How is Rita?” he added in the same breath with obvious concern in his voice.
“I heard from her the day before yesterday and she’s 0K.”
“It’s hard to get to talk to her because she can’t call very often. She’s got to be careful. She left a message on the answering machine that said she was alright but something pretty serious was happening.”
“What’s that?” Ed asked eagerly.
“She said she couldn’t explain it on the machine. She said she’d call back tomorrow. “
“Are you sure she’s OK?”
“She sounded more upset than afraid. Like she was confused about something. But I think she’s alright” Mike said convincingly.
Reassured, Ed continued.
“I need a contact with a newspaper. Somebody I can trust.
I remember your telling me about a friend of yours who worked for the Herald News. Do you still see the guy?”
“Once in a while he calls me or comes down to the office when I’ve got some news on a drug bust. Not often, but now and then.”
“What’s he like? Can you trust him?” queried Ed.
“He’s not my best pal, but he seems alright. Whenever I give him something he gets right on it. I’ve told him some things that where pretty touchy stuff, confidentially, and I never had any shit come back at me, so I guess he’s alright.”
“Give me his number. I think I’ve got more than a drug bust for him.”
“What do you mean?” responded Mike, unable to hid his curiosity.
“I really don’t want to say anything for certain until I’m sure but I think Al Druse was killed and I think I know why.”
“But, I’ve got to be sure. I need a contact, just in case all my hunches are right. That’s why I need your newspaper friend.”
“If that’s the way you want it, I guess it’s gotta be that way” Mike replied in a disappointed voice.
He knew better than to badger Ed. In spite of his skilled methods of interrogation, he was sure that his efforts would be in vain. Ed had a reputation for being closed mouthed when the times demanded it and Mike saw no reason for that to be changed now.
He reached into his pocket for a pen, scribbled a name and number on a napkin and handed it to Ed, who stuffed it into his shirt pocket.
“Who’s Melinda?” asked Mike as he attempted to change the topic.
Ed responded eagerly and the tense conversation eased into more pleasant, flowing tones.
Mike left after an hour or so. Ed had enjoyed the time spent with Mike but somehow he sensed an underlying stress in his voice. It wasn’t the kind of thing he could put his finger on but it was there.
He took the napkin from his pocket and opened it.
“Bill Charles, 987-765-9089” he read silently and closed it again.
Something in Mike’s mannerism made him feel uncertain.
“Should I call this guy?” he stared straight ahead momentarily.
“Ah, shit I’ve known Mike for years. Straight as a poker” he thought.
“Besides, this guy is the only game in town for me now” he mused.
He reopened the napkin.
“Bill Charles is it I guess” he said to himself softly.
The clock read seven P.M. now. Charlie should be here within a half hour. Ed had purposely left a lot of lag time between the two meetings. He didn’t want Mike and Charlie to hear what he had to say to the other. The more he thought about it the more satisfied he was with his decision.
Soon the door opened and large figure appeared in the entrance. He couldn’t make out the face but it had to be Charlie. No one else was likely to fill a three by seven foot opening that completely.
“Ed” thundered the voice of the figure.
“What are you doing here?” he bellowed as he moved unevenly towards the table.
As he came into view, Ed saw the reason for his wobbling gate. He wielded the crutches from beneath each arm with obvious disdain as he swung himself in Ed’s direction.
“I come here to see a broad and I get you?” he said jokingly.
Ed explained briefly.
“Why the sticks, Charlie? The old knee shot again?” he add.
“Yeah, looks like it’s all over this time. This is why I’m not in Miami with the team. I was supposed to go, I guess, but I just can’t