Excerpt:
Officer Ellie said, “That is surprising.” There were moments of silence as Officer Ellie listened to someone talking into her earplug. Officer Ellie looked at Deven and considered Steed’s nudity. “Was this all some kind of lover’s spat.”
Deven screamed, “What? No?” Then Deven looked at Steed. “Why in the hell don’t you go get dressed rather than having people think something.” Deven looked at Officer Ellie and said, “For the record, I am totally straight.”
Earl winked at Deven. “She is pretty, but proclaiming you are straight probably does not matter. I don’t think you stand a chance with her.”
Officer Ellie said, “You never know. I like men who are both tough and sensitive.” Then she looked at Steed. “Get dressed. You are making me horny and at a crime scene that is even too perverted for me.”
Hearthville Serial 3
What Happened To Victor:
A Paranormal Suspense Gangster Horror
By Charles Peters
Copyright 2019
All Rights Reserved
This Story is Not Free, Purchase For Your Kindle, $2.99
Chapters
Unit Price – e2 – (Paid by Informal Community buying eBooks and making purchases after clicking a link on sayata.net/m/. If you have cookies turned on and the click is tracked then even if it is not the product you clicked on, I will get credit for whatever product you put in shopping cart and purchase. See in top Menu Tip Jar / Content Goals. Also see Shop.)
Chapter 14
Deven looked around Steed’s single wide trailer, as Steed kicked off his shoes and socks. The trailer had the kitchen in front end. A bar separated the kitchen from the living room area. Off from the living room were the guest beds in something similar to a room. The beds were similar to full size stacked bunks in a camper. There was storage beneath the bunks. A closet reached halfway the length of the bunk beds. Then there was a privacy curtain that stretched from the closet to the foot of the bunk beds and then curled around to lock against the wall. A bathroom stood between the guest bedroom and the master bedroom.
Deven commented, “Cozy.”
Steed pulled off his shirt. “I considered a small double wide but I can pull this trailer myself. It is basically a large camper locked down to suit city code.”
“I like it.”
Steed then walked over to his gun cabinet at the foot of the guest bedroom, to check out his guns. He pulled out a pistol and some cleaning supplies to clean the pistol.
Deven looked at the guns. “Do you think those two men, Jess and Keith Jr., will be coming for you?”
“Not really. I think they got the message. I texted the hit man to let him know the situation. I then called my father and he said he would talk to Paulster and handle things. Unless there is something else going on that we don’t know about, the situation should be over.”
“But you have to be careful.”
Steed began cleaning a different pistol. “Right. Make yourself comfortable, the same as if you were at home. We are about the same size. My clothes are your clothes if you want to take a shower.”
“Why are you being so friendly?”
“Ah yes. That which I wanted to talk to you about. Here is the thing. Victor does not seem to remember me but I think for real. I don’t think the situation is an act in the same way that you pretended not to remember me. Has Victor ever said anything to you to suggest that he does know me from the past?”
“No.”
“Has he ever mentioned me by my other name, Mark Ramsey, who he knew me as?”
“No. But there would be no reason for him to mention you to me. Why do you not just tell him that you are Mark Ramsey?”
“I was so relieved when he seemed to not remember me. His sister is dating the son of a mob boss. Me. And she doesn’t know who I am either. Their not knowing was kind of like a godsend. But it is a godsend that is bugging the hell out of me.”
“Well. You may have changed a lot from when Victor knew you.”
“I have changed a lot from when the rest of Duddley family last saw me. But Victor hugged me at Jossette’s funeral. He knew me at the funeral. I have changed some since the funeral but I don’t know. It bugs me.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Well, I am going to tell you something. It is horrible.”
“Okay.”
[contentcards url=”https://sayata.net/m/product/kindle-paperwhite-8-gb-waterproof-includes-special-offers-black/” target=”_blank”]
“I don’t remember the details clearly. But mom caught Victor and Jossette naked up in the attic room of the Ramsey Mansion here in Hearthville. It was awful. Dad never told me where he found Victor or the details but I am fairly certain that Mom and Rita had planned to kill Victor. I think Victor was psychologically affected by what happened.”
“Victor has never told me about it.”
“I am not sure Victor even remembers it. And oddly Jossette and I were foggy on the events after the events happened. It was weird. Mom and Rita both say they were bewitched. I am not sure that we all weren’t bewitched that night, as weird as that sounds.”
Deven said, “I totally believe in witches and ghosts and all that stuff.”
“I don’t know. Understand my mom is in a mental institution but she has mentioned a warlock more than once. This sounds crazy. I know. But has Victor ever mentioned a warlock?”
“No. But let me remind you, we are friends but it is not like I am his best friend.”
“But you could get closer to him. You could ask him questions.”
“I don’t know about that. Even if he told me anything I wouldn’t want to betray his confidence.”
“I don’t want to hurt Victor. I want to help him.”
“Remember that you are talking to someone who you seriously hurt by trying to help. I could still be having sex with Trish if you had not decided to save me from myself.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I did do wrong when I talked to Trish. Maybe I should leave Victor alone.”
“I am sorry that I am not being of any help.”
This Story is Not Free, Purchase For Your Kindle, $2.99
“No. That is cool.”
Deven asked, “So do you secretly live at the Ramsey Mansion and just pretend to live here?”
“No. What kind of question is that?”
“I would love to live in a mansion. That would be so cool.”
“I don’t want to live there.” Steed continued cleaning on his guns.
Deven sat down in a large oversized orange chair next to the gun cabinet. “Okay.”
Steed said, “I am worried about Victor. Being around Judy I have noticed that Victor is not always the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“Judy said that when Victor was little he had an imaginary friend by the name of George. She said that when Victor sleep walks, he sometimes introduces himself as George. I have been researching disassociation or multiple personality disorder. I think that event up in the attic and whatever followed may have triggered that with Victor. I think the imaginary playmate he had as a small child became an alternative personality.”
“I’ve seen no sign of that.”
“I saw someone at the Lion’s Lounge who greatly favored Victor. I asked Victor what he was doing there. He told me that I had mistaken him for someone else and that his name was George. He didn’t behave anything like I would have expected Victor to behave. He was practically having sex with two women right there on the dance floor. A friend had got stranded at the club by her then idiot boyfriend and I had gone there to pick her up. When I was leaving with her, I heard George tell one of the women that he was with that he hoped Judy would catch me cheating. No matter what he told me, I know he was Victor but he was calling himself George.”
“I don’t want to spy on Victor for you. And look, you are talking about Victor pretending to be some imaginary playmate from his childhood when you are pretending to be someone else. You are like, ‘Oh Victor doesn’t know who I am,’ when you are going around intentionally looking different and going by a different name. You don’t want Judy to know who you are. On some level you are feeling guilty about that. So you are complaining that Victor hasn’t either caught you or simply called you out for it.”
Steed stared at Deven. “You are such an asshole.”
“Yeah. So. I am glad you are giving me a bed tonight. I would be totally glad to be your friend; platonic friend, but I am not going to be used by you to spy on Victor. That shit is not happening. Tell Judy who the fuck you are and talk to Victor as the real you.”
“I am not ready to do that.” Steed changed the subject. “So if you are really totally straight how do you flirt with men on chaturbate the way you do.”
“It is acting. I am playing a role. It is kind of fun.”
“Isn’t your pretending kind of insulting to gay men. Isn’t that kind of like dressing up in black face.”
“I don’t think so. They don’t think so. I mean, they know part of the men on there are really straight and just pretending to be gay. But you have seen my chaturbate profile. You know that it clearly says that I am straight.”
“I didn’t really pay much attention to what it says. I do know that most of the people in your chatroom were men.”
“Yeah. I am not denying that or that in chat I pretend to be gay but my profile makes clear that I am straight.”
“I understand.” Steed put his guns away. “I don’t think we are going to be messed with tonight by Keith Jr. or Jess. I am going to bed. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
After Steed went to bed Deven went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. He noticed a couple of hooks next to the refrigerator that had keychains hanging from them. There was one keychain that was attached to a small golden globe that appeared to have a diamond at the top and at the bottom. There was only one key on the chain. The key itself had a curly R on one side and a curly M on the other side. Deven touched the keychain as he wondered, “Is that the key to the Ramsey Mansion?”
Deven looked around. He examined the keychain more closely. Deven pulled his phone from his pocket. He again looked around. Pouting his lips and frowning at his own behavior he took a picture of the key. He turned the key over and he took another picture. Then he took pictures of the thin sides of the key. He hung the keychain back up on the hook. He put his phone back into his pocket.
Deven turned and walked to the bar and sink to get a glass of water. He opened cabinets looking for the drinking glasses. He then noticed a dispenser with large paper cups in the door of the refrigerator. Deven shook his head as he examined the refrigerator more closely. “The dude has a fridge that probably cost more than our trailer.” Deven put the cup into the ice dispenser to get ice. He then pushed a button to fill the cup the rest of the way up with water. He began to drink the water. “Damn, that is good water. Why does our water not taste this good?”
Then Deven heard something. It was a noise at the front door of the trailer. Then there was another noise toward the back. Deven called out. “Steed. Something is happening.”
Naked, Steed came out of the master bedroom. “What?”
“I heard a noise at the front door. Then I heard another noise at the rear.”
Steed rushed to his gun cabinet. He pulled out two guns. He had already loaded them earlier. He tossed one of the guns to Deven.
Deven caught the gun. “I have never fired a gun, much less shot anyone. I will be of no help to you.”
“Number one rule. Don’t let yourself get killed.”
The man called Keith Jr. broke in through the front door. The man called Jess broke in through the back door. They both held guns and they both appeared to be aiming their guns to kill.
Steed screamed, “You two are crazy. Get the hell out of here.”
The man called Jess said, “We have our orders.”
The man called Keith Jr., in a dastardly voice, said, “Yeah. Orders. But killing always gives me pleasure.” The man called Keith Jr. began aiming his gun at Deven.
Steed asked, “Orders from who? Mayor Keith Racoon because of my father’s accountant? That does not make sense.”
Deven realized the gun was pointed in his direction and began to dance in a fashion trying to find something to hide behind. “Son of a bitch. Fucking hell. Point your damn gun somewhere else.” Deven darted to try to hide behind the kitchen bar.
The man called Keith Jr. shot at Deven. He missed. The bullet split wood in the upper kitchen cabinet. If it had been a hair lower it might would have struck Deven in the head. But Deven was speedily bending down, trying to break aim and hide.
Deven flipped around and peeped over the sink at the man called Keith Jr. who was positioning to take another shot at Deven. Steed aimed to shoot at Keith Jr. but the man called Jess grabbed at his arm. He said, “I am going to take you alive and fuck you every which way but loose.” Steed and the man called Jess began to fight for each other’s gun.
In horror at seeing the man called Keith Jr. creeping around, Deven sank back lower behind the bar. He stared at the gun in his hand. Shaking, he opened the lower cabinet door beneath the sink. He attempted to cower behind the cabinet door and partially in the cabinet itself. On his knees he looked up at the man called Keith Jr. and stared at the barrel of the gun pointed down between his eyes. “Jesus and mother Mary, I don’t want to die.”
The man called Keith Jr. seemed to enjoy Deven’s desperation. “You worthless coward punk, I am going to enjoy killing you.”
Deven flipped to roll on the floor away from the cabinet. Prone on his back he aimed the pistol in his hand like he was in a Clint Eastwood movie. The man called Keith Jr. moved to stand directly over him to insure his own aim. Deven again positioned his aim and kicked up, striking the man called Keith Jr. in the balls. As the man called Keith Jr. grimaced with a look of pain and surprise, Deven pulled the trigger of the gun in his hand. Deven felt like he was in a slow motion movie. Would the bullet strike or not strike? His aim had missed.
Deven screamed. “Son of a bitch. How in the hell could that shot not have struck you?”
Steed, naked as a bluejay, and the man called Jess rolled on the couch. They continued to fight for control of their weapons.
The man called Keith Jr. attempted to kick Deven in the crotch but missed as Deven was inching and squirming and dodging on the floor like a slippery snake. The man called Keith Jr. moved his arm around as he attempted to keep aim, even as he again kicked at Deven’s crotch. Deven felt the kick to his balls but he didn’t grimace. He didn’t show pain. Deven lifted his gun. “When we are in hell together, you can kiss my hurting balls.” Deven kicked at the gun aimed at him as he squeezed the trigger of the gun in his hand. The man called Keith Jr. squeezed his trigger as he felt Deven’s foot to his hand. Deven’s bullet struck the man called Keith Jr. in the chest as the bullet fired at Deven missed by inches, striking into the floor. The man called Keith Jr. fell on top of Deven.
The man called Keith Jr. raised his gun to Deven’s right temple. He whispered in Deven’s ear. “In hell, it will be you kissing my sweaty, hairy balls.” Then the gun fell from the man called Keith Jr.’s hand. The man died.
For a moment Deven stared into the lifeless eyes of the man who lay on top of him. Then roughly, Deven pushed and kicked at the body as he crawled to stand up. He looked at the blood on himself for moment and then looked at Steed and the man called Jess fighting.
The man called Jess saw Deven walking toward him. Deven still held the gun in his hand and he began to point the gun. Deven began screaming, “Do you want to die? Do you want to die? Do you want to be like your fucking friend? You son of a bitch. You two sons of bitches, breaking in here like idiots. Do you want to die? My finger is itching on the trigger?”
“You don’t have the nerve.”
“Like I didn’t have the nerve to kill your friend. Think fast to come up with some poetry for your dying words because your friend’s dying words were shit.” Deven began to scream in tears. “I am just a white trash killer. That is all I am. I am just a worthless piece of shit. But by God, I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you just like I killed Keith Jr..”
The man called Jess broke away from Steed and threw his gun at Deven. The man called Jess screamed, “I have no gun. Kill me now and it will be murder.” The man called Jess jumped through the door from the trailer and took off running into the night.
Deven fell to his knees and lay his gun on the floor. Looking at the gun he screamed in tears. He touched the gun and then quickly pulled his hand back away from the gun. “I’ve killed. I have actually killed. What if they charge me with murder. I don’t want to be on death row.”
Steed rolled off the couch and fell down on the floor with Deven. He grabbed Deven into his arms. He held Deven close. “It is over. You are okay. You are okay. It is going to be okay. You didn’t have any choice. It was self-defense. You saved your own life. And you saved my life. We are okay now. Right? Now I need to call my father.”
“Right. Okay.”
Steed stood up and went to get his phone. He called his father. “Hey dad, those two dumb asses broke into my trailer. They were going to kill Deven and me. Deven killed the one called Keith Jr.. It was clearly self-defense. The doors were obviously broken down. I don’t think we will have any trouble with the law.”
Arthur said, “I talked to Mayor Racoon earlier. This does not make any sense. I will call some people on my end and try to find out what is going on. I may even try to talk to Mayor Racoon again.”
“Okay. I will call Lilly Bare and then she can call Daniel and help handle the law for us though I can’t imagine we will have any legal problems from this.”
Arthur said, “Yes. You do that. Maybe she can help keep this as quiet as possible.”
Steed disconnected from his father. He called Lilly. “Lilly, those two clowns from earlier broke into my trailer. The one called Keith Jr. tried to kill Deven. There was some fighting. Deven killed Keith Jr. in self-defense. The one called Jess took off running when Deven came to my defense.”
Lilly said, “I will call Daniel and I will make clear we need to keep the incident out of the police blotter because of mob involvement out of Backdoor.”
Steed looked at Deven still down on his knees on the floor. His arms were crossed as he cradled himself, shaking in tears. Steed said, “Deven is pretty shaken by it all. We may go over to the mansion to sleep tonight. I will wait until the police get here and then Deven and I will go.”
Lilly said, “What if Jess tries to finish the job?”
“I don’t think there is much chance of that but Deven and I can take care of ourselves.”
“I have no doubt about that but the mansion might not be the best place to avoid any additional incident.”
“No. I think that other dude, Jess, is probably still running. I don’t think there is any chance he will try anything.”
Deven shook himself like a dog shaking water from his fur. He was snapping out of the shock from what had happened. Pale and looking weak, he stood up from the floor. Gathering his thoughts, he looked about. He said, “But why did they try anything to start with. I thought this was about your father’s accountant and some money he owed . I thought it was all settled earlier. Then here those two are and I am killing one of them. Man, I don’t even like to kill spiders.”
“I don’t know why they came here. I really wasn’t expecting it. I thought I had it taken care of.”
“Jess was fighting with you but Keith Jr. was trying to kill me. Why?”
Lilly heard what Deven was saying. She said, “And they work for Mayor Keith Racoon?”
Steed said, “That is what my father’s picture id system sent back. If the information is correct the Mayor’s son is laying dead in my kitchen.”
Lilly said, “We don’t need a mob war.”
Steed said, “I understand. But they broke my doors down. Keith Jr. was trying to kill Deven. The one called Jess stopped me from defending Deven and we started fighting over the weapons. Deven is right. Jess didn’t actually try to kill me. Though I am sure that was his eventual intent. There is no doubt that Keith Jr. was trying to kill Deven though.”
Lilly said, “You two go on to the mansion. I will get Daniel or Johnny to send someone over to the mansion to help provide security until your father gets his security in place. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Earl walked up into the trailer and saw into the kitchen. “What the fuck?” Some other people who had heard the gunshots began to gather around the trailer.
Deven walked to where Earl stood. He looked at the body of the man called Keith Jr. on the floor. He took a deep breath. He said, “Keith Raccon Jr. and Jess broke into the trailer. Keith Jr. was trying to kill me. I killed him. It was self-defense. Dad, it was self-defense. Please know that I am not a killer.”
Earl whispered, “You called me dad.” He grabbed Deven to comfort him. “Son, I know you are not a killer.” Earl walked into the kitchen and looked at the body on the floor. “I don’t know who the fuck was trying to kill you but that is not Keith Racoon Jr..”
Steed walked into the kitchen and cocked his head. “Are you sure?”
“I am positive. I go over to Backdoor sometimes and work for Mayor Keith. I know him and his son.”
Steed called his dad. “Dad, I have someone here who says that the person that was killed is not Keith Jr.. Did you talk to Mayor Racoon again?”
Arthur said, “Not since earlier but what was said earlier made me think there was nothing to worry about. He said he had a problem with Paulster paying some debts but it was not a big deal. He did not know why Keith Jr. would have accused Paulster of being a bank robber. He said he would put an end to it but the last time I talked to him he had not been able to reach his son to find out what was going on. I hope your witness is right. I pray that is not Keith Jr. who was killed.”
“This is so weird. Your computer system identified him as Keith Jr. and the other guy as Jess Smith.”
Earl said, “I may be a drunk and not always reliable but I am telling you that is not Keith Jr..”
Police Detective Daniel Bare with two uniformed officers walked into the trailer. “Take pictures of the doors that were broken down. Bag the gun from the corpse.” Police Detective Daniel Bare asked, “Deven, you were shot at, right?”
“Yeah.”
Deven and Steed both looked at the area where Deven was hiding. Steed said, “There is a bullet hole there in the cabinet. I would guess the bullet is somewhere in that area.”
Deven said, “And there should be bullet in the floor near his body where he shot at me there as well. After I shot him in the chest he fell on top of me. As he lay dying he put his gun to my temple. He died with the intent to kill me but he died before he pulled the trigger.”
Earl and Steed both stared at Deven. They realized how close Deven had been to being killed. Officer Daniel said, “When you get that close to facing death, it is hard. I know it is hard.” Officer Daniel patted Deven on the back.
One of the uniformed officers nodded. He rushed to follow the trajectory from the hole to find the bullet. He quickly found and bagged the bullet. He then found the other bullet in the floor next to the body and bagged it.
Police Detective Daniel Bare said, “I need the gun that you used to kill Keith Jr.”
Deven walked from the kitchen to the living room and picked the gun up. He handed the gun to the uniformed officer who bagged it.
Earl, Steed, Deven, and Police Detective Officer Bare stepped out of the trailer and onto the concrete pad in front of the trailer as more uniformed officers went into the trailer to begin their work. They walked toward a picnic table away from the activity at the door.
Police Detective Daniel Bare said, “We will need to start a man hunt for Jess Smith. I understand that you two are planning on going over to the Ramsey Mansion. I will provide some security for you. This all seems clear cut.”
Steed said, “Here is the thing. Earl here says that the man who tried to kill Deven is not Keith Jr. but my father’s system identified him as Keith Jr.. My father had talked to Mayor Racoon earlier and he didn’t know what was going on.”
Police Detective Daniel Bare said, “Well. So. We need a clear identity on the body. And also the person we are looking for may not really be Jess Smith. Son of a bitch.”
A female uniformed officer came to the picnic table. She looked at Steed standing there naked. She said, “Daniel, is there any reason for him not to be getting dressed.”
“Sorry. I didn’t even realize I was naked. I was in bed when Deven yelled to me from the kitchen that something was happening; the break-in was happening. I am sorry.”
Daniel glanced at Steed’s genitals. “I had not noticed your state of dress or undress. Sorry. You can get dressed.”
Officer Ellie May said, “Well make me feel like a pervert for noticing. I have not had sex in three months. I tend to notice when men are naked.” Officer Ellie walked to the door of the trailer and looked into the kitchen at the corpse. “Wow. Someone is an expert who knows how to aim to kill. I guess for Mafia kids that kind of shooting is taught in kindergarten.” Officer Ellie May walked back to the picnic table.
Steed said, “I know how to shoot but Deven is the one who shot him.”
Deven said, “I’d never fired a gun before in my life.”
Officer Ellie said, “A natural born killer.”
“No. Hardly. I seriously want to go throw up.”
Officer Ellie smiled. “Sure. I was sick for a week after the first time I killed someone. I understand. I did not mean to suggest that you enjoyed it. I was speaking of how you hit the right place.”
Detective Daniel said, “Yeah, you may need to talk to someone. Some people get over situations like this with no problem. With other people, coming to terms with killing someone or being almost killed is not so easy.”
Earl said, “He will be okay.”
Deven said, “He didn’t die right away. He came close to killing me even after I shot him.”
Officer Ellie said, “That is surprising.” There were moments of silence as Officer Ellie listened to someone talking into her earplug. Officer Ellie looked at Deven and considered Steed’s nudity. “Was this all some kind of lover’s spat.”
Deven screamed, “What? No?” Then Deven looked at Steed. “Why in the hell don’t you go get dressed rather than having people think something.” Deven looked at Officer Ellie and said, “For the record, I am totally straight.”
Earl winked at Deven. “She is pretty, but proclaiming you are straight probably does not matter. I don’t think you stand a chance with her.”
Officer Ellie said, “You never know. I like men who are both tough and sensitive.” Then she looked at Steed. “Get dressed. You are making me horny and at a crime scene that is even too perverted for me.”
This Story is Not Free, Purchase For Your Kindle, $2.99
