Davis thought it was best to keep a low profile. He’d heard from his cousin that the police were showing up at places that he frequented, but other than that, they hadn’t approached him.
It looked like they were hitting their heads on the ceiling with this investigation, there wasn’t room to go any further which alleviated Davis. He wasn’t sure exactly why they were looking for Beau. It could be anything—drugs, money-laundering, murder—he dabbled in several things.
Davis was distancing himself from Beau. The last thing he needed was for his cousin to be arrested and he be charged as well since he’d lied about their relationship. Beau had been taking charges for Davis since they were young. When Davis turned eighteen-years old, Beau told him that he would not be doing any more time for him. Of course, Beau still got his hands dirty for the family, but Davis knew if Beau ever got arrested again, he would be heading to prison for an extended term.
Davis decided to walk to the nearby Landmark Diner to grab a bite to eat. He loved this place, and its old school appeal with its checkerboard floors, fluorescent lighting, and the round swivel tools. His favorite part was the jukebox in the corner, and the pay phone near the door. They designed this place like a time warp, and if he had a choice, he would have preferred to be in any other time zone but the present.
He chose a booth in the back corner away from the windows. Davis glanced around the restaurant, it was lunch hour so it was very busy and with it being summer time, several student were out of school and taking up space.
Davis picked up the menu, though he knew he planned to get a cheeseburger with no onion, no tomato, and fries. Condiments on the side. It was the same every time he came here. He scanned the room to get the attention of a waitress, instead he saw the last person he wanted to see.
He frowned, wondering what Johnny was doing back. He had arranged to get him out of the state, but he didn’t follow through to make sure there were no slip-ups with his plan. Seeing Johnny here meant, that something had gone wrong.
Davis placed his order with the waitress, and almost died when he saw Detectives Bower and Benson heading in his direction. He was tired of being harassed.
Thinking they were there for him, he prepared to get up to leave when he saw them have a seat in the same booth as Johnny. Davis worried that Johnny’s return meant he was cooperating with the police. Guess this guy does need to be watched.
As a large party walked into the restaurant in search of a table to accommodate their group of ten, Davis used the opportunity to slide into the booth behind the two detectives. His back was to them, and he hoped that he could find out why they were meeting with Johnny.
The server came over.
“Is everything okay? Was something wrong with the other table?” she asked.
The last thing he wanted was attention. He didn’t want to speak for fear that they would recognize his voice. Davis pointed to his coffee cup and the burger on the menu. She rolled her eyes at him before walking away. He wanted to make sure she didn’t interrupt his eavesdropping.
“Johnny, thanks for meeting us here. You’re doing the right thing, son,” Detective Benson said.
“Man, I don’t know why y’all are acting like this meeting was arranged,” Johnny said in frustration. “Y’all going to get me murdered. If word gets out that I’m speaking to you—heck if word gets out that I’m back in town, you’ll be questioning someone else about my death.”
”Sounds like someone wants to keep you quiet,” Detective Bower said. “But why? Listen we know you work for Beau and we know he brought some drugs in from Chicago. Help us fill in some blanks. Tell us what you know.”
Reaching for his phone, Davis sent Beau a text to let him know what was going on, and within minutes, his cousin replied to let him know it would be handled. He knew it was risky to let Beau know that he had not completed his task of getting Johnny out of sight. Davis knew that tipping Beau off about what was going on would not put him in his cousin’s good graces. The alternative of not telling him and getting caught up in whatever tale Johnny was telling, however, was not an option.
“Listen, Johnny. If you tell us what you know, we can protect you. Now if you would prefer to do a written statement, we can bring you down to the station and get this over with,” Detective Benson said. “It’s only a matter of time before the street starts getting word out that you’re in town, and if you don’t let us help you, they could find out you spoke to us. I’m sure Beau has several people under his thumb. Don’t you want guaranteed security? We can make sure that you’re well protected.”
There was a moment of pause, and then a female voice came into the conversation. “Johnny! Hey baby,” she said leaning down to kiss him on the cheek before sliding into the booth. “Sorry I’m late. Who are your friends?” she asked.
It took everything in Davis not to turn around and see who this voice belonged to, but he didn’t dare move an inch. Not until he was certain the detectives had left the restaurant.
“Oh—hey, hey you. What’s up?” he asked.
“I see you baby, trying to act hard for the men friends.” She paused. “My man has no manners. I’m Veronica and who might you handsome gentlemen be?”
The detectives must have picked up on the same vibe as Davis, “We were just leaving, Veronica. You two enjoy your lunch, and Johnny…we look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Davis held his breath as her heard the detectives leaving. He lifted his menu to block his face. He held it in place, peering over the top to watch them walk outside. They stood in front of the restaurant for what felt like forever to him. They need to hurry up and go.
He was so enthralled in what was going on outside, he almost missed the conversation happening behind him.
“Johnny, you really messed up this time. You know that, right?” she asked. “How can you be so careless?”
“How did you even know I was here?” he asked, and then reality struck him like a load of bricks. “Oh snap. Beau knows I’m here, doesn’t he?”
“Yep. I’m sorry, Johnny. He’s waiting for you back at the club. Go through the back door when you get there. I’m really sorry,” she said, her tone solemn.
After Davis saw the dancer from the club through the glass walking to her car, he knew it was time for him to leave, too.
He had no idea that when he walked out of the restaurant, Johnny got up and walked over to the pay phone to make a call. “Detective Benson? It’s Johnny, can you pick me up in back of the Landmark Diner ASAP? He’s gone now and I’m ready to talk.”