Insurgents

10

Although I hadn't gotten to bed until three thirty, I was expected to be at Gouland's Grill at nine with Jessie to meet Gretchen Salle. A note taped onto the door of the fridge related this information to me. I didn't remember the alarm clock going off, and the first thing I was aware of was Jessie scolding me in advance for making us late. I got out of bed and pulled on a fresh shirt and a pair of pants. She asked if I was going to fix my hair and I pulled on my baseball cap in answer. I got the car keys off the hook, and by the time we were out of the driveway and on the road, I was starting to wake up.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked after we'd rode in silence for a while.

"I'm thinking about what I'm going to tell Reyes and Borgano." I said. "They'll probably be there. I'm sure this woman Gretchen called them. I mean you told her we were meeting with her on behalf of David."

"No, not on behalf. I said I was a friend of his and that I didn't think he did it, that's all." She said. "The cops already know all that. But I doubt she called them, she seemed more curious about me than suspicious."

"It's a fine line." I said.

Gouland's is a popular breakfast place, and was packed with truck drivers and fishermen inhaling plates of pancakes and eggs and downing weak coffee. There was netting arranged on the walls with colorful wooden fish here and there, and a ship's wheel with lights on the pegs hung from the center of the ceiling like a chandelier. It was five after nine and the place was packed with gulping, smoking, slurping, jabbering human beings. We had to wait for a booth to open up, and by the time one did, I was having doubts that she would show.

"I mean if she's not here by now, she probably isn't coming. It's twenty after." I said.

"At least the cops aren't here." She said.

We sat down and ordered coffee. I was looking at the menu when Gretchen came up to our table. She was wearing blue jeans and work boots with a white button-up men's shirt. She wore a baseball cap with the name of a bait shop on it pulled low on her head.

"You Jessie?"

"Yeah." Jessie said.

"Who's he?" She asked nodding toward me.

"Ben, my boyfriend." She said. "He's a friend of David's too."

"And what do you do for a living Ben?" She asked, still not sitting down.

"I'm a security agent over at Lakeview." I said.

She showed surprise quickly followed by anger. "One of the Peirson's hired goons? I should've known this was some kind of bullshit intimidation move." The people in the booth next to us had stopped talking and were listening.

"Hey, no." I said. "I just work there. It's just a job."

"Yeah, well I used to have a job too." She said. "And a friend. Now I don't have either 'cause of your boss. So when you see him and tell him about this little meeting, do me a favor and tell him to fuck off. You tell him I'm not afraid of him, you, or any of you creeps." She was getting loud as she spoke, giving the impression that she was, in fact, afraid.

I was shaking my head and holding up my hands in an unthreatening gesture of peace, but she didn't want to hear what I had to say, and she turned and moved quickly toward the front exit of the restaurant. Jessie jumped up and went after her, following her out the front door. Through the big window in Gouland's dining room you could see Jessie stop her in the parking lot. Half the restaurant seemed to be watching the show. I lifted my hat enough to scratch my head and then gave the waitress a sheepish smile as she brought our coffee over.

As Jessie pleaded with the woman she kept looking over at me through the window. I put a creamer in my coffee and stirred it with the mini straw, trying not to stare at the scene. Finally Jessie came back into the restaurant with Gretchen following. They sat across from me, and Gretchen took her hat off. Her hair was military short, and she looked like she hadn't slept in a long time. She set the hat down on the table and leaned over toward me, as if she were going to tell me a secret. "I don't trust you." She said. "You're just another soldier in Junior Pierson's private army as far as I'm concerned."

"It's just a job to me." I said. "I have no loyalty to Junior. Anyway, I'm employed by the Guardian Security Agency, which is under contract with the Lakeview Civic Authority. Junior Pierson isn't even my boss really."

"It's all owned by him and if you don't know that then I don't know why I'm talking to you."

"We need your help." Jessie said. "That's all. I think we can all agree that David is just a fall guy here. Junior Pierson murdered your friend and most likely his own wife too. We can agree on that much, right?"

"Yeah, sure." She said. "If you two are really just a couple of yoyos trying to help your friend, then there is something you can do for me. You can tell me where to find the fucker. David Telano had Amanda's stuff, and he was at Junior's house the night his wife got shot, so he has information. He probably doesn't even know how much he knows. He's gotta be keeping some secrets. You two expect me to believe that you just decided to try to help him out of the blue? That you haven't heard from him? Well that's an obvious lie. I need to talk to him, that's all, I don't want to turn him in."

"I talked to him." I said. "But only once. He called me. We have no idea where he is or how to get in touch with him."

"But you talked to him?"

"Yeah. He told us his uncle had set him up and I believe him. They were into some shady shit together -his uncle was the one who gave him Amanda's stuff."

"Who's his uncle?" She asked.

"Wait," Jessie said, "you have something we want. Let's agree to trade information first. We want to read the articles that Amanda was working on when she was killed. We'll tell you everything we know and can find out, if you let us see those articles."

Gretchen looked at Jessie and smiled. "What do you plan on doing with 'em?"

"Figuring out what the hell is going on for one thing." Jessie said. "And making sure the police know. And if David gets caught, his lawyer will need them."

"The more people who know the truth the better it is for everyone." I said. "If Junior Pierson is a murderer, he should be punished."

"Listen pollyanna, I don't have to tell you dick. I can find out who David Telano's uncle is, easily." She said.

"We could save you the trouble of searching." Jessie said.

"You gonna single handedly take down the Pierson mob, sweetheart? Huh? You and Captain America here? Come on, these people aren't afraid of the law. I would've given Amanda's articles to the cops myself if I thought it would do any good. It won't. The Piersons are smart enough to know they have to give the police a fall guy, and your friend is it. They're not going to bend over backwards to prove a conspiracy when they've got a Mexican with tattoos who's already been convicted on national television." She laughed. "Come on. Are you gonna tell me who David's Uncle is, or do I have to go to the court of records?"

"If you're so sure the police aren't gonna do anything, why do you want information?" I asked. "I mean, if it's not to give to the cops, what's it all about?"

"That's my business." She said. She was about to continue, but the waitress came and asked us what we wanted. I ordered a Fisherman's omelet, and Jessie ordered waffles. Gretchen said she was fine with water. When the waitress left, Gretchen continued, a little more quietly. "What I'm going to do with the information is none of your concern. Either tell me, or stop wasting my time."

"So you won't give us Amanda's articles?" Jessie asked.

She sighed. "It's only one article, and the notes for a third." She said. "That's all I got. And no, you can't have them. Here's what I will do if you help me, I'll tell you what they're about. I'll give you the main point."

"Freddie Divos." I said. "He runs the mobile home park in Lakeview. He lives there too."

Gretchen took out a smallpad and a pen and got the correct spelling of his name. "Alright." She saidlooking at us both for a moment. "Junior Pierson used his money and influenceto make a child disappear."