The Whole Truth

Maggie’s World

Maggie sat in the formal sitting room of Drake Manor, dreading the day to come. Reed Hackman had called at seven-thirty a.m. to ask her father to come to the station for an interview. According to Reed, they’d had a break in the case of the homeless person murdered in the Drake Enterprises warehouse. Maggie thought there might be a lot more to the interview than Reed would reveal. There was a real possibility that Marco had talked to the police before he died. For the first time in a long time, Maggie was scared in that looking off a tall building way. She was trying not to dwell on it, though. The only thing they could do would be to cooperate and hope for the best.

Drake had taken some convincing to come to that conclusion himself. Her father could be obstinate on his best days. Today, he was angry at everyone. He was mad at Marco for being sloppy, and deceitful, and causing them to be in this situation. He was angry at Reed for not being on the take and for doing his job entirely too well. Drake was mad at Jeremiah for forcing the Family to make war against him, which led to the hits, that led to Reed’s investigation. And finally, and most annoying, her father was mad at Maggie for not resolving the whole situation already.

Leaning back into the white silk chair, Maggie shook her head. Her father was sometimes as contrasting as this room was to the rest of the house. The sitting room sat directly off the front chamber and was the first room anyone saw entering the house, and the last room people saw if they weren’t a part of the Family. The room had white furniture and bright floral wall paper. A crystal chandelier hung overhead, and the light passed through the hundreds of hanging jewels, forming a glistening rainbow overhead. The rest of the house, that only a few people ever saw, was dark, and concealed, and inherently dangerous.

While most people who knew Drake only suspected that he might have a menacing side, Maggie knew for a fact that it was true. With all that had been happening with the Family of late, she knew the truly hazardous aspect of his personality itched to pop out. Maggie was trying to prevent that, and the serious consequences that would result, from surfacing. She didn’t know how long she could keep it up. Her control over the man was limited.

The door to the sitting room opened and Drake walked through, wearing his usual black silk pants and shirt. He had his short gray hair combed back naturally, his face shaved close and clean. His expression didn’t reveal the depths of his current anger. He was very good at hiding his emotions when he needed.

“Are you prepared for this?” Drake asked, stopping halfway from the front door.

Maggie stood and moved toward her father. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“We need to know what Marco told this policeman, if anything,” Drake said.

“As usual, I’ll be letting you do the talking.”

The distinguished older man nodded, and left the house with his daughter following close behind. She said nothing further, and he offered no conversation. The silence in her father’s Mercedes, which was as quiet as a coffin even on the roughest road, gave Maggie more time to worry about whether or not Marco had given important information to Reed. Whether he might still be alive, singing to the police about the Family. Directly consequential to any information Marco might have revealed, she also worried whether or not Reed’s days were numbered, and what her father might order her to do after this meeting was over. The closer they came to their destination, the gloomier her mood became.

As Maggie and Drake walked up the steps to the front door of police headquarters, he stopped Maggie with a glance. The shadow falling on them from the high rise kept her father in the darkness he so loved, and his normally cold eyes hidden from her. “If something goes wrong in here, do you know what to do?”

Maggie sighed and looked away. “We’ve talked about this before and I know what to do. Don’t worry. We won’t be taken.” Drake stared at her with his steely eyes, wanting more. “I won’t be captured,” she said.

Part of the constant training that Drake gave the Family in his weekly meetings was what to do in emergency situations. He’d made it clear over the years that he preferred mass carnage, including suicide, to any member of the Family being captured by the police. Maggie doubted that Drake’s teaching applied to himself. But she also knew that he had alternate means to deal with the authorities if he found himself in their custody. Since she’d known Drake, he’d never come close to being captured. She hoped that history wouldn’t change.

After staring her down for a moment longer, Drake nodded and turned back to the building. They went through the door, down an empty hallway, and into the lobby, checking in with the desk attendant. They’d barely sat down in the vinyl waiting room chairs when a young officer in blue uniform came through the door into the bowels of the building to lead them to the meeting room. While the officer treated them with courtesy, she cast a weary eye toward them. Her chestnut hair was pulled back in a strict bun, and her body looked as tightly wound. Drake seemed to not even notice their escort, as if she were not important enough to warrant acknowledgment.

The building had seen its better days. There weren’t any holes in the walls and the furnishings weren’t crumbling, but it was clear the city had chosen to spend its tax dollars doing other things than remodeling. The tiled floors had faded from white to milky gray, and every few tiles were cracked. Walls that had once been white as well needed a fresh paint job and some art to break up their otherwise dull finish. Every few feet there was a fresh splotch of paint that likely covered up graffiti left by an unhappy patron.

The escort took Drake and Maggie to the fifth floor and deposited them in a conference room. They sat beside each other on the same side of the table and waited silently. One of the florescent lights overhead flickered softly, casting their shadows intermittently on the table. Maggie tried to ignore the annoying hum coming from the light.

She looked at the two way mirror in the perpendicular wall and imagined that Reed stood behind it, watching them. He would be looking for any sign of strange behavior. Maggie didn’t know to what degree Reed suspected they were involved in the unsolved murders, but he obviously thought there was more to the Drakes than met the eye. And if Marco opened his mouth, all bets were off.

After several long minutes, the door to the conference room opened and Detective Reed Hackman entered. He wore plain black pants, a white shirt, and a silky black tie. After placing a notebook on the opposite side of the table, he stepped farther forward and offered a hand to Drake.

“Ah, Mr. Drake. We meet at last. I appreciate you taking the time to come down and meet with me.”

Drake stood to greet him and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Detective. I’m happy to do anything that I can to help your investigation.”

Maggie stood up beside Drake and smiled at Reed. Reed leaned over toward her and took Maggie's hand.

“Miss Drake,” the Detective said nodding his head toward her.

“Hi,” Maggie said, feeling her face blush ever so slightly. She held on to his hand what she figured was a moment longer than appropriate. The warmth of his skin fused into her palm like a warm, fuzzy blanket.

Reed turned back to Drake and motioned toward their chairs. “I would like to talk to you about one of your employees that I believe works for you.” After sitting in the worn black vinyl chair on his side of the table, Reed opened the folder and pulled out a photo of Marco, sliding it in front of Drake. “Do you know this man?”

Drake pulled the photo of Marco closer across the table and rotated it into proper orientation. “Yes, this man works for me. His name is Marco Breaux.” It appeared to be taken from a surveillance video, but it was a close up shot.

“What kind of work did Mr. Breaux do for you?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Drake pushed the picture back toward the officer. “All kinds. I have a number of different business interests. Marco acts as my second—“ Drake turned to Maggie for a moment. “Or third in command. He helps manage the real estate holdings that I have and acts on my behalf when needed. He also arranges security for our property and home.”

Maggie studied Reed’s expression. He was too good to give away any indication of how he felt about Drake. He did not appear to be in disbelief about the explanation so far.

“How long have you known Mr. Breaux?” Reed asked.

“Hard to say. A long while now.” Drake drummed his fingers on the table for a moment while he thought. “I think we met in the mid-eighties.”

“When was the last time you saw or spoke to Mr. Breaux?”

“It’s been three days, I believe,” Drake answered. “I’ve got no problem answering your questions, Detective Reed, but I’d like to know what this is about.”

Reed paused for a moment, straightening in his chair. “As you know, I’ve been in contact with your daughter in regard to a murder that took place in one of your warehouses. My investigation leads me to believe that Mr. Breaux was involved, and quickly became our number one suspect in this murder and possibly another one as well.”

“I see,” Drake said, sitting forward and crossing his hands over the table.

Reed’s expression turned more serious, if that was possible, and his eyes drilled into Maggie’s father. “Mr. Drake, I must ask you how well do you know your number two—“ Reed looked at Maggie with a slight nod and added, “Well, number three?”

Drake’s jaw clenched as he matched the Detective’s glare. “I know what he does for me in a professional capacity and I consider him a friend. I’m not his keeper, however,” Drake said.

Maggie could feel her heart beat increasing as the tension in the room thickened to the consistency of cheese soup. She knew the look in her father’s eye and didn’t like it at all. Reed’s expression was cold enough to freeze a volcano.

“Of course,” Reed said. He briefly looked back down to his notebook to break the staring contest with Drake. Reed reached into his file and pulled more papers out. He slid the original file photo of Willings over to Drake. “I think you will recognize this man.”

“He looks quite a bit different—younger—but that is Marco,” Drake said.

Reed nodded. “It is the same person, but his name is not Marco. He was born David Willings. He was a crew mate on a ship that sank in the gulf in the early eighties. His body was never recovered and he was determined to be deceased after a long search and rescue. Were you aware of these facts, Mr. Drake?”

“No, I wasn’t. He told me his name was Marco Breaux. I don’t know much about his life before I met him,” Drake said.

“Were you aware that Mr. Willings also had suspected ties in distributing drugs in the city?” Reed asked.

Maggie cringed inside and felt an almost overwhelming urge to run from the room. The Drake Family business had experienced run ins with the authorities over its drug business in the past, but Maggie had never been this privy to them. She knew she had to stay cool and deny everything and anything as necessary.

“No. I can’t believe Marco had anything to do with drug distribution. He usually stayed busy with work for me.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but I think that there was another side to Mr. Willings that you didn’t know about.” Reed took a deep breath. “I also need to inform you that last night, Mr. Willings was killed. He almost killed an officer in the attempt to apprehend him.”

“Oh my,” Maggie said. She was pleased to hear the first bit of good news she’d had today.

Drake shook his head, leaning back in his chair. He brought a hand to his face and cradled his chin. “That is hard to comprehend. Did a policeman kill him?”

Reed pulled the photo of Marco as Willings across the table and replaced it in his notebook. “He was shot by the officer. However, I don’t know that the shots fired were the cause of his death. I was actually there and was in pursuit. He was running from me after he’d been shot, so I can only assume that his bullet wounds weren’t fatal. He was out of my sight for a few moments and when I was able to catch sight of him again, he was down and there was a person over his body. I have reason to believe that it was this person that actually killed Mr. Willings.”

Drake cast a quick glance at Maggie and she could see a confirmation in his expression that meant Marco had not revealed anything of significance to the police. If Reed had no other evidence, then she believed they could breathe safely, at least as long as Reed came across no more good leads.

“I’m beginning to believe that Marco was indeed living some kind of double life,” Drake said. "Do you have any idea of who this other person was?"

The Detective sighed a little. “I was hoping that you might be able to help me with that. This person wasn’t a punk off the street. This was a professional hit and they took a huge chance in killing him, knowing that there were police on the scene. Do you have any enemies that would benefit from the death of Mr. Willings?”

Drake held out his hands. “I’m just a businessman, Detective. I can’t imagine any enemy that I might have killing one of my associates.”

“So you have enemies?” Reed asked.

“I have had business disagreements in the past. The word ‘enemy’ is a strong label,” Drake responded.

Reed scooted forward in his chair. “Have any of these ‘disagreements’ been recent?”

“I hate to even name any names.” Drake looked toward the two way mirror for a moment. “Ronald Jeremiah and I had a disagreement over a piece of property on the river.”

“Did Mr. Willings have any personal dealings with Mr. Jeremiah?”

Drake shrugged. “I believe Marco had met Jeremiah before, but he didn’t conduct any business with the man on my behalf.”

“Well, I assure you that I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone at this time. I’m just gathering information. I still don’t have an official cause of death yet for Mr. Willings. I’m currently waiting to get word from the medical examiner in regard to Mr. Willings autopsy results.” Reed closed his notebook.

Drake stood and pushed his chair back. “Good. Whatever Marco might have been involved with, I’d like to know more about the events surrounding his death. Perhaps whoever killed him might have been involved in the other murder. Marco’s name should be cleared if at all possible.”

Drake looked to his daughter with a silent command. She stood next to him and looked to Reed.

“Are we done here, Detective?” Drake asked.

Reed’s brow furrowed as he looked at Drake, before he stood up himself. "Yes, I think that I have enough here. I might have a few more questions as this progresses. If so, who would you like for me to contact?"

Motioning toward Maggie, Drake said, “Please contact my daughter if you need to arrange to speak with me again. I’ll be traveling for business quite a bit in the near future.”

“Okay. I appreciate you coming down and for your time. I’ll show you out,” Reed said as he started to walk out from behind the table.

Drake held up a hand to stop the officer and pinned him with a glare. “No need. We know the way.” Drake turned and walked toward the door without waiting for further response from Reed, or making sure that Maggie followed.

Maggie looked over to Reed with an apologetic smile. “Let me know if you need anything else, Reed. You know where to reach me.”

Reed returned the smile, "I I’ll let you know if something comes up." Just as Maggie turned to walk out the door, Reed called to her again. "Hey, Maggie."

Maggie stopped short of the doorway.

“Thanks," Reed said.

She smiled and nodded, then continued out into the hall and in search of her father.

Maggie waited for her father to speak as he pulled the Mercedes out of its parking space in front of police headquarters. She could see his anger simmering beneath his skin like hot broth on the verge of boiling over. She wasn’t sure if it would be better to say nothing and hope that his fury would cool on its own, or to try and defuse him now.

“I should have killed Marco years ago. I knew he couldn’t be trusted to protect the Family. Now we must deal with this cop,” Drake said, pulling up to a stop sign.

Maggie clinched her hands together in her lap. “It sounded to me as if Marco didn’t say anything.”

Drake shook his head. “He might not have said much, but it sounds as though this policeman is far from done with his investigation. He suspects we had something to do with the murders and that we’re involved in the drug trade. I don’t ultimately fear a major imposition by this man,” he glanced to her pointedly, “I can buy the police department’s cooperation if needed, but a lot of effort goes into that kind of operation.”

“What are you going to do?” Maggie asked. If he said that she had to kill Reed, Maggie didn’t know if she could take it.

“Of most concern right now is Marco’s body. A competent medical examiner might be able to discover information about him that would only make the police more interested in the Family. We need to prevent that from happening,” Drake said, turning the car onto the road leading to the manor. “If we take away that piece of evidence, I’m hopeful that this detective can be managed. He didn’t seem to have much else to draw from that I gathered.”

Maggie nodded in agreement. Reed didn’t seem to have a lot of specific questions for them about anything, so hopefully he had as little evidence as his fishing expedition indicated.

Drake gestured toward her. “I would like you to keep an eye on Detective Hackman, however. If we can steer him toward Jeremiah at the same time we direct him away from the Family, he can actually serve our interests.”

Blinking in surprise, Maggie looked to her father for confirmation. “What do you want me to do?”

“Keep tabs on the man anyway that you can, without being too obvious. If he has more information than we know and is about to do something stupid, like arrest someone, I want to know it so he can be dealt with. However you do that is up to you. I trust you’re ability and instincts on this.”

Maggie focused her eyes on the road and ran her father’s directions through her head. She had two tasks at hand that seemed equally daunting. First, she had to dispose of Marco’s body from the city morgue, which was in the bottom of the police headquarters. Next, she had to spy on a man she couldn’t get out of her head and still keep open the option of eliminating him.