A Two Edged Sword

Reed’s Realm

Reed pressed the up button on the hospital elevator and looked above the doors to see that it was nowhere close to the first level. Normally, he would have taken the stairs, but he was still feeling the aftermath of his fight with David Willings.

He kept his numerous small injuries under as much cover as possible. He didn’t walk with a limp even though it would probably feel better if he did shift his weight a little bit. As for his black eye and busted lip, there was just not much that could be done to keep those under wraps. For the moment, he was just content to leave his sunglasses on and try to ignore all the stares that he was getting from passersby.

The elevator doors opened to off load a large group of people. Reed tried to avoid eye contact with them, so that he at least would not have to see their looks of “Damn” when they saw his battered and bruised face.

After the elevator emptied, he slowly stepped on and punched the number three button, setting it to glow in a dull reddish orange, the color of sun dried blood. The doors crept to a close as if mocking his impatience. Reed stared at his reflection in the shiny metal of the interior surface. He shook his head, knowing why people were looking at him oddly.

“If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy,” Reed said to himself, wondering why he didn’t say that to all those that looked at him.

The elevator stopped with a jerk and the doors once again slid open. Reed stepped out, turned right, and proceeded down the hall. The directional signed let him know that he had a ways to go to get to room 341. As he passed other rooms that had the doors open, he could not help but look inside. Most of the people in the rooms were elderly; people who were life-worn and for at least this moment, life had kicked them in the gut and they had landed in the hospital.

Reed walked past the nurse’s station and made eye contact with one of the pink-scrubbed nurses. Reed smiled and she returned it, though distractedly. She was the only person that he had walked by that didn’t have some weird look on his or her face after seeing him. He thought that was interesting at first, but then the thought occurred that this woman sees a lot worse than a black eye and busted lip every time she walks into most of the rooms that she is responsible for on a daily basis.

Reed finally made it to room 341. He reached out to knock on the door, but before he could, the door opened on its own.

“Ah, look everyone! Speak of the hero and he shows up,” Martin’s sister said as she reached out to Reed, taking him by the hands and pulling him into the room. “Get in here and give Momma a hug,” she said.

Reed looked around and saw Martin’s mom getting out of the chair beside Martin’s bed. She walked over slowly with her short arms extended. She wasn’t a huge woman, but looked as if she enjoyed her own great cooking just a little too much. With skin as smooth as silk, only her short cropped gray hair gave any indication of her age.

Reed smiled at Martin’s sister and walked over and gave his mother a big hug. “I’m glad you guys are here.”

“I can’t thank you enough for saving my little boy’s life. You are a true angel sent from God above,” Mother Johnston said as she elevated on her tip toes and gave Reed a kiss on his right cheek.

Reed smiled, ignoring the flush of blood to his cheeks. “I don’t know if I deserve that much credit,” he said.

“Sure you do. My boy is alive cause of you,” she returned.

“So you gonna stop hugging all the women of my family and come see about me?” Martin asked, smiling.

“I don’t know. Your mom gives pretty good hugs,” Reed said, walking over to the far side of Martin’s bed.

Martin’s left shoulder, neck, and upper right arm were wrapped in tape thicker than a mummy. There was a small stain of red from the blood that had leaked from his wound and slowly soaked through the white gauze and outer wrap. He had an IV that ran into the back of his right hand, a clear liquid pumping into his dark vein. He didn’t have a shirt on and they had the bed adjusted so that Martin was sitting up. Considering what happened, Reed thought that he looked pretty good.

“Damn. Looks like someone kicked your ass, son,” Martin smirked, giving Reed’s face a close look.

“Yeah, well at least I didn’t let them shoot me with my own gun,” Reed returned.

“Hey, that’s harsh. We ain’t talking about that,” Martin reminded.

Martin extended his right hand to Reed and the other officer responded in kind.

“How are you, Martin?” Reed asked in a serious tone.

“I’m okay. It hurts, but I’ll live thanks to you,” Martin said.

Reed could see that the corners of Martin’s eyes were starting to slowly pool with tears. The younger man squeezed his lips together into a think line, trying to fight back the emotion.

“Hey, I know brother,” Reed said, patting his friend’s hand.

“Thank you,” Marin said as one single tear ran down his right cheek before getting lost somewhere in his goatee. He squeezed Reed’s hand and shook it.

“Knock, knock,” a nurse in pink scrubs said as she walked into the room. “It is time to change your bandage.”

Martin reached up and wiped his face and eyes. Reed stepped back from the side of the bed and stood at the foot to allow the nurse access to Martin.

“So, have you found out anything about our friend?” Martin asked as the nurse sat supplies out on the bed to prepare to change the bandage.

Reed shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything yet, but I’m going to go over and talk to Dr. Fox after I meet with Drake this morning. He’s coming down to headquarters in about an hour.”

“You don’t have a lot of time then,” Martin said with a slight look of discomfort on his face as the nurse raised him up off the bed and started cutting off the old bandage.

“No, I don’t have a lot, but coming to see you was first on the list.” Reed shrugged. “And if I’m late, then he can just wait. That won’t bother me. Besides, he’ll probably make more money in the few minutes by doing nothing than we do in a year,” Reed added.

The nurse finished making her last cut and started to slowly pull the bandage back. Martin closed his eyes and once more started to squeeze his lips together.

Once it was removed, Reed could see that there was a small incision that ran about four inches in length that was sealed with numerous stitches.

“Well, that doesn’t look so bad,” Reed said.

“That’s easy for you to say. Your not the one with a hole in his shoulder,” Martin stated.

“What do you plan on getting from Drake?” Martin asked trying to keep his mind off the nurse, who put something on the stitches and was preparing to wrap his arm and shoulder again.

“Well, I want to see if he knows anything about Willings, and I also want to ask him what kind of dealings he is having with The Company. I already had that crazy meet and greet with Jerimiah, so I guess it’s Drake’s turn.”

“Yeah, well good luck with that,” Martin said, smiling through a grimace.

“And speaking of that meeting, I guess I should be headed up to the station,” Reed said as he reached out and tapped the foot of the hospital bed.

“Alright, boss. Thanks for coming by,” Martin said.

“No problem. I will come back and check on you later,” Reed returned.

Reed turned and said goodbye to Martin’s sister and then to his mother, who smothered him in another hug.

“Now, Reed, I want you to promise me right now that you will come over to my house for lunch when Martin gets well enough to get out,” she said while pulling back from the hug, staring him down with her kind, aged eyes.

“Okay, I promise I’ll come over. How could I pass up one of your lunches,” Reed said, smiling at her.

“Good then, and you can bring someone if you like too. I can’t wait,” she said.

“I’ll look forward to it too,” Reed returned. “You all take care now, and if you need anything, just call. Martin has my number.”

“We will honey,” Martin’s mom said.

Reed pointed over to Martin, “And you enjoy this vacation, and get well so you can come back to work. I’ll have your inbox full.”

“Oh, wow, you’re making me want to jump out of bed right now,” Martin said.

“Y’all take care,” Reed said, giving his friend the eye and waving.

“Be careful out there,” Martin said as Reed walked out the door.

Reed felt better after seeing Martin. His partner had been a great person to work with over the past few years. He was the best detective he had working under him. Martin was passionate about his work and serving the people. That is why he wanted him to be his partner on this case. However, it was plain to Reed that he was now more then just a partner at work. He was a friend.

Reed stepped off the elevator into the fifth floor hall of New Orleans Police Department headquarters, and walked down the empty corridor to his office. He passed by the conference room and glanced in to find that it was still empty. He continued to walk down the hall, slowing down as he approached Martin’s office door. It was closed. Reed had walked past this door more times than he could have ever counted. With relief, he read the name plate identifying Detective Martin Johnston.

Reed remembered when he first joined the NOPD. He was excited about starting a new job, and a new life in the Big Easy. Reed could recall the first time he stepped off the elevator and walked down this very hall to see what would be his office. Just as Reed made it to the last office on the left, a lady walked out carrying a box. Reed stopped and smiled. She returned the smile in kind, even though it seemed a little forced.

“You must be Detective Hackman,” she said.

“Why yes, I am,” he responded, looking surprised.

She extended her hand. “I’m Julie Walkins. I am your office assistant. I was told that you would be coming by,” she said.

Reed took her hand. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” Reed responded.

“I was trying to come in and take out the last of Matt’s personal effects before you arrived,” she said, her eyes moistening with soon to be shed tears.

Reed knew that one reason that he was asked to start so soon was due to the fact that the force was already short handed, and with the death of a detective in the line of duty, the department was really in a pinch.

Reed looked up and saw the name plate outside the door that read, Mathew Collins Senior Detective.

“I’m sure he was a great man. I’ll try very hard to continue his work and dedication to this city,” Reed said looking back over to his new assistant.

She turned to see that Reed had been looking at Matt’s name plate. She reached over and slid his name plate out as one single tear rolled down her left cheek. She placed it inside the box in her shaking hands.

“Okay, so if you need anything, just come and let me know. My office is just across the hall over there,” she said pointing to her office. “I will get you a name plate as soon as possible.”

“That’s fine. Just whenever you have time. There’s no rush,” Reed stated.

An uncomfortable silence settled like a wall between them. “Well, I should leave you be. Just let me know if you need anything,” she said as she turned and walked towards her office.

“Mrs. Walkins,” Reed called out to her.

She stopped and turned, “Yes sir?”

“I’m really sorry for your loss,” he offered.

She looked at Reed and while holding back her tears, she spoke through a small smile, “Thank you.”

Reed then walked into his office and over to the window. He pulled up the blinds, sending a puff of dust into the air, then stood looking out the window just as he was today.

“Reed?” a voice spoke, bringing him back to the present.

Reed turned to see Julie standing at the entrance of his door, her blonde hair intermingled with only a few more grays than when they’d first met.

“Yes,” he responded.

“I just wanted you to know that Mr. and Miss Drake are now in the conference room,” she said.

“Thanks for letting me know,” he answered.

“No problem,” she said, turning to walk back into her office.

Reed moved over to his desk and grabbed the case file he had prepared for this meeting.

“It’s show time,” he said, leaving his office.

Reed made his way down the hall to the conference room in leisurely fashion. He knew he was well prepared, but couldn’t seem to shake all of the nerves out of his system. Never let them see you sweat, he thought. He didn’t know why he was nervous at all. It wasn’t like he hadn’t interviewed worse than Warin Drake a thousand times. Then again, perhaps his butterflies had nothing to do with the patriarch. Shaking his head as he paused at the door, Reed cleared his mind before walking into the conference room.

Mr. Drake sat at the conference table with his back to the door, and sitting beside him was Maggie, her dark hair flowing past her shoulders and spilling onto the worn metal back of her chair. Reed was unsure if she would be with her father, but now he realized that he was glad that she was there. Reed would deny it and never admit it, but there was something about her that was different. Interesting. Reed could not put his finger on it, but he wasn’t trying too very hard. The fact of the matter was that whatever she had, it indeed was getting Reed’s attention, but at least it was in a good way.

“Ah, Mr. Drake we meet at last. I appreciate you taking the time to come down and meet with me,” Reed said, extending a hand to Drake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Detective. I’m happy to do anything that I can to help your investigation.” Drake said, as he stood and shook Reed’s hand. Maggie followed suit and stood up next to her father. Reed shook her hand as well.

“Miss Drake,” Reed greeted, wanting to keep everything as professional as possible.

“Hi,” small and soft was offered in return by Maggie. The tone in her voice, the look in her eyes, and her smile made him just for a fraction of a moment lose track of his thoughts.

Reed quickly refocused and pointed to the seats and took one himself on the opposite side of the conference room table.

“I would like to talk to you about one of your employees that I believe works for you,” Reed stated while opening the folder he had prepared specifically for this meeting. He reached in and pulled out a security camera shot of Willings and slid it over to Drake, “Do you know this man?”

Drake reached over and spun the picture around, then replied, “Yes, this man works for me. His name is Marco Breaux.”

Reed studied Drake’s expression and eyes, looking for any telling signs. “What kind of work did Mr. Breaux do for you?” Reed asked next.

Drake pushed the picture back toward Reed and shrugged his shoulders. “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.”

Reed glanced over towards Maggie, who was intently looking at him, before turning back to Drake.

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

“Hard to say,” Drake said. “A long while now.”

Drake started to tap his fingers on the table. Reed picked up on it almost before the first finger hit.

“I think we met in the mid-eighties.” Drake continued.

Reed kept a steady gaze and tone, but started to get the feeling that Drake was a little rehearsed, and impatient. Reed didn’t know just why that would be unless he was hold back or trying to keep the conversation light and on the top. Reed knew that he needed to dig deeper.

“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 could not help but think that his gut feels about Drake sheltering his answers were true. If he knew Willings as he said he did, then he had to know plenty about Willings and his criminal activity, and Reed was set to find out for sure. There was no doubt that Drake was a very powerful business man, but Reed didn’t let anyone intimidate him.

“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,” Reed offered never taking his eyes off Drake.

“I see,” Drake said.

Reed could tell that he was striking a cord within as Drake leaned forward and crossed his arms. It was as if Drake was physically trying to put a boundary up between the two of them.

Reed intensified his look, “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?”

“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.

Reed took note of Drake’s change in expression. He wouldn’t call it angry or worried, but the man looked more serious than when the interview began. Reed kept his face emotionless. There was no longer a casual feel, and in fact, the room seemed to fill with heavy intensity as if two lions were about to square off over a fresh kill.

“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.

“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?” Reed asked.

“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 returned.

“Were you aware that Mr. Willings also had suspected ties in distributing drugs in the city?” Reed continued, following up every answer with another question in rapid succession, trying not to let Drake have time to think.

Reed knew that if Drake was indeed withholding information, that he wasn’t just going to volunteer anything useful. It was obvious that Drake’s defenses were up and was he was going to hold very strong to them. So it was Reed’s pleasure to unload all of these findings on Drake. It might not make him give up more information, but he would at least know that he was dealing with one detective that was not going away.

“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 before he continued and refused to use the name Marco Breaux.

“I also need to inform you that last night, Mr. Willings was killed. He almost killed an officer in the attempt to apprehend him,” Reed continued.

“Oh my,” Maggie said breaking her silence.

Drake shook his head, leaning back in his chair. He reached to his face before saying, “That is hard to comprehend. Did a policeman kill him?”

Reed pulled the photo of 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 looked over towards Maggie for a moment before looking back toward Reed.

“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?"

“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?”

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

Reed nodded. “So you have enemies?”

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

“Have any of these ‘disagreements’ been recent?” Reed asked, leaning forward in his chair, his mind predicting where this was all going.

“I hate to even name any names,” Drake said as he paused and looked around the room. “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,” Reed asked.

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

Taking into account the fact that Drake said that Willings was his highest non-family member business associate, he was finding it hard to believe that Willings would not have any dealing with Jeremiah on his behalf, but that was something that Reed choose not to get into with Drake. The mood had calmed and Reed found that to be curious as well. One thing that had become clear was that he was going to have to have more dealings with Drake. Looking at Drake and is daughter, the Detective decided to work under the assumption that he would probably catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

“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 spoke as he closed his notebook.

“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 stated.

Drake then glanced over at Maggie as if he was making sure that she was following his lead. In that moment, Reed really felt for her. This conversation definitely shed some light on a part of Maggie’s life of which he was not aware.

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

"Yes, I think that I have enough here,” Reed said as he stood up. “I might have a few more questions as this progresses. If so, who would you like for me to contact?"

“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,” Drake said motioning to his daughter.

“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.

“No need. We know the way.” Drake turned and walked out of the room.

Reed didn’t respond, but now focused his attention on Maggie. The somber expression that had been on her face while her father was in the room fell away. She now looked like the soft spoken, beautiful Maggie that Reed had spoken to before.

“Let me know if you need anything else, Reed. You know where to reach me,” she said with a small smile.

Reed smiled back, "I I’ll let you know if something comes up."

Maggie then turned and started to walk out the door. Truth be known, Reed didn’t want her to leave. He would have loved to just close the door and have the two of them just sit and talk for the rest of the evening. He thought once more about the obvious pressure in her life that came in the form of her overbearing, closed-off father.

"Hey, Maggie,” Reed called out.

Maggie stopped short of the doorway and looked back toward Reed.

Reed surprised himself that he actually spoke out to her again. It was one of the few times that an emotional thought ever actually slipped out. There were a lot of things that he could have said that were swirling around in his head.

Instead of speaking those things, he instead just looked at her and said, “Thanks.”

She smiled and nodded to him before she stepped out of the room to catch up with her father.

Reed returned to the conference chair. He closed the case file and took in a deep breath. With the meeting all said and done, Reed knew two things for sure. One was that he had the feeling that he was tapping into something a lot bigger than he ever expected, and two, without Martin, he was on his own.