Small Crimes Read online

  When I thought about all the things I did, none of it seemed possible, but all I have to do is look Phil Coakley in the face to prove to myself it all happened. So now I was an ex-police officer, a felon, and a divorced husband. I hadn’t seen or heard from my ex-wife or kids since the day I was arrested. Other than Morris I hadn’t had any visitors or company for seven years, not even my parents. When I thought about all that I’d lost for money I didn’t even want, I could barely believe it.

  Chapter 3

  Bradley County is made up of half a dozen towns and sits in a valley on the edge of the Green Mountains. Back when I was a cop, the population of Bradley County, not including the eight thousand students who attended two liberal arts colleges in Eastfield, was around seventy-two thousand. Bradley is the largest town in Bradley County and its population alone is twenty-four thousand.

  When I was a kid, once you got five miles away from the town center all you saw was farmland, cow pastures, and woods. About twenty-five years ago, a defense contractor moved in, bought two hundred acres of farmland, and built manufacturing plants on it. By the time I got arrested, more and more cow pasture and farmland was paved over for strip malls and shopping centers.

  Even with the loss of farmland, jobs in Bradley County were evenly split between farming, dairy, manufacturing, and tourism, with tourists being either leaf peepers or parents visiting their kids at college.

  For most people life in Bradley was uneventful. Just the typical middle-class, bucolic New England town. For most people, anyway.

  The cab let me out in front of my parents’ house. They had a small three-bedroom ranch on Maple Street, less than a mile from downtown. My dad had bought it forty-five years ago for six thousand dollars. Even though it had less than twelve hundred square feet of interior space, the house was probably worth two hundred grand now. Joe Sr, my dad, had grown up in Bradley, just like his dad before him. Dentons had been living in Bradley for almost a hundred years. Morris had told me that my dad had retired from the fire department a few months after I was arrested, although my dad never said anything to me about it during the half-dozen phone conversations we had while I was in jail.

  I looked over the front yard. The grass was freshly mowed and the flower beds were neatly arranged. Paint was beginning to peel in a few spots, but other than that the house seemed to be in good shape, at least from the outside. I carried my duffel bag to the front door and rang the bell.

  When I had found out three weeks ago that my parole had been approved, I called my parents to tell them I’d be staying with them until I could get back on my feet. It shouldn’t have been any surprise that I was coming, but it took a while before my dad opened the door. He had an odd look on his face as he stood staring at me. I watched the slow transformation while he manufactured a pained smile.

  ‘Joey, I almost didn’t recognize you,’ he said. ‘Come on in, I’ll make you something to eat.’

  He led me back into the house. He turned once and gave me a quick nervous glance before chattering on about whether I’d like eggs or hotdogs and beans. I told him I planned to go out and get something to eat.

  ‘Nonsense. Tell me what you want and I’ll cook it up for you.’

  I saw arguing was useless. ‘Okay. You got any salami?’

  ‘I got some. I’ll make you a sandwich on Wonder Bread with a little mayonnaise. How’s that sound?’

  ‘Sounds fine.’

  I followed him into the kitchen. He seemed ill at ease as he made me my sandwich. He also seemed to have aged quite a bit more than the seven years since I’d seen him last. He slouched as he stood, his shoulders more stooped than I remembered and his jowls heavier. When I had last seen him, his hair was mostly black with a little gray mixed in. Now there was a lot less of it, and what was left was white. He was only sixty-five, but he looked closer to eighty.

  ‘Where’s Mom?’

  ‘She’s volunteering today at the library.’

  ‘I thought she’d want to be home to greet me.’

  He gave me an uneasy smile. ‘Friday’s her day to volunteer at the library. She’ll be home later.’ He cut the sandwich in half, put it on a plate, and handed it to me. ‘I’ll make you some coffee,’ he said.

  ‘How have the two of you been? You never really said much during our phone calls.’

  ‘We’ve been fine, Joey. My blood pressure’s high, and they’ve got me on some medication, but other than that and some arthritis I’m in good health. Your mom spends a lot of her time volunteering now.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I retired from the department.’

  ‘I heard something about it.’

  I looked out a kitchen window and watched two squirrels chase each other around the backyard. After they chased each other out of sight, I asked if he had heard from my ex-wife.

  He shook his head. ‘No, son, we haven’t heard from her. Not since you went to jail.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That’s right, son.’

  ‘You haven’t heard from Elaine once in seven years?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Not even to let you talk to your grandchildren?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Or send you pictures of them?’

  He gave me a sad, uneasy smile. ‘She has full custody of the girls. She doesn’t have to contact us. I guess she decided to make a clean break. Joey, you know she moved shortly after your sentencing. But we never got her new address. We don’t know where she moved to.’

  I couldn’t help feeling angry thinking of my parents being cut off from my kids. ‘I’m surprised,’ I said. ‘Elaine always liked you and Mom. I would’ve thought she’d want to keep in touch with you. And I would’ve thought she’d want my kids to know their grandparents.’

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know, son.’

  I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed it slowly, buying myself time to process what he was telling me. ‘It’s not right,’ I said after a while. ‘Now that I’m out, I’ll see a lawyer about changing this.’

  ‘Well, I don’t know. You can think about it, Joey, but going to court can be expensive, and your mom and I don’t have the money to help you with it.’

  I stared at him until he looked away. I didn’t believe him. The two of them were nuts about my two kids, and I knew they’d do anything to reestablish contact with them. Of course, he knew I was broke. My house was gone and Elaine had taken whatever savings were left. The only thing I had was two hundred dollars that were in my pocket the night I was arrested and my car. At least, I hoped I still had my car. My dad had agreed to take care of it for me while I was gone.

  ‘I forgot to tell you,’ my dad said, trying to smile. ‘You got a phone call. I wrote down a message for you.’

  He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. Dan Pleasant had called and wanted me to call him back.

  ‘Dad, is my car in the garage?’

  He shook his head. ‘Ron Hardacher up the street let me keep the car in his garage. It got too difficult moving your car and my car all the time. I drove it every two weeks like I promised and got the oil changed every six months. Here, let me get you the keys.’

  He went over to the desk in the kitchen and fumbled around in the top drawer until he came up with a set of keys. I asked him if he could give me a key to the house also.

  ‘You don’t need one,’ he said. ‘You know we never lock the doors. Joey, it’s not that we don’t want you staying with us, but this is only temporary, right?’

  ‘Sure, only until I find a job and get myself set up. Thanks for taking care of my car and thanks for letting me stay here.’

  The coffee had finished brewing, and he poured me a cup. As he handed it to me he looked like he wanted to ask me something. He hesitated for a long while, his mouth forming a small round circle. Then he muttered something about feeling tired. He turned from me and started toward his bedroom.

  I took the rest of my sandwich and the coffee to
the phone. I ate the sandwich slowly. After I was done, I gave Dan Pleasant a call. He wasn’t in, but I left a message and sat and waited for him to call back. I only had to wait five minutes before the phone rang. I picked it up and heard Dan’s voice.

  ‘You there, Joe?’ he asked.

  ‘Hello, Dan.’

  I heard a soft laughing noise. ‘How you doing, Joe?’ he said. ‘Christ, it’s been a long time.’

  ‘It didn’t have to be. I’d been sitting in your jail for seven years. You could’ve stopped by anytime.’

  ‘I didn’t think that would be a smart thing to do. But we do need to talk. Why don’t you drive out to the Mills Farm Road out in Chesterville. I’ll meet you there in a half-hour.’

  ‘I don’t know, Dan, I’d feel more comfortable if we talked somewhere more public. How about Zeke’s Tavern?’

  There was more soft laughing. ‘That wouldn’t be very smart, Joe. No, I don’t think we want publicity. I also don’t think it would be very smart to show your face at Zeke’s. I’ll meet you out in Chesterville in a half-hour.’ There was a click as he hung up.

  I walked two doors over to Ron Hardacher’s house and got my Mustang convertible out of his garage. I knew Dan would prefer it if I were dead, but I wasn’t worried about meeting him on an isolated road in the country. If he thought he could get away with killing me he would’ve done it years ago.

  I put the top down and headed toward Chesterville. As I got about five miles past downtown Bradley, I could see that the strip malls and shopping centers had expanded into what used to be open space. Eventually I got past them and all the traffic lights. The road became quieter and more scenic, with rolling hills and cows grazing lazily along them. It was a warmish fall day and I felt good having the wind in my face. At times I’d open it up to a hundred before slowing the car down. As I drove I felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in years. It startled me to realize how long it had been since I’d felt that way.

  I turned onto Mills Farm Road and drove down the dirt road until I spotted Dan leaning against his pickup truck. He looked pretty much the same as he did the last time I saw him. A tall, lanky man with a large head and a big mop of brownish hair. His last name, Pleasant, fit him well; he always seemed to have a warm, pleasant smile on his face. I pulled up behind his truck and got out to meet him.

  His eyes dulled for a second as he glanced at my Mustang convertible, and then his warm, pleasant smile was back in place. Dan was never happy that I’d bought the car. He always held a tight rein on his deputies, demanding they use the extra money made as a retirement fund. No big-ticket purchases. No fancy cars, no boats, nothing that would bring them any attention. The car was the only thing I’d ever bought. All the other money I made I pissed away. Still, after all these years, I could tell Dan still resented me for buying it.

  He took a step to meet me and gave me a warm handshake, then placed a hand on my shoulder. ‘It’s good to see you, Joe,’ he said. And if I didn’t know him better I would’ve sworn he meant it.

  ‘How you’re still sheriff I’ll never know,’ I said.

  He laughed. ‘I’ll keep running as long as they keep voting for me. How long has it been since you’ve had a beer?’

  ‘I think you know the answer to that.’

  ‘It was a rhetorical question, Joe. But I think I got a good solution.’ He opened the door to his truck and took a couple of bottles out of a cooler. He handed me one of them.

  ‘You’re looking good, Joe. Morris treat you okay?’

  ‘No complaints.’

  ‘I had to work my ass off to keep you there. Our DA friend fought like hell to have you moved to a maximum-security prison.’

  ‘I know. He told me.’

  ‘He did, did he?’ Dan showed a thin smile. ‘Did he tell you he was using every favor he had to get you shipped out of state to Danamora? It almost happened, and I’ll tell you, you wouldn’t have had much fun there, my friend. I had to pull a lot of strings to keep you in Bradley.’

  ‘That was the deal.’

  Dan laughed and shook his head. ‘I went way beyond our deal for you. It cost me quite a bit of coin to get you that early parole, especially after Coakley’s heartfelt victim’s statement to the parole board. Shit, he even had me moved to tears. Even with the greasing, I don’t think you’d be out now if you hadn’t taken responsibility and pled guilty in the first place. That move worked out for you in the long run, Joe.’

  ‘That wasn’t why I did it.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I always figured you didn’t want to risk taking the stand. A smart move. God knows what other business our DA friend would have dragged in.’

  ‘That wasn’t my reason.’

  Dan waited for me to explain, but I wasn’t going to. He wouldn’t have understood even if I had. It wasn’t in his makeup to understand something as simple as that I didn’t feel making Phil go through a trial after what I did to him would be right. It’s funny, though, it seemed as if Phil resented my pleading guilty. As if I’d robbed him of his day in court. If I had realized that at the time, I would’ve given him his day and let Grayson argue his bullshit diminished capacity case.

  After a while Dan realized I wasn’t going to explain any further. He took a long drink of his beer and started laughing. ‘Still the same old Joe, huh?’ he said, his eyes crinkling pleasantly. ‘I got presents for you anyways.’

  He took two envelopes from his inside jacket pocket and handed them to me. The first one was stuffed with hundred dollar bills. I counted sixty-five hundred dollars. The second envelope had some forms. As I was reading them Dan explained they were for my pension.

  ‘Just sign and date them and it’s all set,’ he said.

  ‘You’re kidding.’

  ‘No sir. It’s all taken care of. For the record you’re retiring after twenty years on the force. You’ll collect thirty-four sixty a month. Plus full medical and dental.’

  ‘How’d you swing this?’

  He gave me a little smile. ‘A piece of cake, Joe. And, after all, you did join the force twenty years ago. If somebody forgot to check that you spent the last seven years serving time for arson and attempted murder, hey, what the hell.

  ‘Now, Joe,’ Dan went on, his eyes hardening a bit, ‘as far as I’m concerned this makes us even. Me and my boys appreciated your keeping us out of the matter, but you were damned stupid to leave that building with Coakley still alive. It hasn’t been the same since.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Dan finished his beer before answering me, a glint of spite in his eyes. ‘There’s been more attention on us thanks to you. Times are a lot leaner now, a lot less money to be made. Most weeks I’m just living off my salary. But the real problem is Coakley. You changed him.’

  Dan flung his empty bottle into the grass meadow we were standing by and got himself another beer. After he had a healthy swallow of it, he shook his head sadly.

  ‘Our DA friend was always a straight arrow. There was never a chance in the world you could cut him in on a deal, but he was always a decent man, businesslike, and never out to screw anyone. You’ve turned him into a vengeful sonofabitch. The guy’s out for blood, Joe. Anything he can nail you with he will, and I’m afraid he might drag me and my boys down with you. You know Manny’s dying of cancer?’

  ‘I heard about it.’

  ‘Did you know that Coakley is working on him every goddam day? He visits Manny on his deathbed and reads him the Bible. He’s trying to work the fear of God into him, and I’m afraid he might be succeeding.’

  ‘That’s not going to happen,’ I said. ‘Manny is about as hard a nut as you’re going to find. No way is he going to be cracked. Phil’s wasting his time.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure of that.’ Dan shook his head gravely. ‘Manny’s not the same man he was seven years ago. He’s changed. I visited him a few weeks ago and was not happy with what I saw. He’s scared, Joe, I could see it in his eyes. He’s wavering, and if he confesses we’ll all
go away, but you’re the one who’ll go away for murder. And for first-degree murder you won’t be sitting out your days in county jail.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Come on. Don’t kid a kidder.’

  ‘I still don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Play dumb all you want. It doesn’t change anything.’ Dan let out a soft sigh. ‘Remember Billy Ferguson? I know you were doing collections for Manny back then, and I think Coakley suspects that also. What both Coakley and I know, however, is that Ferguson emptied thirty grand out of his retirement account the day he was beaten to death. What I alone know is that you bet thirty grand the next week with a bookie out of South Boston. And as usual you lost every bet.’

  ‘Whoever told you that was bullshitting you.’

  ‘Come on, Joe. As I said before, don’t kid a kidder.’

  ‘No, Dan, I’m not kidding you. I had nothing to do with Ferguson. If a bookie told you that then he was paid off.’

  Dan smiled genially as he considered what I said. ‘Maybe. It doesn’t matter. If Manny gives a deathbed confession that you killed Ferguson then you’ll go down for his murder. And even if he doesn’t, knowing what I know about what you used to do for Manny, there’s still enough to send you away for a long time. So as you can see, we’ve got a serious problem. One that’s got to be taken care of right away. Manny or Coakley, your choice.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  Dan lost his smile, his large face growing deadly stern. ‘Look, Joe, you’re the cause of this mess and you’re going to take care of it. Plan A is for you to get rid of one of them. I don’t care which. If Manny’s gone, Coakley can piss all he wants but it’s not going to get him anywhere. And if Coakley goes, Manny won’t have anyone pressuring him and he can just die quietly in the night.’