Chapter 5: The hound of Biloxi

Set in Coletown
Keith Boyd
Fred Boyd his brother.
Alice Boyd his sister in law.
Nephew John 15
Niece Gabby 13
Jo Anne Wall old girl friend
Windy Wall her ex husband.
Lewis and Ellie Keith’s in laws.
Sarah Marsh retro hippie
General Briggs rd
Doris owner of the consignment shop.
Jo Anne Joyner Wall Keiths first girlfriend. Three girls 16 13 10

oldest daughter ginger
Mr Jessup buyer of Keith’s scooter.
Rebecca Avondale deacon and keith’s client.
Marsha stylist to Rebecca
Gulfcrest hotel/casino

At 7PM Deacon and I were still waiting in the sitting room of Rebecca Avondale’s suite. Rebecca and Marsha her stylist were locked away in the bedroom doing who knew what. I guessed that Deacon as well as I didn’t give a crap what they did. Neither of us were her wellness coach so all I could think was enjoy.

For the last two hours Deacon and I had taken turns walking the hall and checking the stairway to the 14th floor of the hotel/casino. I guessed it was time for us to leave based on the fact that the limo driver had arrived. The driver phoned from the lobby. His voice made him sound like the brother of the first driver. That made me very uneasy.

Even worse Deacon noticed and asked, “You gonna be alright?” he asked.

“Peachy keen, a little jumpy is a good thing on a gig like this,” I said.

“True dat,” Deacon said.

The girls finally came out. Rebecca spoke first, “What are you waiting for? Lets get the hell out of here.”

“Wait here while I get the elevator,” I demanded. I went down and called the elevator. When it arrived I signaled Deacon to send the girls on out. While they came, I moved to stand in front of the stairway door.

When the girls came the four of us rode down to the lobby without a stop. We met the driver outside the front door to the hotel. He opened the door for Rebecca. I allowed her to enter only after I looked over the inside carefully. All this took place while Deacon was recovering his truck. I climbed in after the two girls. The driver pulled away from the door, but waited in the drive until Deacon called my cell.

“You can head to the ballroom,” I said to the driver.

“You are way too anal,” Rebecca said.

“I hope I’m anal enough to keep you safe,” I said. “You know an ounce of prevention.”

“Okay, I get it.” she said.

Every time the limo stopped for a light or an intersection, I was nervous. I didn’t relax until he pulled in front of Magnolia Hall. Rebecca didn’t like it but she let me exit first to check the people greeting her.

“I’m with the governor’s security detail,” the big burly man said as he brushed me aside.

There always has to be a pissing contest, I thought. “Deacon where are you parked?” I asked into my cell phone.

“In a spot where I can see the front door,” he said. “I’ll blink my lights.”

I saw him two rows back and six spaces off center. “Parking lot isn’t very full.” I stated.

“It’s a high class and very rich crowd I guess,” Deacon said.

Deacon and I sat talking about the girls we had known and battles we had fought for the next four hours. His advice about JoJo wall was, If I had even the smallest doubt, run like hell. I had to agree with his analysis. @

At midnight the people started departing Magnolia Hall presumably for home. I left the truck and walked to the front to await Rebecca and Marsha’s return. The Limo had moved to the a place in the pickup line.

The Governors man regulated the flow of traffic. “Are you going to hold Rebecca Avondale inside till her car is in front?” I asked.

“I can. Why don’t you go in and hold her?” he asked.

“I wasn’t sure I was allowed,” I said. I walked to the front door and then found Rebecca and explained the plan to her.

“Geeze Keith, you are worse than my dad,” she said.

“Well I try,” I said with a grin. It took a few minutes for the Limo to work it’s way to the front of the line. When he was parked in front, I walked out ahead of Rebecca and the stylist. I kept an eye on the crowd for anyone who seemed to be ‘wrong’.

When we were in the limo, I couldn’t relax. The middle eastern gentleman still concerned me. When we got to the hotel without incident, I was ready to apologize. Of course there was no way I was going to do it. I just had to admit he had acted perfectly businesslike.

Inside I took the two women upstairs and checked the rooms before I allowed them to move around. Deacon showed up about fifteen minutes later. Fifteen more minutes later Rebecca and her stylist came from the bedroom.

“I have an invitation to meet the manager in the casino, to have some fun. You can come along, but he said his security people would be there,” she informed us.

“It’s almost 2AM,” I said.

“They are open 24hours a day. I’ll be back in time to rest before the gig,” she said.

“Well one of us is going to be with you all the time,” Deacon said.

“I hope not when I’m fucking a stranger,” Rebecca said.

“Not in the room, but very close by,” he replied.

“You guys are real pricks,” she said.

However she didn’t complain when I went to the casino with her. The casino was filled with sound deadening drapes and movie posters. It made it feel like the inside of a movie theater.

The manager of the casino was a man who appeared to have a Chinese, Japanese or some other Asian swimming around in his gene pool. When it came to the occupants, it appeared as though the town of Buloxi was an open city.

At 4AM Deacon relieved me. I was exhausted so I went to our room which was on the same floor as the girls but much smaller and with a view of the parking lot. I didn’t mind the only view I care about was the view from my bed.

At 7AM my phone alarm sounded. I called Deacon and discovered he was still in the Casino. I agreed to meet him there to relieve him. That’s what happened twenty minutes later.

“So where is the great singer?” I asked.

“She is in the office with the boss doing god only knows what,” Deacon said.

“Is there any other way in and out?” I asked.

“No I checked,” he replied a little frustrated that I would ask such a thing. It was obvious we were both tired.

“Has she been in there long enough to have done her thing?” I asked.

“Yeah and her stylist is in there as well,”Deacon replied.

“Let’s check it out while there are two of us,” I suggested.

“She likes you better than me,” he said. “Not that she likes either of us much.”

I walked to the door and made a strong knock. “Miss Avondale, we have a call for your Stylist from the arena downstairs,” I said. I waited a couple of minutes then knocked again. “Miss Avondale if you don’t answer me I’m going to call the police and tell them I have reason to believe you are unconscious.”

The middle-aged man I had seen her with earlier came to the door. “Rebecca refuses to come to the door,” he said.

Either I see her or I call the cops. That kind of thing is not good for business and I’m sure the owner wouldn’t like that. Deacon glared at his security manager who had tagged along.

“Come on it and see for yourself,” he said.

The three of us went inside and saw the two women passed out on the queen sized bed. “Nice office furniture,” I said. I walked to the bed and tried to wake Rebecca. She wouldn’t rouse but her breathing was even and her pulse was steady. Those were also things I had learned to check for while in the USAF. “What did you give her and her assistant. Molly?” I asked.

“I didn’t give her anything,” he answered.

“Deacon, if this security clown tries to stop me shoot him please,” I said.

“My pleasure,” Deacon said with a smile.

“Now I’m going to call 911 and report a drug overdose. They will run a test battery for the drug. When they get a match, I’m going to lodge a complaint.”

“Now don’t either of you get itchy,” Deacon said. “You could try to convince us the girls are in no danger.”

“They just need a couple of hours sleep and they will be fine,” the manager said.

“Get the fuck out of here and we will stay here and monitor her condition. If she get worse it’s the cops and sirens. You do understand don’t you?” I asked.

“Who the fuck you think you are talking to?” he asked.

Deacon Bitch slapped him. “You have someone higher up in the company up call Sal Fravlette in Camden N. J. Ask him if fucking with Deacon Andrews is a good idea. We are giving you a chance to avoid a police confrontation, but you do what you want. The other alternative is we have a gunfight in your casino. Keith here would prefer that one I expect.”

I flashed my crazy look at him. They decided to leave and take care of us later. I made sure the girls were breathing before I turned a chair toward the door. Since the drapes were already shut there was nothing else to do at the moment.

The two women were awake before noon. Deacon, Rebecca, Marsha, and I left together. On the way out Deacon just had to have the last word. “If you want to come for us wait until after lunch on Sunday. We will be off the clock then,” he said.

Deacon and I took turns sleeping on the sofa during the afternoon. I was still pretty much out of it by the time the two women were up and moving about.

“I feel like shit but I’m hungry as well,” Rebecca said.

“Order room service,” Deacon demanded.

“I want to go to the restaurant,” Rebecca demanded.

“I want to be six feet two but it ain’t gonna happen either. You are going directly from this room to the arena. That is not open to debate.” Deacon explained.

“You will never work for me again,” she said.

“You got that right lady,” I said. “You may not know it but Deacon an I sat up all night making sure you didn’t choke on your own vomit. Also keeping and eye on you so that if you had a drug seizure we could get you to a doctor. Now you are a country singer and I suppose your fans still have family values even if you don’t. The best thing you can do for your career today is just shut up and do as you are told. When the concert ends, we will put you on a plane home.”

“Our flight isn’t till half past noon,” Marsha said.

“Right well, we can’t come back here so we will have to find another place to crash,” I said.

“Why can’t we come back here?” Rebecca asked.

“Odds are pretty good that we are on the wrong side of the manager of this place. He might want to save face. I hope not, but it does happen,” Deacon explained.

“Look at it as an adventure. It’s a great story to tell over a couple of joints,” I said.

“You two are fucking crazy. I’m calling the police?” Rebecca said.

“You do that and you will miss your concert. Then there is the publicity about last night. All in all best thing you can do is continue on with things the way they are till the plane leaves,” Deacon said.

They went along till the concert. Sometime during the concert one of them called the promoter who had hired Deacon. He called Deacon and fired us.

“That’s fine asshole, just be sure you pay me the balance you owe me, and a nice bonus or we go with breach of contract where all the nasty shit from last night will come out in the open,” Deacon said.

After he hung up I asked, “I probably shouldn’t put this on my resume, huh?”

“Probably not,” Deacon agreed with a smile.

“I been meaning to ask you, who the hell is Sal Fravlette?” I asked.

“When I was a kid, Sal ran a bakery in our neighborhood,” Deacon said.

“So how do we nullify the threat?” I asked.

“Write a letter explaining why we threatened that asshole. Make ten copies and send them to Mississippi gambling commission members. Oh and the biggest newspaper in the state. Then send them to a lawyer to be mailed in case of our deaths. Send a copy to the asshole, but not the location of the others copies or the name of who will mail them. Trust me whoever owns that casino does not want to lose their money laundering location.

I’ll fine out who really runs it if I can. Truth is I think it is over,” he said. “But let’s make sure there is pain if I’m wrong.”

His phone rang while we were on the road. “It’s Rebecca,” Deacon said. “I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Deacon I need to see you and Keith,” Rebecca said.

“If you are calling on behalf of the asshole from this morning, you are signing not just our death warrants, but your own as well. These guys do take prisoner but they don’t leave witnesses.”

“Please help me I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“Go to the police. We will come back and go along to be sure no one bothers you,” Deacon said. He also did a Universal turn a second later and headed back to Biloxi.

“Stay in the Arena nice and public, do you understand?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Do not leave the company of Marsha and whoever else you can find,” Deacon said.

Deacon made a 911 call as soon as she hung up. He reported Rebecca kidnapped then took his battery out of the phone.

“Hanging out with you might not be fun, but at least it isn’t boring,” I said.

“That’s high praise. Put it on my head stone,” the Deacon said.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked.

“We go take a look at the hotel casino’s parking lot. If there aren’t lots of cop cars around, we sneak in,” Deacon said.

“And if there are, we turn and drive home?” I asked knowing that wasn’t going to happen. We were back in the shit for real.

“Well if there are cops, we become cops as well,” he said. “Hide in plain sight. Surely in all those years you did that once or twice?”