Garvey's Revenge

Chapter 19

Nervous heat flooded David's face at the sight of Marty Schaffer, the former sheriff, in his living room. "No. No," David cried out. "You're supposed to be in prison."

Marty chuckled. "Have you ever heard of parole?"

David started hyperventilating. He didn't know what to do. One wrong move and the bald-headed man would kill his wife.

"Take it easy, David. We just want to talk to you," Marty said, and then he walked to an armchair and sat down.

David couldn't believe how muscular Marty was. When he was sheriff, he had a belly bigger than the top of the Taj Mahal.

"Come on over here, David, and sit down. I don't want you passing out on your feet," Marty instructed.

David slowly stepped down the last three stairs and moved towards the couch. He must not have been moving fast enough because Paul grabbed the back of his blue robe and shoved him onto the couch. David scrambled to sit up.

"Easy, Paul. We don't want to rough him up, not unless he refuses to tell us what we want to know," Marty said.

Paul sat down in an armchair opposite from Marty and counter corner from David. He kept the gun pointed at David.

"Let's get down to it, David. We don't want Ghost to get bored and provide his own form of entertainment," Marty said with a smirk and tilted his head over to the man and Danielle.

David looked at his wife. Her chest, shielded only by a white camisole, rose and fell with every deep breath. David looked back at Marty and asked, "What do you want?"

"Information, David. That's all. I want to know every detail about what happened the night I was arrested in Phoenix nineteen months ago."

David couldn't believe it. Marty got out early and he was still holding onto this. "Is that what this is about? Look, man, you're out. You obviously have friends. Start your life over. Let it go."

"It's hard to start your life over when you have the stigma of a disgraced cop. I can't get a job at a dry cleaners because of what you fuckers did to me. I figured some of it out, but I don't think I have all the pieces. I want, no, I deserve to know every detail of that night. I deserve to know who was in on it. Everything," Marty said with conviction.

"What makes you think we know what happened when you got arrested?"

"Because you two benefited from me being gone. I had a CD of you and Danielle performing for the Internet, remember? You didn't want me to be in a nasty mood one day and expose you."

David stayed silent.

"Just tell me everything from the beginning. Whose idea was it? What set this person off? Everything."

David pressed his lips together.

"Kill her," Marty said.

Muffled shrieks escaped from Danielle's mouth as Ghost pressed the tip of the knife into her neck.

David broke. "All right! All right!"

"Hold on, Ghost. I think he knows we're serious, now," Marty said casually.

David had no choice. If he didn't tell them what they wanted to know they would kill Danielle. "Everything was triggered when you busted everyone at Garvey's during orgy night. The Garvey twins wanted you off their back and away from their business. They went to Jesse who admitted to them that you were shaking him down for money in exchange for not busting him for running moonshine. Jesse had told them that the only person that knew your secrets was Joe, but Joe wasn't talking. The twins went to him and pleaded their case. Something must have snapped in Joe to do something - to help. Joe knew Danielle and I were paying you to keep our secret. He also knew that you were shaking Bonnie and Jacobs down. Bonnie had told us that you had pictures of her and Jacobs together. If those pictures got out, Jacobs would have been ruined and his wife would have taken him for a mint."