Ride the Lightning - Aimee Nicole Walker Page 0,101
existed. Getting to know everything about her became my obsession, so I followed her home one evening. I watched through the window as she removed her makeup and wig before taking off her gown and lingerie. I was shocked when I realized Lola was actually Earl Ison.” Malcolm’s lips morphed into an angry snarl. “Earl wasn’t alone either. His lover was my boss.”
“I thought you were in the police academy at the time,” Ricky said.
“I was, but I still worked part-time for Locke-Tight concrete. Jerry Locke was a proud son of a bitch, and I couldn’t stand him. I knew Jerry’s dad would’ve killed him if he found out his favorite son was queer. Earl knew it too, which was why it was easy for me to convince him to end things with Jerry. Earl broke the man’s heart to save his life. I should’ve known a love that deep and pure wouldn’t be swayed my way so easily. Earl went on a couple of dates with me, but he did so out of fear, not interest. I would watch Lola flirt on stage and kiss the pretty boys who bought her drinks at the bar afterward, but me? Earl would get stiff anytime I tried to touch him because he couldn’t hide his repulsion. Lola would make fun of me in front of the others. She was the one who came up with Chuck the lousy fuck. The whore offered up his tight ass to anyone who offered but recoiled from my touch?”
Malcolm kept switching back and forth between Earl and Lola as well as the feminine and masculine pronouns. Jonah wasn’t sure if it was deliberate, or he was confused.
“I gave her an ultimatum. Fuck me or I destroy Jerry Locke. Of course, she agreed to save her precious Jerry. Midway through the act in the back seat of my car, Lola started to cry. A red haze of rage washed over me. I just snapped and punched her in the temple, knocking her out. I just wanted her to love me like she loved Jerry. Why was that too much to ask? All she had to do was love me.”
“Then you drove her out to the construction site and strangled her with her silk stocking,” Jonah said. “Why did you masturbate with Lola’s panties and shove them in her mouth? To teach her a lesson?”
“That wasn’t about me. I wanted people to think a deranged lunatic killed her,” Malcolm said defensively.
“A deranged lunatic did kill her,” Jonah said.
Malcolm shook his head. “No. I spent the rest of my life making up for that one bad thing. I’m a good man.”
“A good man doesn’t hold a gun to another’s head,” Jonah said, switching tactics from chastising to imploring with the man. If Malcolm thought he had a good side, then Jonah needed to appeal to it. “Let Avery and Ricky go. The two of us can talk this out. Just put the gun down.”
Malcolm’s gaze hardened. “How fucking stupid do you think I am? Don’t use your psycho-babble bullshit on me, Jonah.”
A giant rat darted out from beneath a wooden shelving unit stacked with bags of mulch. It headed straight for Malcolm like it was part of the task force. Startled, Malcolm loosened his grip around Avery’s neck and swung his other arm to aim the gun at the rat.
“Down,” Jonah shouted to Avery.
Avery dropped at the same time Jonah shoved Ricky to the ground and lunged toward Malcolm. He only made it a few steps before Malcolm swung the gun back around toward Jonah and pulled the trigger. The slug hit him in the chest, making him stumble a few steps. Jonah reflexively brought his hand up to cover the area where it struck him, even though he’d worn a bulletproof vest beneath his shirt.
A second gun fired from somewhere in the warehouse, and a bullet struck Malcolm in the shoulder of his left arm instead of the one holding the gun. He yelled out in pain and staggered but somehow found the strength to aim his weapon at Avery, who was running to Jonah’s aid.
“Down,” Jonah yelled at Avery again.
Avery dove for cover as Jonah quickly dropped to a crouch and retrieved his gun from his ankle holster. Snapping his arm up, Jonah fired off a shot, nailing Malcolm just above the knee. Someone else in the task force shot him in the right shoulder, rendering his shooting arm useless.