Monthly Archives: March 2018

A Burning Cold Morning (Part 26)

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Leo blinked a few times before answering Jerry’s request to come into his room.  The man was acting courteous and polite but Leo knew this was not going to be some kind of delightful social call.  Salazar’s next words made that even more clear.

“How about you go and fetch Ronnie up here for us also, ok?”

“You want Veronica here too?”

Jerry just looked back at Leo in reply.

“You want me to leave you here, in my place?”

More silence followed and then Leo quietly shuffled past Salazar, who was partially blocking the doorway, and went to get his partner.   When they had both returned Jerry slowly closed the door and asked them both to sit down.  He remained standing as he began to speak to them in his slow drawl.

“Now, I’m goin’ta make this just as simple as possible for you two.  I don’t know what happened with our deal there bud,” he began, gesturing toward Leo as he spoke, “but apparently you decided not to go into business with me.  That I count against you.”  Salazar then turned his attention to Veronica and continued.  “Now you Ronnie, I know you came over to talk but like I said, quite frankly, I don’t want you runnin’ no business with me by yourself.”  Veronica started to protest but Jerry silenced her with a scowl.  “I respect you though, for showing up and for the business you’ve already done in this town.  You never crossed me yet, well not before the Scott’s robbery, and I’m putting you in the positive column in this little situation we have.  You two see where I’m at?  I’ve got this fella in the bad column, some unknown guy I sit down with for awhile to discuss business and then he turns his back on me.”  Jerry held his hands in front of him, right hand lower than the left.  “And then over here,” he continued while moving his left hand up, “I’ve got Ronnie, a respectable piece of our little criminal community here in Olympia.  So you see,” and at this point his hands were held evenly next to each other in the air, “we got a balance, just barely I tell you, but we’re at a balancing point so to speak.”

He stopped talking and looked back and forth between Leo, who was sweating a bit and tapping his fingers across his knee, and Ronnie, who still looked angry but was otherwise calm and collected.  Salazar let things linger like that for several long moments and then he spoke again.

“Now I gotta tell you, it ain’t goin’ta take even the littlest piece of a screw-up on your two’s side to seriously upset this delicate balance.  And if that happens, there ain’t goin’ta be anything you can put back on the other side to even things up.  You two understand me?”

Both Leo and Ronnie nodded in reply.

“So, what’s going to happen is that right now I’m goin’ta see thirty-four dollars and thirty-eight cents appear right here in my hand like fucking magic,” Jerry said while tapping his right palm with his left index finger, “and I better not have to wait very long for it.”

Leo looked at Veronica but she was already up and moving toward the door, whispering, “I’ll just be a quick minute,” as she passed Jerry.  As the two men waited not a word was spoken and Salazar’s right arm remained outstretched, palm up, waiting for the money.  Veronica returned about two minutes later and laid thirty-five dollars gently across his palm.

“It’s a little more, I didn’t want to waste time counting out change.  I’m sorry about all this Jerry,” Veronica said, “I really am.  I know the deal around here but you really got me mad when you wouldn’t go into business with me.  I’ve done my time, you know what I can do and,”

“That’s enough,” Salazar interrupted, “we ain’t goin’ back over that again.  We’re moving forward.  This money right here,” he said as he closed his fist around the cash, “represents exactly fifteen percent of what you stole yesterday from the grocery store and that’s goin’ta be the deal going forward.  Fifteen percent of everything, you understand me?”

“Yes, yes, I do,” Veronica replied although Leo only nodded in reply.

“I know this town and everything that happens, every crime, who committed it, what they took, even when the police don’t know a damn thing,” Jerry said, “so don’t try to cheat me.  Otherwise…”  He held his hands evenly up in front of him again, and then abruptly dropped his right hand.  “You’re both finished.”  Drawing a finger across his neck for emphasis, Salazar turned and walked out of Leo’s room.

They sat there in silence for about four minutes and then Veronica slowly walked toward the door.  She was just about to step out when Leo, who now had a face flushed red with anger, spoke.

“Do we really have to pay him?  I can’t imagine having to cut that fool into our profits, it ain’t right.”

“Leo, like I’ve said before, you’re the fool.  I might have been temporarily out of my mind but I’m all better now.  We can do this business we talked about and pay Jerry Salazar every damn penny we owe him, or you can get out of Olympia right now, tonight I mean, and never come back.  I’m mad as hell right now about this, mad as hell at Jerry, but I’m not looking to end up dead.  So either come get me in the morning and we go forward under his terms, or be gone forever.”

The next morning, after a night spent awake pacing his room and being angry about pretty much everything that was happening, Leo knocked loudly on Veronica’s door.   From that day, and for the next thirty-three days, the two of them lived as peaceful of an existence as the car stealing scheme they were running would allow.  When they were not busy with that, Veronica hung out at the speakeasy and ran a few side grifts that Salazar agreed to exempt from their agreement.  During the daytime down periods Leo sat in his room reading civil engineering books he picked up at the local library.  When Veronica asked him why such a mundane topic interested him Leo would make jokes about how he planned to get famous by building the nation’s best sewer system.  In reality, he took notes relating to information that he believed would help him in two main areas: bank robbery and prison escapes.  At night he took part in what had fast become his favorite activity, hanging out at the secret strip clubs in Olympia.  Although Veronica mocked him constantly for this vice Leo kept going and became quite friendly with several of the women who worked there.  Together they both made good money and spent it freely, and all seemed well.  Then, on Monday March eighth, Veronica burst into Leo’s room with very bad news.

…to be continued

A Burning Cold Morning (Part 25)

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Leo was angry when she left and that anger slowly faded into a bit of regret as the evening wore on.  He really did not have much of a plan in his head beyond what he had some up with originally and was not sure he knew the area well enough to succeed without some local help.   By the time it was ten o’clock at night he had pretty much convinced himself that he was going to have to apologize to Veronica and hope he could patch things up with Jerry Salazar, a thought that left him unhappy.  A hard knock on his door sounded at ten forty-five p.m. and Leo hollered out for whoever it was to go away.  He was more than a bit surprised to hear Veronica answer back, and he opened the door to see her eyes blazing with anger.  She stormed past him into the room, slamming her hat down on the side table by the door.

“That god-damn Jerry Salazar!  After all the time I spent smooching up to that man, all the time listening to his fantastic stories covered all the while in a cloud from his foul breath, damn!”  She was a bit out of breath and stopped yelling, standing still and staring out the window as Leo closed the door and came around to her front.

“What happened?  You sure are stirred up, he must have done something quite bad?” Leo inquired.

She took a deep breath and asked for a glass of whiskey, which Leo had to admit he had none of, so she settled for water before continuing.

“You know, that man, you men, always so superior and looking down on women.  It really gets me angry, you know?”   She seemed to be waiting for a response but Leo felt that it was better to avoid offering any opinion.  After a few seconds she continuing with her rant.

“I get there, right on time damn it, and you know what the first thing he says to me is?  Where’s that fella at?  Like you were the one who he had been waiting for, hell he didn’t even know you a few days ago!  Well, I told him you weren’t coming and he almost shut the door in my face, can you believe that?  I stopped him and got myself in, I was really pushing him you know, really telling him that it wasn’t you that he should be worried about and that it was me who had done all the work in this town already.  I kept at it but he wasn’t having any of it, he just kept saying that he wanted a man involved in the operation if he was going to be part of it.  I tell you what…”  Her voice trailed off as she stood there, obviously contemplating either a dreadful end to Jerry Salazar or the inequity of the Olympia criminal community.  Or maybe it was both.  Either way Leo stayed silent which proved to not be what Veronica wanted.

“Well, what about it all?  What about it Leo?  You can’t possibly think that is fair, or you better not!  What do you think about it?”

Leo answered honestly.  “Well, probably going in there and being a bearcat wasn’t the best approach.”  That brought a  sharp slap to his face from Veronica, who then sat down abruptly, crossed her legs and said, “Now sit down here Leo and let’s plan a way to do some business without that man!”

And so over the next three hours the two of them sat there while Veronica filled in Leo on the various schemes she had already run successfully in Olympia, the layout of the local criminal enterprises in town, the general way that the police operated and other details that she had picked up during her time in the area.  By the time it was two o’clock in the morning they had decided to make use of some connections that Veronica had in Seattle to move stolen cars.  Veronica would scout out potential vehicles, especially the more exotic and rare kinds and give Leo the locations.  He would then steal them and they would drive them up to Seattle where Veronica would have arranged for the vehicles to be purchased by her connections, who would then sell them to unsuspecting buyers.  Veronica knew several policemen in Olympia who were open to accepting money in return for providing information on any potential investigations that might be opened up in regard to the thefts.  They also would be able to warn Leo and herself when things were getting too hot for them in town, which would hopefully allow them to escape before being arrested.  Leo thought it was bad luck to anticipate that this might happen but Veronica told him that eventually even the worst police department was going to figure out who’s stealing the cars.  They just needed to be ready to get our of town when it was time.

Scott's Grocery Olympia Washington - photo courtesy olympiahistory.org

Scott’s Grocery Olympia Washington – photo courtesy olympiahistory.org

Before they could get started on that plan; however, Leo needed to move out of the Governor and they needed to get some cash for living expenses.  The move was made two days later after Veronica had arranged a room for Leo at the Angelus, and for some quick cash they decided to hold up Scott’s Grocery.  This was one of the busiest and most popular stores in Olympia and Veronica happened to know that the owner only went to the bank to deposit the receipts on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  She had been casing the operation for awhile prior to Leo’s arrival and this seemed like a good use of her acquired knowledge.  If they went in on Sunday afternoon, there should be a good amount of cash available to be taken in a robbery.  The crime went off smoothly, both of them covering their faces and holding the owner’s daughter at gunpoint until he opened the safe to reveal two hundred and eighteen dollars.  That, combined with the eleven dollars and twenty-one cents they took from the register, gave the two criminals a very good stash of money to live on while they started up their car theft business.  Things were looking up for the two of them, at least until two days after the robbery when Jerry Salazar showed up at Leo’s door.

…to be continued

A Burning Cold Morning (Part 24)

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Over the course of the next five hours the three of them talked although it was not about any actual criminal partnership.  The speakeasy was much too public for that kind of discussion.  Leo did share enough of his own story, or at least a version of it, to convince Jerry Salazar that he was criminally minded and might be someone with whom Jerry could do business.  They parted ways around eleven p.m. with a promise to meet up again in a couple of days at a more private location.  Leo was fairly drunk by that time and stumbled as they emerged from the alleyway onto Fifth.  Veronica caught him and pulled him back up, admonishing him to “get straight and walk normal.”

“You know Veronica,” Leo mumbled, “you said it was gonna be a toot and it was.  That was…,” his voice trailed off and he seemed to be recalling something as his eyes had a faraway look.  “I’ve always been meaning to ask you something, something about McNeil.”

“And what’s that?” Veronica replied.

“You helped him, didn’t you?”

“I can’t imagine what you mean by that Leo, you’re drunk and talking nonsense.”

“You know, you know, you know ” Leo replied slowly, wagging a finger at her, “Roy Gardner, that’s who, that’s who I’m talkin’ about.”  His speech was slurring and he stumbled again but caught himself and then stopped and turned to Veronica.  “You helped him get off that island, I’m sure of it.  I mean, how else could he have man, mana,…,” Leo stopped to try to figure out what he was saying.  “ I mean, how else could he ‘a done it?”

“Stop talking nonsense and keep your damn voice down.  Now, let’s get you back to your room.”  She stepped away but Leo grabbed her arm.

“Just tell me, just admit it, you helped him.”

Veronica pulled her arm away and started walking.  “Come on now, let’s get you back before you get us caught out by the police.  You’re a real  wurp ya know Leo, you really are.”

She did manage to get him back to the Governor although the last two blocks mostly involved her trying to convince him to keep walking and then assisting him to stay upright as he was rapidly slipping into oblivion.  By the time they reached the hotel he was almost completely passed out, leaning on her heavily with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.  She left him at the registration desk with the manager who commented, “Well, I see he really had a time of it tonight,” before having the doorman assist in carrying Leo up to his room.  They put him face down on the sofa, covered him with his overcoat and laughed a bit at his general condition.  When he awoke the next afternoon with a splitting headache and vomit on his shirt and the floor next to the sofa he was surprised to find himself in his room.  After easing himself up and calling down for coffee he attempted to reassemble the events of the night before but had little memory after the first hour at Plumb’s.  After another day of slow recovery he was feeling better by the afternoon, sitting in a lounge chair and starting to eat a bowl of soup while day-dreaming about robbing a bank.  A very loud knock on his door startled him back to reality.  When he opened it he saw Veronica who laughed before speaking.

“Aren’t you a sight?  You’re a bit of a novice with the whisky I take it?  Two days and ya still look like death.”

“I’m fine, just fine,” Leo replied.

“Hardly I reckon, but say what you want to make yourself feel better.  I guess maybe you’re just a dewdropper then, nothing to do and nowhere to go.  I thought you wanted to do some business Leo, not sit around with your soup bowl all day.”

“Really, give me a break huh?  I’m just fine, now what are you here about?”

“See, you’ve already forgotten, or maybe can’t remember?  I’m not too sure about you at all Leo, maybe we should just skip this.”

That stung Leo, as all comments about his criminal prowess did and he snapped back at her.  “Damn it!  I’m just fine and we can do business!  Now, what’s this all about?”

“Yes, well maybe you forgot about our meeting with Jerry today?”

Leo, who did remember meeting the man, had to admit that he had no idea what she was talking about when it came to a meeting which provoked another laugh from Veronica.  She explained the whole thing to him again but Leo, now that he was sober, was not so willing to go along.

“I don’t know Veronica, I really don’t.  I mean I don’t know the guy and well, I guess you do but still.  How do we know he’s playing straight with us?”

“He’s not playing anything with us, not yet anyway.  We just agreed to all meet up today and discuss things, you know, see what angles Jerry might have that we could get in on.   You agreed to it Leo.”

He ran his hands through his hair before replying.  “I might have, I don’t remember, but I though we were going to get our own operation going.”

“How do you ever expect to make it big if you won’t talk to the big-time operators?  You sure didn’t seem to have any problem with it in KC, or at least not from the stories you tell anyway.”

“That’s just it, ok?  I mean, where did that get me?  I’ve been thinking a lot and I figure it’s better to run things on my own, or just with a few folks that I know.  It’s safer that way.”

“You really are dumb Leo, I mean, look at what your last solo operation got you.  Nothing.”

“Well, I crossed paths with you, I got that out of it.”

“Stop it, really, it’s silly to talk that way.  And it’s silly, and stupid, to turn down a meeting with Jerry especially after you agreed to go.  He’s not someone you want to insult.”

“I don’t mean it that way, I just want to do things on my own.”

“Well, you do that then.  I have to keep living here so I’m going to the meeting.  Happy day-dreaming Leo.”

…to be continued