Chapter Thirty
Morris Johnson followed Nikki Randolph home.
Her small Cape Cod was in a section of town where drug deals and gun violence were common.
Many of the homes needed repair and were surrounded by unmown lawns dominated by weeds.
Randolph’s home was not one of them. It had a fresh coat of paint, a neat lawn, and a flower garden.
The Harley Nikki had ridden home from work was standing unprotected at the side of the house. Morris guessed that the neighborhood hoodlums saw enough Lucifer’s Disciples at the house to know that theft of the hog would be punished by a slow death.
Morris opened the gate in the chain-link fence that surrounded the property, walked up the slate path, and rang the doorbell. Moments later, Nikki Randolph was standing in the doorway.
“Miss Randolph?” Morris inquired.
Randolph looked puzzled and a little worried. Morris guessed that the only men in suits who came to houses in her neighborhood were Jehovah’s Witnesses or cops.
“My name is Morris Johnson, and I’d like to offer you a large sum of money.”
Randolph scowled. “If you’re selling something, I’m not interested.”
“I’m an investigator for Karen Wyatt. I think you know who she is.”
“The lawyer who went to prison.”
Morris nodded. “I want to tell you about an interesting offer she wants to make you. But we’re attracting attention from your neighbors.”
Nikki peered over Johnson’s shoulder and saw several people watching them.
“Can I come in and tell you why I’m here?”
Nikki hesitated. Then she stepped aside and ushered Morris into her living room.
“What’s this about?” Nikki asked when they were seated.
“We know Ray-Ray knows the name of the Multnomah County DA who is working with the Disciples. Miss Wyatt believes that this person is part of the conspiracy that framed her. We want that name, and Miss Wyatt is willing to pay a lot of money to get it. She’ll also try to get Ray a deal that will keep him out of prison. ”
Randolph looked stunned. “Did Lujack talk to you?”
“Miss Lujack did not give us your name, and it doesn’t matter how I figured out that I had to talk to you. Get me the name and you get a substantial amount of money.”
“Which Ray-Ray and me won’t be able to spend if we’re dead.”
“Miss Randolph, I was a detective for many years, so you don’t have to tell me about Walter Zegda.”
“Then you know what happens to people who cross him.”
“Miss Wyatt has been trying to find the people who framed her ever since she got out of prison. Getting that name is the central point in her life. No one needs to know who gave the name to us. And she will pay you and Ray enough to let you go anywhere you feel you will be safe. As an added bonus, once we have the name, we can use the DA to nail Zegda and eliminate the threat he might pose to you.”
Morris let Randolph think. After a while, she looked at him.
“How much money are you offering?”
“I’m going to give you a figure. There won’t be any bargaining. We’re firm on that. So, if Ray or you try to bargain it up, it won’t work. Understood?”
Nikki nodded.
“Three million dollars.”
Nikki’s eyes went wide, and Morris heard the intake of her breath.
“We can have a financial adviser invest it for you so it can grow, if you are interested. Or we will deposit it anywhere you want.”
“All I have to do is get Ray-Ray to give me a name?”
“That’s it. Of course, we’ll check out the person to make sure Ray’s info is the real deal.”
“I get that.”
“Do you need some time to think?”
“I need to talk to Ray-Ray.”
Morris stood up and handed Nikki his card. “That’s my cell. You can get me anytime. Let me know when you and Ray have made a decision.”
As soon as the door closed behind the investigator, Nikki Randolph poured herself a stiff drink. She had grown up in a trailer park without a father. Her mother worked as a bartender at a tavern patronized by the Disciples. That’s how she’d met Ray-Ray.
Nikki hated living in the trailer park, and she’d made sure to graduate high school so she could get a job that would pay enough so she could move into a place of her own.
Through hard work and study, she had gotten a job with a decent salary, and there were benefits like health insurance.
She had a savings account with five hundred dollars in it.
It had taken her a few years to accumulate that much, what with payments for the mortgage and expenses, but she was realistic enough to know that she lived paycheck to paycheck.
Three million dollars was an unbelievable amount of money.
She couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have that much cash.
The problem was that they would have to betray Walter Zegda and the Disciples to earn it.
Nikki thought she would be willing to take the risk.
She was terrified of Zegda, but she dreaded the thought of losing Ray-Ray to a long prison term.
The big problem was Ray-Ray. He was a true believer in the biker life, and she wasn’t sure how he would react.
The only way she could find out was to talk to him.