The Bachelor Party. Ron Hummer

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      Michael’s vision started to blur; his head continued to spin. Suddenly, he heard Tony Sage say “what the hell are you doing here?”

      “Change of plans,” the voice said as Michael fell to the ground, unconscious.

      ***

      The sirens woke him nearly half an hour later. Michael was helped to his feet, bathed in the lights from the police squad car. Michael’s eyes hopscotched between his friends who stood in the alley and the prone figure of Tony Sage who was on the ground, blood all over his nose and his white shirt.

      “You okay?” a man said.

      Michael turned and looked at the blond-haired police officer. “What happened?”

      “Maybe you should tell us,” the officer said.

      “I don’t remember.”

      “I suggest you try,” the man said. He took out his handcuffs, turned Michael around and slipped them on his wrists.

      “What is going on here?” Michael asked.

      “You’re under arrest for the murder of Tony Sage.”

      “Murder. I didn’t kill him. I was in the alley and he beat me up. I was unconscious.”

      “All I know is that we found a knife on the ground with your fingerprints,” the officer said.

      Michael felt tears in his eyes as the officer read him his Miranda rights.

      Chapter 3

      Emily and Elaine Wells were nearly running to visit Michael in jail. Emily received a call from the warden in the prison that Michael was beaten up. It was just his second day in prison, Emily reflected. When is this nightmare going to end?

      She wiped tears from her eyes as she thought back to the hearing. She knew that Michael’s attorney, Amanda Collins, had done her best but the judge denied bail due to the fact that the evidence was overwhelming and that Michael would be a flight risk. The DA would only settle for Michael being in prison until his trial.

      Emily and Elaine walked into the room and Michael sat there. There was a red line on his forehead, his left eye was black. Emily noticed additional bruises on his face as she sat down.

      “Are you all right?” Emily asked.

      “I don’t know,” Michael responded, rubbing his stomach.

      “What happened?” Elaine inquired.

      “There were three of them.” Michael put his hand to his mouth and coughed. “They attacked me in the back as I was cleaning the floor.”

      Emily clenched her lips together.

      “Why didn’t you tell the warden who the men were?”

      “I don’t want any trouble. They said that they wanted me to deliver a message to you.”

      Emily’s eyes widened; Elaine put her hand to her mouth.

      “They said Mr. Russo sends his regards.”

      Elaine bit her lip, leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know anyone named Russo. I don’t think we even had a case with a person named Russo.”

      “Well, that’s what they said.”

      “You should tell the warden who did this,” Elaine demanded.

      “They know who did it. The warden talked to them. I don’t want to have any trouble here.”

      Emily said, “I’ll speak with the warden.”

      “Mom, I’d rather you didn’t.”

      “Fine.”

      “What does Amanda say?” Michael asked, running his hand through his dark hair.

      “We don’t know. The DA doesn’t buy your story.”

      “What about the woman that helped me out of the bar?”

      “We can’t find her?”

      “Mom, she was there. I know she was there.”

      “Michael, there were traces of ecstasy in your blood. It was put into your drink. For all we know, she could have done that.”

      “She probably did. She was asking Tony to stop. Said I had enough.”

      “Michael, the DA said it doesn’t make sense. They said that you got into a fight with him and maybe he pulled the knife and it was in self defense.”

      “He didn’t have a knife. The woman did.”

      “Amanda said she may consider self defense.”

      “There must be cameras at the bar.”

      “There were,” Elaine said. “No one got a good look at the woman. The cameras didn’t pick anything up.”

      “And no one knew who she was?”

      “No,” Emily said.

      Michael closed his eyes, chewed the inside of his cheek. “What am I going to do?”

      “I’ll speak with Amanda,” Emily said. “She’s a great criminal attorney. You know that we’re close friends. We both graduated from the same law school. We were in the same sorority.”

      “How’s Dad?”

      Emily and Elaine stood up. “You’re father’s fine. He couldn’t get a flight out of Atlanta. He should be here tomorrow.”

      MIchael shook his head.

      “We’ll figure something out,” Emily said. “We know you didn’t do this.”

      “I know you do.”

      “We’re going to see Amanda right now,” Elaine said.

      “Okay.”

      Michael stood up, his body shook. Emily and Elaine hugged Michael.

      Emily and Elaine were outside, walking toward their car. As they reached the black Mercedes Benz, Emily noticed that three men were standing near the car.

      “Can we help you?” Emily asked as the men stood there.

      Emily looked the three men over carefully. The one on the left was much taller than her, short blond hair that was parted to the left with the body of a football player. The one on the right, shorter, his dark hair cut in a buzz cut. The man in the center ran his hand through his dark thinning hair that СКАЧАТЬ