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PAINLESS
Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: Xlibris
ISBN-10: 1436370485
Type: Fiction
Pages: 368
Copyright: September 23, 2008
ISBN-13: 9781436370486
Price: $9.99 (eBook)
Painless: Fun Florida Crime Fiction!
The Kirkus Discoveries review says
“Augustus “Aug” Valentine thought he had escaped his past…he survived the coldblooded murder of his parents…and has gone on to start successful import-export and real estate business in South Florida…the underworld connections that led to his parent’s death have kept a hold of him…but Aug has little reason to complain…he started a new romance with the seductive Jocelyn, a car dealer who is even sleeker than the Jaguars she moves. However, when $40 million in jewels is stolen before he can deliver them, his life, Jocelyn’s…are put at risk…as a giant storm bears down on…a tropical paradise. Poje has packed this adventure-thriller full…”
It's 2005; the man with the hurricane full of trouble is Augustus Valentine. Aug runs an import\export company outside Port Everglades that was started with illegal money. So were the real estate developments in San Destin.
People with illegal money must do something with it. In come the rubies, sapphires and diamonds; they are promptly stolen from Aug; who did what and why is the primary plot.
Painless also features Jocelyn; Aug's delectably incredible girlfriend. Jocelyn sells Jaguars in Merritt Island. They have a weekend getaway in Ponte Vedra. There's a big hurricane finish on the beach in San Destin with gold, platinum and gambling in the mix...as well as character development chapters in Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland and Nashville!
Painless is the first of The Less Trilogy (Blindless; Timeless)
=====================
Painless is designed to be a 2 1\2 hour R rated big budget movie. There are 5 signature scenes:
1) A 2 stage car chase through downtown Detroit featuring a Tigers Home Opener
2) A car chase from Cocoa to Cocoa Beach.
3) A steamy Car drive up I-95 in a thunderstorm.
4) Opening night of the bar in San Destin
5) BIG hurricane finish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G_c2IgrJj8&feature=youtu.be
Excerpt
Chapter 13 – TERMINUS
Ginger said “Hey, open the door, dumb ass. Let me get up there.” Vitellius leaned over across the passenger seat and opened the passenger door on the Caddy. Ginger folded the seat forward and climbed out to take over the passenger seat. Upon settling in she leaned over and gave Vitellius a peck on the cheek. Her hands made their way for denim delight. “There now, isn’t that much better?”
Vitellius leaned back to enjoy her handiwork. “Ohhhh yeahhhh! That is much better.” He relaxed a bit and then asked “Hey, what are you doing here anyway? I thought we were going to pick you up in a little when we got done here?”
Ginger smiled. “Well, that’s what John wanted to do but I told him I didn’t want to sit around while you guys got drunk before game time.” She looked around at the car. “I can’t believe you don’t have any Stroh’s in here! Anyway, John didn’t tell me you guys had…uh…other plans this morning.” She looked around more at the car they were in and the house whose driveway the car was in. “Nice ride” she said. “I love the candy red color. Wheredya get it?”
Vi answered “Rob lined it up. It’s an El Dorado , you know.” With that they both looked at each other and said “Terminus!” The mutual laughter made tears come to their eyes.
Ginger bounced on the seat and sang in a high girlie voice “Well, maybe he got it for me!”
Vitellius snorted. “Yeah, right. I don’t think so. It’s probably another one of his clients who wants a later model. This one’s got some things wearing out on it.” He put his hand to the driver side convertible top release. “Look, this things broken.”
Ginger looked around at the vehicle. “Yeah, and it’s got an eight track instead of a cassette player! No wonder they want to get rid of this!” Ginger started the eight track tape. It was Blondie. She reached over and turned the ignition key forward to power the tape. “Oooohhhh, I like this” she said and started singing along to Rip Her to Shreds.
The car was a bit chilly. Vitally was wearing a blue jean ensemble; a jean coat and jean pants. Ginger joined in the blue jeans but she was a sweater girl. “Can you turn on some heat?” she said. “It is a little chilly out.” Vitellius obliged by starting the car and blowing the heat on full. Ginger started looking around the vehicle some more. “Damn it’s chilly in here. I wonder what the temperature is like today? It’s gonna be brisk at the ball park.” She pointed a finger at the dash. “You know what would be cool? A temperature gauge in the dash. Now that would be cool.” She looked around further and pointed at the wheel. “Is that an air crash system? Wow. This car is loaded! No wonder theres no seat belts.”
Vi perked up a little. His face became covered in curiousity. “Ya know, that’s funny, now that you say that. I thought every Caddy but the El Dorado had an air crash system as an option.” He shrugged and grabbed her hands. “Ooooooooh, you are cold. Here, let me put those hands somewhere warm.” He put Ginger back to work and he adjusted the vents to blow down on her activities. “How’s that? Much better?”
Ginger smiled at him. She looked out the back at a sign posted on the roadside that read
“NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTED
BY MAGNUM SECURITY.”
She looked back at Vi. “Aren’t you a little worried about security seeing what’s going on?”
Vitally had his eyes half closed, thoroughly enjoying her dexterity. His jeans were really cramped but the heat and pressure felt good. “Hmm? Oh. It’s an inside job. The family here is taking a bus to the game from the yacht club. Grosse Pointe does it right, ya know? C’mon, the whole city is partying downtown for the Tiger home opener. You know how the home opener is always a city wide Holiday for Detroit. It’s one of the best days for pulling a caper. The cops and security crews are all busy with the game and they wanna party too. Rob set this one up. It’s an insurance scam. We get the jewels and the home owners collect on the insurance. Rob also took care of getting this car. He had John steal it from somewhere. My ride’s down at the stadium, we’ll pick it up when we head down there and ditch this one.” He paused for a second. “Hell, we might even make it in time to see Soleman through out the first pitch!”
Ginger looked at Lake St. Clair showing behind the house. Her attention then came back to closer surroundings. The residence was fronted by a three foot wall that had some sculptures of lions at the driveway gate. There was another weird sculpture she saw of an eel like creature with a gargoyle head and fins or gills that looked sail like as the protruded from the neck.
Vitellius opened his eyes towards the manse. “I wonder what is taking him so long. He shouldn’t have to go through every room in the house.”
Ginger looked at Vi and asked “Do you think he knows?”
Vi spread his legs wider and snorted. “After that incident at the golf course last year? Um, yeah! Yeah, I’d say he knows.”
She laughed and slapped him across the chest. The knowing smile was large. “No…silly…you know what I mean!” Her eyes widened a little and she cocked her head a bit to indicate “Get it.” Her mouth gave out an “Hmmm?”
Vi rubbed his hand along her thigh. His hand was huge; it covered nearly half of her leg. “Oh. Ya know, I dunno? Damn, I hope not.” He paused a minute, looking at the house. “Ya know, it’s not like he’s a saint anyway.” He relaxed a bit more, enjoying the moment.
Ginger reached her second hand over to assist the first. “I swear I don’t know how you fit into these jeans!”
Vitellius looked at the house. “Better be careful. John should be done about now. I don’t think he’d be too happy about you jacking me off here.”
BANG! BANG!
Two gunshots were heard from inside the house. Vitellius and Ginger snapped to attention. They looked at each other and then at the house in wide eyed surprise.
Two men came running out from behind the house. In their hands were side arms. The men were raising the guns to point them at the car. Vi let out a “Fuck this” and he started the car. He threw the El Dorado into reverse and peeled back onto Windmill Pointe.
BANG! BANG!
Vi heard the reports but didn’t notice any hits anywhere. He sped north on Windmill Pointe. He saw three Magnum Security cars peel around the corner from Berkshire at a high speed. They were hard charging at the Cadillac. He asked aloud “Where did these guys come from?” Vi decided south would be better. He drove across the six foot wide grassy median separating the lanes of the wealthy neighborhood and headed south on Windmill. Then he turned west onto Middlesex. The other three cars followed. Two of the cars followed behind Vitellius. The third car went past the ten foot wide median and drove up Middlesex the wrong way. The vehicles rapidly reached a speed of fifty. Both lanes dodged traffic and parked cars bouncing up curbs to the sidewalks and back down.
BANG! BANG!
Vi and Ginger heard the reports but didn’t see any results. Vitally told Ginger “Keep your eye on those cars back there.”
Ginger turned in her seat and looked. “Where the hell did these guys come from? Why are they shooting at us? I thought you said this was an inside job?”
Vi replied “It was an inside job! Hell if I know where they came from. They are not supposed to be here!”
The cars were going over sixty when they ran the stop signs at Korte and Avondale. There was a crossover between the lanes and the wrong way car pulled across aiming to cut Vi off. He yelled “Hang on” and he bounced his vehicle across the grass and around the oak trees and ended up in the wrong way path. Vi bounced the vehicle further up on the far sidewalk to avoid oncoming traffic. Horns from the nearing traffic were blaring. Vi angled back onto the street and blew through the stop sign at Essex. The pursuit vehicles were not far behind.
Crossing Essex was a zag and the road name changed to Beaconsfield. The street narrowed. Trombley Elementary was on the right. The school was letting kids out at noon in honor of the Tigers home opener. Ginger screamed. There were a half dozen kids on bikes in the middle of the road chatting. Vitellius pulled left as far as he could while braking to avoid plowing into the children. Two Magnum cars went left with him. The El Dorado slid sideways into a parked car on the street. The Magnum vehicles slid into the El Dorado. Vitellius floored it to pull away from the vehicles. The Caddy scraped paint and metal as it took off.
BANG! BANG!
More reports were heard. Vi and Ginger didn’t notice any hits.
The third Magnum car went right to avoid the crash and children in the road but this took the vehicle at more school kids in front of the school. The kids screamed and started running. The car fishtailed to avoid hitting youngsters and drove straight into the side of the school. Parents in cars in the school parking lot hopped out in horror, screaming their heads off and running to see if their offspring were ok. Ginger had been looking back and saw what happened. “One down” she quipped as the Cadillac sped away.
Vitellius couldn’t worry about that. Jefferson was up ahead. He was looking to make it to Jefferson. They approached the stop sign at a speed over fifty.
He blew through the stop sign at Beaconsfield and Jefferson. There was another median to cross to go left. Vi headed along Jefferson towards downtown. The first Magnum car blew the stop sign and followed. The second Magnum vehicle went left to avoid a Gremlin that was coming across Jefferson. The Magnum car hit the cement curbing for the median square and the car steering broke. The driver lost control and went straight over the median clipping a tree before clipping the rear end of the first Magnum car that had turned up Jefferson. Car number one kept control and continued the chase while car number two crashed into a red brick wall gating an apartment complex.
Ginger quipped to Vi “Two down.”
The chase down Jefferson went on for miles at speeds reaching ninety miles per hour. Traffic was fortunately light as they used all six lanes crossing back and forth around traffic in both directions. Traffic heading towards Detroit could see the commotion coming and was pulling over out of the way. Traffic lights were irrelevant to them. They flew by the pawn shops dotting the way that bought and sold cheap remnants of lives. Decrepit liquor stores catering to Lowest common denominators were passed. The chase had gone from wealth to poverty as they passed the Jefferson Chrysler plant and the road turned to being lined by bombed and burned out buildings.
Waterworks Park was passed. Henderson Park was passed. Owen Park was passed. The Detroit River appeared on the left. The city sewage plant was passed. The silver circular towers of the Renaissance Center came into view in the far distance as well as the Stroh’s brewery sign. Gabriel Richard Park came up on the right. Belle Isle was approaching.
Vitellius told Ginger “Hold on!” He sped up even more towards the light at E Grand Blvd. A bus of revelers from the Lake St. Clair yacht club on their way to Tiger Stadium tried to get out the way by moving right but the bus accidentally cut Vitellius off. He had to slow down but the pursuit car sped up and got on his rear bumper.
Another center median approached. Vitellius went the wrong way direction. The pursuit car followed behind. Traffic would be coming at them in each lane. The light at Grand turned red. A gravel truck started through the intersection. Vitellius hit the gas and pulled right as hard as he could. He bounced over the median and cut in front of the bus and headed up Grand. He never knew how the Magnum vehicle lost control but it turned sideways as it tried to brake.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The Magnum vehicle fishtailed back and hit the gravel truck head on. Other vehicles lost control and were struck truck as it tried to veer away. Ginger saw vehicles piled up in a spectacular four car crash. Shattered glass spayed everywhere. The Belle Isle Grand Prix met Terminus El Dorado. Vitellius kept going to the right up Grand.
Ginger screamed in exhilaration at seeing the spectacular car crash. She grabbed and kissed Vitellius on his cheek. He turned left at Lafayette and drove down past Martin Luther King High School. Elmwood Cemetery was on the right. He maneuvered the El Dorado past the Calvary Baptist Church and into the graveyard.
Vitellius drove slowly around the winding paths threw the tombstones. There were graves hundreds of years old. Statues of humans and saints dotted landscape as well as massive spires of death. In ten years of crime with his buddies nothing had ever gone wrong. They had never had a bad set up before. What had happened? What was he to do now? He found a lower tier and parked by the TB Rayl underground crypt across from the cemetery’s pond. He need to think.
Reality hit Ginger. She started to cry and go into shock. “John’s dead! He’s dead he’s he’s dead he’s dead.” She crumpled into Vitellius. He hugged her tightly, comforting her as best as he could.
“Shhhh, shhhh…calm down…everything’ll be OK. Hey, we don’t know what happened to John. Maybe he’s OK.” He pulled her face back to make her look at him. “I’m sure he’s OK. John wouldn’t get hurt in some fool robbery like this. They probably shot at him and he ran out another exit. We’ll probably see him at the ball game later.” He pulled her close, hugging her again.
Vitally thought about the situation they were in. They needed to get rid of the car now. It was now marked by dents. Vi noticed that his door was loose. The crash must have broken the locking mechanism. His Camaro was at a parking lot near Tiger Stadium. They could ditch the Caddy in the parking lot down there and pick his car up. The cops would be busy with crowd control. It was the Tiger’s home opener. The streets would be packed with people. Even with a 1-7 record to start the season the home opener was always a city wide holiday. They could blend in and disappear. There’s no way the cops would be looking for them down at the game. The police would be too busy with crowd control.
He pushed Ginger back again. “Hey….hey…look at me.” She looked up at him. She didn’t look good. Her eye liner and mascara were all over her face. A vacancy sign had been hung at the door of her eyes. He needed to extract her mind back to reality. “Ginger…Ginger…listen to me. I know this looks bad but things are not always what they seem. Now, we can’t stay here. We need to get rid of this car. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna go down to where I have my car parked at the ball park and switch cars. OK? Are you with me? We need to do this now and then we’ll figure out what we will do after that. OK?” Ginger nodded an assent. “Now remember. We haven’t done anything wrong. I picked you up at your house and we were out driving and these cars started chasing us and shooting at us. Don’t worry about this car. I stole it and you didn’t know that. OK? If we find out later on that they have John then we’ll change our story. OK? Remember, if something happens and the cops take us, don’t say anything without a lawyer. OK? ANYTHING!” Ginger nodded yes again.
Vitellius drove the car out of the cemetery. Concern over being on a main thoroughfare sent him from Elwood to Chene to Antietam. He was working his way through neighborhoods. The slow drive helped calm him down. Some of the adrenaline jag wore off. He came down Gratiot to Monroe to Michigan heading to Trumbull.
They passed the statue of Thaddeus Kosciuszko. Vi idly wondered who he was. To him he was just another John Doe in the world who had been lucky enough to have a statue made of him.
It made him think of Augustus. Augustus, named for a Roman Emperor. Maybe Auggie would have a statue made of him someday and be famous like a Roman Emperor or Mr. Polack here. But probably not. He would probably be another person who lived and died and left nothing but a headstone behind.
The car crossed the Lodge and the road turned to red brick. It certainly wasn’t yellow brick. Nemo’s was on the right and it was teeming with people. They were in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. It wasn’t even the oldest neighborhood. It was just the neighborhood that had survived the longest to be known as a specific area.
The road was wall to wall vehicles. Horns were honking and people with drinks were walking all around. The bars and beer tents and street vendors were hopping. It was a brisk fifty out and there was a slight breeze but the sun was peeking through clouds and the Home Opener is a day of the harbinger of upcoming spring. After months of colder weather fifty degrees and sunshine makes people cut loose. Vi sunk down a bit in his seat. He pulled Ginger down with his hand. The last thing he wanted was for the two of them to be seen together in this car right now.
Cops were everywhere directing traffic. It was a nerve racking fifteen minutes inching past police and people. Traffic cops directed all traffic flow. They passed by Tiger Stadium. The marquee at Michigan and Trumbull stated:
APRIL 18
HOME OPENER
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
SPLITTORFF VS ROZEMA
1:15 PM
He wanted to get by to Harrison just a couple blocks ahead. His Camaro was in a lot up there. He turned onto Harrison and proceeded to shit bricks. Squad cars were in the parking lot. Cops were looking at his car. He kept going down the road but as he reached Cherry he was spotted. Flashers were hit and vehicles started. It was time to go. The chase was on.
He peeled around Cherry. He wanted to head north on Rosa Parks to get to 75 but there were policemen in the road. He turned south on Rosa Parks. He clipped a Charger making the turn onto Rosa, denting both vehicles significantly in the rear quarter panels. It was back to weaving around vehicles. Cops were in pursuit.
Ginger had started wailing. He looked over at her and his eye was drawn to the seat floor. The crash appeared to have dislodged a White Owl box. It was partially exposed from under the seat. He yelled at Ginger “GRAB THAT.” She dully looked at him. “THE BOX…GRAB THAT!” he yelled…pointing a finger at the box.
She jostled around in the vehicle as the car lurched from side to side. Slowly she pulled the box up. She opened the box and didn’t understand what she was looking at. She opened the box to where she could show Vitellius. He saw what looked like fifty small bags containing a light brownish powder. His eyes bugged as he ran the light at Fort where Rosa turned into Jefferson. Vitellius knew now why things had gone wrong. It was all a set up. One of his partners had sold him out. His guess was that he was looking at heroin. He shut the box. He didn’t want to look at it. That bastard Rob had set the whole thing up. John got nailed in the house stealing ice and he was to be nailed with skag. Well fuck him. He’d get away and then show him who would fuck who.
He had hit the gas pedal hard and the car accelerated to seventy. A patrol car entered Jefferson from 10th; they side swiped. Vitally wanted to make it to 375. If he could get on the Interstate he could think a minute and decide where to go. He needed to get the horse out of the car but he couldn’t do it while the cops could see it. On the Interstate he might be able to dump the baggies if he could get a lead or get off somewhere. Was there anything more in the vehicle? Had something else been planted in the Camaro? That’s why they were waiting for him at his car. They knew he had this particular El Dorado, and they were waiting.
Another cop car entered the chase at 6th. The cop attempted to hit him in the front end but Vitellius slowed up enough and entered the oncoming traffic lane to avoid him. Ginger screamed and lurched at the wheel. He threw her off and moved the car back over to the other side of the road. 3rd Street came up and he pulled right turning down the road. Multiple cop cars were in pursuit.
Joe Louis Arena was on the left. The road veered left. A pedestrian was crossing the road. Vitellius veered left around the jaywalker. One cop car went right when the driver saw the citizen. The cop car drove straight into one of the massive red pillars that dotted the sidewalk in front of the park. The cop car behind missed his partners crash and continued right across the grassy knolled park sending picnickers scrambling. The cop crashed through the fence that fronted the Detroit River and the vehicle flew into the water.
Cobo Hall came up on the left. Placards on the pillars on the right advertised the upcoming Van Halen Party Til You Die tour and a separate Journey concert. More cops were in pursuit. The cars passed through a tunnel and over the Detroit Windsor Tunnel. Vi veered further right on Atwater. They were going between fifty and sixty.
The Renaissance Center came up on the left. Banners announcing the Republican Party Convention later in the year hung from the street lights. Japanese tourists and more picnickers were all over the place…including the center of the road. Ginger screamed when she saw that it looked like the Caddy would plow through a group of people. In a panic she lunged over and yanked the wheel to the right. The car careened right across the cement plaza that fronted the river. Vitellius grabbed the wheel and yanked it left. The Cadillac went airborne from the five step drop to the second cement level of the plaza.
The car landed with a crash on the left side. Car parts and hubcaps flew off as metal crunched cement. The air crash restraint system exploded. The damaged door blew off. The jolt from the crash and the explosion of the airbag knocked Vitellius one way and then the next. His legs were momentarily pinned against the steering column and bones in his legs and spinal column broke. As the vehicle moved forward both the door and Vi broke from the car and he rolled unconsciously along the cement.
The El Dorado continued forward and crashed into and through the metal barrier separating the plaza from the Detroit River. Ginger and the cigar box exited the Cadillac through the front window. Shards of glass impaled her cheeks as her face exploded into the window. Her neck snapped upon impact with the water.
Police boats and cars descended upon the scene to try and affect a rescue but they came too late. Between the chilly water and the broken neck her death was rapid. The box of evidence stayed shut and flew into the river. The current took it downriver before the police could recover it. It was lost forever.
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