The Man In Forest Hills Read online

  “Just hold, give me a second to think. Let me try to get in the interrogation room and have a word with him. Just give me a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  Marven speaks up.

  “How the hell are you gonna do that when Kent is watching his every move?”

  “Kent trusts me,” he states. “That’s how.”

  He leaves the room and heads to the interrogation room where Kent is holding Cambers. He walks in and sees Kent staring at Chambers through the glass mirror.

  “What’s up buddy?”

  “Just waiting on his team of lawyers. You know he’s not gonna answer any questions without those vultures,” he jokes.

  “Yeah I understand.”

  “I’m gonna grab a cup of coffee. Do you need anything?” he says.

  “No, I’m okay.”

  Kent walks toward the door and slows up.

  “Keep an eye on this fucker for me,” he adds. “Let me know if his lawyer comes in.”

  Harper gives him a head nod as he leaves the room. He waits a couple of seconds for things to get quiet. He then turns off the video recorders that tape ever interrogation from start to finish. Quickly he walks out the door and into the room where Chambers is being held. Chambers looks up as Harper makes his entrance.

  He smirks at Harper and lets out a small chuckle.

  “Harper you dumb motherfucker. How could you let this happen?”

  Harper pulls out the chair and sits down.

  “This motherfucker Kent is relentless. I’m telling you there’s no stopping him when he gets going. I’ve kept him away from you for years, but he just has a hard on for you.”

  Chambers continues to laugh.

  “And you couldn’t stop him? What the fuck am I paying you for then?”

  “Cecil, I will take of it. Trust me,” he claims.

  The smile on Chambers face changes.

  “You better motherfucker or else there’s gonna be hell to pay,” he threatens. “And you know what that means.”

  Harper shakes his head back and forth not taking his remark lightly. He knows his time is up, so he hustles back into the viewing room. He quickly turns the recorder back on right before Kent walks back into the room with a cup of coffee in hand.

  “His lawyers just walked in the building. You ready?”

  Harper gives Kent a head nod in agreement to let him know he’s ready for the interrogation. Kent walks out the room to go greet the layers in the hallway, so Harper follows suit.

  “Hello guys, I’m Detective Kent and this is my partner Detective Harper. The interrogation room is right this way.”

  They all walk into the room. Kent and Harper sit down in the two chairs opposite Chambers, as his main lawyer pulls up a chair and sits beside his client. The other one stands up against the back wall behind his partner and Chambers. The lawyer sitting down pulls out a note pad and a pen.

  “Detective, why is my client here? You have nothing on him and we don’t have any time to waste.”

  Kent laughs.

  “You guys really don’t get it do you? Not only do we have witnesses, but we had one of your accomplices wear a wire for a couple months.”

  Chambers eyes get big when he hears the information Kent shares to the room. He shots Harper a nasty look. Chambers slams his hands on the table in frustration.

  “You think you got someone to fucking flip on me? You’re full of shit Kent and you know it.”

  “Chambers, in time it will all come out.”

  Chambers turns his attention to Harper.

  “I’m sure Detective Harper can let me know. Can’t you detective?”

  Harper looks him in the face and has nothing to say. One of the lawyers cuts into the conversation.

  “We’re gonna call your bluff simply because we know you don’t have anything. This is just another attempt to defame my client,” he suggests. “I will be in touch.”

  He gets out the chair and heads towards the door.

  “I’m headed to the judge to post bail. Cecil, don’t say another word to anyone.”

  Both lawyers head out of the door. Kent and Harper walk out right behind them. They both stop at the door and watch the lawyers walk down the hall.

  “We gotta keep him locked down with an officer around at all times. He’s going to see a judge in the morning. After that he will get shipped to a private facility.”

  Harper stands there and listens, but starts to get lost in his own thoughts, about how he can get to Chambers. His future hangs in the balance, unless he can figure something out, and fast. He knows he is gonna have a hard time getting to Chambers. He has to come up with a plan. His future hangs in the balance. They continue their conversation as they walk down the hallway.

  Two police officers walk up to them.

  “Take him to his own private cell and don’t let him out of your sight,” he says. “I’ll make sure I’ll take care of you guys.”

  Harper quickly realizes that these two police officers are the only way he will be able to get information to Chambers. He takes a mental note of both officers’ names, just before Kent starts to make his way back down the hallway.

  It has been several weeks after the trial of Cecil Chambers, where he was convicted on all the counts presented. Several weeks later after the trial of Cecil Chambers. Two cars pull up to a set of railroad tracks. Marven and Craven get out of the cars. Within seconds, another car pulls up and parks. Harper gets out of the car with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He walks over to the guys.

  “Where’s Maddox?” Craven says.

  “He’s not making it.”

  Marven and Craven look at each other in confusion. Harper puts out his cigarette.

  “Look guys. We’re in trouble. Deep trouble. Chambers has gone in and he’s not coming out, ever.”

  Marven and Craven both shake their heads, but continue to listen.

  “Guys, we can’t take the chance on Chambers ratting us out. We have to take care of this shit before it all goes bad.”

  “How are we gonna get to Chambers?” says Marven.

  “We aren’t going after Chambers.”

  “Then who?” says Craven.

  Harper pauses on his words, not sure how they will respond once he tells them who the target will be. He knows whatever he is about to tell the guys is something he might regret for the rest of his life.

  “We gotta go after Kent.”

  Both the detectives’ eyes grow wide.

  “Kent? You can’t be fucking serious?” says Marven.

  Harper sits down on the hood of his car.

  “We have to. It’s the only way. If we take Kent out of the equation, then we can eliminate everything. We can worry about Chambers later, but Kent is the one who is going after the crooked cops and it won’t be long till he figures us all out, and then we will be fucked.”

  The guys shake their heads in agreement. They know that with Kent sniffing around, at some point they will get caught. The only plan they have is the plan Harper has laid out.

  “So what’s the plan?” says Craven.

  Harper walks closer toward the guys as if he has to whisper. The guys lean in and pay close attention.

  “Tomorrow after work I will tell him to meet me somewhere and obviously I won’t show up,” he explains. “You guys catch him getting out his car and knock him out. Drag him to the woods.”

  He pauses for a second and stumbles upon his words as he instructs them on how to capture his partner.

  “You guys know what to do when you get him to the woods. Leave no traces of evidence. We don’t want this messy.”

  “Fuck Harper. You’re a devil of a motherfucker. He is supposed to be your best friend,” says Marven.

  Harper lights up another cigarette.

  “Some things have to be done and this, this is one of them,” he hints. “Tomorrow is the day, I’ll call you guys to confirm go time.”

  Where wi
ll you be when we have Kent?” asks Craven.

  “I have to take care of something else.”

  He walks back to his car and hops in. The guys look at him as he starts the engine and pulls off. The dust kicks up from his rear tires as he pulls off. Marven and Craven get back into their cars and drive off.

  It’s the next evening and Harper sits in his car outside of a house. His phone rings in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks at the number. He recognizes the number and picks it up.

  “Is it done?”

  The voice on the other end of the phone is Detective Marven.

  “Yeah it’s done. I’m looking at him now.”

  “Good. I’ll call you later,” he says.

  He hangs up the phone and opens the car door. The house he stands in front of belongs to Kent. He takes his gun out the car and slides it into the back of his pants. He shuts the car door and walks to the front door. The rings the doorbell and recognizes the sound of Kent’s son Ryan calling out. Ryan comes to the door. There’s a smile on his face when he opens the door as he notices Harper.

  “Uncle Darren.”

  Harper picks him up and gives him a big hug.

  “Hey lil buddy. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Mommy is going to give me some cookies.”

  Harper walks in the house and sits in the living room. He sees Amy in the kitchen but, she starts to make her way into the living room. He stands up to give her a proper greeting.

  “Hey Amy. It smells good in there.”

  “How are you Darren?” she asks. “Where’s Tom? I thought he would be with you. I’ve been ringing his cell for the last hour and he hasn’t picked up.”

  Harper looks at her and shakes his head.

  “No. I talked to him and told him I would meet him here. I’m sure he will call soon.”

  Time goes by and Amy still has not heard from Kent. With Ryan fast asleep upstairs, Amy starts to pace back and forth, while questioning Kent’s whereabouts to Harper.

  “I don’t know why he’s not picking up Darren. This isn’t like him.”

  “I don’t know either, he usually answers his phone. It’s not usually like him to do something like this. He hasn’t called me all day and I thought that was weird,” he says.

  Amy tries to regroup and relax, so she takes a seat on the couch. As she starts to play back her conversation with Harper, she realizes he has switched up his story.

  “I thought you said you talked to him before you got here?”

  “No. Why would I say that? I haven’t talked to him all day. I was away on another case,” he adds.

  He makes his way close to her as she gives him a suspicious look.

  “Did you ever wonder what it would be like if it was me and you together?”

  He takes his hands and places them around her waist in an attempt to pull her into his body.

  “What the fuck are you doing Darren?” screams Amy. “If Tom found out about this, he would fucking kill you.”

  “Amy, relax. Don’t think I haven’t seen how you look at me sometimes, you know you fucking want me.”

  Harper tries to kiss her, but she slaps him across his face with all her strength. A drop of blood leaks from his mouth. He wipes it up with his tongue. He knows he’s not getting anywhere with Amy, so he attempts a different approach.

  “Tom isn’t gonna be killing anybody anytime soon.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she asks.

  He shrugs his shoulders and doesn’t respond to her.

  “Darren, answer my fucking question, you piece of shit.”

  Amy lunges at Harper with her fists when he doesn’t respond. She starts to hit him, so he tries to restrain her as best he can, but she just continues to flail her arms all around. He takes it a step further and slaps her across her face. She falls to the ground as her nose starts to bleed from the impact. He slowly takes his pistol out and places the silencer on it. Amy stars back at him in complete disarray.

  “You were supposed to be his best friend Darren Harper. How could you do this to us?”

  She begins to cry, not able to control her emotions. He sits the gun on his leg. With tears running down her face she continues to speak.

  “Just promise me this Darren Harper.”

  “What is it?”

  “Please don’t hurt my son,” she pleads.

  “I can’t promise that Amy.”

  He stands up with the pistol in his hand and holds it over her head.

  “Sorry Amy. I have no choice.”

  He pulls the trigger and shoots her right in the chest. She falls forward onto the carpet and lies there as blood slowly leaks from her body. He steps away from her body. He heads straight upstairs in the direction of Ryan’s room. He slowly walks to the room and sees Ryan quietly sleeping.

  Tears start to run down his face. He has known Ryan since he was a baby. He has watched him grow up and has shared so many good times with him. But unfortunately, that isn’t enough for Harper to look past him and let him live. He closes the door behind him and walks over to the bed. He points his pistol and fires it, leaving no time for second thoughts. He makes his way out of the room and back downstairs. He walks past Amy’s body, unable to control the tears running down his face. He turns off all the lights in the house and leaves out the front door just as him came quietly.

  13 - LAST WORDS

  Kent remains on the ground next to Maddox, as he listens to Harper tell his story from start to finish and he can’t believe what he’s hearing. It was his partner and best friend who was the mastermind behind it all this whole time.

  “Darren, how could you?” he says. “My family treated you like one of our own. I can’t believe you.”

  Kent tries to control the wound on his stomach, but the blood leaks through his fingers clutching it. Harper stands close to him with a gun in his right hand.

  “Tom, believe me when I tell you it was hard for me to do it,” he says. “You were snooping around the department and I know you, and sooner or later you were going to find out everything. I had to protect myself.”

  Maddox has grown impatient with all the small talk.

  “Harper, just shut the fuck up and shoot him already. What the fuck are you waiting on?”

  He looks down at Maddox and quickly turns angry.

  “See Tom, it’s people like Detective Maddox here who fuck it up for all of us,” he adds. “This asshole doesn’t know how to follow instructions. He was just bait. I knew you were gonna go after him first. He’s just been too fucking aggressive during this whole process.”

  Harper points the gun at him and shoots Maddox right in between the eyes.

  “Therefore, he had to be eliminated.”

  Kent tries to roll away from the body, but doesn’t get far. He is in so much pain that is actually being subsided by his never ending thoughts about his partner and best friend. He doesn’t understand how Harper could do any of this, how he could get caught up in such a mess, that he would take out his own partner. A lot of things go through his mind as he watches the smoke from Harpers barrel fade in the air.

  “I couldn’t stand that motherfucker,” he complains. “Now, I have to make it look like you killed him.”

  Harper steps closer to Kent. He knows Kent is unable to walk, so he grabs him by his feet. Kent continues to hold his stomach to keep it from bleeding. Kent finds it hard to breath.

  “Darren, you don’t have to do this. We can work this out. This isn’t the only option for you.”

  Harper pulls Kent through the woods, but and stops when he hears Kent make that statement.

  “No Kent. This is the one and only option for me. There’s no turning back now.”

  He pulls him a little bit further then stops.

  “I gotta get my story straight.”

  Harper is trying to create a crime scene, which shows Kent being the culprit the whole time and shooting Maddox in th
e head.

  “You figured Maddox was the killer and you kidnapped him and dragged him out here. He tried to break free and there was a tussle. He got your gun from the holster and shot you in the stomach. You both fell to the ground and somehow you got the gun and shot him twice,” he claims.

  “Once in the leg and once in the head. You were bleeding out and knew that everything was over and there was no turning back, so you decided to kill yourself.”

  He picks Kent up and sits him up against a tree.

  “You leaned up against this tree and put the gun to your head.”

  At this point, Harper has now taken his gun and placed it up against Kent’s head.

  “This is the end of the line Tom. Any last words?”

  Before Kent can respond, out of nowhere, a pair of loud gunshots goes off.

  “BANG, BANG.”

  Two shots go into Harper’s back and he falls to the ground. Kent looks past his body to try to make out who pulled the trigger. The person walks closer towards him and now he can finally make out who it is.

  “Oh my God.”

  Mary walks up to him from the darkness.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Mary gets closer.

  “Well that’s a hell of a way to say thank you.”

  She looks over at Harper who is in pain and bleeding out, but still alive.

  “Detective Harper, you shouldn’t have left that revolver unattended back there,” she mentions. “I never liked you anyway.”

  She lets off another shot and hits him right in the chest that seals the deal. Harper’s eyes remain open, but he is dead.

  “Piece of shit.”

  Mary walks over closer to Kent and sees he is in pain.

  “Where are you hit?”

  “Right in my stomach.”

  She takes a look at the wound and sees a lot of blood. She knows there is no way he can survive and knows she has to get him to the hospital.

  “Tom, I need to get you out of here and to a hospital as soon as possible.”

  She extends both her arms and grabs his hands. In excruciating pain he struggles to get up, but finally gets to his feet. She puts his arm over her shoulders and they navigate back through the woods to her car.