“You Win Some, You Lose Some” - An Aiden Hayes Story
Short story by Anthony Joseph Buffa
The last person I expected to see again was Joseph Lareau, my old roommate from college. He just came to my office one cold and winter day out of the blue, knocked on the door and entered with a big smile on his face.
I didn’t hesitate to greet my old friend and shook his hand. I told him how surprised I was that he still remembered my face, let alone remembered the address to my office. Of course I was pulling his leg. Joseph always knew how to take a joke, better than any of my college professors.
Anyway, we sat down at my desk, reminiscing about our college years and catching up with each other.
Although we weren’t real close, we were well-acquainted and got along just fine. Back in college, Joseph was a slacker. While I focused on studying for my exams, Joseph went out partying and scored chicks, yet despite his lazy, laid-back demeanor, he took his writing very seriously. He didn’t like studying, especially for classes that weren’t part of his degree, and he would usually skip his classes whenever he was in the flow or in the middle of writing one of his manuscripts. I’d hear him typing away intensely at his typewriter, holed up in his room for hours or throughout the afternoon. He’d be typing all night until the crack of dawn. It was the only thing he was consistent with besides sex and whiskey. One day he told me that he felt college wasn’t for him, feeling like he’s wasting his talents and time here instead of focusing his efforts on writing his stories and getting his work out there.
In the end, Joseph eventually went with his gut and dropped out of college. Joseph still kept in touch with his girlfriend Hailey who was still going to college at the time until they eventually married after she graduated in ‘65. Joseph’s wife helped with editing his manuscripts and polishing them up before submitting them to every major publisher he knew. Unfortunately, none of them accepted his work until one particular publisher picked him, gave him a contract to sign, and the rest was history.
Within a few years, Joseph achieved success with his hard-boiled crime novels, selling over a million copies. He never had any problems with his publisher, Colter Publishing, until recently when he brought up to Maggie Colter, the owner, founder and publisher of the company, that his contract with them would expire later this year and expressed his wishes to move on to another publisher. Ms. Colter became furious, throwing a fit and refusing to let him go, threatening to sue him if he dared submit his latest manuscript to another publisher.
Joseph later searched my name in a phonebook and came to my office to ask for my help.
“Shouldn’t you be going to a lawyer about this kind of situation?” I questioned Joseph. “Why come to me?”
“Well, you see, she’s not just your ordinary book publisher. She’s a very wealthy woman with a lot of money, and she’s fucking nuts.”
“How so?”
“When I first met her, I thought she was an alright woman, pretty, smart, and nice, but whenever I met with her to discuss my books, she’s been putting the moves on, placing her hands on me in inappropriate places and trying to kiss me. When I confronted her about it and told her to back off, she just left me alone for a while after that, but when I came to her office days ago to discuss my contract with her company, she just got angry all of a sudden and threatened to tell my wife about our affair. I told her we didn’t have an affair, but Maggie told me she has evidence that’ll convince Haily otherwise, and she’ll continue blackmailing me unless I renew my contract with Colter Publishing. Ever since then, she’s been stalking me wherever I went.”
“How do you know she’s stalking you?”
“She drives a black Rolls-Royce. I’ve seen that car parked outside the office’s building and tailing me everywhere I go, even to the damn grocery store.”
“Does she know where you live?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“Well, you sure are in quite a pickle here, Joe. What you’re dealing with here is a sick woman who’s used to getting things her way. This sounds like something the police should handle.”
“That’s the thing, Aiden. I don’t want any kind of scandal. The last thing I need is journalists hounding me down or hanging outside my house.”
“She may be dangerous. You don’t want someone like that walking around and spying on you.”
“Well, you’re good with intimidation, right?”
“It ain’t that easy to intimidate a crazy person like Ms. Colter.”
“You can just tell her to back off and threaten to have her turned over to the authorities for stalking.”
“That could work. I’ll take some pictures of her tailing you. That should be enough to get her to back off.”
“There’s something else I also want you to do. Maggie grabbed some photos from her desk drawer and showed them off to me. They’re photos of her and I together, making it look as if we’re having an affair, but really they’re just pictures of Maggie touching me or trying to kiss me like I mentioned before. She might still be keeping them in there. I want you to grab those photos and burn them.”
“I’m a private eye, Joe, not a thief.”
“Please, I can’t have any sort of scandal of this magnitude be made public. She’ll probably have these photos of us submitted to a newspaper company instead, then I’ll be screwed for sure!”
“I think you’re overestimating Maggie’s chances.”
“It’ll ruin me. Haily and I will never get some peace and quiet over this crap. I need this to be done.”
“That part is risky, not to mention illegal.”
“I don’t see any other way. Do you?”
“Alright, fine. I’ll do it only because you’re my friend, but this will cost you extra, you know.”
“Nothing to worry about. I can cover the expenses.”
“If you say so. I’ll get to retrieving those photos for you, but first we take photos of Maggie stalking you. I gotta have something if I’m gonna have any chance to spook her and get her to leave you alone.”
“Thank you, Aiden! You’re a lifesaver!”
After sealing the contract on this job and getting paid upfront, I discussed my plan with Joseph.
The next day, I parked outside of the building in Downtown Atlanta, where the offices of Colter Publishing was located, eating my breakfast and waiting for Joseph.
Finally, Joseph left the building and got inside his car parked next to the sidewalk.
I already spotted the black Rolls-Royce parked sneakily in an alleyway across from the Colter Publishing building when I arrived and scanned the area and took some photos of it. As soon as Joseph drove away, the Rolls-Royce emerged from the alley and tailed his car, and I followed them.
We arrived at the parking lot of a local grocery store in Sandy Springs. Joseph left his car, and so did the guy driving the Rolls-Royce.
The driver was a big hunk of blob, easy to shoot with his gut hanging out. I wondered how a bloated guy like him could fit all that fat under his dark suit and overcoat without stretching them.
Before lunkhead could follow Joseph inside, I came up and stuck my gun behind the big guy and said, “Alright, tubby, you better not try anything funny or else you get a bullet in your backside.”
“Easy, mister. I got some cash in my wallet.”
“I don’t want your stinking money. I want answers, and you’re gonna tell me what I wanna know.”
“I don’t know what you're talking about. I don’t want no trouble. ”
“Well, you’ve been asking for trouble ever since you started tailing Joseph Lareau. I’ve already got pictures of your car and you stalking my friend, so unless you don’t want me to turn you over to the authorities, I suggest you tell me what I wanna know.”
“Alright, mister, what do you wanna know?”
“Let’s talk about this inside the Rolls-Royce.”
Once we got inside, we got to talking and the big guy spilled the beans.
“Who you are and why are you tailing Joseph?” I asked him.
“The name’s Irving. I’m, uh, a private eye.”
“You hesitated. Do you remember your own occupation or do you need me to knock you around some?”
“I’m telling the truth! You’re a private eye, too, ain’t ya? Look, I got my-”
“Get your hands outta your pockets. Now, if you’re a private investigator like you said you are, tell me who hired you.”
“That’s confidential, mister. You know private eyes don’t reveal their client’s names. You think I’m stupid?”
“Yes, you are, and if you’re smart enough, you’ll tell me who hired you or else we take a trip to the police station right now and save us both the trouble.”
“Alright! Her name’s Maggie Colter. She’s the owner of a book publishing company.”
“Why did she hire you to follow Joseph?”
“I dunno. She just wanted me to follow him, see where he goes, what he does, where he lives, and had me report to you at the end of the day.”
“Bullshit. You’re her lackey. You follow her orders like the big lump you are, told to stalk Joseph just to intimidate him, get him scared enough to renew his contract with Ms. Colter. Now, I want you to do me a big favor and drive me to the Colter Publishing office.”
“What for?”
“Don’t ask any questions, tubby. Just get us there before we take a detour to the nearest police station.”
I was about ready to clock this dope with the butt of my gun, but I needed him to show me how and where he took those photos of Joseph and Maggie, and I needed to grab the photos so Joe and I would have leverage over the nympho.
A guy like Irving couldn’t afford to set up his own darkroom at his place to develop the pictures, let alone know how to do it. It was a job only Maggie could do. Irving just takes the pictures in that little secret room only he and Maggie knew about.
We reached the Colter Publishing building and headed inside. Irving rang up the front desk and went down the hall where Maggie’s office was located. He took me to the janitor’s room just next door from the publisher’s office. Tubby went in there and opened a door on the left side of the janitor’s room, revealing the secret room where he took all those pictures for his employer.
Besides being a hidden room, it was also a darkroom with a table on one side filled with the necessary chemicals for developing the prints and on the opposite side was where he processed the negatives onto photo paper. A camera stood on three legs facing the black wall. I looked through the lens and the peephole to Maggie’s office. The camera was positioned at a good enough angle to take one picture of the entire room and of the men Maggie’s been blackmailing for God knows how long. The clicks from the camera were silent enough to snap some photos without anyone noticing or hearing it. Little Ms. Maggie Colter was still in her office, busy looking through some papers.
Once I got what I wanted and took pictures of the secret darkroom, the camera pointing through the peephole, and the door to it in the janitor’s room, I decided to pay a visit to Irving’s employer and confront the little wench. She sure wasn’t expecting someone like me to come barging into her office and dragging around her lackey.
“Who is this?” Maggie asked Irving before turning her attention back to me. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m a friend of Joseph Lareau, and you’re in very big trouble, Ms. Colter.”
“Are you with the police? Look, I’m sure I can make it worthwhile-”
“Save it, sister. You ain’t buying me outta this mess you made for yourself. I already have enough evidence to turn you and tubby here over to the police and have both of you convicted. What I want from you is those pictures of you and Joseph you keep under that drawer. I also want the copies, too, if you happen to have any.”
“There’s no need for this.”
“I’m the one calling the shots here, lady. Your days of blackmailing are over. You’re gonna give me those photos, tear up Joseph’s contract, and give me your word that you’ll leave him alone, or else I’ll report you to the authorities. So what’s it gonna be, Ms. Colter?”
Maggie sure was furious, but she knew she had no other choice. Reluctantly, she grabbed a folder with the photos inside from her desk drawer and handed it to me. I took a look inside the folder, making sure the photos were the ones Joseph mentioned, and closed it again. She promised me that she’ll tear up Joseph’s contract and leave him alone as I didn’t report to the police about this. I gave my word that I wouldn’t, as much as I wanted to see her and her lackey behind bars. I left her office, thinking that was that, and nothing would come of that crazy nympho.
I took out the photos from the folders to take another look at them, curious as I was the first time I laid on the contents within the black-and-white image. By the looks of these photos, there was a lot more between the two of them than Joseph let on.
I decided to call up Joseph and confronted him about it. He wasn’t happy to say the least.
“Come on, Joe,” I said. “You’ve got your hands all over her. There’s one photo of you kissing her neck. If that doesn’t signify that you were having an intimate relationship with Ms. Colter, what else would you call it? Friends with benefits?”
“I told you nothing serious happened between me and Maggie.”
“Really? What do you two usually talk about in the office that doesn’t involve work?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why? Is your wife home, or do you not want to tell me at all? I need to know the truth because this could get real ugly real fast if you don’t get the police involved.”
“I told you that I don’t want any kind of publicity over this. Hailey and I won’t get any peace if word about this situation with Maggie gets out.”
“Publicity and scandal are the least of your worries, Joe. I have a pretty good idea what happened between you two, and I think Maggie might take things too far. I’m not sure what will happen, but I don’t think Maggie is the kinda broad who’d let bygones be bygones and move on to find some other poor bastard to screw with. Please, Joe, I’m trying to help you.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. You’ve already helped enough, so give it a rest and get rid of the damn photos like I paid you to.”
Joseph was as stubborn as a mule. I hoped Maggie wouldn’t do anything foolish enough to want to try and ruin Joseph even more, but she had something much worse in mind.
Two days later, I received a call from my friend Joseph, only it wasn’t to tell me any good news. He sounded shook, sobbing as he tried to tell me that his wife was murdered. He had come home from a friend’s place one evening to find Haily stabbed to death, her body laid on the stairs.
I thought that would be the last I heard of Maggie and the big guy, but she couldn’t let Joseph go. She just had to get back at Joseph somehow, and what better way to do it than kill his wife? The last thing I thought she’d be capable of was murder, but I guess she finally snapped. The whole thing turned into one big mess.
I was able to convince Joseph to come forward with the police and tell them everything about his situation with Maggie Colter. I also told them about the secret room in her office and her lackey Irving.
The cops were able to nab Maggie’s accomplice, but they couldn't find Maggie herself in her office or her house. Irving wouldn’t squeal no matter how much the detectives threatened him. Irving said he hadn’t seen or heard from Maggie since yesterday back in her office, said that she fired him on the spot and he left without saying another word to her.
The cops were left at a dead end, but the next day, Joseph called me and said he received a phone call from Maggie who begged him to see her, wanting to meet with him somewhere private at the Morgan Falls Overlook Park. I told him to let me handle this and went to my old friend Detective Allen. I told him about Maggie and proposed a plan to him, one that would put that crazy wench away for good this time. Allen never did like my crazy ideas, but I convinced him otherwise, seeing how he had no solid evidence to pin Maggie on Haily’s murder, and she’d get off scot-free without having to confess.
The police were parked far from the Morgan Falls Overlook. Allen’s team had wired Joseph up with a tape recorder as well as a mic to listen in on Maggie’s confession. I told him that we’d be keeping an eye on him from a distance, hiding behind some bushes.
Through the binoculars, I could see Maggie waiting by the dock, looking out at the lake. When Joseph arrived, Maggie didn’t hesitate to hug him. Thankfully, she didn’t feel or notice that Joseph was wired under that trenchcoat.
Detective Allen and I listened in as the crazy wench started talking to Joseph.
“I’m so glad you came,” Maggie said. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about you. I thought I’d never see you again after what I’ve done. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to. I desperately wanted to see you again face to face. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, about us being together. I still love you very much, Joseph.”
“Did that give you any reason to kill her?”
“I had to kill your wife. Don’t you see? She was in the way of our happiness. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t you be happy that the selfish bitch is dead?”
“The police know that you killed my wife, Maggie. They’re looking for you. You have to leave before they find you.”
“What reason do they have to suspect me of killing your wife, Joseph? You’re the one who couldn’t get enough of me. You were much happier with me than you were with that ungrateful slut, always using you to get things her way just because she edits your damn manuscripts! If anyone should be blamed for your wife’s murder, it should be you! You couldn't get enough of me! You wanted a piece of this ass, and once you got what you wanted, you threw me away like a towel! You expect me to just leave all these feelings I have for you in the gutter and forget all about you like some common whore? I know you, Joseph! You didn’t care about Haily, you never did, but you don’t want to admit that because you’re a weak, pathetic, inconsiderate, selfish pusshound!”
Everything was going as planned, but Maggie must’ve set Joseph off and made him stop reading from the script.
“Shut your mouth, you tramp!” Joseph said, gripping Maggie’s arms tightly. “You ruined me.”
“You’re hurting me, Joseph!” Maggie raised her voice, hoping someone nearby would hear her pleas for help.
“You ruined me!”
Joseph shoved Maggie to the ground. She started crying, scared for her life, maybe for the first time. I wondered if she realized at that moment what it was like to live in fear, knowing how afraid Hailey was the night Maggie took her life.
Joseph lunged toward Maggie and started strangling her.
I ran like hell toward them and yelled, “Joseph, stop!” I reached the dock and pulled Joseph away from Maggie.
“Let go of me!” Joseph yelled.
“Joseph, for God’s sake, don’t do it! We already got a confession outta her, so just calm the hell down!”
“You deserve to die for killing my wife, Maggie! Haily was the only woman who mattered to me, and you murdered her, you selfish bitch! You took away the only precious thing I loved! What the hell did Haily ever do to you, huh? Tell me!”
“Easy, Joseph! It ain’t worth throwing your life away, not over this crazy bitch. The police will handle her. They’re gonna make sure she’s put away for a very long time. Come on, Joe, please. Don’t do this. Think about Haily. She wouldn’t want you to go through with it.”
“Haily. Oh, God, Haily. I’m so sorry.”
Joseph started breaking down, falling to pieces over Haily’s death all over again.
The case was finally put to rest, and Maggie would be put behind bars, never to hurt or harm another soul again. Maybe Joseph was in over his head when he fell for Maggie. Maybe he made a mistake and didn’t want it getting out to the public, worried about losing his career and his marriage, but I guess none of that mattered to him anymore.
At the end of the day, you win some, you lose some. Joseph lost his wife, Maggie lost her freedom, and I lost a friend.
The End