'You didn't talk to him again?'
'No, Rink. I didn't even see him again.'
Rink nodded. 'That's when he run out?'
'He must have been planning it.'
'Punk.'
I shrugged. 'After that, the only way I could think to help him and Jenny was to face down the guys he owed and make them back off. Wasn't easy. They weren't as easily intimidated as Shank was.'
'They didn't back off?'
'No.'
'You're slipping, Hunter.'
'Seriously,' I said. 'Short of going to war with them, there wasn't much I could do. So instead, I arranged for John and Jenny to disappear for a while. It was all set, they were going to go off together, assume new identities, everything. Then John went and messed it all up. Unbeknownst to all of us, he'd been seeing this Louise Blake on the side. Before we knew it, they took off together. Just flew. Gone.'
'Leaving poor Jenny and his kids behind to take the flack,' Rink concluded.
'Yeah,' I agreed. 'I did everything I could for her. Helped her get back on her feet. I had space in my house, but she refused. Said she needed a place of her own. John didn't even get in touch and let her know where he was.'
'And you want to help this peckerhead?'
'He's still my brother, Rink.'
Rink raised an eyebrow, but then gave a soft nod.
'Plus, I'm doing this for his wife and kids.'
'Okay. But I'm surprised she wants him back.'
'Jenny doesn't want him back,' I explained. 'She's looking for some kind of closure. I think she wants me to find John so she can spit in his eye.'
'I'm with her on that one.'
'Me, too. Took a lot of work sorting out the problems he left. As I said, they were a major outfit with major connections. They put out a contract on him.'
'Shit,' Rink said.
'In the end they saw reason. I explained that John had doublecrossed us all, that we were all equally aggrieved. So I made an agreement with them that they didn't go near Jenny or the kids. The alternative was that I'd call back up and wipe them out.'
'They believed you were capable?'
'I think it was more fear of the unknown,' I said. 'They didn't know who I was or what I was prepared to do. But some of them had heard stuff. I believe in the end they decided it was more trouble than it was worth. You could say that going to war with me wasn't profitable.'
'Did they call in the contract on John?'
'Who knows what they'd do if he ever showed up again.'
'Which is why you think he's missing?'
'Nah.' I shook my head. 'There's more to it than that. John has
other reasons. I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: He's a selfish son of a bitch. Doesn't give a shit for anyone but himself. But I don't think he'd be running from the likes of Petoskey if it's only about a couple of hundred dollars' gambling debt.' I paused, summing up exactly what it was that I was trying to say. 'Something big has happened. Something he's so frightened of that he's disappeared again and he doesn't want to go back. Louise Blake has been left high and dry, the same as he left Jenny. That means he's attempting to cut all ties, so he can disappear without a trace. You don't do that for any piddling gambling debt.'
Rink agreed.
'Petoskey's an asshole,' he reiterated. 'But I see where you're coming from. What's he gonna do? Maybe order an ass whuppin', maybe a broken arm or something? He's not going to order John's death, is he?'
'Unless Petoskey's more dangerous than we're giving him credit for,' I pointed out.
'Could be, but I stand on my first opinion. He's a small potato playing at the big time. The way I remember, he's too chickenshit to take someone out for real.'
'You've been gone from here a long time. People change.'
'Okay, I'll concede that. But it still leaves another option, doesn't it?'
'John's made an enemy of someone else? Someone who is prepared to kill him.'
Rink leaned forward, turned on the engine, and pulled out into the traffic. He turned to me, said, 'But you're still fixin' to start with Petoskey?'
'Yeah. We're going to do it loud and hard. We need to shake him up, Rink. Make him fear us. I'm going to make him tell us where John is. Hopefully, it'll end there,' I said. 'But I don't think so.'
'No,' Rink said. 'Now that you've got me thinking, I don't figure so, either.'
