in either one of you. Yet.”
AJ made one more swipe at the glass with his thumb, then lifted it and took a long drink before speaking, his eyes on the bar.
“Man who drove that Lexus, he’s of interest to me, Mr. Dolson. Not to you. Understand?”
“What did he do, steal something? Drugs, or money?”
AJ shook his head.
“What, then? What are you talking about?”
Silence.
“Your problem,” Jerry said, “is that you put that cute little box on the underside of the car instead of sticking it to the fella himself. You found the car all right, but your boy isn’t with it. Tough shit, huh?”
He laughed, and AJ lifted his eyes from the bar and locked them on Jerry’s, and then the laugh went away. This guy talked easy, voice soft and calm, but there was a steel edge inside him. It showed in the way he kept rubbing that glass with his thumb. Some people would do that out of boredom or nervousness. With this guy, it was different. Like with each stroke of his thumb he was tamping down embers in a place nobody else could see.
“You’re an observant man, Mr. Dolson,” AJ said, his voice tighter.
“Wouldn’t have seen it ’cept I had to take the car apart,” Jerry said, and suddenly he was wondering if he should have played this card, let the guy know he’d found the tracking device.
“What did the girl say when you told her?”
“Haven’t told her.”
“So you found it and . . .”
“Threw it in my locker and figured I’d think on it for a day or two.”
Something loosened in AJ’s face.
“You told me you don’t know me, or the guy who drove the Lexus,” he said. “Told me you aren’t interested in us. And I say that’s just right. You shouldn’t be interested in us. We’re about to move right out of your life. But you can make some money before that happens. I expect you understand that’s an opportunity not to let pass by. Easy money, from someone who has nothing to do with you?”
“You want the car?” Jerry said. “I ain’t gonna let you steal that car, man.”
“I don’t give a shit about the car. I want to know where its owner went. His name is Vaughn. I need to find him. Like you said, none of this has anything to do with you. No reason for you to protect him. Am I right?”
Jerry nodded.
“So you’ve got a decision to make, and as it stands now you’ve got no reason to support either option. How about I give you one? A thousand dollars cash. I’ll put it in your hand the minute you tell me where he went.”
There were more people in the bar now, and it felt too hot and too crowded. Jerry sipped his beer and squinted. Had that flushed, dizzy sensation like he’d get about seven or eight beers from now. Wished everyone would lower their damn voices, stop shouting and carrying on. He stared at the floor, trying to steady himself, saw that AJ wore a pair of shiny black boots, one of them tapping off the bottom rung of the bar stool. Tapping, tapping, tapping. Jerry got lost watching them.
“Not interested?” AJ said. “Okay. Then we’ll go on and get out of your life. Just like we would have anyhow. Only you’ll have nothing to show for it.”
“He didn’t tell Nora where he was going,” Jerry said.
“He’s not going to abandon that car. He might not show up for it, not for a while at least, but he’ll check in. He doesn’t want you guys to call the police, run his license plate, anything like that. You’ll hear from him again. When you do, I want to know about it. In exchange for the thousand.”
Jerry drank the rest of his Budweiser fast, some of the beer foaming out of his lips and dribbling down his chin, then slid the bottle away.
“How do I get in touch with you?
AJ wrote a phone number on a bar napkin and passed it to him. Jerry glanced around, curious if anyone was watching him take this guy’s number on a napkin like he wanted a date.
“All right. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Excellent decision,” AJ said. “How do you feel about five hundred bucks up front?”
“Feel fine about that.”
“Give me the device you took off that car, and I’ll give you the five hundred. Gesture of good faith, on both our parts.”
“Can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Shop’s closed, and, uh, I don’t have keys anymore.”
His face burned when he said it. There were plenty of problems between him and Nora, but losing his keys, that was the most serious one. She’d come down one weekend and found him using the paint booth to put a fresh coat on Steve’s boat. Sort of thing he’d do from time to time, favor for a friend. Bud had known, and hadn’t cared. But Nora, she accused him of undercutting the business, of stealing paint—which was a bold-faced lie, Steve bought the paint—and disrespecting her. Demanded his keys. He’d never been as close to quitting as he was that day.
“You can’t get in all weekend?” AJ said.
“Not without Nora, and it sounded like you didn’t—”
“No.” AJ shook his head. “I don’t want her involved.”
“Well, Monday, then.”
AJ nodded after a long pause, resigned, and got to his feet.
“All right. You get in touch Monday, and I’ll get your wallet stuffed fat, Mr. Dolson. And now I’ll leave you to the rest of your evening.”
“Not till you buy me another beer, you won’t,” Jerry said. He felt good about saying that, pleased with the tone, insistent, demanding. Like he was in control.
AJ settled his tab, left a fresh beer in front of Jerry, and walked out of the bar, his boots loud on the floor. Jerry gave it a few seconds, then got to his feet and went to the window, leaned on the jukebox with a cigarette in hand and studied the cars in the parking lot, looking for AJ. Didn’t see him. How the hell had he gotten out of there so fast? Then his eyes rose from the cars and found him across the street.
It made Jerry frown. The guy wasn’t from town, he was certain of that, so he didn’t arrive in Tomahawk on foot. He had a car, but it wasn’t here now, which meant somebody had dropped him off at Kleindorfer’s Tap Room and gone elsewhere. Now this guy, AJ, he was walking in the direction of the body shop. Rankled Jerry a little. What did he need at the body shop after Jerry’d agreed to help him? He considered driving down there. It held him at the window for a moment, but eventually he shook his head and went back to the bar. The shop was closed, Nora was gone, and if this yahoo had any ideas about breaking in he’d just set off the alarm and draw the cops out. It was Friday evening, and Jerry’s vested interest in Stafford’s Body Shop was on hold till Monday.
7
__________
Nora hung the CLOSED sign on the front door as soon as Jerry left, and turned off the lights in the office with every intention of leaving early herself. The weekend stretched ahead, a chance to relax, get some much-needed Nora time. She’d spend an hour or two with her father and then be free of all responsibilities until Monday at eight. There was a pang of guilt at lumping the visit with her father into the responsibilities category, but she didn’t think anyone would blame her. They were difficult visits.
She was locking the back door of the shop when she remembered Frank.
It was dark inside, lit by just one emergency lamp above the door. Nora made her way through the room without bothering to turn on the lights, so familiar with the building that it was easy. She knew the placement of
