Softboy told Howard he had bad dreams about all that money underwater and the fish eating it. Said he wanted it spent, and that if Howard found it, he'd split it with him.
At this point in the story, Trudy paused and Leonard said, 'Trusting sort of guy, wasn't he?'
'Suppose he thought Howard was honest enough,' Trudy said. 'Assumed Howard felt about him the way he felt about Howard.'
'Or wanted Howard to think he felt that way.' I said. 'Make a guy feel wanted, he'll do things for you. Get Howard to find and coordinate the dough, and old Softboy could use it to bribe guards and prison officials. Make life a little easier in the joint. Considering his situation, it'd be a worthwhile gamble.'
'Three days before they let Howard out,' Trudy said, 'Softboy was killed by an inmate with a knife made out of a spoon. The fight was over something silly. A dessert, I think.'
'So there goes Howard's obligation to Softboy,' Leonard said. 'He decided to get the money, and he dealt you in, and Hap dealt me in. Well, this is all good and everything, but I see some problems here. First of all, I take it Howard's already tried to find the money. Am I right?'
Trudy nodded.
'The police have looked and Howard's looked and they've come up with nothing, so what makes anyone think we can do better?' Leonard said.
'That's where I come in,' I said. 'I grew up in Marvel Creek, and I know those bottoms.'
'Bet a lot of folks who knew the bottoms helped the police search, and they still didn't find it,' Leonard said.
'There's something else,' -Trudy said. 'Softboy didn't tell the police about the Iron Bridge, but he told Howard.'
'The Iron Bridge?' Leonard said.
'When Hap and I married he used to talk about it some, that it was this place in the bottoms... How does it go, Hap?'
'It was an uncompleted bridge. Stuck out over a wide place in the water. Oil companies had started it back in the fifties before the oil ran out. All sorts of stories about that place. Lovers parked by it. There was a story about this guy went down there and hung himself off the bridge because of some girl, or some such thing. Said his ghost was still down there. That when the moon was right you could see him hanging from the bridge. Also there's a story about this couple went down there to park, and some men came up on them, raped the girl and tied the spare tire to the guy and threw him off in the water. Lots of stories.'
Trudy said, 'Softboy told Howard, last thing he remembered after the wreck was lying on the bank, looking downriver and seeing the Iron Bridge.'
'Thing is,' I said, 'the bridge isn't on the river. It's down a narrow creek that comes off of it. Don't even know if the creek's got a name. Pretty jungle-like down there. Softboy could have been wounded so bad he got off the river without realizing it, but I figure they were never on it, just thought they were. They were on this creek all the time, and the only place that creek could have had water wide enough and deep enough for a boat is a stretch near the Iron Bridge.'
'That dough would have long dissolved and washed away by now,' Leonard said. 'You might find some coins, but that's about it.'
'Softboy and his partners were going to carry the money downriver a ways and bury it,' Trudy said. 'They had another car stashed a little farther on, and they thought they could get away, go back when things cooled off and recover the money. Softboy told Howard they had the money in waterproof cylinders and those were in a big aluminum cooler fastened down in the front of the boat. Chances are, the waterproof containers are still there, and so is the money.'
'When was the last time you saw this bridge?' Leonard asked me.
'Eighteen, nineteen... maybe twenty years ago.'
Leonard shook his head. 'Hell, man, I've come to pick you up for work and you couldn't even find the shoes you took off the night before, let alone find something you haven't seen in twenty years.'
'True... but my shoes didn't have a million dollars in them.'
Chapter 5
When we finished talking, Trudy said she was going to take a shower and lie down for a while. After being up most of the night thinking, talking, and screwing, I needed a nap too, but I refrained. I like to think it was because I had strong character. It was, of course, because I didn't want to be anywhere alone with Trudy right then. I had a hunch she would have harsh words to say to me about Leonard, and I wasn't up to it. I didn't want her to get me near a bed, either. She could really talk in bed, and if she talked long enough and moved certain parts of her body just right, I might agree to have Leonard shot at sunset.
When I heard the shower running, I got a pen and a paper and wrote Trudy a note. Gone to Leonard's to make arrangements for leaving. Back by lunch. In case you want to come over...
And I drew her a map to Leonard's house.
Me and Leonard went over to his place and he put some clothes and a paperback of Walden in a suitcase. He got out a thin foam rubber mattress and some blankets and rolled them up in a bundle, then got his Remington .30/06 and a box of shells out of the closet. He put the suitcase, the bedroll, the rifle, and the ammunition on the couch.
'Where's your twenty-two target pistol, Leonard?'
'Put up.'
'Don't you think we might need it? Maybe you know a place that's got some bazookas and hand grenades we could buy, maybe couple of land mines. Shit, what is all this? We're going to swim down and get some money, not shoot it.'
