“When Bo gets out,” Molly said,
“won’t he go right to his
buddies and warn them?”
“Sure,” Jesse said. “But
they’re high school kids living at
home. What are they going to do? Flee the jurisdiction?”
Molly nodded.
“Might even work for us,” Molly said.
“The other two creeps know
we’re after them, it’ll make them jumpy.”
“The jumpier they get,” Jesse said,
“the easier to
flip.”
“And you think you can flip them?”
“My guess?” Jesse said. “All
three.”
28
In a spitting snow, Jesse sat in his car with the motor running
and the heater on, in the parking lot outside Channel 3. He looked at the digital clock on his dashboard. Jenn would have finished her six o’clock weather. He had the wipers on low interval and between
swipes the sporadic snow collected thinly on his windshield. At 6:40 Jenn came out wearing a fake fur jacket and a cowboy hat. She was with a man Jesse didn’t recognize. Jesse sat for a moment listening to his own breathing, feeling his interior self dwindle and intensify. Jenn looked up at the man and laughed and bumped her head against his shoulder. Jesse turned off the motor and got out of the car. He was aware of the gun on his hip, under his jacket.
Jenn saw him.
“Jesse?” she said.
“You didn’t return my calls,”
Jesse said. “I thought I’d catch
you here.”
Jenn looked at him silently for what seemed to Jesse a long time, then she said, “Jesse, this is Bob Mikkleson, our station
manager.”
Bob was tall and healthy-looking, with silver hair combed back carefully, and lovingly sprayed. He started to put his hand out, realized Jesse wasn’t going to shake hands, and put his hand back
at his side.
“I’m sorry,” Jenn said,
“but I’m up to here. You’re on the list, I would have called you tomorrow.”
Jesse nodded and moved slightly closer to Bob. He didn’t know
why, and he hadn’t planned to. There seemed to be a force outside
himself. Jenn was single; she had every right to be with Bob. Bob wasn’t doing anything wrong. Jesse moved a little more toward him,
as if compelled by gravity. Bob was frowning.
“What was it you called about, Jesse?”
Jenn said.
“Just to talk,” Jesse said.
“Well,” Jenn said. “Let me call
you tomorrow. Bob and I have a
dinner reservation.”
“Sure,” Jesse said.
He was next to Bob now. What if I shot him?
The
possibility made his spirit expand. But, it would mean the end of whatever was left of Jesse and Jenn. Even if he got away with it, she could never get past it. He could feel himself contract again.
The muscles in his neck and shoulders bunched. He closed his eyes for a moment and took in a long drag of winter air.
