'Last week, one of the little girls gets in a blue Caddy. The Caddy goes up the street. One of my ladies gets curious; she pokes her head around the corner. Two guys get out of the Caddy, holding the girl. She's kicking and screaming. They throw her into the Ghost Van. The Caddy drives off and the van just fucking disappears.
'My ladies don't want to work. The street's like a church social, man. I move the girls again. Way downtown. Brooklyn. The Bronx. Everyplace, man. Three more girls been shot, one more snatched. All near the river. But even out of the city, working girls be saying they seen the van. Like a hawk coming down. The girls see the shadow, they run.'
'What do you want from me?'
'Cops is all over the street. My ladies got to work someplace. If they can't work near the river, I got a serious deficit, you follow me? Between the Man and the van, I'm up against it. Until they take that van off, my girls are running scared, jumping at shadows. That hurts me, man.'
'In the pocket.'
'Yeah, okay, Burke. You a good citizen, right? You look down on me - that's your business. But this is your business too, the way I hear it.'
'How's that?'
'The van is full of shooters and snatchers, man. And babies is what they hit. Right up your alley, right?'
'Wrong.'
'Look, man, let's all be telling the truth here. The word's been out a long time - you got a kiddie problem, you call Burke. I know you ain't no social worker. You an outlaw, like me. You just work a different side of the street.'
'I work for money.'
'You think I'm here for myself? The players got together. This is bad for everyone, not just Marques Dupree. We put up a kitty.'
'Pussy put up the kitty,' said the Prof.
'Call it like you see it, it make you feel better. I call it what it is.'
I waited.
'A bounty. Fifty thousand bucks. Dead or alive. The van's got to go. Goes to Attica, goes to Forest Lawn, makes no difference to us.'
'Hire a private eye.'
'I said a bounty, man. I look like a fucking trick to you? We not paying anyone by the hour.'
'Put the money out on the street.'
'Can't do that.'
'Why?'
'We can't wait for some faggot to drop a dime. And we can't be sure the Man will do the work anyway.'
'Why not?'
'We heard the van's protected. That's all I know. But the word is out, all over the street. Uptown, downtown. The van has to have a parking place, you got it?'
The Prof's hand worked on my shoulder again.
'Yeah,' I said.
'It's good money, Burke. I'll work out any collateral you want.'
'You're carrying your collateral.'
Marques looked puzzled. 'My jewelry?'
'Your head,' I told him.
He took another deep breath. 'You'll do it?'
'I'll think about it.'
'You need to know anything else?' he asked.
'When the van goes down, we'll be around,' said the Prof.
'Let's go, bitch,' Marques said to Belle.
'She'll go with me,' I said.
Marques Dupree smiled. 'You like cows?'
'Go home and play with your coat hangers,' I told him, waving to the Mole. So Marques could open his trunk later without losing his collateral.
32
The Rolls moved off. 'Wait in the car,' I told Belle. She waggled her fingers at the Prof in a goodbye. 'Good night, pretty lady,' he said. Max stood stone-still.
I watched her walk away.
'Prof, you know what he was running down?'
'The van's for real, Burke. It's been all over the street for weeks.'
'You know something?'
'Something. When I know it all, I'll give you the call.' I gave Max his five hundred, a thousand to the Prof.
'Take care of the Mole - he'll drop you off.' Max bowed. I shook hands with the Prof. 'Watch yourself,' I told him.
I got into the Plymouth. Belle was sitting against the passenger door, looking out at the river through the open window.
'Where to?' I asked her, watching the dark sedan pull away.
33
Belle reached into the waistband of her sweatsuit, pulled out a pack of smokes. I handed her my little box of wooden matches, waiting. She inhaled deeply. It was like watching the Alps shift.
'You know Broad Channel?'
'Sure.'
'I'll show you once we get on to Cross Bay Boulevard.'
I pointed the Plymouth downtown, heading for the Battery Tunnel.
'How'd you meet Marques?'
'When I first came to New York. I was working at Rosie's Show Bar.'
'Dancing?'
'I was a barmaid.'
'He try and turn you out?'
'He thinks I'm a lesbian. Okay?'
She knew the score. Plenty of lesbians turn tricks, but a smart pimp doesn't want one in his stable. One day he turns around and he's missing two girls.
'They think the same thing at that joint you work at?'
'The boss doesn't care one way or the other.'
'So why did Marques pick you for a messenger?'
'It's one of the things I do. I carry stuff, drive a car, deliver a message . . . like that, you know?'
'You carry powder?'
'No.'
'That's where the money is.'
'The fall's too far.'
'You ever been down?'
'Just overnight a couple of times. Once for a week. ln West Virginia.'
'What for?'
'The cops thought I drove on a bank job. They didn't want me - I was just a kid - they wanted the
