He didn’t answer. He charged like a demented bull and took a swing that would have taken a divot out of my skull had I stayed where I was. Instead I did what he least expected: I charged back at him. With his long, looping swing, I was able to get inside its arc, grab the shaft of the club and pull in the direction of his swing. The club stayed in my hand. A three wood. He tumbled over my hip and onto the grass. I snapped the club over my thigh, but only after confirming it was graphite, not steel; it was the club I wanted to break, not my leg. I tossed the two pieces under his car and went over to Silver. Laura was already huddled over him.
“Now can we talk?” I asked.
“Call the police,” he groaned. “Tell them I was attacked.”
Laura flipped open the phone he had given her.
“If you’re going to call the cops,” I said, “try Homicide. Ask for Detective Sergeant Hollinger.”
Laura asked who at the same time that Jay asked why.
“They’re investigating Kenneth Page’s murder.”
“Now I know you’re full of it,” he insisted. “Ken wasn’t murdered. It was-”
“A carjacking? By a guy who didn’t want the car? I don’t think so. And neither do the police, by the way. It was a professional hit, Jay, just like the one that’s been put out on you. And Laura. And Lucas.”
Laura Silver looked absolutely stricken, as though she were about to collapse to the ground. But she didn’t look nearly as bad as Jay. He knew what I was saying was true. She leaned over her husband and spoke in an urgent whisper. I couldn’t hear a word she said. But Jay Silver did. And when she was done talking he got up and walked over to me slowly.
“What do you want to know?” he said.
“The Internet was the best thing that ever happened to my business,” Silver said. We were sitting in my car with the engine off, a slight cross breeze blowing through the open windows. Laura had gone inside to stay with Lucas. Silver had promised to tell her everything when he got inside.
“Something like ten thousand people turn sixty every day in the U.S., and most take at least one medication a day. Their parents, if they’re still alive, might need five or ten a day. Do you have any idea how hot that market is? They’re starving for affordable medication. We couldn’t fill prescriptions fast enough. The higher prices, the U.S. dollars, it made a huge difference to my business. When the law changed, I stood to lose that entire segment. Go back to counting margins in pennies, not dollars. Then I got a call from this fellow I’d gone to school with at Western.”
“Steven Stone.”
“Right. He asked if I wanted to keep the U.S. business going. I told him I couldn’t order large enough quantities without drawing attention.”
“Unless you had a chain of nursing homes as a client.”
“Yes. Steven said the Vista Mar group would justify any quantities I ordered. So I agreed.”
“As did Page.”
“Yes. Steven said the more pharmacists were onside, the more money we’d make. Economies of scale and so on. He asked me to get some of the other independents together for a presentation. You should have seen it. Everything was so professionally done. He wowed us, Mr. Geller. I guess he emphasized the opportunity and minimized the risk.”
“It’s not minimal now.”
“God, no.”
I remembered something Winston Chan had told me. “Page was hit with an inspection, wasn’t he? That’s what got him killed.”
Silver nodded. “He had a hearing coming up and he’d already been disciplined once by the college. A second suspension could have cost him his licence.”
“So he wanted out.”
“Demanded would be a better word. Ken had a temper. Thought he was pretty tough.”
“He had no idea who he was up against.”
“None of us did.”
“You knew his death was no carjacking.”
He nodded. “As soon as I saw the news. The timing was too coincidental. I told Stone I wanted out too, but he said forget it.”
“He threatened you?”
“Not at all. He was as scared as I was.”
“Of whom?”
“His partners. He told me they’d bought into the operation as silent partners, then took over. He said I should wait until the fuss over Ken died down. And I tried. I swear I tried. But I started waking up in the middle of the night with my throat closing in on itself. I could barely breathe. I was lashing out at Laura, at Lucas. Every time the phone rang, every time someone rang the doorbell, I jumped. I didn’t want to go to work in the morning and I’m someone who loves to be around people. So I called Stone. I thanked him for his advice but I told him I was done and if anyone came near me or my family or my store I’d call the police and tell them about Ken. He told me I had to set up one more delivery.”
“The one I interrupted.”
“Yes. And that was the last I heard until this morning when Frank called. He said if I came into work today he’d burn the store to the ground.”
“Stone never said who his partners were?”
“Only that they were brothers. I didn’t know if he meant brothers as in family or as in… you know, black guys. And that’s all I know. Now what about you? How serious is this threat?”
“Dead serious,” I said. “The only reason you’re still alive is the man who got the contract couldn’t stand the thought of killing your wife and son too.”
“Oh, God,” he said. “Oh, my God, what do I do? What the hell do I do?” He shut his eyes tightly but couldn’t stop tears from snaking down his plump cheeks and dropping down onto his thighs. “My family is all I care about. I got into this to provide better for them, not get us killed. I’ll go back to working in a shitty franchise if I have to. I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just when the Internet business took off, for the first time in my life I had breathing room. We could move out of our starter home. We could consider private school for Lucas-and the way the government was driving the public system into the ground, that was no small priority. I’ve never committed a crime in my life, Mr. Geller. I’ve never even cheated on my taxes. How does someone like me wind up with a price on my head?”
He was the only one who could answer that.
“Listen to me, Jay,” I said. He didn’t respond. “Jay!”
He looked up, his eyes red and his cheeks glistening wet.
“Are you listening?”
“Yes.”
“Get your wife and son and whatever you need for a few days and leave town. Now.”
“But the store-”
“Forget the store. Your insurance will cover it. Be out of here in half an hour.”
“But where…” He drifted off, unable to finish the question.
“Somewhere no one would think of looking for you. Not a cottage or a friend’s place. Just drive at least an hour or two in any direction but south and check into a motel. Take plenty of cash so you don’t have to use credit or debit. If there is anything you need to buy on credit-gas, whatever-do it before you leave the city.”
“For how long?”
“Until I know if the contract’s still on.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to your store. I’ll follow the truck and see where it goes.”
“Buffalo,” he said. “I don’t know where exactly, but that’s where they all go.”
I gave him my home, cell and office numbers and wrote down his cell. Silver held out a big hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t help you,” he said. “On the loading dock, I mean.”
“It’s okay.”
“No,” he said. “It’s not.”
