Robert was focusing the binoculars down on the valley floor. She tried to see what he was looking at and for the first time noticed a light square of flat green as well as a red roof partially hidden by trees.
“Tennis court,” Robert said, “and I see a couple of guys playing tennis. Unbelievable.”
Stenko took the glasses. He snorted, “Nathanial and Corey Talich. And there’s Chase standing off to the side like he’s the referee. Damn! We’ve found it.”
He swept the binoculars over the grounds of the ranch. “I don’t see Leo, though. He must be in the house.”
Robert said, “So how do we get through those guys to get to Leo?”
Stenko said, “We don’t get through them, son. We recruit ’em.”
Robert just stared at Stenko, shaking his head slowly as if witnessing the sad last act of a madman.
THEY TOOK THE CAR down into the valley. Stenko directed Robert to drive right by the ranch entrance that led to the front of the sprawling old Victorian home with the red roof. He told him to turn on a service road that led to the rear of the property where the tennis court was located. They saw no one.
“You’re sure you want to do it this way?” Robert asked Stenko.
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Stenko said. “We’re outnumbered and outgunned. When that happens, you either run away or bull straight ahead. I always bull straight ahead.”
“Any last words?” Robert asked with sarcasm.
“Yes,” Stenko said. “Where’s my morphine? I need another shot.”
“I’LL STAY BACK AND COVER YOU,” Robert said as he pulled off the road and parked. “You know them. I don’t. They’d probably just as soon shoot me as look at me.”
Stenko chuckled but didn’t refute Robert. To her he said, “Do you want to go with me or stay here with Robert?”
It was an easy choice. Despite the danger, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d choose Stenko every time. Shooting an unarmed pharmacist in a white smock was one thing. Facing three tough men from Chicago was another. If things got rough, she was sure Robert would run. If it weren’t for the possibility of getting the money, she thought he would have run already.
Robert dropped behind them as they walked into the trees toward the tennis court.
She asked, “What are they like?”
Stenko said, “The Talich Brothers worked for me for years. They’re loyal if not imaginative. I always got along with them, but I didn’t try to get too familiar. I just paid them well and that was enough.”
She said, “But they’re gangsters, right? I didn’t know gangsters played tennis. It’s just not right.”
Stenko chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. She was familiar enough with him now to know the morphine was surging through him, cheering him up, making him feel strong. He said, “Gangsters do all sorts of normal things, April. We’re just businessmen with a different kind of business. We marry, we have kids, and we paint the trim on our houses. We put snow tires on the car and go to PTA meetings. At least most of us do. My theory is we’re all the same—the gangsters and the citizens—except maybe for one or two percent of our personalities. That one or two percent isn’t much difference when you think about it. Of course, the really bad ones, the psychopaths who can’t control themselves, well, with a few exceptions they don’t last long.
“Besides,” Stenko said, “what else are these guys going to do but play tennis? They’re from the city. Are they going ride broncs or something? Rope doggies? Sing around a campfire? At least they know tennis.”
In the distance she heard the
“There are three of them,” Stenko said, lowering his voice. “Corey’s the oldest. He has blond hair and he’s the best looking of the bunch. He’s smooth and does all the talking, usually. Chase is the middle brother, the one with black hair. Chase never smiles. Hardly talks, either. Chase is the one we send out to collect overdue loans because all he has to do is look at you with those black eyes and you start sweating bullets and reaching for your wallet. It’s a gift he’s got. On the rare occasion that he says something it’s best to listen. The youngest is Nathanial. He’s the redhead. He’s the one who worries me the most because he’s a hothead, and without his brothers’ calming influence, he’s known to explode. Don’t stare at him, whatever you do. He doesn’t like it. Plus, I don’t think he likes females very much, based on the stories I’ve heard about what he’s done to some of them. Frankly, he’s found his calling as a killer.”
She said, “They sound dangerous.”
“I won’t kid you—they are. That’s why Robert hung back. He’s heard of them. But I’ve got no animosity toward them, and as far as I know they’ve got none toward me. But anything can happen, April.”
She stumbled on a root but didn’t fall. She said, “When this is over . . .”
“You want to leave?” Stenko said, barely hiding the hurt in his voice.
She nodded.
“Well, I can’t say I blame you,” he said. “This isn’t what you bargained for, I’m sure. If everything goes well here, I can go out the way I want to go out. I’ll get my debt paid down below zero, Robert will get his funding, and you’ll get to be with your sister.”
She didn’t ask what would happen if everything didn’t go well. As they approached the tennis court, her legs got heavier and harder to move. It was difficult to get her breath and her stomach ached from more than hunger. She was getting tired of being terrified.
There was another sharp
COREY, THE BLOND BROTHER, was in the process of serving to Nathanial when they cleared the trees. He had just tossed the ball into the air and reared back when he saw them and froze in place. The ball dropped to the court and bounced between his feet. Then bounced again. Corey made no move to reach for it. Which made Chase, who stood at the side of the court and watched the match with dead black eyes, follow his brother’s lead and turn his head to see Stenko and her. And slowly reach behind his back, for something in his belt.
