“Not yet,” Parker said. “It was all figured out that you had to take yourself out of the job in a way the law would believe, or they’d be all over you and then all over our backtrail. That was what was figured out.”
“It still is,” Beckham insisted. “Dr. Madchen—”
Exasperated, Dalesia said, “Back with
“I can’t do prison again,” Beckham said. “I don’t care if it’s just a county jug somewhere, I can’t do it, I can’t go back, not again.”
“Then there’s no job,” Parker said.
“There
“Maybe it relieves our feelings,” Dalesia said, but he sat down, and so did Parker, and then so did Beckham.
Parker said, “You went back to this doctor.”
“Yeah, I needed something except jail, I needed—”
“What does he know, this doctor?”
Beckham took a deep breath. “He knows I’m on my way to a score, so when I can retire. He knows the guys he saw in his office are in it.”
“Does he know what the score is?”
“Yes, but he’s all right, he isn’t a problem for us, he’s a help. I’m gonna give him a piece out of my share and you guys don’t have to have anything to do with him. And in the meantime, he’s solved this problem here.”
Dalesia said, “How did he solve it, Jake?”
“The first change is,” Beckham said, “I stay in the hospital.” Now that he was getting to tell his story, the irrepressible kid inside him was beginning to emerge again, giving him more animated gestures. In that chair, his feet touched the floor, but he acted as though they didn’t. “You remember,” he said, “the original idea was, I was gonna sneak out of this private room, be part of the operation.”
“That was never going to fly,” Parker said.
“Okay, I’ve accepted that,” Beckham said, moving his arms and his shoulders around. “I’m away from it, but I still get my taste.”
“If you’re locked up,” Parker told him, “as a parole violator.”
“This is just as good,” Beckham insisted. “See, I go to the doctor about these stomach cramps, he does tests, he can’t find the problem, it could be a bunch of things. Believe me, he knows what to put down for the diagnosis.”
“We believe that, Jake.”
“Fine. He puts me in the hospital for tests and observation, I’m going in next Monday, he’s doing all the paperwork now, all the stuff to show the law, if anybody comes around—I even told my parole lady about it this morning. See, this was a long-term medical problem, the time was right to put me in the hospital, do the tests. If they don’t find anything, fine, it was nerves, still shook up from being inside and then outside. Bring on all your second opinions in the world, nobody’s gonna find a thing.”
Dalesia said, “Parker? What do you think?”
Parker said, “Beckham, he was your doctor before you went inside, right?”
“Oh, yeah, we already knew each other, I was already his patient.”
“Still a private room?”
“No! An eight-bed ward, man, it’s all I can afford with the insurance I get at the motel.”
“You’re going in Monday.”
“And today, in fact,” Beckham said, “the doctor’s started making the appointments for me, the date, the bed, the tests. I mean, the alibi’s already
Dalesia said, “Parker? Okay?”
Parker shrugged. If it was going to happen, this would have to be the way. “It sounds good,” he said.
“It
“And not wanting to go back inside . . .” Parker spread his hands. “I can understand that.”
11
When Parker got back to the lake a little before noon the next day, Claire was in the living room, reading a shelter magazine. She tossed it aside, got to her feet, and said, “Oh, good, I was hoping you’d be home before lunch. Take me someplace nice, with a terrace. There won’t be many beautiful days like this left.”
“We can drive over to Pennsylvania,” he said. “There’s some places along the river there.”
She looked doubtful. “With good food?”
“You want good food
She laughed. “You’re right. Come with me while I look at my hair. We got a very strange wrong number this morning.”
