troops.”
Foreman had planned to lay a cheap piece on Durham, to simmer him down over the mix-up with Mario. Now he’d have to think of something else.
“I can do that,” said Foreman.
“Might have some trouble coming up; want to make sure all my people are ready.”
Foreman nodded. He didn’t want to talk about Dewayne Durham if that’s where this was going. He had always stayed at a distance during these wars, and he was determined to remain neutral in this latest conflict.
“Might need you to deliver it to me, later on,” said McKinley.
“Prefer to do it right here,” said Foreman in a friendly way. “You can always send one of your boys, you don’t want to come back out yourself.”
“You don’t want to get involved, huh?”
Foreman shrugged. He looked over at Montgomery, who was kind of staring off, not paying much attention to the two of them.
“You ain’t afraid of Dewayne Durham, are you?” said McKinley.
“I sell to everyone,” said Foreman. “I told you that the first time I met you. The thing is, I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I was taking sides. Someone like Durham might see me over at your place on Yuma, get the wrong idea. And why wouldn’t he see me? He ain’t but across the alley. Wouldn’t be good for my business.”
“He’s gonna go down,” said McKinley. “When he does, I’m gonna remember who stood next to me. That might be good for your business.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Or maybe I should tip on back here,” said McKinley, “seein’ as how I missed your woman. I do like to look at her.”
Foreman felt his face grow warm at the implied threat. He knew of McKinley’s violent reputation with women.
“You’re always welcome,” said Foreman, forcing a smile. “I’ll call you later, soon as my boy comes back with that piece.”
“Here’s your money,” said McKinley. He rested the beer glass on the tray and peeled off nine hundred-dollar bills from a roll. He holstered the Sig in the waistband of his warm-up pants and dropped the matching top out over the band. Montgomery picked up a box of bullets without asking if he should.
“I’ll meet you out front with that brick,” said Foreman.
“Nice doin’ business with you.”
Foreman shook McKinley’s sweaty hand. “You too, dawg.”
McKinley head-motioned Montgomery. “Let’s go, Mike.”
STRANGE and Quinn walked through the woods to their original vantage point, where they could see the front of the house. Soon they watched McKinley and his sidekick emerge from the door, pass under the pink awning, and stand by the Benz in the circular drive.
“They’re leaving,” said Quinn, keeping his voice low.
“Fat boy got his new gun,” said Strange, “so I guess they’re done. Least we know now what’s going on in that house. I’ll be giving Blue the plate numbers off muscleman’s Caddy. If I’m guessing right, that’s his ride. I’m sure the MPD and the PG County boys, not to mention the ATF, will be happy to get a local arms dealer off the street.”
“Why are they hanging around?”
“Maybe that salesman’s gonna give them a good-bye kiss. I wonder what that young man and his girlfriend are doing for this guy.”
Quinn watched as the man in the muscle shirt walked out of the house. “What now?”
“McKinley and his boy know my car. I got away with tailin’ him a little while ago, but I was lucky. I’m gonna need you to follow McKinley, you don’t mind. Shame you got that car says, Look at me, but you play it smart and don’t get too close to him, you’ll be all right. When you’re satisfied he’s not going after the Stokes girl, get over to the nail salon where she works and sit tight in the lot. I’ll meet you there later on.”
“What are you gonna do about the girl then? You can’t watch her all night.”
“I was thinkin’ I’d take her home, to Janine’s, I mean, for a couple of days. Until me and Ives can get her someplace else.”
“Look, I got some business to take care of,” said Quinn, thinking of Linda Welles and the boys at the apartment house on Naylor Road. His reluctance to talk to them earlier had been eating at him since.
“Still looking for Sue’s runaway?”
Quinn nodded. “I want to check out a lead.”
“Fine. I know you don’t want to get involved in the Granville case. But this here is something else; you’ll be doing one of those good things you been wanting to do. Just make sure Devra’s all right.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
“Follow that young couple, they move out of here. Like I said, I’m curious.”
“Leave your cell on,” said Quinn.
Strange shook Quinn’s hand. Quinn turned and booked through the trees.
Chapter 28
LOOKING at the needle on his gas gauge, Strange began to worry that he was going to run out of fuel. He’d been driving for a half hour now, following the Avalon, and as yet the young man behind the wheel had shown no signs of nearing a destination.
The Avalon was on Route 1 in Virginia, heading south. Strange had tailed him and the woman on the Beltway, over the Wilson Bridge, and onto 1, at that point called Richmond Highway.
To Strange, Virginia’s Route 1 looked the same as Maryland’s stretch of Route 1 from Laurel to Baltimore, a blacktop badland now dominated by chain and family-style restaurants and big-box retailers but still littered with trick-pad motels, last-stand truck stops, and drinker’s bars. Confederate flag stickers appeared on some cars the farther south he drove, “Tradition, Not Hatred” written below the stars and bars. Strange realized just how far off his turf he had come.
The road had stoplights but was straight and heavily trafficked, the easiest kind of tail job. Being made wasn’t the problem, though. The problem was keeping up, as the boy was a lane changer with a lead foot.
Strange listened to
Down below the Marine Corps base in Quantico, on a stretch of deep forest-lined highway absent of any commercial enterprise, he saw the Toyota’s right turn signal flash. The car pulled off on the shoulder and then went into a graveled lot cut out of the woods. Strange stayed behind a Chevy pickup and kept his foot on the gas, glancing over at the Avalon as he kept his speed. The boy was parking in front of what looked like an old house, standing alone well back off the road. A sign, going the width of the house’s porch, said
