“What kind of idea?”
“An idea of who wasted Boyd.”
“Who?”
“Who else? Our employer. The man who came to you and said he wanted Albert Leroy dead.”
“Impossible.”
“Possible. Very possible, for a number of reasons. Do I have to go into them, Broker?”
“No.”
“Who is he, Broker?”
“I can’t tell you that. You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Sure you can.”
“Against policy.”
“There you go again, Broker, talking like this is an insurance company and you’re the president and I’m your top salesman.”
“Is it really so different?”
“Christ, Broker!”
“This is a business and there are certain rules. You’re asking me to break our most sacred trust.”
“Sacred? Trust?”
“I can’t tell you, Quarry. I won’t tell you.”
“Broker.”
“No way, Quarry.”
“I want my money.”
“It’s gone. Live with it.”
“That’s what I want to do, Broker. I want to find my money and live with it.”
“I’ll tell you what, Quarry.”
“What?”
“I’ll let you have the twenty-five percent down payment that was left with me. My commission. I’ll hand it over to you. As a present. A bonus, let’s say. But give this a rest.”
“No.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
“Am I. I don’t care if you give me the equivalent of all the money, my share, your share, Boyd’s share. I want to find the bastard responsible. I want to make him eat that wrench.”
“Maybe we should talk when you’ve calmed down.”
“Okay, then. Call me back next year.”
I hung up.
Thirty seconds later the phone rang again and I picked it up.
Broker said, “What do you intend to do?”
“I’m going to find out who hired me, Broker. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out on my own.”
“Jesus Christ! You’re insane, man!”
“Impossible. You only work with stable personalities.”
“Listen. Listen to me. Get out of that town. Get out. Now.”
“I think I’ll stay a while.”
“Have you cracked up? You can’t hang around after a job, especially one that’s gone sour like this one has.”
“Watch me.”
“I’m going to tell you only one more time…”
“Good. Then I won’t have to hear it anymore after that.”
“… get out of Port City, Quarry.”
“This isn’t Chicago, Broker. This is a hick town and I’m not going to have any trouble.”
“You’re right, Port City isn’t Chicago, you could hide in Chicago. In Port City you’ll be conspicuous as hell.”
“Good-bye, Broker.”
“Wait!”
I waited.
“Isn’t there anything I can say?”
“Sure.”
“What?”
“The name of the guy who wanted Albert Leroy dead.”
“Quarry, I’m not going to stand for this.”
“Yes you are.”
“All right. All right, all right, all right make a fool of yourself, but Quarry… make damn sure none of it touches me. If you do that, if you even come close to endangering me, you know what I’ll do.”
“I know what you’ll try to do.”
“You aren’t the only assassin in the world, Quarry.”
“No. But how many do you have better?”
I hung up.
I sat there for thirty seconds and when the phone rang again I picked it up and said, “Hello, Broker.”
“Quarry!”
“What, Broker?”
“Uh, what about Boyd’s car?”
“What about it?”
“You’ve got to get rid of it.”
“How?”
“Bring it up here and we’ll get rid of it for you.”
“I’m not sure I want to do that, Broker. I’m going to be kind of busy today.”
“I tell you what… let me do some checking. I’ll contact the man you’re looking to find, I’ll talk to him and try to find out if he knows anything. Give me till tonight and if I haven’t got anything for you, go ahead, go ahead tomorrow and snoop all you want.”
“I don’t know, Broker.”
“Trust me.”
“Trust you. Kind of a sacred trust, huh, Broker?”
“Do you know the river road?”
“That old road that runs along the Mississippi, up to Davenport.”
“Yes. There’s a limestone quarry about ten miles outside of Davenport on the river road. Carl and I will be pulled alongside there at, say, midnight. Bring Boyd’s car and at that time I’ll tell you how I’ve done with… the man you want to find.”
“How will I get back to Port City, Broker?”
“I’ll have Carl drive you back. We’ll bring two cars.”
“Okay.”
“Tonight, then? At the stone quarry?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“Sure.”
“At midnight.”
“Sure. See you then.”
“See you then. Quarry?”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of yourself, will you? Lie low today and just take it easy.”
“That’s sweet, Broker. Your concern is goddamn fucking touching.”
He hung up.
