“…Running my tongue around each nipple, with close attention being paid to…”
By the time I’d reached her toes, the breathing on the phone had changed to quiet sighs.
“Francis, I’m shifting the phone to my left ear. Would you mind repeating what you just said?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Five days passed with agonizing slowness. I sighed, shut down my computer and leaned back in my chair. Nothing. You’d think between the FBI and other agencies at least something would have been uncovered about Willie by now.
Tony sauntered in. “You want to go to lunch with Dave and me? The others got things to do, so begged off.”
I looked at the mess on my desk. “Sure, not much else going on. Hey, you look like you’re walking normal. That extra hole in your ass healed up?”
He nodded, heading for the stairs. “Yep, all normal. Now you guys’ll have to find someone else to pick on. Alice was beginning to repeat her ‘Buttface’ jokes.”
Tony stuffed the last French fry in his mouth and leaned back, a contented look on his face while he chewed. “Jeez, glad we don’t come her all the time. With burgers and fries this good, I’d gain fifty pounds in a month.”
I shook my head. “You’ve been skinny as a rail since I’ve known you, no matter how much you cram in your face.” I glanced at Dave who’d been abnormally quiet, even for him during lunch. “What’s going on with your salad? I think you’ve only taken two-three bites of it all meal long.”
He pushed it away, giving a shrug. “No appetite, I guess.”
Tony lifted an eyebrow at him. “Up until last night, you’d managed to loosen up and actually tell a joke or two. What’s changed?”
Dave leaned back with a sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. Something Alice said this morning got me thinking about what I’d been doing the past few years. Y’know, the revenge thing. Then I called my sister, to let her know how things were going. She said her kids missed me, and hoped I’d be home soon.” He paused, rubbing his face. “I expected to be in jail by now, or maybe even dead, so hadn’t thought about the family I still have alive.”
I looked closely at him, noting how deflated he looked. “What’d Alice say?”
“She was on the phone talking to one of her girlfriends. Talking about how much fun they’d have with their babies once they were born.” He wiped his eyes with a napkin. “Brought the whole thing crashing down on me again.”
I straightened. “Maybe you’d better…”
“No.” He vigorously shook his head. “Not till this thing is done. It’s bad enough living with the ghosts. Don’t want to add to it with unfinished business.”
“You’re probably right,” Tony said, taking a drink of coffee. “No sense adding to the load if you can help it.”
“Thanks.” Dave wiped his face with a napkin. “Damn, didn’t mean to start blubbering away like that.”
I gave a half-smile. “No problem, man. I’m not sure any of us would be any different, if we had the load of crap build up like it has on you.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Been there, done that.”
Tony snatched the last fry from my plate. “And on that note, I suggest we head for the office and get some work done. Tomorrow promises to be busier than today.”
* * *
The ringing of my phone startled me. “T&M Security, this is Francis.”
“Francis, you gonna be in for awhile?” The quavery voice…it was Wilbur.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Tell you when I get there. Half-hour at the most.” The line went dead, leaving me with a sinking feeling in my gut. Something wasn’t right. I hurried out of my office. “Alice, you know if anyone’s gotten a call from Charlie or Wilbur in the last few days?”
She flipped through her phone log, shaking her head. “Nope, not since you told ‘em to disappear.”
I turned away, head shaking. He’d sounded stressed. Hopefully things were all right.
It was a relief when Wilbur finally pushed through the entrance. Until I looked at his tear-filled and haunted eyes. “What happened, man?”
“Charlie’s dead.” He shambled into the office, limping heavily. I quickly seated him at the large conference table, while everyone gathered ‘round. “My fault. All my fault,” he muttered, accepting a cup of coffee from Alice.
“His leg,” Alice said. “Got blood on it. I’ll get the first aid kit.” She hurried off while Tony and Marty busied themselves cutting away the pants leg.
Wilbur was holding his face, tears leaking through his hands. “You told us to move, Francis. I talked him into waiting until after we got married in Reno. Be time to move then, I thought.”
Alice almost dropped the first aid kit in surprise. “Married?”
He lowered his hands, showing the tortured look on his face. “We been lovers for over a year now. When we got that money from you guys, we decided it was time to tie the knot.” He took a large gulp of coffee, grimacing as he burnt his lips. “We had ourselves a party, just the two of us, when we got back. Even before we went to our apartment. Shot both of us when we were on a pier down by the waterfront, just west of city enter.” He groaned when Tony unwrapped the makeshift bandage on his lower leg.
“Through and through the calf muscle,” Tony said, gently lowering the leg. “We need to get a clean bandage on this and take him to the E.R.”
Wilbur raised his head, teeth gritted. “Not ‘til I tell you everything. They caught us on the pier stargazing early this morning, ‘bout three o’clock. Two guys let loose with pistols that must’ve had silencers on ‘em. Not very much noise when they shot us. They hit Charlie three or four times. I dropped down, but got this leg wound before I did. Also had a bullet ricochet off my belt buckle, I found out later.”
I grabbed his hands that were
