they were for the help last night. But then they started talking about some box they were looking for.”
“A floating lockbox,” Liz said.
“Whatever the hell that is. They didn’t seem to believe we didn’t know anything about it.”
“That sounds familiar,” I said.
“We told them there was nothing else we could do. But they didn’t seem to like that. Eventually, we had to persuade them to leave the property.”
“Okay, and how did you do that?” I was having a hard time picturing how these two could be so persuasive. Unless…
“I brought out one of our shotguns,” Liz said. “I believe it was the Remington.”
“Yeah, the over-and-under,” Tyler said. “You should have seen the look on their faces when she racked that thing. They changed their tune pretty fast.”
They were both smiling at the memory now. God love them, I thought. Only in Michigan.
“Well, I hope you guys are going to be careful,” I said. “They could come back.”
“Let them come,” Liz said. “I’m a good shot.”
I took out one of the cards Leon had made for us and gave it to them. I told them to call me if they ever saw the men again.
“What’s this?” Tyler said. “You and Leon are private investigators?”
“We were,” I said. “For about five minutes. Which reminds me…Oh no…”
“What is it?”
“If they came to see you, and they came to see me…”
“You’re right, they probably stopped by Leon’s place,” Tyler said. “Is that a problem?”
“That all depends,” I said, “on who was home.”
From Brimley I kept heading east on Six Mile Road, past the old abandoned railroad car, through the last of the Hiawatha National Forest, and then out into the open hay fields. I didn’t know how this weather would affect the crop this year, but I didn’t imagine it would help any.
I crossed the highway and drove through Sault Ste. Marie-“the Soo,” as the locals call it. Up to Three Mile Road, and into the parking lot for the Custom Motor Shop. That’s where Leon worked these days. It was a far cry from his dream job, but the man had a family to feed. The place looked pretty quiet today. No surprise given the miserable weather. When I went in, they told me that Leon had left early. In fact, he had received a phone call, and had left in a hurry without saying a word.
Exactly what I was afraid of. I got back in the truck and headed south. The first small town down the road was Rosedale. That’s where Leon lived, in a little house on a dead-end road, with a tire swing hanging from the big oak tree in the front yard.
I parked the car in the driveway, right behind Leon’s little crappy red Chevy Nova. I rang the front bell. Leon’s wife Eleanor opened the door, and her face told me everything I needed to know.
“Before you say a word-,” I said.
“Hello, Alex.” Eleanor Prudell was a large woman, to put it mildly. She was also probably the strongest woman I had ever met. I had seen her lift Leon right off the bed once, back when he had two broken ankles. And Leon had to go at least 240.
Eleanor loved me. I knew that. She would have done anything in the world for me. But at the same time, she couldn’t help associating me with some very bad moments in her life. She knew all about Leon’s desire to be a private investigator. She tried to understand when he opened up that office in the Soo, even though she knew the business would almost certainly fail. She could have lived with all of that, but the real problems began whenever I was involved. Even though it was Leon’s idea that we be partners, even though I never bought into the private investigator thing to begin with, it was always me who somehow managed to find trouble. It was always me who came asking Leon for help. Which usually meant something dangerous. The time we got shot at out on the lake, that was probably the worst of it. Of course, Leon didn’t absolutely have to tell her everything. But he did.
“I take it you got a visit today,” I said.
“There were two of them,” she said. “I was here alone.”
“What did they say?”
“Our kids could have been here. Thank God they’re at camp today.”
“Ellie, what did they say?”
“They wanted to know where Leon was. They said they had to ask him some questions.”
“Well, on the plus side, you probably could have taken both of them at once.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I know. Look…”
That’s when Leon appeared behind her. “Alex,” he said. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I was checking to see if you’re all right,” I said. “Did you tell Ellie what happened last night?”
“Yes.”
“Especially the part about you inviting me out to Tyler’s studio, and then how the boat crashed and we saved those guys?”
“Right, and how none of this was your fault, for once.”
“Yeah, that’s great. Thank you.”
Eleanor came out the door and hugged me. The trick is to inhale quickly so you don’t end up with any broken ribs.
“Damn you, Alex. I just…”
She looked away from me. She was genuinely scared to death by all this, and I guess I couldn’t blame her.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We’ll make sure they don’t come back here. I promise you.”
She nodded her head. She put her hand on my arm, then she turned and went back inside the house. That left me and Leon standing there on the porch.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t worry about it. Really. She’ll be fine.”
“Leon, what did we get ourselves into here, anyway? I thought we were just helping those guys out. It’s not like we could have left them out there.”
“I guess we should have, eh? We should have let them drown.”
“As it turns out, Vinnie already has a little history with these guys.” I gave him the rundown, with Vinnie throwing them out of the casino last night. And then walking in on them today, at the Glasgow.
“Do you think he’ll go after them now?”
“I’d put money on it.”
“You need to borrow a gun again?”
“No, Leon. Come on.”
“I’m serious. You might need it. You have no idea who these guys really are, or what they’re capable of doing.”
“Hold on to it. If I need it, I’ll call you.”
“If you need it, you won’t have time to call me.” A classic Leon line if there ever was one.
“Thank you. But no, I don’t need a gun. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Suit yourself,” he said. “But don’t blame me if you end up dead.”
As I started to drive home, I couldn’t help wondering if Leon was right. Like he said, we had no idea who these guys really were. Or what they would do.
I moved from that to wondering how Natalie was doing. What she was doing at that very moment. And if she was safe.
Natalie.
Then, for the hundredth time, wondering if this thing was going to work out, or if I was just fooling myself. Leon and Eleanor-now that was a real relationship. It takes about two seconds to see how much they mean to each other.
Tyler and Liz. That was real, too. They spend every single day together. They go to sleep together. They
