“That’s not possible.”
“Call me back when it is.”
I hung up again. It took a good thirty seconds for it to ring this time. I considered not picking it up, then thought, what the hell. Maybe it’s him.
It wasn’t.
“I’m trying to be understanding here,” she said. “But you’re not making it easy. Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with now? I’m serious. Do you have any idea what he’ll do to you?”
“He can’t do anything else to me.”
“Use your head, Alex. Why would he kill two police officers? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“If he didn’t do it, why not tell me that himself? How come I get the errand girl?”
“Okay, number one, you can go fuck yourself with the errand girl. Number two, he doesn’t even know I’m calling. Like I’ve been trying to tell you before you keep hanging up on me, I’m doing you a favor. If you tell me where the stuff is right now, I might be able to convince him to let you live. Do you understand what I’m saying, Alex? You’ve got one chance to avoid a very painful death. On account of how bad I feel about Natalie, I’m giving you that one chance.”
“That’s very considerate of you.”
“Where’s the merchandise?”
“Tell Laraque to call me. I’ll discuss it with him.”
I hung up again, thinking it was time to ice them a little while, now that I had their attention. I was already out the front door when the phone started ringing again. Vinnie was still there, sitting on one of the folding chairs.
“Who was on the phone?” he said.
“Telemarketer,” I said. “Pain in the ass.”
“Your phone’s still ringing.”
“I know. They’ll stop eventually. Come on, let’s take Jackie’s plate back.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to go down there.”
“I changed my mind. He’s probably worried about me. I should go see him.”
“What are you trying to pull?” he said. “You’re gonna sneak off again.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “You drive. We go together.”
That’s how I ended up spending a couple of hours at the Glasgow that day. Jackie was surprised. He seemed a little unsure about how to treat me. He knew he couldn’t abuse me like usual, but that didn’t leave him many options. He was like a pitcher who can only throw one pitch.
He made me an omelet, even though the sun was going down. My first real breakfast in days. I had one beer. One more cold Canadian. I held the bottle and looked at it, wondering if it would be the last beer of my life.
It felt strange to be there. This place that was as much a home to me as my own cabin. I knew it would never be the same again.
I asked Vinnie to take me back up to the cabin. He didn’t want to leave me there alone. Beyond that, I could tell he was worried I’d go running off somewhere. I could see him eyeing my truck like it was a bottle of gin he needed to keep away from an alcoholic. I promised him I wasn’t going anywhere that night. That much I knew I could say and be telling the truth.
When he was gone, I went into the cabin. The phone was ringing. I picked it up.
“I tried to do this the easy way,” she said. Her voice had an edge now, sharp enough to cut glass. “Now you’re really going to be sorry.”
“Where’s Laraque?”
“You’re talking to me now, McKnight. I’m giving you one more chance.”
“Tell him I want to talk to him.”
“He is talking to you. Right now. He’s doing it through me. I’m the agent here. I’m the mouthpiece. You talk to me, you talk to him. You got it? So tell me what you want.”
“You know what I want.”
“What’s the bottom line, McKnight? We get the hardware back when what happens? Fill in the blank. I’m trying to work with you.”
“Do you know where the boat is right now?”
“The boat that had the merchandise on it? Yes. Unless you’ve moved it.”
“I haven’t moved it. It’s in the boathouse. Did they tell you where that is?”
“I know where it is, yes.”
“Tomorrow,” I said. “I’ll meet Laraque at the boathouse. Let’s say eight P.M. That’ll give him plenty of time to get over here.”
“You know that’s not possible. He’s got cops watching him now. He can’t take a step outside without everybody knowing it.”
“Something tells me he’s a pretty resourceful man. If it’s important enough, he’ll be there.”
“I told you, it’s not going to happen.”
“If you really need to come, too, I guess I can’t stop you. Personally, I’d recommend that you stay home.”
“If you hang up,” she said, “so help me God, I will send somebody over there right now to kill you.”
“Yeah, I know that’s how you guys do things. But this time, it would be a mistake. I’m the only one who knows where your guns are, remember?”
“You’re the one making the mistake, McKnight. You have no idea.”
“Story of my life,” I said. “Tell your man I’ll see him tomorrow night.”
Chapter Twenty-one
The moon was out. A miracle in itself after so many clouds, so much thick fog and blacked-out nights. The light came pouring through my windows, turning everything different shades of silver. It seemed to make the floor itself glow, so bright I could make out the stains there, the vague shadows that would always be there to remind me.
I could still smell her scent in my bed, just like the night before. If anything, the scent was stronger tonight. Impossible, but somehow it was.
I couldn’t take it. I got up and went to the couch, wrapped the blanket around my shoulders as the wind picked up outside. I rocked back and forth, my eyes closed to the moon and the wind and the horrible cold hours of the middle of the night.
I was leaning half sideways when I opened my eyes, early morning sun coming through the windows now. My neck was stiff. I got up and took a shower, trying to loosen up under the hot water. I got dressed, had a cup of coffee. It felt like it was burning right through my stomach.
Vinnie wasn’t here last night, I thought. He’s not here now. For all his talk about not leaving me alone…But I know I’ve been pretty miserable to be around lately. I’ve been trying as hard as I can to drive him away. I should write the man a note, try to tell him why I’m doing this.
No, what the hell. He’ll know why. If I don’t live through another night, he’ll have no problem figuring it out.
I wasn’t sure what to do with myself for the rest of the day. Eight P.M. was a long haul. I didn’t want to use up any more ammunition practicing, and I didn’t want to go into town to buy any more. I didn’t want to just sit here, watching the minutes go by. I didn’t want to be around anybody else, either.
I finally took Natalie’s picture outside with me, sat on my folding chair in front of the cabin and looked at her face for a long time. She was so serious in the picture-I had to try hard to remember her smile. I tried to remember that one look she’d give me, when she’d say something smart and she’d give me a little sideways glance to see if I’d caught it. Or the look she’d give me when she was done fighting with me. When she was finally ready to let me get close to her. Her eyes focused on me, almost nearsighted it seemed, like suddenly I was the
