Short Straw

'So here's what you do: you go back in there and call her, and tell her to bring twelve-five to the parking lot outside, and right now. You got that?'

Harold thought about it.

'Time's up, Harold. Get it done now, or by the end of the day, you're going to be broke, and nobody who knows you is going to recognize you for a long time.'

'Okay,' Harold said, finally. 'Twelve-five outside in an hour. But I want the job done before I get out of here. You got five days. Agreed?'

'Agreed,' Joe replied. 'Twelve-five, outside, sixty minutes,' he repeated, just to be sure Harold had it down.

Harold nodded, got up and went back through the door behind him.

Joe left the jail and drove up to Garcia Street, where there was a coffee shop he liked. He bought a double espresso and a newspaper and sat outside in the morning sun for a while, then he dialed the number Harold had given him. It rang four times before she answered.

'Hello?'

'Mrs. Eagle?'

'Who's this?'

'My name is Pepe,' he said, 'and I'm calling to do you a favor.'

'Who are you, and what do you want?'

'I told you, my name is Pepe. I'm going to kill your husband for you.'

'What are you talking about?'

'You know the other hombre you hired to do the job, Harold? Harold went and got himself busted; he's in jail, and he ain't getting out any time soon.'

'What do you want?'

'This is about what you want, Mrs. Eagle. If you want your husband dead within four days, it will cost you twenty-five thousand dollars, cash, wired to me in Santa Fe.'

'How do I know you're not a cop?'

'Well, I guess you don't know, but you're in Mexico, so the cops can't touch you. And look at it this way, the insurance company is paying for the work, not you.' Joe was guessing that Ed Eagle had mucho insurance.

A long pause. 'How can I reach you?'

'You can reach me by wiring twenty-five thousand dollars to me today. There's no other way. If I don't receive it within twenty-four hours, your husband will go right on living, and you will collect nothing, and I'll remind him to change the beneficiary on the life insurance policy. I don't think you're going to have another opportunity to arrange this hit from Mexico before he does that.'

She was quiet for a moment. 'What name do I wire it to?'

'Well, let's make up a name,' Joe said. 'Wire it to Pepe Oso Grande'-he had a driver's license with that name on it-'care of Western Union, Santa Fe.' He spelled the name for her.

'Let me think about it,' she said.

'Think about it all you like, but if the money isn't in Santa Fe by noon tomorrow, Ed Eagle lives, and you lose, big time. I'll look forward to hearing from you,' Joe replied and clicked off.

Joe looked at his watch, finished his coffee and drove back to the jail. He had only a five-minute wait before the woman in the pickup turned into the parking lot. He walked over to her. 'Good morning,' he said. 'Harold sent me to pick up twelve thousand, five hundred dollars.'

The woman looked at him with hatred. 'Harold says if you don't do it before he gets out, he'll find you and kill you, Joe Big Bear.'

So Harold had found out his name. 'Thank you for that message,' Joe said. 'Give me the money.'

She handed him a red bandanna, tied up in a bundle.

Joe peeped inside. 'I'm going to count it later,' he said. 'If it isn't all there, Harold is going to get hurt today. So are you.'

She started the truck, backed out of the parking space and drove away.

Joe went back to his truck, got in and counted the money. It was all there. 'Jesus,' he said aloud, 'why didn't I go into this line of work sooner?'

BARBARA PUT DOWN her cell phone and turned to Vittorio. 'How long are we staying here?'

'I figure one more night, just to let things cool off.'

'I have to go to a bank or a Western Union office today.'

'Are you nuts?'

'My sister has an emergency, and she needs money. Don't argue with me, Vittorio; it has to be done.'

Vittorio drove her into town, parked in front of a bank, checked the street in every direction and waved her inside. Half an hour later, she was back.

'Everything go okay?' he asked.

'Perfectly,' she said.

'Then why do you look so nervous? I never saw you look nervous before.'

'Shut up and drive,' she said.

Thirty

EAGLE DIALED SUSANNAHS CELL PHONE NUMBER.

'Well, hi there,' she said.

'Are you moved in yet?'

'In a manner of speaking,' she replied. 'I mean, the boxes have all been dumped here; now they're unpacking them.'

'I'm glad you've got help,' he said.

'I've got four guys here, working like beavers. If I can keep them from breaking the crystal, I'll have this place in shape by dinnertime.'

'I wish I were there to cook for you.'

'You cook?'

'When you're a bachelor for as long as I was, it's a survival skill. When are you coming back? I hope you're not waiting until the closing.'

'Well, I was going to, but once this place is livable I don't really have anything to occupy me here, until I get some work.'

'Come here, and I'll occupy you. In fact, I'll see if I can't get the closing brought forward. I know that the owner has already moved out. And I have a comfortable guest suite, and I'd be very pleased if you'd stay at my house until the closing.'

'That would be very nice. See what you can do about the closing, and I'll go ahead and have my furniture shipped.'

'Do you have enough to fill the house?'

'No, not with splitting my things between two places.'

'I'll give you a list of all the best shops.'

'I'm going to need a housekeeper and a secretary, too.'

'I'll put my secretary on that right away.'

'You're a doll, Ed Eagle.'

'I hope you'll still think so a year from now.'

'Why a year?'

'I reckon that's how long it will take you to find out.'

'We'll see. I've gotta run. Somebody just dropped a Baccarat goblet.'

Eagle hung up feeling like a new man, but then it occurred to him that he hadn't received the FedEx package