The Devils Punchbowl

innocent lives. Underage girls and defenseless animals.? He lowers his voice at last, but the urgency does not leave it. ?Every week Mr. X sends out four pickup trucks with cages in the back, a hundred miles in every direction. When those trucks come back, the cages are filled with house pets?cocker spaniels, poodles, dalmatians, cats. The trainers throw ?em into a hole with starving pit bulls to teach the dogs how to kill, or tie ?em to a jenny to make the dogs run. Then they feed them to the dogs when it?s all over. Every one of those animals gets torn to shreds.?

Even as the shiver goes through me, I recall that a neighbor who lives three houses down from me lost her seven-year-old cocker spaniel last month. She let the dog out to do its business, and it never came back.

?I didn't ask for this,? Tim says stubbornly. ?But I'm in a position to do something about it.

Me, okay? What kind of man would I be if I just turned away and let it go on??

His question pierces me like a blade driven deep into my conscience. ?Timmy?shit. What would you say if I told you that the only reason I'm still mayor of this town is that I haven'?t figured out how to tell my father I'm quitting??

Jessup blinks like a stunned child trying to work out something beyond its grasp. ?I?d say you?re bullshitting me. But?? A profound change comes over his features. ?You?re not, are you??

I slowly shake my head.

?But why? Are you sick or something??

He asks this because our last mayor resigned after being diagnosed with lung cancer. ?Not exactly. Soul sick, maybe.?

Tim looks at me in disbelief. ?

Soul sick? Are you kidding? I'm soul sick too! Man, you stood up all over this town and told people you were going to change things. You made people believe it. And now you want to quit? The Eagle Scout wants to quit? Why? Because it?s tougher than you thought? Did somebody hurt your feelings or something??

I start to explain, but before I can get a sentence out, Jessup cuts in, ?Wait a minute. They came to you with money or something, right? No?they threatened you, didn't they??

?No, no, no.?

?Bullshit.? Tim?s eyes flash. ?They got their claws into you somehow, and all you know to do is run??

?Tim!? I grab his leg and squeeze hard enough to bruise. ?Shut up and listen for a second!?

His chest is heaving from the excitement of his anger.

I lean close enough so that he can see my eyes. ?Nobody from any casino has come to me with anything. Not bribes or threats. I wanted to be mayor so I could fix the school system in this town, which has been screwed since 1968. It?s been our Achilles? heel for nearly forty years. But I see now that I can?t fix it. I don'?t have the power. And my child is suffering because of it. It?s that simple, Timmy. Until tonight, all this stuff you'?ve told me was just whispers in the wind.?

?And now??

?Now I can?t get those goddamn pictures out of my head.?

He smiles sadly. ?I told you. I warned you.?

?Yeah. You did.?

He rubs his face with both hands, so hard that his mustache makes scratching sounds. ?So, what now? Am I on my own here or what??

?You are unless you tell me who Mr. X is.?

Jessup?s eyes go blank as marbles.

?Come on. I know law enforcement people who aren'?t local. Serious people. Give me his name, and I'?ll get a real investigation started. We?ll nail his hide to the barn door. I?'ve dealt with guys like this before. You know I have. I sent them to death row.?

With slow deliberation, Tim stubs his cigarette out on the mossy bricks behind him. ?I know. That'?s why I came to you. But you have

to understand what you?re up against, Penn. This guy I'm talking about has got real juice. Just because someone?s in Houston or Washington doesn?'t mean they'?re clean on this.?

?Tim, I took on the head of the FBI. And I won.?

Jessup doesn?'t look convinced. ?That was different. A guy like that has to play by the rules. That'?s like Gandhi beating the British in India. Don?t kid yourself. You go after Mr. X, you?re swimming into the shallow end of Lake St. John, hoping to kill an alligator before one kills you.?

This image hits me with primitive force. I?'ve cruised the shallow end of the local lake from the safety of a ski boat at night, and there?s no sight quite like the dozens of red eyes hovering just above water level among the twisted cypress trunks. The first thrash of an armored tail in the water triggers a blast of uniquely mammalian fear that makes you pray the boat?s drain plug is screwed in tight.

?I hear you, okay? But I think you?re a little spooked. The guy is human, right??

Jessup tugs at his mustache like the strung-out junkie he used to be. ?You don'?t know, man? you don'?t know.

This guy is smooth as silk on the outside, but he?s got scales on the inside. When the dogs are tearing each other to pieces, or some girl is screaming in the back of a trailer, his eyes turn from ice to fire right in front of you.?

?Tim?? I lean forward and grasp his wrist. ?I don'?t understand is what you want from me. If you won'?t go to the professionals, how do you propose to stop this psycho? What?s your plan??

A strange light comes into Jessup?s eyes. ?There?s only one way to take down an operation like this, and you know it.?

?How?s that??

?From the inside.?

Jesus. Tim has been watching too many cop shows. ?Let me get this straight. The guy you just described as Satan incarnate, you want to wear a wire on??

Jessup barks out a derisive laugh. ?Fuck no! These guys carry scanners into the john with them. ?

?Then what??

He shakes his head with childlike stubbornness. ?You don'?t need to know. But God put me in this position for a reason.?

When informants start talking about God, my alarm bells go off. ?Tim??

?Hey, I'm not asking you to believe like I do. I'm just asking you to be ready to accept what I bring you and do the right thing.?

I feel obligated to try to dissuade him further, but beneath my desire to protect a childhood friend lies a professionally cynical awareness of the truth. In cases like this, often the only way to convict the people at the top is to have a witness on the inside, directly observing the criminal activity. And who else but a martyr would take that job?

?What are you planning to bring me??

?Evidence. A stake to drive through Mr. X?s heart, and a knife to cut off the company?s head. Just say you?re with me, Penn. Tell me you won'?t quit. Not until we take these bastards down.?

Against all my better judgment, I reach out and squeeze Tim?s proffered hand. ?Okay. You just watch your back.

And

your front. Informers usually get caught because they make a stupid mistake. You?ve come a long way. Don?t go getting hurt now.?

Tim looks me full in the face, his eyes almost serene. ?Hey, I have to be careful. I?'ve got a son now, remember?? As if suddenly remembering something, he seizes my wrist with his other hand, like a pastor imploring me to accept Jesus as my savior. ?If something does happen, though, don'?t blame yourself, okay? The way I see it, I?'ve got no choice.?

Your wife and son wouldn'?t see it that way,

I say silently, but I nod acknowledgment.

Now we sit silently, awkwardly, like two men who?ve cleared the air on some uncomfortable issue and have