66
Almost all communications received by River from the man behind the assignments came in written form anonymously delivered in envelopes. River had spoken to the man only twice but it was enough, so when phone rang early in the evening, he recognized the caller as
The voice was deep and controlled.
It made River pull up an image equal to his own.
“I was all set to take her last night,” River said. “A friend of mine got in trouble-something serious. I had to attend to it. That’s why I was late.”
“I buy results, not efforts.”
“You got the result, it was just this morning instead of last night. It was a few hours late. I don’t see the problem.”
“Do you have the woman?”
“I do.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. When a contract is rescinded, you’re to step down. Not doing that interferes with your replacement.”
“I completed the contract before I got the message,” River said. “When I took the woman this morning, I didn’t know you’d rescinded the contract. I didn’t find that out until I got back home.”
Silence.
“Where is she?”
“I have her.”
“Where?”
“Someplace safe,” River said. “Everything’s on track. I can release her or kill her, whichever you want.”
A pause.
“Tell me where you have her.”
“I can’t,” River said. “That’s not the way we do it and you know it. Like you said, you buy a result, not an effort. The result is that I have her.” A beat then, “I don’t understand what anybody wants with her. She’s a nobody.”
“What you understand or don’t understand is not relevant.”
River exhaled.
“We need to meet, face to face.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s time. I’ll buy you a beer.”
A pause.
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
The line went dead.
Suddenly a hand appeared on River’s shoulder-January’s hand. “Trouble?”
“He’s going to take me out.” He swung the woman around onto his lap. “You too if you’re in the line of fire.”
Clouds swarmed in from the Rockies and switched the Denver sky from twilight to night. The wind swept up and the streetlights kicked on. Distant lights that were only a pale glimmer ten minutes ago were now bold and dominant.
River grabbed his gun, then January’s hand and headed for the car.
The woman fell into step.
“Where are we going?”
“Charley-Anna’s house.”
“Why? What’s there?”
“Not what, who.”
On the way over, large isolated splats of rain smashed on the windshield-just a few. Within thirty seconds the wipers were swinging at full force, bringing a watery mess of a world in and out of focus. January snuggled closer and rested her head on River’s shoulder.
“Let’s just go somewhere and disappear,” she said.
“That’s not an option.”
“Sure it is.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Why? Because you have all your money wrapped up in that so-called place of yours?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“Just because.”
“Come on, River,” she said. “Let’s go to California. I’ve never been there. I want to see the beach.”
River patted her leg.
“I’ll show it to you but first things first.”
“Promise?”
Good question.
The answer surprised him.
“Yeah, I promise. Put it in the bank.”
She kissed him on the cheek.
“It’s in.” She got serious and said, “Don’t end up dead on me.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
At Charley-Anna’s house, January waited in the car while River headed over alone. On the third knock, a young woman opened the door. River explained who he was-a friend of the victim’s-and got let in. The woman turned out to be someone named Alley Bender.
“I just found out about Charley-Anna earlier today,” River said. “I’m going to tell you something you probably don’t want to hear but here goes. I broke into the house this afternoon to see if I could find a connection to whoever it was who killed her.” He saw the expression on the woman’s face and added, “I only went into Charley- Anna’s room, not yours.”
The woman studied him.
“Do you want some wine?”
No, he didn’t.
The woman poured herself a glass, tilted towards River in salute and took a long sip.
“What do you know about a lawyer named Crockett Bluetone?”
“How do you know about him?”
River explained.
He found two airplane tickets to San Francisco.
He paid a little visit to the attorney this afternoon.
“He said he had a brief affair with Charley-Anna but it died out more than three months ago. Is that true?”
She woman wrinkled her forehead.
“Let me see the tickets.”
River pulled them out of his wallet.
