when you want too much, too fast. That’s what I figure happened to Angelica Devereaux. She wanted what we all want in our hearts, Frank, something interesting, something that’s got a fever to it.”
Frank nodded. “Yeah.”
Caleb’s eyes drifted over to the park. The silvery light appeared to thicken as the night deepened around them, turning into a summer fog.
“It always was a shithole, Grant Park,” he said, in a tone that struck Frank as oddly sad and even a little bitter. “Used to be whiskey more than dope. Used to be fucking more than killing. But it was always rough. And it was always interesting.” He looked over at Frank. “Know why? Because it was always full of life.” He scratched the side of his face with a huge hand. “Maybe that’s what she came for. Just life. The real thing.” He smiled knowingly. “And if that’s true, then busting dopers and pimps won’t get us anywhere.”
“Maybe not,” Frank said.
“You came over here to roust the park, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Turn it upside down, screw it around, see what drops. Am I right?”
Frank nodded. “The only thing I’ve been able to figure out about Angelica is that she hung around this area, that she knew something about it.” He looked out into the distance. The haze seemed to tumble in the heated summer air. “This is where she brought the kid that night. And she was spotted in a few of the galleries around here.”
“And the galleries are closed for the night,” Caleb said.
“That’s right.”
“So that just leaves the park.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” Caleb said reluctantly, “but you’d better watch yourself. “ He nodded gloomily toward the park. “There’s nothing out there this time of night that don’t already have a problem.” He pulled on the door latch and swung open the door. “You ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go then.”
The thick haze seemed to hold greedily to the day’s exhausted heat, and by the time Frank had walked only a few yards into the park, he could feel his shirt becoming soaked in the armpits and down the back. Great droplets of sweat poured down Caleb’s face as he walked beside him, and in the odd, diffused light of the street-lamps, they appeared to glisten like flecks of ice.
“Keep an eye to what’s behind you,” Caleb said softly as they continued through the stifling haze, “and an ear to what’s on either side.”
Within a few minutes, they were deep into the park. Far away they could hear the low moan of creatures in the zoo, lost and plaintive, bewailing their odd imprisonment. The light faded more and more around them until, after a while, it simply died away and they were covered in the deep summer darkness.
“Hear that?” Caleb said after a moment.
Frank listened. He could hear faint groans at a great distance.
“You got to want it real bad to do it here, “ Caleb said with a sad smile. “We could go over and throw a few questions, but I don’t think they’d be able to help us much right now. “ He nodded straight ahead. “Let’s just let them be. What do you say, Frank?”
They continued to move deeper into the park. The brush thickened slowly around them, wrapping them in warm, leafy arms. To the right, they passed a derelict sleeping soundly, his naked arms wrapped lovingly around a bottle of cheap wine, and to the left, a wiry young woman in a flowered dress who was muttering madly to a stone.
“After a while,” Caleb said, almost to himself, “it’s what you see that kills you.”
They were almost halfway through the park before they heard the first coherent voices. Two voices. A man and a woman. The woman’s voice was high, thready, the man’s was low, gruff, threatening.
“You gone tell the kids ‘bout it?” the woman demanded. “You gone tell them how you back in the joint again?”
“Just shut the fuck up, nigger,” the man said angrily.
Caleb stopped and patted the pistol beneath his coat. “Careful, Frank. You know how it is. Nothing worse than a domestic.”
They continued to walk forward together, and as the fog parted around them, Frank could see a man and woman as they faced each other beside an enormous oak tree. They were arguing frantically, their voices echoing lowly, despite the enveloping fog. They were entirely oblivious to everything but the fury of their struggle.
“Evening, folks,” Caleb said gently.
The man whirled around instantly, his hand reaching for his belt.
“Easy now,” Caleb said sternly. “Police. Don’t move.”
The man’s hand continued to linger at his belt.
Frank stepped to the left and pulled out his revolver. “Put your hands up,” he shouted. “Now!”
The man’s hands leaped into the air.
“Turn around, and put your hands on that tree,” Frank commanded.
The man did as he was told, standing motionlessly while Caleb frisked him.
“This a toy?” he asked with a laugh, and he pulled a twenty-two pistol from his belt.
“I knew they’d ketch you,” the woman said mournfully. “You too dumb, Charlie. That’s yo’ problem.”
Caleb shoved the pistol into his jacket pocket. “Turn around, Charlie,” he said.
Frank put his pistol back in its holster.
Caleb eyed the woman’s purse. “Got anything in there, ma’am?” he asked.
She shook her head slowly.
He eased the purse from her fingers. “Don’t mind if I take a look, then.” He opened the purse, searched it, then returned it to the woman. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“I just knowed they’d ketch you,” the woman repeated sorrowfully. “Now it’s me and the kids by ourselves again.”
“He’s not caught yet,” Caleb told her.
She looked at him wide-eyed. “Whut?”
“We’re just here to ask a few questions,” Frank explained.
The man looked at him suspiciously. “Whut kind of questions, man?”
“Well, how’s this?” Caleb asked as he dangled the pistol in the air. “You got a permit for this?”
“Nah.”
“How about a record, Charlie, got one of those?”
The man turned away and grunted under his breath.
“Long as my arm, I bet,” Caleb said. “Guy like you probably shouldn’t have a piece.” He looked at Frank. “What do you bet our friend here is out on parole?”
The man stared lethally at Caleb. “Fuck you, man.”
Suddenly, with furious speed, Caleb slapped him hard across the face. The man stumbled backward, his back slamming against the tree. Caleb leaped forward, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up into his own face.
“The woman said something about kids, you asshole,” he shouted. “You got kids?”
The man nodded slowly.
“You ought to take care of them,” Caleb said. “You hear me?”
“Caleb, “ Frank said gently, “back off.”
Caleb drew in a long, deep breath to calm himself. He released the man’s collar, then stepped back.
“Go ahead, Frank,” he said.
Frank moved closer to the man and woman. “You folks live around here?” he asked.
“Yeah,” the woman said.
“Where?”
“Over on Cherokee.”
“So you’re in the park a lot?”
