them alive for a share of the money. If you haven’t boxed them by then, you’re invited to the meeting to wrap ’em up and you can split the pot or you can bow out.’
‘What if they leave Houston?’ the Wart asked.
The deal’s still open,’ Bucks said. ‘You find them outside the city, wherever, we’ll cover expenses and increase the bonus to twenty apples.’ They all knew whatever noun he used was meaningless. Apples, biggies, shirts, cars: it all meant dollars, in the thousands.
‘How many apples Eve steal from the garden?’ MacKay asked. Laughing.
‘That’s not a concern. You find the apples, we’ll share a good bite with you. But it would be a mistake to take any apples for yourself. A big mistake, gentlemen.’
‘I’m a professional,’ the Wart said. ‘I’m not a thief and I resent the implication.’ Jerry Smacks and MacKay said nothing, apparently being free of resentment.
‘What if we find her and there ain’t no apples?’ Jerry Smacks asked. He shifted his wad to the other side of his mouth.
‘Don’t be stupid,’ Bucks said. ‘There’s no question about her having the money.’ He swallowed past the sudden thickness in his throat.
MacKay raised an eyebrow; Jerry smacked his gum; the Wart studied his knuckles. ‘You sure Eve dead is what your boss wants?’ MacKay asked.
‘I’m sure,’ Bucks said. ‘I got your numbers. We’ll call as soon as we get a lead on her. If you hear of three people who recently bought new ID papers, flashing around big cash, or putting a cross-hit out on Paul or me, you call us.’ They nodded, except for MacKay, who watched Bucks with a new amusement.
‘Questions?’
They had none.
‘Good,’ Bucks said. ‘And I’ll hope you’ll work as a team. Together we can get this project done and done quickly. Be win-win for everybody.’
The Wart took his three pictures of Eve, Gooch, and Whit, scrutinized them, then folded the prints into a square and ate them like he was in an old spy movie. Jerry Smacks pushed the picante bowl toward him. ‘You want salsa with that?’
‘The two witnesses who saw us all,’ the Wart said around the paper in his mouth.
‘Who?’
The Wart jerked his head toward the front door. ‘Waitress and cook.’
‘Wart,’ Bucks said. ‘They think I’m a bookie. Harmless.’
The Wart looked unconvinced.
‘Do you kill everyone you pass on the street, Wart? In case they actually looked at you?’ MacKay asked.
‘It’s a business precaution,’ the Wart said.
‘No. That would attract more attention.’ Bucks thought of the Wart not as a psycho for hire but as a single step toward a goal. The Wart gave Bucks a flat look as he got out of the booth with Jerry.
‘Stay a second,’ Bucks said to MacKay, who was getting to his feet. ‘I’m going to Jamaica on vacation when all this is done and I want restaurant recommendations.’
MacKay sat back down in the booth. The Wart and Jerry Smacks gave each other a glance but left.
‘I really see you exploring island cuisine, Bucks,’ MacKay said.
‘I know you’re better and sharper than those guys,’ Bucks said. ‘And I need your help.’
‘Wow, smarter than a dumbass and a sociopath. You make me feel extra special, but I’m afraid to ask the question on my mind,’ MacKay said.
‘What?’
That this lady didn’t steal the money, but that you want her blamed and killed for it.’
‘Jesus, what put that in your head?’ Bucks said. ‘I want this bitch dead for what she’s done to me.’
‘You seem a shade more interested in her being dead,’ MacKay said, but with a smile, ‘than in getting the money back.’ The weight of an unspoken accusation hung in the quiet air.
Bucks considered his options, then put on his best negotiator’s smile. ‘MacKay, think what you want. But I got an extra job for you. Worth a lot of money. As long as it stays private between you and me.’
19
Whit awoke on the floor of the guest bedroom. He’d crashed on a sleeping bag, a blanket over him. He had thought at first he wouldn’t sleep at all, but the exhaustion zapped him hard until he awoke with a start. Looked up to see Eve watching him from the bed, her arms wrapped around a pillow. She was sleeping in an oversized T-shirt of Charlie’s that announced LAWYERS HAVE BETTER BRIEFS and a pair of plaid pajama bottoms dug from the bottom of a bureau.
‘I haven’t watched you sleep in a very long time,’ she said. ‘Traces of your face, they’re the same as when you were a baby. It’s weird.’
‘When did you ever watch me sleep, with five other kids vying for your attention?’ He rubbed his face. His whole body hurt: his eye, his jaw, his arms, his back.
‘I always watched you, Whit, you were always special to me.’
He wished he could believe it, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. ‘Did you sleep okay?’
‘Enough to function.’ She handed him a shopping list. ‘We need the stuff on here for our project. And I need clothes.’
‘Now you’ll make me feel like a son,’ he said. ‘Running your errands.’ He put his head back down on the pillow.
‘A step at a time. I’m not cooking you breakfast. Gooch is already up and I can smell bacon.’ She rose from the bed and he saw she was small, a little bent, and there didn’t seem to be enough of her for her absence to have left such a hole in his life.
Eve prodded him with her foot, leaned down and kissed the top of his head before he could protest or stop her. ‘Get up, honey. We’ve got a real busy day.’ After a moment, he did.
Friday midmorning meant the maintenance crews hit the manicured turfs of River Oaks, and Frank Polo, fuzzy from wine and painkillers, pulled a pillow over his head to ward off the invading buzz of lawn equipment. He was vaguely aware of his hand throbbing, a belch of cheap pinot grigio souring his mouth, the absence of Eve from the bed, then he remembered everything.
Morning light slanted through the windows. Frank heard a soft voice from the den, regular, even, quiet. He padded downstairs, scratching his balls under his boxers and his half-open robe, stumbled through the living room, and flicked on the kitchen lights. The room was spotless; Eve liked a clean house. Her devotion to tidiness and detail was part of the calm precision that attracted him to her. Nothing like him, all disarray and clothes jumbled on the floor.
He noticed before he clicked on the lights that the coffee machine was already on, a pot full.
‘A setback is an opportunity,’ the soft voice said. ‘A setback is a time to reevaluate our goals, our aims, and our methods in actualizing our achievements.’ The tape player was at Bucks’ elbow and Bucks sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hands.
‘Sleeping beauty,’ Bucks said. ‘Good morning. I had an unpleasant night.’ He turned off the tape, more of that self-help oatmeal he swallowed day and night.
‘I bet you’re gonna have a shitty day, too.’ Frank poured coffee into his mug. ‘So how’d you sleep?’
‘The situation has changed, Frank.’
‘Changed.’
‘Nicky Lott and Terry Verdine followed two smart-asses who came by the club last night looking for Eve. They tailed the guys to the Pie Shack on Kirby. Eve shows up. She met with both of the guys, then one. Nicky, being a fucking idiot, decided the fastest way to nail Eve and make Paul happy was to blaze guns. He opened fire on Eve and the guy through the restaurant window.’
‘Jesus Christ.’ Frank felt his heart drop to his feet.
‘The guys fired back, they got away with Eve. Killed Nicky. Shootout’s all over the news.’ Bucks ran his hand
