WE pulled into gas and grocery, closed at this late hour. A musty pine scent hung in the air.
“Just because we see him here during the day doesn’t mean he-” Angel just kind of appeared, out of the dark, walking up to the truck and resting his elbows on the driver’s door with its open window.
“My friends.”
“Angel, I’ve got some good news.” James smiled.
“The man wasn’t killed.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because I shot him in the shoulder. I was fairly certain his friend would take care of him. I may have done some serious damage, but I never believed he was dead.”
James sputtered for a few seconds. “Well, then why did you let us believe that he was-”
“People will believe what they want to believe. I have strong feelings for people with belief. But the final proof is in the beholding.”
I leaned over. “Who’s quote is that?”
“Mine.”
“They tried to kill James and me tonight on the highway.”
He surveyed the truck in the dim light. “They don’t appear to have been successful.”
James stared mournfully at the truck. “We just wanted you to know.”
Angel nodded. “Leave the truck with me.”
“With you?” James stepped back.
“With me. If they come to your apartment and the truck is there, they know you’re home. They may try to finish the job. If it’s not there, they assume you’re somewhere else.”
I looked at James and he shrugged his shoulders. “Do you think they’ll come after us tonight?”
“I’d like to think they’re somewhere licking their wounds,” James said.
“But they may be looking for us.”
“True. What the hell.”
It made sense. At twelve thirty in the morning, it made sense. Angel drove us back to the apartment, past the rows of faded concrete block houses and sparse brown, postage stamp-sized lawns, and we tumbled into bed. I slept a dreamless sleep, but woke with a sense of dread.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I shook him hard. Sometimes James could sleep the sleep of the dead and there were times that no alarm could raise his sorry ass.
“Yeah. I’m sick today, boss.” He rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head.
“Get up, James. It’s safer at work than it is here.”
“I don’t have to be at work for another”-he glanced at his alarm clock-“hour. For Christ’s sake I’ve got an hour.”
“Do you want to walk to work?”
“Walk?”
“Three miles?”
“I’ll take the, oh shit, we don’t have the truck, do we?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll walk. Now get the hell out of my room.”
I showered, shaved, and put on the cleanest dirty shirt I could find. The tie that had the fewest wrinkles was blue, and it only had the fewest wrinkles because I wore it less than the other three. I didn’t like it, but except for the lunch with Em, I didn’t care what I looked like. I was lucky to be functioning at all.
Sammy sat behind his computer, probably checking out a new porn site. He looked up and frowned when I walked in.
“Skipper. I got a call yesterday from an appointment you were supposed to call on.”
“Yeah, I missed one late yesterday.”
“You never called the lady, Skip.” That condescending tone of voice.
“I’ll get her today, Sammy.” What kind of a name was Sammy? What the hell, what kind of a name was Skip?
“Don’t bother. Marie called on her, and it looks like the lady is ready to buy. Call if you can’t make the appointment, Skip. If you want to keep this job, call your clients.” He dismissed me with a jerk of his head. The jerk focused attention back to the computer.
I called Em, just to make sure lunch was still on. “I’ll pick you up?”
“Call me closer to the time, Skip. Right now, I’m sicker than a dog.” She hung up and I closed the phone. I still harbor this fear that germs can float through phone lines. It’s stupid, I know, but sick people bother me.
I stopped by two appointments, and only one was home. The first call was on a newlywed couple who had lied about owning their home. They rented the little shack, and I couldn’t sell them a security system if they’d wanted it. They didn’t. They wanted the cheap hot tub.
The second home had a note taped to the door. We are no longer interested in whatever it was that you are selling. Please don’t call again.
No matter what the placement office at my alma matter had said, a business degree from Sam and Dave will not necessarily open doors for you.
I drove into a mall parking lot, with its pitted, potholed blacktop and dollar stores and a place called Cheap and Sweet. They aren’t stores you usually find in a mainstream mall. I roamed through one of the discount outlets just to kill some time and ended up buying a brown tie that looked better than the blue one. At eleven thirty I called Em and we decided to meet at Esther’s. Her dad’s construction offices were only a couple of miles away, so it worked for both of us.
I had baked meatloaf and mashed potatoes and Em ordered a cup of soup and salad. The lady in the booth behind us talked loudly with her friend, never slowing down for a minute.
“Oh, my first ex hit me. He did, girl. Mental, verbal, and then physical abuse, and when he grabbed my arm and almost twisted it out of its socket, I knew it was time to leave.”
Her friend mumbled some condolences but was drowned out.
“My second ex-you remember Richard? Well, that was even worse. I had to have dental work from that relationship and now he has the kids. They gave him custody. Can you believe what I’ve been through? The father of my children.”
We got up and moved farther to the back of the restaurant.
“So tell me what happened.”
When I finished telling her, she smiled. “You think this is funny?”
“My God, Skip. We’d better laugh, because if we start crying we may never stop. You have to admit, this is almost comical. We’re just young-almost kids. I mean, we’re not involved in any of this. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You never read the Hardy Boys when you were a kid?”
She shook her head no.
“Well, if James could have backed up a truck with side mirrors-”
“Told you.” She smiled.
“We never would have had the accident, we never would have found the finger, and-”
She folded her hands and was quiet.
“What?”
“Vic. I just keep thinking about this poor guy, kidnapped, his finger being cut off, and his father not having any idea where he is.”
“That’s the last part of the story, Em. His father warned us to back off. After he begged us to keep looking. He says that if we stay involved, they may kill Vic.”
