“That girlfriend of yours isn’t much of a looker,” he said.
A chill ran down my back. I tried to turn to look at him, but he yanked the chain on my cuffs.
“She’s got all them tattoos, though,” he continued. “I’d guess she’s a wild one. Am I right?”
I imagined Annalise backhanding Luke’s head off his shoulders. “Watch your step with her.”
Luke grabbed the back of my collar and slammed my head against the bars. My eyes filled with stars. I spun and fell against the metal bench. When I looked at him again, he had a nine-millimeter pointed at my head.
“A little caution might be a good idea right now, son. A little common sense, if you get my point.”
I felt my head. There was no blood, but I’d have a fine lump in a couple of hours. And it hurt like a bastard.
Part of me wished he’d pull the trigger. I was sick of being chased, threatened, and left in the dark. A bullet, at least, would be a clean end.
“Common sense has never been my strong suit,” I heard myself say.
Luke holstered his weapon. “Guess we’ll have to work on that together,” he said. He smiled at me and left.
I could, with a little concentration, summon my ghost knife, but I’d never tried it from farther than a few yards. I wondered if I could call it from all the way across town.
I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the pain in my head. The ghost knife had power, and that power recognized me. I didn’t understand it any more than your average stickup man understands the chemical composition of the gunpowder in his nine-mil, but I knew how to make it work. I closed my eyes and concentrated.
I couldn’t feel it. It was too far away.
Crap. With my ghost knife, I could have cut myself out of this cell in a few seconds. I planned to try again when my head cleared, but I wasn’t hopeful.
The door opened and a woman walked into the hall. She looked past sixty, and she wasn’t handling the years well. Her face was pale, and the pouches under her eyes were the color of storm clouds. Her hair looked as though she’d cut it herself without looking in a mirror. Her mouth moved ceaselessly: she licked her lips, chewed them, pursed them, twisted them into a frown. She carried a stack of files.
“You’re the fellow who…” She broke off. I waited for her. “Why did you help Harlan Semple?”
I didn’t say
“My nephew.” She glanced at the door behind her. She didn’t want to be caught talking to me.
“How is he? I wanted to visit him, but I haven’t had time.”
“He’s stable now, after a bad night and day. They said you saved his life. Why did you do it? Did you know him?”
“No, I don’t know him, and I’m not sure why I did it.”
“Did he… did he say why he was doing what he was doing?”
“You mean shooting up the town?” She didn’t flinch. She just stared at me with the blank eyes of a hungry bird. “He said it was because of his daughters. He said he had two daughters, but they disappeared. He said kids have been disappearing from the whole town, but he’s the only one who remembers.”
She shook her head. “That poor, crazy-headed boy.” “Did he have two daughters?” I asked her. “He didn’t have anyone. His wife took up with… someone else after he was hurt. He was all by himself.” I didn’t believe a word of it, but I was sure she believed it. She reached up and wearily wiped her eyes. I noticed a nasty scar on her hand.
“Is that a bite mark?” I asked. “A dog bite?” She became flustered and started toward the exit. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Do you want to help your bosses?”
That stopped her. She glanced nervously at the door, then came back toward me.
I didn’t get off the bench. I had to present this next bit carefully. She was obviously terrified of the Dubois brothers, and being so close to them every day meant she was probably desperate to keep them happy. She wouldn’t pass on any information that might irritate Emmett or his boys.
“I don’t care what you folks here get up to, understand?” I used a high voice and kept my head and shoulders as low as I could without breaking eye contact. She still stared at me dubiously. “Honestly, I don’t care. The only thing I care about is avoiding trouble.” “You’re not very good at it, though, are you?” I smiled. “I’m trying. Listen, I’m just a driver. Annalise, my boss, is the one in charge. And she’s rich. Very rich.” Her mouth twisted. “She doesn’t look rich.” “She’s eccentric, you know what I mean?” She folded her arms. “Why are you telling me all this?” “Just make sure your bosses know to be careful around her. If something happens to her, her people will be all over Hammer Bay. Politicians, lawyers, state cops, private investigators, newspaper people, the whole works. They’ll start talking to everyone in the town, auditing tax records, the whole deal. I’ve seen it happen.”
“I still don’t know why you’re telling me,” she said stubbornly. “Everyone here is completely professional. She doesn’t have anything to worry about.”
Of course she didn’t have anything to worry about. But I didn’t want to deal with the fallout if Annalise pinched off Luke Dubois’s head.
“Come on, ma’am,” I said. “Don’t kid a kidder. Luke Dubois stood right outside this cell and made a crack about her. He needs to know.”
“So you’re trying to help him, too?”
“Luke Dubois burst into my motel room and shot the place up, then he banged my skull against these bars. I wouldn’t piss on him if his hair was on fire. But I don’t want to sit through another deposition, or give more statements to state cops and private eyes. I just want to get through the next couple of days without some damn catastrophe falling on my head.”
