Class Act

19

Jack Coulter dug out another throwaway phone from a desk drawer and called Vinnie.

“This is Vinnie.”

“It’s Johnny,” Jack said.

“I don’t much want to hear from you,” Vinnie said.

“I just want to slip a flea into your ear. Are you where you usually are?”

“Nah, I’m in the big city, been here a couple days.”

“You might want to extend your stay a little further,” Jack said. “Be as far as possible from your friend in the trailer park.”

“I’m far enough,” Vinnie said. “Thanks.”

“Be safe.” Jack hung up. He gave some thought to old acquaintances from his former home up the Hudson. One came to mind. He called back Vinnie. “One more thing, where might I find Solly White?”

“I’ll give you a number.”

“Shoot.”

“It’s a diner in Boca. He has lunch there most days. Don’t mention I told you.”

“I never mention anything to anybody,” Jack said, then hung up. He checked his watch. Worth a try. He called the Boca number.

A woman answered, “Pizza Rumble.”

“Lemme speak to Solly White,” Jack said, reverting to his old voice.

The woman yelled, “Solly, for you!” She slammed the phone down hard.

It took Solly a moment to disengage from his pasta. “This is Solly,” he said finally.

“This is a voice from the past,” Jack said. “Don’t mention any names.”

“Gotcha, pal.”

“Call me back at this number when you’re done with lunch.” He gave Solly another throwaway number.

“Half an hour,” Solly said, then hung up.

The throwaway rang on schedule. “Yeah?”

“Well, I’ll be fucked,” Solly said. “I heard you had flown the coop, but I never...”

“You want some profitable work?”

“Depends on how profitable.”

“Fifty G’s. Half now, half when the work’s done.”

“That’s an interesting number.”

“Can you put your hands on some military-grade fireworks?”

“Depends. Who do I have to vaporize?”

“Nobody, just a trailer.”

“Trailers are in trailer parks. Lots of people.”

“This one is all by its lonesome. And it’ll be empty of people at, say, three am.”

“Near here?”

“A few miles.”

“When do you want the trailer to go away?”

“Tonight would be good. Tomorrow night at the latest.”

“Where, exactly, is the thing parked?”

“At the south end of the parking lot at Hialeah track. You’ll have to cut through a chain-link fence.”

“Sounds doable. Let me swing by there and take a look. I’ll call you back in a couple of hours.”

“Good.”

“How big a bang do you want to make?”

“Just big enough to shred the trailer. You can plant the plastic with a cell phone, then set if off from a distance.”

“Good idea. I’ll call you after I’ve checked it out.”

“Right. This phone is okay for a couple more calls.”

Jack watched an old movie on TV, then the phone rang. “Yeah?”

“It’s doable. How about the money?”

“Give me an account number, and I’ll wire you half now, the rest when it’s done.”

“Can you do it from offshore?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, here’s an offshore account number.” He read out a series of numbers. “Offshore to Offshore, that’s secure. I can get it done tonight. I’ve got the goods in stock.”

“Don’t call me in the middle of the night,” Jack said.

“Switch your ringer off. I’ll leave a message saying the flight took off on time. Then you wire the rest.”

“As soon as the bank opens,” Jack said. “Good luck.”

“If I do my job right, I won’t need luck.”

Jack called a number in the Bahamas and gave some wiring instructions.

Solly spent a little more than an hour at his workbench. All he needed was some duct tape, a couple of brackets for backup, some wire, and a throwaway. Most of the time was spent setting up the phone to operate as planned.

Around one in the morning he drove through half-deserted surface streets to Hialeah and found his way to the wrong side of the parking lot fence. He immediately saw something he hadn’t counted on. There was a light burning in the trailer. Somebody working late? Solly didn’t like killing people, and he didn’t take jobs where that was a serious possibility.

He shut down the engine, took a pair of track binoculars, 10x50s, and sighted through a trailer window. He could see half of a lamp burning, probably on a table or desk. He watched for a full five minutes and never saw a person or a moving shadow. He’d need a closer look.

Solly decided to cut through the fence there, behind a bush planted on the other side. He used his bolt cutters, and the work went quickly. He took his toolbox, already packed, from the trunk of the car, pressed down on the flap he had created, and stepped through the fence into the bush. Getting through the plant was harder than he had planned.

Then something happened. A second light went on inside the trailer. Solly crouched down into the plant, becoming one with it. Then came a sort of sucking noise, and the second light went out, then the first, then Solly heard the metallic sound of a door opening and closing, then silence.

Solly bulled his way through the fence, picked up his toolbox and his bolt cutters, and ran for his car. He got in, started the engine, but did not turn on the headlights. He was pointed toward the trailer, but he didn’t see anything. He opened the car door, stood outside, and looked around. The trailer had disappeared.