Small crimes

Chapter 16

I drove aimlessly. At first I was numb, no thoughts, nothing, and then a raw, cold panic overtook me. I knew Dan was serious about his ultimatum, and I knew if I was still alive by Wednesday it wouldn't much matter anyway. After Manny signed his deal and gave his deathbed confession, it would be as good as over for me.

I tried to think of some way out, but all I could come up with were nutty ideas; like sneaking into the hospital and overdosing Manny myself, or using the sixty-three hundred dollars I had left to bribe an orderly to do the job for me. As I said, they were nutty ideas, and they would've sent me straight to prison, but that was all I could come up with. After a while I started thinking of Phil, of whether there was a chance I could get away with hiding somewhere near his front door with a hunting rifle.

The panic hit me hard, harder than the other day at Kelley's. It got to the point where I could barely breathe. As I drove, a numbness spread through my legs and arms. I felt as if my limbs were dead and no longer a part of me. And the coldness, Jesus; it was like ice cubes were being pushed into my skull. Then all at once I knew I was going to black out. The world started tilting sideways on me and it was all I could do to pull over, crawl out of my car, and curl up on the side of the road.

I didn't black out. I came close, but I was able to fight through it. After a while I pushed myself up into a sitting position, grabbed my knees, and rocked back and forth until I felt I could stand. Then I got to my feet.

My clothes were drenched through with sweat. It took about all the strength I had, but I hobbled to the trunk, opened it, and pulled out my duffel bag. I found some clean clothes and changed there by the side of the road. I had to rest for a while, and then after dumping the duffel bag back into the trunk, I got into the driver's seat, and just sort of collapsed.

For a long time all I could do was hold my head in my hands. I felt so lousy. I started to think how a few lines of coke would make me feel so much better, how it would help clear out the cobwebs clouding my head. After a while that was all I could think of. It got to the point where I could almost taste cocaine in the back of my throat.

I forced my head up and looked in my rearview mirror. I looked as bad as I felt. My skin was so damn pale and my eyes so damn red. I steeled myself, and then started the car and pulled back onto the road. My hands shook as I drove. I decided I'd make a quick trip to Kelley's. And, as I told myself, I wanted to see Earl anyway and let him know there were no hard feelings about his affidavit.

Kelley's was more crowded than the other night. I ended up having to create a makeshift parking spot next to the dumpster. Before going in, I read over the copy of Earl's affidavit that Junior had given me, and then folded it into my jacket's inside pocket.

The same biker type from the other night looked me over at the door. Inside, the place was jammed. Every seat around the stage was filled and every table was taken. Springsteen's 'My Hometown' blasted over the speakers, and I glanced in the direction of the stage and saw a dark brunette slip out of her G-string. The way I was feeling it made no impact. I headed towards the bar, spotted Earl pouring some draft beers, and nodded at him. He noticed me and gave me a cold eye back in return. The bar was mostly empty. I pulled up a stool so I could sit across from him.

'How'ya doing, Earl,' I said.

He lifted his eyes towards me. 'Man, you look like shit.'

'Yeah, well, I'm feeling kind of crappy.'

'So you had to come here to spread the wealth, huh? Infect me and my girls and my customers?'

'I don't think I have anything contagious. Probably just suffering from allergies.' I lowered my voice. I could really use a few lines. Whatever it costs.'

'I don't know what you're asking.'

I took twenty dollars out of my wallet and placed it on the bar. 'Come on, Earl, my head's a mess right now. Three lines. That's all.'

'Wait a second. You trying to buy coke from me? That's illegal, man.'

I stared at him and he gave me a dead-eyed stare right back.

'Fine,' I said. 'Make it a beer and a shot of whiskey.'

He took the twenty bucks off the bar. When he came back, he brought me my drinks and twelve bucks change.

'Look,' I said, 'if this is about the affidavit, I have no hard feelings about it.'

'Why should you? I swore on the Bible before I filled that out. You think I perjured myself?'

'Cut the crap, okay, I know you made a deal with Junior.'

'You calling me a liar?'

A vein along his neck was twitching and the muscles in his arms and shoulders had bunched up. He had a look in his eyes that I had seen a couple of times in the past. Once, right before he cracked this guy's skull who was shooting off his mouth about different crap. Another time before he nearly beat two guys to death for harassing one of his girls. On a good day, I'd be able to hold my own against him, but as weak as I was feeling I knew he'd kill me.

I took the whiskey in one swallow and then followed that up with a healthy drink of beer. Earl stood frozen in malice, his vein still twitching away. I held the beer bottle so I could use it if I had to, although I didn't think it would do me much good.

'I swear, Earl, I don't have a clue what this is about.'

'One of my girls died today.'

'Yeah, I heard. I'm sorry.'

'Yeah, thanks. You know, that's why we're so crowded tonight. Everyone wants to pay their last respects. Is that why you're here, Joe?'

I didn't say anything. I just kept watching his vein, watching as it beat faster than a rabbit's heart.

'It's funny,' he said. 'I never knew about Susie and that DA until today, but what I've been hearing since is that this had been going on for six months. Funny thing is Rooster doesn't get a call till you've been out of jail for… how many days? Three?'

'Four,' I said.

His lips separated from his teeth, revealing a thin, bare-fanged smile. 'Yeah, four days. Why do you think that is?'

'I swear, Earl, I had nothing to do with this.'

'Why don't you guess anyway?'

I shook my head and gave a half-hearted shrug.

'No guess, huh?' He edged closer towards me. 'Hey, man, you want to know something else that's funny? Whoever called Rooster left his name as Joe.'

That sonofabitch. That was all I could think. That sonofabitch. I could just picture Dan chuckling to himself over that one.

'You think I'd be that stupid?' I asked, trying to look as dumbfounded as possible. 'You think I'd call and leave my name?

Come on, Earl, use your brains. You want to know why this happened a few days after I got out of jail? Because whoever did this waited until I got out of jail before calling.'

He had been edging towards me, but that stopped him in his tracks. A perturbed expression crossed his face, and then he slowly started nodding to himself as he thought over what I said. I guess he decided to give me the benefit of the doubt. He showed me a sheepish grin and refilled my shot glass.

'Hey, man,' he said. I could've killed you a minute ago. Damn.'

My hand shook as I picked up the shot glass. I got most of the whiskey down my throat, and only a little of it down the front of my shirt. I signaled for another shot and Earl obliged.

'Okay, so that's what's behind your affidavit,' I said. 'I can understand that, and I can understand Junior offering you a break, but you know what you wrote's a load of crap. Any way you can back out of it, claim you were coerced by Junior?'

'Hey, man, I'm not talking about that paper. I can't do anything about it now.'

'You know it's bullshit.'

'I don't know nothing like that. I'm sorry about it, but I'm not saying another word, man. Sorry.'

I started to open my mouth. I was going to say something else, but I saw it was pointless. The whiskey had taken a tiny bit of the edge off, not much, but a tiny bit. I still badly wanted the coke.

I sighed. 'Well, how about those lines, then. How much?'

He thought about it, but shook his head.

'Can't do it, man,' he said.

'Why not?'

'I have this rule. If I fuck someone, I can't give them a chance to fuck me back.'

'Wait, what you're telling me is because you screwed me with that affidavit, you're going to keep screwing me?'

'Sorry.'

A couple of guys had come over to the bar to change their tens and twenties into singles. Earl turned his back on me.

My hands were still shaking and my head was now throbbing. I got off the stool and took a couple of steps towards the exit and stopped. I remembered Toni, how she had no problem scoring coke the other night. Any of the girls could. I turned and started towards the stage area when someone grabbed my arm.

'Hey, Joe, just the man I wanted to see.'

I looked down and saw Scott Ferguson. He was wasted, his eyes barely able to focus on me. He pushed himself to his feet, and held onto my arm for support.

'I need to ask you more about Vassey,' he said.

I had no choice. I walked him back towards the bar where we would have more privacy.

'It don't make any sense,' he said. 'Why would Vassey's kid kill Billy? If Billy had the money he owed, what would be the point? It don't make any sense.'

'Maybe he was stubborn about giving up his money.'

Ferguson made a face. 'I'll tell you something about Billy,' he said. 'He was a pussy. He would've paid in a second if he thought he'd get hurt. I've been asking around, and from what I hear Vassey's kid worships his old man. He wouldn't try ripping him off. So why in the world would he kill Billy?'

'I don't know whether Junior killed your brother or not,' I said, 'but I told you the other day,; the guy's a psycho. He gets off on hurting people, and if he was collecting from your brother my guess is he got carried away.'

All I could think of was getting free of him. Whatever I had to do to speed it up. I took Earl's affidavit from my jacket pocket and handed it to him.

'Read this,' I said. 'I talked to Earl and he admitted to me that he manufactured it for Junior. As you can see, Junior's already trying to cover his tracks.'

Ferguson's doughy features hardened as he stared at the affidavit. It took him a while, but he got through it.

'How come you're mentioned in it?' he asked, his expression turning more surly.

'Because Junior's creating himself an alibi, and at the same time pointing the finger at me.'

'Why you?'

'I guess he thinks it's plausible. I just got out of jail. People here in Bradley don't feel all that favorable towards me, and I guess no one would really care if I got charged with something like this. I'm as good a patsy as anyone.'

As Ferguson mulled over what I said, I took the affidavit out of his hands and slipped it back into my inside jacket pocket.

'Hey, I wanted to keep that!'

'Sorry, I need it.'

His eyes narrowed and his lips compressed, and he looked like all the other drunks I've seen over the years before they threw their first punch. He inched closer to me, his breath smelling like an open bottle of bourbon.

'How do I know there's not a good reason for pointing a finger at you?'

'If there was, I would've had Earl fill out an affidavit for me long before he did this one.'

He thought about what I said, mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear, and then seemed to lose interest in me. I watched as he staggered back to his table.

I walked around the room so I could get to the stage without having to pass Ferguson again. There were no empty seats, so I squeezed in near the loudspeakers. I took out a twenty and signaled with it. A tall, skinny blonde was now onstage. She spotted the twenty and came over. I started to slip the bill under her garter belt, but she moved my hand so I would slide it in under her G-string. Up close, she had way too much makeup on, and her face almost seemed to crack when she smiled. She leaned over and whispered in my ear about us partying alone in one of the back rooms when her set was done. I nodded. I didn't care who she was or what she looked like. All I could think about was the cocaine.

She lingered on, trying to give me my twenty dollars' worth, and trying to make sure I'd stick around after her set was over. After she moved away, she kept smiling over at me, even when other guys were slipping dollar bills under her garter belt. When she moved a certain way I caught sight of a dark bruise along the inside of her thigh. I wondered briefly what her makeup was covering up. It didn't matter to me, though. I was still going to join her in a private room. And if I had to screw her first to get the cocaine, I'd do that also.

I felt a small hand rubbing my shoulder, and then a voice next to me yelling, 'Hey!' I turned and saw Toni grinning wickedly. She looked even more stunning than the other day. She was also wearing less – only a sheer black negligee and panties.

She tried saying something to me, but I couldn't hear her over the music. She got on her toes and talked into my ear, her breath hot against me. The touch of her lips made my spine tingle.

'I still owe you something from the other night,' she said. 'What do you say, Joe? You want to go somewhere private and finish what we started?'

I reached down to ask whether she could get her hands on more coke. The scent of her made me dizzy. She told me she could. She took hold of my hand and led me around the speakers and through the curtains separating the back hallway.

The room we took was identical to the one we were in before. Toni locked the door and told me to relax. I sat back on the carpeted bench. As she came towards me, she was still grinning that same wicked grin.

'You got the coke?' I asked.

'First things first,' she said.

She reached her hand towards me. I thought she was reaching to caress my cheek, but she quickly brought her hand back and nailed me good. She couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds and her clenched fist was less than a third the size of mine, but her punch snapped my head back. She must've got me with the side of her fist – the fleshy part above the wrist – and I was damn sure she broke my nose. She got in two more punches before I could stop her. One of them rapped me in the mouth. After I pinned her against the wall, I checked with my thumb and felt a tooth move. I was lucky she didn't knock it out completely.

She was calm, but there was a white-hot intensity burning on her face.

'You should die for what you did,' she said. 'Yeah, and what did I do?’

‘You dirty bastard.'

'I've been hearing that a lot lately. So come on, what did I do?’

‘You bastard. You dirty bastard. You sent Paul to that motel room.'

'Not me. I had nothing to do with it.'

She looked like she wanted to spit in my face. As I looked at her, I realized I didn't care anymore. Screw her. Screw Dan. Screw all of them. None of it mattered.

'I know who did, though,' I said. 'He's a buddy of yours. Want to guess?'

Doubt flickered in her eyes.

'No guess, huh?' I said. 'I'll tell you, if you punched him in the nose he wouldn't be taking it as nicely as I am now. He'd probably have a couple of his deputies dig a hole in the woods to plant you in.'

I could see fear in her eyes, because she knew what I was telling her was true. It was more than that, though. If Dan ever found out she knew of his involvement, he'd take care of her just the same. She knew that also.

The fear in her was now palpable. 'You told Dan so he'd send Paul to that motel,' she said.

'No, not me.' I shook my head. 'If I had any idea he was going to do something like that I would've called Phil and warned him.'

'Why do you think it was Dan?'

'I asked him after I heard about the shooting and he admitted it to me. You have to remember, the two of us go way back.’

‘How did he find out about Susie?'

'I don't know.' I had her pinned with my forearm, and I used my free hand to gingerly touch my nose. I winced as I did. I could feel the blood dripping from my nostrils.

'Look,' I said. 'If I let go of you, you're not going to punch me again?'

She shook her head. I let go, and sat on the bench and held my head back. I pinched my nostrils to try to stop the bleeding.

'If I had to guess,' I said, talking slowly and deliberately because I was breathing in through-my mouth, 'he probably found out the same way I did. When you do coke, Toni, you get a little too free with your words. It's something you should watch.'

'You're lying.'

'Why would I lie? You think I care at all what you think?'

There was a long silence and then she started to cry. It wasn't real loud, but loud enough for me to hear it. I lifted my head and could see her bawling away, her small face screwed up in pain, her shoulders rising and lowering rhythmically. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. All I could think was, fine, let her feel half as lousy as I do. As I sat there I realized I was still craving cocaine. Even with a bloody and broken nose, if I had a few lines, I would have snorted them up without a second's thought. I guess at that point I had hit rock bottom. I just started laughing thinking about it. It hurt like hell to laugh, but I couldn't help myself.

My nose had stopped bleeding. I got to my feet,

Toni, still crying, asked, 'You won't tell Dan?'

I didn't bother answering her.

When I pushed past the curtains and into the main club, I could feel eyes turning towards me. I imagined what I looked like with my face and shirt smeared in blood. The blonde who I had given a twenty to must've seen me from behind, because I could see her out of the corner of my eye coming towards me, a plastic smile set on her face. When she caught up to me her jaw dropped. And then she backed away.

I stopped in the rest room to clean up the best I could, and then got out of there. When I got to my car, I went through my duffel bag and found my last clean shirt.

^

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^Chapter 17

I drove towards Stowe and found a ski lodge that was open off season. I could tell the desk clerk didn't like the look of me, and I couldn't blame him. I must've looked like I'd been in a street fight. It was amazing how much damage a little thing like Toni could do. But I paid cash and he gave me a room.

When I got to my room, I checked myself over in the mirror and saw that my upper lip was as swollen as it felt and that my nose was indeed broken. I left the room to fill up an ice bucket, and when I returned I wrapped ice in two hand towels, lay down on the bed, and placed one towel against my nose and the other against my mouth. As I lay there I tried to think about what I could do, but I guess I was too tired and too wiped out, and at some point I drifted off.

Right before waking, I dreamed that I was back with Elaine and my two daughters, and it was like we were a family again. We were in our old house, but it still seemed like the present. Melissa and Courtney looked like they did in the photographs, both blonde and pretty, both in their teens. Elaine was like she was the,} other day when I saw her in Albany except instead of a cold and indifferent attitude towards me, she was warm and relaxed.

We were all sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. My two^; girls acted like typical teenagers, rolling their eyes when I asked them questions about how their day went and stuff like that, but at times someone would make a joke and everyone would get a laugh out of it. It felt nice. Near the end, Elaine got up and moved behind me so she could massage my neck and shoulders. My girls giggled at that.

The phone started ringing. Elaine very sweetly asked whether I would answer it. 'Not now,' I said. 'But it might be important.’

‘Why don't we ignore it?’

‘You should answer it, Joe.’ I really don't want to.’

‘Joe-’

‘Okay, okay.'

Then my eyes opened wide and the dream was gone. It took me a moment to realize where I was. The ringing was real, though. I looked over at the phone next to my bed and watched as a red light flashed with each ring.

I didn't want to lose my dream. I wanted to somehow get back into it. I wanted more than anything to be back with Elaine and my two girls. But I was wide awake and they were gone.

I watched the phone and waited for the ringing to stop. Nobody should've known where I was. With each ring I felt my heart turning more into an icy slush. Nobody should've been calling. All I could think was that it had to be a wrong number. But I didn't answer it. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, the ringing stopped.

I waited a long time after that before sitting up. I held my breath and concentrated, trying to listen for anything out of place. The only noise I could hear was my heart skipping to a sick Irregular beat.

I was about to get out of bed when there was a hard knock on the door. I almost jumped out of my skin. There was another knock, and then a voice yelling, 'Denton, Joe Denton. This is the Stowe police. Open the door.'

I moved as quietly as I could to the door, looked through the peephole, and saw two uniformed officers standing out in the hallway. I didn't recognize either of them.

I had the chain on. I opened the door a crack, keeping my shoulder against it so they couldn't force it open.

'What do you want?' I asked.

'We have a warrant for your arrest.'

'Can I see it?'

He handed me a paper through the crack. I read it over quickly. It was for missing a meeting with my parole officer. The warrant was signed by Sheriff Dan Pleasant. I couldn't believe that Craig had reported me.

'Let me call my lawyer,' I said.

'You can call him from the station.'

'You're taking me to Stowe?'

'Yes. Now open the door.'

'Can I get dressed first?'

'Go ahead. Make it fast.'

I made it fast. When I opened the door, the officer I had talked to turned me around and cuffed me. He and his partner led me out of the room and through the lodge. We probably didn't pass more than ten people, but each of them stopped to stare as we went by. When we got to the parking lot I saw Hal Wheely and Stan Black leaning against a Bradley County sheriff s vehicle.

'You said you were taking me to Stowe,' I said.

Neither of them said anything. They were on either side of me, dragging me faster as they held me by my elbows.

I started to yell for help and something hard whacked me on the back of my head. Next thing I knew I was in the back seat of the cruiser, with Hal behind the wheel and Stan taking up the passenger seat. The back of my head throbbed, and I sat frozen from the pain for a minute before asking how they knew where to find me..

Hal asked, 'How do you think?'

'Come on, at least tell me that.'

I could see Hal through the rearview mirror smirking. I followed you last night.'

'From where, Kelley's? You spotted me there?'

His smirk widened. 'I followed you all night last night. I saw you when you crawled out of your car and curled up like a baby sucking your thumb.'

'You did a lousy job early on,' I said.

'Yeah, well, fooled you later, didn't I?'

He was still smirking, but it seemed to tighten, almost like it was etched on his face. I didn't like the glazed look in his eyes. I also didn't like the fact that Stan was being so withdrawn and quiet.

I said, I kept my mouth shut all these years. I could've sent both of you away for a long time.’

‘I appreciate it,' Hal said. 'Look, what you're doing now is nuts.’

‘Doesn't sound nuts to me.’

‘Did Dan ever tell you about my safety deposit box?’

‘Why don't you shut up?'

'Stan, what about you, you don't want this, do you?’

‘What I don't want is to go to prison because of you,' Stan said.

'Look, I told you to shut up,' Hal said.

I could see his ears turning red. Something about his tone told me that I'd better listen to him. I sat back and watched the road. As we entered Bradley County, Hal turned down a dirt path and headed towards an old quarry that was once used for swimming but had dried up years ago.

As we got closer to the quarry, I could see Dan and one of his deputies, Josh Stone, leaning against Dan's car. Hal pulled up next to them, and before I knew it, Josh and Stan were pulling me out of the back seat and dragging me onto the ground. Hal joined them as they dragged me to the edge of the quarry and then flipped me on my stomach. Knees pushed into my neck and the small of my back, pinning me to the ground. I tried to lift my head, and for a second could see Dan standing off to the side watching. Then a hand shoved my head back into the dirt. As I was pushed down, I could feel my broken nose being smeared to the side.

The handcuffs were taken off me. While I was pinned to the ground, my right arm was forced out and then bent so my hand was against the side of my face. A gun was shoved into my hand, and my hand held in place with the barrel pushed hard against my temple. Other fingers were on my trigger finger, applying pressure. I had to fight like hell to keep from pulling the trigger.

Dan said, 'Manny's still around. You promised me he'd be gone by morning. I'm getting sick of you breaking your promises.'

I was losing the fight. I could feel the trigger being pulled in. I had only seconds left.

'So long, Joe,' Dan said. 'Believe it or not, I am sorry about this.'

My mouth was being pushed into the dirt, but somehow I spat out that Manny was being taken care of.

The pressure on my finger was relaxed. Someone grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. I started gagging, spitting out the dirt I'd been forced to swallow. After I could breathe, I opened my eyes and saw that Dan had moved over to me. He was squatting, sort of sitting on his heels as he considered me.

'How is Manny being taken care of?' he asked.

'He's going to be overdosed with morphine.'

'And how is that going to happen?'

'His nurse-'

'Joe, you're lying to me again-'

'Dan, it's true. I've been seeing her. It's all set.'

'And why would a nurse do this for you?'

'She has no choice.'

"Why would that be?'

'Look, can you get them off me? My neck and shoulders are killing me.'

'Not yet. Answer my question, Joe. Why does this nurse friend of yours have no choice?'

'She's done it before where she used to work.’

‘How do you know this?'

'I played out a hunch and spoke to the Chief of Surgery at her old hospital. He suspects her of killing four of her patients.’

‘Sounds unbelievable, Joe.’

‘It's true.'

'How come she's not in prison?'

'It's hard to prove. The patient ends up dying of respiratory failure, and nothing specific to a morphine overdose will show up in the autopsy.'

His eyes shifted, and I could tell he was starting to take me seriously. 'How come she hasn't gotten rid of Manny yet?' he asked.

'She needs some time,' I said. I was grunting now because of the pain. It felt like nails were being hammered into my shoulder blades. 'She has to siphon off enough morphine from other patients to do the job. This way she doesn't have to tamper with the machines and there's no evidence of anything.'

'I don't get it. How does she overdose him without leaving a needle mark?'

'She injects the morphine into the IV tubing.'

That brought a smile to his face. 'What's her name?'

'You don't need to know.'

A shadow fell over his eyes as he nodded to his boys. All at once my trigger finger was being pulled back. 'Charlotte Boyd,' I forced out.

I struggled for another few seconds and the pressure stopped.

'1 might be giving you a reprieve, Joe,' Dan said. 'I'm not promising anything, but we'll see.'

He stood up and then my head was forced back into the dirt. I could hear one of his deputies breathing hard as I was held down. Not only was he breathing hard, he was beginning to perspire, his sweat dripping on me. I had no idea which of the three it was, but whoever, I hoped to hell he'd drop dead of a heart attack.

Dan must've gotten on his cell phone. He started yelling, 'Goddam it, Harold, I'm sheriff of this county, I have a right to be at that meeting… Well, I at least have the right to know when it is… Fuck you, after all the favors I've done for you over the years?… All right, then.'

I could hear his boots kicking up gravel as he walked back to me. My head was yanked up again, and I saw Dan sitting on his heels, smiling pleasantly.

'So, Joe, when is dear Charlotte going to do the deed?'

'Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning. It depends how long it takes to siphon off enough morphine to fill up a syringe.'

'Why should that take any time?'

'If the other patients have too much morphine taken out of their IV bags, it will raise suspicion.'

Dan sat on his heels for a good minute as he thought it over. Then he nodded at me. 'Okay, Joe,' he said. 'You got your reprieve.'

He stood up and told his boys to let me go.

The gun was taken out of my hand, and they removed their knees from my neck and back. It took me a while before I could push myself up onto my hands and knees. My neck and shoulders still hurt like hell, but I no longer felt as if nails were being driven into my joints. I got myself flipped around so I was sitting on the ground.

'You have any aspirin?' I asked.

Dan shook his head, his eyes amused. 'Sorry, Joe. I don't carry any around with me.' He turned to his deputies. 'You boys have any?' None of them bothered to move.

Dan turned back to me. 'Sorry, Joe, doesn't look like anyone's got any.' He let loose a long, disappointed sigh. I had it all worked out for today, Joe. I wrote such a nice suicide note for you. Do you want to hear it?'

I shook my head.

'Too bad. I'm pretty damn proud of it. I had you sending Frechotte to the Green Valley Motor Lodge hoping he'd kill Coakley. I also had you taking responsibility for Billy Ferguson's murder and a couple of others. But in the end, you couldn't live with what you'd done.'

'Who else was I supposed to have killed?'

'It doesn't matter.'

'So that's what Manny has on you.'

He ignored that. 'Let's get back to the business on hand. You heard me on the cell phone, right? You know who I was talking to?'

'Yeah, I know.'

'Grayson's been putting me off,' he said, somewhat bitterly. 'I've been calling him all morning. The prick finally let me know that Vassey's deal is being pushed back to Friday. I guess with the shooting yesterday, our DA friend's tied up until then.

'So here's where we stand,' he continued. I want to see Manny gone by tomorrow morning. That's your final deadline. No more reprieves. Understood?'

I nodded. I was rubbing my arms, trying to get some feeling back into them. I asked him how he had planned to explain all my bruises and cuts with a suicide.

^' Look behind you, Joe,' he said, smiling as pleasantly as ever. I turned and saw an eighty-foot drop to the bottom of the quarry.

'We'd toss you over after putting a bullet in your skull. No one would care too much about any bruises or scratches after that. But you know, Joe, even if we didn't toss you down there, I don't think anyone would really care.'

'How about those two cops in Stowe? They were going to go along with a suicide?'

'You should know me well enough to answer that one. Joe, let's hope I don't have to see you tomorrow, okay?'

He hesitated for a second, a glint of humor in his eyes. 'Just out of curiosity,' he asked, 'what happened to your face? One of my boys do that?'

I shook my head. 'I got sucker-punched.'

'Anyone I know?'

'I don't think so.'

His eyes narrowed as he studied at me. 'You should see a doctor and have your nose set properly before it's too late.’

‘Thanks for your concern.'

He laughed at that. All of them turned then and started off towards their cars. I struggled to my feet and hobbled a couple of steps forward.

'Can you have one of your boys drive me back to my motel?' I yelled out to Dan.

Without looking back, he answered that I only had a fifteen-mile walk and that it would do me some good to have some time alone to reflect on my situation. I watched as they got in their cars and drove off.

The first mile was the worst, but after that I started to loosen up. I had a bunch of scrapes and cuts, and my shirt – my last clean one – was ripped and pretty much a mess. No real damage was done, though. Once my muscles had a chance to loosen up I was okay.

I spent almost four hours walking back to the ski lodge. A few dozen cars passed me along the way. I tried thumbing for a ride, but no one bothered to stop. That was okay. It gave me a chance to think. And I have to give Dan credit. He was right, I needed that time alone to reflect on things. During the walk back I came up with a plan. It wasn't anything new. For the most part it was what I had already come up with to get back at Junior. I wasn't sure my plan would work, but even if it didn't, it would let me go out with a bang.