Cold in July

10

“I told you to stay away from there,” Price said.

We were in the police assembly room, which served as a kind of lounge, and like everything else about the station, it surprised me. It was cool and clean. The vending machines were well stocked.

Price looked his usual sharp self. Today he wore a gray suit with a maroon shirt and striped tie, and his shoes were as shiny as ever.

“I know,” I said. “But he wouldn’t have left me alone if I’d stayed home. He’s been asking around about me. Even went to the newspaper morgue to read about me, saw pictures so he could identify me.”

Price ran a hand over his face as if trying to reshape it. “Anyone overhear you two?”

“No.”

“Tell me exactly what he said.”

I did.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if the two of you were overheard. No real threat there. He even told you to have a nice day.”

“It’s the way he said it.”

“You got zip. Maybe if someone could testify that the tone of his voice was threatening, you might have something, but not much. Besides, you haven’t got anyone.”

“Can I get protection for my family?”

“Officially he hasn’t done anything.”

“He’s an ex-con.”

“He served his time… Look, I believe he threatened you, I do. But it doesn’t amount to anything officially. I don’t make all the decisions around here either. Even if I wanted to post someone to watch your family I haven’t got a legal reason to do it. If you’re lucky, he’ll go away. He could just be worked up over things. That’s natural. No crime in seeing the man who killed your son. If he wanted to harm you, he could have done that at the cemetery.”

“It isn’t me he wants, it’s my son. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son.”

“All right, listen up tight, Mr. Dane. Unofficially, I can give you protection for a couple of days. It might get my ass in a crack, but I’ll do it. It’s possible the chief will pull me off of it if he finds out, but we’ll give it a shot, even if I have to do it myself. I’ll have a car watch your place, and we’ll check with you from time to time.”

“You said a couple of days. That’s all you can do?”

“Two days, Mr. Dane. That’s it.”

“And what if he waits until the third day?”

“He makes a real threat you can prove, we’ll move in on him. I’ll run a check on him in the meantime, and my suggestion to you is to get another gun, sleep light, and hope he leaves town. I think there’s a good chance he will.”

“I don’t find that too goddamn reassuring. You said he was dangerous. You’re punishing me for not listening to you.”

“That’s stupid. He is dangerous. But I can’t do a thing unless he tries something. Innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Dane.”

“When does this protection begin?”

“Tonight. That’s as soon as I can arrange it. I can’t make a big deal out of it. We’re short-manned as it is.”

“In LaBorde?”

“More goes on here than you think, Mr. Dane. A lot more. I want yo u to describe his car. If you’re lucky, he stole it. That would be something to hold him on, and with him being an ex-con, it would be a quick trip back to the pen. Perhaps for good this time.”

I didn’t know the license plate number, but I gave him a good description of the car, for what that was worth. There must have been a lot of old, blue Ambassadors around.

Though I didn’t much feel like it, I shook Price’s hand and went outside. I understood his position, but I didn’t much care for it.

Standing there on the edge of the parking lot, I thought about Russel and his son and tried to imagine them at home together; Ben on the floor playing with little Freddy, or maybe sitting around in his bathrobe Christmas morning, laughing while the boy unwrapped his presents. But these weren’t visions I could hang onto. I could more easily imagine him teaching the boy to beat a lock or hotwire a car.

Then I got to thinking about what Russel had said about my son, and I got mad again, then scared. I drove over to the day school on North Street to get Jordan early. I planned to call Ann from there and tell her I had him and where she could meet us.

When I pulled into the church parking lot I saw Russel’s Ambassador and Russel was standing over by the dumpster, smoking a cigarette.

I parked near his car, got out, made a point of. memorizing the license plate this time, and went over to him.

Russel looked at his watch. “I didn’t think your boy got out until three-forty-five.”

I swung at him with everything I had. He rolled his head like a boxer to avoid it, but I caught him some on the jaw and the punch was hard enough to move his head and send his cigarette flying out of his mouth.

I brought the left around and tried to coldcock him, but he blocked that with his right forearm and stepped back out of range of any more blows.

“You hit pretty hard for a frame builder, Dane. You got to watch dropping your shoulder and roundhousing though. Gives your punch away, takes half the sting out.”

“You sonofabitch,” I said.

“Could be,” he said, and he got out a fresh cigarette and lit it. I stood there breathing heavy as I watched him take a puff and put the lighter back in his pocket. I watched to see if his hands were trembling. They weren’t. But mine were.

“Been to the cops yet? That’s what I figured you’d do. Go straight to them. I think you’re of the opinion that I’m threatening you and your family.”

I wanted to tear back into him, but he’d taken my shots so easily, I figured, sixty or not, he could mop up the parking lot with me.

“I told you once to stay away from my family. I won’t tell you again.”

“Careful, Dane,” he said. “You keep threatening me like that, I may have to lodge a complaint.”

I walked back to my car and drove it over to the far side of the lot and got out and walked through the side door. Once inside the glass door, I turned to see if he was still standing there.

He wasn’t, and the Ambassador was gone.