Cut and Run

26

Friday evening, darkness settled over Houston, the sun painting the clouding sky the orange of joy, the gray of sadness. Whit wanted to drive back to the house on Timber; Eve forbade him and he decided it was a bad idea, an ambush waiting to happen. Or maybe they’d chased Gooch and he’d had to lose them and was taking his time getting home, ensuring he wasn’t followed back to Charlie’s house. The news came on; there was no report of a shooting along the quiet of a River Oaks street. No report of a man matching Gooch’s description turning up dead.

Whit sat with Eve at Charlie’s PC, studying the data on Tasha’s disc.

‘This isn’t exactly a backup of the hard drive, Whit,’ she said.

He leaned down, looked at the spreadsheets before him. Columns of numbers with annotations and footnotes inserted beneath that made no sense to him.

‘So what is it?’

‘These spreadsheets show operations from the legit Bellini businesses. And then these are the semilegit businesses, like Alvarez Insurance. We use them to clean the money from the drug deals, by making it look like the funds are coming from legit accounts from various holding companies. But these files’ – she pointed to an array of spreadsheet icons – ‘I’ve never seen before.’

‘But she was copying from your drive.’

‘You sure she wasn’t copying from this CD onto my hard drive? You were tense. Maybe it was the other way around.’

‘I should have taken the whole laptop,’ he said.

‘Then they’d know someone had been in the house.’

‘They’d know anyway once Tasha talked.’

She shook her head. ‘Honey, you think I kept records so a Fed with a search warrant could walk in, seize a system, and indict us? No. I switched out hard drives every few weeks and destroyed the old ones. But I kept the files that made the drug money look legitimate.’

‘So how would Tommy Bellini know if his books balanced?’

‘He and I would review them together before I destroyed the drug files. Of course that stopped after his stroke.’ She glanced at him. ‘The idea was to park a certain amount of real money in his legit interests. So you go ahead and pay the taxes on those. The rest went into his pocket, backed by the money-cleaning books. Out of that he paid salaries, expenses, and so on.’

‘And supplies. Like the coke.’

She nodded.

‘Why would Tasha have these other files and want to put them on your laptop?’ he said. ‘Unless she’s part of the frame. She’s in with Bucks.’

Eve scrolled down through the spreadsheets. ‘This looks more like an extra set of cooked books.’ She began to click open files, studying them. ‘Hey. These are files for businesses Paul doesn’t own. With lots of money parked in them. Look at these revenue figures.’

‘So why does a stripper at his club have an additional set of cooked books on a CD? Why?’

Eve frowned. ‘Let’s say Paul gives her the CD, asks her to back up the data on the laptop. Then these are extra files already on the CD – data he was keeping secret from me. I didn’t think he had operations I didn’t know about but now anything’s possible with Paul.’

‘Again, why not simply take the laptop? It’s his.’

‘Because he doesn’t want Bucks or Frank to know it’s gone.’

‘Because he suspects Bucks but doesn’t want to tip his hand,’ Whit said. ‘Or Frank’s. You said he embezzled from Paul.’ Whit leaned over her, watched the screen. ‘Let’s consider another possibility. She has these files on the disc. But did she also copy these files to the hard drive in return?’

‘Why?’

‘Part of the frame-up on you,’ he said. ‘Bucks could say you were incorrectly cooking the books with this data.’

‘Those files would have a date stamp for when they were placed on the hard drive.’ She clicked the mouse, expanded a view. ‘See. They’re showing as transferred today.’

‘But they could be edited once they were on the machine. Assuming Tasha has the computer know-how, and I’ll bet she does. Bucks didn’t want Frank around when the files were added. So he asks Tasha to do it when they’re gone.’

‘I prefer simplicity,’ Eve said. ‘She’s in bed with Paul, he wanted to know what was on that system without alerting Bucks and Frank. He’s a sneaky ass.’

‘She’s sneakier,’ he said. ‘She had that little gun hidden in a cell phone. Have you ever seen that used?’

‘No, but I’ve heard of them. Paul might’ve given it to her.’ She pointed again at the spreadsheet icons. ‘This bothers me. This data makes the Bellinis look like they’ve got way more income that is being cleaned than they actually do, in lots of places that don’t exist. I don’t believe Tommy or Paul truly has this money. So what would be the point of putting it on my computer or tying it to other Bellini financial records?’

‘What would the Feds do if they got this information?’

‘Start auditing each and every company. Start tracing the money trail. Start shutting down operations, making arrests.’ She pointed at the cooked-book files. This would make them pee in excitement.’

‘Then we have a negotiating point, right? We could put Paul in jail.’

‘And me in jail, Whit.’ She touched the back of his hand. ‘Is that what you want?’

‘I didn’t do the crime,’ Whit said.

‘No, you didn’t. I told you, I go to prison, they’ll still kill me. I have no doubt.’ She stood, walked to the window. ‘There has to be another way to use this to get Paul to back off on having me whacked.’

Whit said nothing for a few moments. He tried Gooch’s cell phone again, calling on his own cell, not wanting to call on Charlie’s home number. No answer. ‘This isn’t right,’ he said.

‘We have to assume they got him,’ Eve said. ‘You said he was pulling away but they may have shot him.’

‘In the middle of River Oaks?’

‘He’s not here, is he?’

‘I messed up,’ Whit said.

‘No. Gooch shouldn’t have shown up there. He told me he was coming straight back here. He didn’t stick to the plan, Whit. It’s not your fault.’

‘He saved me from getting shot, and I left him.’

‘You did what he wanted.’ She touched his face.

‘Where would they take him?’

‘The Bellinis own two houses in River Oaks. The one Frank and I were in, and another, much bigger house on Lazy Lane.’ She crossed her arms. ‘Lazy Lane’s a street where practically every house has a guard station. Dogs roaming property. Heavy protection. If they take Gooch there we’ll never get in.’

‘We’re not abandoning him.’

‘Paul owns a house down in Galveston, too, but it’s for sale. I doubt they would head down there.’

‘I can’t risk Gooch’s life. I’m calling the police,’ Whit said.

‘And tell them what?’ Eve asked.

‘Everything,’ he said.

‘Will that help your dad, Whit?’ she asked. ‘You want him to see you in jail before he dies?’

‘Your concern for my dad is a little late,’ Whit said. ‘Like thirty years.’

‘I’m more concerned for you.’

‘And your own hide.’

‘Sure,’ she said. ‘You have me pegged, anyway. What I did to you defines every aspect of me as a person, right?’

‘Yes,’ Whit said. ‘Would anyone ignore abandoning your family in estimating your character?’

‘I suppose not.’ She sat down on the couch. ‘Call them, then. They’ll arrest the both of us. Me for the felonies I’ve committed, you for the knowledge of them. That’s at least three years in prison, Whit. You already turned your back on law and order, baby.’

He sat down on the couch, put his face in his hands.

‘Whit? What are you going to do?’ she asked quietly.

His cell phone buzzed. He answered it, praying it was Gooch. ‘Hello?’

‘Whit? It’s Claudia.’

‘Hey,’ he said, his stomach sinking at the sound of her voice.

‘Thank God,’ she said. ‘You’re okay?’

‘Sure,’ he said.

‘I’m in Houston. Did you know about Harry Chyme?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It was on the news. I’m so sorry, Claudia.’

‘Had Harry found your mom, Whit? Tell me.’ A crackle marred Claudia’s voice on the line. ‘Whit? Did you hear me?’

‘No, he hadn’t found her,’ Whit said. Seeing how the lie tasted in his mouth. ‘I talked with him briefly, he said he thought Eve Michaels was in Houston, but I didn’t hear anything more from him.’

‘Are you still in Houston?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Where? I want to see you. Now.’

‘This is a bad time, Claudia. Really. I can’t talk right now.’

‘I’m staying at a Hampton Inn near the Galleria. I came to Houston to find you, find out what happened to Harry. And you are going to tell me what the hell’s going on. When I heard Harry was found dead with a man, and you had gone to Houston… I’ve been scared to death. I’ve left you messages, why haven’t you called?’

‘I’m sorry, Claudia. I’m sorry. Go back to Port Leo, okay? I’m okay and I’ll talk with you later.’

‘Whit, for God’s sakes, this is me!’

‘You’re one of my best friends, Claudia, and I love you and I don’t want you involved in this. I’m sorry. Go home.’ And he clicked off the phone.

‘Girlfriend?’ Eve asked.

‘No. Good friend.’

‘I didn’t even ask if you were married. Or had been.’

‘I haven’t been. But I won’t be bringing a girl home to meet you.’

‘You shouldn’t. I would probably scare a nice girl.’

He said nothing.

Eve sat next to him on the couch. ‘They will torture Gooch if they have to, Whit. They’ll blow the fingers off his hand one by one. Cut off his balls. Cut him so he bleeds to death an inch at a time. Strangle him until he’s nearly dead then give him the gift of breath back. Then strangle him. Again and again, till he’s begging to die. He’ll tell them where we are. We’ve got to find a new place to hide.’

They’ll never break Gooch,’ Whit said. ‘If he’s dead and beyond our help, we’re too late. If he’s not, he’ll never turn on us.’

‘Whit. He’s an incredible person. I can tell that. But these people will break him.’

‘Tell me. Have you seen them hurt people before?’

‘Yes,’ she said after a moment.

‘And did nothing.’

‘Stop judging me, Whitman.’ Her voice was as low as a whisper.

‘If I were judging you, I would be walking out the door. I would never have even tried to find you. Because I did, Harry is dead. Gooch may be dead. I don’t blame you. I blame me.’

‘Whit…’ Her voice softened.

‘My choices,’ he said. ‘So I got to fix it. I’m calling the cops. But you, take Gooch’s van and go. You’re good at hiding, they’ll never find you. You leave. I’ll stay to get Gooch.’

‘Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you to face this alone.’

‘You have to, because if I call the cops you’ll be arrested.’

She put her face in her hands, shook her head.

‘And I lose you all over again,’ Whit said. ‘But I can’t let them hurt Gooch.’

She looked up at him. ‘What if there’s another option?’

He got up, walked to the window, let the drape drop down. ‘I don’t know how to beat these people.’

She followed him to the window. Slowly, awkwardly, she hugged him. His arms tensed under hers. She rested her head against his chest and he let his breath loose.

‘I don’t have a right to hug you, son,’ she said. ‘But pretend I do, okay?’

He stood there in the fading light, his mother holding him and his heart fractured along a thousand fissure lines, a thousand hurts, a thousand wishes. The house was quiet and he listened to the hush of her breath. Slowly he hugged her back.

‘I’ll make it all right, son,’ she said.

Her cell phone, tucked in her purse, rang. She broke the hug and went to the purse, dug it out, clicked it on. ‘Yes?’

She listened for a moment, then handed Whit the phone. ‘Bucks. He wants to speak to you.’

‘Hello?’

‘Your friend is made of stern stuff,’ Bucks said. ‘I’m impressed.’

‘Is he alive?’

‘For now.’

‘Prove it to me.’

‘He’s unconscious. Not in good shape.’

‘How do I know you have him?’

‘Hmmm,’ Bucks said. ‘His name is Gooch but his ID says Jim O’Connor.’

Whit closed his eyes ‘I assume you’re not just calling to gloat.’

‘Of course not. I’m calling to discuss Gooch’s future.’

‘I’m listening.’

‘I’ll guarantee Gooch’s safety. You give me half of the five million. You keep the other half.’

‘We don’t have the money,’ Whit said.

‘I think it would hurt poor Gooch’s feelings to know you don’t value his life.’

‘I do. But we don’t have the money,’ Whit said again, but then thinking: maybe Gooch told them we do to keep them from killing him, so play along to buy time, dumbass. But if Bucks has the money, this is nothing but a trap.

He had to choose. Now.

‘There are people hunting you right now, asshole. People who make me look like an Eagle Scout, okay? This is really your best option. And I’ve got a 9-millimeter aimed right between Gooch’s eyes at the moment. He’s asleep and he’ll never know what hit him. I suppose that’s a mercy. Oh, wait, I feel a hand spasm coming on-’

‘Okay,’ Whit said. ‘Okay. I’ll deal.’ Eve stared at him, shook her head.

‘You have until tomorrow at six p.m.,’ Bucks said. I’ll call you back with details. Call the police, the Feds, your friend dies. In a fashion that won’t be pleasant. And then we’ll come after you and Eve anyway.’

‘Since we’re negotiating,’ Whit said. ‘There’s a little matter of way cool data we have. Computer records about Paul Bellini’s accounts. The paper trail that leads to fat federal indictments. Release Gooch. Tell Paul to cancel the hit on Eve. Right away.’

There was silence for a moment, then a soft laugh. ‘I admire the ballsitude, man. Truly. You’re a focused individual. But I know what was on that computer, and it was crap that doesn’t matter. That laptop’s got nothing. You think I wouldn’t check her files as soon as Eve went running? Whatever you got, it’s nothing to me. Six o’clock tomorrow, man. I’ll call you back with details.’ He hung up.

‘Jesus,’ Whit said. ‘Is he a moron?’ He told Eve what had been said.

‘Bucks has the money,’ she said. ‘It’s a trap.’

‘I don’t think he does.’ But then Whit stopped, thought it through. ‘Unless Paul was listening in on that call and it’s all for show. And Bucks knows we’ll say we have the money just to save Gooch.’

‘That’s a distinct possibility,’ she said.

‘But then, why not spring the trap immediately? Why give us until tomorrow to deliver the money?’

Eve shook her head. ‘The money’s got to be due to Kiko in the next day or so. If they have it earlier, they can close the deal earlier. Bucks doesn’t want that deal closed now.’

Whit rubbed his face, paced. ‘I don’t think Paul was on that call. More likely Bucks wants Paul and Kiko both badly off-balance. He could have taped that call, play it for insurance if he needs it. It makes him look better than us, even when he said he’d deal for half the money. The question is who has the money, and I’ve just admitted to it. Shit!’ He punched hard at the sofa cushions.

She hugged him. ‘It’s okay, you did it for Gooch. But let’s keep our thinking simple and clear, Whit,’ Eve said. ‘I still think Bucks has the money right now. He needs as many fingers pointing away from him as possible. So he keeps Gooch as a tool to keep us in line but also as a means to delay the deal – he can say he’s in negotiations with us that only stay open as long as Gooch is alive. He’s got our hands tied and Paul’s hands tied. Either until he can vanish with the money or cut a separate deal with Kiko that shuts out Paul and leaves him on top.’

‘And he’s not afraid of the cooked-book computer records. That doesn’t make sense. He should be scared to death-’

‘But he’s not,’ Eve said. ‘Because he’s not staying with the Bellinis, so he’s not worried about getting caught with them. He’s playing every side against the other because he’s flying.’

‘I played right into his hands,’ Whit said. ‘He-’

Eve put a finger to his lips. ‘Someone just came in the back door,’ she whispered.