Live Wire

32

Big Cyndi met them at the Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey. She put Lex, the nurse, and the baby in an SUV. Big Cyndi was going to bring them to Zorra, the cross-dressing former Mossad agent, and then Zorra would find a safe house and would tell no one-not even Myron or Win-where it was. This way, Win had explained, if his plan somehow backfired and Herman Ache grabbed and tortured them, they wouldn’t be able to tell them where Lex was.

“How comforting,” Myron had said.

Win had a car waiting. Normally he’d use a driver, but why put anyone else in danger? Crisp was fully awake now. They pushed him in the backseat and redid his restraints, adding some to his legs. Myron sat in the passenger seat. Win drove.

Herman Ache lived in a legendary mansion in Livingston, scant miles from where Myron grew up. When Myron was a kid, the estate had belonged to a famed crime boss. Rumors swirled around the playground about the place. One kid said that if you crossed their property line, real-live gangsters shot at you. Another kid said that there was a crematorium behind the house where the mafia boss burned his victims.

This second rumor was actually true.

The gateposts were topped with bronze lion heads. Win took the long drive to the first landing. That was as far as they’d be able to go. They parked. Myron watched three big guys in ill-fitted suits approach. The one in the middle, the leader, was extra beefy.

Win took out both his guns and placed them in the glove compartment.

“Get rid of your weapons,” Win said. “We’re going to be searched.”

Myron looked at him. “Do you have a plan here?”

“I do.”

“Do you want to share it with me?”

“I already did. The four of us are going to chat. We will all act rationally. We will learn what we need to about your brother. We will agree not to harm their business interest if they don’t harm us. What part of this bothers you?”

“The part where you trust a psychopath like Herman Ache to act rationally.”

“He is, first and foremost, interested in business and the air of legitimacy. Killing us would harm that.”

The biggest of the beefy bruisers-he had to be six-seven, three hundred pounds-knocked on Win’s window with his ring. Win rolled down the window. “May I help you?”

“Get a load of this.” Beefy looked at Win like he was something that had just dropped out of a dog’s behind. “So you’re the famous Win.”

Win smiled brightly.

“You don’t look like much,” Beefy said.

“I could offer up several clichés-don’t judge a book by its cover, big things come in small packages-but really, wouldn’t that just go over your head?”

“You being funny?”

“Evidently not.”

Beefy lowered his brow in a Neanderthal frown. “You armed?”

“No,” Win said, pounding his chest. “Me Win. You armed?”

“Huh?”

Sigh. “No, we are not armed.”

“We’re gonna search you. Thoroughly.”

Win winked at Beefy. “I was counting on that, big boy.”

Beefy took a step back. “Get the hell out of the car before I put a hole in your head. Now.”

Homophobia. Still gets to them every time.

Usually Myron joined Win in these fearless taunts, but this situation seemed too out of control. Win left the keys in the ignition. He and Myron stepped out of the car. Beefy told them where to stand. They did as he asked. The other two men opened the back door and used straight razors to free Evan Crisp from the plastic restraints. Crisp rubbed the circulation back into his wrists. He walked over to Win and stood directly in front of him. The two men stared each other down.

“Can’t sneak up on me this time,” Crisp said.

Win gave him the smile. “Would you like to go, Crisp?”

“Very much. But right now time is short, so I’ll just have my boys here hold a gun on your friend while I pop you one. Just a little payback.”

“Mr. Ache gave specific instructions,” Beefy said. “No damaging the goods until he talks to them. Follow me.”

Beefy led the way. Myron and Win were first. Crisp and the two goons took the back. Up ahead Myron could see the dark baronial mansion that one old mobster described as “Transylvania Classic.” It fit. Man, Myron thought, it had been a big night for huge, creepy homes. As they walked, Myron swore he could hear the long-dead call out a warning.

Beefy took them through the back entrance into a mudroom. He had them walk through a metal detector, then he double-checked them with a security wand. Myron tried to remain calm, wondering where Win had hidden the weapon. There was no way he would go into this situation without one.

When he was done with the wand, Beefy did a rough handsearch on Myron. Then he moved on to Win, taking longer.

Win said, “Thorough as promised. Is there a tip jar?”

“Funny guy,” Beefy said. When he was done, Beefy took a step back and opened a closet door. He took out two gray sweat suits. “Strip down to nothing. Then you can put these on.”

“Are those one-hundred-percent cotton?” Win asked. “I have very sensitive skin, not to mention a reputation for haute couture.”

“Funny guy,” Beefy said again.

“And gray totally doesn’t work with my complexion. It completely washes me out.” But now, even Win sounded a little strained by where this was going. His tone had a whistling-in-the-dark quality to it. The other two goons snickered and took out their guns. Myron looked over to Win. Win shrugged. Not much choice now. They both stripped down to their underwear. Beefy made them take that off too. The, uh, probe was thankfully brief. Win’s homophobic jokes had worried them into not being overly meticulous.

When they finished, Beefy handed one of the sweat suits to Myron, the other to Win. “Put them on.”

They did so in silence.

“Mr. Ache is waiting in the library,” Beefy said.

Crisp led the way with a hint of a smile on his face. Beefy and the Boys stayed behind. No surprise. The Gabriel Wire situation had to be top secret. Myron guessed that no one knew about it but Ache, Crisp, and maybe an attorney on retainer. Even the security guards who worked the property didn’t know. “Maybe I should do the talking,” Myron said.

“Okay.”

“You’re right. Herman Ache will want to do what’s in his best interest. We have his golden goose.”

“Agreed.”

When they entered the library, Herman Ache was waiting with a snifter of brandy. He stood by one of those antique-globe wet bars. Win had one too. In fact, the entire room looked as though Win had done the decorating. Bookshelves lined the walls, three stories high, with a sliding ladder so that you could reach the higher volumes. The leather club chairs were burgundy. There was an oriental carpet and deep wainscoting on the ceilings.

Herman Ache’s gray toupee was a little too shiny tonight. He wore a polo shirt with a V-neck sweater underneath it. There was a logo for a golf club on the chest.

Herman pointed at Win. “I told you to leave this alone.”

Win nodded. “You did indeed.” Then Win reached into the waistband of the sweatpants, pulled out a gun, and shot Herman Ache right between the eyes. Herman Ache crumbled in a ragged heap. Myron actually gasped out loud. He turned to Win, who already had the weapon pointed at Evan Crisp.

“Don’t,” Win said to Crisp. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead too. Don’t force my hand.”

Crisp froze.

Myron just stared. Herman Ache was dead. No question about it.

Myron said, “Win?”

Win kept his eye trained on Crisp. “Search him, Myron.”

In something of a daze, Myron did as Win asked. There was no weapon. Win told Crisp to get on his knees and lace his hands behind his head. Crisp did so. Win kept the gun pointed at Crisp’s head.

“Win?”

“We had no choice, Myron. Mr. Crisp here was correct. Herman would have killed everyone dear to us.”

“What about all that talk about his business interest? What about détente?”

“Herman may have agreed for a little while, but not in the long run. You know that. The moment we discovered Wire was dead it became us or him. He would never let us live, holding that over his head.”

“But killing Herman Ache”-Myron shook his head, trying to clear it-“even you don’t just walk away from that.”

“Don’t worry about that right now.”

Crisp stayed statue-still on his knees, hands on his head.

“So what now?” Myron asked.

“Perhaps,” Win said, “I’ll kill our friend Mr. Crisp here. In for a penny, in for a pound.”

Crisp closed his eyes. Myron said, “Win?”

“Ah, don’t worry,” Win said, keeping the gun trained on Crisp’s head. “Mr. Crisp is merely a hired hand. You have no loyalty to Herman Ache, do you?”

Crisp finally broke his silence. “I don’t, no.”

“There then.” Win looked at Myron. “Go ahead. Ask him.”

Myron moved in front of Evan Crisp. Crisp looked up and met his eye.

“How did you do it?” Myron asked.

“Do what?”

“How did you kill Suzze?”

“I didn’t.”

“Well,” Win said. “Now we’re both lying.”

Crisp said, “What?”

“You’re lying about not killing Suzze,” Win said. “And I was lying about not killing you.”

Somewhere in the distance a grandfather clock started chiming. Herman Ache continued to bleed out on the floor, an almost perfect circular puddle of blood surrounding his head.

“My theory,” Win said, “is that you were not merely a hired hand on this but more likely a full partner. It doesn’t matter, really. You’re a very dangerous man. You don’t like that I got the better of you. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t like it either. So you know already. I can’t let you survive to fight another day.”

Crisp turned his head to look up at Win. He tried to meet Win’s eyes, as though that would help. It wouldn’t. But Myron could smell the fear on Crisp now. You could be tough. You could be the hardest guy around. But when you stare death in the face, only one thought comes to mind: I don’t want to die. The world becomes very simple. Survive. We don’t pray in foxholes because we are ready to meet our Maker. We pray because we don’t want to.

Crisp searched for a way out. Win waited, seeming to enjoy the moment. Win had cornered his prey and now it was as though he were playing with it.

“Help!” Crisp yelled. “They shot Herman!”

“Please.” Win looked bored. “That won’t do any good.”

Crisp’s eyes widened in confusion, but Myron saw it. There was only one way Win could have gotten that weapon: He had inside help.

Beefy.

Beefy had put the gun in Win’s sweat suit.

Win raised the barrel so that it pointed at Crisp’s forehead. “Any final words?” Crisp’s eyes darted like scattered birds. He spun his head around, hoping to find a reprieve in Myron. And then, looking up at Myron, Crisp made one last desperate move: “I saved your godson’s life.”

Even Win seemed to catch his breath. Myron moved closer to Crisp, bent down so that they were face-to-face. “What are you talking about?”

“We had a good thing going,” Crisp said. “We were all making a lot of money and, really, who were we hurting? And then Lex gets religion and ruins it. After all the years, why the hell did he open his mouth to Suzze? How did he think Herman would react to that?”

“So you were sent to silence her,” Myron said.

Crisp nodded. “So I flew into Jersey City. I waited in the garage and grabbed her when she parked. I put my gun against her belly and made her take the stairs. There are no security cameras there. It took a while. When we got up to the penthouse, I told her to overdose on the heroin or, pow, I’d shoot her in the head. I wanted to make it look like an accident or suicide. I could do it with the gun, but it would be easier with the drugs. With her past, the cops would buy an OD easy.”

“But Suzze wouldn’t shoot up,” Myron said.

“That’s right. Suzze wanted to make a deal instead.”

Myron could almost see it now. Suzze with the gun on her, not blinking. He’d been right. She wouldn’t just kill herself. She wouldn’t obey an order like that, even at gunpoint. “What kind of deal?”

Crisp risked a glance back at Win. He knew that Win wasn’t bluffing, that Win had concluded that it would be too dangerous to let Crisp live. Still, no matter what the odds, man scrambles to survive. This revelation was Crisp’s version of the last-second Hail Mary pass, his attempt to show enough humanity so that Myron would persuade Win not to pull the trigger.

Myron remembered the 9-1-1 call from the accented maintenance man. “Suzze agreed to overdose on the heroin,” Myron said, “if you called nine-one-one.”

Crisp nodded.

How had he not seen it before? You couldn’t force Suzze to take the heroin. She too would scramble to save her life. Except under one condition.

“Suzze would do what you asked,” Myron went on, “under the condition that you gave her child a chance to live.”

“Yes,” Crisp said. “We made a deal. I promised to make the call the moment she shot up.”

Myron’s heart broke anew. He could almost see Suzze coming to the realization that if she were shot in the head, her unborn son would die with her. So yes, she had scrambled, not to save herself, but to save her child. Somehow she had found a way. It was risky. If she died from the overdose right away, so might the baby. But at least it gave him a chance. Suzze probably knew how heroin overdoses work, how they slowly shut down the system, that there would be time.

“And you kept your promise?”

“Yes.”

Myron asked the obvious question: “Why?”

Crisp shrugged and countered with: “Why not? There was no reason to kill an innocent baby if I didn’t have to.”

The morals of a killer. So now Myron knew. They had come here for answers. There was only one more he needed now. “Tell me about my brother.”

“I told you already. I don’t know anything about that.”

“You went after Kitty.”

“Sure. Once she came back and started making noise, we tried to find her. But I don’t know a thing about your brother. I swear.”

With those last words, Win pulled the trigger and shot Evan Crisp in the head. Myron jumped back, startled by the sound. Blood oozed out onto the oriental carpet as the body slumped to the ground. Win did a quick check, but there was no need for a second shot. Herman Ache and Evan Crisp were both dead.

“Us or them,” Win said.

Myron just stared. “So now what?”

“Now,” Win said, “you go to your father.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about it. You may not see me for a while. But I’ll be fine.”

“What do you mean, not see you for a while? You’re not taking the heat for this alone.”

“Yes, I am.”

“But I’m here too.”

“No, you’re not. I’ve taken care of it. Take my car. I’ll find a way to communicate but you won’t see me for a while.”

Myron wanted to argue, but he knew it would only delay and possibly endanger the inevitable.

“How long?”

“I don’t know. We had no choice here. There was no way these two would have let us live. You have to see that.”

Myron did. He also saw now why Win hadn’t told him. Myron would have looked for another way when, in truth, there wasn’t one. When Win visited Frank Ache in prison, they promised to exchange favors. Win had made good on it and saved them in the process.

“Go,” Win said. “It’s over now.”

Myron shook his head. “It’s not over,” he said. “Not until I find Brad.”

“Crisp was telling the truth,” Win said. “Whatever danger your brother was in, it had nothing to do with this.”

“I know,” Myron said.

They had come here for answers and now Myron thought that maybe he really did know them all.

“Go,” Win said.

Myron hugged Win. Win hugged back. The hug was fierce and tight and lasted a long time. No words were exchanged-they would have just been superfluous. But Myron remembered what Win had said after Suzze first came to his office looking for help, about our tendency to think good things will last forever. They don’t. We think that we will always be young, that the moments and people we cherish are everlasting. But they’re not. As Myron held his friend in his arms, he knew that nothing would ever be the same between them. Something in their relationship had changed. Something was gone forever.

When the hug finally ended, Myron headed back down the corridor and changed back into his clothes. Beefy was there. The other two goons were gone. Myron didn’t know about their fate. He didn’t much care. Beefy nodded at Myron. Myron walked over to Beefy and said, “I need one more favor.” He told Beefy what he wanted. Beefy looked surprised but he said, “Give me a minute.” He disappeared into the other room, came back, handed Myron what he had asked for. Myron thanked him. He headed outside, slipped into Win’s car, and started it up.

It was almost over.

He was a mile down the road when Esperanza called him. “Your father’s awake,” she said. “He wants to see you.”

“Tell him I love him.”

“You’re on your way?”

“No,” he said. “I can’t come yet. Not until I do what he asked.”

Then Myron hung up the phone and started to cry.