Night Passage

Chapter 63

“Stone has to go,” Hasty said to Jo Jo.

They were in Hasty’s car cruising Route 128, north toward Gloucester.

“Mistake,” Jo Jo said.

“No, he has to go. He’ll ruin everything if he doesn’t.”

“You can’t kill the chief of police,” Jo Jo said, “and think it’ll keep things quiet. You seen that state cop, whatsisname.”

“Healy.”

“Yeah. You think that he’s going to kiss it off when the second police chief in less than a year dies in this fucking town?”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Hasty said. “We’re too close to the arms deal. The arms deal is crucial.”

“What’s this ‘we’ shit, paleface? I’m the guy has to do the clip.”

“We’re in this together, Jo Jo.”

Jo Jo looked almost amused.

“Sure,” he said. “Why don’t we ace Lou Burke?”

“Lou?”

“Yea. He’s the only thing connects you to Tom Carson. Deep six Burke and the connection’s gonzolla.”

“Lou Burke?” Hasty said. “I’ve known Lou Burke for thirty years.”

“I dump him,” Jo Jo said, “hide the body, make it look like he took off after Stone suspended him.”

“Lou’s one of us,” Hasty said. “He’s a horseman.”

“And you think they ain’t going to find somebody out in the wild west to finger him, say, yeah, he’s the guy blew Tom Carson up? And you think when they get that they won’t squeeze him, and when they squeeze him you think he won’t spill his freaking guts?”

“Lou wouldn’t talk.”

“You think so, huh? I don’t know how they do it in freaking Montana...”

“Wyoming,” Hasty said.

“Whatever,” Jo Jo said. “I don’t know if they electrocute you or hang you or do it with an injection or a fucking firing squad, but just say you’re Lou Burke and you’re sitting in jail and they tell you they are going to hang you or, if you don’t like that idea, you can give us something and maybe we won’t. You think Lou’s gonna say gimme that noose, baby?”

“Are you afraid to kill Jesse Stone?” Hasty asked.

“I ain’t afraid,” Jo Jo said. “And I ain’t stupid either. It’s a lot smarter to take out Lou Burke than it is to clip Stone.”

“I can’t betray the movement.”

“You hit Stone and it’ll turn into a bowel movement.” Jo Jo said.

As they talked about the crime Jo Jo’s vocabulary became more and more like a movie tough guy. Hasty hated him at that moment, more than he thought was possible. Jo Jo was a sneering, posturing bully. He cared for no cause, no person. No question of honor had ever penetrated that thick Neanderthal skull. He cared only about his muscles and the fear he could instill in people. Except Stone. Stone wasn’t afraid of him, and Hasty was pretty sure that Jo Jo was afraid of Stone. What made the hatred worse, though, so that it trembled in his solar plexus, was the fact that Jo Jo was probably right this time.

“How would you hide the body?” Hasty said.

“Let me figure that out,” Jo Jo said. “What you don’t know you can’t tell the cops later.”

“You think I’d tell the police anything?”

Jo Jo looked at him without answering.

“You don’t understand, do you,” Hasty said. “You don’t understand commitment, or honor, or loyalty. And you certainly do not understand responsibility. You don’t even know what these things mean. All you understand is fear.”

Jo Jo snorted.

“What I understand, Hasty, is you want some guy iced, but you haven’t got the balls to do it. We both understand that, don’t we.”

Hasty was silent for a time, They reached the Gloucester circle, and went around it, and started back, southbound, on Route 128.

“All right,” Hasty said. “Kill Lou Burke, and hide the body. Make it look like he took off.”

“There’s a little matter of price,” Jo Jo said.

“Thirty pieces of silver.”

“What the hell is that?” Jo Jo said.

Hasty shook his head.

“Same as Tammy,” Hasty said.

“No, Lou’s a cop, and I got to hide the body. I want double Tammy.”

Hasty felt very tired.

“Okay,” he said. “It’s a deal.”

“Up front,” Jo Jo said.

“Of course,” Hasty said. “just do it quickly.”

“What would you do without me, Hasty?” Jo Jo said.

The weariness Hasty felt was nearly overwhelming. He had trouble concentrating on the road. He didn’t respond to Jo Jo and they drove in silence the rest of the way.