The Boy Who Stole from the Dead

CHAPTER 37

JOHNNY TANNER CLIMBED into the elevator with his clients on the fourth floor of the Superior Court building in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It was only 9:15 a.m. but Wednesday was already turning out to be a good day.

He’d gotten the charges dismissed against the James brothers. Both in their forties, lifelong criminals. After a five-year stint in Mid-State, they’d given up crime and opened a car wash in Newark. But their probation officer demanded ten percent of their monthly gross. When they refused, she planted a kilo of heroin in their bedroom during a monthly home inspection. They were arrested. Johnny called the cops and shared his suspicions. They arranged for another client of his to wear a wire. When the probation officer demanded ten percent from that client, too, the cops arrested her. A judge released the James brothers this morning.

“That was the shit, Johnny,” one of the brothers said.

“Free car wash for life,” the other brother said. “Towel dry and tire shine still cost you á la carte, though. You know what I’m saying.”

“No problem,” Johnny said. “My tires always shine. No matter what the weather.”

Outside, afternoon clouds hung low. The air smelled of exhaust. Pedestrians lollygagged past the Furniture King and the Bargain Man. They would scatter before night fell. This was a town where the police secured their cruisers’ steering wheels with the Club. Anything could be stolen, anyone could be robbed at any time. That’s why Johnny loved Elizabeth. The streets pulsated with their own heartbeat. They teemed with real people who had real problems. It was the place he loved to call home.

His next appointment was at Rikers Island with Bobby. If the day’s momentum continued, the kid would explain why he thought Nadia’s life was in trouble. He looked close to cracking. He hadn’t said anything yesterday when Johnny visited, but he wasn’t his cool self anymore. He’d fidgeted in his seat, taken deep breaths, and looked like a stick of Ukrainian dynamite ready to blow. All Johnny needed to do was figure out how to light the fuse.

Johnny walked two blocks to the lot where he parked his car. A vintage Monte Carlo SS. It was rude, crude, and could not be subdued. He passed an old Lincoln Town Car parked on the side of the street. The only reason he noticed it was because of the two blond twins sitting in the front seats. They eyeballed him the whole way. Didn’t bother to hide their interest.

Johnny’s guard shot up. Something was wrong. And then he saw him. Leaning against Johnny’s Monte Carlo, sucking the last bit of nicotine out a cigarette, looking like the most harmless man in the Tri-State area.

Victor Bodnar.

Elder statesman. Thief. Murderer.

Johnny had met Victor when Nadia returned to New York with Bobby last year. So much for the good day, Johnny thought. Now he was the one with the real problem.

“Get off my car,” Johnny said.

Victor stood up. The speed with which he followed the command shocked Johnny. It told him the old man wanted something from him. It told Johnny he had an edge in the conversation that would follow.

“I thought we had a deal,” Johnny said. “I thought we were never going to see each other again. On this Earth, that is.”

“You’re mistaken,” Victor said. “We never agreed to anything like that.”

He spoke with a thick Russian accent. No, not Russian. Ukrainian. If Nadia had read his mind she would have smacked him for mixing up the two. Fortunately, she couldn’t read his mind.

If only she could.

“No,” Victor said. “Last we saw each other in the basement of the butcher’s shop, you threatened me. And then you left.”

Victor had killed his cousin from Ukraine and two of his bodyguards. Johnny hadn’t witnessed the murders because he was tied up in the meat locker next door. But he’d heard the gunshots. Victor had freed Johnny on the condition of silence. Nadia had become involved with Victor because she’d inadvertently caused his art smuggling operation to be closed down by the FBI. That’s how everything had started. Johnny remembered his last words to Victor. If any harm came to Nadia, he promised to find Victor and square it. Johnny had meant it. But now his words seemed inadequate, his vow of revenge meaningless.

He had to prevent any harm from coming to Nadia. He had to deal with any risk to her beforehand.

“I didn’t threaten you,” Johnny said. “I made you a promise.”

“If a promise ends badly for the other person it’s a threat.”

“Really? Who cares? What do you want?”

“For things to end well for everyone.”

“Come again?”

“For things to end well for everyone.”

“We’re having a bit of a language issue here. You’re a philosopher. I’m a lawyer. I don’t speak philosophical. You want to translate that into English?”

“I want to help you.”

The twins appeared behind Johnny. He hadn’t even heard the doors to the Town Car open, let alone close. Up close they looked a bit more mature than through the windshield. And tougher. Johnny could see it in their eyes. They looked unconcerned they might have to harm another human being to get what they wanted. Johnny knew that look. The James brothers wore it. It defined the most dangerous people in society. People that had a different set of morals, or none whatsoever.

“You want to help me.” Johnny smiled. “You want to help me.”

“Yes. Very much.”

“With what?”

“Not what. Who. The boy in prison. The boy that calls himself Bobby Kungenook. I want to help him. And his surrogate mother.”

The idea was so preposterous Johnny didn’t know what to say. Except Victor wasn’t laughing.

“Sure you do,” Johnny said. “That’s what thieves and killers do. Help widows and orphans.”

Victor tossed his cigarette butt. The ember burned orange-red. He placed his toe over it and ground it into the asphalt. The flame died. “I’m not the same man you knew last year. I found out I have a daughter. And now a grandchild.”

“Congratulations.”

“I want to help the people who helped me.”

“I remember you chasing Nadia and Bobby around the world. How exactly are they supposed to have helped you?”

“My cousin, Kirilo, chased them as well. Even before that he’d sent an assassin to kill me. The woman and the boy put me on an even playing field with him. The chase created the opportunity for me to tilt the field in my favor. I was able to eliminate him before he eliminated me.”

“So you want to thank Nadia and Bobby by helping him? How?”

“By helping you get him out of prison.”

Johnny laughed. “This keeps getting better. How exactly are you going to do that?”

“I have a contact inside the police department. He tells me there’s an eyewitness. You will give me the name of this eyewitness and I will have a conversation with him. I will convince him to stop lying and tell the truth.”

“You’re out of your mind. I’m an officer of the court. I’m sworn to uphold the law. Are you even capable of understanding what that means?”

“I’m not going to convince a witness to lie. I’m going to make him understand he must tell the truth.” Victor lowered his voice. “You and I both know this boy. We know his real name is not Bobby. We know how he got here. We know why he came here. There is no chance—I repeat, no chance—that he killed that man unless it was self-defense. Can we at least agree on that?”

Johnny didn’t want to agree with him about anything. Anything. But on this question, he had no choice. “Yeah. We can agree on that.”

“Good. And can we also agree that given Adam confessed to the crime, and he hasn’t taken back the confession, there’s no guarantee he’s going to help himself? He’s prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Johnny thought it over. As much as he thought Bobby might crack any day there was no guarantee he would ever tell the truth. Johnny had no choice but to agree with the old bastard on that one, too. “Yeah. We can agree on that, too.”

“Good. Now, how important is this boy to Nadia?”

Johnny remembered Nadia sitting on the edge of her seat during Bobby’s hockey games, fists clenched.

Victor nodded before Johnny said anything. “Of course he is. And who is Nadia counting on to keep the boy out of prison for the rest of his life?”

Johnny imagined a guilty verdict. Bobby remanded into custody. The sentencing. Bobby being taken away in cuffs for good. He pictured Nadia crying. No, he thought. It would be worse. She wouldn’t cry. Her eyes would water but no tears would flow. She’d keep her sorrow bottled up inside where it would gradually eat her up. Prevent her from experiencing joy. Reduce her life expectancy.

“The idea of me handing over a witness’s name to you is a joke. It’s a non-starter. So don’t even go there again. But if your fair-haired protégés behind you here somehow acquired it, tell me again, what exactly would you do?”

Victor answered the question.

Afterward, Johnny drove to a diner three blocks away behind the Elizabeth train station. He ordered an iced tea and reviewed Bobby’s case file. The twins came in a few minutes later. They ordered coffees and sat at the table beside him. Johnny went to use the men’s room. He left the file open.

When Johnny came out of the men’s room, the twins were gone.

Johnny drove to Rikers Island. He dwelled on the ethical implications of what he’d done. Once he arrived and started walking toward the prison, however, his thoughts turned to the true motive behind Victor Bodnar’s actions. Johnny didn’t believe the old man gave a damn about Nadia or Bobby. Sure. Maybe he’d mellowed. A child and a grandchild could change a man. But he had ulterior motives. He was a born thief. He had stolen all his life. That’s who he was, and that’s what he did.

If the ulterior motive required Bobby’s safe release from prison, that meant the kid had something worth stealing. Something Victor couldn’t locate without Bobby’s help. That could be only one thing.

The locket.

Everyone thought it was worthless, but what if it wasn’t?