and felt different. When he was finished I held each gun and pondered the decision. “The Makarov.” I said.
He smiled. “What made you chose that one?”
“It’s heavier and it looks better.”
“Yeah,” he said, “It looks real cool. The Mak is reliable and inexpensive. I added the rubber grips and put different sights on there -Novaks. It oughta shoot straight. I’ll throw in a box of ammo.” He pulled out a box and showed me how to load the magazine. “You ever shoot before?”
“No.” I said. “I used to have a pellet gun but that’s not the same thing I guess.”
“Didn’t you have a father?”
“Yeah, of course, he just wasn’t into guns.”
“You’ll want to find a range that’s friendly for beginners. You’ll need a couple of pointers before you feel comfortable.”
He took the bullets out of the magazine and put them back in their box, and then put the gun back in its box and took it over to the cash register. It was three hundred and eighty seven dollars and twelve cents. He put the two boxes in a large gray bag and handed them to me. “What’d you say your name was?” He asked.
“Ben Perkins.” I said. “Isn’t there some kind of background check or a waiting period or something?”
He laughed.
On my way back to John’s apartment I called Jess to see how the surveillance gig was going. “Boring as shit.” She said. “You buy yourself a shiny new dick?”
“Yeah.” I said. “But that was all I got out of it. He didn’t seem particularly surprised that I was friend of Freddie’s. Good thing too, ‘cause the guy seemed like a real hard ass. Best not to fuck with.”
“You should give that gun to Pap. He paid for it. I don’t want the thing in our house.”
“So what’s Gretchen up to now?” I asked.
“She’s home. Earlier she went to the liquor store and the Rite Aid, but she’s been home for like two hours now… Did David get rid of his cell?”
“Yeah why?”
“Cause I was gonna call him.” She said. “We gotta let him know about Gretchen. If he heard about his uncle he might think his last hope is gone. He might do something desperate. We should let him know we’re on a new lead. You have the number for the Relna place?”
“You can’t call him there.” I said. “It’s not safe.”
“Then you have to go tell him as soon as possible.”
“I don’t work until tomorrow.” I said.
“Okay tomorrow, I just hope he doesn’t pull something before then. FUCK- I need a joint.”
“Karen ever call?”
“No, I’m going to call her as soon as I get off with you.” She said.
“You gotta be careful, you’re gonna become a pest.” I said. “Then no one’s gonna want to help you, even if they do score.”
“Oh shut up.” She said. “You think Rolly’s unhappy?”
I took a second to catch up. “Rolly the chimp? Uh, maybe, I don’t spend a lot of time with him, so I couldn’t say.”
“Prisoners do it, you know. Human beings who’re in jail will throw shit at the guards when they’re pissed off about something. And Rolly’s done it before. I just wonder what the psychology behind it is.”
“Maybe he just likes to play with his shit.” I said. “I don’t think you should give a monkey too much psychological depth. Just be glad he isn’t throwing it at you.”
“He’s a chimp.” She said. “And I can say with absolute certainty that chimps possess psychological depth. Especially Rolly. He’s been so depressed lately, but I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Maybe his chimp girlfriend left him.” I said.
“Sheeba didn’t leave him, believe me. They still go at it all the time. No, I don’t think it has anything to do with their internal politics or whatever you want to call it.” She took a deep breath. “I think he finally realized that he’s stuck in a cage. God I hate my job.”
“Join the club.” I said. “I write parking tickets for a living.”
“Why do you have to do that? Why do you make everything a competition? So okay, you win, your job is worse, but I still hate my job, is that alright with you?”
“Sorry.” I said. “I didn’t mean-”
“I don’t know why I stay, I really don’t. It’s a summer job, you know? For a kid. I’m not a kid anymore. Every once in a while a tourist will come in and say something like, ‘oh, what a fun place to work’ or ‘what a great job you have’. I want to scream at them: I’ve been here for six years! The fun wore off a long time ago! I can’t stand it, and then Rolly just stares at me you know? He’s thinking, you’re the one who’s keeping me here. He’s looking at me with this hatred, but he can’t show it ‘cause I’m the one who feeds him. It’s like he’s showing me this fake respect, like when we used to call Mr. Problis ‘sir’ in PE class.”
“Jess, your pap’s trying to call through.” I said. “I should take it.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Don’t be mad, I’ve got his car. I have to take it.”
“Don’t let me stop you.” She said. I was going to try to smooth it over a little more but she hung up.
TWENTY
John told me that James had called off and that I needed to cover his shift. “But it’s my day off.” I said.
“Hey if you don’t like it take it up with your boss.” He said. “Tell me about your encounter with Dennis Reston.” I told him everything and apologized for the wasted money. “No, a gun is a good investment. It could save your life someday.”
“Jessie said she didn’t want it in the house.” I said.
“They all say that. She doesn’t mean it.” He said. “Come pick me up and we’ll go over to Lakeview together, I have to go in today too. George Loeffler wants to talk to me. We’ll have to kill an hour or so before your shift starts.”
“Could we just get over there early?” I asked. “I’m supposed to water the Relna’s plants.”
“Oh right.” He said. “Your unauthorized side-job. I heard all about it.”
The little room in the basement was starting to take on the hamster-cage smell, and David looked like he could use a shower. I told him his uncle was dead and they found his body in the lake. “I know already, I saw it on TV.” David said.
“So I guess you heard your mom’s little speech to the reporters.” I said. “She wants you to turn yourself in.”
“Fuck that. The cops probably told her to say that. My mom loves me. She wants me to get away.” He said.
“I don’t think there’s any getting away from this. I think you’re gonna have to stick around and deal with it.”
“No, I’m going to Costa Rica –it’s cheap down there. I’ll get a new name, a job, maybe find a nice girl and a little apartment. I can really do it, I’ve been thinking about it for two days.”
“What about the border?” I asked. “That’s where they caught that Peterson guy who killed his wife. And he dyed his hair blonde just like you, only it didn’t fool anybody.”
“I won’t use one of the border checkpoints.” He said. “That Peterson guy was a square. A white boy. He probably never even had a speeding ticket before he killed his wife. No, I’ll use a coyote. They’re all over the place down there. Go to Arizona or southern Texas and you can find someone to take you across. It’s gotta be easier going into Mexico. You don’t have a bunch of racist cowboys patrolling when you get there. So I sneak into Mexico and I make my way down to Costa Rica. You can come visit me, we’ll hang out on the beach.”
“And how do you pay for this adventure?” I asked.
“I steal.” He said. “I knew I’d been practicing for something. I rob and steal my way to Costa Rica and then I go straight.”
“What if you could clear your name? Wouldn’t that be better?”
“The cops think I killed my uncle now too. That’s three murders they think I did. How’m I supposed to clear my name?”
“Look, we’ve got
professional help now.” I said. “Jessie’s pap. He used to be a cop, he’s solved all kinds of cases. We told him everything except that we’re hiding you, and he has no doubt whatsoever that Gretchen Salle is behind it. After Junior and your uncle killed Amanda Porgett, Gretchen went crazy and tried to kill Junior, but only wounded him, and accidentally killed his wife. Then she went after Freddie. She’s out for revenge, and she thinks she’s gonna get away with it ‘cause the cops are after you. We’re tailing her non-stop -Jessie’s watching her right this second. So when she goes to finish the job on Junior, which is her obvious next move, we call the cops and they catch her red-handed. Then you can turn yourself in.”
“This cop, Jessie’s grandfather, you think he could figure out where I am?”
“No, of course not.” I said. “We told him we’d just talked to you on the phone.”
“And he really thinks this Gretchen woman did all that? Two murders? A woman?”
“She’s a lesbian.”
“So the plan is that the cops catch her going after Junior -but what if she manages to slip away before they get there? I could wind up getting blamed for that too. It would only be you and Jessie sticking up for me, and the cops know we’re friends. I’m thinking Costa Rica looks pretty good.”
“Don’t be stupid David, they’d catch you.” I said. “I mean, it’s a nice fantasy, going down there and living on the beach and everything, but real life isn’t like that. You’d get caught before you ever got there, and even if you did make it to Costa Rica somehow, someone would recognize you and turn you in. You’ve got John Walsh after you don’t