Outside, in the parking lot I stalked over to my rental. I should have driven off. Instead, I glowered at the dark ocean and I hated myself most for staying. I was still raging when Flea Nichols caught up with me.
"He's an asshole!" I turned to Flea. "And don't call me Paoli again!"
Flea was contrite. "I'm sorry, sir."
Corky Collins, whipped and sheepish, came out of the bowling alley. He had wet some paper towels and was still rubbing away at his neck.
"Please meet with him again," Flea begged.
I stared at Flea and thought of every reason why I should split. And I thought about the one reason I was staying. I ended up laughing more at myself than at the situation. Then I relented. I gestured east, up the coast. "Tell him ten minutes. First turn-off, two miles from here. That way!"
Flea hurried off.
I watched Flea talking with Corky. "Assholes!" I growled. I took a deep breath. "But this is the last one!" I swore. I wasn't being paid enough to put up with this crap.
Flea came back, and we climbed in the Mustang.
I made sure the Mustang left the parking lot in a hurry, my spinning tires spewing gravel and dust. Corky Collins, looking lost, desperate and whipped, watched us leave. After a moment's hesitation, he walked to his own pickup truck.
When Corky's pickup truck arrived at the meeting place, I had the Mustang parked off the highway, away from the tourists. There were several phone booths at this roadside stop. I watched Corky park his truck and walk over to us. Then I made Flea go walk on the beach.
Corky was still sheepish. "I was out of line."
"What do you want done?"
"Flea told you, didn't he?"
"I need to hear you say it."
"I'll pay ten thousand dollars to have my wife killed," Corky said.
"You do know murdering your wife is illegal."
Corky blinked, surprised I would even consider bringing up the obvious.
"Murder for Hire. That usually starts with a jail sentence of twenty-five years to life. With good behavior, you'd get out in seventeen years."
"Why all this shit?"
"I want you to know what you're getting into. Going through with this, your life will never be the same ever again."
Corky was impatient. "I know that."
"And I want you to know how Vegas feels about this offer of yours. At the least, we're very suspicious."
"Ten grand if you can do it."
"Don't quote prices to me. I'm just the estimator."
"I figured the price would be a straight-forward--"
I was grinning, a gambler with a superior hand. "Oh, no, Mister Corky Collins. Whacking somebody you love is a serious thing. It's got to mean something to you." I poked Corky's chest with a stiff finger. "Just so you can appreciate what we're doing for you." I poked him harder. "And you will pay whatever the price is."
"That's all I can afford!"
"We'll be the judge of that."
"Hey, you already got a grand!"
I rejected that. "Expenses."
"Okay. But if it's a deal, then that grand is part of the final price."
I laughed, but didn't disagree.
"So how soon will I know?"
"I will look things over first. All that takes time." I faced the ocean again. "Some things I already don't like the looks of."
Corky tried being bold. "Maybe I should get somebody else to do the job."
I turned back, changed my tone of voice, got low and menacing. "As of now, we are the only bidders on the job. There are no others until after we make our decision."
Corky made a rude noise.
"You don't talk to any other outfits and you don't take matters into your own hands."
Corky tried being cocky. "Or else--?"
"Or else we whack you," I said.
Corky backed down. "What else?"
"I want a copy of every key on your key ring. We don't know which one we'll need, and we may need it in a hurry."
"It's gotta be authentic--" Corky said nervously.
"If we jimmy while she's alive, anything can happen. She can call the cops. She can protect herself with a kitchen knife. Once she's dead, we can go back and jimmy the locks to make them look right. By the way, you got a dog at home?"
"Yeah," Corky said, mystified.
"Get rid of him now. Before we need to have him gone. Before people notice him gone on the night we do it. And we need a map of your house. Every room and who's in it."
"How soon?"
"Go home and start now. Take your time at it. Let's do it right while we've got the time."