THE PLYMOUTH pussyfooted its way through the maze of twisted little roads. I pulled to the side. Max's door opened. The interior light didn't come on. He vanished.
I parked where I had the last time. Got out nice and slow.
"Go ahead and light your smoke." A voice behind me.
I felt him next to me. Turned to look. His hands weren't empty this time.
"Tell the Chinaman to come out. Listen to my voice. I'm telling you the truth, Burke. You don't call him out, I'll waste you right here. Whatever happens, you're dead."
If this was the movies, I'd have heard the sound of the Uzi being cocked. This was Wesley- I knew it already was. They say Wesley files the safety off his guns. I pulled the white handkerchief out of my coat sleeve. Waved it high above my head in a circle, stopped the circle right in front of me. Max was coming whether Wesley killed me or not- this way there'd be two of us. Maybe…?
Wesley was on my right, the Uzi in my rib cage. Max came forward, making enough noise so we'd hear him. He kept walking. A lumbering, thug's walk, giving no hint of the speed and grace in the thick body. A locomotive that makes its own tracks. He stopped ten feet away, right in front of us.
"Close enough," Wesley said.
I held a palm out to Max to keep him where he was. The Mongolian dropped his left shoulder a fraction. If he went, he'd go to Wesley's left. I pushed my weight against the stubby barrel of the machine gun, ready to lock my elbow over it, hug my death close to me if it came. Wesley was right. Close enough. For Max. I'd go first, but Wesley would be right behind me.
"You wanted to talk?" I asked the monster.
"You think I didn't know the Chinaman was here last time?"
"I didn't know myself."
"I know. That's why you got to walk away. But you knew this time."
"Okay."
"Max the Silent, right? That's him?"
"That's him."
"Looks like a real bone-breaker."
"He's here for me, not you."
"I know. Tell him I got a gun on you."
"He knows."
"So why'd he come out?"
"He's my brother."
"Yeah. That's nice. I had a brother too."
"I never knew that. Where is he?"
"Dead."
Like you, I thought, taking the last puff of my cigarette, tossing it away. "What d'you want, Wesley?"
"You like the job on Sutton Place?"
"Why'd you do it?"
"They owe me money."
"I know. I met with one of them earlier tonight. They want you bad. They're going to get word out that they'll pay. They want me to deliver the cash."
"And blow me up?"
"No. They want you alive."
"That's the way I figured it. It takes the heat off."
"Off?!"
"Sure, off. They could have paid me. Like they should've. When I hit the first guy, they got scared. So they put out the word. Hit Wesley, right? Any asshole with a gun could do it, he got close enough. Now it's different. They're spooked. I made shit of the don- fucked him where he breathes right in front of everybody. They had an open contract out on me before. Now it's canceled, right? Now it's personal."
"There's more.
"What?"
"They think it was you who did the job in the Chelsea playground. They had the whole thing wired- one of the guys working with Mortay, he was theirs. He's the guy who went down in the playground. Sniper fire from the roof. They dropped a dime on me to put on the pressure."
"The cops think it was me on the roof too?"
"Probably do, by now."
"We both know it wasn't. So you got a sniper in your stable too."
"He was a loaner. From a friend. I can't use him again."
"Okay. They won't dime you for the Sutton Place thing. It won't fly."
"How d'you know?"
"I dress in a nice suit, nice trench coat. Eight-hundred-dollar brief-case, Rolex, diamond ring. I'm a lawyer, right? I tell the doorman I got a package for Mrs. Swanson in 21A. From Mr. Torenelli. He makes the call, I go up. No problem. Maid's day off. I know. Ring the bell, she answers it herself. Starts right in on me. 'I told my father I didn't want to have anything to do with his…' I cut her off, tell her I just got a couple of papers in my briefcase for her to sign and I'm out of there. She treats me like a servant, turns her back on me. I close the door behind her, follow her to the living room. Open the briefcase. She's still yakking at me when I hook her in the stomach with a set of brass knuckles. She's out- can't get a breath. Anesthetic nose plugs and she goes right to sleep. I take off my clothes, lay them in the briefcase. Talcum powder on my hands, surgeon's gloves. Carry her to the bedroom. Piano wire until she's spread out. I find a chopping block and a set of those Ginsu knives in the kitchen. All those rich assholes have fancy kitchens. I put the block under her neck, pull her hair back, and take the head off. Half a dozen shots is all it took. Blood spurts out all over the back wall. I stick the head into her cunt, facing out. Say hello to her husband when he comes home. I write the number two on the wall in her blood. That's the polygraph key the cops'll use when freaks start confessing. I take a shower. Pop open the drain. Pour three bottles of that Liquid Plumber stuff down, leave the hot-water tap on. I get dressed, put everything back in the briefcase. I go downstairs, tell the doorman the package is too big to lug through the lobby. Mrs. Swanson wants it through she service entrance. Wants him to handle it personally, right? Slip him a pair of twenties. I'll drive around into the back alley with the box, he'll meet me there, take it up to her. I drive out back. He opens the door. I put three rounds into him. Pop, pop, pop. Drive away. The papers don't have that body either. But the cops, they know they ain't looking for a maniac. They ain't looking for an amateur like you either. They know."
His voice wasn't chilly, just flat. Not quite bored.
"Why?" I asked.
"I was going to spook them. Kill a few the same way. Make 'em think a freak was after their women. Get them all together in one place to figure out what to do. And blow the place up. But this is quicker."
"They got your message."
He wasn't listening. "I was going to beat off onto the body but with that DNA fingerprinting they use now…"
"Cut it out, Wesley. You don't give a fuck about blood types, or fingerprints either. They drop you for this, you're not going to jail…You just couldn't do it."
"Couldn't do what?"
"Beat off on a dead body. I came up with you, remember? I know what you do for a living, but you're still a man."
"I'm a bomb," the monster said. "I'm tired of this place. When I check out, you'll hear the sound."
My body was rigid with the strain. He wasn't going to pull the trigger. I stepped away from him, carefully.
"Yeah, go ahead," he said. "I was going to waste you, I'd take the Chinaman first. Always take the hard man first. That's the rules."
"Look…"
"You're not a hard man, Burke. Maybe you was once, but you let things get in the way. There's a way out of this. For you, not for me. I don't care. I'm tired. I got to do Train first. I took the money. And the don. Then I'm gone."
"What's my way out? What d'you want from me?"
"You're the link. Like I knew you'd be, remember I told you? I need a cop."
"What?"
"A big cop. High-ranker. The don's gone to ground. I'll never find him. The cops and the mob, they're all in the same bed. You find out where he's at, I'll do the rest."
"I don't know any top cops."
"You know how to do things. Talk to people, work around. I can't do that. Nobody knows my face, but they can feel me coming."
Survivors can, I thought.
"They'll want to set up a meet, tell me I'm getting my money", he said. "I want my money, right? It's going to take a little bit of time. Use it. When I finish my work, everybody's happy…the cops'll have their bodies and you'll be off the hook."
"You can't hit them all. They'll always come for you."
"No. I'm going to kill their seeds. And then I'm going where they can't come after me."
"The Program? You can't…"
His voice didn't change. You can't insult a monster. "The Witness Protection Program? I already hit two guys that was in the Program. I told you, I'm tired. Don't worry about it."
"Same deal- I call you?"
"Yeah." He looked over at Max. "You think he's close enough to take me out, don't you?"
"He is."
"No he's not," said the monster, as he stepped away from me into the dark.