You run out of gas,” Art Mullen said. “You’re on your way to Lexington and you run out of gas. This is after you stirred up the state cops, got ’em looking for the Crowes.”
They were in the Harlan marshal’s office, Art standing over Raylan sitting down, trapped in his seat.
“What told you they were taking off for Lexington?” Raylan’s boss said.
“It had to be where the doctor was.”
“How you know that?”
“It’s where they do transplants.”
“But why do they take off to see the doctor?”
“He runs the show, he’ll tell ’em what to do.”
“You thought about all that,” Art said, “and decided not to get warrants. But you didn’t look to see if you needed gas.”
“I thought I had at least one more gallon.”
“You know Rachel was against going to Lexington?”
“I don’t recall her telling me why.”
“Because you’re relying on St. Christopher to find the doctor for you, and there isn’t or ever was a St. Christopher. Somebody made him up.”
Raylan said, “Did you know that?”
“I think so,” Art said. “But I’ve never asked him to find anybody for me. You’re saying St. Christo N/dibaSompher told you to go to Lexington?”
“I worked it out,” Raylan said, “before I heard anything definite. You know there’s a world-famous organ transplant hospital there? UK Medical. They transplant kidneys all day long, seventy miles away from where Angel’s were taken.”
“That’s what you’re goin on?”
“I had a hunch. You have ’em, don’t you?”
“How many hunches,” Art said, “ever come to pass?”
“All right, we know the Crowes are involved. We pick ’em up, talk to ’em, give ’em a deal on their sentence for the doctor.”
Art said, “If he’s a resident at the hospital, he’ll be there when we decide to look him up. We got something else coming up, a public meeting in Harlan County about a new mountaintop removal permit.”
Raylan said, “Like settin the top aside to get at the coal. And all the coal dust settles on the people below. I was a laid-off miner I’d ask the coal company, ‘You don’t have enough money? You got to blow up our mountains?’ ”
“You want,” Art said, “you can ask them yourself. They’re coming in a week or so, when Ms. Carol Conlan gets back from the Bahamas.”
“You’re kiddin, a woman?”
“She’s the voice of M-T Mining. Main office in Lexington.”
Raylan said, “She ready for Harlan?”
Art said, “Anything this lady wants, you pinch the brim of your cowboy hat and say, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ ”
“While I’m waitin around, you mind if I scare up the Crowes?”
“If you can bring ’em in. You shoot ’em, you’ll never find the doctor, will you?”
They were in Layla’s motel room in Corbin, Layla packed, ready to return to UK Medical after two weeks off; Cuba here because he wanted to talk to her face-to-face.
“You tell me, dismiss the Crowe brothers,” Cuba said. “You mean take ’em out.”
They sat at the table in the motel room sipping brandy with the coffee Cuba got from the lobby.
“The way to ask it,” Cuba said, “did I ever shoot a dude look like he meant to take somethin belong to me, like my car or my life? See, that’s different than askin me to go shoot somebody. Know what I’m sayin? You join a young boys gang, they tell you go on out and gun this dude from some other gang. Prove you got the cojones. There boys groove on it till they get taken out theirselves. I never was in a gang. I avoid any bloodshed isn’t necessary to my state of being. The only time I used a gun-this nine-mil Sig I have-two dudes try to jack the Mercedes I just got done jackin. Big crackhead young niggas come with baseball bats, tell me they gonna bang on the car less I get out. I shoulda sat there. It come to me later, they ain’t gonna jack a car the windows broke out. But at the same time I thought I better defend myself. I pulled the Sig and shot both the motherfuckers they standin there waving the bats. Left ’em lyin in the street.”
“I can see it,” Layla said in her easy way. “You left them for dead?”
“I never heard they made it or passed.”
She reached across the table to lay her hand on his.
“But if you don’t do the Crowes they’ll tell on us.” She said, “Starting a new practice things always happen you didn’t plan on.” She said, “Once the Crowes are caught they’ll give us up. You know that.”
“I suppose,” Cuba said. “Only I never walked up to a man I’ve done business with and shot him. Or got into any kind of gig I ain’t positive it’s gonna pay off.”
“It’s like learning a new procedure,” Layla said. “Once you have it down… Our first week we scored both times, no surprises, four kidneys at ten each. I’m glad I found a good body broker. We can deal with some at the hospital, but you have to get the right ones when you’re freelancing. If we do just one a week for a year, extract both kidneys, you know what we make? A million bucks. While Dr. Blow Job’s working his ass off five days a week.”
“Your idea of usin masks,” Cuba said, “made it a scene. The guy in the motel room opens the door, tired, just come off the road. Sees these faces lookin at him-”
“They had to be the right ones,” Layla said.
“Man can’t believe what’s goin on. Starts to grin as I’m shakin his hand. You jab the needle in the man and I catch him as he goes down.”
“We started laughing,” Layla said, “I think with relief. Remember?”
“It was funny, ” Cuba said. “We laughin in our rubber masks cause it was funny. I always felt, you don’t have a good time doin crime, you may as well find a job.”
Layla grinning at him till she said, “If I had any idea Angel knew the brothers-”
“I told you he did. You thinkin we sell ’em back the same day for a hundred grand, your mind busy. Hmmmm, maybe this is how we do Mr. Harry. The man still botherin your mind.”
“You’re right,” Layla said, “I was looking ahead. We know Harry can pay whatever we ask. Like a half mil for the pair?”
“Sounds about right,” Cuba said.
“But how do we collect,” Layla said, “without exposing ourselves?”
“I was thinking,” Cuba said, “we could take the Crowe brothers’ kidneys.”
He waited.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Layla said. “The boys have to be good for some thing.”
“Take out the kidneys,” Cuba said, “and forget about callin a hospital.”
“You’re off the hook,” Layla said. “Letting a person die isn’t the same as killing him. Or is it?”
“A course not,” Cuba said, “they two different things.”
“It’s okay with me,” Layla said, “either way.”
R aylan had to wait while Art was on the phone talking-Raylan believed-to Lexington, Art showing respect to whoever it was. “Yes, sir, we’re on that one. I was just now discussin the situation with Raylan… Raylan Givens… No sir, he’s doin his job. Okay, I’ll tell him.” Art hung up the phone and looked at Raylan across the desk.
“What’re you doing?”
“Lookin for Crowes. What’d they want to know?”
“If you’d shot anybody this week.” Art picked up a photo from his desk, a color print, and handed it across to Raylan.
“We have a detainer on Bob Valdez, works security for Pervis Crowe. Though Bob actually works for the Mexican Mafia.”
“What they call themselves. I heard Pervis calls ’em the Taco Mafia,” Raylan said. “Tell me why we let ’em grow weed here in the U.S.” S"0e Ta
“I don’t know,” Art said. “Cause they’re good at it?”
He watched Raylan study the color shot of a man named McCready, a laid-off miner.
“He was growing a patch of weed out back of the house. Bob Valdez shot McCready through the leg-you see him pressing the towel to his thigh-and the other guy snapped a varmint trap to his bare foot. Ed took it off, but you can see where it cut him.”
“Who shot the pictures?”
“His little girl Loretta, fourteen. She’s been keeping house and going to school since her mama passed, Loretta ten at that time.” He handed Raylan a few more photos. “That’s Ed while they’re waitin for the doctor. See his foot? The doctor never made it, got tied up deliverin a baby. Loretta doesn’t have a license but can drive. So she took her dad to town.”
“I met Loretta,” Raylan said, “at Pervis’s, she’s havin an RC Cola. She asked if I thought she was bold she inquired what I did for a living. She’s gonna have a hard time with boys, finding one good enough for her.”
“Anyway,” Art said, “get the cops to ask Bob about his shootin McCready and bring him in to make his statement.”
“If Loretta said he shot her dad and has pictures of it… Why don’t we arrest him? Get Loretta’s statement, not Bob’s. That girl comes right at you.”
“Handle it,” Art said. “Meanwhile, two young men, both salesmen, woke up in hospitals without their kidneys. One in Lexington, the other Richmond, two days apart and the week before Angel lost his.”
“I remember seein it on the news,” Raylan said, “but didn’t relate it to anything we’re doing-yeah, until we found Angel in the tub. I didn’t know right away he’d lost his kidneys. You’re the one tole me. No, it was Rachel, her mom had transplants. Then I wondered if the Crowes were in on the first ones, the salesmen. Their incisions were closed by a doctor. Angel’s, somebody made a mess with the staples. Right away I think of the Crowes, Coover. Why didn’t the doctor close Angel? He could’ve got tired of putting up with the brothers and walked out.”
Art said, “Where you getting that?”
“It’s what I would’ve done,” Raylan said, “knowin those dumbbells. A doctor working under pressure in a motel room, he’s had enough of the brothers, leaves them to close up. But why’d he hire them to begin with?”
“To heft bodies,” Art said.
“Cuba Frank’s there Sank="0.”
“One thing we know for sure,” Art said, “it wasn’t the Crowes wearing the rubber masks. Both fellas said a man and a woman.”
“The president and Mrs. Obama out havin fun,” Raylan said. “Making about twenty grand every time they put on their masks.” He said, “Imagine you open the door and there the Obamas calling on you? They come in the motel room talking.” He said to Art, “Who’s playing Michelle?”
Art said, “I guess the doctor brought… a nurse?”
“Who did…? Cuba Franks?”
It stopped Art. Now he was shaking his head.
“What’s wrong with me-Michelle Obama’s the doctor.”
“It can’t be anybody else, can it?” Raylan said. “Don’t we have tapes of their statements? What the two guys remember?”
“If you want to believe it,” Art said.
“It sounded good to me,” Raylan said. “Michelle walks up and kisses the guy on the mouth.”
“They both said pretty much the same thing. How she approached, got real close-”
“She lifts her mask from under her chin,” Raylan said, “to free her mouth and presses it into his. The last thing he remembers is getting turned on. As they come apart she hits him with the needle. He dreams of the First Lady tonguing him while she’s taking out his kidneys.”
Art said, “I wonder if she’s black.”
Raylan shook his head. “They both said she was white.”
A rt said a couple times he wondered if she might be a doctor. Raylan said he did too, but couldn’t see a woman stealing kidneys in a motel room. Even one pissed off at having her license pulled. “I’m dyin to meet her.”
“Check on Bob Valdez first,” Art said, “it having been handed down from above. Then I want the Crowes brought in while I’m getting the warrants.”
“If you get the right judge.”
“I have ways,” Art said. “ ‘Your Honor, I just hope a law enforcement officer isn’t gunned down in the line of duty by some weedhead while waitin for warrants.’ he w Sntsope
“And you get fined for being a smart-ass.”
Art said, “You can’t locate the Crowes, go see Pervis. This evening, no customers botherin him. You want,” Art said, “threaten to burn his fields he don’t give up his boys.”
Raylan was picking at a callous in the palm of his gun hand listening to Art. Raylan stopped picking. He raised his head to look at his boss with an expression of wonder.
“That’s where they are, at Pervis’s.”
“You threaten ’em,” Art said, “they run home to their daddy.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that,” Raylan said.
“You had,” Art said, “you wouldn’t of run out of gas.”