At Their Own Game (10 page)

“I mean, I know you do some minor league shit with boosted property, and I know you’ve got these two ass clowns working for you, but who are you
connected
with? As in, if you had a big problem you couldn’t solve yourself, where would you go?”
 

I shook my head. “I’m not—”
 

“That’s fucking right,” he snapped. “You’re not with anybody. You are all alone.” He paused to let the words sink in. “Now, you coulda been with me, but for some unknown reason, that doesn’t appeal to you. So you’re still with no one. No. Body.”
 

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t like where this was headed.
 

He smiled. “Smart.” He tapped the side of his head with his finger. “You are a smart motherfucker, aren’t you? You probably already got this figured out, huh?”
 

“No,” I said, but my voice sounded dull and weak.
 

“Bullshit, but I’ll spell it out anyway.” He pointed at the tool chest in the truck bed. “That
was
your shit. Now it’s mine again. You know why?”
 

I didn’t reply.
 

He didn’t seem to care. “Because I can’t trust someone as pussy as you are to sling my dope. Not on
the street, not as a middle-man, not at all. You’ve got no balls, Jake. So your shit is mine again. It’s that simple.”
 

“That’s fine. Just give me my money, then.”
 

“Just give me my money,” he mimicked in a sing-song tone, his hands at the sides of his head, fingers dancing. He dropped his hands. “It’s not your money anymore. Get it?”
 

I released the pinch on my nose tentatively. No blood flowed out. I wiped my palms on the front of my jeans. “Is this how you do business?” I asked. “You just rip people off?”
 

Ozzy shook his head. “No rip-off. You forfeit.”
 

“I didn’t forfeit anything.”
 

“I say you
did
.”
 

“What do you think everyone else will say when they hear you welshed on a deal?” I stared at him, letting some hot anger seep into my voice. “That can’t be good for business.”
 

“Are you threatening me?” Ozzy asked.
 

“No. I’m pointing out the obvious. Business is built on trust. You violate that trust, and business can’t proceed.”
 

“Listen to you,” Ozzy said. “Mister big time businessman.” He leaned forward. “Let’s say you do that, smart guy. Let’s say you go all over town telling people that I welshed. Keep in mind, these are people I’ve done business with, some of them for years. And I’ve never welshed on any of them. I’m good to my word.”
 

“Except this time.”
 

Ozzy shrugged. “Says you. And maybe you can get people around town to listen to your whining for a little while. You might even get some of them doubting me. At least until I start saying that you’re full of shit. That
you
welshed on the deal. Who’re they gonna believe?”
 

“They don’t have to believe anything. They only have to doubt. That’s enough to destroy trust, and business.”
 

“You’re probably right,” Ozzy conceded. His voice sank to a whisper. “But when I fucking kill you for spreading bullshit rumors about me, that pretty much removes all doubt for most people, don’t ya think?”
 

A cold sprinkle of panic splashed across the base of my spine. I’d had my life threatened plenty back when I was on the job. Guys in the back seat talking trash on the way to jail, or behind locked doors. Somehow, it felt a lot different sitting in a truck cab with a psychopath and his thug.
 

Ozzy smiled at me again. “See? It all works out in the end. I’m actually doing you a favor here. You don’t belong in this racket, Jakey. You’re not this kind of guy. You’re a clerk. Now go back to your little fencing business, and leave the heavy lifting to the real men, huh?”
 

He popped open the door and got out.
 

I hesitated, then slid across the seat and dropped down to the asphalt.
 

Ozzy gave me a light shove in the chest. I saw the move coming this time. I could have reacted, catching his hand and twisting it into a wrist lock.
 

And then what? Brawl in the middle of the parking lot? With a package of dope in the tool chest of the truck next to us? Officer Burke or some other Falkner crony was probably already watching us. No need to give them probable cause.
 

I accepted his push, absorbed it, and stepped backward.
 

“Don’t let me hear from you again,” Ozzy said, waggling his finger at me. “I never fucking liked you from the beginning, so don’t push your luck.”
 

He got back into the truck. Randall gunned the engine, roasting the tires. A little spray of loose debris kicked up behind him as the truck shot away from me.
 

I watched it go. Then I got into my car and sat at the wheel for a long while. A momentary hopelessness came crashing in on me.
 

Now what?
 

What am I supposed to tell my guys about this?
 

What is Falkner going to pull next?
 

And what the hell was Helen doing back in my life?
 

No answers came, and after a while I realized no one ever solved the secrets of the universe from a parked car in a grocery store parking lot.
 

I headed home.
 

ELEVEN
 

Helen was waiting for me at the kitchen table, a glass of whisky in front of her. When she saw me, she stood up.
 

“What happened?”
 

I went to the kitchen sink and ran cold water. Then I rubbed my hands underneath the stream, before splashing the icy water on my face.
 

“Jake? Are you okay?”
 

“I’m fine,” I said, but my voice lacked conviction. It sounded thick to me, like I had a cold or something.
 

“Did someone punch you?”
 

I dried my hands and dabbed at my face gently. Helen’s hand came to rest on my shoulder.
 

“Jake…”
 

“It’s just some shit,” I told her. “Something I have to handle.”
 

She looked at me, then nodded. “All right. It’s your business. I don’t want to pry.”
 

“Good.”
 

“But, Jake…is there anything I can do to help?”
 

I had a vision of Helen smacking the bejesus out of Ozzy while Randall watched on with a dumbfounded expression. I smiled slightly.
 

“What’s so funny?”
 

“Nothing,” I said. “I was just imagining you handling this guy, is all.”
 

Helen wrapped her arms around my waist. “Maybe we handle him together?”
 

“Wow,” I said in a low voice. “When you come on, you definitely come on.”
 

She kissed my neck near my shoulder, then at my jaw. “I can’t help it. It’s been a long time. I’ve missed you.”
 

I soaked in the warmth of her body. “I…I missed you, too.” And as soon as I said it, I realized how true it was. Crazy but true.
 

We stood there for a little while, her nuzzling my neck and me stroking her hair. I didn’t think of anything at all. I just enjoyed her presence.
 

“Jake?”
 

“Yeah?”
 

“I have a favor to ask.”
 

“What?”
 

She pulled her head back to look me in the face. “It’s a lot to ask.”
 

“So ask. Let me decide if it’s a lot.”
 

Helen leaned away a little, then stepped back. Her hands dropped down to mine. She squeezed. “Okay. Here goes.”
 

I waited.
 

She gave me a tentative, slightly worried smile.
 

“Jesus, what is it?” I prodded.
 

She let out her breath in a long sigh. “I didn’t come back to town to see you. I mean, I would have sooner or later, but something else brought me back
now
.”
 

“What?”
 

“My mother died.”
 

I blinked. “God, Helen. I’m sorry.”
 

She shook her head. “No, it’s all right. We haven’t been close for a long time. After my parents split up, she tried to act like she hadn’t known what Dad was doing to me all those years. Let’s just say she didn’t take it well when I called her bullshit.” Helen took another deep breath and let it out. “But she’s gone, and I’m here for the funeral and all that goes along with that.”
 

“I’m confused. Were you on speaking terms with her?”
 

“No, not really. Not since I was sixteen.”
 

“So if you two weren’t close, why are you going to the funeral?”
 

She stared at me. “Is that a serious question?”
 

“Yes.”
 

“Jake, she’s my
mother
.”
 

I thought about that. My own parents had been out of my life for so long, I had some difficulty processing what she meant. They weren’t bad people, but they moved to Florida while I was still a cop and we were lucky if we spoke four times a year.
 

“All right,” I said. “Duty. I get it.”
 

She nodded. “Some things you just do.”
 

“I understand. What’s the favor you want to ask me?”
 

“Will you go to the funeral with me?”
 

I shrugged. “Sure.”
 

“No, don’t say yes so easily. Let me tell you why first.”
 

I motioned for her to continue.
 

“My father will probably be there.”
 

“Even though they’re divorced?”
 

“Like I said, some things you just do. He’ll show, even if it is just for appearances sake, so he makes all those people see what a great guy he is and how Mom was the one who blew it.”
 

“Do people know about…what he did to you?”
 

“No,” she said. “I never told anyone except Mom. And now you.”
 

“Not even your husband?”
 

“No,” she said firmly. “Especially not him. Can you imagine what Kyle would have done if he found out?”
 

I thought about it. “Probably tried to see your father prosecuted.”
 

“Probably? He definitely would have. And he would have done so with single-minded fury. Trust me. I know him.”
 

I know him, too,
I thought, but said nothing.
 

“That’s the other part of the favor,” she said.
 

“What’s the other part?”
 

“Kyle.”
 

“What’s that mean—?” I started to say, then stopped.
 

Helen fell silent and watched me.
 

“You think Falkner’s going to be there?”
 

“I know he will,” she whispered.
 

“Why? Why on earth would he do that?”
 

“Because it’s the only way he can manage to be in the same room with me without violating the no contact order.”
 

I blinked again. “No cont—wait, you still have that?”
 

“Of course.”
 

“Since when?”
 

“Ever since the breakup.” Helen turned away and walked back to the kitchen table to her drink.
 

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Did he actually hurt you?”
 

She lifted her glass and took a healthy sip. “No. But he threatened to. And I believed him.”
 

“Apparently a judge did, too. But those are usually only good for a year or so, even the so-called permanent ones. How is it still in place?”
 

“My lawyer gets it renewed every year.”
 

“He’d have to present the judge with some kind of continued threat for that,” I said.
 

“My lawyer is very good.”
 

I went to the cupboard and got myself a glass. Then I poured a drink from the bottle on the counter. Leaning
back against the counter, I sipped and watched Helen. She sipped and watched me back.
 

“All right,” I finally said. “I’ll do it. I’ll be your goddamn bodyguard.”
 

“Don’t say it like that, Jake.”
 

“That’s what it is.”
 

“I just don’t have anyone else to turn to.”
 

“Great,” I said. “So I’m the bottom of the barrel.”
 

Helen put her glass down and came to me. When she drew close, she took my glass away and set it on the counter. “No. You’re all I’ve got.”
 

I wanted to say she was full of shit, that she was playing me. But I couldn’t. For one, I wasn’t sure it was true. For another, even if it was, I couldn’t say I didn’t like the notion of being her protector.
 

“When’s the funeral?” I said quietly.
 

“Tomorrow afternoon.”
 

I reached up and touched her cheek. “All right.”
 

And then we forgot the world for a while.
 

TWELVE
 

The pounding woke us up. It was dark. Disoriented, I cast an eye at my clock. The blood red numbers read
11:19
.