Bandits (1987) (20 page)

Jack said, Why would anybody?

There you are. I got you the name, you go on over and find out who the guy is.

Maybe Alvin sells guns.

That could be.

Or he has a lot of money and he hates communism.

Jack half turned as Lucy appeared. He watched her pick up the sherry and take a good sip. That was my dad. He had dinner with the colonel last night.
She took another sip and sat down on the edge of the sofa, placing the glass on the coffee table.

Jack watched her. Composed, staying inside herself, hard to reach. He said, What happened?

Nothing, yet. It
'
s what might happen. My dad said if he could stop payment on his check he probably would. He thinks it '
s quite possible the colonel '
s going to run off with all the money. And then he said this is good '
yOf course, it '
s still a tax deduction.
'
He said even though it '
s just a feeling he has, he '
s going to tell his friends who haven '
t contributed yet to think twice about it. He said it '
s only a hunch. . . . But my dad got rich playing his hunches.

Jack said, Is that why he called you?

He wanted to tell me I
'
m probably right about the guy and he shouldn
'
t have given him a dime. Then covers himself by saying the colonel does have credentials, a letter from the president, and the fund '
s legitimate. They have an account, he said, at Hibernia.

At Hibernia and Whitney,
Cullen said, four different branches, so far.

Roy said, Honey, how much did your dad give this guy?

Sixty-five thousand.

Roy said, Jesus Christ, I work two years to make that.

Or even three, Jack was thinking, as Lucy said, The colonel starts out, he suggests at least a hundred thousand. Then, if he has to come down, he tells about the woman in Austin, Texas, who gave sixty-five thousand and they named a helicopter after her. Lady Ellen. Well, a big oilman from Louisiana should be able to match that, at least.

Jack said, It
'
s like playing blackjack against a woman dealer. We
'
ll have to give this some thought. But if it '
s true, it might even be better. You know it? This guy Bertie, if he '
s honest he could have the CIA or even the military fly the money down there. But if he '
s gonna sneak off with it, that '
s something else. He '
s on his own. Or, as far as we know, it '
s Bertie and the other two guys.
He thought about it a moment. It would even make sense why he brought in the guy from Miami, what '
s his name? Crispin Antonio Reyna, if you see what I '
m getting at. The guy was into dope, has a sheet . . .
He looked at Roy. What was it, kiting checks?

Uttering fraudulent checks,
Roy said. Did nine months. Then was brought up on transporting narcotics from Florida to here, but that one fell through.

And the guy that killed Boylan,
Jack said, Franklin de Dios, who didn
'
t look like any Franklin of God, I '
ll tell you, coming out of that Men '
s room. He was picked up on a homicide in Miami, a triple.

He was a major suspect, but never brought to trial,
Roy said. So you have your doper and you have your shooter.

You see it?
Jack said. Where the money could be going, associating with guys like that? Right to Miami, fly or drive, either way. You look at it like that turning to Lucy your dad '
s hunch makes a lot of sense.

Roy said, I better check, see if Alvin Cromwell
'
s got a sheet.

Or a plane,
Jack said, or a boat.

Lucy was looking at him. You know who he is?

Alvin has a men
'
s store in Gulfport. I
'
ll drive over, he said to Roy, after you check him out.

Cullen said, Jack, you
'
re gonna have to go back in the guy
'
s room, too.

For what?

Why
'
s he have the money in four different branches? I wondered about that,
Cullen said. Well, one advantage, if it '
s in smaller amounts he can get it out quicker. Along with what you '
re talking about. Say he wants to leave in a hurry. What you want to find out, Jack, if he '
s moving it around, has any new receipts.

What difference does it make, he moves it from Hibernia to Whitney?
He didn
'
t like the idea of going back in there.

You
'
re the one brought up Miami,
Cullen said. What if they don '
t put the dough in a suitcase but have it transferred there, bank to bank?

Not if they
'
re gonna use it illegally.

Jack, these guys own banks
guys in the dope business. You have to go in there and take a look. Also check the guy '
s list, how many names are crossed off. If Lucy '
s dad tells his friends not to kick in then maybe this '
s it, what the guy '
s raised so far and there won '
t be no more.

Tomorrow,
Jack said. He didn
'
t like the idea one bit.

What I don
'
t understand,
Cullen said, we
'
re sitting here working on a score. . . . This '
s the first time I '
ve ever done it and nobody '
s asked the big question, the most important one of all.

How much does he have?
Lucy said.

There, finally.
Cullen gave her a smile. I
'
ll tell you right now, the way it '
s going the guy '
s never gonna make his five.

Roy said, I never expected he would.

Or even come close,
Cullen said. I
'
m talking about what he has right now is two million two.

There was a silence before Roy said, What
'
s wrong with that?

Jack said, Not a thing,
and looked at Lucy.

Lucy said nothing.

She reached under the lamp shade to turn off the light, but then paused and looked at Jack, on the sofa. I
'
d better wait till they get back.

You want to go up, I
'
ll let them in.

Roy and Cullen had left to get something to eat, Cullen with a craving for fat-boiled shrimp after twenty-seven years of catfish. They
'
d find a place open on Magazine, come right back and cruise the street, take a walk around the grounds. It was Roy '
s idea. He said they '
d better all three of them stay here. Watch out for Nicaraguans and a nigger Indin sneaking around in the night.

You won
'
t know where to sleep.

I can stretch out right here
'
s fine.

There
'
re seven bedrooms upstairs,
Lucy said, not counting servants '
quarters, in this huge house. My mother wouldn '
t think of moving. She has a cleaning woman come in every day, the gardener twice a week. I asked Dolores what she does all day. She said, '
yMostly I look after the house.
'
I said, '
yWhat does my mother do?
'
She said, '
yYour mother gets herself ready to go out.
'

He watched her pick up her glass and walk over to the bar, slim in her Calvins and black sweater. A different Lucy. But what was it? Something in her eyes. Or something gone from her eyes.

How
'
s your drink?

I
'
ve had enough,
Jack said. Thanks.

She poured sherry. Did you notice the Carnival pictures in the hall? That
'
s my mom.

She looks awfully young to be your mother.

Ball gowns don
'
t change that much.
Lucy turned with her glass of sherry. Those pictures were taken about thirty years ago. Mom was Queen of Comus and has never gotten over it. She adorns herself and goes out to be seen. My dad makes money and surrounds himself with possessions. A five-hundred-thousand dollar live oak he '
s holding prisoner. He once possessed my mother.

The new Lucy leaning hip-cocked against the bar in her black cashmere and Calvins. He could ask her how she
'
d paid for them . . .

Come sit down and tell me what
'
s wrong.

She took her time about it. Sat on the edge of the sofa, sipped her wine, placed the glass on the table before easing back. She was close now but staring off. That was all right, he could look at her profile, the nose and dark lashes, the lower lip he '
d like to bite, and wonder about her still, if she '
d ever gone to bed with anyone. . . . No lipstick on, not a touch of makeup this evening.

She said, I don
'
t care for your friend Roy.

Is that what
'
s bothering you?

No, it doesn
'
t matter. But I
'
m curious, how he can be a friend of yours.

I don
'
t know. . . . I guess he
'
s not a very likable person. . . .
Jack paused. Likable person the guy was out of the Stone Age. He '
s hard to get along with, he '
s narrow-minded, has a terrible disposition . . . I don '
t know, now that you mention it.

You talk about him, you sound like you
'
re proud of him.

No, I think it
'
s amazement more than anything else. You know, that he
'
s the way he is. I don '
t see him that much.

But you like him.

I wouldn
'
t go so far as to say I like him. I accept him. Isn
'
t that what you '
re supposed to do?

She turned to look at him.

I don
'
t make excuses for him,
Jack said. I don
'
t criticize him, either. I wouldn '
t dare.

She said, Do you trust him?

Jack took a moment. Roy says he
'
s gonna do something, you can put your money on it. He '
s the kind of guy you want on your side, whether you like him or not.

She said, Because the same kind of guys are on the other side. There
'
s no difference, is there?

He put his hand on her arm, gripped it to feel flesh and bone beneath the soft wool. He said, I
'
m an ex-con, you know that. Roy '
s an ex-con who used to be a cop. He '
s a mean, miserable guy, but he kept me pure for three years. Cullen '
s an ex-con who used to rob banks. What are you? Right now at this moment, what are you?

She was facing him and her eyes held, but she didn
'
t answer.

Have you changed your skin yet?

He gave her time, moving in slowly, closed his eyes as he kissed her and she stayed with him, moving her mouth to fit his mouth, knowing what she was doing. He saw her eyes beneath dark lashes, saw them come open, saw her lips slightly parted.

You
'
re not a nun anymore.

No.

He kissed her again the same way, gently, with a tender feeling.

You
'
ve become something else.

She said, A new identity,
and seemed almost to smile, still looking at him. Then touched him, put her hand on his leg as she got up. She said, I want to show you something, and walked out of the room.

He lighted one of her cigarettes.

She was different. . . . Or maybe she had changed back. Because now, as he thought about it, she seemed more like the one he thought of as Sister Lucy, the way she was last Sunday in the hearse, telling him about Nicaragua, getting into it and making him feel it. Or the way she was that evening when he realized he was being set up and liked it shit, loved it and said, You '
re wondering if I might be able to help you, and she looked at him with those quiet eyes and said, It crossed my mind.
She was like that Lucy again. Into something, feeling it.