Small Crimes (24 page)

'Morris,
I had no idea about any of this.'

'Joe,
please.' He showed me a sad smile. I actually thought of us as friends. I
actually thought that there was something of substance inside you, that you
could reform yourself and live

a
decent life. But I was wrong. We're through, Joe. We're not friends anymore.'

He
let his eyelids close. As far as he was concerned I wasn't there.

I
stood frozen, wanting to explain to him how wrong he was, but I realized there
was nothing to explain. I turned and left.

I
didn't know what else to do so I drove back to my motel room, dialed Dan's
beeper, and left a message. The waiting was murder. I was feeling so jumpy and
sick inside. All the damage I was causing was adding up. I had already put two
boys in the hospital and now this. Because of me a young girl lay dead in the
morgue. And of course there was more than that. There was Phil. And I guess in
some way, Clara. Even my own parents...

I
tried watching TV to get my mind off it all, but I couldn't lie still. I had
too much nervous energy. Every few minutes I'd have to get off the bed and do
pushups or pace the room. I needed to get a hold of Dan and have him explain
what happened. Of course I knew what happened, but I needed him to explain it.

Around
a quarter to six there was a soft knock on my door. I opened it and saw Dan
standing there. He stepped into the room quickly, closing the door behind him.
I watched as he walked over to a chair and sat down. He tilted the chair back
so it leaned against the wall, and loosely clasped his hands behind his head.
As he looked up at me, he smiled pleasantly, but his coloring was pasty and he
looked worn out around the eyes and mouth. He remarked about what a fleabag I
had picked.

'You
think with the money I gave you you could've picked a better place, Joe. Jesus,
I've been in gas station rest rooms that I'd rather sleep in,' he said.

I
could feel myself trembling as I stared at him. I had an urge to kick his chair
legs out from under him and send him crashing to the floor. I started to say
something, but forced my mouth shut. I didn't trust myself yet to talk.

'You
probably heard about what happened today,' he said. 'What a mess. I've been up
to my ears in it all day. I got here as soon as I could.'

I
asked him how Frechotte ended up at that motel.

He
made a face. 'Come on, Joe, after what you told me? You should know the answer
to that.'

'I'd
like to hear it anyway.'

'You
would, huh? Okay, Joe, I'll tell you what you already know. I had one of my
boys follow Susie this morning. When she went to the motel, and later when
Coakley showed his ugly face, I called Frechotte and told him about it.
Anonymously, of course, and from a payphone. If he wasn't such a fucking
jerk-off our problems would be over now.'

'You
sonofabitch.'

'And
why's that?'

'You
had no goddam right.'

'What
are you talking about? Joe, I did only what you wanted me to do.'

'I
never wanted you to do that.’

‘Really?'

I
didn't answer him. He was still smiling pleasantly, and as he looked at me, a glint
of genuine amusement shone in his eyes.

'Joe,'
he said, 'who are you trying to kid? Why'd you tell me about Coakley banging
that broad?'

'I
already told you why the other day.'

'Yeah,
right. You expect me to believe that cock-and-bull story you gave me? That you
only wanted me to follow Coakley around so I could catch him in the act and file
a morals charge against him? You think I'm an imbecile?'

Whatever
was in his eyes died. As he looked at me, his smile tightened into something
vicious. He stood up and moved close to me. Close enough that I could smell his
breath.

'You
want to take a swing at me, is that it, Joe?' he asked, his voice barely above
a whisper. 'Well, go right ahead, but I promise you I want to kick your teeth
in a hell of a lot more than you could imagine. What happened today is your
fault. Don't kid yourself otherwise. If you had taken care of things like you
were supposed to, I wouldn't have had to send that puffed-up piece of crap
Frechotte to that motel room.'

He
was breathing heavily, his breath stale and oppressive, a bit like rotting
garbage. I had to force myself to keep from stepping away from him. Then the
moment passed. His eyes came back to life and his smile loosened into something
more recognizable. He shook his head as if to indicate that I was nuts, and
then sat back in the chair and crossed his legs.

'You
were right about Grayson,' he said. I cornered him this morning and got him to
tell me that he's meeting with Coakley and Manny Wednesday to iron out a deal.
And you're right, the deal's going to protect Junior. So Joe, I'm expecting you
to take care of this today. How are you going to do it?'

'I'm
not telling you shit.'

'No,
that's not a good answer. Three of my boys are waiting outside. Unless I hear
something more convincing, I'm going to bring them in here and we're going to
take care of things here and now. So Joe, how are you going to take care of
this?'

As
I looked at him I knew he; meant what he said. He casually took his revolver
out of its holster and rested it on his knee. I knew I was a breath away from
being a dead man.

My
throat had dried up on me. I had to clear it before I could talk.

'I'll
take care of this,' I said, my voice cracking. 'What did you say? I couldn't
hear you. Your voice kind of faded on you.'

I
went into the bathroom and poured myself a cup of water. I couldn't have gotten
a word out without it. I drank it slowly and walked back to him. I stopped when
he moved his hand to get a better grip on the gun.

I
told him again that I'd take care of things.

"That's
not good enough, Joe. You've been letting me down for three days now. I want to
hear details. I want to be convinced.'

'I
can't tell you,' I said. 'Someone else is involved. But it's all worked out.
Manny will be gone by morning.'

'Joe,
come on, you should know there are no secrets between us. I want to know every
little detail.'

I
could feel the sweat building on the back of my neck. I shook my head.

He
pursed his lips as he studied me. I could tell he was trying to make up his
mind, and I could see it in his eyes when he settled on a decision. He put his
gun back in its holster and smiled as pleasantly as I ever saw him.

'Okay,
Joe, you have until tonight. But I hope you understand, I'm not playing anymore.
You understand that, right?'

I
nodded.

'So
tell me, this other person, you didn't by any chance mention my name to him?'

'No.
No one else has been mentioned.'

"That's
good, Joe. You're using some brains for a change. Keep it up. Maybe we'll all
be able to look back at this someday and get a good laugh out of it.'

He
stood up, gave me a wink, and headed towards the door. I tried to keep my mouth
shut, but I couldn't help myself.

'It
doesn't bother you what happened to that girl?' I asked.

He
turned to me and shrugged. 'Of course it does,' he said. 'If it were up to me,
Frechotte would have unloaded a full clip into Coakley's face and left her out
of it. If he had done that, this would be over now and we'd have the added
benefit of a closed casket.'

His
smile turned wistful as he thought about it. He shook his head sadly. 'But it
wasn't up to me, Joe,' he continued, 'just as it wasn't up to me that you've
been fucking around with this the last three days. But I will miss her. She was
a sweet girl, and you don't get a chance to see a nice little red bush like
hers every day .'

He
left then.

The
back of my shirt had soaked through with sweat. I got out of my clothes, took a
quick shower, and dried off the best I could with the dishrag that had been
left in the bathroom to masquerade as a bath towel. Afterwards, I got dressed
and sat on the bed and looked at the pictures I had of Melissa and Courtney.
When I felt strong enough, I threw whatever I had into my duffel bag and
checked out of the motel. As I drove to Bradley Memorial Hospital, I spotted
one of Dan's deputies, Hal Wheely, following me in an unmarked Chevy.

I
made no attempt to lose him. He did a pretty clumsy job of tailing me, and he
must've known that I spotted him. But I guess he didn't care.

Chapter 15

It
was twenty to seven by the time I pulled into the hospital parking lot. When I
got to the lobby, I noticed Alice Cook behind the information desk. She avoided
my eye as I walked past her.

I
thought I'd catch Charlotte before her shift ended. I didn't feel that I could
wait until eight to see her. As I headed towards the terminal ward, I spotted
Junior and his two goons, Jamie and Duane, at the other end of the hallway
walking towards me. When he saw me, a big ugly grin broke across his face.

'Hey,
Joe,' he yelled out. 'Whatcha doin' here? You're not planning on bothering my
pop again, are you?'

I
stopped where I was. Junior and his two goons kept coming, maybe even speeding
up their pace. When Junior reached me, he moved alongside me and put his arm
around my shoulder.

'Get
your hands off me,' I told him as I braced myself.

'Hey,
I'm just talking friendly-like to an old friend, that's all,' Junior said. His
two goons had positioned themselves so I was sandwiched between all three of
them.

'I
told you to get your hands off me,' I said.

'Lighten
up. We're all friends here, okay? Now I asked you, are you here to bother my
pop again?'

'Junior,
I'm going to tell you for the last time to get your hands off me.'

I
had taken my car keys out of my pocket. I could feel my muscles tensing. Even
with his two goons standing next to me, I'd be able to get a couple of shots
in. I'd make sure that Junior was bleeding from somewhere before they pulled me
off him. I guess Junior realized that also. His ugly grin dulled a bit and he
removed his hand from my shoulder. He backed up half a step. His two goons
stood where they were.

'Hey,
don't go psycho on me, okay?' Junior said. 'I'm just talking to you as an old
pal, that's all. Want to know something, Joe? I hung out with Pop later than
usual today hoping you'd show up.'

'I'm
glad I didn't disappoint you.'

'You
think you're so goddam smart, but guess what? You're not as bright as you think
you are. I knew sooner or later you'd try bothering Pop again with your
bullshit.'

'Is
that so?'

'Yeah,
that's so. And I want to tell you I figured out how you're going to pay for
bothering Pop the other day’ I thought you told me last night.'

He
looked away from me to his two goons. 'What's he talking about?' he asked them.
'Anyone say shit to him last night?'

Both
Jamie and Duane shook their heads. Junior looked back at me. 'I don't know what
the fuck you're talking about,' he said.

'You
took a couple of shots at me last night.'

'I
did, did I?' he asked. He turned to his two goons and asked them, 'Either of
you know anything about this?' Neither of them said anything.

He
turned back to me, his grin now tight against his face. 'You're nuts, Joe. If I
took a shot at you, you wouldn't be standing here now.'

'Somebody
took two shots at me.'

A
young doctor, probably around thirty, was approaching from behind. He made sure
to give us a wide berth as he
passed
by.
Junior waited until he was out of earshot before he leaned closer to me.

'Look
somewhere else, pal,' he said, making an effort to keep his voice low. 'I'm
sure if you look hard enough you'll find plenty of other guys who'd like to
plug you. But not me. Not while you owe me money. And that's what I want to
talk to you about. What you owe me is being bumped to forty large.'