Blue Belle - Andrew Vachss [128]
"Where should I dump him?"
"He's the shooter, Mole. One of the Nazis."
He nodded.
"Take Pansy too."
"She won't…"
"Yes, she will. That last piece of meat I gave her was laced. She should be asleep by now. Keep her with you—lock her up in one of the sheds. Leave water for her. I'll be back in the junkyard sometime late tonight. Belle will get there before me. Your piece is done."
"The basement?"
"Eleven o'clock. You can do it?"
"Yes. Me and the boy."
"He's a good boy, Mole. You should be proud."
"You too."
"Yeah. Look, Mole. If I don't come back, do something for me. Tell Belle I love her."
He nodded.
"And Pansy, let her loose. Let her run with your pack. Let her and Simba–witz make puppies."
I dumped Ramón's body in the back of the panel truck. The Mole snapped a heavy padlock across the back.
I went back for Pansy. I scooped her up in my arms, carried her to the truck. "Open the front door," I told the Mole. "I don't want her to ride with garbage."
I laid her gently across the front seat. Kissed her snout. "See you soon, girl."
The Mole wrapped his stubby arms around me, squeezed hard. "Sei Gesund," he said. Go with God.
169
MICHELLE WAS pushing the girls out the door when I slipped back upstairs. It sounded like sorority girls saying goodbye for the summer.
Belle was in the back room, toweling herself off, the cat's–eye mask still on her face.
"You were perfect," I said, holding her close.
"I was scared."
"I still am. It's almost over. Get out of here. Take the Pontiac. Don't leave the office until past midnight. I'll see you at the junkyard."
"Where's Pansy?"
"She's with the Mole. It's okay. Go."
"What'd you do with the freak?"
"He's gone."
"But you're working with the cops, right? They're right next door. He's not dead—why don't you just leave him for them?"
I cupped her chin, making her watch my face. "I'm not working with the cops, Belle. A cop sees me doing my work on the street tonight, I'm going down. McGowan, he can't call off the whole fucking force. He wouldn't do it if he could. I'm not leaving that freak around to tell his story."
I felt a pulse in her throat, just under her chin. Steady beat.
"We're outlaws, little girl. We can step over the line to the other side, but we're not welcome there. We can't stay. The next cop I see, he'll be trying to stop me from coming home."
She nodded, knowing it was the truth. "Burke, it's not even eight o'clock. You have until ten–thirty. Let me wait here with you."
"No."
"I knew you'd say that."
"It's all right, Belle. Smooth as silk. I'll meet this Mortay at ten–thirty, I'll be in one of the cars by eleven. That's when the Ghost Van goes. I'll be with you soon."
"And you'll never leave."
"And I'll never leave."
I lit a smoke, watching her dress.
"Burke?"
"You're going, Belle."
"I know. I will, promise. Remember when you came back to me? After you met that man?"
"Yeah."
"I want you inside me. To keep with me until I see you again. I want my smell on you when you kill him."
170
I CARRIED two of the suitcases out to the back. Tossed in the scattergun. Closed the trunk. I held her next to me.
"Belle…"
"Don't you say it! Whatever you're going to say, don't say it. Tell me tonight."
I kissed her. There was blood in my heart.
When she drove away, I was alone.
171
IN THE back room, I put it all together. Cut two fingertips off the black gloves. Buried the plastic bottle in the cart, pistol handle sticking up, wrapped in black tape. I put on the black pants, the black sweatshirt. Worked the blond wig over my hair, stuck on the mustache. The blue golf cap was a tight fit. The black pants had cargo pockets—I put a grenade in each one. The two–inch pistol in my belt.
Pain plucked at me. Fear. I climbed down into my center. Stayed there, feeling the calm.
Mortay wanted what was mine.
If you can't stand to read the weight, you don't climb on the scales.
Ten o'clock. I pulled on the gloves, ran the two razor–tipped nails through the poison paste.
It was a struggle getting the shopping