Caught Stealing - Charlie Huston [60]
Russ is pretty quiet the whole time and once we’re in the room, all he wants to do is take a shower. I flip on the tube and check out the most recent updates. I don’t have to look far. It’s all over the dial. Someone’s been digging. All the stations are running breaking news about a dishy new rumor. I catch a replay on NY1.
—The suspect most sought in connection to this morning’s barroom massacre had escaped from police custody just hours before the murders took place, according to a source within the New York City Police Department. Furthermore, the source claims that the suspect was in custody for another murder that had taken place just yesterday. As of now, there is no response from the NYPD, but a statement is expected at a press conference later today.
It’s not really good news, but it makes me just a little bit happy. If questions are being asked about me, then some heat must be getting close to Roman and the thought of Roman in the fire tickles me to no fucking end.
Russ comes out of the shower in his underpants with a towel around his shoulders. His head is bleeding yet again.
—Mmmm. Man, can you do something about this or what?
Russ sits in a chair and drinks tallboys of Coors Original while I take care of his wound. I use the scissors from the first-aid kit to cut away some of the hair, then I bathe the whole wound with hydrogen peroxide. Russ jumps a bit when the burning starts, but I push him back into the chair and he drains his beer and opens another. Once I blot away the blood and clip off some dead skin and scabs, I can see what we’re dealing with and it’s all fucked up. I tell Russ to keep drinking and get the needle and thread from the sewing kit that comes with the room.
He doesn’t like it much, but I convince him that the wound isn’t gonna close up on its own. The smell of the beer creeps right up my nose, but I keep my hands steady and focus on not hurting the poor bastard too much. It’s not easy. When I thought I might be an EMT, I took all these first-aid classes. Back then, we practiced this on pieces of steak. That was a long time ago and the steaks didn’t move around or bleed. It takes a while. Russ finishes his story.
—Once I, like, fuck! Watch that shit, man. Once I, like, disappeared, I knew all bets would be off and they’d all be after me. Not just Ed and Paris. Like, the way those other guys think, if I make off with the loot, then it’s up for grabs and let the best man win. I didn’t figure I’d, like, get too far with that damn. Mmmm. With that damn sack on my back. Plus which, if they caught me with the, like, cash, then they could just waste me and that’s that. But if the money is, like, stashed, then I’m thinkin’ I might be able to bargain a little. I’ll blow town and, fuck! Oww! Fuck! Shit, man. I’ll, like, blow town, be mobile for a while, let things cool a bit, then slip back into town for the bag and split for good. So I rented that locker, left the cat and the key with you and took off. Mmmm. Sure enough, as soon as I dropped out, the boys heard about it and, like, sent in Lum to scout for me, seeing as they were still too hot to break cover themselves. Way I put it together from there is that Roman hears I’ve lit out and that Lum is around, so he, like, makes an offer to Lum to sell out Ed and Paris, hook up with him and take a bigger cut.
You have to stitch the live skin together, otherwise it just won’t heal properly. It’s gory work, but what has me freaked out is the close-up look I’m getting at the dent I put in Russ’s skull. I can see and feel just how crushed the bone is and the picture I’m getting of what’s on the other side has my stomach flopping around. But there’s nothing I can do about it, so I wipe some sweat out of my eyes and keep going.
—Mmmm. Of course, the Russians catch wind of all