Hit List - Lawrence Block [76]
“They . . .”
“Called it off. Changed their minds. Canceled the contract.”
“Oh.”
“But you didn’t know that.”
“How would I know?”
“You wouldn’t, not unless you happened to check your machine, and why would you do that? Well, what’s your plan now, Keller?”
“I thought I’d come home.”
“You’re not going to visit some stamp dealers? Spend a few days, find a nice Mexican restaurant?”
“Not this time.”
“Probably just as well,” she said. “Come home, come see me, and we’ll get this sorted out.”
“On the way out,” he said, “I had the urge to buy a Pocket Planner. Coming home, it was a set of college courses on video. The country’s best lecturers, the ad said.”
“Would you watch them?”
“Of course not,” Keller said. “Any more than I’d use the Pocket Planner. What do I want to plan? It’s funny how it works. You stow your carry-on in the overhead compartment, you make sure your seat belt’s securely fastened, and you start wanting things you never wanted before. They have these in-flight phones, and you can call and order this stuff at no charge.” He frowned. “No charge for the phone call, that is.”
“What did you buy?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I never do, but I always think about it.”
“Keller . . .”
“Why’d they call it off?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “because I don’t know why they called it on in the first place. Who was he, anyway?”
“He had an office,” Keller said, “all by himself, and he had some initials after his name, but I don’t remember what they were. I guess he was some kind of businessman, and I got the impression he wasn’t doing too well at it.”
“Well, maybe he owed money, and maybe he paid up after all. Which is more than they’re going to do.”
“The client, you mean.”
“Right.”
“Paid half in front, and doesn’t want to pay the balance.”
“Right again.”
“I don’t see why. I did what I was supposed to do.”
“But by the time you did it,” she said, “you weren’t supposed to do it.”
“Not my fault.”
“I agree with you, Keller.”
“They didn’t say go out there and await further instructions. They said do the job, and I did the job. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is they hate paying for a job they tried to cancel. As a matter of fact, they wanted their advance back.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Exactly what I told them.”
“I did the job,” he said. “I should get paid in full.”
“I told them that, too.”
“And?”
“You could call it a Mexican standoff,” she said, “if you’re prepared to run the risk of being politically incorrect.”
“We keep what they already paid us.”
“You got it.”
“And they keep what they owe us.”
“If you want to call it that.”
“I don’t know what else to call it,” he said. “Why a Mexican standoff, do you happen to know? What’s Mexican about it?”
“You’re the stamp collector, Keller. Is there a Mexican stamp with a famous standoff pictured on it?”
“A famous standoff? What’s a famous standoff?”
“I don’t know. The Alamo, maybe.”
“The Alamo wasn’t a standoff. It was a massacre, everybody got killed.”
“If you say so.”
“And the Mexicans wouldn’t put it on a stamp. It’s the Texans who made a shrine out of the place.”
“The ones who got massacred.”
“Well, not the same ones, but other Texans. The Mexicans would just as soon forget the whole thing.”
“All right,” she said. “Forget the Alamo. Forget the Maine, too, while you’re at it. If you want to know why they call it a Mexican standoff, I’m sure you can look it up. Spend an afternoon at the library, ask the lady at the research desk to help you out. That’s what she’s there for, Keller.”
“Dot . . .”
“Keller, it’s an expression. Who cares where it came from?”
“It won’t keep me up nights.”
“And who cares about the money? You don’t. It’s not about the money, is it?”
He thought about it. “No,” he said. “I guess not.”
“It’s about being right. They don’t pay you, they’re saying you’re wrong. You settle for half, you’re admitting you’re wrong.”
“But I did what I was supposed to do, Dot! They didn’t say go there and wait for instructions. They didn’t say find the guy and count to ten. They said—“
“I know what they said, Keller.