Primal Threat - Earl Emerson [49]
“Yeah. I liked her,” said Giancarlo.
“You liked them all,” said Muldaur.
Giancarlo laughed. “Yeah, I did.”
“Nothing like a bunch of young women to convince you you’re getting old,” said Morse.
“I wasn’t feeling old,” said Giancarlo, who at thirty was twelve years younger than Morse. “I was feeling married.”
“So, Muldaur?” said Stephens. “The Hugh thing. I mean it was funny in a way, and I can see why you might want to, uh, do something like that, but what’s with the, you know…what’s with the Hugh stuff? I’m not saying it wasn’t funny. Because when you pull that helmet down on your head and put those glasses on…well…and those teeth…”
“And the way you talk,” said Morse, laughing.
“But the primary question, at least in my mind, and I was thinking about this almost the whole time we were down there…the primary question is…I mean…why?”
“Sometimes I just do stuff.”
The enigmatic response barred Stephens from asking more questions. Zak had known for a while there was more to Muldaur’s act than he was willing to acknowledge, even to himself. He’d used the Hugh getup at work to pester and mock the other shifts, and tonight he’d used it to do the same to Kasey and his friends. Zak figured it was a way of confronting people using a strange combination of boldness and anonymity.
As they nestled down in their sleeping bags, Morse and Stephens conversed in low tones. It wasn’t long before Zak could hear Giancarlo snoring lightly. Muldaur rolled over in his bag. “So what’s going on with you and Scooter?”
“Scooter’s the guy with the trust fund.”
“Oh, I get it. He’s rich.”
“That’s part of it.”
“Just out of curiosity, how much money does he have?”
“Not enough to take over the world but enough not to work a day in his life.”
“No wonder you hate him.”
“I hate him because he’s been stalking Nadine. And now he’s stalking me, too. We’re in this pickle because Nadine wouldn’t do anything about it when I asked her to. If she had sicced the cops on him, he’d never have shown up here.”
“Are you and Nadine getting back together?”
“I hope so.”
“You really want it to work, don’t you?”
“It took me awhile to figure it out, but she’s the woman I want helping me through the rest of my life. And the one I want to be helping.”
“It’s gotta be hard. Somebody who hates rich people as much as you, hooking up with a girl like her.”
“I don’t hate rich people.”
“Yeah, you do. She’s a nice girl and I applaud you for trying to pull it off, even if I don’t think you’ll make it. But don’t let my lousy opinion stop you. I keep thinking my folks are going to break up, and they’ve been together fifty-some years. What do I know? So how does her brother figure into the equation? You don’t get along with him, either.”
“No, but I need to get along with him if I’m going to keep seeing Nadine. As well as her father and mother.” Below, two more gunshots perforated the night. “The truth is these guys have been getting away with crap their whole lives, and because they’re wealthy, they’ve never had any repercussions. They come out in the woods; they think they can do anything. Driving the way they did today could have gotten all five of us dead.”
“Don’t blow it out of proportion,” said Stephens, who’d been eavesdropping. “They’re good people. Your friend, Kasey Newcastle? His father knows my company CEO. They’ve gone to Alaska together to fish. His family owns restaurants in ten states. He’s a Mason. I mean—they’re well connected in this region.”
“We’re not talking about his father,” said Zak. “His father’s not down there drinking beer and shooting off guns.”
“Yeah, well, they’re not shooting in this direction.”
“Why don’t you stick your head up and make sure? Those guys aren’t here by accident. They came to fuck with me.”
“Don’t be so paranoid,” said Morse. “Nobody’s here to fuck with anybody. In the morning we’ll go our separate ways, and that