“They may do just that. I hope they do. But at the same time, I have to warn you. If you go after them again, I’ll throw away the key. Do I make myself clear?”
“You’re not charging us?”
“I could. Your friends had no interest in filing assault charges, but I could still ring you up for disturbing the peace, destruction of property…Which reminds me, the Palace has a list of damages here. I trust you guys will take care of that?”
“Yes,” I said. “Of course.”
“Good. Do we have an understanding on what you’re not going to do next?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Mr. LeBlanc?”
Vinnie thought about it. “Yes, Chief.”
“I keep telling myself,” Maven said. “The next time I have McKnight in my office, that’s the day I retire.”
“Maybe you should,” I said. “Go someplace where they actually have summers.”
“That would make you happy, wouldn’t it. Seeing me leave.”
“I think you’d miss me.”
“It’s always a pleasure, McKnight.” He stood up and opened the door for us. “Now get the hell out of here.”
We did. We went outside, each of us taking a deep breath of fresh air. It wasn’t raining, but there was a cold wind coming off the lake. The Palace was close enough to walk to. We got in Vinnie’s truck, still parked on the street from the night before, and then he took me over to the Kewadin.
“You need to get some ice on your hands,” I said. As he drove I could see how cut up and swollen they were. Both of them.
“I will.”
“You surprised me in there. You played Maven like a drum.”
“It wasn’t hard. He obviously dislikes you so much. Anything that makes you look bad he’s gonna fall for.”
“Yeah, good thinking.” I shook my head and looked out my window at the miserable day.
When we got to the Kewadin, he pulled up next to my truck. The parking lot was still half empty.
“What are you going to do now?” I said.
“I’m not sure. Maybe go see if Caroline’s okay.”
“You’re not going after them, are you?”
“How could I? I don’t know where they are.”
“Vinnie…”
“I’ll see you later. If you’re around, maybe we can get some work done.”
“I’ll be there,” I said. I started to get out. “Please don’t do anything.”
“I’ll see you at the Glasgow.”
I closed the door and watched him drive off. I could only wonder when I’d see him again, and if he’d be in one piece.
When I got back to Paradise, I thought about stopping in at the Glasgow. I would have killed for one of Jackie’s omelets just then. But I went up to my cabin first and I was glad that I did. There was a message on my machine. It was from Natalie.
“Alex…You’re not there…I just wanted to see how you’re doing. You asked me to call you tonight. I guess you’re out. Anyway, things are getting hot here. We might be making a move soon. Finally. I’ll try to call you tomorrow. Have a good night. Bye.”
She sounded a little lost. Maybe a little pissed-off that I wasn’t there, after I bugged her to call me so much the last time I talked to her. I couldn’t blame her. She probably thought I was down at the Glasgow, drinking beer while my phone rang off the hook. Little did she know.
I got some ice out, wrapped it up in a towel, and put the whole thing over the knuckles on my right hand. I lay down on the bed. I could hear the wind blowing. I thought I heard it start to rain again, but couldn’t be sure. I was content to stay inside for now and wonder.
You don’t sleep well in jail. That’s one thing I had learned. I felt like I could stay right here on the bed for a week.
But no…
I should do something…
What? What should I do? What…
When I woke up, the ice had melted. I was holding a wet towel. My hand was still sore, and now I was hungry as all hell. I looked at the clock. I had slept for more than three hours.
I took a shower, put clean clothes on, and looked for anything edible I might have in my refrigerator.
You’re stalling, I thought. You’re looking for an excuse to stay here in case Natalie calls.
My choices were a can of baked beans or spaghetti with no sauce. I’ll go to the Glasgow, I thought. Check on Vinnie on my way down there, see if he’s home yet. Eat something, then come back. She probably won’t call until tonight, anyway.
As I was on my way out the door, the phone rang.
It was her.
“Alex,” she said, “you’re there.”
“Yes. Sorry I missed you last night. Things got a little crazy…”
“I wish you had a better cell phone. It would make things a lot easier.”
“I told you, cell phones work like crap around here.”
“Bad cell phones do. I’m telling you, next time I see you, we’re getting you a new one.”
“Next time you see me? I like the sound of that…”
“I don’t have much time to talk today,” she said. “I was thinking I’d just leave a message again, tell you that we’re finally moving. We’re pretty close to taking them down, and I’m not sure when you’ll hear from me again.”
“How long have you guys been setting this up? I never worked any undercover, but from what I remember hearing, the longer the setup, the more chance of getting compromised.”
“You’re sounding like my CO again.”
“Natalie…”
“I know, I know. It wasn’t the plan. But we’ve gotten this close. We can’t back out now after all this work.”
“Is something going to happen today?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I have to hook up with Rhapsody. She’ll know what the next move is.”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to tell her I thought the whole thing was crazy. I didn’t want to plant any doubts in her mind when she was this close to the payoff.
“Just be careful,” I said. “If anything looks off…”
“I know, Alex. I’ll pull the plug.”
“But nothing will go wrong. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
There was a long silence. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. I waited for her to say something else.
“So what did you do last night?” she finally asked. “Were you hanging out with Vinnie and Jackie?”
“Well…Vinnie.”
“I bet you guys were working on the cabin.”
“No, actually, we were in jail.”
“Excuse me?”
“Listen, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you, okay?”
“You’re telling me to be careful here and you’re the one getting thrown in jail?”
“Okay, I know it looks bad on paper.”
“What, you got drunk, you got in a fight…My God, Alex.”
“I wasn’t drunk. Come on.”
“This is almost kinda funny. I should be laughing.”
“Yeah, it’s hilarious.”
“Are you going to be charged with anything?”
“No,” I said. “Chief Maven let us go this morning.”
“Chief Maven…That’s beautiful. Did you say ‘hi’ for me?”
“Your name didn’t come up, no.”
“Okay, I’ve got to go now.”
“Natalie. Please. Do you want the whole story now?”
“I really have to go. Don is here. We’re getting ready to roll.”
“Okay,” I said. “Okay. Give me a call later, please? Let me know how you’re doing?”
“I’ll try. Unless things get crazy. Just do me a favor, eh?”
“What’s that?”
“Try to stay out of jail tonight.”
When I finally headed down to the Glasgow, I looked for Vinnie’s truck as I passed his house. It wasn’t there. The sun was going down now. It was officially time to start getting worried.
I was hoping maybe he’d be down at the Glasgow. No such luck. Jackie said he hadn’t seen him all day.
“You weren’t here again last night,” he added. “That’s two nights in a row. A new record.”
“It might be a hat trick,” I said. “I’ve gotta go find Vinnie before he does something really stupid.”
It was almost dark by the time I got to the rez. I cruised down the main street, past Vinnie’s mother’s place. No sign of his truck. I checked both casinos. Nothing.