"You don't know the Mole," I told him.
His face was calm. "That's right, I don't. Thought I'd see for myself."
"Okay, it's time. We're set. Tomorrow night."
"What about the other test?" Blossom. Honey-voiced, thread of ice running deep inside.
"What test?" Virgil wanted to know.
"She wants to see what the dummies look like from outside the car. I got them in the Lincoln. I'll just blow one up, we'll take a look."
Blossom stood to the side, watching us, hands on her hips, jaw set. "Not here."
"What difference does it make?"
"Difference enough. Let's take it back, to where Virgil tested it. See what it looks like in the dark."
"This'll be good enough."
"No, it won't."
"Blossom…"
"She's right." Rebecca.
"Reba, you don't know what…"
Rebecca wheeled on Virgil. "What is it I don't know, honey? I don't know what you and Lloyd gonna be doing out there? What if this maniac sees a plastic dummy, figures out it's a trap, starts spraying bullets all over the place? Burke, he's inside this car, safe. What about you?"
Virgil held out his hands, palms up, surrendering. I caught the look between Blossom and Rebecca. Wondered why men ever think they run things.
166
BLOSSOM SAT NEXT to me in the 'Cuda's bucket seat, running her hands over the surfaces, gauging the weight. The coupe's tail slid out a bit as I gunned it around a corner, pavement-ripping power barely under leash.
"He would have just loved this car," she said.
"Who?"
"Chandler."
I watched the Lincoln's taillights through the dull windshield, following Virgil.
167
HE PARKED THE 'Cuda at the end of a dirt road. A few strokes of the foot pump (the one "optional extra" I bought from the sex shop after I passed on a great variety of cheesy negligees and garter belts) and the redhead doll was life-size. I positioned it in the passenger seat. Stepped back onto a rise, settled myself and looked.
The white body was only a dull streak behind the glass. Couldn't tell what it was.
"Look for yourself," I told Blossom, standing aside.
She stood next to me. Nodded.
"Let's get out of here," I said, taking her elbow.
She stood rooted. "Virgil, you got your rifle with you?"
"Yeah."
"Got a scope on it?"
He looked at me. I nodded.
I put the rifle to my shoulder. "Do it right. Play it square." Blossom's voice.
Or Wesley's?
I dropped prone, sighted in. He'd have a night scope of some kind. Infrared or luminous.
I put the cross-hairs on the passenger's window. This time, I didn't just look. I watched.
With his eyes.
The dummy sat stiff— I couldn't feel the heat.
The trap had no cheese.
168
IN THE LINCOLN, on the way back to Blossom's.
"Who else could you get to do it?"
I didn't answer her.
"You want to ask Rebecca?"
"Shut up. You're a smart girl, be smart enough to know when to keep quiet."
169
NO MATTER HOW many times I spun the wheel, it came up double zero— the house edge.
His house.
170
WHEN THE DARKNESS grabbed the ground, I pulled out of Virgil's garage. Blossom sat next to me, a man's white shirt worn outside a pair of blue jeans, her long blonde hair loose and free.
The padlock gave way. I stepped back inside the 'Cuda, drove slowly through the park until I found the spot, the dual exhausts bubbling like a motorboat, leaving a wake of power-sounds. I nosed the purple car into a pool of ink, the orange light from the mercury vapor lamps just brushing the passenger window. Where Blossom sat, profile to the rise where the rusting cross-ties made a perfect sniper's roost.
"What now?" she asked.
"Keep your voice down. I don't know how sound carries out here."
"Okay, honey." She ran her fingers through her hair, leaned back in the seat.
My watch said eleven-fifteen.
"You think he's out there?"
"Not yet."
"How long are we going to wait?"
"Long as it takes."
Waiting inside myself, I knew what the big cop had been thinking, the bargain we'd made. Homicide happens. They call it different things, depending on the uniform you're wearing at the time.
A night bird screamed. Blossom stiffened. "You think…?"
"Probably heard Sherwood and his crew moving around."
"Oh."
171
ONE-THIRTY in the morning.
"Are we going to wait until light?"
"No. Couple of kids parking, they wouldn't do that. If he's watching, he's got to believe. It's got to feel right to him first. The way I see it, he probably stalks all the time. Maybe every night. But he doesn't go off until he sees the signal. Whatever that is."
I rotated my neck on its column, feeling the adhesions crackle as they parted. Too tight.
"Time to go," I told Blossom, lighting a cigarette.
"Burke…?"
"What?"
"How come you…I mean, that's the first cigarette you've had since we parked here."
"I don't know what he can see, but the tip of a cigarette, you can see it for a long distance. That's why soldiers cup them in the field. He wouldn't expect to see a cigarette until it's over."
"What's over?"
"The sex. What he came to kill."
172
I GUNNED THE 'Cuda out of its spot, a young man pumped up on himself. Saying goodbye.
He didn't answer.
173
"IT LOOK REAL to you?" I asked Sherwood later.
"Perfect. From where we were, we could see right into the front seat with the scope. Even without one, you could tell people were in the car."
"You up for a couple more times?"
"Yeah. I got two men with me. Good men. It jumps off, one of the boys'll radio for help while me and my partner move on him."
"Okay. I'm coming back tonight. A little later, closer to midnight."
"Burke…"
I looked at the big man, waiting.
"Last night, someone was there. Couldn't get a movement, but we weren't alone. You know the feeling?"
"Yeah. Jungle feeling."
"One difference, here."
"What?"
"Over in 'Nam, we didn't give Charlie the first bite."
174
"THE CAR is perfect, Mole."
He didn't answer.
"The Prof get back?"
"Yes."
"Good. Tell him everything's okay."
The Mole stayed silent.
"Pansy's all right?"
"Sure."
"Give her a pat for me."
He hung up.
175
INSIDE THE 'CUDA, waiting.
"I spoke to my sister last night. After you fell asleep."
"Violet?"
"Rose. I told her we were going to find the man who killed her. Told Mama too."
I didn't say anything. Watching her fine profile, smelling her smell.
"Burke…our gull, the one we saved?"
"Yeah?"
"He's okay now. I let him go this morning."
Time passed. The sniper didn't come.
176
THE PHONE RANG at Blossom's the next afternoon. Answering machine picked up.
"Blossom? It's Wanda, girl. Get off your big fat butt and pick up the phone."
Blossom snatched the receiver. Pieces of the conversation came through as I dozed. "This better be right, now. You talked to her yourself, Wanda Jean?" Schoolgirl giggles.
I closed my eyes. She was a different person. Again. Another piece of the puzzle. Letting me see her essence the way a strip teaser shows you her body.