“That car in front,” Lou said, pointing to an old gray beater. “That’s gotta be the neighbor’s, right? Dukes’ car is probably in the neighbor’s garage.”
“If we knew what kind of car he had, we could check.”
“Yeah, we just have to wait to see what happens.”
“That’s the part I’m gonna hate,” I said. “I never did like stakeouts.”
“Well, if prison teaches you one thing, it’s how to wait. Unless you have another idea.”
“We could go break the door down and start counting heads. One, I’m wrong. Two, I’m right.”
“I’m pretty sure that could get us arrested,” he said. “Unless they’ve changed the laws around here.”
“Arrested or killed. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re armed.”
“Oh, I’m sure of it.”
“I’ve already been shot twice,” I said. “I think that’s probably enough.”
We sat there for a long time. I don’t know exactly how long, because I was doing everything I could to turn off the clock in my brain. I leaned back in the passenger seat, my eyes just high enough to see over the dashboard. For all of his talk about learning how to wait in prison, Lou seemed even more anxious than I was. In the end, we agreed to take turns watching the houses while the other closed his eyes for a while and recharged his batteries. It made it a lot easier, but it still wasn’t going to rank as one of my favorite ways to spend a summer morning.
“Did it really happen twice?” he said, finally breaking the silence.
“What’s that?”
“You said you got shot twice.”
“I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Fair enough. Whatever.”
More silence.
“The first time was on the job,” I said after a few more minutes. “I let my guard down. We both did, my partner and I. He didn’t survive it.”
“But you did. And you blame yourself.”
I looked over at him.
“Which is only natural,” he said. “Even though I’m sure it’s wrong.”
I didn’t try to argue. It was a thousand sleepless nights’ worth of old ground for me, and I had no desire to go over it again.
“That was the first time,” he said. “What about the second?”
“That was pretty recent. In fact, I’m not sure my doctor would love me doing this right now.”
A car came by. It was going slow, but it didn’t stop. A few minutes later, it came by again, obviously having taken one lap around the block. We both kept our heads down as the car pulled over a few spots ahead of us. The driver got out. He was young and white and he had a ratty blond ponytail down his back. He wasn’t actually wearing a ratty denim jacket with a big embroidered cannabis plant on the back, but something told me he had one at home.
“And here we go,” I said. “If anybody’s sleeping late in there, they’re about to be woken up.”
He went to Dukes’ door and knocked. When nobody answered, he started looking around the place like his dealer might be around the side of the house, washing his car or something. That’s when the door to the neighbor’s house opened. Our big friend stood in the doorway. He was still wearing the same outfit, undershirt and black pants. Hell, he’d probably slept in it. Maybe right there in front of the television set, after Lou and I had left. He called over and the customer just about jumped out of his skin. A few words were exchanged. Then the customer went over to the other house and went inside. The neighbor took a careful look up and down the street. Then he closed the door.
“Good call swapping the vehicles,” Lou said. “This guy probably would have made us in the truck.”
As we watched the house, I tried to imagine each step of the transaction. You make your buy. Then you get the hell out, right? You don’t stick around and chat afterward.
“So far your theory is holding up,” Lou said. “Now as soon as this guy leaves, we go knock on the door again, right? Have you figured out what you’re going to say yet?”
“Something friendly yet persuasive,” I said. “My specialty.”
Before another word was spoken, we saw a man moving between the two houses. It wasn’t the neighbor. It wasn’t the customer. It was a third man, taller and thinner than the other two. He moved quickly, glancing out at the street as he disappeared behind the other house.
“That’s gotta be Dukes,” I said. “What do you say we call an audible?”
“I’m right behind you.”
We both got out of the car and walked down the street, trying to be quick and smooth and unassuming all at the same time. He’s going into his house to get some of his product, I thought. Then he’ll come right back out and retrace his steps to the neighbor’s house. That’ll be our chance to stop him, and once we do that, we have to convince him as quickly as possible that we’re just here to talk.
We got up to the neighbor’s house. I willed the front door to stay shut, the neighbor and the customer safely inside, waiting for Dukes to make his way back with a bag of the good stuff. When we got to Dukes’ house, Lou gestured to the far side and went across the front lawn, keeping his head down. Now we were split up and approaching him from both sides of the house.
I heard the back door opening and I had to make a quick decision. There was no need to give the man a heart attack, but at the same time it would be better to surprise him than to give him time to react.
Okay, maybe you didn’t quite think this through, I told myself. Maybe you’re about to force the man to do something stupid.
I kept my back pressed against the side of the house. Wait until he’s close, I thought, then step calmly around the corner. Hands up, showing him you’re unarmed, but still ready for anything. Tell him you just want to talk to him. Nobody gets hurt. Piece of cake, just like that.
I waited for the sound of his footsteps. Where the hell was he? Was he walking on the grass? Hell with it. Time to move.
I stepped around the corner and saw him standing a good eight feet away from me. Not the distance I had planned.
“Mr. Dukes,” I said, barreling right ahead. “I need a word with you.”
He was tall and gangly enough to do a good Ichabod Crane impression, complete with the expression of wide-eyed, pants-pissing shock. He was wearing an untucked striped rugby shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and as he took one step backward he reached under his shirttails and drew out a revolver.
“Don’t shoot!” I said, already bracing myself for what I knew was coming.
He barely had time to raise the gun when Lou was already on top of him. Lou spun him around and grabbed the gun with his left hand, giving Dukes a quick chop to the throat with his right. It wasn’t deadly force, just enough to surprise him and to loosen his grip on the revolver. As Dukes doubled over, Lou gave him a little hip check and knocked him to his knees.
“This thing is cocked,” Lou said, as he carefully let the hammer down. Then he flipped open the cylinder. “And loaded. What were you just about to do?”
Dukes was trying hard to catch his breath, one hand on his throat and the other on the ground.
“I asked you a question,” Lou said. “Were you seriously going to shoot us just now? Was that your plan?”
Dukes shook his head, but he still couldn’t speak.
“Not to mention having a cocked pistol stuck down your goddamned pants,” Lou said. “You’re lucky you didn’t blow your own dick off.”
“Lou, take it easy,” I said. It was finally starting to catch up to me, the simple fact that this man on the ground probably would have shot me if Lou hadn’t stopped him.
“Take it easy yourself,” Lou said. “We could both be lying dead on the ground right now.”
“I didn’t mean it,” Dukes said, finally finding his voice. “I’m sorry. You guys just scared me. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, I swear.”
“Oh just shut up,” Lou said. “I oughta put one through your head just for being such a dumbass. We came here to talk to you, all right?”