“I guess your knowledge of the city hasn’t improved any,” I said. “It’s a good thing I’m a patient man.”
“Once again, my most sincere apologies,” the guy said. “I would offer to buy you a drink as compensation, but I see you’ve already been well tended to. Perhaps we should move directly to the matter in hand?”
“As long as you’ve brought the money, I have no objection.”
“I have it. Outside, in the car. And the item you are furnishing us with?”
“It’s nearby, too. Somewhere safe. Given what it is, I thought that was better than bringing it into a public place.”
“Then shall we proceed?”
“In due course. Pardon my cynicism, but I’d like to see the color of your money, first.”
The guy reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out his cell phone, called up a picture, and held it out for me to see. The screen showed an aluminium briefcase loaded with cash, but the image was too small to make out the denominations. I wondered where he’d taken the photo. Nowhere close, I’d be happy to bet. And I’d wager double the contents that there was no sign of the case in his car.
“That looks good,” I said. “But I hope you won’t be offended if I count it, before we complete our transaction.”
“A very prudent attitude,” he said. “I would do exactly the same thing. Now, in return, some indication that we are not wasting our time?”
I showed him the picture that Fothergill had given me of a typical gas canister three days ago, when he’d first briefed me on this whole mess. It was almost identical to the one I’d found at the machine shop. You couldn’t see any emblems or markings, and the spring clips were slightly different, but it was clearly from the same family. The guy studied the image intently for a moment, nodded, then folded the paper and placed it carefully on the table between the beer bottles.
“Excellent,” he said. “Then there’s no need to delay any further. Just one final precaution, as is our custom. I think you know what I’m referring to. Perhaps one of the restrooms would be appropriate, for privacy?”
The woman stood up and reached back greedily, taking my right arm. I grabbed the picture, then let her help me to my feet and lead me away from the table. She was moving faster than yesterday, and her body was much more tense. Either she hadn’t killed many people, or she enjoyed it too much. I suspected the latter, which wasn’t a bad thing. It would make her easier to neutralize. I wasn’t sure about the guy, though. He seemed a much calmer character. I kept expecting to feel him take his place on my left, but when I looked around I saw he hadn’t moved from his seat. He must have thought that two of his people could take me, with the benefit of surprise. The fool. I couldn’t wait to see his face when I came back from the bathroom. And then hear what excuses he could come up with.
I waited till we were halfway across the bar, then looked over at the DJ. I wanted to make sure the appearance of this new woman wasn’t making her too suspicious. I needn’t have worried, though. She was completely occupied with her iPod again, which made me wonder which song she’d choose next. Without realizing it, she was effectively picking the sound track to this stranger’s death. I couldn’t help wondering what would be appropriate. And whether any music would be playing when my time came. If so, I hoped someone with better taste would be selecting it. I was still thinking about that when I heard a different kind of noise altogether. Something extremely familiar, but totally unexpected. Like someone swatting flies on a table with a rolled-up magazine. Twice, in rapid succession. It was coming from the foot of the stairs. I spun around and saw a man standing there. It was Fothergill. He had a pistol in his hand. A twist of smoke was still leaking from the suppressor attached to its barrel. The gun was pointing at the table I’d just left. I turned to look. The man I’d been talking to had been hit. He was still in his seat, but his head had been thrown back against the wall and two ragged holes were torn in his chest. One had dissected the I of the word “Chicago,” and the other had hit the center of the O, like the writing on his hoodie had served as a target.
“David,” Fothergill said, whipping the gun around in my direction. “Get down.”
The muzzle flashed before I had time to react, and the woman at my side screamed and pitched headfirst into the door to the bathroom. She lay there for a moment, gently twitching, until Fothergill had moved in close enough to put two more rounds through the back of her skull. Then he went back to the table, poked the guy cautiously with his toe, and finally leaned over to check for a pulse.
“What kind of insane world do you live in?” I said, as soon as we both had our feet on the sidewalk. “How does killing those two even come close to being a good idea?”
Fothergill didn’t answer.
“What on earth were you thinking in there?” I said.
“You could show a little gratitude, perhaps,” he said. “I just saved your life.”
“You nearly got me killed, is what you did. And what about the witnesses? The barman and the DJ. What’s going to happen to them?”
“They’ll be taken care of. The club owner will see to that. He’s an old friend. And he owes me.”
“Taken care of, how, exactly?”
“You’re not getting squeamish, now, are you David? Don’t worry. They’ll just be paid off.”
“What makes you think that’ll stick? Either one of them could take the cash and go to the police, anyway. Or both of them could.”
“No. Carlos runs a tight ship. It doesn’t work that way in his place.”
“How naive can you be? It works that way in every place.”
“Time will tell. You’ll see.”
“Maybe. But why did you do it, in the first place? Two hits, in public, for no reason?”
“They were going to ambush you.”
“No shit. If only someone had told me.”
“No. Really. They weren’t just planning a knife fight in the bathroom, like with Young. They were going to snatch you. Take you somewhere else. Probably torture you. Then dump the pieces in the lake, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw their vehicle. When I arrived. The blue Cadillac. They pulled it around the back of the restaurant, next door. It’s only a few seconds to the club from there, if you cut through the alley. Easy to carry someone’s unconscious body.”
“So?”
“I saw inside the trunk. They were checking it over. It was lined with thick, black, rubbery sheeting. Some kind of heavy-duty PVC, I guess. And it was full of other weird stuff. They had gags. A strait-jacket. Rope. Chain. Padlocks. All sorts of nasty things.”
“Maybe the two of them were just bondage freaks.”
“David, be serious. This was heavy-duty stuff. And it had your name all over it.”
“Maybe. They could have been planning to lift me, I guess. It’s always possible. But there’s a difference between planning and succeeding.”
“You could be right. But I had a decision to make, and I just didn’t feel like I could take that chance. This is your life we’re talking about. I wasn’t about to gamble with it.”
“There was no gamble involved. Everything was under control.”
“Really?” he said, lifting his injured arm and pointing to the spot where the bullet had struck. “Look what happened last time I made that assumption.”
“OK, I appreciate the sentiment,” I said. “But the thing is, Richard, that wasn’t your call.”
“Really? That’s how you feel? I can’t believe you’re upset about this. Killing children, remember? No reason to keep those other guys alive? Or is it a case of one rule for you, and one for everyone else?”