Nolan had dropped by once, around noon, stopping quickly to drop off a sack of McDonald’s food, and to give him a fresh Thermos of hot chocolate.
Jon had been reading the science-fiction paperback when Nolan appeared in front of the windshield, just standing there before the van like Mad Max in the middle of a post-nuclear-holocaust road.
Jon opened the door for him, Nolan handed in the food and Thermos and said, “You shouldn’t read.”
“I can’t take the boredom otherwise.”
“Boredom is one thing. Bore of a gun barrel’s another.”
“Cute, Nolan. He hasn’t touched his fucking pickup yet, in case you’re interested.”
Nolan nodded and shut the van door and was gone.
Finding out where Comfort was staying was a break, or had seemed to be at the time; now that it was dusk and Comfort had stayed inside the motel all day, it seemed less significant. Time was running out. Tomorrow was the day. Operation Mall Haul. If they didn’t find Sherry tonight, they might not find her at all.
But at least they had an ally in Roger Winch.
Jon had just listened, last night, while Winch sat on the couch in the living room, Nolan standing in front of him like an attorney pleading his case.
“I’m taking a big chance, Roger. If Comfort knew I was talking to you, somebody could die.”
Winch, who was a low-key guy, didn’t like hearing that. He said, “I knew I shouldn’t get involved with Comfort. I only came in ’cause you were part of it.”
“Comfort wouldn’t have asked you in,” Nolan said, “if he’d known how many jobs we worked together.”
And Nolan had filled Winch in about Sherry’s kidnaping, explaining that his own participation in the heist was strictly coerced.
“I’m retired,” Nolan said. “I want no part of this.”
“It’s a sweet score,” Winch said, shrugging, smiling mildly. “It could go down in history.”
“So did the Manson murders. Comfort is a double-crossing murdering son of a bitch who’s likely to kill all of us when this is over.”
Winch’s expression was pained. “Maybe Phil and I should just go...”
Nolan patted the air with one hand. “No. Stay in. But I have to warn you — if I have the chance to stop this before it goes down, I will.”
“This is bad. I don’t like violence. You know me, Nolan — I never carried a gun in my life.”
“Yeah, but your pal Phil does.”
Winch shrugged again. “That’s part of a point man’s job. He’s never killed anybody.”
“It’s always a possibility, Roger. Look — I’d like you to stick. Play along. If you don’t, my girl’s going to die.”
“It sounds like she’s going to die anyway.”
“Not if I can find her before the heist goes down. He has to keep her alive to keep me part of this. Without me, there’s no score.”
Winch thought about it. Then he said, “What’s in it for me? I hate to say that, but if you’re going to try to stop this from going down, why should I play? Friendship doesn’t quite cut it. I like you, Nolan — but I like living more, and I got to agree with you: Cole Comfort is planning to do some killing before this is over.”
“I’ll make this worth your while,” Nolan said. “I can guarantee you a minimum of ten grand for sticking. Out of my own pocket. If we scrap the heist, consider it a kill fee.”
“What if the job goes down? If Comfort’s planning a double cross like you say, then—”
“Then a triple cross is called for. He thinks he’s on top of everything — he won’t expect us to be on top of him. I’d like to pull Phil in on this, and talk to Fisher, too. I’ve worked with him. Not as often as with you, but I’ve worked with him.”
Winch was nodding. “I think he’d line up with you. But it’s going to be tricky. And dangerous.”
“Yes it is. Remember — you’re not supposed to know about Sherry. As far as you and Phil know, this score is something Comfort and I put together as partners.”
“Could you make it twenty grand?”
“Fifteen.”
“Five up front?”
“No. Fifteen after.”
Winch shrugged. “Done. What now? The thing is supposed to go down in less than forty-eight hours.”
“I’m going to try to find Sherry and steal her back. I figure he’s got her stashed someplace being baby-sat by his boy Lyle.”
“Yeah,” Winch said, “his boy’s in on this — Comfort says so. But he wasn’t at the meet last night.”
“I only saw the kid once,” Nolan said. “Years ago. He was just a teenager. I don’t remember much about him.”
“He was around when I worked with Comfort, five years ago,” Winch said. “The boy was on the fringes of the supermarket jobs I was in on — he was in his late teens, then. He’s a nice enough, nice-looking kid, but a little thick.”
“Is he dangerous, do you think?”
“Nolan, he’s a Comfort.”
“Yeah. Stupid question. Do you know where Comfort’s staying?”
“No. I got a phone number, though.” Winch dug in his pocket and found a slip of paper. “Here. Copy it down.”
Nolan did, and Winch went back to his hotel, and Nolan looked in the Quad Cities directory, yellow pages, hotels and motels, and compared the number to the numbers listed there.
“He’s at the Holiday Inn,” Nolan said. “Figures he’d stay close to Brady Eighty, close to the Interstate, his getaway route.”
Jon looked at the slip of paper. “It says extension 714.”
Nolan nodded. “Which is probably his room number.”
“Could he have Sherry there?”
“Almost no chance. She’s stashed somewhere. Lyle’s looking after her. I’m sure of it.”
“Could we break in Comfort’s room tonight and just put a gun to his fucking head?”
“Sounds like fun,” Nolan said, “but all we’d have at best is a Mexican standoff. We can always try that — grabbing Comfort himself and threatening to kill him if he doesn’t call and have Sherry released.”
“Wouldn’t that work?”
“If Comfort wasn’t crazy, maybe. Who knows what he’d say when at gunpoint he called Lyle or whoever’s holding her? And he’s got firepower. He’s probably got the Leeches in his corner, and they’re violent crazy fuckers too. He’s got his son. Too many unknowns.”
“I don’t know. It’s tempting to bust in his room in the middle of the night, and—”
Nolan was shaking his head no. “We don’t know what or who is in his room. Sherry might be there, and we don’t want to start a shooting war. Cole Comfort could buy it, and we’d never get Sherry back from Lyle once that happened. Too risky. She’s safe for the moment.”
“So what do we do?”
Stake out the Holiday Inn. Which was how Jon had spent his day today. The plan was, if Comfort went to his pickup and left, Jon would tail him, calling Nolan on the mobile phone. Nolan would then search the room at the Holiday Inn — despite the slight chance Lyle might be in there with Sherry, which was a situation he could better control than one that included Coleman Comfort.
If Nolan could get in that room, without Comfort there, something might turn up — a phone number, a room key, a matchbook, something that would lead them to where Sherry was being held.
But so far Jon had done nothing but sit on his ass in this van, reading his paperback, calling Nolan briefly every hour, drinking hot chocolate, eating McDonald’s food and, every now and then, leaving the van to use the Men’s off the Holiday Inn lobby. Nolan had wanted him to piss in a tin can, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
By eight o’clock his bones were starting to ache; it was colder, and now and then he would turn the motor on and get the heat going. He was starting to think Comfort wasn’t going to leave his motel room until the second meet, tonight, which would once again be at 2:30 A.M. at Nolan’s. He was contemplating getting out and going into the lobby for another piss, when somebody approached the parked pickup.