Pete got a dial tone. Pete got line fuzz. Pete got a click.
Wayne picked up. "Yeah?"
"It's me. Have you seen Chuck?"
"No. Was he supposed-"
"He was supposed to go through Bao Loc and Saigon and pick up some guns."
"I haven't seen him at all. He always comes by the Go-Go when he's-"
Pete hung up. Stanton cued him-go check the hooch.
Pete ran over. Pete popped the door. Pete tripped on the mat. He caught himself. He eyeball-walked. He quadrant-scanned.
Four walls/two fart sacks/two nightstands/two lockers/one shitter/ one sink.
Pete dumped the nightstands. Pete combed debris. Toothpaste/ rubbers/stroke books/hate tracts/Ring magazines.
Two passports-both Guйry's-CIA/French.
Pete dumped the lockers. Pete combed debris. Hate tracts/bug spray/beaver pix/gun oil/_Swank_ magazines.
No Chuck passports. No Chuck ID.
Pete grabbed the field phone. Pete patched Saigon direct. He got Ops South. They repatched him. He got Tan Son Nhut. They repatched him. He got static. He got Customs.
He got a gook. He spoke French. The gook spoke strict Viet. The gook repatched him. He got static. He got a white man.
"Customs, Agent Lierz."
"This is Sergeant Peters, CID. I'm checking on a civilian who might've cleared Customs within the past four days."
Lierz coughed. The line coughed. Static brizzed.
"You got a name?"
"Rogers. First name Charles."
Lierz coughed. "I've got my log here. Hold on… Rice, Ridgeway, Rippert… yeah, Rogers. He flew out four days ago. He showed manifest docs, loaded explosive material and caught a transport to the National Guard strip in Houston, Tex-"
Pete hung up. Pete _got_ it: Thefts/fake docs/explosives.
Guйry screamed. Pete heard it loud. It carried from forty yards up.
He ran back. He smelled smoke and piss. He cracked the door and _saw_ it.
There's Guйry.
He's tied up. He's pantless. He's scared. Stanton's got the hot box. Stanton's got the switch. Stanton's got the clamps on his balls.
The gooks watched. The gooks smoked bootjack Kools. The gooks slurped gook wine.
Stanton said, "What did Chuck Rogers steal?"
Guйry shook his head. Stanton hit the switch. Stanton tossed volts. Guйry buckled and screamed.
Stanton said, "If the theft is kadre-adjunct and you didn't participate or report it, I'd be inclined to go easy."
Guйry shook his head. Stanton hit the switch. Stanton tossed volts. Guйry buckled and screamed.
Stanton said, "Where's Rogers now? What did he steal and who did he steal it from?"
Guйry shook his head. Stanton hit the switch. Stanton tossed volts. Guйry buckled and screamed.
Pete _got_ it-for real now.
Chuck and Guйry worked Dallas. Stanton's got no clue. Guйry won't talk. Guйry won't rat Chuck for _anything_.
Stanton said, "Is Rogers in-country? Did he fly back to the States?"
Guйry shook his head. Stanton hit the switch. Stanton tossed volts. Guйry buckled and screamed.
The gooks laughed-he claaazy-he _dinky dau_.
Stanton hit the switch. Stanton tossed volts. Guйry buckled. Guйry screamed. Guйry yelled, "_Assez!_"
Stanton cued the gooks. The gooks pulled the clamps. The gooks untied Guйry. The gooks sprayed his balls with baby oil. The gooks fed him gook wine.
He slurped it. He stood up. He teetered. He fell back in his chair.
Stanton leaned in. "If I said it hurt me more than it hurt you, I'd be a fucking liar."
Pete sneezed-the hut smelled-fried ball hair and sweat.
Guйry said, "The ammo dump… Bao Loc… Chuck, _qu'est-ce que c'est_, burglarized bomb material… from Franзois."
Stanton shook his head. "Did he tell you what he had in mind?"
Pete leaned in. "Chuck flew to the States. If you let me talk to him alone, I'll get the rest of it."
Stanton nodded. Stanton stood up. Stanton cued the gooks-_venez, venez_.
They walked out together. Pete grabbed the bottle. Guйry snatched it. Guйry drained it. Guйry hitched his pants up.
"I will never have children now."
"It's not like you want them."
"No. The world has become too communistic."
"I think I know why you held back."
Guйry wiped his nose. "I did not betray the kadre."
"I know you didn't."
Guйry rubbed his balls. "Chuck… _qu'est-ce_… received a letter from his parents. I think they are not sane."
Pete lit two cigarettes. Gudry snatched one.
"Chuck lives at their house. They said they found his… _journal?_"
"Journal, right."
"Which described our operation in Dallas… for which… they demanded an explanation… which… Chuck said he would fly home and… _qu'est-ce_… take care of it."
Pete kicked a doorpost. "He stole bomb ordnance for _that?_"
Guйry coughed. "No. For something else. He would not tell me."
Pete walked outside. Slaves double-timed past him. Guards popped rubber rounds.
Stanton straddled a fence rail. "How bad?"
Pete shrugged. "You tell me. Laurent said it's a family grudge, and Chuck flew out with explosives."
Stanton chewed a hangnail. "There's a courier flight leaving for Fort Sam Houston. You and Wayne go find him and kill him."
73
(Houston, 6/21/65)
Gulf heat:
Low clouds and thick air. Air as bug propellant.
And bug catalyst. And bug haven. And bug launching pad. Bug _heat_-80 at 2:12 a.m.
The freeway was dead. Bugs bipped off the car. Pete drove. Wayne read maps.
Chez Chuck was on Driscoll. Chez Chuck was close. Chez Chuck was near Rice U.
Wayne yawned. Pete yawned. They yawned contrapuntal. They flew eighteen hours-Saigon to Houston-they plowed six time zones.
They flew transport. They sat on crates. They ate canned corn exclusive. Stanton set a car up-a '61 Ford-there at Fort Sam.
Bum wheels altogether. No muffler. No fucking Air King.
Stanton knew some of it. Pete said so. Pete said he withheld the key shit. Maybe Chuck's here. Maybe Chuck's not. Maybe Chuck's in Bogalusa.
With Bob Relyea-kadre-ex-kurrent Klan klown. Bob ran a snitchKlan. Wayne Senior ran Bob. That meant he could WATCH.
They ditched the freeway. They took side streets. They ran their high beams. Houston was the shits-brick cribs and bug lights abundant.
Stanton shot them filework: stats per Chez Chuck. Chuck's dad and mom were Fred and Edwina. They had a '53 Olds.
Texas plates: DXL-841.
They hit Kirby Street. They hit Richmond. They turned hard right. There-Driscoll-1 780/1800/1808.
1815 was glazed brick. No palace/no slum. Two floors and no lights extant.
Pete parked. Wayne grabbed two flashlights. They got out. They circled the house. They flashed the windows. They flashed the doors.
Bugs stirred. Owls stirred. Wasps bombed a nest.
Wayne flashed the back porch. Pete flashed a hedge. Wayne caught a glint-light on steel-Pete threw his beam down.
Wayne reached in. Wayne grabbed and pulled. Wayne sliced two fingers up.
There-
One Texas license plate-stuffed in a hedge. Bingo on DXL-841.
Pete said, "He changed plates on the Olds."
Wayne sucked his fingers. "Let's go in. We might find something."
Pete flashed the back door. Wayne walked up and looked. Okay: One lock/flat bolt/wide keyhole.
Pete cupped his light. Wayne pulled his picks and jabbed at the hole. Two missed. One hit. One slid in deep.