“I’ll need your help later, but not now. Take care of the kid. Let Jon get some rest. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Pike knew he should have accepted Cole’s offer, but he wanted to be alone when he faced Darko. Didn’t matter how many people Darko brought, or whether or not Darko tried to kill him, Pike wanted no company. He later realized this was because he had not fully decided whether to kill the man even though he had made the agreement with Walsh. He wanted his feelings and his decision to be pure.
Hollywood was only a few minutes away. Pike drove down through the canyon, and was in front of the restaurant in less than ten minutes. The commuter traffic was building, but Hollywood Boulevard was still moving well and the early hour meant most of the metered parking spots were empty. He parked in front of the restaurant under a jacaranda tree, rolled down the windows, and waited.
Twenty minutes later, a heavy young man who needed a shave came around the corner, heading toward Pike. Just another pedestrian except he was watching the Jeep. He walked past, looking to see if anyone else was inside. Pike watched him in the mirror. He continued past, and turned up the next cross street. A few minutes later, the same man and another man appeared in the mirror. They looked around at the other pedestrians and parked cars and Pike. They did this for several minutes, then the first man took out a cell phone. Pike watched him talk. He put away his phone, and moved closer, approaching Pike and the Jeep as if they were radioactive. The other man stayed on the corner.
When the first man arrived, he looked in at Pike.
“Why don’t you come out here? Come stand with me.”
Pike got out, and stood with the man on the sidewalk.
A few minutes later, Michael Darko came around the corner. Pike had seen him in Lake View Terrace, but this was different. This felt more personal, and right, and Pike was glad he had come alone.
Pike stared at the man who sent Earvin Williams and his crew to Frank’s house. This man’s pistol had killed Ana Markovic, and fired one of the three bullets that killed Frank Meyer. Here he was, the man responsible for Frank, Cindy, Little Frank, and Joey. Pike felt very little as he considered this. He was not angry or filled with hate. More like he was an observer. Pike thought he could probably kill all three men in less than a second with his pistol. He could also kill them with his hands, though this would take longer. Pike waited until Darko arrived, then motioned toward the Jeep.
“In back. Take a look.”
“You open it.”
Pike lifted the hatch, and swung the box around so Darko could see the Chinese characters. Then he opened it, and let the weapon speak for itself. Darko leaned close, but did not touch. The smell of the preservative was strong.
Darko finally straightened.
“All right, he will make the deal with you, but still you call me.”
“He wants the money in cash. I don’t have it.”
“Ah.”
“I can buy them for five hundred each-that’s one-point-five million dollars. And you have a buyer in place who will pay a thousand-the Armenians.”
“But you don’t have enough to buy them.”
“No. He wants half the cash before he will take me to the guns. That’s seven-fifty. I thought of you. Maybe you have it, but he won’t deal with you. So we partner.”
“I don’t like being partners with you.”
“I don’t like being partners with you, but business is business. This is why I offered a bonus.”
“Jakovich.”
“Once he sees the cash, Jakovich, the guns, and the money will be in one place. If we partner, you can be in that place, too, only he won’t know it. Then you can solve your problem, we can keep all the money, and you can be the head pakhan.”
“So what you’re saying is we will steal the guns.”
“It saves a lot of money.”
Darko studied him, and Pike knew he was considering it.
“What of your friend?”
“I miss him, but this is three million dollars, a third for me, that’s a million. I don’t have to like you.”
“I will think about it.”
“You’re either in or you’re not. If not, then I’ll find another partner. Maybe Odessa.”
A flash of irritation shadowed Darko’s face, but he nodded.
“All right. When it is time, call me. I will have the cash.”
Darko motioned to his men and walked away without another word.
Pike closed the Jeep, and watched them. He was vaguely aware of the bodyguards, but they were as inconsequential as a passing thought. He focused on Darko. Darko had done these things, and now Pike had an obligation to Frank. The obligation existed because they carried each other’s slack and trusted their teammates would pick them up if they fell. No one was left behind, which meant the obligation extended beyond logic and reason. It was an obligation made to the living that remained in death. Pike had spent much time thinking about these things, and decided it was a matter of karmic balance.
Pike let Darko walk away. He felt a stab of regret about the the deal he made with Walsh, but he needed something from her maybe even more than he needed to kill Darko.
Pike climbed back into his Jeep, and called her as he pulled into traffic.
“I need to see you.”
“A red Jeep Cherokee was seen leaving a scrap yard in Lake View Terrace yesterday. Was that you?”
“Yes.”
“Damnit, did you kill five people up there?”
“Six. I need seven hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I met Jakovich. I just left Darko. Do you want the guns or not?”
“You met with them? Face to face?”
“Do you want the guns?”
Pike was in Hollywood, she was in Glendale. They split the difference and met in a Silver Lake parking lot on Sunset Boulevard. Pike arrived first, and stayed in his Jeep until he saw her pull into the lot. She was driving a silver Accord. Her personal car. He went over and climbed into the passenger seat. The agitation in her voice on the phone was gone. She seemed cool, and removed.
“You’re in deep doo-doo, buddy. The police want to arrest you, and they’re blaming me for getting them involved. You want to explain how six people came to be dead?”
“They were holding Milos Jakovich’s grandson hostage. Now I have him.”
“Excuse me?”
Pike told her about Petar Jakovich, and Rina and Yanni, and the rest of it. She had been completely out of the loop.
“Frank didn’t have anything to do with the gun deal. Jakovich told me that himself. Frank and his family were collateral damage. Darko went in because of the nanny.”
“Ana Markovic? You’re telling me those people were murdered because of a twenty-year-old nanny?”
“Her sister stashed the old man’s grandson with Ana to hide him from Darko, but Darko found him anyway. Darko thought he could use the kid to force Jakovich into a deal, but he was wrong.”
“How old is this child?”
“Ten months. A baby.”
“And where is he now?”
“With me. Darko was holding him at the scrap yard, but now he’s with me.”
Walsh wet her lips again, and her jaw flexed. As if there was too much information to process, and the swell was lifting her too high and too fast to catch her breath. She finally nodded.
“Okay. I’m listening.”
“Jakovich wants Darko. Darko wants the guns. I have something they both want, and I’m using it to play them against each other. I believe I can put them together with the weapons.”
“How?”
“Jakovich thinks I’m going to buy the guns, and Darko thinks we’re going to steal the guns. They each think I’m going to double-cross the other.”
“Jesus, Pike, are you an adrenaline junkie or what? What’s our timeline here?”