“When you finally get your lazy carcass out of here, think of all the stories you can spin about your new scars,” I said. “Impress the town manager and the selectmen. Maybe get you a raise one of these days.”
Thump-thump, and the hiss of the respirator.
“I got Kara’s back, no worries there. Even if you’re in rehab for a couple of years, or longer, I’ll watch over her.”
Thump-thump, hiss.
“Remember when we first met, about six months after I moved in? My place was a dump, belonged to the Department of the Interior. Given to me as a bribe to keep my mouth shut for my service at the Department of Defense. I hired a local woman to clean the joint for a few months, especially while I had to wait to get the windows replaced. All that beach sand blowing in, getting into the clothes and bedding. Mrs. Martin. Nice woman, but her nephew had scammed her and had taken all her savings.”
Hiss, thump-thump.
“She told me the Tyler cops couldn’t do much, because his name was on the savings account. But Mrs. Martin was so upset… so I talked to her nephew and pointed out the error of his ways. Never told you this because I hated to admit it, but he was living in a condo in Porter. I was talking to him on his balcony and… well, I gave him a good view of downtown Porter. Upside down. Me holding on to his ankles… which was a hell of a feat, since I wasn’t feeling the best. But he paid up, and you heard about that, told me to leave police work alone. And I said it wasn’t police work, it was community activism… and it went on from there, didn’t it.”
Thump-thump, hiss.
“I’m off for a while. Tracing down some faint leads.” I stroked her hand. “Tell you the truth, I’m pretty much scared out of my wits. I’m going someplace… someplace I’ve tried to forget, someplace I’ve put out of my mind. But I’ve got a job to do, and a promise to keep.”
I got up, kissed her forehead. “I love you, Diane. So very much.”
Then I walked out.
I met up with Kara as she was returning from the nurses’ station with a cup of coffee. “Talk to you for a sec?”
“Absolutely.”
We went into the same small room as before, and she sat down with a sigh. I sat down across from her. “I’m going to be away for a few days.”
“All right.”
From my wallet I took out a creased business card, passed it over to her. She gave it a glance and raised her eyebrows. “A lawyer? In Boston?”
“That’s right. If you don’t hear from me in a week, I want you to call him. Tell him I’ve been absent for seven days. He’ll know what to do from there.”
Her eyebrows went up a bit higher. “Not sure I like the sound of this, Lewis.”
“Sorry to put this on you at this time, but there’s nobody else in the area I can rely on.”
“But your friend… ”
“She’s in D.C. Trying to elect a president.”
She took the business card and carefully slipped it into her hoodie’s front pocket. “What are you telling me? Where are you going?”
“You don’t want nor need to know.”
Kara chewed for a moment on her lower lip. “You’re going someplace bad, someplace dangerous.”
“You could say that.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“But the cops… ”
“The cops are good at what they do. But sometimes there are… circumstances where they can’t go or do anything. I don’t have those restrictions. And I’m going to see this one through, no matter what.”
“You’re talking in riddles.”
I got up. “I’m talking the only way I know how. Sorry, Kara. Remember, seven days.”
That evening, I was at South Station in Boston, a transportation hub in the southern part of the city. In my continuing trend to explore transportation options in my neighborhood, I had taken a bus from Newburyport, Massachusetts, to Boston. Trains, cabs, and buses left South Station and went throughout New England and the Northeast. In the big lobby I sat on a wide wooden bench and watched the people eddy and flow about me. A soft black duffel bag was at my feet, my 9mm Beretta was in a shoulder holster on the left for easy access. I had a concealed-carry permit for the state of Massachusetts. I didn’t have carry permits for the several states I was about to pass through, and that didn’t bother me a bit.
Eventually one man broke away from the crowd and sat next to me. Something tight around my chest lessened.
“Good to see you, Felix.”
“The same.”
“How’s your great-aunt?”
“Off to Florida a month ahead of schedule. She put up a hell of a fight, but I figured out a way to get her to leave early.”
“What did you do?”
“Told her that her retirement village was holding a fundraiser for wounded troops from a nearby base, and that they needed her lasagna recipe. So off she went.” He handed over a thick business-sized envelope. “Loan, ID, and credit card as requested. We’ll pass on the official paperwork.”
“Thanks. How are you doing?”
He stretched out his legs, crossed them at the ankle. “Hell of a thing. We still got guys with sharp eyes hanging out in the North End, and my place in North Tyler is under watch as well. Over the years, you and I have been involved in some shadowy work, have gone up against some bad guys and gals. But this time… you know the phrase ‘stir up a hornets’ nest’? Man, you’ve stirred up a whole goddamn colony of nests.”
“So I have. Sorry about that.”
“Not a problem. Part of the life I chose, years ago. Dealing with angry insects and associated creatures.”
The P.A. system issued some sort of gibberish that sounded like Olde English on crack. Felix said, “The question I have is, how are you doing?”
“Working. Snooping. Going places.”
“Like D.C.? You told me plenty of times that you would never, ever go back there. So what’s changed?”
“Circumstances.”
“Meaning you found something linking Curt Chesak to something in D.C.”
“Yes.”
“Something connecting him to your past life?”
I kept quiet, put the bulging envelope in my soft carry-on bag.
Felix said, “You want some company?”
I couldn’t believe he had just said that. “D.C.’s not the North End. Or New England.”
“What, you think I can’t handle myself against hired goons from the Feds?” he asked, exasperation in his voice. “First of all, I’ve been dodging Feds most of my life. I’m used to it, and they haven’t caught me yet. Secondly, I’ve had other hard men after me, plenty of times, whose weapon of choice was either an ice pick through the ear or two in the hat. So I think I can do just fine in D.C.”
“Have to do this one alone. I have to move fast, have to think quickly on my feet… and it might not end well.”
“So I just hang out up here?”
“You just hang out up here. If you don’t hear from me in a week, do me one last favor and check on Kara Miles, up at the Exonia Hospital.”
“Diane Woods’s S.O. What do I do?”
“Whatever she asks. All right?”
Felix leaned over, offered a hand. I gave it a firm shake. “All right. You can count on me.”
“Always have.”
He stood up. Fingered the zipper on his jacket. Looked over at the crowd, then at me. “You be careful out there among the English, pal.”
“You can count on it.”
Felix looked at me one last time. “You carrying?”