“How much?”
“A thousand euros.”
Keefer was taken aback, said,
“That’s all? Fuck, that’s like...”
Groped for a derogatory term, found,
“Insulting.”
Malachy explained,
“There’s a mad bitch who first leeched off my sister, then had her killed.
“She is some sort of she-devil. I’d say she’s Protestant.
“She blames Taylor for all the woes of her life so she set the bounty for word on his whereabouts.”
He added,
“I’m tempted to tell her my own self now.”
Before I could comment, he added,
“She has a sidekick, name of Stapleton, out on bail.
“Who imagines this? Hates Taylor, too.”
Keefer lit up a spliff, said,
“Guess I’ll go and collect that bounty my own self.”
Malachy prepared to leave, said to me,
“You better stay in the country.”
Then grudgingly added,
“I’ll pray for you.”
He shook Keefer’s hand, said,
“‘Twas a joy to meet you.”
Keefer, equally delighted, said,
“I’ll vote for you as bishop.”
Malachy looked crestfallen, said,
“The people don’t get a vote.”
Keefer could have said,
“See, that’s the problem right there.”
But he let it slide.
After Malachy’s departure, Keefer gave me the look, asked,
“How much do you think Jericho will like the country?”
I nearly smiled, said,
“Not a whole lot, I’m thinking.”
38
The annals
Of human wisdom
Fall silent
When faced
With the feral
In us.
Keefer’s face was still in ruinous shape, which aided the mission he was on.
He was dressed in a blend of intimidation and unknowability.
Meaning, a bank manager would not turn him away, nor would a first-class hotel refuse him accommodation.
But all would be on edge, very careful in their response, because of not just his attire, his brutalized appearance, but the vibe, the one that implied,
“Do not fuck with me.”
He wore a long duster, very battered cowboy boots, a Willie Nelson swirl of bandannas, and his hands were gnarled, mangled, like he’d wrangled steers and very recently.
To add confusion to apprehension, he spoke in a soft, dulcet tone that was in the neighborhood of sarcasm and irony.
He found Jericho without any bother, just searched for a dive where bottom-feeders fed.
It was in an alley running parallel to the old docks and, incredibly enough, had a bouncer on the door. Keefer smiled.
The guy was built and eyed Keefer carefully, went
“Haven’t seen you before.”
Keefer reached into his duster and the guy flinched. Keefer took out a cig, fired up, asked,
“There a smoking ban in there?”
The guy wondered if this might be some sort of health inspection sting, so said,
“’Tis against the law.”
Keefer ground the cig beneath his boot, said,
“We wouldn’t want to fuck with that.”
Went inside.
Metallica were on full blast, the crowd in a small smoky room, one long bar and scattered tables. Keefer spotted Jericho in a corner. She was as both Malachy and Taylor had described. She looked like deep trouble.
She was engrossed in conversation with a guy.
Keefer went to the bar. The woman behind the counter, a woman who’d seen too many mornings, all of them blank, snarled,
“Yeah?”
Keefer gave her a full smile, which, with his battered face, made him look downright sinister. He said,
“Let me compliment you on the warmth of your welcome. Are you by any chance related to the charmer on the door?”
Now she actually hissed, went
“He’s my husband.”
Keefer rocked back on his heels, said,
“A keeper. Now, what do you suggest?”
As he eyed the beer selection, which seemed to be Bud and, surprise, Bud, she suggested,
“Get your ugly face to somewhere else.”
He leaned over, pinched her cheek before she could move, said,
“You minx, let’s be having a Bud.”
In shock, she automatically gave him the brew. He said,
“I’ll be back.”
Strolled over to Jericho. Stapleton eyed him with undisguised malice.
Keefer stood a foot from them, gauging the vibe.
Stapleton he dismissed as a bigmouthed petty thief cliché, but Jericho... now here was swirling dark energy, a girl destined for destruction. She had a pretty face but decay of the soul threw a shadow over her.
Keefer grabbed a stool and in one fluid motion sat. Stapleton immediately spat,
“Bad idea, asshole.”
Keefer never looked at him, locked eyes with Jericho, and, as Stapleton reached to his jeans, lashed out, grabbed his arm in a crushing grip, said very quietly,
“I wasn’t talking to you. Now, that excuse of a knife you have, do not reach for it or I’ll make you eat it.”
Jericho was amused; she lived for chaos, asked,
“Who might you be?”
Keefer said,
“The guy who knows where to find Jack Taylor.”
There was a beat as Jericho assessed Keefer, then,
“He do that to you?”
Keefer nodded, waited.
Stapleton asked,
“So where is he?”
Keefer reached into his coat, took out a piece of paper, said,
“This is the location of where he goes on a Thursday, same time, same place.”
Jericho was suspicious, asked,
“Why?”
Keefer let out a lengthy sigh as if it pained him to tell, then,
“He is training some kind of bird. It’s the only time he is full preoccupied. If you want to take him by surprise, then that’s the time, the place.”
The mention of the bird gave Jericho a slight shudder but she shrugged it off.
Jericho reached for the paper. Keefer smiled, said,
“Uh-oh, the small matter of a thousand euros.”
Jericho looked at Stapleton, said,
“Give him four hundred.”
Stapleton didn’t move.
Keefer stood up, said,
“See yah.”
Jericho tried,
“Half now, half when we, um, see him.”
Keefer shook his head.
Stapleton snapped,
“How do we know you’re not some bullshit artist?”
Keefer didn’t answer, just held Jericho’s stare. She blinked first, said,
“Okay, but you drive us there, that’s the deal.”
Exactly what Keefer hoped but he stood as if weighing his options, then,
“Be here tomorrow, two sharp, and have the money.”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, so to speak.
I practiced for hours every day with the falcon and a scarecrow.
I’d stand at the edge of the field, having covered the scarecrow with chunks of meat, and then release the falcon.
Took a while but, finally, I barely had the hood off the bird when it flew high, turned, and zoomed on the scarecrow.
Filled with a grim satisfaction, I said,
“Good bird.”
39
And you will never
Know the depth of your heart
Until you are presented with
The opportunity for revenge.
Only then will you know
What you are capable of.