Ricky’s voice was filled with mocking amusement. He wanted the man to think he was as cruel as he sounded, which wasn’t hard.
“Just hold it for a second,” the kennel owner said.
“You see,” Ricky replied, “now you’ve got something to think about. Is withholding information worth the dog’s life? Your call, asshole. But make your mind up right away, because I’m losing my patience. I mean, ask yourself the question: Where are my loyalties? To the dog, who has been my companion and my meal ticket for so many years… or to some strangers who pay me for silence? Make a choice.”
“I don’t know who they are…,” the man started, causing Ricky to take aim at the dog. This time he held up both hands. “Okay… I’ll tell you what I know.”
“That would be wise. And Brutus will probably repay your generosity with devotion and by siring many litters of equally dumb and wondrously savage beasts.”
“I don’t know much…,” the kennel owner said.
“Bad start,” Ricky said. “Making an excuse before you’ve even said anything.”
He immediately fired a second shot in the direction of the furious beast. This shot cracked into the dog’s wooden hut in the rear of the pen. Brutus howled in insult and rage.
“Damn it! Stop! I’ll tell you.”
“Then begin, please. This session has gone on long enough.”
The man paused, considering. “It goes back a ways,” he began.
“I’m aware of that.”
“You’re right about the old couple that owned this place. I don’t know exactly how the scam was run, but they adopted those three kids on paper only. The kids were never here. I don’t know exactly who they fronted for, because I came in after the couple was killed. Both of them in a car accident. I’d tried to buy this place from them a year before they died, and after they smashed up that car, I got a call from a man who said he was the executor of their estate, asking me if I wanted the place and the business. The price, too, was unbelievable…”
“Low or high.”
“I’m here, ain’t I? Low. It was bargain basement, especially with all the property thrown in. A helluva good deal. We signed papers right quick.”
“Who did you deal with? Some lawyer?”
“Yeah. As soon as I said yes, a local guy took over. An idiot. Just does real estate closings and traffic offenses. And he was plenty miffed, too, because all he could say was I was getting a steal. But he kept his mouth shut, because I figure he was being overpaid, too.”
“Do you know who sold the property?”
“I saw the name only once. I think I recall the lawyer saying it was the old couple’s next of kin. A cousin. Pretty distant. I don’t remember the name, except that it was a doctor something or another.”
“A doctor?”
“That’s right. And I was told one thing, absolutely clear, too.”
“What was that?”
“If anyone ever, anytime that day or years ahead, ever came asking about the deal or the old couple or the three children that nobody ever saw, I was supposed to call a number.”
“Did they give you a name?”
“No, just a number in Manhattan. And then about six, seven years later, a man calls me one day, out of the blue, and tells me that the number has changed. Gives me another New York City number. Then, maybe a few years after that, same guy, calls up, gives me another number, only this time it’s in upstate New York. He asks me if anyone has ever come visiting. I tell him no. He says great. Reminds me of the arrangement, and says there will be a bonus if anyone ever does. But it never happens until the other day when this guy Lazarus shows up. Asks his questions, and I run him out. Then I call the number. Man picks up the phone. Old man, now, you can hear it in his voice. Real old. Says thank you for the information. Maybe two minutes later, I get another call. This time it’s some young woman. She says she’s sending me some cash, like a grand, and that if I can find Lazarus and keep him there, there’s another grand. I tell her he’s probably staying at one of maybe three or four motels. And that’s it, until you show up. And I still don’t know who the hell you are, mister.”
“Lazarus is my brother,” Ricky said quietly.
He hesitated, thinking, adding years to an equation that reverberated deep within him. Finally he asked, “The number you called, what is it?”
The man rattled off all ten numbers rapidly.
“Thank you,” Ricky said coldly. He didn’t need to write it down. It was a number he knew.
He gestured with the pistol for the man to roll over.
“Place your hands behind your back,” Ricky instructed.
“Oh, come on, man. I told you everything. Whatever this is all about, hell, I ain’t important.”
“That’s for certain.”
“So, just let me go.”
“I just need to restrict your activity for a few minutes. Like long enough to depart, before you can get up, find some bolt cutters, and let Brutus there loose. I’m thinking that perhaps he’d like to have a moment or two alone with me in the dark.”
This made the kennel owner grin. “He’s the only dog I ever known that carries a grudge. Okay. Do what you got to.”
Ricky secured the man’s hands with duct tape. Then he stood up.
“You’ll call them, won’t you?”
The man nodded. “If I said I wouldn’t you’d just get pissed because you’d know I was lying.”
Ricky smiled. “A bit of insight. Quite correct.”
He paused, considering precisely what he wanted the kennel owner to say. Rhymes leaped into his imagination. “All right, here’s what you need to tell them:
Lazarus rises, he’s closer still.
No longer pushing up the hill.
He’s here. He’s there.
He could be anywhere.
The game’s afoot, and closing in.
Lazarus believes he’s going to win.
It may no longer be your choice,
But better check this week’s Voice.”