Bev said, “What are you doing, strange peroson?”
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I was, but you were blowing on me.”
“I’m sorry. I was playing.”
I heard a car pulling into the drive. I rolled out of bed, scooping my. 38 off the floor. I opened the door a crack and looked out. It was Virgil.
“It’s okay,” I said to Bev.
I pushed the. 38 into my waistband and covered it with my shirt, went out on the porch and watched Virgil get out of the Cadillac. He had a bulky package under his arm.
A little dog with enough hair on it to weave into a couple of arctic sweaters jumped out of the Caddy and sat next to Virgil’s right shoe. Virgil reached down and patted the dog. That pat gave the impression of a tremendous chore. Virgil moved slow and tired. His hair was a mess. With the exception of a light beige jacket, he had on the clothes he had worn last night.
“Sorry I’m so early,” he said.
“All right,” I said. “Come on in. We’ll make some coffee.”
“Put some goddamn dynamite in it,” he said. “I need it.”
The pickup’s door opened and Arnold slipped out of it, causing Virgil and the dog to spin. I had given Arnold the shotgun last night and he was holding it. He looked pretty ominous.
“Damn, boy,” Virgil said to Arnold. “Don’t go sneaking up on me like that.”
“Nobody’s sneaking,” Arnold said.
The dog went over and peed on Virgil’s front tire.
“My partner’s dog,” Virgil said. “Partner screws my wife, his dog pees on my car.”
· · ·
I made coffee and broke out a package of granola bars, and me and Bev and Virgil and Arnold had breakfast. The kids were still sleeping. The little dog laid down by the door with its head on its paws. Bev gave him a piece of bread and he ate it.
“What’s his name?” Bev asked.
“Poot,” Virgil said.
“That’s a mean name for a dog,” Bev said.
“Dog looks like he belongs on the end of a mop handle,” Arnold said.
“He likes to ride,” Virgil said. “He’s got his good points. My partner and him will probably get married some day.”
Virgil tossed the package on the table. “Some clothes. Couple of outfits that belonged to one of my ex-wives. They ought to come close to fitting you Beverly. There’s some stuff in there for you guys too. I didn’t have any kid’s clothes, but I bought a few from Wal-Mart. I think they’ll fit close enough. I got them some slip on tennis shoes too. Couple rounds of underwear.”
“That’s thoughtful,” Bev said.
“You’re back a lot earlier than I expected,” I said to Virgil.
“Time I got home last night I was wide awake,” Virgil said. “I did some serious thinking, came up with some ideas, and this morning I called my partner in on it.”
“Christ,” Arnold said. “Another apple in the basket.”
“Yeah, and a rotten one too, but he’s necessary,” Virgil said. “After I called him, I called the Chief of Police.”
“Goddamn, Virgil,” I said. “You fucking idiot.”
“We got to get out of here now,” Arnold said. “They’ll be on us like a wet T-shirt on titties.”
“Calm down,” Virgil said. “I didn’t tell him where you are. I gave him what background I thought he needed to know. About Doc and all. We’re going to meet with the Chief to talk.”
“No we’re not,” Bev said.
“Just let me lay it out,” Virgil said. “I got to thinking, the cops, they don’t know what we got, right? Remember what I told you about the Chief, Hank?”
“He looks good on paper, but has had some problems,” I said.
“Right,” Virgil said. “I started adding things up. The Chief’s got to know his Fat Boy isn’t a do-gooder, knows he’s padded a case here and there, and there’s been some complaints. But he probably doesn’t know the degree to which Fat Boy will go. Or say he does. Say the bottom line is Price is the kind of guy who’d pistol whip a puppy, but that’s not the image he wants to present. It gets out Fat Boy’s done what he’s done and he works for Price, and isn’t even a cop… Well, it’s enough to make a Chief with political ambitions nervous. And he’s got ambitions. Knowing that, I think we should go see Mr. Price.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“It’ll be all right,” Virgil said. “I’ve made some arrangements, and I’ve indicated we have a lot of nasty evidence that points to him indirectly. I’m playing my hand like it’s full of aces.”
“And if he bluffs?” I asked.
“I think I’m the better poker player,” Virgil said. “I expect you to be good too, play your hand close to the vest. Tell him what we have, not what we don’t have. You game?”
“I don’t like it,” Bev said.
“Me either,” Arnold said. “So he believes us? He’s better off fucking us instead of Fat Boy. Fat Boy knows where too many of the bodies are buried, cause he put them there.”
“We get to that point,” Virgil said, “we deal a second hand. That’s why all of you aren’t coming in to talk. Just me and Hank. I’ve brought some official papers that make me your lawyer, Arnold, and something a little better than a paper sack for you, Hank. We’ll back date the stuff. I want to show Hank approached me before all this hit the fan. We’ll lie a little for Arnold. It’s best we cover everyone’s ass. We get tass. We hat done, we’re ready for the next step. Chief Price.”
“I still don’t like it,” Bev said.
“Look at it this way,” Virgil said. “It’s a plan, and not a bad one. And even if it isn’t that good, consider the alternative. Hiding out. Having your names dragged through the mud.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go. When do we do it?”
“I’m going to take Poot out for a short walk,” Virgil said. “And while I do, you folks sign the papers sanctioning me as your attorney. Then Hank, you and me leave.”
27
As Virgil drove I listened to the car heater blow and watched the countryside race by. It was the same basic countryside I’d known most of my life. Land razed of a lot of its natural foliage by idiots with chainsaws and a bad game plan, but the same country. The sun still rose above it and sunk hard enough in the West to bring the moon up in the East. Yin and Yang. But I was reminded somehow of that old book and film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Everything looked the same, but wasn’t. It was as if alien beings had taken over the world I knew overnight. Leaving in its place one where law and order did not exist; was nothing more than an illusion. Where the alien-occupied husks of human beings had an agenda I could never have expected. It was like the whole world was against my family and me, wanting to pull us in and steal our humanity and make us like them.
“You packing?” Virgil asked.
It took me a moment to realize what that meant. I hadn’t seen a gangster movie in a while. “Yeah,” I said.
“Put it in the glove box. I don’t want any mistakes.”
Poot had crawled over onto my lap, and I moved him and took the automatic out of my waistband and put it in the glove box. “Where are we going?” I asked. “This isn’t back to town.”
“Captain Paranoid,” Virgil said. “You think I’m double crossing you?”
“I think damn near anyone but my family could be double crossing me.”
“That hurts.”
“As I said yesterday, my social skills are not presently at their peak.”
“We’re going out country, Hank. We’re not doing this in town where we can be recognized. What Price is doing isn’t exactly sanctioned by the Police Department.”
“I was beginning to think anything could be sanctioned by the Police Department.”
“Actually,” Virgil said, looking at his watch, “they do it right, anything can. Don’t pet the dog, okay? He’s on duty.”
· · ·
We came to the edge of a little community where there was an abandoned airport. The airport had been for small planes. Out on one of the three tiny, grassy runways was an old prop plane tilted on its side so that a warped and cracked wing supported it.