Beyond all this was deep woods.
Parked near the airplane was a sleek, black Plymouth. The shadow of the plane fell over the Plymouth. We drove through the open gate. A man got out of the Plymouth and stood beside it, hands folded together in front of his crotch.
“He could kill us and no one would be the wiser,” I said.
“Yes they would,” Virgil said. “My partner knows about this. I’m not a fool, Hank. I made copies of the videos too. I made color photocopies of the photo album. I got a few other snakes in the hole, too.”
We pulled up in front of the Plymouth and got out of the Cadillac and stood beside it. Poot stayed inside. The heat from the car fled away from us and the chill morning air embraced us. The man standing beside the Plymouth looked at us. He was handsome and trim and well dressed in a gray three piece suit. He wore a dark grey tie with thin red stripes and had on shiny shoes the color of fish scales. His dark hair looked as if the wind wouldn’t bother it. I had seen his photograph in the newspaper many times. It was our local publicity hog and Chief of Police, Mr. Price.
We walked over and Virgil said, “Que paso?”
“Fuck you,” Price said. “You’re late.”
“Sorry,” Virgil said. “I stopped to buy a lottery ticket. You know my friend here, Mr. Small,” Virgil said.
“Let me check you,” Price said.
Virgil lifted his arms and moved close to Price and Price frisked him.
I took my turn.
“Okay,” Price said. “Feed me the bullshit.”
“I need to get something out of the car,” Virgil said.
Price reached inside his jacket and took out a shiny blue. 38 Special and cocked back the hammer for dramatic effect. It was a good drama. The click of that hammer sounded as loud as the breaking of a bone. “Go right ahead,” Price said. “Do it polite.”
Virgil grinned at him and went to the Caddy and opened the door and let Poot out. Poot sat down beside the car and waited on Virgil. Virgil got what he wanted out of the car and came back with it and Poot came with him and got between me and Virgil and sat down.
Price nodded at the dog. “That your son?”
“Nephew,” Virgil said.
Virgil gave Price the stuff. Price put the cassettes on the hood of the Plymouth. He looked at the copy of the photo album very slowly. He managed to hold the. 38 in one hand while he did it. His face had about as much expression as the front of his Plymouth.
Price put the photo album copy on the Plymouth next to the cassettes. “That’s it? Pictures of dead people? That’s supposed to make me tremble?”
“You know a lot of those people, don’t you?” Virgil said.
“I might have recognized a couple.” a coupl Price said.
“Let’s cut the cat-and-mouse crap,” Virgil said, “or we don’t deal directly with you. We go to someone else.”
“So I know a few,” Price said. “I didn’t kill them. But I was a certain kind of guy, you came to me with this shit, talked the way you’re talking, trying to tie me in with this garbage, they’d find you two and that ugly dog out here with holes in your heads.”
“We get a hangnail, the dog comes down with distemper, that stuff goes out. This stuff and some more.”
Price considered that a moment. He managed the hammer of the. 38, closed and put it away. “What’s some more?”
“That’s our ace in the hole,” Virgil said.
Price looked at me. “You talk for yourself, or just when he’s got his arm up your butt hole.”
“I talk,” I said. “You want to hear me talk? I’ll talk. You fuck with us, we’ll bury you and your career under six-thousand pounds of horseshit.”
“You’re a pornographer, Small,” Price said. “You got murders tied to you. I don’t know you didn’t murder your own nephew. I understand you’re a fucking Satanist.”
“You don’t believe that,” I said.
“Why would I believe you over my sources?” Price said.
“Fat Boy?” I said. “Snake?”
“Snake?” Price said. “I don’t know Snake.”
“I don’t think his Mama named him that,” Virgil said. “Describe him, Hank.”
“I did.”
“Maybe,” Price said.
“Right,” I said. “There’s lots of guys fit that description. East Texas is stuffed with fuckers fit that description.”
“Let that hold,” Virgil said. “Thing is, we need to get rid of these guys, and we need to pin what’s been done on them, because they’re the ones done it, not Hank.”
“Let’s say I’m with you,” Price said, “and I want to nail Fat Boy, this Snake character. How do I do it? I can’t see a way that fits in with the law.”
“You been forcing square pegs in round holes all along,” I said. “Since when’s it got to fit?”
“It’s got to look like it fits,” Price said.
“Think it over,” Virgil said. “I’ll call you tonight. Have a plan.”
“Might take more time than that,” Price said.
“You have a plan,” Virgil said. “One we like. Something clears my man here and his family. His brother Arnold. His nephew’s name. You got to see Fat Boy and Snake go down and don’t come up. You got to call the law dogs off Hank and his family from here on out.”
“You want a lot,” Price said. “Especially when I don’t have to give you anything.”
“Come on,” Virgil said. “There’s a cloud on Fat Boy and it’s getting darker. Am I right?”
“There’s been problems,” Price admitted.
“You want to phase him out, don’t you?” Virgil said.
“I guess so,” Price said.
“You’ll do what’s necessary to do that?” Virgil said.
“I always do what’s necessary,” Price said. “What is this? Twenty fucking questions?”
“Just wanted to get it recorded for later, you turn on us,” Virgil said. “This way, we go in the toilet, you go with us.”
“You don’t have a wire,” Price said.
“No,” Virgil said. “But the dog does.”
Price looked at Poot, then back to Virgil. He bent forward and grabbed Poot by the fur on his neck. Price pulled a couple of concealed wires out of Poot’s fur, ran his fingers along the wires till he came to where they connected at Poot’s collar.
“Goddamn hairy shit ball,” Price said.
Price jerked Poot up on his hind feet and unfastened the collar and peeled it off, bringing the wires with it and some of Poot’s fur. Poot yipped, bit Price on the hand; a quick snapping bite that broke the skin. Price jerked up and kicked out. Poot took a shoe under the snout, rolled and yelped.
“Hey,” I said. “That’s enough of that.”
Poot got up and skulked over to sit by the Cadillac. He looked betrayed.
“You fucked me,” Price said. He took out the. 38 again. Price didn’t bother with the drama of cocking back the hammer this time. He pointed the gun at Virgil.
Virgil said, “My partner, in the trees there, has got everything on tape. You can’t get to him before he’s gone. And like I told you, something happens to us, the news goes out.”
“I don’t believe you got a partner,” Price said. “That wire was bullshit.”
“Yeah?” Virgil said. “Watch this.”
Virgil stepped away from the Plymouth and the plane. He waved his arms toward the distance woods. A moment later there was the sound of a revolver popping in the air.
Price slowly put the. 38 away. He said, “You lied to me, Virgil.”
“Whatta you expect?” Virgil said. “I’m a goddamned lawyer.”
28
We drove away from the airport in a direction opposite the one we needed to go. When we were a couple miles down the road, Virgil pulled over and got out of the car. Poot jumped out after him and peed on a pine tree.
I pulled my. 38 out of the glove box and put it back where it belonged and got out of the car. I was steamed, even though the air was cool.
Virgil’s face was covered in sweat. He spread his feet wide apart and placed both hands high on the pine Poot had pissed on and did a couple of push ups against it. He took a deep breath, turned his back to the tree, and rested against it. He said, “How’d I do?”