Die a Stranger (23 page)

“I’m meeting my friend on the ferry,” I said. “And then we’re going out to some people’s house. These two people he knows. But he won’t be here for a while and I was just hoping I could—”

“What’s the name, hon?”

“Kaiser.”

“No, don’t know them. And believe me, I know everybody on this whole island. Are you sure you’ve got that right?”

“They might just be renting the house for the summer,” I said. “Harry and Josephine Kaiser.”

She looked up in the air, shaking her head. “Nope. Sorry, hon.”

I felt the whole thing falling apart then. I still had a half hour to wait. Then I’d tell Lou this whole thing was a bust and we’d have to go back and start from scratch. Our only consolation would be a basket of fruit to eat on the way back to Paradise.

“Wait a minute, you don’t mean Harry and Jo Kennedy, do you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I mean, who are we talking about?”

“You know, Harry and Jo,” she said. “With the hair? And the clothes? Like they went to Woodstock and never made it back?”

She started laughing again and I tried to laugh with her. It was hard to do while my mind was racing ahead. A different place, a different last name. Same first names. A classic soft alias for people doing something criminal and making a token effort to cover their tracks.

“She was just here,” the woman said. “Ten minutes ago. You just missed her.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” I tried to replay the tape in my head, me standing outside on the street, watching the people walk by. I’d probably looked right at her.

“They’re renting the Hoffmans’ place,” she said. “You know where that is, right?”

“I think so. It’s right up over by the…”

I let it trail off and this time it worked. She filled in the gaps and led me right to the house, over on the western side of the island. She even drew me a map. I thanked her a dozen times on my way out the door. As soon as the door closed, the happy little fake smile on my face was long gone.

I spent the next few minutes back over by the ferry dock. I was looking at my watch. I was counting down the minutes until that impossibly slow boat decided to finally turn the corner on that inlet. Even when I saw it, I knew it would be another several minutes before it docked, and then even more minutes until the cars were driven out of the hold. I couldn’t stop thinking about all those cars on the street behind me, all those unlocked cars left there by happy carefree islanders, some of them with the keys still dangling from the ignition.

Thirty more minutes, I told myself. Thirty minutes and you’ll have backup.

I was still holding the fruit basket. It was getting heavy. I was just about to put it down. That’s when I felt something jab into my ribs.

“Don’t turn around.”

A woman’s voice. She was right behind me. Just inches away. I felt her breath on my neck.

“Nobody can see this gun,” she said. “But if I have to I’ll shoot you right through the gut. Do you believe me?”

I nodded.

“I don’t care how much of a scene it would make. I’ll shoot you dead and then I’ll just start screaming and I’ll pretend the gun is yours. That you tried to abduct me and somehow it went off. Are we clear?”

I nodded again.

“Good thing I happened to stop back in the post office, huh? Flo told me you were looking for me.”

I felt her free hand slip around my waist. She was giving me a quick, expert pat down.

“Silly me,” she said. “You’ve got your gun in the fruit basket, right? I’d like you to drop it now. Do not bend down, do you understand me? Just let it drop.”

I did as I was told. The basket hit the pavement and half the fruit started rolling away. Oranges. Apples. Grapefruit. All ruined.

“That’s a shame,” she said. “But we’ll get over it.”

I still hadn’t seen her face. I stood there looking out at the water. In the distance, I could finally see the ferry. It was still a good mile away. Maybe two.

“Okay,” she said. “Whoever you are. It’s time for us to take a little ride.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“This is how it’s gonna work.” She had stepped away from me. Now she was four feet behind me. Maybe five.

“You’re making a mistake,” I said.

“Shut up,” she said. “Not another word, do you understand? I’ll drop you right here and nobody will have any idea what happened. I’ve got the gun inside a plastic grocery bag right now. Don’t turn around, just take my word for it. It’s inside this bag and if I need to shoot you I will. Everybody will start screaming. Nobody will know what the hell is going on. Nobody will see the gun. I’ll just drop the bag and run away, like everybody else. You get what I’m saying? Just nod your head if you do.”

I nodded.

“All right, then. There’s a parking lot next to the post office. Across the street. You’re going to turn around and you’re going to walk to it. You’re not going to make a sound. You’re not going to look at anybody. You’re going to look straight at the ground. If you so much as take one step in another direction, or if you so much as raise one hand … If you do anything that isn’t one hundred-percent perfect and cooperative … I will shoot you without even blinking. Again, are we clear?”

I nodded.

“There’s a black Jeep Cherokee on the left side of the lot. When you get to it, I want you to open the driver’s-side door and get in. Sit with your hands in your lap and don’t do anything else. Last time, are we clear?”

She’s talking a good game, I thought. But I can’t imagine she really wants to shoot me. Not unless she’s a psychopath or something. Problem is, her finger’s no doubt on the trigger. She probably has the damned thing half-squeezed already. If I do something stupid, she might react without even thinking about it.

As I turned slowly, I got a quick look at her. She was a little older than me, one of those women who say the hell with it and let their hair grow down over the shoulders, no matter how gray it is. Green tie-dyed summer dress with a black belt. Her eyes were sharp and quick and she had probably been attractive in some other decade, but even I could have told her that green was the worst possible color on her. It made her pale skin look purple and the ugly sandals didn’t help one bit. Not that she would have cared one little bit what I thought of her appearance. I or anyone else. No makeovers for this woman. She had the hard-set mouth of someone who stands around sucking every last ounce of poison out of a cigarette and complaining about life.

“Nice and easy,” she said as she moved around behind me. “You’re doing just fine. I’m glad you’re not as dumb as you look.”

I crossed the street and headed for the parking lot next to the post office. Give her a minute or two, I thought. Until we’re in the vehicle and she gets a little more comfortable. Maybe even relaxes the grip on her gun. Then try to talk to her.

“All right, everything nice and slow now,” she said as we got closer to the black Jeep Cherokee. “Remember, open the door and get in. Do it in slow motion. Then just sit there and keep your hands in your lap.”

I did as I was told. I sat down in the driver’s seat and put my hands in my lap. I took one quick peek back across the street. The boat was still a few minutes from docking. There’s no way I’d be able to stall her, and even if I did, Lou would have to hit shore and somehow notice me sitting over here. And then actually do something about it.

I was expecting her to come around and sit beside me, but instead she opened the door right behind me and sat in the backseat.

“This gun is six inches away from the back of your head,” she said. “Do one thing wrong and I will literally paint that windshield with your brains. Are you with me? Are we still on the same page?”

I nodded. Then I heard a collection of keys hitting the seat beside me.

“Take the key that says ‘Jeep’ on it and put it in the ignition.”

Under different circumstances, I would have had a quick comeback to that. Like thanks, I would have tried this house key instead. But this obviously wasn’t the time for wisecracks, so I did as I was told. I put the right key in and turned it. The engine came to life.

This is the vehicle that was missing from the farmhouse, I thought. This is the vehicle that brought Vinnie and Buck to this place.

“Now you’re gonna back out and then go to the street, at which point you will take a smooth left turn. You need to keep believing me when I tell you that I’ll kill you in a second if you give me any reason. At this point, I will happily tell the police that you tried to kidnap me, and then I grabbed your gun and shot you with it. The gun is not registered to me, and I am a very good liar. So I’m quite sure I’d get away with it.”

I’m quite sure that would make me the most inept kidnapper in history, I thought. But if the paper on that gun was really that clean, I had no doubt she’d be able to sell the story. Or at least that she
believed
she’d be able to sell it, which was all that mattered.

I put the vehicle in Reverse and backed it up using only the mirrors. Something told me she wouldn’t have appreciated me turning around. I put it back in Drive and went to the street. I waited for a few cars to go by. Then I took the left.

“Now you’re going to keep going straight and you’re gonna keep the speed at exactly twenty miles an hour. You got that? If you hit twenty-one, well, you know what happens.”

There was a strange spin on everything she was saying now. When she had first stuck that gun in my ribs, back on the dock, I could hear the fear in her voice and I could practically feel her hands shaking. Now, she had clearly gotten her nerve back. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn she was almost enjoying this.

How ironic it was, having had two different men point a gun at me that week, first Dukes with his already-cocked revolver stuck stupidly down his pants, then Perry with the empty shotgun. Both bumbling and useless in their own way, and now here was this woman a few years older than me, and she was clearly starting to get the hang of this.

“May I say something now?” I said.

I felt the sharp jab of the gun barrel against the back of my head.

“You’ll speak when I ask you a question,” she said. “For now, just keep driving. When this road comes to a T, you need to make a right.”

I wasn’t about to tell her that I knew that. I still had the map from the postmaster, after all. We were cutting through the interior of the island, and then we’d have to head north along the western shore.

“Okay, so here’s your chance to talk,” she finally said. “How stupid does Corvo think we are?”

“What are you talking about?” I expected the gun barrel to jab me in the back of the head again, but it didn’t.

“I thought we were square,” she said. “After today we’re all back in business, and everybody knows we’re gonna play nice from now on. That was the deal.”

“You’ve got the wrong idea, ma’am. That’s not why I’m here.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath. I waited for what was going to happen next.

“I should kill you right now,” she said.

I struggled to keep my foot light on the gas pedal. One good push and I could send her backward in her seat. Then slam on the brakes and with any luck she’d be dumped right in my lap.

Just thinking about it, I was already starting to creep up above her twenty-miles-an-hour speed limit.

“You’re going too fast,” she said. “Slow down right now.”

I eased up on the pedal. It would be a high-risk move and she was agitated now, making it even more likely she’d pull that trigger. Maybe the first shot would go through the roof, but I didn’t like my odds on the second.

That’s when my cell phone rang. It was in my right pocket.

“Who’s calling you?” she said. “Is that Corvo?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Toss your phone back here. Without answering it.”

I leaned over so I could reach into my pocket. I had to struggle to keep the vehicle going straight while getting the stupid phone out, while at the same time not doing something that might be construed as offensive. When I finally got the phone out, it had rung a few more times. I tossed it into the backseat. I heard her fumble to pick it up off the floor and for one split second I thought I had a chance to do something.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, a genuine mind reader on top of all of her other charms.

She flipped open my phone and apparently looked at the display.

“There’s no name,” she said. “Big surprise. But the number has a 702 area code. That must be one of those other Chicago area codes, right?”

“That’s Las Vegas,” I said, picturing Lou still on the boat, close enough to the island now to be in range. Calling to check in, to see if I’d made any progress.

“Las Vegas, what the hell? Are you kidding me?”

She snapped the phone shut.

“You know, they make real cell phones now,” she said. “This thing belongs in a museum.”

“That was Vinnie’s father on the phone,” I said. “He’s looking for his son. Vinnie and Buck, both of them. That’s why I’m here. I’ve got nothing to do with Corvo.”

“You don’t say,” she said. “Just looking for the Indians. Wouldn’t
that
be interesting.”

“It’s the truth. I need to know if they’re alive.”

“You need to shut your mouth is what you need to do. Make this right turn, then I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“You’re not going to shoot me. We both know that.”

Say it like you believe it, I thought. Like it’s a calmly observed statement of undeniable truth. If she had any doubt, she’ll start to believe it. At least that’s the general idea. Whether it really works or not, I guess we’re gonna find out.

“The day is young,” she said. “I got a feeling a lot of different things are gonna happen before the sun goes down.”

The phone rang again. She didn’t answer. She didn’t even look at it. I tried to guess how much time had passed, tried to imagine where Lou was at that moment. Maybe off the boat by now. Standing on the dock, looking around and swearing at his phone. Maybe his car was off by now, maybe not. Either way, it was hard to put together any series of events that would lead him my way.