Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 02 - Death in the Dark (9 page)

“No-”

I put my hand up. “Thank you for being brave enough to ask me for help.”

Her lips quivered then leaning forward, Malina hugged me. “Thank you.”

“Good night, Malina.”

“I will see you again.”

“I hope.”

We stopped at a truck stop. Merl went in and got a clean T-shirt for me and some first aid supplies. Then Merl did some doctoring work on the back of my head. He also brought me Ibuprofen which was keeping the pain down to a dull ache.

We couldn’t make the whole drive back in one shot. Merl got too tired and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Merl pulled off the highway and put his seat back. We both passed out immediately. When we woke it was dark again. By the time we made it back to the Oyster Farm, it was light. There was a rental car parked next to the Javelina. Merl stopped the truck and turned to me.

“I’m going now.”

“What?”

“This is over,” he said, wobbling a finger between the two of us.

“But I’m not ready.”

Merl laughed. “Tell that to the three corpses in the desert.”

“But I never would have survived without you. And how will I learn to throw throwing stars!”

Merl smiled but didn’t budge. “Sorry, Sydney. Mulberry is pissed at me. And you. But he loves you, so will forgive you soon enough. Me on the other hand, I’ve had enough shots fired at me for one day.”

“No, Merl, I don’t want you to go.” I reached out and took his hand. He looked down at it.

“I’ll miss you, Sydney.”

“You don’t have to, you can stay.”

“Neither of us can stay, Sydney. We have to move on. Please be safe. And ask for help when you need it and…”

“I will Merl.”

I reached across and hugged him. “Thank you,” I said into his shoulder. “Thank you for everything.”

I pulled away and opened the truck door. I looked back at him and leaned across, quickly pressing my lips to his cheek. I felt the stubble of his two-day-old beard and smelled musk then hopped down from the truck.

Blue jumped out of the back and I waved as Merl turned the pickup around and headed back through the dunes.

Inside I found Mulberry asleep on my bed. I paused in the doorway to watch him for a moment. The man’s gentle breathing brought me peace. I noticed new sprays of gray at his temples and felt a pull at my heart.

I sat on the bed next to him and reached out to touch his hair but pulled back and rested my hand on his shoulder instead. His eyes blinked open and he smiled when he saw me. “You’re killing me,” he said. “You’re really driving me up the wall.”

I shrugged, unconcerned with his mental health.

“You’re going out murdering police?”

I laughed. “They were killing, raping, drug-running machines and I stopped them. Killing police. Listen to yourself, Mulberry. So moralistic.”

His face reddened. “You can’t just go around killing people,” he said sitting up.

“They were hardly people.”

“I’m sending you to London for more training and I need to know that you’re not going to go apeshit on me every time someone gets hurt.”

“What are you talking about Mulberry?” I was angry now and stood up. “I’ll do what I want to do. This is not some game where you get to call the shots. This is my life.”

Mulberry climbed off the bed and faced me. “A life I gave you.”

I felt the anger seething in my chest. “You gave me? Where would you be without me, Mulberry? Where? At home, on your couch in New York watching sports, wishing you had the balls to be anyone else?” I took a step toward him but he stood his ground.

His face was turning deep red. We were both very angry. I wondered for a flash if it would turn into a physical fight, only inches separated us.

“I think you know that you couldn’t have done it without me,” he said

“Yeah, and you couldn’t have done it without me, so don’t go around thinking you’re special and I’d be destitute without you.”

“How about we’re even,” he said gruffly, casting his eyes to the floor for a brief moment and then back up to my face. “How about we stop fighting?”

There was something so sweet in the way that he said it, I almost laughed. But instead I nodded stiffly and took a step back.

“They were bad guys, huh?” Mulberry asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Really fucking bad.”

“Alright,” Mulberry said. “You get packed and I’ll drive us to the airport. We’ve got a flight in a couple of hours.”

“Really? That quick? I don’t know if I can be ready.” I looked around the cramped RV and saw that really I didn’t have much to take. No reason to bring my pathetic assortment of pot and pans. My clothing, what there was of it (shorts, ratty T-shirts, a worn pair of jeans, a couple of sweatshirts) would all fit into a small duffel.

“You don’t need much. We’re going to have to get you some new clothing once we get to London so just grab a toothbrush and whatever personal effects you have and let’s go.”

There was a small case in the bedroom which held a couple of pieces of jewelry I inherited from my grandmother, a photo album that showed my family in much happier times. Everything fit into a small knapsack and I left the RV with it.

The day was bright and I walked slowly toward Ramon’s house. I stopped and stood in the hot sun for a long moment. Sweat pooled in my lower back and I squinted in the heat. I never said I would stay, why announce that I’m leaving? Don’t be a schmuck, I thought, and continued to the small home.

“Hola,” I called, but no one responded. I knocked and pushed open the front door but no one was home. It was cooler in the cement structure. I put down my bag and pulled out a piece of paper and a wad of cash.

My pen hovered over the blank page. What could I say to this man and his generous mother? They took me in with no judgment. No questions. They let me be. How few people we find in this world who will offer you that space. “Thank you,” I wrote, “You will always be with me.” Then I put the money in the center of the note and folded it up. I left it sitting on Ramon’s worn plastic chair.

Back out in the heat of the day, Mulberry was waiting in the car with the air-conditioning on. Blue was in the back seat, his head resting on the armrest next to Mulberry. I settled into the buttery leather and we took off into the dunes.

“You probably won’t do anything like that in London, right?” Mulberry asked as we pulled onto the paved road.

“Yeah, probably not. I don’t see the government turning against its own people there.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but bit his tongue at the last second. I could almost guess what it was. That even if the government did turn against its own people, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Killing people only makes you feel better, it rarely solves the problem.

Kurt Jessup dying didn’t bring back James, and those crispy corpses in the desert didn’t bring back Ramon’s sister. Time will not be swayed or discouraged. It marches on and on with no thought of righting wrongs or delivering justice. Killing might be my best, but it wasn’t good enough.

***

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SUNSHINE ON A SUNNY DAY

Carlos was the one who felt my phone vibrating; it was under one of the napkins we’d used for our picnic lunch. I found it, and glancing quickly at the “UNKNOWN” on the caller ID, picked it up. While used to calls from unknown places, I was not used to calls from this guy.

“Sydney, how are you?”

I didn’t actually recognize his voice right away. I rolled away from Carlos, sitting up. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who this is.” It was when he laughed that I recognized him. “Bobby?”

He laughed again. “I’m glad you remember me. My heart would be broken if I could be so easily forgotten.”

I stood up, Carlos looked up at me, a question in his eyes. I shook my head and stepped away from our blanket. My dog, Blue, a huge wolf-like creature with one blue eye and one brown followed me, keeping at a heel. “Forget you, Bobby Maxim? In order to do that I’d need a lobotomy.”

“With your penchant for revenge, I half expect to see you bursting through my closet doors some day, guns blazing.”

I laughed. “Who says I’m not in there right now?”

“I know exactly where you are. I’ve been keeping very good track of you.”

I looked around the park. Gentle green hills spotted with couples and groups of friends lounging on blankets dominated the landscape. On a field below me a soccer match was beginning to form. A woman ran by in a skin-tight suit, nothing on her jiggled.

“Are you here now?”

“No, no. I’m calling to ask a favor.”

“That’s rich.”

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around and stepped back. Blue let out a growl. Carlos stood behind me, his hands out, palms forward in a sign of peace. “I just wanted to let you know I’m going to join some mates for a game of football.”

“Sorry, that’s great. I’ll see you in a bit,” I said, covering the mouth piece. Carlos smiled and jogged off down the hill.

“Does he know about you?” Bobby asked. I didn’t answer as I watched Carlos join a group of other men on the field below. “Sydney, are you there?”

“I’m not doing you any favors. I don’t know if you’re totally clear on the fact that you took something from me.”

“Sydney, I don’t understand this animosity. I was just doing you a favor.”

“A favor!” I heard myself yelling. Looking around I saw that I’d attracted the attention of several of the groups of Londoners trying to enjoy their first day of sun. “You bastard,” I hissed quietly. “I hope you rot in hell.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner, darling.”

“Call me darling again and I will make it my life’s mission to take your ball sack. Are we clear?”

“Anything you’d do with my ball sack would be very welcome.”

“I forgot what a sick fuck you are.”

“A sick fuck who did you a favor and is now looking for one in return.”

“You’re insane!” I heard myself yelling again. I took a deep breath. In through my nose, out through my mouth. Blue tapped his muzzle against my hip to let me know he was still there.

“Sydney, I didn’t know what you two had planned. I would have killed Kurt long before you showed up. Remember, I’m not the one who left my fingerprints behind; whose blood was spilled all over the floor. You took yourself down, it had nothing to do with me.” He said it in an off-hand way. Like I was being petty and missing the big picture.

“You killed him,” I whispered, trying to control my anger, but I could feel myself shaking. “That was my right. Kurt Jessup murdered my brother and I should have been the one to end him.”

“At the time I had no idea about that. Mulberry didn’t tell me what you were planning, just that we had a problem. I had no intention of stifling your little revenge act. If anyone should be pissed it’s me. At least you got the treasure.”

I stood on the green feeling lightheaded. It was like Bobby Maxim was taking the world and flipping it upside down. “What are you talking about? Mulberry told you that?”

“Oh Cher, you didn’t know?” Maxim’s voice rose an octave, teasing and dripping with syrup. A cold knowledge traveled from my toes right up to my brain, my best friend betrayed me, our relationship was built on a lie. I walked toward the shade of a tree, reaching out to rest a hand against the rough trunk. “Mulberry called me, told me about Kurt. About him killing Tate and Joseph,” Bobby paused, “about how he killed your brother, James.” I picked at the tree in front of me, breaking off a piece of the bark. I looked at the white underneath, the exposed inner branch. “Now don’t get all upset and quiet on me, dear. He only did it to save you.”

“Save me?”

“From becoming a killer.”

“You think someone can be saved from that?” I heard sadness in my voice and hated myself for it.

“No, I don’t. I think you are what you are, Sydney. And I think it’s amazing. I want you on my team.” He sounded upbeat and excited about our future together.

I didn’t answer.

“Aren’t you even curious about the case?” Bobby continued.

“No.”

“It’s a good friend of mine in Mexico, his daughter has disappeared. The reason I’m hoping you’ll help is she’s a fan of yours.”

“What?”

“She’s on that site about Joy.” I felt nausea creep up my throat. Mulberry told me about the website but I had yet to visit it. I couldn’t face whatever kind of madness I had spawned. The basic principle, that Joy Humbolt murdered the Mayor of New York to revenge her brother’s killing, was off by a couple of heartbeats. The member’s fanatical agreement that Joy was a hero was just sick. “You had a real effect on that Jackie,” Bobby continued. “Starting that site about you really turned her life around. She’s a serious nut bag. You should be proud.”