Exit Strategy

“Hey, don’t-” he began.

“It’s my wrist, not my hand.”

“Still, I don’t think-”

“I’m okay.”

He hovered on the edge of his seat, as if expecting me to fumble and dump coffee into my lap at any moment.

“I’m okay.”

“I know, I just feel-”

“Really bad. I’ve heard it. Heard it from you, heard it from Felix, heard it from Jack, even heard something like it from Evelyn. It was my choice to go in there. Unforeseeable circumstances, and no one’s to blame…except Wilkes and Dubois, but neither is in much of a position to take his share.”

“Well, I still feel-”

“Really bad.”

A small laugh. “Okay, I’ll stop saying it.” He reached out to take my coffee before I could set it down, but backed off at a mock-glare. Then he shifted in his seat.

“So, what I said the other day…Is it still…? About keeping in touch, I mean. Jack’s sure not going to give me a way to contact you, so this is probably my last chance to…”

He let the sentence trail off.

I gri

“That’d be nice, but I know I’m not getting it. How about e-mail?”

We discussed it for a minute and each decided to set up a new account. I suggested we use other names, to keep things separate. After I gave him one for me, he thought about it for a few seconds, then sighed. “I’m no good at this stuff. Umm, maybe…geez, I don’t know…”

“Backdoor Man?”

A laugh. “Your backdoor man. I’ll use it. You won’t mistake me for anyone else with that.”

Qui

“So, you know, keep in touch, okay?” A grin, and he sang, “Pick up the phone. I’m always home. Call me anytime.”

I gri

“I lead a life of crime.”

Jack, who’d heard the end of the exchange, looked from one to the other, blank-faced as we laughed.

“AC/DC?” I said.

Still blank.

“‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’?” Qui

“Yours maybe,” he said. “I’m never cheap.”

Waving the tickets, Jack motioned Qui

They headed for the domestic flights area, Jack talking and Qui

Jack walked back to me.

“Got an hour,” he said. “Cutting it close for security.”

I nodded and he helped me to my feet. As I arranged my crutches, he looked back to make sure Qui

“Jack?”

“Hmmm?”

“Before I go. There’s something…” I paused, looked around, then led him to a quieter corner. “Evelyn offered me a job going after some pedophile.” I paused. “Vigilante work.”

I studied his expression, but he gave nothing away, only nodded, as if this was no surprise.

“You knew?”

“Knew she would.” A pause, then he looked at me. “You didn’t take it. Didn’t say no, either.”

“I…couldn’t. Either way. Not yet. She said it didn’t matter, that if this one falls through she’ll find me another.”

He nodded, again not surprised. After a moment, he said, “You want my opinion.”

“If I could.”

A longer pause now, staring out at the passengers hurrying by. Then, slowly, he turned his gaze back to mine. “Could argue for. Could argue against. Don’t think I should do either.” He lowered my bag to the floor. “Whatever you decide? I’m here. Won’t tell you which way to go. Won’t let you walk off a cliff, either.”

I considered that, deciphering it, then said, “Meaning it’s an honest offer, as far as you know. She isn’t setting me up for anything.”

“Honest enough. I’ll make sure of that. You wa

“She’s not above fudging the truth a bit to lure me in.”

“Yeah.”

He checked his watch. I took the hint and started walking. He steered our path away from the other passengers.

“Bring the cash next trip?” he said, voice still low.

“Cash?”

“Your cut. Assume you want cash. Easier if I bring it. For crossing the border. Unless you need it now.”

“I don’t want your money, Jack.”

I waited for him to protest, to say someone else had financed the job, but he didn’t seem to notice my wording.

“You earned it,” he said.

“I don’t-”

“You earned it. More than anyone. You need it, too. More than anyone.”

“I don’t, Jack. You know why I did this and it has nothing to do with a payment.”

“Yeah, but-”

“I don’t want your money.”

He hesitated. A flicker of consternation as he realized what I’d said, and that I’d said it before, and he hadn’t denied it. He opened his mouth as if to argue, but realized it was too late, and settled for rubbing his hand across his mouth.

Another pause, then, “I don’t need it, either. You earned it. I want you-”

“You want me to have it? Then I’ll tell you how you can give it to me: take me on an all-expenses paid trip to Egypt.”

He looked at me.

“You did suggest that, didn’t you? In Vegas? You were asking whether I’d come with you to see the pyramids someday, but we were cut off before I could answer. Well, it’s yes. If you were serious, that is. If not, well, I guess you can buy me a trip for one.”

“No, that’d be good.” Another mouth rub. “Yeah.” He looked up. “But your stuff. For the lodge. Gazebos, hot tubs-”

“It can wait.”

“Shouldn’t. I’ll bring the money. You get your stuff. Egypt?” He shrugged. “That’ll be the bonus. You earned it. Won’t be right away, though. Got some jobs.”

“No rush. If we could do it during a slow period at the lodge, that’d be great.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that. Let you know. Work something out.” He paused. “That’d be good.” Another pause, then he looked at the security gate. “You gotta go.”

He helped me get my bag onto my shoulder. Took a moment for me to adjust the extra weight with the crutches, but then I was ready.

Still I hesitated.

I wanted to ask him why he’d done it. Why he’d paid for the job. But if I did, I knew what he’d do. Shrug and repeat some variation on what he’d said back at the lodge: that what was bad for the business was bad for everyone in the business.

I didn’t doubt that had figured into his motivation. Was there more?

I thought of Jack, paying Cooper when there’d been no offer of money in our “deal.” Paying that kid at the casino for information he hadn’t been able to give. Why bother? Because, to him, it had been the right thing to do.

As a hitman, he’d been in a position to stop Wilkes, and hire others to help. So he had. Why? Maybe just because it was the right thing to do.

“Go

I wanted to say “forget the flight.” I wanted to get out of this line, this airport, take him someplace and talk to him. Really talk to him. But as I looked into his eyes, so unreadable he might as well have been wearing shades, I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as Evelyn said. “Ask him and he’ll tell you” only applied to the superficial. For anything with any meaning-not just this but any of the questions I really wanted answers to-I wasn’t getting them. Maybe not ever. Certainly not now.

Another moment’s hesitation, then I said, “See you around?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

And that, I supposed, was the best I could hope for. So I adjusted my bag, nodded a final good-bye and headed through the gate.