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The room was clean but dismal, cheap wood paneling, two shabby chairs. Co
Je
Yeah, but I’m the one who paid for it. Co
She pulled a six-pack of Bud and two sandwiches out of the bag. “Not much of a selection. Egg salad or tuna salad.”
“I’ll take the tuna.”
She frowned. “There’s also egg salad.”
“Fine.” Co
They chewed sandwiches, sipped beer, watched the window.
The sun faded to dirty orange, and the boats made their way down the river-speedboats, party barges, and the occasional sailboat. Some pulled into the bait shop for gas or a last-minute six-pack. College kids, families, old men buying bait for night fishing.
Some boats were coming up the river, back to waterfront homes after a long day of fishing. There weren’t many sailboats. They all had to get in before the County Road 25 bridge-
“Aw, crap,” Co
Je
“The bridge,” he said. “The operator knocks off at seven. We won’t be able to get past it until morning. The Je
Je
“Shut up a second and let me think.”
She pouted, lit a cigarette.
“Here’s what we do,” Co
“Fine.” She smoked, propped her feet up on the bed next to Co
She might’ve caught Co
“So…” That was about all he had.
“You look in shape,” she said. “You work out?”
“I used to play a little ball.”
“I go to the gym almost every day,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m so pissed. I kept in good shape, you know? He didn’t need another girl.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Co
“How do men decide?”
“I don’t know, but not like that.”
She lifted one of her legs. “Feel that calf. It’s as good as a twenty-year-old’s.”
He took her ankle in one hand, felt her calf with the other. Taut. Good tone. “Nice.”
“Damn right.” She swigged beer, stood up, and shimmied out of her shorts. She wore the bottom half of the American-flag bikini underneath, cut high on the hips. “The good thing about the bridge being closed is we don’t have to keep watch.” She turned to close the curtains, showed Co
Co
She came back to him on the bed, straddled him. She rubbed his places. He rubbed her places in return. Then their places started bumping against one another. She peeled Co
Co
She squealed, and Co
After, they lay there under the sheets in the dark, both awake but not talking.
Finally, she asked, “Was that… did you like it?”
“Of course.” He might not have liked it the way she wanted him to, maybe it wasn’t so much to do with her, but he’d needed it.
“Then why-” Her voice caught. “I thought I hated Teddy so much. I thought… what did I do wrong? Why did this happen?”
Co
9
The cab dropped Teddy Folger in front of his bungalow. He went inside, a little tipsy and a lot depressed. The depression segued to a grumpy, simmering, insulted anger. He’d been rudely and abruptly rebuffed by Misty, and now that he’d stocked the Je
Teddy flipped the light switch in the living room. The two guys in dark suits sitting on his rattan furniture startled him. He squeaked surprise and fear, started backing toward the door.
“Mr. Folger,” said the one with the long sideburns. “I represent a party interested in your Joe DiMaggio baseball card.”
So that was it. Teddy looked more closely at the two men. The one guy had spoken with a thick accent. “You’re not from around here.”
“We flew in from Tokyo. My name is Toshi.”
Toshi looked lean and wicked and had a hard dark gleam in his eye that might have been a warning not to mess with him if Teddy hadn’t been slightly drunk.
Teddy said, “Well, I don’t know how they do things in Tokyo, but around here people don’t go into each other’s homes without an invitation. It’s pretty damn rude.”
“We’re not here to be polite,” Toshi said. “We’re here for the card.”
Good, thought Teddy. Time to drive up the price. “I already have a very good offer. You’re going to have to pay top dollar if you want it.”
“I don’t think you understand.” Toshi and his associate stood, advanced toward Teddy.
“What the hell is this?”
They jumped on him, punched him in the stomach. He tried to talk but couldn’t catch his breath. Toshi landed a punch to the side of his head. Lights exploded. Teddy’s head buzzed. He tried to talk, but he was too rattled.
“Let me be clear,” Toshi said. “We want the card, and we’re prepared to offer you the bargain price of your life.”
Teddy barely heard them, was barely even conscious he was being dragged across the floor.
The alarm went off at midnight. Co
A thin, clinging fog lay low on the river. It was too dark. Co
It was silent work, paddling in rhythm with their heavy breathing, muscles just a little sore from yesterday’s canoe trip. They didn’t want to talk anyway. Co