The Blade Itself

Every part of him tingled. The trunk of the car. Adrenaline tasted bitter in his mouth. He took one step, then another, thinking maybe he could sucker-punch the guard. He wouldn’t let Evan do things his way, but that didn’t mean he had to let a rent-a-cop bend and cuff him. Maintaining his smile through sheer force of will, he stepped over to face the man, hands at his sides, fingers dying to clench into fists.

“What’s the problem, Officer?” Laying it on, like he didn’t realize the guy wasn’t police.

The man’s expression didn’t change as he pointed at the back of the car. “That.”

Had Tommy somehow woken up and figured a way to open the trunk? Da

On the right-hand side, the Saab’s taillight was broken.

“Sir, that’s very dangerous. You shouldn’t drive with only one. I wanted to warn you before the police stopped you.”

Something inside Da

And as he went through the motions with the pseudo cop, clucking and acting concerned, wondering aloud when it had happened, the whole time he was thinking how this sanctimonious jerk had almost gotten his head blown off. Thinking that if he hadn’t moved just when he did, Evan would have come out shooting over a busted taillight.

Thinking that the problem with the relief the little boy in his bedroom felt was that at some point, he had to turn the lights back off.

And when he did, the monsters would be waiting.

23

The stolen Saab had been pure pussy to drive, more responsive and muscular than Evan expected. He’d taken a couple of long blocks around Cabrini as a victory lap, the accelerator to the floor so the crumbling world outside blurred: a chain-linked high school, a row of burned-out tract houses, a liquor store barricaded like a World War Two bunker. Half the buildings he passed were tagged with gang symbols, and at one point he’d sent a group of teenaged bangers jumping for the curb, their shouts after him making him laugh. Call it payback for the crews he’d had to deal with in Stateville. He wasn’t racist or anything, but it was always the blacks in gangs, them and the Hispanics. He’d hated dumping the Saab in their turf, leaving it with the windows open and the keys inside. A shame to leave such a nice piece of machinery to perpetual losers.

Back in his own car, he munched on chips while he waited for Da

By the time this job was done, Evan had a hunch Da

He’d finished his pack of cigarettes and been playing with the idea of going in for another, knowing he was smoking too much lately, not much caring, when Da

To the right of the gas station sat a freezer with bags of ice. Da

The first words out of Da

Evan decided to ignore him. “What, you carry a change of clothes in the car?” Da

“I went to a job site. Had to look the part.” Da

“Dorito?” Evan offered the bag.

Da

“Checked it out. It’s good. Clerk can’t see us.”

Instead of being happy to hear it, Da

“I bought chips,” Evan said. “I didn’t rob the place.”

Da

“Yeah. I tell him I’m a friend of Da

For a second he thought the guy was going to make an issue of it, and wondered how much longer he was going to have to deal with this shit. A couple of days at least, until things were solidly in motion. He might need Da

Da

He nodded, reaching for the phone. Da

“Wear your gloves.”

He snorted. “Your asshole must be puckered so tight you need a shoehorn to take a shit.”

“Just put on the gloves.”

Evan shrugged, took them from his pocket and pulled them on. “Happy?” Picked up the receiver and slotted the change, his energy up. Not as strong, as pure, as when they broke into the house, but still, that edge of power surging through him. He pitied the regular citizens that went their whole drab little lives without ever feeling this way.

“Richard O’Do

The man stuttered, asking, “What?” and “Who is this?” Evan cut him off.

“We have Tommy.” Shooting a wink at Da

There was only silence on the line.

“Good boy, Dick. Here’s the story. To save your son’s life, all you have to do is everything I say.” He paused, savoring the thrill of it, the fear in boss man’s breathing. “If you call the cops or do anything to make us nervous, Tommy dies.” He kept his eyes on Da

“How do I know he’s all right?”

“No, Dick. We’re not going to do that. I’m not going to send you a photo with him holding a newspaper. I’m not going to play a tape of his voice, I’m not going to threaten to cut off his fingers. I’ll just kill him and disappear. Understand?”

The arrogance vanished. “How much do you want?”

Evan stared at Da

Just wait, Da