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His truck was where he’d left it, but now a blue sedan blocked it in. At the rear stood a man he didn’t recognize, a black guy in a fedora and a hawk-eyed expression.
“Da
37
The Camaro reeked. What was it with Mexicans and their fucking air fresheners? Evan had fallen for the car the moment he saw it, with its stripper’s curves and tinted windows. He’d jimmied the door, broken the ignition, stripped the wires, and had it purring in a minute. But though he’d thrown the cardboard Christmas tree out the window, the smell had seeped into the fabric. His cigarettes were smoking sour, and Debbie was alternating dead silence with talking too much.
“I’m going to go open the trunk, let some air in.” She reached for the handle.
“Sit back.”
She turned to glower at him, that naggy glare all women had. “He’s going to suffocate.”
“He’ll be fine.” He kept his tone level but firm. Sometimes, he swore to God, it was like talking to a dog.
“I don’t see why we had to move anyway. It was nicer in the trailer.”
He stabbed out his cigarette, ignoring her. He’d parked up the block from the construction site, and had a clear view in all directions. A row of run-down apartments sat on the right-hand side, and in the hour they’d been parked, he’d seen only one person leave, a tired-looking black woman wide as she was tall. The Camaro pointed away from the fenced entrance to the loft complex, but he had the mirrors angled to cover it. He could feel the tension winding in him, like thick cables cranking a notch at a time. Prison had taught him to use that. The long, slow menace of years stretched you thi
As though thinking his name had conjured him up, the silver Explorer slid into Evan’s rearview mirror. He could see Da
“Man doesn’t have a clue.” The Explorer loomed steadily larger, ru
Debbie looked over, puzzled, and then the truck passed them and continued to the end of the block.
“Hey,” she said, “wasn’t that Da
The left blinker came on, and the SUV vanished around the corner.
He turned to her and smiled, enjoying her confusion. “You owe me fifty bucks.”
She tried to smile back, but he could see the flicker of fear in her eyes. It’d been there since yesterday in the parking lot. And it had gotten more pronounced this morning, when he’d made her blow him to pass the time. As her head had bobbed up and down in his lap, he’d been able to tell that she wished she were anywhere else, and that had added a little spice.
Fu
He waited, watching the mirror. Like clockwork, the Explorer came back around and stopped in front of the gate. Da
“What’s he doing?” Debbie was turned around in her seat to watch as Da
“Making his play.”
She looked back, and he could see her figuring it out. “We didn’t move Tommy because you were afraid of the police. We moved him to get away from Da
He nodded, not looking at her, staring toward the trailer instead. He could imagine it, Da
Can you feel it, Da
The weird thing was, some part of this stabbed him, made him wonder what he was doing. The man in that dark trailer had once been his brother.
Once, but long ago.
“Who’s that?”
Her voice pulled him from his head. In the rearview mirror, a light blue Ford was pulling into the open gate. There were two men inside, both wearing hats. The car moved into the construction site like it owned the place. Detectives in an unmarked.
The tension in him wound further. Da
“Evan, what’s going on?” Her voice went up to an irritating whine. “Are those cops?”
With the gate wide open, he could see most of the way to the trailer. The blue car had parked right in front of Da
“Oh God, he’s go
He didn’t let the cable inside him snap. Just slip a couple of notches. An open-handed smack sent her tumbling toward the dash. He moved fast enough she didn’t even gasp. Just came back up with both hands at her cheek and the look of a scared little girl.
“Be quiet,” he said, locking the car doors with a flick of the switch and then turning back to the construction site. The door was open, and he could see Da
And then Da
Da
Debbie had started whimpering, but kept it quiet enough that he ignored her.
The detective guided Da
Would you fucking look at that. Sean Nolan, from the parish. Small fucking world.
Nolan latched the chain, then took a long look up and down the street. There was no way they could be seen, not with the tinted windows and glaring morning sun, but Evan thought the detective’s eyes paused on the Camaro. He moved a hand to the ignition, ready to roll, but Nolan got back in his car. They pulled out, turned right, then left, and were gone.
What the fuck had just happened?
Evan twisted around to face the windshield, ignoring Debbie’s accusing stare as she wriggled as far against the door as she could. Somehow the police had found Da