U Is For Undertow

“Yeah, well, my thoughts are to stay clean and sober. To do that, I gotta get square, and I’m cool with that.”

“So you said. Have you any concern whatsoever about what this will do to me? I looked it up. The deal is, you make amends unless doing so would injure others. You don’t think I’ll be ‘injured’ if you blow the whistle on me?”

“I don’t think the admonition applies when there’s a serious crime involved,” Walker said. “I feel bad, Jon. I do. We were good friends, the best. Then this came between us, and I’ve regretted it. We can’t socialize. We can’t acknowledge one another in public. I can’t even talk to you by phone.”

“That’s more your rule than mine,” Jon said, mildly.

“Bullshit. That was your dictate from the begi

“Water under the bridge. I’m asking for protection. You owe me that.”

“I can’t protect you. With Michael Sutton on his way? Are you nuts? We’ll be at his mercy. The first dollar changes hands and he’ll have us for life. I can’t believe you’d even entertain an offer.”

“You must have been open to the idea or you wouldn’t be here.”

“I came because you talked me into it. I don’t want to meet the kid at all and I certainly don’t want to pay him money. Jon, this can all be so simple. If I go to the police we can put an end to it right here. He’ll have nothing on us.”

“He’s got nothing on us now.”

“Then why are we sitting up here waiting for him?”

“We’re not. He’s actually not going to join us. He’s been unavoidably delayed.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I reconsidered and you’re right. Doing business with him is a bad idea. I changed my mind. I’m here asking you if you’ve changed yours.”

“About turning myself in? That’s no

Jon made a face. “Like fuckin’ what?”

“Why not take off? Disappear into thin air. Isn’t that what the bad guy did in your last book?”

“Book before last. And thanks for assigning me the part of ‘the bad guy.’ I’ve already thought about taking off, as a matter of fact. You go all holier-than-thou with this confession of yours, I have no choice. I gotta get out before the shit hits the fan. I’m offering you one more chance… just one… to do something other than what you’ve proposed.”

“You want me to keep my mouth shut.”

“Now you got it. Otherwise, I take control, which is not going to be good for either one of us.”

Walker shook his head. “Can’t do. Won’t. I’m sorry if that creates a problem for you.”

“My problem… and this is a tough one, Walker… it really is… I can’t afford the tab. Your purging your conscience is going to cost more than I want to pay. You go to the cops, you know the story you’ll tell? You’ll make me the fall guy. How can you resist? You already said it was my idea, that I was the instigator while you followed orders. What kind of horseshit is that? How does it make me look? What wiggle room does it give my defense attorney if the law ever catches up with me? You’ll rat me out and you’ll be a hero while I take the rap. I mean, does that seem right? Think about it. You were in it the same as I was-every step of the way. You never once spoke up. You never expressed any reservations at all-until now.”

“Times change, Jon. I’ve changed.”

“But I haven’t.” He held his hand out. “Look at this. Steady as she goes. No wavering on my part. No ambivalence, no getting all weepy-minded. You’re the fly in the ointment, if you’ll excuse the cliché.”

Walker recoiled in mock horror. “So what are you going to do, rub me out?”

“Pretty much.”

Walker offered up a flickering smile. “You can’t be serious. You think silencing me will protect you?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“What about Sutton?”

Jon stared at him.

Walker blanched. “Oh, shit, what did you do?”

“Shot him,” I said, raising my voice. I’d reached the top of the hill, which was utterly without cover. They couldn’t fail to notice my arrival so I figured I might as well speak up. In a heartbeat, Walker realized who I was. Jon was slower on the uptake. He looked at Walker. “Who’s this?”

I crossed the grass. “Kinsey Millhone. I’m an old high school class-mate. You probably don’t remember me, but I remember you.”

I had my gun in hand. I wasn’t pointing it at anybody, but I thought it would be effective nonetheless.

Jon said, “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Yes, it does. Michael Sutton was a friend of mine.”

He noticed my gun for the first time and nodded. “Is that thing loaded?”

“Well, I could end up looking foolish if it weren’t.”

Casually, he removed a gun from his windbreaker pocket and pointed it at me. “I’m telling you to get the fuck off this hill before I shoot you.”

I made a face I hoped conveyed humility and regret. “Sorry to make a fuss about it, but here’s my view. I’ll bet Sutton was the one and only guy you ever killed in cold blood. I, on the other hand, have killed more than once. I can’t give you the count. I try not to keep track because it makes me look like a vigilante, which I’m not.”

“Up yours.”

“I don’t want to sound racist about this, but what we have here is what’s called a Mexican standoff.”

He smiled. “Right, the question being which of us will fire first.”

“Exactly.” I fired a shot, hitting his right hand. The gun popped up and landed in the grass. Walker jumped while Jon yelped in pain and dropped where he stood. I must have looked like a sharpshooter, but in truth he was fewer than fifteen feet away so it didn’t require any tricks. Point and pull the trigger, easy does it.

“Jesus Christ,” Walker said. “You fuckin’ shot the guy!”

“He’s the one who talked about firing first,” I said.

I removed a hankie from my shoulder bag and bent down to retrieve Jon’s gun, wrapping it daintily to preserve his fingerprints. Jon had rolled over and risen to his knees. He leaned forward, head almost touching the ground as he gripped his shattered right hand in his left. He watched himself bleed, his face ashen, his breathing ragged.

“You’re fine,” I said to him, and then turned to Walker. “Give me your tie and I’ll make a tourniquet.”

Walker was so rattled his hands shook as he pulled the knot on his tie and passed it to me. Except for the whimpering, Jon offered no resistance as I made a slipknot and secured the tie around his forearm. It’s only in the movies the bad guys keep firing. In real life, they sit down and behave.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Walker said, distressed.

“Neither can he.”

“We can’t just leave him here without help.”

“Of course not.” I handed him my car keys. “My Mustang’s parked down below. Take it to the nearest service station, call the cops, and tell ’em where we are. You better ask for an ambulance while you’re at it. I’ll wait here with your pal until you get back.”

He took the keys, pausing to stare at me. “Did you just save my life?”

“More or less,” I said. “So how’s it going down with the clean-and-sober shit? That’s a tough one. You go

Disconcerted, he said, “Good. It’s great. I got a lock on it. Ten days.”

I reached over and gave his arm a squeeze. “Good for you!”