P. Tracy - Live Bait

‘I understand and respect that, sir.’ Jeff said, but he steadied his aim and his finger tightened on the trigger. ‘But if don’t give up your weapon I’m going to have to shoot you.’

‘You’re going to shoot me whether I make it easy for you or not,’ said Marty.

‘No, Mr Pullman, I am not. I didn’t even know you were out here until I walked in the door. I have no argument with you, and I don’t want to shoot you. But I will if I have to.’

‘So you were in the loft at Brainerd, right?’ Jack said conversationally from the sofa. Marty heard the gurgle of Jack filling his glass from the bottle.

Jack, what the hell are you doing? But Jeff’s eyes had flickered, just a little. Jack had taken him by surprise, just as he did everyone.

‘Excuse me?’ Jeff asked, his eyes still hard on Marty, his finger still tight on the trigger.

‘Brainerd. The fishing lodge. You were in the loft, you saw what happened, you saw us. So that guy behind the counter, what was he? Your dad?’

Jeff’s eyes darted briefly to Jack, and Marty tensed, feeling the first surge of hope he’d felt since Jeff had pulled the gun from beneath his slicker.

Keep talking, Jack, he sent him a mental message that was absolutely unnecessary, because talking was what Jack did for a living. Distraction, persuasion, bullshitting – those were the lawyer’s forte, and now Jack was doing what he’d been trained to do. But Jesus, it was still an act of courage. He turned a little sideways, looked at Jack out of the corner of his eye. Thirty seconds ago he’d been hanging on to sobriety with his fingernails; now he was waving his glass, playing the part of a sloppy drunk.

‘Kind of old to be your dad, come to think of it. Grandfather?’

‘He was my father,’ Jeff said stonily. ‘Mr Pullman, slide your weapon over right now or…’

‘Shit. Must have been hell growing up with a Nazi for a father. Christ, I thought I had it bad. Kid, you got my sympathy.’

The 9-mm shuddered slightly in Jeff’s hand, and color started to bleed up from his neck into his face.

Too fast, Marty thought, jumping in. ‘If you saw everything that happened in Brainerd, Jeff, you know that Jack didn’t shoot your father.’

Jeff’s smile was absolutely humorless. ‘You expected him to tell you anything different? I came out of my room when I heard the shots. Jack was holding the gun.’

‘He didn’t pull the trigger, Jeff,’ Marty insisted. ‘The others shot your father. They tried to get Jack to shoot him after he was dead, but he wouldn’t. He couldn’t.’

Jeff narrowed his eyes at Marty. ‘ He was there.’

‘You bet your bonnet I was there,’ Jack slurred from the sofa; ‘and you wanna know why? ’Cause my dad was trying to get me to finish his business, just like your dad got you to finish his. I’m telling you, kid, we got a lot in common…’

‘Please be quiet, Mr Gilbert.’

‘… but what I really want to know is just how the fuck did you find us?’

Jeff was still focused on Marty, still in control, but Jack was unnerving him a little bit, momentarily diverting his attention from the.357 Marty still held at his side. Marty started to move his finger ever so slightly toward the safety.

‘Your father was foolish enough to drive his own car. I saw the plate, cozied up to the sheriff, waited until he signed onto the DMV for a license check on some speeder, and ran the numbers. Once I found your father and got a job here, all I had to do was wait for the other two to show up. Child’s play.’

‘Why didn’t you tell the cops?’ Marty asked, moving his finger a little closer.

‘In my family, we take care of our own business.’

‘And now your business is to kill Jack.’

‘That’s correct. An eye for an eye. I’m not an indiscriminate murderer. These are righteous acts, and Jack is the last of them. I don’t have to kill you, Mr Pullman, and I certainly don’t want to. Originally I’d hoped to stay on at the nursery, helping Mrs Gilbert, maybe even make my life here…’

Marty heard Jack’s sharp intake of breath behind him, and had a hard time keeping his face expressionless.

‘… but when I saw you, I knew I’d have to sacrifice that, just complete my mission, and then disappear. I’m happy to do that to spare your life, Mr Pullman. All you have to do is choose to live by passing over your weapon.’

Marty just stood there, eyes steady, finally feeling the safety nudge the side of his finger.

‘You’ve made your choice, haven’t you, Mr Pullman?’

‘I guess I have, Jeff.’

‘Goddamnit, Marty, give him the fucking gun!’ Jack yelled, jumping up from the sofa, making Marty start a little, and in that instant Jeff’s left foot shot out with amazing speed and accuracy, kicking the.357 out of Marty’s hand. It spun across the floor and under the sofa, hitting the wall behind it with a loud clunk.

Marty closed his eyes and kept them closed. Fifteen years a cop, disarmed by a kid. Goddamnit to hell, he couldn’t save anybody.

The gate to the nursery parking lot had been locked. By the time Magozzi and Gino pulled up, four squads were already lined up at the curb and another two were coming in from Lake Street. No lights, no sirens, thank God. Peterson was doing his job.

Viegs came trotting up to them, his hat protecting his hair plugs from the rain, a hat condom protecting the hat. ‘There’s a squad in the lot. Two of the guys went through the hedge to check it out. No sign of Becker. Didn’t know if you wanted us to go any further. Peterson said to wait.’

‘Hold on a minute,’ Gino said, pulling out his cell, shielding it from the driving rain. He keyed in a number and listened. ‘Pullman’s still not answering,’ he said.

‘Let’s move it,’ Magozzi said. ‘Viegs, cover the perimeter with whatever men you’ve got; we’re going in.’

He and Gino ripped off their rain slickers at the car – too restrictive, too noisy – and started circling the property close to the hedge, heading around the side to where the bushes opened, near the office. The thunder and lightning were easing up – just a flash or two and a distant rumble every few minutes – but the rain was heavy, and the wind was hitting them hard.

Please, please, Magozzi prayed to a god he wasn’t sure he believed in: Let Montgomery not be here, let him be at his apartment, let Langer and McLaren be slapping the cuffs on him right now, and let there be no more bodies in this awful war that never seems to end.

They found Becker in the planting beds a few yards from the office door. He was on his back, eyes closed, rain smacking against the young skin of his face, the entire left side of his head oozing blood. Magozzi didn’t know if Becker was alive or dead. He pressed hard into where the carotid should have beat against his fingers, and felt a pulse that could have been Becker’s, but might have been his own.

Gino was on his feet instantly, cell phone in his hand, racing toward the front of the greenhouse, frantically signaling the officers in the lot with hand gestures he’d learned in the academy and thought he’d forgotten.

Behind him, Magozzi crept closer to the office door alone. Slices of light were leaking out from around the edges.

Jeff Montgomery’s kick had had enough force behind it to push Marty back a few steps, and to break his hand. It hung uselessly at his side now, swollen and throbbing and empty.

‘I’m sorry I had to do that, Mr Pullman. It was the only way I could think of to save your life.’

Jesus, Marty thought, shaking his head, smiling helplessly. Jeff was focusing as much attention on saving Marty’s life as he was on taking Jack’s. It was such a bizarre, twisted sense of honor and right and wrong that for a minute, he couldn’t get it to gel in his head.