Thomas Cook - Peril

He took a regional map from the file and spread it across his desk. Since the runaway wife hadn’t taken her own car, the husband would first need to determine if his wife had taken a cab either to her destination or to some other form of transportation. There were several small airports in the vicinity of Montauk. It would not be hard to determine if the woman had used any of them. There were also several bus depots in the area, as well as a single commuter train. The bus or train could have taken her into New York, from which she could have gotten passage to anywhere on earth.

The trick, then, was to narrow the field, shrink the wide world of possibility into a small, tight knot of likelihood. But that couldn’t be done until the husband supplied the added information he’d promised Mortimer. Until it came, Stark could only wait.

But waiting was hard, and even as a child Stark had noticed how little patience he had for the undone deed. He liked to be on the hunt, and if he were haunted by anything, dreaded anything, it was the idle time between jobs. During those intervals, he felt his life grow numb. It did not surprise him that soldiers of fortune were prone to suicide. For how could a man who thirsted for danger possibly endure the absence of it, the long days when he felt himself imprisoned in an empty and unlighted room. He knew the usual means by which such men made the clock move. Drugs. Alcohol. Whores. But the drugs wore off, and the alcohol drained away, and the whore finally had to dress and find another john. And after that, the soldier lay in the dull aftermath and dreamed of jungle firefights, the thrill of being cornered, wounded, left for dead, the ecstasy that ever accompanies the narrowest escape. Denied this primal excitement, how banal and uneventful the rest of it must seem. And so why not press the barrel to your head if the hourly alternative offered nothing more than the unbearable pall of the commonplace?

Stark drew the nine-millimeter from the drawer of his desk, caressed it with affection, thought of Marisol, and marveled with what dreadful accuracy Neruda had hit the mark, understood that in the sickly sweet smell of aftershave the total horror was revealed.

Abe recognized the man who came toward him from the front of the bar as a semi-regular, a guy who came in sporadically, took a place in the darkest corner he could find, and ordered scotch without designating any particular brand. He wore a faded black suit, with shiny pants that fit him badly, and an old hat that looked as if it had been run over by a truck, then pounded back into shape. Over the years, they’d had a few conversations, but Abe had learned little beyond the guy’s first name and the vague notion that he was some kind of investigator, though exactly what type the man had never said, save that he “found people.”

“How you doing, Morty?” he asked now.

“Abe,” Mortimer said. He slid onto the stool opposite.

Abe smiled. “What’ll you have?”

“Scotch,” Mortimer said.

Abe usually poured the house brand, a cheap blended scotch that wasn’t all that bad. But Mortimer looked so hangdog, he decided on a better one, grabbed a smooth single malt and poured a shot.

Mortimer knocked it back quickly, with no sign that he tasted any difference.

“Another?” Abe asked.

“Yeah,” Mortimer said.

Abe poured a second round.

Mortimer knocked that back, then placed the shot glass on the bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Abe tried to lighten the atmosphere. “You don’t sing by any chance, do you, Morty?”

“Shit,” Mortimer said glumly.

Abe poured another round. “Sip this one,” he said. “You might enjoy the taste.”

Mortimer did as he was told.

“What do you think?”

“Good,” Mortimer said.

“You look a little… I don’t know…”

“Fucked,” Mortimer said.

“Yeah, that’s the word,” Abe said. “What’s the trouble?”

Mortimer’s eyes suddenly lifted from the glass, and Abe could see just how deep the trouble was.

“I got these fucking tests back.” Mortimer looked surprised that the information had flown from his mouth so suddenly. “A death sentence. Three months on the outside.” He rolled the glass slowly between his hands. “Liver’s shot.”

Abe had no idea what to say, and so he said, “Shit.”

“Yeah.” Mortimer shrugged. “No hope. Couple months, on the outside.”

For a moment the two men sat silently. Then Abe said, “I’m really sorry to hear it, Morty.” He poured a fourth round. “On the house. From now on,” he said.

“From now on,” Mortimer repeated, his voice oddly filled with emotion. “You’re a real friend, Abe. Always there for me.”

Abe stared at him, astonished that Mortimer could regard him in such a way. Before now he could remember no conversation that hadn’t included the weather.

Mortimer put out his hand. “My best friend.”

Abe shook Mortimer’s hand lightly.

Mortimer smiled at him warmly, then finished off the drink. “I didn’t tell Dottie yet.”

“Dottie?”

“My wife.” Mortimer ran his finger around the rim of the empty glass. “I ain’t told nobody but you, Abe.”

“You should tell your wife,” Abe said, now suddenly aware that this was Mortimer’s best friend talking.

“The trouble is, I got nothing to leave her.” Mortimer shook his head despondently. “Horses, you know?”

Abe realized that for Mortimer this amounted to a heartfelt confidence. “So, what are you going to do?” he asked. “I mean… about… what was your wife’s name?”

“Dottie.”

“Yeah, Dottie.”

Mortimer considered Abe’s question briefly, his eyes gazing into the empty glass as if it were a crystal ball. Then he sat back and lightly slapped the bar with both hands. “I better get going.” He grabbed Abe’s hand and squeezed. “Thanks, Abe,” he said as he eased himself off the stool.

Abe came around the end of the bar and followed him out onto the street. It seemed the minimum he could do. Briefly, they stood together, watching the breeze riffle through the trees that lined the street.

“Let me know if there’s anything you need,” Abe said finally.

Mortimer snatched a pack of cigarettes from his jacket, thumped one out and lit it. “You got a safe, Abe?”

“Yeah.”

Mortimer lifted the match and stared at the small, guttering flame. “Maybe you could do something for me.”

“Sure.”

Mortimer drew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Abe. “Fifteen thousand. It’s for Dottie. If something happens to me, make sure she gets it.”

“That’s a lot of cash,” Abe said warily.

“I do a cash business,” Mortimer replied. “And the thing is, if I keep it, it’ll ride off on some fucking nag at the track.” He dropped the cigarette and crushed it with the toe of his shoe. “You don’t see me around, look me up in the book. Mortimer Dodge. Eighty-sixth Street. That’s where Dottie is.”

“Okay,” Abe said. He put the envelope in his pocket. “But, hey, maybe you’ll beat this thing.”

Mortimer shook his head. “If it was a light switch, I’d flip it off right now.”

“If what were a light switch?”

“Life,” Mortimer said, turned, and trudged wearily down the street, head bowed, shoulders hunched, as if headed for that place where the firing squad stood waiting for him, talking idly and smoking cigarettes.

From behind the limited concealment of a tree, Caruso watched Mortimer trudge up the street. He’d seen him pass an envelope, but the guy he’d passed it to didn’t remotely resemble the sort of guy he’d have taken for Batman. But that didn’t matter, Caruso said to himself. If this fuck was Batman, and the Big Assignment came his way, then it didn’t matter if the guy looked the part or didn’t look the part. Either way, the guy was history.