T. Parker - The Famous and the Dead

Erin was more relaxed and happy than Hood had seen her since her kidnapping nearly a year ago. She’d gained a little weight. Reyes waited on her hand and foot, a hangover from the old days in Hood’s Buenavista home. Beatrice ate with some semblance of self-control. She’d gained seventy-five pounds since her release from the mine and had slowed down her intake accordingly. Fully nourished, her body had regained its natural proportions and she was a tall, strong, and handsome woman.

Jason the contractor joined them late at dinner and left the table early. He was followed to and from by the dogs. Hood figured he was middle twenties at most and he was well muscled and had an unusually deep, clear voice. He sat at the opposite end of the table from Erin, ignoring everyone except Betty Little Chief on one side of him and Beatrice on the other. He appeared more interested in his food than in the conversation and he only looked at Hood once. For Hood it was enough. Soon Jason was gone and Hood heard the nail gun firing away across the barnyard and he looked out at the light from inside the barn forming a trapezoid on the grass.

Hood filled his wineglass, then walked under the oak tree to the pond, then over to the barn. Inside Jason was nailing pegboard to the drywall where the quads were kept. Hood stepped in and looked around. The inside of the barn was almost completely restored and the workmanship looked very good. Jason stood with his back to Hood, not twenty feet from where Bradley had died. The dogs whirled and dashed over to Hood and panted and yapped but kept their distance as Bradley had trained them to do. Jason turned and pushed the safety goggles up onto his forehead. Call ran his big head under Jason’s hand.

“Nice work on the barn here,” said Hood.

Jason nodded and petted the dog. “Glad you like it.”

“Funny you called the vault a wine cellar. I used the same line when I built mine.”

Jason smiled. His jaw was a little wider and his eyes had a soulful suggestion of innocence that was new. Fuller lips, by just a little. Subtle differences, Hood saw, but noticeable if you were looking.

“How long did it take you?” Jason asked.

“A few minutes,” said Hood. “Who played you?”

“One of Herredia’s victims. Plenty to choose from, any given week. The basic age and body type was easy enough. We didn’t go out and take someone.”

“What about DNA and fingerprints?”

“That cost me a pint of blood and a lot of money. Old acquaintance in the coroner’s office. In the end it’s just what the autopsy report and death certificate say. Then it was off to Tijuana for eyes, chin, ears, lips, and nose. Then Texas Voice Center for phonoplastic surgery. How did you know? What’s the tell? It took Erin a while to believe it, even though I told her in a letter months ago. The new voice had her freaked out, being a singer.”

“The circumstances gave you away, Bradley. Your last phone call seemed wrong. After I talked to the San Diego investigators I realized someone had fired your pistol at the bad guy after your head was allegedly blown off. But it was mainly just tonight-you hanging around Erin and the barn job taking a bit longer than you said. How the dogs behave. The way you looked at me across the grass when I was holding Thomas. Are you and Erin good now?”

“I told her I wanted to start at the bottom and work my way up. She’s just starting to trust me again. Barely.”

“Are you living here?”

“Tonight’s my first official night. Erin wanted you to know the truth. I wasn’t so sure, but I trust her judgment more than I trust my own. Thomas knows who I am, Hood-he calls me Daddy. Imagine that.”

“I take it you skimmed off a little before you burned the bales of cash that night.”

“Some.”

“How much?”

“None of your business. I’d say just arrest me but you’re not a lawman any more than I am. You wouldn’t rat me out, would you?”

Hood considered but not for long. “No. That’s my gift to your wife and son. I think you’ve actually got a chance of pulling this off.”

“It’s my only chance, so I’m going to work like hell at it. How’s the little man?”

“It’s impossible to tell.”

“I think we ought to shoot him full of tranquilizers and package him up and throw him down Beatrice’s mine. Just you, me, and Reyes. That way, he’s trapped forever and you’re a free man. Who’s the prisoner now, Hood? I mean, what is there really to say to that sonofabitch day in and day out? He’s going to wear you down or find someone and talk them into something, just like the serpent he is. Or he’ll dig out or climb out or something. I feel like I owe you, Charlie, for helping get you fired.”

“They didn’t fire me. I quit.”

Bradley smiled. The surgeon had changed that, too, but it was still a good one. “I’ll still help you chuck him down the shaft.”

“I like that idea.”

“Beth still gone?”

“More and more so.”

“You’re about to hear from someone extraordinary.”

“I don’t know if I can handle any more extraordinary.”

“You can handle this, my friend. I guarantee it.” Bradley shrugged and went to one knee and rubbed Call’s throat. He looked at Hood. “They got Joaquin’s head but all they got off me was some of my face. It’s evolution, Charlie. Mom would be proud. And guess what? I finally forgive you for falling in love with her. Given your situation, I would have done the same.”

• • •

Later Hood walked down to the pond. The night was warm and a breeze scented with orange blossoms came out of the west. The moon was nearly full. He heard voices and laughter from the patio and he turned to see Owens and Beatrice exchange a hug. Owens then lifted two wineglasses off the railing and came down the steps and across the grass toward him.

“Feeling lonely, cowboy?”

“Depends what you and Beatrice are plotting.”

She handed him a glass, then touched it with hers. “Splendid things. She’s so good at reading my heart. She seems to know it better than I do.” She drank, then looked up at the moon. “Remember years ago when I put my number in your cell phone and said I wanted you to call me?”

“And the way you turned my face left then right and studied it, and I felt like a dog being examined. And you said I’d have a reason.”

“I think that time is now. We don’t need the phone. Let’s go up to the dock and take out the rowboat. I’ve never been on a boat in the moonlight and I want to be on it with you.”

They followed the waterline north. The frogs went silent ahead of them, then splashed into the water as they passed. When they came to the dock, Owens stopped and Hood stepped into the rowboat and offered his hand. She climbed aboard lightly and smoothed her dress and sat in the middle of the fore bench facing back. Hood handed her his glass and untied the ropes, then took up the oars and pushed off. The boat made a sipping sound and the oars splashed softly. The moon lined up over Owens’s shoulder and cast a widening silver ribbon on the water behind her and she was looking at him.

Hood sat in the October shade of his courtyard and saw Reyes’s car coming up the road. Owens looked up from her book and lifted the floppy brim of her hat. “Are you expecting him?”

“No,” said Hood.

“I’ll batten down the hatches in case he’s not alone.”

Owens started with the grate under the carport roof. Hood heard the metal clang of the lid sliding and the squeal of the latch closing and Owens strode across the courtyard and into the house. Music came on inside and from new outdoor speakers disguised as rocks. The car ground up the rise and came level near the carport and Reyes pulled in and parked directly over the grate, next to Hood’s new/used Camaro.