Kirk Russell - Dead Game

“We’ll see what we can do.”

The morning news reports were less than six hours away. Selke looked at his watch and shrugged. He was for trying the idea but not overly hopeful. Seemed like a long shot to him.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

Six hours later Marquez called Ludovna’s cell and told him to turn the TV on to KMAX. He added, “I should have had a shovel.”

Marquez watched the KMAX report. Three dead of gunshot wounds in a vineyard in the delta, a winery superintendent finding them this morning. Selke was interviewed as the detective in charge. On TV they were saying only that the bodies were Caucasian males approximately thirty-five to forty years of age. He watched the report and waited for Ludovna to call back. When he didn’t call right away, Marquez called him.

“Did you see it?”

“Yes.”

“No one is going to care about these guys. When they figure out they’re all ex-cons they’ll assume it was a drug deal gone bad or something. Everyone will say good riddance.”

“Don’t talk on the phone. You meet me at Raburn Orchards.”

“Are you kidding? Why there? Anywhere else but there.”

“There’s no one out there. The police are finished.”

“So what? I don’t want to be seen around there.”

“Meet me there.”

At noon Marquez met Ludovna in the packing shed at Raburn Orchards. He wore a wire. Ludovna got there ahead of him and was parked near the main house.

“What if someone shows up?”

“I already talked to the bank. I want to buy this property. It’ll be months before all the probate bullshit is done, but if a cop comes he can check with the bank.”

“Why are we here?”

“Because Torp and Perry and Crey killed them, and I have a gun I want you to put on Crey’s boat today.”

“What gun?”

“The one he used here.”

“I’m not tracking you.”

“He killed the Raburns. He killed them with the other two. Torp brought the kids down. The kids could have stayed in bed, but they brought them down to make the parents talk. They didn’t know anything. It was the goof, Raburn, who knew things and he tried to stand up, and they had to kill him before they could get the questions answered. It was all fucked up. It was all a waste.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Crey told me, okay.” Ludovna stared hard at him to make the point that it was the truth. But Marquez didn’t believe him.

“You killed three men last night. They would give you the death sentence, right? But only I know.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means you do what I say this afternoon. You take the gun that’s here and put it on Crey’s boat before the detectives go there today.”

“Where is it?”

“In the building over there.” He pointed at the equipment building.

“How do we get in?”

“I have a friend at the bank, so I have a key.”

“The guy has been offed, and I’m going to walk down the dock, get on his boat, and plant a gun?”

“This way the murders here get solved. They find the gun and figure it out.”

“I don’t want to take a hot gun anywhere.”

“It won’t be so hard. You’re his friend, you’re coming by. People know you’re his friend.” Ludovna pushed keys into Marquez’s palm. “These are all of his keys. Someone asks you just say he’s your friend and you have a key. Lose the keys in the water after you put the gun on the boat. Okay, then like you say, it’s simple. The detective has his killers of Sherri. The FBI solves the case here, and when they go through the van Perry and Torp have been driving, maybe they find another gun that was used here.”

“Is that what’s going to happen?”

“What did I tell you Torp did here?”

“He walked the kids down and shot them.”

“With his gun, and his friend must have helped. Crey told me while we were waiting for you.”

“Right, while I was out in the vines shooting the idiots, Crey was confessing. Bullshit. And you sent Crey to kill me.”

“No, I sent him to check on what happened, to make sure you were okay.” Ludovna got close to Marquez, stood inches from his face. “You murdered him. I saw you murder him. I saw you murder three people. It cost me money because Crey owed me money, and now he’s not there to run the business and pay it back, so maybe you run the boat and the bait shop, or you hire someone and then pay me back.”

“I’m not running any bait shop.”

“You owe the money he owed me, and last night I let you take care of them. Now you owe me. If you have a problem with that, then we have a problem.”

They walked over to the equipment building, and Ludovna opened the door. The orchard machinery was neatly organized inside, and Ludovna led him to one of the tilling machines.

“You have to crawl under. He told me it’s taped under one of these machines.”

It didn’t take that long to find, and now Marquez tried to figure out a way to avoid touching it and contaminating the evidence. He stared at the gun and called back to Ludovna.

“I don’t see it.”

“Okay, check the next machine.”

He checked three machines and then questioned Ludovna. “When did he say this?”

“Last night.”

“Maybe he got confused.”

“He was very specific. He knew the police would find the bodies of Torp and Perry and then they would find Torp’s gun. There were two guns used, this one and Torp’s. Even before you murdered them he knew because of what I said about Sherri La Belle. She used to come to my house once a week. She’s a prostitute. I was a client, okay, and the police found her book with my name. I told this to the detective, but Crey didn’t know until I came out and saved your life last night.”

Marquez stalled. He scowled, wanted Ludovna to repeat it for the wire.

“I still don’t follow you.”

“The detective has murder warrants for Torp and Perry, okay. Then they’ll go through the van and find the gun used here. They’re not stupid. They’ll figure it out, and when they find the gun you hide on the boat, then they have both guns used here.”

“Why did Crey kill the Raburns?”

“It was about money.”

Ludovna got in his face again now. He got close when Marquez was too quiet.

“This is what you’re going to do because I tell you to and you owe me. I saved your life last night. He chained you so he could drag you with the truck if you won the fights. Then to make sure, he said he was going to run over your head and leave you. It was all because you fucked with his guys, the same as Raburn fucked with him. Look what happened to Raburn. So you owe me your life. Find the gun. I know it’s there.”

“How do you know?”

“You fuck with me and we’re going to have a real problem.” Ludovna pointed to the tilling machine the gun was under. “Check that one again. I don’t want to have to get my coat dirty.”

This time Marquez found the gun and a gas rag in the equipment shed to wrap it in. They walked back to Ludovna’s car.

“I’m going to want you to work sturgeon the same as you have. You’ll take over the boat and the shop and keep what else you have going. I’ll tell you how many pounds of roe we need a week, okay? You set it up and run it. You get 30 percent of what we make. Your job is just the sturgeon but sometimes I’ll ask you to make other deliveries for me. Sometimes you’ll take your boat out on the ocean and pick somebody up. You’ll get paid for that. I have other people I work with, but you won’t talk with them or ask them any questions. You understand?”

“It was Crey’s shop. How do I take it over?”

“I’m a partner. I have the majority, okay. In a couple of years when everything is going well no one will remember what happened last night.” He tapped his chest. “Even I will forget, but first we get everything working.” He got in his car and lowered his window. “Go put the gun on the boat. Everything will be fine.”