Michael Connelly - Void Moon

Renfro didn't answer.

"Come on, Leo, work with me here. We can't have secrets, you and I."

"Fuck you. Do what you have to do, but fuck you."

Karch leaned back in the chair and looked over Renfro as if appraising him.

"You Outfit guys think you're so untouchable."

"I'm not with the Outfit, but fuck you anyway."

Karch nodded as if amused by Renfro's protestations.

"Let me tell you a story about the Outfit. Long time ago in Las Vegas there was this magician. He'd been around a long time, worked all the casinos, never really caught on. Always the warm-up, never the headliner. Raisin' a son by himself on the side. Anyway, he had a gig in the Clown Room lounge at Circus, Circus. No big deal. Just a table act for chump change – tips mostly. And so one night he's dealing three-card monte to a table of these three guys and they keep telling him to do it again. You know, 'Do it again and I'll get it this time.' Only they never got it. They never picked the ace. And it went on and on and it got one of them hotter and hotter. Like he thought this magician was personally makin' a fool of him or something. So skip to the end of the night. The magician punches out and is in the back garage walking to his car. And guess who's waitin' for him but those same three guys from the bar."

Karch paused but not for effect. The story always got to him at this point. Every time he thought about it or told it, the anger seemed to boil up in his throat like acid.

"And one of them, the boss of these three guys, had a hammer. They didn't say a word. They just grabbed the magician and bent him over the hood of his car. One of them used his tie to gag him. Then one by one the man with the hammer broke every one of the magician's knuckles. At some point he passed out and when they were done they just left him lying on the concrete next to his car. He never worked as a magician again. Couldn't even palm a quarter anymore. Every time he tried, it just dropped on the floor. I used to sit in my bedroom and hear him trying gags in the other room. I'd hear that quarter fall on that wood floor over and over again…

"He drove a cab for a living after that. Cancer finally killed him but he was dead long before that."

Karch looked at Renfro.

"You know who the man with the hammer was?"

Renfro shook his head.

"That was Joey Marks. The Outfit's man in Vegas."

"Joey Marks is dead," Renfro said. "And like I said, I don't work for the Outfit or anybody else."

Karch stood up and came around the desk.

"I came for the money," he said quietly. "You stole from the wrong people and I've come to set it straight. I don't care if you're with Chicago or not. I'm not leaving here without the money."

"What money? I sell passports. I invest in champagne. I don't steal money from people."

"Listen to me, Leo. Your spotter's dead. So is your cameraman. You don't want to be like them, do you? So where's the money? Where's Cassie Black?"

Renfro turned so he was facing Karch and his back was to the sliding door. Behind him the pool glowed brightly in the dark. He lowered his chin as if looking inward and coming to a decision. He then nodded slightly to himself and looked back at Karch.

"Fuck you."

Karch shook his head.

"No, Leo, this time it's fuck you."

He lowered the barrel of the gun and calmly fired. The bullet blew out Renfro's left knee. It passed cleanly through the bone and tissue, hit the tile floor behind him and bounced up into the sliding glass door. The door shattered into large jagged pieces of glass that crashed down onto the floor and shattered again. Renfro dropped to the floor and grabbed his knee with both hands. His face was a mask of agony.

The breaking glass was more noise than Karch had planned on making. The door was shattered except for one large jagged piece of glass held in the bottom of the frame. He figured the house must have been built before safety glass was required. He looked out into the yard and hoped the freeway noise had covered the sound.

Renfro started gasping and moaning as he rolled over the glass, cutting himself on his arms and back. The floor was quickly becoming slick with blood. Karch stepped over and leaned down over Renfro.

"Give me the money, Leo, and I promise I'll end it quick and painless."

He waited but got no response. Renfro's face was scarlet. His lips were pulled back, exposing teeth gnashed together.

"Leo? Leo, listen to me. I know you're in a lot of pain but listen to me. If you don't give me the money we're going to be here all night. You think it hurts now? You can't imagine what – "

"Fuck you! I don't have the money."

Karch nodded.

"Well, at least we're making progress, right? We're now past the 'What money?' stage. If you don't have it, then where is it?"

"I gave it to Chicago."

The answer came too quickly for Karch. He looked closely at Renfro's face and decided he was lying.

"I don't think so, Leo. Where's the girl? Cassie Black, Leo, where is she?"

Renfro didn't respond. Karch stepped back a pace and calmly fired a bullet into his other knee.

Renfro let out a loud scream that was followed by a stream of epithets that dissolved into delirium and moans. He rolled over onto his chest, his elbows tucked in and his face in his hands. His legs were sprawled behind him, twin pools of blood leaking from his knees. Karch looked out the broken door, across the pool, and checked for lights or any indication that the neighbors had taken notice. All he heard was the freeway. He hoped it would keep him covered.

"Okay, okay," Leo blubbered into his hands. "I'll tell you. I'll show you."

"Okay, Leo, that's good. Now we're getting somewhere."

Renfro raised his head and pushed himself up onto his elbows. He started crawling forward, toward the shattered door, his dead legs dragging behind him and leaving a trail of blood.

"I'll tell you," he choked out through pain and tears. "I'll show you."

"Then talk to me, Leo," Karch said. "Where are you going? You can't go anywhere. You can't even walk, for crying out loud. Just tell me where it is."

Renfro moved another painful foot closer to the door. When he spoke his voice was ragged and was delivered through clenched teeth.

"See… you see… it was the fucking moon… the void moon…"

"What are you talking about? Where's the money?"

Karch realized he had gone too far. Renfro was delirious with pain and blood loss. He was quickly becoming useless.

"The void moon," Renfro said. "It's the void moon."

Karch took a step along with him.

"Void moon?" he said. "What's that mean?"

Renfro stopped moving. He turned his face and looked up at Karch. The tightness had gone out of it. He almost looked relaxed.

"It means anything can happen, motherfucker."

His voice was strong now. He suddenly raised himself off his elbows onto his hands. He raised himself up to full extension and lurched forward into the sliding door frame. His neck came down on the jagged piece of glass still held in the frame.

Karch realized what he was doing too late.

"No, goddammit!"

He reached down and grabbed Renfro's collar and jerked him up and off the glass. He dropped him to the floor and then grabbed his shoulder and turned him over.

He had acted too late. A deep, wide gash extended across Renfro's neck. He had cut his own throat. Blood was burbling out of the left side where the carotid artery had been severed.

Leo Renfro's eyes were bright as he looked up at Karch. A bloody smile formed on his face. Slowly he reached a hand up and used it to hold his neck together. His voice was a whispered croak.

"You lose."

Leo dropped the hand and let the blood flow from his neck. He kept the smile on his face and his eyes on Karch.