Robert Parker - Rough Weather

He looked silently at Susan for a moment.

Then he said, “Perhaps if you spoke with him.”

Susan shook her head.

“You think you know him,” she said.

“Very well,” Rugar said.

“And you think if you threaten him he will walk away from this?”

“I am hopeful,” Rugar said, “that he might recognize how much easier life would be if he just enjoyed it with you and didn’t have to keep an eye out always for me.”

“He might recognize it,” Susan said. “He won’t do it.”

Rugar looked at me.

“On the other hand, I have nothing to lose by trying,” Rugar said. “He won’t strike first.”

“You’re sure?” Susan said.

“Yes. Unless I threaten you, which I have said I won’t do,” Rugar said.

“You think he would kill you if you threatened me?”

“He would try,” Rugar said.

Susan looked at me.

“Would you?”

“I’d succeed,” I said.

Rugar almost smiled.

“I will not harm Dr. Silverman,” he said, and stood.

“But I fear I will have to deal with you.”

I nodded.

“You will,” I said.

He picked up his glass, drained it, put it down, and walked away. I returned to my sweet-and-sour pork. Susan looked after him for a while.

“It’s almost as if you liked each other,” she said.

“We almost do,” I said.

“Is his word, in fact, good?” Susan said.

“Yes,” I said. “He won’t bother you.”

“You know that.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not asking for reassurance,” Susan said. “I believe you. But how do you know?”

“Rugar’s a professional killer, pretty much willing to do anything. Unless he has some rules for himself, he has no limits, and he’s in free-float. There’s no tether.”

“So he makes some up.”

“Yep.”

“Do you do that?”

“Don’t need to,” I said. “I have you.”

When we were through eating, I signaled for the check.

“The gentleman in the gray suit has taken care of your dinner,” the waitress said.

“Did he give you a credit card?” I said.

“No,” she said. “Cash. Quite a lot. He said to keep the leftover as a tip.”

I nodded. The waitress left. I smiled.

“Even in his grand gesture,” I said, “he’s leaving no paper trail.”

“And even accepting the grand gesture,” Susan said, “you’re looking for a paper trail.”

The valet brought my car. We got in and started down Charles Street.

“He probably frightened you,” I said. “Maybe you should stay the night with me and I’ll comfort you.”

“Comfort?” Susan said. “Is that what you’re calling it?”

“Yes,” I said.

On an overcast morning with the temperature in the high thirties, Hawk, carrying a shoulder bag and wearing jeans with a black muscle shirt, came into my office and poured himself some coffee.

“No jacket?” I said. “It’s November.”

Hawk flexed a biceps.

“You got the guns,” Hawk said. “You put off the winter sleeves long as you can.”

“Where’s the piece?” I said.

“What make you think I’m packing,” Hawk said.

“Hawk, for crissake, you haven’t gone anywhere without a gun since you were a pickaninny.”

“Pickaninny?” Hawk said.

“I value tradition,” I said.

Hawk grinned and opened his shoulder bag and took out a huge, silver.44 Mag with a bone handle.

“Case we get assaulted by a polar bear,” he said.

“Good to be ready,” I said.

“Understand the Gray Man after you again.”

“He is,” I said.

“Why don’t we just kill him,” Hawk said.

“Can’t,” I said.

Hawk shrugged.

“No harm to ask,” Hawk said.

“No.”

“Susan says it be about the business on Tashtego,” Hawk said.

“It be,” I said.

“Would you be, by chance, mocking my authentic ghetto dialect?” Hawk said in his Laurence Olivier voice.

“No,” I said. “I be down with it.”

“Love when honkies be trying to talk black,” Hawk said. “It’s like a guy in drag.”

“You in on this now?” I said.

“Yep.”

“Because Susan called and said so?” I said.

“Yep.”

“Any other reason?”

Hawk grinned.

“Don’t want to lose the only guy left in the world who uses the word pickaninny ,” he said.

“Okay, lemme fill you in a little.”

We went through a second pot of coffee as I told Hawk what I knew, which didn’t take long, and what I didn’t, which was extensive.

“And so you been doing what you do, which is to poke around in the hornet’s nest until you irritate a hornet,” Hawk said.

“Yes.”

“Not a bad technique,” Hawk said, “long as you got me to walk behind you.”

“And it has the added pleasure of being annoying.”

“Yes,” Hawk said. “That a plus.”

“Any thoughts?” I said.

“It’s not enough that I am the world’s deadliest human being?” Hawk said. “You asking me to think, too?”

“Or whatever it is you do,” I said.

“Well, maybe it ain’t a kidnapping,” Hawk said. “No ransom request.”

“That we know of,” I said.

“A visit from the Gray Man? Telling you to buzz off? You know a lot of kidnappers make house calls?”

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t a kidnapping,” I said.

“He wanted a simple kidnapping for money, he didn’t have to put together an army complete with helicopters.”

“He got away with it,” I said.

“So far,” Hawk said. “But he lucky, and he good. No way a pro like Rugar going to choose that kind of a setup to kidnap somebody.”

“Somebody chose it,” I said.

“Maybe it’s something else, and the kidnapping is a head fake,” Hawk said.

“What something else would it be?”

“How many people got killed?”

“Six by Rugar,” I said. “One by me.”

“Maybe that be the plan,” Hawk said.

“A murder disguised as a kidnapping?” I said.

“Like you haven’t thought of what I’m saying.”

“I have,” I said. “I’m just being devil’s advocate.”

“Nobody better,” Hawk said.

“It’s still awful amateurish,” I said. “I can’t see Rugar doing it that way.”

“You saw him do it,” Hawk said. “And seven people died, counting the one you killed. That’s what we got for facts.”

“And if it’s not a kidnapping,” I said, “then maybe we can start thinking of this as a murder case and start looking for motive.”

“We don’t have to decide,” Hawk said. “We can look into all possibilities.”

“Probably can exclude the guy that went over the cliff,” I said.

“We know the motive there,” Hawk said. “And we can at least drop the security guys to the bottom of the list.”

“It’s not quite a fact,” I said. “But it’s a pretty good bet that the thing was an inside job.”

“And it a pretty good bet that somebody knew how to get hold of Rugar.”

“So it might be smart to look for a guy who knew the island, and might have a connection to Rugar,” I said.

“Got anybody in mind?”

“It’s not much, but Bradshaw knows the island, he used to own it, and he has worked overseas for the government.”

“Doing what?” Hawk said.

“Information officer,” I said.

“Things are not,” Hawk said, “always as they seem.”

“True,” I said.

“So we look into Bradshaw, and we also see if we can find someone who would want to kill the minister or the groom,” Hawk said.

“Still a big order for a two-man unit,” I said.

“Yeah, but the two men,” Hawk said, “be us.”