Стюарт Вудс - Barely Legal

Herbie groaned and opened his eyes.

“Ah, look who decided to join the party,” Stone said.

Herbie blinked. He was in a hospital bed. He had no idea how he got there. “What happened?”

“You shot it out with the mob,” Dino said. “They’re all dead, except one guy we picked up running away.”

“Mario Payday’s?”

“Taperelli’s.”

“Right. Mario’s men are down.”

“So is he. Took two shots in the head. Does that ring any bells?”

“Melanie?”

“She’s fine,” Stone said. “She doesn’t have a bullet in her. She’s the only one who didn’t.”

“Why’d you go cowboy on us?” Dino said.

“Give me a break. They’d have killed her had I gotten the police involved. With a dirty cop in Taperelli’s pocket, who can you trust?”

“Me,” Dino said. “You don’t think I can be discreet?”

“You’d have stopped me.”

“You’re damn right I would. You know how long you were on the operating table? That bullet lodged pretty close to your heart.”

“It was her only chance.”

“Getting yourself shot?”

“Bringing in Mario Payday. That made it a mob thing, not a cop thing. It confused the situation enough that they didn’t have a chance to kill the girl.”

“See, Dino,” Stone said, “I told you. He didn’t think you could do it.”

“He’s loopy on pain pills. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Melanie burst into the room. “They told me you woke up!” She started to throw herself into his arms, and stopped. “They said not to agitate you.”

Stone and Dino exchanged glances.

“Are you okay?” Herbie asked.

“Am I okay? You’re the one who got shot.”

Herbie smiled gamely. “Hadn’t noticed.”

David Ross and his father pushed in next.

“They said you woke up,” David said. “How do you feel?”

“Like I missed a court date,” Herbie said. “Did we get a continuance?”

Councilman Ross smiled. “You’ve been out longer than you think. Detective Kelly’s under investigation. All charges against David have been dropped.”

“Really?” Herbie said.

“The goon we picked up fleeing was Taperelli’s man at the courthouse,” Dino said. “He knew the whole setup. He’s giving us anything he can think of.”

“How come?”

“You don’t rat on Taperelli and live. The guy’s only hope is Taperelli takes a long fall. He’ll do anything he can to make that happen.”

There was too much going on for Herbie, and too many people in the room. He needed some of them to leave. No one seemed about to, so he tuned them out in his head.

“So, Melanie...” he began.

A young man pushed his way into the room. He was well-dressed, handsome, and amiable. “I finally parked the car.” He saw Herbie and said, “There he is. The man of the hour, Melanie’s savior, and our hero.” He walked over to the bed, put his arm around Melanie, and held her close. “We can’t thank you enough.”

“Herbie,” Melanie said, “this is Arthur, my fiancé. He flew in from the coast when he heard.”

Herbie forced a smile. “You’re a lucky man.”

“Lucky you were there. I can’t imagine what might have happened.”

“I could, every day,” Melanie said. “But it’s over now.”

“Let’s leave Herbie to get some rest,” the councilman said. He herded the others out of the room, leaving only Stone and Dino.

Stone watched them go. “Tough break,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Herbie said.

“You know what I mean. Nice girl.”

The phone rang.

Dino scooped it up. “Hello?... Oh, hi.” He covered the phone. “Bill Eggers.”

Herbie winced. “I’m too groggy to talk. Take a message.”

Dino relayed the information. It didn’t go over well. He got an earful. Eventually he hung up the phone.

“What’s that all about?” Herbie said.

“As long as you’re going to live, he wants you back at work. Something about a corporate merger.”

Herbie groaned. He shook his head and chuckled. “Want to stop his heart? Call him back and tell him now that I’ve had a taste of it, I prefer trial work.”

Stone nodded approvingly. “You’re a cruel man. I like that.”

Herbie grinned. “Wait! I’ve got a better idea.”

“Oh?”

“Fair is fair.” Herbie cocked his head. “Tell him to give it to James Glick.”

James Glick looked longingly across the border.

On the other side was Mexico, the land of life, liberty, and the happiness of no pursuit. He figured they wouldn’t come after him there. It was an irrational notion, born of fear, but one to which he clung desperately.

In his left hand was the passport the man in Mexicali had made him for a hundred dollars. It looked real. There was no reason for anyone to doubt it. His picture stared up from it, and all the information on it was absolutely accurate, except for the passport number and expiration date. No one would be apt to check them. The man who made the passport had assured him they would not. Of course, he’d been eager to make a hundred bucks.

James Glick pushed his way out of the shadows toward the line of people waiting to cross the border.

Two men came out of the shadows, grabbed him by the arms, and pulled him away.

No one tried to help him. No one even stepped out of line. A couple of men shook their heads dispiritedly and went back to what they were doing.

James Glick was terrified, but not surprised. It only seemed natural, somehow, that it would end like this, that he would be snatched away from the goal line with victory in sight.

The two men pulled him back into the shadows.

“James Glick.”

He nearly peed in his pants. It was the two men he’d seen in the Marriott. The men with guns.

“No. You have me confused with someone else.”

“Yeah. We probably have you confused with this guy.” He pulled a photo out of his jacket pocket. It was a head shot of James Glick taken from the Woodman & Weld website, listing him as one of their criminal attorneys. He shoved it in Glick’s face. “We probably confused you with him because you look close enough to be his twin brother.”

James Glick was terrified. “Please. I didn’t do anything. I swear it.”

“If only that were true, Mr. Glick, we would not have had to chase you all over the damn country. But you did, and we did, and we got you.”

“Please, I didn’t do anything. I swear.”

“Good thing you’re not under oath, or you’d pile up another charge. As it is, we got you for conspiring to commit a crime, conspiring to conceal a crime, failure to appear in court, crossing I-lost-count-of-how-many state lines in order to evade arrest, and the list goes on. All in all, Mr. Glick, I would not like to be you.”

James Glick blinked. “Arrest?”

“Did you think we were going to let you walk after all the trouble you made? Even if you agreed to come back, we know your word’s no good for anything. I must say, I don’t envy you your choices. What are you going to do, serve time or testify against Tommy Taperelli? You happen to be in luck in that a lot of his muscle’s dead and they might need your testimony. Still, it’s not a pretty prospect.”

The detective turned him around and snapped handcuffs on his wrists.

James Glick had never felt so happy in his life.