Andrew Vachss - Only Child

He put his copy of the contract into his briefcase, as Michelle tapped a single digit on her cellular.

“Please bring the car around,” she said. “You are to take our guest wherever he directs.”

“Better ring Fong, too,” I told her. “A little security wouldn’t hurt, considering...”

“Considering what?” The Vision asked me.

“Considering your signing bonus isn’t a check,” I told him. “Alana...”

Michelle handed me a Gucci bag of soft blue leather. I unzipped it, so Vision could see the banded stacks of bills. Then handed the bag to him.

He took it in both hands, torn. Then he made his decision and zipped it closed without counting. All class. Or maybe he wanted to keep the bag.

I’d expected a man so driven, he’d be almost vibrating with barely contained power. A psychopath, radiating evil ki . Not this. Not this lethal little cliché.

We shook hands.

Michelle took him downstairs, to the waiting limo.

“What if he—?”

“There’s no way,” I said to Rejji. “Not now.”

“Burke...”

“They heard it all?” I asked Cyn.

“Every word. I was right there.”

“I stationed Max behind Giovanni, just in case.”

“He didn’t move, Burke. Not a muscle. I don’t see how he did it. I wanted to...just...”

“How do you think I felt?” Rejji said to her. “And I was close enough to do it.”

“Why isn’t Michelle with you?” Cyn asked.

“She stayed behind to clean up anything he might have touched. And to check out. She’s going to ride over with Mole and the Prof.”

“And he can’t possibly...?”

“There’s some reality he doesn’t get to direct,” I promised her.

Ipulled up to the barbed-wire-laced chain-link gate, flashed my brights three times.

The gate swung back from both sides. I drove the Plymouth through. The gate closed behind me.

“Watch those spike heels,” I told the women. “The ground here is all busted up.”

We got out. Made our way over to a small building with a single gas pump in front.

“You wait over there,” I told them. “Next to the car.”

The white stretch limo ghosted up to the gate, flashed its brights three times.

I watched as the gate swung back.

The limo pulled into the shadows.

The back door opened. The Vision climbed out, Max right behind him. The driver’s door opened, and Clarence stepped out, his semi-auto aimed at the ground.

I slipped back into the shadows, got to the shack before they arrived.

When the door opened, The Vision saw me sitting on an old office chair.

“Have a seat,” I told him, pointing to the chair’s mate.

“What...what are you doing ? I thought we had—”

“Sit down, Vision,” I said gently. “I’ll explain everything.”

“People know where I am!” he said.

“ You don’t even know where you are,” I told him. Words I’d said to another man, years ago. Another man like him. “That’s part of all this. Your own concept, right?”

His mouth opened, but he didn’t speak. His eyes were dull.

“Come on, sit down,” I said. “I have one more thing to show you.”

“Ididn’t do anything,” he said, fear spiderwebbing his voice like a rock against a windshield.

“I know you didn’t,” I said, my voice wafting through the lattice of the professional interrogator’s faked empathy. “It was those insane twins, wasn’t it?”

“ That’s what this is about? Those psychos? They’re steroid abusers. You know what that does to people. I never meant for them to—”

“Oh, I know, Vision,” I told him. “It’s not your fault that you’re a genius.”

“I’m not saying I’m a—”

“Well, even if you’re not, I am. Because you are, my friend. Noir vérité . It’s so strong, it just takes over. You never filmed the actual killing, did you?”

“No! I’m telling you, it wasn’t supposed to be...real. It’s...it’s like you said. They just got out of control. I wasn’t the director anymore. I wouldn’t film that .”

“I know.”

“You’re not a...producer, are you?”

“That’s exactly what I am,” I assured him. “And your concept, it just killed me. In fact, we’re going to be doing one of your projects, and that’s a promise.”

“Then all this...like, kidnapping stuff, you’re just...?”

“Making a movie,” I said. “Getting the feel of what you told us. Sorry if it looked scary. But I just wanted to see for my-self.”

“Oh! Oh, I get it. So when do I—?”

“Just sit here for a few minutes, Vision. I’ll have the car brought around for you.”

He expelled a long breath, said, “I thought—”

“Five minutes,” I promised him, and stepped out the door.

It took less than that for the limo to vanish.

I piloted the Plymouth carefully across the waste ground, the moon’s cold glare lighting the way.

Rejji was sitting next to me, her trembling thigh pressed against mine. She pointed at the shadow-shrouded building. “For real,” she whispered.

Giovanni and Felix didn’t come with us. The last I saw of them, they were putting on long black robes, adjusting the hoods over their heads.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social services caseworker, and a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for youthful offenders. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series; two collections of short stories; and a wide variety of other material, including song lyrics, poetry, graphic novels, and a “children’s book for adults.” His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Playboy, Esquire, the New York Times, and numerous other forums. A native New Yorker, he now divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.

The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is www.vachss.com.

ALSO BY ANDREW VACHSS

Flood

Strega

Blue Belle

Hard Candy

Blossom

Sacrifice

Shella

Down in the Zero

Born Bad

Footsteps of the Hawk

False Allegations

Safe House

Choice of Evil

Everybody Pays

Dead and Gone

Pain Management

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK

PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

Copyright © 2002 by Andrew Vachss

All rights reserved.