Andrew Vachss - Sacrifice

"What fever?"

"Monster fever, man. A kid gets done, it's just fuel for your duel, fool. You hear the bell, you go to hell. Like before that mad dog Wesley checked out. When you almost jumped the track."

I lit a smoke, cupping the match even though we were indoors. "I'm done with that," I said quietly.

After Belle died, I was heart-torn sad for a while. Missing what I'd lost. When I learned the truth…that it had all been for nothing…I lost myself. I'd hunted Mortay and it cost me Belle. And while I was stalking, scared, another hunter was in the shadows. Wesley.

Wesley never missed. He was a heat-seeking missile— he took your money, you got a body. Every time. If I'd just waited, stayed down, kept clear…

After that, I stopped being myself for a while. Needed a regular shot of risk-driven adrenaline to keep me alive. It almost made me dead.

"That's finished," I told him.

He held my eyes long enough to satisfy himself. Nodded. "What is it, then, schoolboy? You got something on?"

"Maybe." I brought him up to date, weaving the threads I'd gathered into a tapestry. Keeping it short and clipped, watching his face. He'd raise an eyebrow if I dropped a stitch.

He lit a cigarette from my pack, letting the smoke bubble softly from his mouth, stroking his chin.

"The bag plays like juju, but the sound don't tie it down; It's all got two sides…Mojo hand, Little John the Conqueroo, black cat bone, working roots…that's why fools call some of it black magic…not just 'cause my people started it, but 'cause there's another kind. Some of it's like a church, but there's things you can't ask the Lord for, see?"

"You don't think it's connected?"

"No way to know, bro'. How big is the bag?" I showed him with my hands.

"Big enough," he said.

40

I found a pay phone on the Upper West Side, called Wolfe on her private line.

"Yes?"

"It's me…you recognize my voice?"

"No. You must have the wrong number."

The phone slammed down.

41

I threw in another quarter, dialed Storm's number.

"Rape Crisis Unit."

I asked for her.

"Hello?"

"How's your little girl coming along?"

"My…Oh! Hi, Burke!"

Citizens don't think about security. "I just called Wolfe. She hung up on me."

"Now why would she…?"

"That's what I want to know."

"You didn't call on the private line, did you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Oh. Well, Wolfe's been acting strange lately, like we told you. She told Lily she thinks that line is tapped."

"So how do you talk to her? Only in person?"

"No, we call the switchboard. Wolfe says they can't run a tap on all the incoming calls without a live operator in place."

"Thanks."

42

"Special Victims Bureau."

"May I speak to Ms. Wolfe, please?"

"Who shall I tell her is calling?"

"Juan Rodriguez. I'm a federal parole agent."

"Please hold."

A flat, uninflected voice came on the line. "This is Wolfe."

"It's me again."

"How can I help you?" Same tone.

"I have something I'd like to show you. Something that may relate to a pending investigation."

"Bring it in."

"It's not that easy."

"You know the Four Flags diner on Queens Boulevard? Right next to the motel on the south side?"

"Yes."

"I eat lunch there around one-fifteen most days."

"Today?"

"That's my plan. In this bureau, you never know…emergencies and all .

43

Wolfe's battered Audi pulled into the diner's parking lot, jouncing over the speed bumps. The car looked like it had been painted with rust, the windows streaked, front license plate dangling from the one remaining bolt. Lola next to her on the front seat, a dark mass moving in the back. The Rottweiler.

They left the dog in the car— didn't lock the doors.

I lit a smoke, waiting.

A midnight-blue Firebird pulled in behind Wolfe's car. Rocco and Floyd got out, scanned the lot. They seemed to be arguing about something.

I finished my smoke, went inside.

The place was jammed with a lunchtime crowd. The hostess stopped me at the door.

"Smoking or Non-Smoking?"

"I'm meeting some people…they're already here."

"Smoking or Non-Smoking?"

"Wherever they're already sitting, okay?" I walked away from her before the tape could recycle. Spotted Wolfe in a far corner, her back against the wall, Lola across from her.

"Mind if I join you ladies?"

"Sure," she said. "Have a seat. We haven't ordered yet."

The waitress came by. They ordered chef's salad. I did too. Listened to them talk until the food came…the waitress would be too busy to stop back after that.

"Sorry about the call earlier."

"The private line is tapped," Wolfe said, no expression in her voice. Like she was giving me a weather report.

"The only one who could do that is…"

"Yes. It's not your affair. What do you want to show me?"

"You're looking for a baby. Derrick is his name, right? Disappeared from the Welfare hotel over by La Guardia?"

Wolfe looked at Lola, nodded.

"Somebody asked me to look for him too."

"And?"

"I think I know where he is."

"Alive?"

"No."

"You've seen the body?"

"No."

"Is there anything to connect this to…?"

"Emerson?"

She nodded again.

"Emerson beat the baby to death. In that room. Right in front of the mother. Then he went out to get rid of the body."

"How do you know this?"

"Just a guess. But if you found the body, it would be enough?"

"Depending on what shape it was in…"

"You got wants out for Emerson?"

"No."

"How come? Don't you even want to talk to him about this?"

Wolfe lit a smoke. I felt Lola's body shift next to me. "He's locked up," Wolfe said. "On another charge. In the Bronx."

"So you can't question him?"

"His lawyer says no."

"Or her?"

"She hasn't been arrested." Meaning she could talk to her, but she didn't have enough ammo to do it yet.

"Let's say, just to be talking about it, that you knew he left the hotel room with the baby's body…came back in an hour or two, what would that tell you?"

"Nothing much. You can cover a lot of ground in a couple of hours."

"And if he didn't have a car…or access to one?"

"Okay. You going to give us a nice sworn-to-under-oath affidavit about this? Be a confidential informant?"

"I can't do that…I don't know anything, see? I'm just talking about a theory."

"We can't get a search warrant on a theory," Lola tossed in, trace of a Brooklyn accent coming through for the first time.

"You don't need a warrant to search some places."

Wolfe's eyebrows rose.

"Public places," I said.

Wolfe leaned forward. "What do you have to show us?"

"It's in my car."

We finished our meal. They spent the time talking about Lola's new boyfriend. Sounded like he wouldn't be around long.

They picked up my check.

44

"I'm parked against the back fence. An old Plymouth. Pull your car next to mine, open your trunk."

I caught Rocco and Floyd in the edge of my vision. Wolfe's Audi pulled in. Lola went around the back to open the trunk. Wolfe snapped a lead on the Rottweiler, walked him over to my car.

"Bruiser, stay!" The beast dropped into a sitting position the way a sprinter settles into the starting blocks, eyes only for me.

I opened the duffel bag in the trunk, pulled out the blanket inside. Uncovered the leather bag.

"You know what this is?" I asked.

Neither of them said anything.

"I traced Emerson's path from the hotel. Found this along the way."

"The way to where?"

I told them about the dark water surrounding Rikers Island. Step by step.