some stuff Jimmie didn’t know about, and it turns out that stuff involved selling secrets to the Germans, and it’s a shame how those secrets got you killed. And these fellas here, they’re heroes for finding out and turning over the whole operation.”
“Heroes!” Echols agreed.
“All they have to do is give me the name of everybody they know who touched those napkins. You know, since you don’t actually know those names and these guys do.”
“I’m not sure I like that story,” I said.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would.” She had her gun out again. Apparently she really did have a place in her sleeve to hide that thing. She pointed it at my head. “Sorry, Rocky. It’s the only story everyone’s gonna buy. Tough thing is, you gotta die for it to work out.”
I was thinking she had skipped a couple of non-lethal options , and possibly also forgotten the part where I said I wasn’t bulletproof. “These fellas will believe anything you say,” I pointed out.
“Su re, you’re right, but the FBI won’t. You’re a guy with no last name and no family, manning a bar that stole and sold state secrets. People get locked up for that much. It’s better off for you this way.”
“ So you’re gonna shoot me?” I was pretty sure I was missing something.
“Nah, not me. These boys are the ones that did it, right boys?”
“Sorry, Rock,” Vinnie said. “You were a solid guy.”
“Such a shame,” Echols agreed.
I looked into Lucy’s green eyes and caught her giving me another wink. Then I noticed the barrel of the gun wasn’t actually pointed right at my head. It was aimed at the air to the right of me.
“I always figured it’d be a dame that got me in the end,” I said. Because if you’re going to go, why not go out saying something memorably cliché?
“ Ain’t that the best way?” she asked.
Then she fired.
I fell over, and lay on the floor for about ten seconds, while she reiterated that I was now deceased and furthermore, the two very drugged guys at the bar had done the deed themselves. While they were busy mourning my passing, I got up again. She pulled me around the corner.
“You got a back exit to this place , right?” she asked.
“I do.”
“Good.” She shoved something into my hand. “Take this and get outta here. Don’t talk to anybody, don’t let anybody see you, do nothing but head straight there, you got me?”
The thing in my hand was a key.
“I think I do.”
“Good. I mean it, don’t let anybody see you. Take the alleys and keep your head down. Oh, and have this.” She kissed me, full-on, lips open, tender and fierce, and for about two seconds I forgot everything else including what I was supposed to be doing next.
“Now go,” she said. Like I could run anywhere after that.
* * *
The key went to a door belonging to a room in a hotel six blocks away, in just about the seediest part of the seedy part of town. The place made Jimmy’s dive look like a four-star establishment. It could’ve taken me only a few minutes to get there but she said to stick to the alleys so I stuck to the alleys. More than once I had to park myself in a dark corner for a little while until I stopped hearing sirens. There ended up being a lot of sirens.
It was a crummy room. Small bed, one wood chair, a toilet that only flushed when it felt like it, and a lingering smell that was some unholy combination of mildew and vomit. About the only thing nice about the place was there wasn’t anybody pointing a gun at me, which was a feature I could appreciate.
With nothing much to do—I was too wound up to sleep and anyway that didn’t seem like a great plan—I sat on the chair and looked out at the alley through the one window. The drop was about three stories. I thought if I had to I could probably survive it. It wasn’t a great escape plan, but it was something.
The delay was long enough for
“Heroes!” Echols agreed.
“All they have to do is give me the name of everybody they know who touched those napkins. You know, since you don’t actually know those names and these guys do.”
“I’m not sure I like that story,” I said.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would.” She had her gun out again. Apparently she really did have a place in her sleeve to hide that thing. She pointed it at my head. “Sorry, Rocky. It’s the only story everyone’s gonna buy. Tough thing is, you gotta die for it to work out.”
I was thinking she had skipped a couple of non-lethal options , and possibly also forgotten the part where I said I wasn’t bulletproof. “These fellas will believe anything you say,” I pointed out.
“Su re, you’re right, but the FBI won’t. You’re a guy with no last name and no family, manning a bar that stole and sold state secrets. People get locked up for that much. It’s better off for you this way.”
“ So you’re gonna shoot me?” I was pretty sure I was missing something.
“Nah, not me. These boys are the ones that did it, right boys?”
“Sorry, Rock,” Vinnie said. “You were a solid guy.”
“Such a shame,” Echols agreed.
I looked into Lucy’s green eyes and caught her giving me another wink. Then I noticed the barrel of the gun wasn’t actually pointed right at my head. It was aimed at the air to the right of me.
“I always figured it’d be a dame that got me in the end,” I said. Because if you’re going to go, why not go out saying something memorably cliché?
“ Ain’t that the best way?” she asked.
Then she fired.
I fell over, and lay on the floor for about ten seconds, while she reiterated that I was now deceased and furthermore, the two very drugged guys at the bar had done the deed themselves. While they were busy mourning my passing, I got up again. She pulled me around the corner.
“You got a back exit to this place , right?” she asked.
“I do.”
“Good.” She shoved something into my hand. “Take this and get outta here. Don’t talk to anybody, don’t let anybody see you, do nothing but head straight there, you got me?”
The thing in my hand was a key.
“I think I do.”
“Good. I mean it, don’t let anybody see you. Take the alleys and keep your head down. Oh, and have this.” She kissed me, full-on, lips open, tender and fierce, and for about two seconds I forgot everything else including what I was supposed to be doing next.
“Now go,” she said. Like I could run anywhere after that.
* * *
The key went to a door belonging to a room in a hotel six blocks away, in just about the seediest part of the seedy part of town. The place made Jimmy’s dive look like a four-star establishment. It could’ve taken me only a few minutes to get there but she said to stick to the alleys so I stuck to the alleys. More than once I had to park myself in a dark corner for a little while until I stopped hearing sirens. There ended up being a lot of sirens.
It was a crummy room. Small bed, one wood chair, a toilet that only flushed when it felt like it, and a lingering smell that was some unholy combination of mildew and vomit. About the only thing nice about the place was there wasn’t anybody pointing a gun at me, which was a feature I could appreciate.
With nothing much to do—I was too wound up to sleep and anyway that didn’t seem like a great plan—I sat on the chair and looked out at the alley through the one window. The drop was about three stories. I thought if I had to I could probably survive it. It wasn’t a great escape plan, but it was something.
The delay was long enough for
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