The woman came hurrying back when Norm pulled into the driveway. It seemed to me that he’d been gone forever. The screams and shrieks of the children to say nothing of the look on my face, resulted in Norm giving me a grin and a “gotcha” smirk as he climbed out of the car. Then he really rubbed it in by asking, “Did you miss me while I was gone, Cage?” under his breath as he hurried past me to join the woman who was standing in the shade by the garage.
“I knew you wouldn’t want to take a check,” Norm told the anxious woman as he stepped into the shade, “so on the way over here we stopped at the bank and I got cash. I’ll give you ninety-eight hundred cash for it.” It was just under the asking price she’d put in her ad and well above what she had been expecting.
The much-relieved and clearly delighted woman accepted immediately. The money was counted out into her hand as we stood there and George Warmuth, the name on the perfectly valid Oklahoma driver’s license in Norm’s wallet, was recorded on the car’s title as being its new owner effective that date.
Norm drove the Honda and I drove his Hertz rental when we returned to our motel. I was in a much better mood now that I was away from the children and out of the heat. As I followed Norm back to the motel, I decided that there was no sense in waiting in Albuquerque any longer. It was too damn hot and we had acquired almost everything we thought we might need for Tucson. It was time to check out of our motel, return the rental car to the Hertz station at the airport, and head for Arizona in the Honda SUV “to get it over with so we can go home.”
I wasn’t looking forward to the next few days. “It’s hotter than hell in Albuquerque, and Phoenix is going to be much worse,” Norm had mournfully announced at breakfast after he checked out the weather forecast on his new laptop.
“Look at it this way, Cage,” Norm said in one of his rare moments of levity after we pulled into our motel’s parking lot and I told him of my decision to leave immediately, “no one in his right mind goes to Phoenix this time of year because it’s too hot. We won’t have any trouble finding a place to stay even if get there late tonight.”
I laughed; it was the first time I’d ever heard Norm make a joke. Later I decided he meant it literally and was merely stating a fact.
Chapter Nine
Phoenix’s weather wasn’t as bad as we expected, at least not when we finally pulled into a big and impersonal Best Western motel just off the interstate a few minutes before midnight. We were both tired and ready to quit for the day. That we were bushed and more than ready to stop was not surprising—we’d taken turns at the wheel and driven straight through except for a couple of pit stops to gas up, use the shitter and buy some snacks, and refill the portable plastic coffee cups we’d bought at the first of the three twenty-four-hour truck stops where we stopped to refuel and change drivers. Mine had a goddamn pink rabbit on it that I hadn’t noticed until I had it halfway full of coffee.
We hadn’t taken any chances about getting stopped by the police or having our travel to Phoenix recorded in any way. We paid cash for everything and set the cruise control at three miles over the speed limit. Our two shotguns were disassembled and gift wrapped in their original boxes under a blanket in the rear of the SUV. Everything else was either on hangers on the clothes hooks so that the rear door windows were partially covered or in two carry-on suitcases on the back seat, the kind with wheels that you can pull through an airport.
“Not bad, Cage, not bad at all.” That was Norm’s comment as he climbed out of the car and stretched after driving for the past three hours. He was referring to both the heat and the look of the Best Western motel where we’d stopped. It was modern enough to be comfortable and large enough for us to be ignored and forgotten. Even so, since our story always was that we’d “just arrived and were passing through,” we’d find someplace else to stay tomorrow. After that, the first thing would be to get our new SUV ready to leave in a hurry and find someplace safe to park it. Norm’s plane in Albuquerque was already fueled and ready to go on a moment’s notice.
******
It took us the entire next day to get ready for our first trip back to Tucson. After breakfast, we gassed up our Honda SUV safe car with New Mexico plates and filled it with the bottled water and the snacks that we would need if we had to make a hurried departure and get well clear of the Phoenix area in a hurry. Then we used it to look for the first of the two cars we would buy with Arizona plates, the burner cars we’d use for the Tucson job and then abandon. We’d park the Honda SUV in a long term parking lot in Phoenix as soon as we bought them.
The first Craigslist car we looked at was an older, non-descript blue Lexus sedan. It was more than adequate so we bought it and immediately used it to check into an older and almost empty highway motel in Tempe, the Phoenix suburb where Arizona State University is located. By the time we bought the Lexus and found a covered long term parking lot for the Honda, we were more than ready for a late lunch.
My plan was to check out of the motel where we’d spent the night and into a new one each day—just travelers passing through Arizona on our way to someplace else. The only thing special about us is that we would always pay cash and never offer a credit card or use the same name or give the clerk an accurate description of our car.
It was early evening by the time we bought a second “leave behind” burner car off Craigslist, a bland, grey Ford Explorer four-door. Tomorrow morning, I would drive the Lexus to Tucson and Norm would follow me in the Ford.
We were going to Tucson to check out Martini’s office once again and to carry supplies of bottled water and snacks to put in the backup car we already had in Tucson. If we were lucky, we’d spot Martin and be able to follow him to someplace where we could question him. The chances of that happening were slim, but, after thinking about it, I told Norm to put the shotguns in the trunk, but leave them disassembled and wrapped up in their boxes.
“We’ll take them to Tucson in case we get lucky.”
I didn’t tell Norm I was wearing an over/under derringer in my spring-loaded wrist holster. He didn’t know I always carry one when I’m on a job as well as a small .22-caliber Beretta in an ankle holster. No one knew about them, not even Pencie.
******
The drive to Tucson in the Lexus in the morning was every bit as awful as it had been the last time, maybe even worse because of the heat and the blinding sun coming out of an absolutely cloudless sky. We took both cars. I drove the Lexus; Norm drove the Ford and followed me.
“Goddamnit, Cage,” he said at one point when we stopped for a cup of coffee, “we’ve got to waste this bastard so I can get home and get out of this heat. I’ve got to get home. I’ve got two daughters about to go off to college and there’s no telling what they’re up to with their goddamn no-account boyfriends.”
“How come you got two starting at the same time, Norm? Twins?” I was trying to distract him.
“Nah, they’re a year and a half apart. The district let my youngest skip a grade so she could drive to high school with her sister. It saved the cheap bastards a school bus trip.”
“Must be a bright kid.”
“Yeah, she is, and I got to take care of her and the rest of my family. My wife sure as shit can’t.” And then, to my great relief, Norm added, “And that means I got to stay here no matter how long it takes for us to get rid of Martin and anyone else who might be looking for us.”
******
The first thing we did when we got to Tucson was find a covered long term parking space for the Lexus in a parking garage downtown. It was the second garage we had looked at; the first one had security cameras. The garage the Lexus ended up in was fully automated and accepted both cash and credit cards. It was perfect except for how hot and sweaty I got in just a few seconds while I was getting out of the Lexus and climbing into the Ford. It was the second time in the past twenty minutes I’d been out in the heat; the first was when I had to get out of the Lexus to fill it up with gas so it would be ready to go if we needed
it.
My shirt was still sticking to my back when Norm finally pulled the Ford into a parking lot across the street from the building housing Martin’s investments advisory office. It was just before noon. We sat and watched a new and modern building about five or six stories high. From where we were sitting in our air conditioned car we could see that the building had reserved covered parking in the back to keep its tenants’ cars out of Arizona’s blistering summer sun.
After we watched for a while, Norm pulled out and we drove away. Five minutes later we returned to drive past the financial services company’s six covered spaces in the rear of the building. Four of the reserved spaces were filled, but none of the cars came remotely close to the being the blue Cadillac convertible Helen Douglass had described to me.
“Shit. He’s not here,” said Norm as he drove past the empty spaces. “Do you want to wait?”
“Not now. Let’s go grab some lunch. I’m starved.”
An hour or so later we drove back to the office building after eating awful hamburgers and fries at a Ralph’s Family Restaurant. The only thing certain about Ralph’s is that it would never become a chain despite its unique appearance with outward-sloping plate glass windows. We were both wearing the “fast-on” disguises we’d been carrying in the car and put on after we left the restaurant.
Norm’s disguise was a baseball cap with a picture of a concrete truck on it and a fake mustache; mine was a Milwaukee Brewers baseball cap with a fake blonde ponytail and a black tooth cap that made it look like I had a missing front tooth. Years ago a crooked defense lawyer had suggested the tooth cap to me saying that a security camera image showing someone with a missing tooth would make it impossible for a jury to convict me if my real tooth was actually still all there. I’d carried a wad of black gummy plastic with me ever since.
******
“Holy shit. He’s here.”
A baby blue late model Cadillac convertible was parked in one of the covered reserved spaces wearing the Arizona vanity license plate “Martin One.” Its top was up, and rightly so because of the heat.
Norm was a pro. He drove the Ford on past Martin’s car, without slowing down or looking at it, and parked in an empty space at the other end of the parking lot. It had a sign saying it was a reserved space, but Norm pulled right on into the shaded space as if he owned it. He left the engine running to keep the Ford’s air conditioning working. We’d move to another space if anyone came for this one.
We waited all afternoon as people constantly came and went, so long that at one point Norm pissed in an empty paper cup while I watched to make sure he couldn’t be seen and reported by one of the local blue-noses. Then Norm watched while it was my turn. We’d talked about going into the building to use its restroom and refill our plastic water bottles but had decided to remain thirsty and full because the building likely did not have a toilet available for public use and it almost certainly would have resulted in us appearing on a security camera.
After almost three boring hours, and a couple of false alarms, our patience finally paid off. I was resting with my eyes closed when it did.
“Heads up, Cage. I think he’s coming out.”
We’d long ago decided what we’d do if Martini showed up—we’d follow him home and talk to him there. The same for his girlfriend and everyone else we found at his house.
“But no kids,” said Norm. “I don’t do kids.”
I had nodded and agreed—but I didn’t necessarily mean it; my safety came first.
******
Robert Martin, or, as we now know, Roberto Martini what was, got into his car without even looking around and drove out of the now somewhat empty parking lot. He was wearing a sports shirt and slacks and very expensive-looking shoes.
Norm gave Martin a few seconds head start and then pulled out behind him as Martin came out of the driveway and turned left on to the street in front of the building. It was rush hour and traffic on the street was heavy for the first time since we’d arrived.
Following Martin was easy. Norm hung back four or five car lengths and stayed right with him. The only problem occurred when he went through a green light just as it was changing. Norm had seen it coming and moved over into the next lane and went through as the yellow warning light was turning red.
“Goddamnit, that was close. I sure hope to fuck there were no red light and speeding cameras on that intersection.”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t see a flash, and so what if we have our picture taken? It wouldn’t prove a thing except we were in town. Besides we’re wearing our hats and fake hair and we’ll be long gone before anyone even thinks to check them.”
Five minutes later, Robert Martin turned into what looked like an upscale restaurant at the entrance of a large and modern shopping center. He pulled up in front of a sign advertising the services of a parking valet and handed his keys to a skinny, young Hispanic-looking man who jumped off his stool and rushed out from under a sun umbrella to take them with a warmer than normal smile and greeting. Martin smiled back as he hustled from his car to the impressively big wooden doors at the restaurant’s entrance to get out of the sun. He was obviously a well-known regular and big tipper.
Norm didn’t stop or even slow down. He drove on past to the shopping center’s general parking lot beyond the valet’s umbrella stand.
“Let’s wait and see what happens?” I ordered as Norm pulled into a vacant space from where we could see the restaurant’s entrance.
There was little to be gained from going inside. Sooner or later Martin would come out and we could follow him home or to wherever he went next. Norm agreed.
******
After an hour, the Ford began to run low on gas and we both needed to pee. I got out and waited in the shade of one of the shopping center’s doorways while Norm took the car to fill it with gas. I stood there in the heat and watched until Norm returned. Then I waved my hand and hurried to the toilet in the shopping center’s big grocery store.
I was much relieved, heavily sweating, and carrying a bag filled with cold Cokes and various munchies when I walked back from the grocery store to where Norm had re-parked the car. I was double relieved to see him and the car—we had agreed that Norm would follow Martin if he left and I would wait here in the heat however long it took.
Norm just smiled when I said, “Okay, your turn.”
“No problem; I had to go into the service station to pay cash for the gas so I used the station’s men’s room. It was filthy, absolutely filthy; my wife would have had a fit. I take it our boy is still inside?”
“Yeah, he sure is,” I told him. “Probably eating. Which reminds me, hand me a bottle of Coke, will ya? ... Thanks. ... And the bag of pretzels too.”
We waited two more hours in the boiling hot sun with the engine running and the air conditioning turned on as it got even hotter as the day began to wane. We couldn’t have stayed parked there for five minutes without the air conditioning.
All of a sudden, Norm sat upright and said, “I think the valet is bringing up his car ” ... “Yes, by God, there he is; hot damn. ... Uh oh, he’s got some broad with him.”
It was obvious by the way the two people were walking that they’d spent most of their time inside drinking instead of eating. The woman looked to be in her middle thirties and was being escorted on the arm of one of the restaurant’s staff. She almost lost her balance when she stepped down from the curb in front of the restaurant to get into the Cadillac. Finally, with help of the necktie-wearing restaurant employee, she made it into the car through the door one of the valets was holding open for her.
Everyone waved as they drove off. From the size of the smile on the valet’s face, it was obvious our boy was a big tipper.
******
Norm already had the Ford backed out of its parking space and ready to go by the time Martin drove off in his Cadillac. We followed as the blue convertible screeched out of the restaurant’s parking lot, going much too fast and t
urned right on to the major street running in front of the shopping center.
“Whoa,” said Norm. “Our boy and his broad are a bit bombed, aren’t they?” He said it as he stepped on the gas to follow them.
We kept the fast-moving Cadillac in sight and followed it as it turned on to another major street, this one with much less traffic, and headed north into what was obviously one of the city’s better neighborhoods—and then watched in dismay as it turned into a gated community with a guard shack for visitors and an unattended gate for residents. As we went past, I saw the residents’ gate begin to open automatically as Martin’s car approached it.
“Shit. Well, at least we know where he lives,” Norm offered as we continued down the road.
“Yeah, but how the hell are we going to get to him?”
Chapter Ten
We had no idea what time Martin went to work. But it might be early since he ran an investment advisory business and the New York Stock Market opened at 6:30 AM in the morning, Arizona time. I knew that because I had an investment account under an assumed name.
Since Martin was probably an early riser, we did what we’d originally said we wouldn’t do and stayed overnight in Tucson. We checked into a cheap motel on the highway leading south towards Mexico. Norm registered while I waited in the car. He did his usual—explained that his credit card was already over the limit and asked if he could prepay cash up front for two weeks and get a big discount if we didn’t get room service. The Indian couple behind the desk instantly agreed with big smiles. They gave us a room in the back with two beds which “would be quiet since you sleep days and work nights.”
Cage's Crew Page 8
