by Mark Pepper
John stared off at the shrinking figure of his girlfriend, then at the road surface outside the Chester driveway – the tire marks left by Virginia’s wild swerve off the street. He shook his head.
‘She’ll be fine, John, don’t worry. Come on.’
Inside the house, Dodge gave Hayley a fatherly look over. ‘Girl, you’re beat.’
She smiled at the irony.
‘Sorry, what I meant is, you look tired. Why don’t you go lie down upstairs while we decide what to do?’
Hayley nodded, so Dodge showed her up to the spare room and saw her settled. Back downstairs, he joined John in the living room and closed the door for privacy.
‘We got a problem,’ he announced straightaway, and took a seat.
‘Big one,’ John agreed.
‘Someone could have died today, and if Larry gets his way I think someone will.’
‘What do you propose? Virginia’s right: Hayley can’t stay here for ever. Do you think we can persuade her to press charges for the other day?’
‘Maybe. It’s not a long-term solution, though, is it?’
John could only think of one truly long-term solution, but was loath to share it with Dodge; not through any reluctance to put the idea in his head but because he was certain it was already there. The silence between them was a sham, their pensive expressions a façade.
Eventually, Dodge quietly broached the subject: ‘In Vietnam, we called it a wet job.’
‘Assassination. I know.’
‘So I’m not crazy to think it.’
‘No more so than me. It’s whether you’d do it.’
Dodge fell quiet.
‘Is she worth it?’ John asked.
‘Her father died for me. If I don’t do something, she could die, too. I couldn’t handle that.’
‘What about Virginia? What happens to her if you end up in prison?’
Dodge laughed. ‘John, I’m heading there no matter what. They could give me six years for that shit at the range.’
‘Really?’
‘Oh, yeah. Anyway, without me to look after, I imagine she’d get a new lease of life.’
‘You don’t believe that. You’re the only family she has left.’
‘Then I’d have to make damn sure I didn’t get caught. Wouldn’t be too difficult.’
John held up a hand. ‘This is purely hypothetical, right? You’re not seriously going to murder this guy. For one thing, Hayley might not thank you for it. In spite of everything, she still cares about him. You could see that after Virginia stunned him.’
‘John, the guy’s a fucking loser. And Harry would thank me for it. That’s his little girl. I owe him. If you’re worried about my conscience, don’t be. This is one death I would not lose any sleep over.’
The living-room door burst open, and from the naked fear in Hayley’s eyes John thought Larry must have climbed in through her bedroom window. He reached for the .357.
‘My mom!’ she screamed. ‘She lied to protect me. He knows that. I told him. He’ll think I’m there!’
‘Hey, calm down,’ John said.
‘Larry! He’ll go to Venice Beach! Why didn’t I think?’
Dodge stood up and made Hayley sit down.
‘Listen to me,’ he said. ‘Your husband is probably not even fully functioning yet. Virginia gave him a good long jolt. Even if he’s up and about, he will not be thinking straight. I can get there before him.’
‘Dodge, I’ll go,’ John said quickly.
‘There’s a phone in the kitchen,’ Dodge said to Hayley. ‘Give your mom a call, tell her I’m on my way, not to let anyone in. If she sees Larry, to dial 911. And, Hayley … calm down.’
She ignored his advice and ran from the room.
John rose to his feet. ‘Dodge, I’ll go.’
‘You’ll stay with Hayley. All I’m gonna do is collect Marie and bring her back here.’
‘Then why shouldn’t I go?’ John asked reasonably.
Dodge lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Because if Larry does show up, I’m best equipped to handle him.’
‘Come off it, you’d shoot the guy.’
‘Exactly. How many men you waste, John?’
‘Oh, this is a great time for one-upmanship.’
‘How many?’
‘Enough.’
‘Yeah. Meaning you’re not ready to waste any more.’
‘I’ll do what I have to do.’
Dodge grabbed him firmly by the shoulders for emphasis. His iron grip was persuasion in itself.
‘I lost count, John, that’s what I’m saying. I can end this asshole in a heartbeat. I got no fucking qualms. Can you say the same? Because if you can’t, going there is likely to get both you and Marie killed.’
Hayley barged back in. ‘She’s not answering! Oh, Jesus ...’
Dodge dropped his hands from John and switched to his soothing voice again.
‘You tried her cell?’
‘I don’t know her number. I don’t even know if she has one.’
‘Calm down. He could not have got there and done something in this time. Remember what your mom said at the hospital? She might take a walk on the sand? That’s where she is. She’s eating ice cream on the beach. Just go back in the kitchen and keep trying. And remember: as long as you can’t reach her, she’s out of the house which means she’s safe.’
Hayley looked to John for confirmation, who nodded in spite of his doubts. Marginally less panicked, she returned to the phone.
‘And what do I tell Virginia when she gets back?’ John asked desperately.
‘Nothing,’ Dodge said, taking Chuck’s suitcase from the corner of the room. ‘You say you went to the bathroom and when you came out I’d gone.’
‘Sure. And she’ll think you’ve gone to Larry’s apartment to finish the job and she’ll follow you there. Only you won’t be there but Larry might be, and he’ll get to meet the girl who put a million volts up his backside. Good thinking.’
‘Then tell her I’ve gone to the store,’ Dodge said. He opened the case and removed the Smith & Wesson, screwed in the suppressor, and slipped it inside a folded copy of the Los Angeles Times, concealing the whole length of the weapon.
John had joked about it earlier, but he could see Dodge was serious.
‘Oh, talk about a grudge. You’re taking a dead man’s forty-year-old service pistol to use on his daughter’s husband. That’s what you meant about it not being difficult, is it? Dodge, I think you’re confusing difficult with noisy. You should go and see Quealy right now.’
‘That’s it! You say Quealy called and asked me to drop by and give him an update. Square it with Hayley. Make sure she knows the story.’
‘Shit, you are really dropping me in it with your daughter, you know that? When you get back here with Marie, she’ll know I was lying and that’s us finished. You might as well tell her I screwed Hayley while she was out.’
Dodge came face to face with John, who didn’t much like the reckless glint in his eye.
‘I’m going now, John. All you gotta do is plead ignorance. When I get back, be just as pissed off with me as Ginny. You didn’t know, okay? I lied to you, yes? She loves you, she’ll believe you.’
John watched helplessly as Dodge left the room and headed for the front door with his holstered Walther and his even deadlier LA Times. Belatedly, John hurried outside and caught him reversing off the driveway.
‘Dodge ...’
‘You can’t stop me, John.’
‘I know. Just take care.’
‘Always do, sergeant.’
‘I mean it. You stopped being a Ranger a long time ago.’
‘Son ...’ Dodge said, and smiled, ‘... you never stop being a Ranger.’
As John walked up Angelo Drive towards the green space at the end, he was torn. Keen to show Virginia that at least one of the two men in her life had not forgotten about her, he was equally reluctant to leave Hayley alone in her present state.
Vir
ginia had won out due to ulterior motives, and John felt bad. Even with Hayley’s connivance, for the lie to ring true he had to prevent his girlfriend from returning to the house while Hayley was still frantically holding the phone to her ear. Virginia wasn’t stupid. She would realize exactly where Dodge had gone, and why.
The concrete stopped and the parched grass began. He could see Virginia sitting beneath a tree, just shy of where the ground fell away, the city in the distance, silver buildings soaring out of the brown smog towards a blue sky as though reaching for clearer air. She was hunched up, arms circling her knees to her chest. John had never known his heart to ache with so much yearning for someone. He was paranoid about losing her, and seeing her like this he almost resented Hayley, which he knew was unfair considering how eager he’d been to meet her for so many years, but he was beginning to understand that his feelings for the two women were not the same. Hayley belonged to the past; Virginia was his future.
‘Hi, gorgeous,’ he said.
She turned her head to show him a weary smile. ‘Hey.’
John sat beside her. ‘Sorry,’ he said quietly.
‘For what?’
‘You want someone to blame. Well, here I am.’
She shook her head.
‘Yes. It’s not Hayley; she didn’t force Dodge to do anything. And it’s not Dodge; in a way, he’s being driven by forces beyond his control. He’s trying to put the past to rights. I’m the one who started all this by taking you to Oregon. I’m the one you should be shouting at.’
Virginia stared into the distance. ‘I’m worried, John, that’s all. I don’t mean to blame anyone. I’m scared. Under different circumstances I’m sure I could get along fine with Hayley.’
‘So you don’t like her.’
‘I don’t like her being here. She’s making my dad crazy.’
John raised his eyebrows and gave her a look.
‘Okay, crazier,’ she said.
‘Exactly,’ John said. ‘Think where we picked him up from this morning. Hayley might be the one person who can pull your father round. He’s got a purpose now.’
‘But how can a stranger mean more to him than his own family?’
‘She doesn’t, not really. It’s what she signifies. She’s a chance for him to draw a line under the past.’
‘But he’ll draw a line under everything if he’s not careful. Did you catch the look in his eye immediately after I stunned Larry? If he’d been alone, I swear he’d have put a bullet in the guy’s head.’
John didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.
‘Where’s it going to end, John? How’s it going to end? As long as Larry’s out there, my dad won’t relax. There’s only one way he’s ever likely to feel Hayley’s safe ...’
It was a re-run of his conversation with Dodge, and John felt the truth ready to blurt out of him. If he didn’t speak now with Virginia so close to the facts, his deceit would seem tenfold to her later on, because he was under no illusion he could kid her on this. Anyone else perhaps; not her. Either what he felt for her would steal his conviction, or the lie maintained would irreparably taint his feelings towards her.
‘Virginia ...’
She waited, then prompted. ‘What?’
‘Your dad’s gone. He wanted me to tell you he’s seeing Quealy but he’s not. He’s gone off to get Marie.’
Virginia groaned lightly, suggesting she was no more than disappointed at the prospect of another stranger in the house. John’s heavy brow made her re-assess.
‘Shit,’ she said, realizing. ‘He thinks that’s where Larry’s headed.’
‘I couldn’t stop him.’
She climbed to her feet and John rose with her. ‘How long ago?’ she asked.
‘Not long.’
She peered at him. ‘John, tell me this isn’t as bad as I think it is.’
He held her hands firmly to prevent her bolting. ‘He’s taken Harry’s pistol.’
Her tug away was half-hearted, more a token than a serious attempt to escape his grasp. She wilted on her feet and stared at the ground.
‘Sorry, Virginia, I really couldn’t stop him. He has to do this, you know that. Hopefully he’ll just get there, pick her up and bring her back.’
‘But if Larry’s there he’ll kill him.’
John paused before replying. ‘If he has to.’
‘No, if Larry’s there he will kill him.’
John shrugged. ‘I think he sees it as part of the healing; the only way he can properly make amends for the past.’
‘But he has nothing to make amends for.’
‘That’s irrelevant, it’s how he feels, how he’s felt for over forty years. In his eyes, it’s his only chance for peace.’
Virginia looked out over the hazy vista of Los Angeles, as though trying to psychically track her father’s progress towards Venice Beach.
‘I can’t believe we’re letting him do this,’ she said in a voice as distant as her focus.
John squeezed her hands. ‘He’ll be back, don’t worry.’
‘Then what?’
He wanted to echo his reassurance, but he couldn’t; if he’d wanted to lie he would have stuck to the story about Dodge visiting Quealy.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘let’s wait back at the house.’
After what had felt like a brief connection to the national grid, Larry had regained full physical control, but could not be as confident about his mental faculties. He thought perhaps the shock had caused an important fuse in his head to blow. The part of his brain that housed his temper felt like a hot-wired engine he couldn’t shut down. He kept telling himself that Hayley was not having an affair with the English guy, but it wouldn’t kill the ignition. He had uncovered a conspiracy, stumbled on relationships he didn’t know existed but reckoned he understood. What else but sex could put such venomous passion in a man’s eyes as he had seen in the Limey’s?
Larry decided he had better leave the Beetle on an adjoining street. It seemed he was genuinely starting to think like a criminal – if he hadn’t done so all along. He had chosen clothes from his closet he rarely wore and had donned a Raiders cap and dark glasses. A measure of his blind fury, he was only vaguely aware of the significance of adopting a disguise: that he might need to flee unrecognized. Only at the very back of his mind did the fact lurk that he was leading a charmed life in his so-far-successful avoidance of prosecution; his continued liberty had taken second place to the punishment of others.
He turned off the sidewalk and went round the back of the bungalow into a small grassed yard where he wasn’t overlooked. Providing no one had seen him arrive and thought it conspicuous, he would gain entry undetected. He put his ear to the screen door and heard a phone ringing somewhere inside. After a while it stopped, but he heard no one speak so assumed it had simply rung off.
Marie was out. Not the best result, but not a dead loss. He would just have to prove his investigative credentials. Find a name, an address, something to lead him to Hayley and her protectors. He tried the handle and found the door wasn’t locked. Larry pulled his weapon, removed his sunglasses and slipped into the kitchen.
He jumped as the phone rang again. He waited, not moving. Perhaps Marie had been sound asleep and this time she would wake. Eventually the warbling tones ceased, but they had continued for long enough that Larry suspected it was the automatic disconnect that had silenced them, rather than the caller who had given up. He smiled. It wasn’t hard to guess who might be so desperate to get through – warn Mom that trouble could be heading her way. But why had Hayley’s henchmen not already collected Marie?
It wasn’t important. What mattered was finding his wife, and then if he was so inclined he could ask her face to face.
He took a quick look around the kitchen, then moved into the bedroom. He couldn’t see anything obvious and was about to rifle some drawers when a bottle on the bedside cabinet caught his eye. A brown glass medicine bottle. He picked it up and read the label. Marie w
as in pain. He didn’t know from what exactly, but was happy knowing it was severe enough to warrant liquid morphine. He set it down and was reaching to open the cupboard beneath when he heard someone come in the front door.
Her home felt all wrong. Violated was the word she would have used. Marie stopped in the hallway and listened. Nothing. She gently closed the door behind her and strained her ears again. No, nothing. She dismissed it. It wasn’t in the bungalow, it was inside her head. She had never been more tuned into the reality of death. Her death. She had spent a blissful time on the beach – miraculously thoughtless. Then her return to the tomblike silence of the place where she knew she would breathe her last. Perhaps she had subconsciously wanted someone to be waiting for her. Anyone. Even Larry. Talking, arguing, communication of any kind – it would all erode the remaining hours, leaving less time for morbid contemplation. She had so many regrets, and too few happy recollections to dilute the pain of them.
The phone rang, the sudden noise making her heart bang in her chest. She answered it in the living room and the voice made her grin, and how good that felt on her face.
‘Hello, sweetheart,’ she said.
Hayley’s panic flooded down the line and Marie’s smile faded. She listened to her daughter recount the incident with Larry and her resulting paranoia. At the end of the call, Marie was smiling again. It sounded like a dangerous confrontation, but when she pictured Larry’s comeuppance she couldn’t stop her cheeks from twitching.
‘Say thank you to Virginia from me. That bastard deserved every last volt. Listen, I’m home safe and sound, and I’ll lock up and wait for Dodge and call nine-one-one if I see Larry, okay? Now sit tight. I love you and I’ll be with you soon.’
Hayley echoed the sentiment and ended the call. Marie took a shallow breath, which was as deep as it would go. The day had overtired her. It would have done had she been well – the emotional strain alone. She went into the kitchen and found some morphine to swig, sat down at the table and laid her head on her forearms. Her eyes closed instantly as exhaustion pounced. She was never sure whether this drifting was the onset of sleep or death, but each time she awoke she was saddened by her resumption of life.
