by Les Weil
Carole came back into the kitchen. She got a Fudgsicle from the refrigerator freezer and removed the wrapper and gave the Fudgsicle to the boy.
"More coffee?" she said.
"Sure."
Jesse held the cup out and Carole poured from the round glass pot.
"When does he start school?" Jesse said, nodding at the boy.
"Kindergarten next year," Carole said.
The boy showed no sign that he knew they were talking about him. He sat on his mother's lap, working on the Fudgsicle.
"Can you get a job then?" Jesse said. Shrug.
"What did you do before you got married?"
"High school," Carole said. "Jo Jo knocked me up senior year. I never graduated."
"Maybe you could get some training," Jesse said.
'Sure.'
"What does Jo Jo do for a living?" Jesse asked. Carole shrugged. "He does some bodybuilder contests, I know."
"Can you make a living doing that?" Shrug.
"What was he doing for a living when he bought this house for cash?"
"I don't know," Carole said.
Jesse allowed himself to look puzzled.
"I'm not very smart," Carole said. "I never learned anything in school. I didn't even graduate. Taking care of me was his job."
Jesse drank some of the coffee. It had gotten stronger sitting in the pot.
"I think it would be good if you didn't have to depend on Jo Jo."
"Sure," Carole said. "It's what my old man is always telling me. From Florida. So who's going to marry a woman with three small kids and an ex-husband like I got?"
"Maybe you don't need a husband to take care of you," Jesse said.
"Yeah," Carole said. "Right."
"So as long as you knew him, Jo Jo never had a regular job?"
"He tended bar once in a while. Worked as a bouncer."
"Where?"
"Club in Peabody. The Eighty-six Club."
"He work there much?"
"No."
Jesse stood and brought his coffee cup to the sink. "Well, you need me, you know how to get me," Jesse said.
"Yes.
"Thanks for the coffee."
"Sure."
Jesse looked for a moment at the little boy, his face dirty with melted Fudgsicle. You don't have a prayer, Jesse thought. Not a goddamned prayer.
Chapter 31
Hasty Hathaway picked up a triangle of cinnamon toast and bit off a corner, and chewed and swallowed.
"I asked you to have coffee with me, Jesse, because I'm concerned about some of the things that have happened in town recently."
Hathaway held the now truncated triangle of toast delicately in his right hand and moved it slightly in rhythm to his speech. Jesse waited.
"I mean, I know they are not serious crimes. But the spray-painting of a police cruiser, and the killing of that police station cat ... well, it's all around town."
Jesse had nothing to say to that, so he waited.
"Obviously someone wishes to embarrass the police department."
Jesse continued to wait.
"Do you agree?" Hathaway said.
"Yes."
"And," Hathaway said, "I'm afraid they're succeeding. "
" 'Fraid so," Jesse said.
"Who might that be?" Hathaway said.
Jesse leaned back in his seat and turned his coffee cup slowly with both hands.
"We roust some of the burnout kids in town every day," Jesse said. "We arrest several drunks a weekend. We referee a domestic dispute about once a week. We stop people for speeding. We tow cars for being illegally parked. We're in the business of telling people no."
"So it could be anyone." Hathaway said.
"Could be," Jesse said.
"But isn't it more likely to be one person than another?" Hathaway said. "Don't you have any suspicions?"
"Sure," Jesse said.
"Perhaps you'd care to share them with me," Hathaway said. "I am after all the town's chief executive."
Jesse thought it an odd phrase to describe the selectman's job, but he didn't comment.
"I had to guess, I'd guess it might be Jo Jo Genest," Jesse said.
"Jo Jo?"
"I came down pretty hard on him for harassing his exwife a while ago."
"But you yourself say you deal regularly with domestic disputes."
"Yes."
"So it could be any of those people's man or wife."
"Feels like Jo Jo to me."
"That's pretty weak," Hathaway said.
"Yes it is," Jesse said. "If it were strong I'd arrest him."
"But you're still suspicious."
"Jo Jo's the right kind of guy. He'd need to get even for being embarrassed in front of his ex-wife, and he wouldn't have the cojones to do it straight on."
"Cohonees?"
"Balls," Jesse said.
"You think Jo Jo Genest is afraid?" Hathaway seemed genuinely amazed.
"Can't always judge a book. .." Jesse said.
"No," Hathaway said. "No. I can't buy that at all. Jo Jo grew up in this town. If you did something to Jo Jo he might be angry. But if he were angry, God help you. He wouldn't sneak around killing cats."
Jesse turned his coffee cup a little more. "Sure," he said. "Probably right."
"And you have no other theories?"
"No."
"Well, you better get some," Hathaway said. "There was a story about it in the Standard Times last night." Jesse nodded without comment. "It made the papers, in my view, because you sent the cat remains to the state laboratory, and they talked about it
to someone."
"Could be," Jesse said.
"Isn't it a bit preposterous to send the remains of a dead cat to the state whatever-it-is lab?"
"Forensic," Jesse said.
"I'd prefer that next time you are tempted to seek outside assistance, you consult me first. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Jesse said without meaning it.
"This town does not wish outsiders sharing our problems," Hathaway said.
"Of course," Jesse said.
"We handle our own business here. Part of liberty is self-reliance."
"You bet," Jesse said.
Hathaway stood and put one of his long-fingered bony hands on Jesse's shoulder.
"Don't mean to come down too hard on you, Jesse. But I have a responsibility to this town. Call on me for anything you need ... and let's keep our troubles in-house."
"Gotcha," Jesse said.
Hathaway patted Jesse's shoulder briefly and turned and left the restaurant. Jesse sat looking after him, turning his coffee cup slowly on the tabletop. I wonder what Hasty is actually worried about, Jesse thought. He looked at Hathaway's plate. He had eaten the center of his cinnamon toast and left the crusts. Cinnamon toast, Jesse thought. Jesus Christ!
Chapter 32
The Call from Wyoming came at nine o'clock in the morning eastern time. Jesse took it in his office.
"I got Paradise, Massachusetts?" Charlie Buck said.
"Yes," Jesse said.
"You the chief of police?"
"Yes. Jesse Stone."
"My name's Charlie Buck. I'm an investigator for the Campbell County Sheriff's Department in Gillette, Wyoming."
"Well, you're an early riser," Jesse said. "What is it there, about seven?"
"Seven oh three," Buck said. "I'm interested in a man might have lived in Paradise at one time, man named Thomas Carson."
"He was the chief before me," Jesse said.
Buck grunted.
"Well, he was driving a Dodge truck up along Route 59 north of Bill a while back, when it blew up and him with it. Took us this long to trace what was left."
"In Wyoming?"
"Yeah, north of Bill, heading toward Gillette."
"You establish why it blew up?" Jesse said.
"Bomb."
"So it's a homicide."
"You might say so."
"You have any leads?"
"We was ho
ping you'd be the lead. If the bomb hadn't tossed the truck's serial number couple hundred feet away we wouldn't even know who he was."
"Considerable bomb," Jesse said.
"Considerable," Buck said. "Figure it was supposed to pulverize everything so we couldn't I.D. the victim. How long you had the job?"
"Got hired in May," Jesse said. "Didn't actually start until June."
"You know when Carson left?"
"Before May," Jesse said. "Sometime in the spring, I think. Until I took over, guy named Lou Burke was acting chief."
"Where were you before you took this job?" Buck said.
"L.A. Homicide."
Buck grunted again.
"Might be useful," he said.
"I'll try," Jesse said.
"Carson got any next of kin out there?"
"Not that I know of, but I'll find out, let you know."
"Wish you would," Buck said. "Friends, close associates?"
"Let me look into it," Jesse said. "I'll get back to you."
"Sure," Buck said.
"You know what detonated the bomb?" Jesse said. "No. Best guess, someone trailed him and beeped it from a distance. Pretty empty stretch of road along where it went off."
"Makes sense," Jesse said. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if you talked only to me about this."
Buck grunted.
"If you wouldn't mind," Jesse said.
"Hell no," Buck said. "Your town, your department. Who'd you say you worked for in L.A.?"
"Homicide, Captain Cronjager."
"Un huh. Well, I'll go ahead and see what I can do at this end. Maybe you can give me a ring in a couple days, tell me what you know."
"Glad to," Jesse said.
"If I don't hear," Buck said, "I'll give you a ring."
"You'll hear," Jesse said.
Chapter 33
Jo Jo Genest sat in Gino Fisk's storefront office waiting for Gino, trying to impress Vinnie Morris.
"So I got this suitcase," Jo Jo said, "with seven hundred large, you know, small bills. Thing weighs a freaking ton, and I'm supposed to take it to a bank in New York City, down around Wall Street someplace. You know New York?"
Morris nodded. He was sitting with his chair tilted back. He had a Walkman clipped to his belt and he was listening to music through the earphones.
"Guy I know arranged I could make the deposit in an account under a fake name, no questions asked," Jo Jo said. "So I got this rental car and I'm trying to get there, and the traffic is out of control, you know. And when I finally get there I can't find a place to park, and I'm riding around the block down by the World Trade thing, and the freaking bank closes. You believe it. I got a dirty seven hundred thousand in a suitcase and the bank closes while I'm riding around like a dildo looking for a parking space."
Morris was looking at Jo Jo with no expression, his heels hooked in the bottom rung of his chair, his arms folded over his chest.
"You hear me okay?" Jo Jo said.
Morris nodded.
"Well, I figure the money's okay, I mean, who's going to mug somebody like me, you know? But I still gotta get it deposited, so I haul it back to the hotel. I'm staying at the Marriott in Times Square, and I ditch the car and next morning I get a cab and haul the money back downtown and it's dandy. Cabbie drops me off right in front of the bank. I take the stuff in, go to the desk, and ask for the name they gave me, who's going to count the cash and take care of the deposit and he ain't there. He's at another branch in freaking Queens, they gave me the wrong branch. So I go out with the suitcase, which is lucky I'm big and strong, because it's getting heavier every minute and I try to find a cab and I can't, so I get on the subway. I got a suitcase full of cash and I'm riding the freaking subway, and I'm boiling. And I go back to the hotel and get a cab there. You can always get a cab at a hotel, and I go over to Queens hauling the dough, and the guy is there, but he's in a meeting. So I tell the slut at the desk that they better get his ass out of the meeting or else and she says, real preppy, `Excuse me?' And I said get this guy's ass out here, now. And I give her a real hard look and she gets up and goes in back and in a little while my guy comes out, and he's nice as freaking pie. `Oh, sir, so sorry to keep you waiting, come right in to one of our conference rooms, blah, blah.' And I got the money deposited. But is that a kick or what, I'm chugging around freaking New York with threequarters of a million in cash for two days trying to get somebody to take it."
"Scared hell out of that bank lady, huh?" Morris said.
Jo Jo didn't much like the way Vinnie said it. He could never tell whether Vinnie was putting him on or not. Hard to figure Vinnie. He didn't seem interested in anything. He never seemed in a hurry. He never had any reaction to anything, except to say things like "scared hell out of that bank lady," which Jo Jo could never quite figure out.
Jo Jo thought maybe he ought to grab Vinnie someday and slap him up against the wall. Get his freaking attention. But there was something about Vinnie ... Jo Jo stopped thinking about it. He sat straight upright on the other straight chair. He would have liked to cross his legs, but they were too thick. He probably ought to do more stretching, loosen everything up a little. Gino Fish came into the room, nodded at Vinnie, walked past Jo Jo, and got behind his desk.
"Sorry I'm late," Fish said.
But he said it in a way that sounded to Jo Jo like he didn't care if he was late or not. He could use a little shaking up too, Jo Jo thought. Involuntarily he glanced at Vinnie, as if Vinnie could know what he was thinking. Vinnie looked blankly at him or past him or through him. Jo Jo could never be sure.
"No problem, Gino. Been talking with Vinnie."
Fish smiled without amusement.
"So what have you got for me, Jo Jo?" Fish said. "Guy I know is looking for guns."
Fish was quiet for a moment, his gaze heavy on Jo Jo. "Who is this guy?" Fish said finally.
"He'd like to remain anonymous," Jo Jo said.
"Wouldn't everyone," Fish said. "Is he IRA?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Zealots are not good people to do business with," Fish said.
Jo Jo wasn't exactly sure what a zealot was. But he knew Hathaway wasn't IRA.
"Can you do something for us?" Jo Jo said.
"What are you after?" Fish said.
"Automatic weapons, machine guns, mortars, handheld rocket launchers, grenades."
There had been other things on the list, but Jo Jo hadn't wanted to carry the list. It would be bad if he got caught with it, and he wanted Gino and Vinnie to think he knew more about guns than he did.
"In what quantities?" Fish said.
"Enough to outfit a regiment," Jo Jo said. It was what he had been told to answer.
Fish smiled again without warmth.
"When I was of an age for the military," he said, "I was in a different kind of government service."
"I didn't know you did government work, Gino."
"I was in jail," Fish said.
Jo Jo felt hot. He hated to look stupid in front of Vinnie. "I knew that, Gino," he said. "I was kidding you."
"Well, don't," Fish said. "Vinnie, do you know what kind of weapons order you'd need to outfit a regiment?"
"Yeah."
"Do we know anyone who could supply that amount?"
"Sure.'
Fish looked at Jo Jo.
"There," he said. "Now what?"
"Can you get me a price?"
"Supplier will set the price," Fish said. "I'll add my commission."
"Sure, Gino, of course. These are just, ah, whaddycallit, preliminary talks, you know."
"So tell your principals it'll be a few days, and I'll be in touch with you. Before we go too much further, though, I will want to meet the principals."
"They won't like that, Gino."
"I don't care, Jo Jo. That's the way it will have to be. I don't do this kind of business with people I don't know." He smiled his joyless smile again. "I have had all the government service I care for."
Jo Jo flushed again, feeling foolish about misunderstanding government service. He glanced sideways at Vinnie. Vinnie seemed oblivious.
"I'll talk to them," Jo Jo said.
"Fine. Now if you'll excuse us. .."
Jo Jo stood up, too quickly. He wished he had reacted slower.
"I'll wait to hear from you," he said to Fish.
He made a little punching gesture at Vinnie with his clenched fist, and went out of the office. When he was gone, Fish turned to Vinnie Morris.
"What do you think," he said.
"Some homemade patriot group," Morris said.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because the only contact they got is a jerk like Jo Jo." Fish nodded.
"And the only contact he has is us," Fish said. "Do you have any idea how to arm a regiment?"
"Not a clue," Morris said.
"Do you have any contact with international arms dealers?"
"Piece I'm carrying I bought from a guy named Ralph," Morris said. "On Dorchester Ave."
"Do you suppose he could arm a regiment?"
"Ralph works out of his car."
"Yes, of course," Fish said. "Very efficient."
"I could ask around," Morris said.
"Urn hmm."
Fish seemed to be thinking of something else. Morris looked at him and came as close to smiling as he ever got.
"Or you could figure out a way to skin them," he said.
Fish didn't answer for a time, as if he had to finish a thought and return to the subject at hand.
"If they wish to give us their money," he said finally, "I see no reason why we shouldn't encourage them in that course."
Chapter 34
Tammy didn't really like to see him with his clothes off. He was stringy, the sparse hair on his chest was white, and there were small wrinkles inside the bend of his elbow. He didn't look at all rich and powerful. In fact he didn't look anywhere near as good as Bobby had, and Bobby had been a loser for sure.
"Come to bed," she said.
And she was glad when he got in bed and was under the covers. He always got under the covers. The first time they had done it and he got under the covers she had almost laughed. Would he wear pajamas next time? With feet on them?
He put his arms around her and clamped his mouth against hers. She had to help him a bit, as she always did, to get it up, but as soon as it was up he rolled over on top of her and proceeded. While he was on her he whispered how much he loved her and called her his darling. He was through before she was even aroused. And like always he rolled off her and lay on his back beside her silently, with the covers up to his chin. Still, it didn't take him long, and there were other men, Saturday-night men, who would give her excitement.
