by Sandra Brown
He sensed hungry, hostile eyes watching him from myriad hiding places
along the banks of the bayou, but none so menacing as Basile's.
His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked along the pier toward the crude
dwelling. He was trained to spot signs of impending danger but all his
policeman's training deserted him. He had embarked on new territory, as
remote and alien to him as Neptune. He felt incompetent and clumsy, and
that was no way for a law officer to approach a problem, especially one
on the scale of Burke Basile.
When he reached the screened door, he swallowed dryly."Burke, this is no
good, man. Let me come inside and talk to you. Okay?"
Keeping his hands in sight, he pulled open the screened door. The wooden
door behind it was unlocked. Mac pushed it open, hesitated a moment,
then stepped inside.
Eyes darting about, he gave the single room a quick survey.
"Son of a bitch!"
He felt like a fool, and was exceedingly frustrated, because the shack
was deserted, and it was immediately obvious that it hadn't been
occupied for a long time. Not by humans anyway. A varmint had chewed up
part of the seat cushion in one of the armchairs. Roaches headed for
cover. A spider ignored him as he continued to weave his web around the
lantern hanging on a peg. Water dripped ponderously from the faucet over
the stained kitchen sink.
Joe Basile had been wrong. Either that, or he was as wily as his older
brother and, sensing danger for Burke, had deliberately sent his
gullible colleague on a wild goose chase.
Now what? Now what was he fucking going to do? He couldn't go back
without Basile. Without Basile ... He didn't even want to think about
it, but suffice it to say that the stinking, scary swamp was nothing
compared to the hell awaiting him back in New Orleans if he didn't
produce Basile.
Disgusted, Mac turned. He drew up short and sucked in a quick breath
when he saw the silhouette outlined in the screened door.
Dredd was baiting a trotline when a car appeared in the gravel lane
leading from the main road. He watched it approach, brake to a crawl,
then come to a stop. The driver alighted. Seeing Dredd, he waved.
"Hi, Dredd." Gregory James came along the pier cautiously, smiling
sickly."How's it going?"
"You peckerwood," Dredd snarled."Where's my boat? I ought to open you up
and use your guts as bait." He brandished the knife he'd been using to
cut up his bait.
Gregory held up his hands in surrender."I'm sorry about your boat.
I'll pay for it. My daddy's rich."
"What are you doing here? Too bad you weren't here earlier. You just
missed your friend Burke Basile."
"Where is he?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Can we go inside and talk?"
Dredd turned away."I got better things to do."
"Dredd, please. Look at me."
Dredd stopped what he was doing and looked more closely at the younger
man's face. Parts of it were still swollen and rearranged. It was badly
bruised. But between the bruises, his skin was pale, and his features
were pinched and tense.
Mumbling self-deprecations to his softheartedness, Dredd motioned for
Gregory to follow him into the store. As soon as they got inside,
Gregory began babbling."I only have ten minutes."
"Till what?"
"Till they come here after you. They're going to hold you at gunpoint if
they have to, torture you, I don't know. But they're not going home
without Remy Duvall and Burke Basile, and you're going to take them to
their hiding place."
"The hell I am."
"Then they'll kill you."
"Who's they?"
"Men who work for Duvall."
"Bardo?"
He shook his head."Bardo stayed in the city. These are two other guys,
guys who were waiting for me at my house when I got home."
"I'm still listening."
"I made a deal with Duvall last night. I could either go to jail with
the assurance of being locked up with bull queers who'd have their way
with me until my bowels ruptured and I bled to death, or I could lead
these hit men to the last place where I last saw Basile and Duvall's
wife."
Dredd snorted with contempt."Sounds like you made yourself a sweet deal,
you chickenshit faggot."
"If I had really accepted the deal, would I be warning you?" Gregory
said, his voice squeaky with desperation."Besides, after I've expended
my usefulness, they'll exterminate me, too."
"So that's why you're warning me? So I'll protect you?"
"Probably. But, I don't know ..." He tugged on his lower lip, drawing
blood from a cut still there."I felt bad about screwing up Basiles plan.
It's on account of me that Mrs. Duvall got shot. Or l l l maybe it's
because I've always taken the coward's way out and this is a way to
redeem myself."
"Save it for confession," Dredd said scornfully. Ash Wednesday's still
two days away. You can make atonement then."
"Okay, I don't blame you for mistrusting my motives. But we're down to
seven minutes. They're waiting at the main road. If I'm not back to
report that there are no other customers in the store, they're going to
come in, pretending to be fishermen, and take you off guard."
Dredd thoughtfully scratched his chin through his beard."If you're being
straight with me, why'd you lead them here?"
"So I would at least have a fighting chance of getting out of this
alive."
"How do I know you're not setting me up? How do I know that you're not
betraying me by pretending to betray Duvall?"
"Do you think I'm that clever?"
Dredd gave him a long, calculating look."Good point."
"So you believe me?"
"Call me a damn fool," Dredd muttered, "but I think I do."
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know yet. But you need to sit down before you fall down.
You're as nervous as a whore in church. Thirsty? I'll get you a Dr.
Pepper."
Gregory gratefully took a chair at the table Dredd indicated. From the
corner of his eye Dredd saw him recoil from the baby alligator heads.
A dozen of them had been shellacked and left to dry on the table.
"Here." Dredd passed him an opened can of the cold drink. Gregory
clutched it with a shaking hand and gulped it
"What's our plan?" he
asked between drinks.
"I'll be on the pier, fishing."
"Okay," Gregory agreed."Where will I be?"
Dredd peered deeply into the younger man's eyes."Hmm?"
"I shaid ... I shaid ... Wha'thu hell?"
Going out like a light, Gregory fell forward, his head thumping on the
tabletop an inch from one of the gators' gleaming, open maws.
'"The boy just can't hold his Dr. Pepper."
Dredd moved behind Gregory, caught him beneath the arms, and dragged his
limp form into the bedroom, where he placed him on the far side of the
bed between it and the wall. It wasn't an ideal hiding place, but it
would be temporary.
Gregory would wake up with a slight headache from banging his head on
&nbs
p; the table, but he would suffer no aftereffects from the sleeping potion
that Dredd had added to his soft drink. It was a small dosage, just
enough to knock him unconscious and keep him out of the way while Dredd
dealt with Duvall's goons.
The adrenaline rush he was experiencing was better than any drug Mother
Nature or Man had devised. He didn't miss the bullshit politics of his
former job, the rules and regulations, the confinement, but he did miss
the excitement. Until now, he hadn't realized how badly he'd missed it.
He was looking forward to the next several minutes.
If Gregory was telling the truth, and if his calculations were correct,
Dredd figured he had four minutes at the outside until the "fishermen"
showed up. Between now and then, he had a lot to do.
"Hey, Mac. What brings you out this way?"
"You scared the shit out of me."
Burke pulled open the screened door and stepped into the cabin.
"Who were you expecting?"
"Nobody. I mean, I was expecting you to be inside here with Mrs.
Duvall."
"Really?"
"Yeah, your brother "
"I know all about it. I spoke to Joe this morning. He told me about your
frantic phone calls. I don't appreciate the fright tactic you used on
him, Mac."
"I had no choice."
"So what's the crisis?"
"Goddamn it, Burke, cut the crap," Mac exclaimed."You've gone round the
bend. You've kidnapped Pinkie Duvall's wife and you're hiding her here
in your fishing cabin."
"That's only partially true," Burke said blandly."I have gone 'round the
bend, and I did kidnap Mrs. Duvall, but I had the good sense not to
bring her here."
Dredd had warned him against taking Remy to his fishing cabin, where it
was possible someone eventually would come looking for them. Instead, he
had suggested that Burke use a shack he owned and sometimes leased out.
It was similarly equipped, but located in a more remote spot on a
hard-to-find slough off a seldom-navigated bayou. Because he had heeded
Dredd's advice, the hideaway was still a secret known only to him and
Dredd.
"If you're looking for Mrs. Duvall here, you're cold, Mac. Very cold.
You're also trespassing. Clear out."
"Burke, listen to me, please. I know you've never thought too highly of
me. Fine. I know I got on your nerves, and you probably think I'm a
lousy cop. That's okay, too. Think what you want, but give me credit for
knowing what I'm talking about this one time. He's going to kill you."
"I assume you're referring to Duvall."
"He won't dirty his hands, but he'll have your head on a plate, or he'll
die trying."
"That's what I'm counting on. That he'll die trying."
"And you'll spend the rest of your life in prison."
"I'm familiar with the criminal statutes for the state of Louisiana but
thanks all the same for the brush-up course and for your advice.
Now, I'm busy. See ya, Mac."
Mac stepped around Burke, placing himself between Burke and the open
door."Is she all right?"
"Hell, yes, she's all right," Burke answered angrily."Do you think I
would hurt a woman?"
"No, but I didn't think you'd kidnap one either!" Mac shouted.
Then, getting a grip on his temper, he used a more reasonable tone.
"I'm trying to keep you from ruining your life. You're up to your
hairline in shit, but it's not too late to reverse the situation.
Return Mrs. Duvall to her husband. Then, with my help, maybe this thing
can be worked out."
Burke laughed."Duvall's not going to forgive and forget that I took his
wife, Mac. What dreamworld are you living in?"
"Okay then, let me take her off your hands and return her home.
You disappear. End of story."
"The end of the story doesn't come until Duvall's heart stops beating
and Bardo is dead. Before they die, I'm going to have them identify the
cop who's been selling out our division, and then I'm going to kill him,
too."
"You're turning murderer?"
"Executioner for crimes committed."
"That's not up to you."
"Apparently it is."
"Leave it to Internal Affairs."
Burke laughed again, more bitterly than before."They're as corrupt as
the rest. Even if they sniffed out the traitor, do you think they'd turn
him over to the D.A.? Hell, no. Nobody in the N.O.P.D is going to do a
goddamn thing except heap cover-up onto cover-up and line their own
pockets in the process."
"There are some honest cops, too, Basile. One fewer now that you
resigned."
"Those few can't change things."
"Will more killing bring Kev Stuart back?"
It occurred to Burke that he'd never seen his young partner this earnest
about anything. He was desperate, and so jittery he'd almost developed a
facial tick.
"What are you doing here, Mac?"
"I told you."
"What you told me was bullshit. You didn't stick your neck out for me
because you admire me. It's not like we were blood brothers.
There's something wrong with this picture. What is it?"
Mac's eyes shifted away from Burke's for several seconds before
reconnecting."I'm into a loan shark for fifty grand."
"I see," Burke said, putting the pieces together."It's starting to make
sense now. Duvall found out about your debt and offered to pay it off if
you delivered me and his wife to him. That explains your desperation."
"What could I do, Burke? They threatened to hurt Toni."
Burke grabbed him by the front of his shirt."Did you lead them here?"
"No, hell no." Mac wrestled himself free."I was supposed to meet them
last night, but I failed to show. I hoped to find you before they found
me. They don't know where I am."
'"Well, they'll find out. See you, Mac. Good luck."
Burke tried to move past him, but Mccuen blocked him again.
"Basile, I swear, I wouldn't risk coming through that goddamn swamp to
find you if this was just about money. My parents-in-law would cover my
debt if I asked them to. There's much more to this than you know."
"Yeah, and I'm sure it makes for interesting conversation, but right now
I'm a little pressed for time." Burke was worried about Remy being alone
in the shack. He'd been away much longer than he'd anticipated.
Besides, nothing Mac said would sway him. The guy was untrustworthy.
What guarantee did he have that Mac hadn't led Bardo and a team of
assassins straight to him? He would retrieve the boat where he'd hidden
it on the bank, then return to Dredd's shack with dispatch. He wasn't
worried about Mac tracking him. He would be easy to shake in the
labyrinth of bayous.
Mac grabbed his arm."I can help you, Basile. We can help each
other."
"You're only interested in helping yourself. Now get the hell out of my
way."
"I can't let you go through with this."
"You can't stop me."
When Burke tried to shove him aside, Mac reached toward the small of his
back.
"Jesus, Mac, no!"
But he needn't have worried about M
ac shooting him. Before Mac could get
a grip on his weapon, Burke heard a gunshot. Mac looked at Burke with
stunned surprise, then his eyes went blank and he pitched forward.
fredd heard the car's approach."Haven't had more than three customers
this week," he said to himself."This morning, I'm doing a land-office
business."
According to Gregory's schedule, Duvall's men were right on time.
Maybe the boy was seeking redemption after all.
Two car doors were heard opening and shutting, then footsteps crunched
through gravel."Good morning," a voice called out.
"Same to you, asshole," Dredd said beneath his breath, not loud enough
for his visitors to hear.
"They biting this morning?"
