by Stuart Woods
“My condolences to you and your friend’s family.”
“Unnecessary,” Stone replied. “Save them for the Russian.”
Cupie’s eyebrows shot up. “Your friend offed the Russian?”
“Close, but not quite. The Russian came after him with a knife, and my friend put him in the hospital for several days.”
“Out of professional curiosity, may I know the extent of his injuries?”
“He would have cut the man’s leg off, if the shinbone hadn’t gotten in the way.”
Cupie blinked. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
“Sorry?”
“Not for the Russian, for your friend. The only thing worse than having the Russian trying to kill you would be having tried to kill the Russian and failed.”
“The man is of a vengeful nature, then?”
“He’s the last man on earth I’d want to have a grudge against me—except, maybe, your friend. Would you like me to arrange some personal security for him?”
“I think he’s already demonstrated the lack of a need,” Stone replied. “The Russian is the one who’s limping. Now, what’s all this about Dax Baxter?”
“Ah, I almost forgot. Apparently, you have somehow offended Mr. Baxter. Do you have any idea how?”
“Well, when he applied for membership in the Arrington Club, I signed the rejection. That was this very morning.”
“And he knows that?”
“I expect so.”
“So, you’ve humiliated him?”
“Not unless he tells all his friends. We didn’t publish the letter.”
“All Dax’s friends would fit into a phone booth, if such still existed,” Cupie said. “May I ask how you delivered the rejection letter?”
“By e-mail, I believe.”
“That’s good, because it isn’t lying on his desk where his staff could read it.”
“What do I care?”
“Well, if somebody who is acquainted with the gossip industry saw the letter, it might soon find itself in the wrong mailbox.”
“Not my problem,” Stone said.
“Dax’s office called me this morning and told me to get my ass to his office in a hurry.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“Only when there’s nobody else he could call. Anyway, I went over there and he threw a thick Google printout at me—all about you—and hired me to find out something that could ruin you. He’s paying twenty-five grand, half in advance.”
“Well, I wish I could help you, Cupie, but I don’t know of anything that could allow Dax Baxter to ruin me.”
Their lobster salads arrived; Ana joined them and was introduced.
“Cupie, here, is an ace private eye,” Stone said to her, “and he has just been telling me that Dax Baxter has hired him to ruin me because of the rejection letter I signed.”
“Ruin you? How’s he going to do that?”
“I’ve just been trying to think of a way, so that Cupie can collect the other half of his fee, but so far, nothing.”
“Ana,” Cupie said, “perhaps you know some dirty little secret of Stone’s that you could share with me?”
“Well,” she said, “I ran a check on him recently, and he appears to be as clean as a hound’s tooth.”
Stone put down his fork and swallowed. “You ran a check on me?”
“Of course, darling. I don’t go jetting off to L.A. with a man I don’t know everything about. It’s not good for a girl’s rep.”
“And it’s how I stay in business,” Cupie said, handing her a business card. “I’m at your service at all times.”
“Since I have been unable to assist Cupie,” Stone said to her, “perhaps your investigation turned up something damning.”
“I’m afraid not,” she said to Cupie. “As I said, as clean as a hound’s tooth.”
“That’s very disappointing,” Cupie replied, then he brightened. “Here’s a thought,” he said. “We think of something so obviously untrue that no one would ever believe it. I give that to Dax, he circulates it, then you sue him for defamation and nail him to the wall.”
“That is an absolutely terrible idea, Cupie,” Stone said. “If you do that, half the people who read or hear this ‘obviously untrue’ thing that no one will believe, will believe it, and my sterling character will forever be besmirched.”
“Well, there is that,” Cupie said.
“Cupie,” Stone said, “I’m afraid my contribution to your Dax-generated enterprise is going to have to begin and end with lunch.”
“And a very fine lunch it has been,” Cupie replied, putting down his fork and sipping his Puligny-Montrachet. “I consider it a good use of my time.”
“For which Dax is paying,” Stone said, “not I.”
“I cede you that point,” Cupie said. “Billing will not occur.”
“I hear that Mr. Baxter has a reputation for being reluctant to pay his debts,” Stone said.
“A well-earned reputation,” Cupie said. “I compensated for that by doubling my fee and getting half up front in cash.”
“Then you will both be happy,” Stone said. “You will have been paid, and Dax will believe he has screwed you.”
“A happy circumstance, is it not?” Cupie said, beaming. He shook hands, thanked Stone for the lunch, and departed.
39
THE RUSSIAN SAT watching 60 Minutes on TV, when Bear performed his usual hammering on the door. “Come in, Bear!” he shouted.
Bear came in, puffing a little. “What’s so urgent?” he asked.
“Tonight’s the night,” the Russian said. “Billy Barnett and his girl having dinner up the beach from his house.”
“How do you know that?”
“You are not only person working for me, Bear—others, too. We will be there when they leave restaurant. No moon tonight, pretty dark parking lot. We take the van.”
“Okay, I’m in,” Bear said. “I want that girl.”
“Not until Dax is there,” the Russian said. “He want very much to see you in action.”
“Okay,” Bear said.
The Russian picked up a cane, one heavier than his usual. “You drive,” he said, tossing Bear the keys.
• • •
TEDDY AND SALLY had had what Easterners call a “shore dinner,” deep fried, with a bottle of good California Chardonnay.
“I think I’m relaxed again,” Sally said. “Life is back to normal.”
“You go ahead and relax,” Teddy said.
“You’re not relaxed, are you?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he replied.
“Is there a gun under the jacket?”
Teddy shook his head. “No, not necessary.”
“If you say so.”
Teddy asked for the check and paid it. They both used the restroom on the way out.
It was a cool, beach evening; the sun had gone, and there was a breeze. Teddy used the remote to find the car in the dark, crowded lot. Its taillights came on with a beep. They were walking past a gray van when something bit Teddy on the neck. He slapped at it and discovered that whatever it was was embedded in his flesh. He had just a moment to figure it out, then he collapsed onto the pavement. The last thing he heard was Sally crying his name.
• • •
THE RUSSIAN PUT his cane, which contained a dart gun, back in the van. He knew they would be out for at least an hour, so he didn’t worry. Half an hour later they arrived at Dax’s old house in the Hollywood Hills. They pulled into the garage and Bear unloaded their cargo.
The Russian bound Teddy’s hands and feet with duct tape and dumped him to one side, then Bear took Sally over to a Ping-Pong table against the other wall, laid her on it, and stripped her.
The Russian came over with some cord. “How you want her?”
The Russian ran the cord from her hands to the double legs in the center of the table, while Bear adjusted her position.
“There,” Bear said. “I want her now.”
“I told you,” the Russian said, “not until Dax gets here. He wants to watch, and he may even want to help.”
“I don’t need no help,” Bear said.
The Russian used a throwaway cell phone to dial an identical one.
• • •
DAX WAS WATCHING TV when he heard the phone ring in the next room. He ran for it. “Hello,” he said breathlessly.
“You know who this is?” the Russian asked.
“Of course I know who it is. Why are you calling? I told you not to use this phone until—”
“You told me to call when I got them,” the Russian said.
Dax’s heart leaped. “You’ve got them? Already?”
“That’s what I say.”
“Where?”
“At the other place, you know.”
“Jesus,” Dax said, “the cops are all over me. I can’t come now.”
“The cops what?”
“They’ve been watching me to protect me. They’ve got a bug on the Porsche.”
“What about the other car?”
“Of course.” Dax had not been thinking clearly. “I’ll be there in an hour or so. I want to be sure I’m not followed.”
“Take your time, they not going anywhere.” He hung up.
“Dax will be a while,” the Russian said.
“Can I start entertaining the girl?” Bear asked.
“You know not. Not without Dax. He pays, you know. He don’t pay you for your pleasure. Take the load off, relax awhile.” There was a TV in the garage; the Russian turned it on, and they dragged a couple of old chairs in front of it and settled in.
• • •
THE FIRST THING Teddy knew was the sound of the TV. He opened his eyes and saw Sally across the room, tied to a Ping-Pong table, still out. The same dart would have affected her for longer, because of her lighter body weight.
Teddy breathed deeply, trying to clear his head, but otherwise, he did not move. He heard someone get up, walk, and open a refrigerator. “You want beer?” a voice asked.
That, Teddy knew, was the Russian.
“Yeah,” another voice replied. Two beer cans could be heard popping.
Teddy was lying on his stomach in a dimly lit space, his feet and hands bound. He did his best to stretch the tape binding his hands, but it didn’t help much.
Teddy heard two voices laugh together as his captives watched TV. The other voice was deeper. It was the man whose photograph he had taken, the hairy one. He could not see them, so he didn’t know if they could see him. They laughed again at the TV.
Teddy knew he would have been searched for weapons, but he knew something they didn’t. Slowly, quietly, he raised his feet toward his back. His feet did not quite reach his hands. He moved his legs several times, stretching his thigh muscles. He managed to get a finger inside one of his loafers and hold it there, while he relaxed his legs for a moment. Now he could pull his legs toward his hands, but not yet far enough. He got two fingers inside the loafer and pulled it off his heel, so that now, only his toe was inside the shoe. He took a few breaths then made an all-out effort to pull the shoe off his foot, and in so doing, managed to bump into the wall, making a noise.
“You hear something?” the deep voice asked. “Listen.”
The sound of the TV was muted, and all was quiet.
“Nothing. You nervous?”
“No, I just thought I heard something. I guess it’s nothing.”
“They both still out,” the Russian said.
Teddy waited for them to become absorbed in the TV again. When they laughed, he took hold of his shoe with one hand, and with the other, pressed a slightly raised place on the heel, then he grasped the heel and pulled. It came away in his hand.
He grasped half the heel, which was now a handle; at the other end was a three-inch, double-sided blade, very sharp.
Teddy’s knives were always very sharp.
40
DAX SWITCHED OFF the garage lights, got into the Bentley Mulsanne, and opened the door. He drove down the driveway to the street and stopped, looking both ways. Nothing. He accelerated carefully, avoiding the racetrack roar that the V-12 engine made when punched, and turned onto the main road.
He was surprised at how much traffic there was. He kept seeing cars in his rearview mirror that might have lights on top. He drove for half an hour, then pulled into a driveway and called the Russian.
“Yes?” the Russian said.
“This is going to take some time, there’s a lot of traffic, and I’ve got to be careful.”
“Bear and I want to fuck her,” the Russian said.
“All right, but leave her in good enough shape for me, and above all, don’t finish them until I’m there.” He hung up.
• • •
TEDDY HAD LISTENED to the Russian’s end of the conversation while he used the knife to cut the tape on his ankles and hands. It was hard to do without wounding himself.
“Dax is delayed,” he heard the Russian say. “He says we can fuck her, but not to tear her up. He wants to be here to finish her.”
Teddy finished with the tape, then he took off his other shoe and retracted another knife. He heard the Russian and the one called Bear taking their clothes off, then a light was switched on over the Ping-Pong table. Good, he thought. That would blind them to him in the shadows. He got to his feet and waited.
The Russian and the Bear, both naked now, approached the table.
“Me, first,” the Bear said. “I’m ready.”
Teddy had never seen anything like the man’s penis. He had to be quick now. The Russian stood with his back to Teddy, watching the table. Sally was moaning, trying to talk—the first sounds she had made. Teddy walked up behind the Russian in his bare feet, noiselessly, and tapped him on the shoulder. The Russian spun around, and before he could react further, Teddy threw an arm over his shoulder, to keep him from backing up, then inserted the knife into the man’s belly, just above the pubic hair.
The Russian struggled, but Teddy held him close as he drew the knife quickly up his belly, all the way to the sternum. Then he let the man go.
The Russian staggered back a step or two, making a squealing noise and hugging himself, trying to hold his intestines in. The Bear stood transfixed for a moment, then grabbed the Russian and lowered him to the floor. It was not until he stood up again that Teddy had his full attention.
“I’m going to cut that thing off,” Teddy said.
The Bear made a move toward him, and Teddy punched him twice in the solar plexus with his left hand, which held the other knife. The Bear looked at him, astonished. Blood gushed from the two wounds, spilling onto the Russian, mingling with the other man’s blood. He collapsed.
Then Teddy did what he had said he was going to do.
• • •
DAX FINALLY CONVINCED himself that he was unpursued, then headed for the Hollywood Hills.
• • •
TEDDY CUT SALLY FREE, held her for a moment, then helped her find her clothes. While she was dressing, he went to a sink in the corner and cleaned himself up, then he found his shoes and reinserted the two knives into the loafers.
He wiped down anything they had touched.
Sally was calm and still a little groggy. “You’ve got blood on your shirt and pants,” she said. The whole time she had not looked at the two butchered men.
Teddy took a cell phone from the TV table, then found a raincoat on a peg next to the garage door and put it on. “Let’s go,” he said. She came to him, he pressed
the garage door button to open it, she walked outside, then he pressed it again and ducked under it before it could close.
They walked to the end of the driveway and looked around. The neighborhood was deserted.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked.
“Downhill,” he replied. “All roads lead to Sunset Boulevard. We’ll find a cab.” He took her hand, and they started downhill.
• • •
DAX APPROACHED THE HOUSE from the uphill side, and as he turned into the driveway, his headlights flashed on two people half a block down the hill, as they turned a corner. “Pedestrians!” he said aloud to himself. “They could get arrested for that around here.”
He got out of the car, tapped a code into a keypad next to the garage, and one of the two doors opened. He walked inside and, for a moment, couldn’t understand what he was seeing. The Ping-Pong table was flooded in light, and next to it, in a heap, were two bodies. There was blood everywhere.
“Where are you?” he screamed. “I told you not to kill them before I got here. Then he looked again and saw that both bodies were naked men, one of them missing something important.
Dax ran to the back wall and threw up into the utility sink there. Twice. Finally, he stopped vomiting, splashed some water on his face, and washed off the soles of his shoes. He went to the other side of the garage, skirting the pond of blood, went outside, and closed the garage door. He was shaking uncontrollably. He got into the car and sat, taking deep breaths until he got ahold of himself. Had the two men killed each other?
Then, as his mind cleared, he realized that Billy Barnett had killed them both, and horribly. For the first time he began to grasp what kind of man this was, one he had tried to murder twice.
He drove back to his house carefully, not speeding, stopping for every light.
• • •
TEDDY AND SALLY retrieved their car from the restaurant parking lot and drove home. Inside the house, he put his clothes into the washing machine and turned it on, then he got into a robe and went back to the living room. “Would you like a drink?” he asked Sally.
“Yes, please.”
