Adelina studied the ceiling.
“I thought not. From the little I’ve seen of her, I don’t think she’s going to like it very much, either.”
Eli wiped his nose with the back of his arm. “Why didn’t you take the tortoises and go to Sulfin’s if that’s the case?” he demanded. “Why are you here now with me?”
“I’m here,” Adelina said, “because I didn’t like what he did to Nestor.”
“And what exactly was that?” I asked.
“You were right. That is the gun that Sulfin used to shoot Nestor with.” She pointed to the automatic I was holding. “I was there. I saw it happen. I arranged everything. I should have left it all alone. I didn’t mean for him to die. I didn’t. It was an accident.” And she started sobbing, too.
“Stop it,” I said.
While Adelina was sniveling, Eli took the opportunity to run for the door.
Chapter 28
“Don’t!” I yelled.
Eli ignored me and kept going.
“I’ll shoot,” I warned.
Eli was almost at the front door when I fired a shot into the floor. The noise wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough to get Eli’s attention.
He froze.
“Get back here.”
Manuel sniggered as Eli pivoted and walked toward me.
“Can’t do anything right, can you, dipstick?” Manuel sneered.
Eli ignored him. His hand went up and fixed his glasses. His lower lip was trembling. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he said to me.
It took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to smash him in the face with the butt of my gun. Instead, I told Eli to get back on the sofa.
“I think I panicked,” he told me as he edged around me.
“Shut up, Eli. I don’t care.”
“I ...”
“Shut the fuck up!” I screamed.
His eyes widened.
“Next time you do something like that, I swear I’ll shoot you,” I said as I gave the gun to Manuel.
“You wouldn’t,” Eli stammered.
“Why not?” I told him. “What’s another dead kid? Keep an eye on them,” I said to Manuel.
He watched me with surprised eyes as I stalked into the kitchen. I needed to call George, but first I needed to calm down and get myself under control. I filled a glass of water and gulped it down. I refilled it and drank the next one more slowly. Sipping it, I thought about how at one time in my life I couldn’t have understood how someone could have beaten the crap out of someone and about how now I could. This was not progress, I decided as I dialed George’s number. He picked up on the second ring.
“I’m thinking about Belize,” I told him in a tone I normally reserved for talking about sex.
“Good. Because my cousin called. We’re on.”
“Tell me about it,” I implored.
“I’ll tell you that if we don’t get this Chapman thing squared away, you might not be going anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” I put the glass down on the kitchen table and wiped my lips off with the back of my hand.
“Mike called. Chapman is downtown, talking about swearing a warrant out for your arrest.”
I cursed under my breath. “For what?”
“I don’t know exactly. Something about having something in the store that you shouldn’t. Do you?”
“No. But I bet that bastard’s going to put something there. Probably tonight when the store is closed.” God only knows it would be easy enough to jimmy open the door and leave something behind. I closed my eyes. I felt a pain in my gut. This was Chapman’s way of letting me know what he was going to do if I didn’t do what he asked.
“Wouldn’t you notice?”
“Not if I weren’t looking for it. Some of the CITES stuff . . . well, you wouldn’t know what is was if you weren’t looking for it . . . but Tim’s good. He’ll be able to pick it out.”
“Where the hell are you anyway?”
“At Eli’s.”
“You’ve got to start checking your answering machine,” George complained. “I’ve been leaving messages on it for the last hour and a half. Did you get the tortoises?”
“I have eight. I have to get two more.”
“Where are they?”
“One is at Sulfin’s. The other is at Littlebaum’s.” I opened my eyes and reached for the package of matches sitting near the stove and started lighting them one after another. “I have to go get them.”
“And then what?”
“Then I call Chapman. I’m going to crucify the son of a bitch.”
“Robin, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. When I do I’ll let you know.” And I hung up.
There were only two things I was certain of: One, I wasn’t going to let Chapman get those tortoises, and two, I wasn’t going to let Chapman ruin my life. I lit a few more matches and watched the arc of their flames as I flicked them into the sink. By now the kitchen was beginning to smell of sulfa, a smell I liked. I pondered over what that said about me as I called Tim.
“Yeah?” he said in a voice that was sodden with sleep.
“It’s Robin.”
There was a short pause, then he said, “Do you know what time it is?”
Why did people always say that when you woke them up? I wondered. Would it be better to wake them up if you didn’t know the time?
“Sorry. I have a favor to ask.”
Tim coughed, but didn’t say anything. I heard the bed creak and bed sheets rustle. He must be sitting up.
“It’s important. Please.”
“What do you want?” Tim finally asked.
“I want you to get dressed and go down to the store and go through our stock and see if you can find anything that needs a CITES certificate.”
“Have you started doing drugs again?”
“Chapman is setting up a raid on our store. He’s planting some stuff there.”
“Like what?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know.”
“Jesus.” Tim groaned. The sheets rustled again. I wondered if anyone else was there. “How do you know this?”
“George told me. So will you?” I asked after another interval of silence had gone by.
“I told you not to get involved in this.” I swear, sometimes Tim reminded me of my mother.
“And you were right.” I lit another match and watched it burn until the flame was almost down to my fingertips before I blew it out. “You’re always right. Now will you go?”
“If I find anything, what do you want me to do with it?”
“Take it to Eli’s house and leave it in the living room. I’ll leave the key in the mailbox for you.”
“You should be glad you have me working for you,” Tim said.
“I am,” I told him, but he’d already hung up.
As I replaced the receiver, I contemplated what I was going to do with Adelina and Eli. Ordinarily I would have called the police and let them sort everything out, but I didn’t want to do that before I got the tortoise from Sulfin, which was why I’d marched Eli and Adelina and Manuel down to my cab.
I would have preferred to drive over to Sulfin’s apartment by myself, but that wasn’t feasible. I had to take everyone with me. I couldn’t leave Adelina and Eli in the flat and expect to find them there when I returned. And I couldn’t leave Manuel behind to guard them because I was afraid he would beat up Eli. Anyway, I was thinking it would be interesting to hear what Adelina and Sulfin had to say to each other.
We were cutting across Teall when Adelina leaned forward and tapped me on the shoulder. “You’re not taking us downtown?”
I stopped for a red light. “Don’t worry. You’re going, but we have a couple of stops to make first.”
Manuel leaned his head against the front seat, and closed his eyes. “These seats are really uncomfortable, Robin. You know that? I think you got a broken spring.”
I ignored him and turned my
head slightly toward the back. “We’re going to Sulfin’s to pick up the tortoise.”
“He’s probably sold him,” Adelina said.
“I hope for your sake he hasn’t,” I replied as I turned onto Burnett.
Adelina compressed her lips and sat back.
It turned out Sulfin kept two places, the one where he lived and the one where he bred his rats. One was conveniently located next to the other.
About five minutes later, Adelina leaned forward and tapped my shoulder again.
“Yes?” I said.
“Sulfin’s going to lie,” she informed me. “He’s going to say he didn’t have anything to do with this, but don’t believe him because he has.”
Manuel snorted. “But you, of course, are telling the truth.”
“Keep out of this,” Adelina snapped at him. “I ain’t asked your opinion.”
Manuel twisted around in his seat to face her. “Well, I’m giving it. You know, girl, you should keep your mouth shut. Everything you touch turns to shit.”
Adelina put on a hurt face. “You got no cause to say that.”
“I got every cause. You fucked up my cousin. That gives me every right. Look at him.”
I could see Eli in the rearview mirror. He was hiccuping and quietly crying at the same time.
“He was fine until you got to know him,” Manuel continued. “Now he’s a mess.”
“What do you care?” Adelina taunted. “Given what you said to him.”
We came to a stoplight. I told everyone to shut up.
Manuel turned back around and faced front. “Well, I’m only telling it like it is,” he replied. “She fucks over everyone she meets. Eli, Sulfin, Nestor. Man, I’m surprised . . .”
“Don’t go any further,” I ordered, cutting him off.
Manuel shut up, but a few minutes later, he and Adelina started in again. By the time I parked the cab, I was deeply regretting having done this. Unfortunately, the evening’s fun really began when we got inside Sulfin’s apartment.
His apartment building hadn’t gotten any better since the last time I’d been here. It was still a wreck of a place, a large asphalt-shingled house that had been subdivided into several apartments. Sulfin’s was number two. The place where he bred his rats was number three. We walked up a narrow set of worn down steps to the first landing. I told Adelina to knock on Sulfin’s door. When he opened it, Adelina and I stepped inside. Manuel and Eli reluctantly followed.
“We’re here to clarify a few things,” I said to Sulfin, who was dressed in jeans and a tight T-shirt that made his head look even larger and his chest punier.
He looked at all of us. “At this time of night?”
“Why not? Are we disturbing you?”
“No. I was just watching TV.” And he indicated the set, which was on.
“How come you’re up?” I inquired.
He shrugged. “I don’t go to sleep until late. I never have. I like the night better than the day. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“So ratboy is a vampire,” Manuel commented to no one in particular.
“Shut up,” Sulfin told him. “At least I’ve got me some plans, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you.”
“I got plans,” Manuel shot back.
“Like what?” Sulfin demanded.
“Like going to OCC, right, Robin. Right, Robin,” Manuel repeated when I didn’t immediately reply.
“Of course,” I replied absentmindedly as I glanced around the apartment. “Absolutely.”
Sulfin’s place was small and somewhat messy, but it appeared rodent free. It also looked as if someone had run amok with paint samples. In the living room someone had painted two walls pale orange and the other two bright green. The ceiling was yellow. None of the colors went with the purple cloths draped over the love seat and sofa. The red rug, one of those cheap ones you get from a roadside stand, with a picture of the pyramids embossed on it, added another pleasing touch. The effect was enough to make me seasick.
“Interesting decor,” I commented as I walked over to the coffee table. It was covered with parts of a model airplane, a couple of knives, and a tube of cement.
“Thanks. I like it.”
I picked up a gray plastic wing.
“I’d appreciate if you didn’t touch that,” Sulfin said, and took it out of my hand. “It’s delicate.”
The model box had a picture of a World War II German Messerschmitt on it.
“Where’s Barnaby?” I asked.
“Sleeping in his cage. Now what do you want? I want to get back to my program.”
“I want the tortoise for openers.”
Sulfin put his hands on his hips. “I bought him.”
“Then I guess you made a bad purchase.”
“You can’t take him from me.”
I laughed. “Of course I can. You shouldn’t have him in the first place. Now where is he?”
Sulfin folded his arms across his chest and planted his feet on the floor.
“Come on. Make this easier. It’s not as if I’m not going to find it.”
“It’s not here.”
“I think it is.”
Sulfin remained silent.
“Manuel, go see,” I ordered.
He straightened up. “Why me?” he whined. Then he took a look at my expression and left.
Sulfin’s mouth looked like a prune as he watched Manuel leave. “I want my money back,” he told Adelina.
“Talk to her,” Adelina said, indicating me with a toss of her head.
“Don’t bother asking, because it’s gone,” I informed him.
“That’s not right,” Sulfin protested.
“Neither are a lot of other things,” I said, thinking of Nestor. I was about to say something else when Manuel returned. He was carrying the tortoise in his hand. It was a little larger than his palm. The starburst pattern of its shell was lost in the room’s bright colors.
“Where was it?” I asked him.
“In a box in Sulfin’s bedroom. Now what?”
“Call George and tell him to pick you up and drive you back to Eli’s. I want you to leave the tortoise there.”
Manuel grimaced.
“And be sure and wrap the tortoise up in something before you take it out—I don’t want it getting cold.”
“Anything else?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yes. You can hand me the phone when you’re done.”
While Manuel spoke to George, I watched Adelina, Sulfin, and Eli. They were all glowering at each other. Their brief partnership had dissolved like sugar in hot water. Now all they wanted to do was save themselves.
Chapter 29
It took George ten minutes to drive over to Sulfin’s. During that time the silence in the room was broken only by the sound of the TV. We all kept our eyes fixed on the screen. The air was thick with unspoken recriminations. No one said anything. We were all too tired. Everyone looked up when George walked through the door.
“So, this is what the fuss is about,” he said, taking in the tortoise in Manuel’s hand. “I mean, it’s pretty. But ten thousand dollars?” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“There are probably no more than two thousand of these species left in the wild. For all practical purposes, it’s a museum piece already.” I shrugged. “It’s all about supply and demand.”
“What isn’t?” George gestured to Adelina, Manuel, and Eli. “What are you going to do with them?”
“As soon as I hear from Tim, I’m going to take them downtown.” Eli opened his mouth and I told him to close it. “Tim just got to the store,” I continued. “Hopefully, it won’t take him long to find what Chapman left.”
“All right, then.” George gave me a peck on the cheek. Then he and Manuel left.
I suppressed a shiver as the door closed. I didn’t know whether I was cold because it was cold in here or because I was tired and hungry.
“So, we just have to sit here and wait,” Sul
fin complained, having suddenly become reenergized.
“That’s right.” I massaged my wrist and leaned against the wall. I hoped Tim would call soon. I was so tired my teeth were hurting. And the colors in this room weren’t helping things. The red rug and the acid-green walls pulled at my nerves.
“Why?” Sulfin demanded. His eyes had sunk further into his head. They looked like two raisins that had been left in the oven for too long. “Why take us downtown? You have what you want. Let us leave.”
“There’s the slight matter of Nestor,” I reminded him.
“I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Sulfin retorted. “It’s not my problem.”
“You’re wrong,” I answered, trying to work the kink out of my neck, tilting my head first to the right and then to the left. “Someone is dead. That’s everyone’s problem.”
“Not mine,” Sulfin insisted.
“You’re a liar,” Adelina told him, her face flushed.
“And you’re crazy.”
Adelina pointed to me. “She has the gun. Now what do you have to say?”
“What gun?” Sulfin asked, feigning ignorance. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“She’s talking about this.” I took the 9mm out from my pocket, and showed it to him.
Sulfin barely glanced at it. “Get real,” he sneered. “I wouldn’t kill anyone—not even Nestor. Not that that two-bit piece of shit didn’t deserve it. She just wants to get me in trouble because I dumped her.” He grinned. “What’s that line about don’t dump your lady, ’cause they’ll come back and do you? Well, she wants to do me good.”
Adelina walked over to where he was standing. “No, Ratboy,” she spat. “Remember. I dumped you.”
He wiggled his tongue inside his mouth. “You couldn’t get enough of me.”
Adelina put her hands on her hips and thrust out her breasts. “You’re a freak! I just slept with you because I felt sorry for you and I thought you needed something in your life for a little while besides those disgusting rodents of yours.”
Sulfin took a step toward her. “That’s a lie and you know it.”
I showed them the gun. “Enough.”
Sulfin bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. “All you got is talk.”
Endangered Species Page 25
