The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.)

by Marnie Perry

  Her eyes widened at the implication but he ignored her shocked expression and went on, ‘and he didn’t kill you either did he? So what reason would be there for him to lie now?’

  She looked away hurt that he could speak so causally of the hit put out on her, as if he was saying, “oh your life was threatened? Tough, get over it.”

  Olivia once told me that in the world in which she lived…if you can call it living…if a crime boss died his possessions were passed onto the next in line, to someone else, like chattels. Maybe Hennessey thinks that now Glissando is dead she rightfully belongs to someone else. Perhaps that’s what he meant by fulfilling the contract. Perhaps he’s gone to bring Olivia back for someone else, someone who will reward him very well.’

  When Lando just looked at her incredulous she rushed on, ‘he said he had principles, maybe he thinks now that he’s been paid he’ll be doing the right thing, by his standards anyway.’

  He snapped, ‘if not for Hennessey I would never have found you and Leyton, not to mention that he saved my life and yours. And he threw down his gun when Glissando threatened to kill you, why would he do that if he didn’t care whether you lived or died?’

  He looked down at his hands as if contemplating the wisdom of what he was about to say next but lifted his head and looking directly into her eyes said, ‘he told me he cared about you.’

  He wasn’t sure if the scornful look was meant for him or Hennessey. She said sardonically, ‘I can do without his brand of caring thank you.’

  Lando said nothing and she looked at him sharply and said incredulously, ‘you did believe him didn’t you.’

  He shrugged not trusting himself to speak. Her tone was contemptuous as she said, ‘is there no one that man can’t take in? He has both you and Ellis lying for him, covering for him, even the government agencies turn a blind eye to his crimes.’ Lando’s incisive expression should have warned her to be careful, but she was too angry to see it or to care if she had, ‘at least I can take some comfort in the fact that I’m not the only one to fall for his charms.’

  His expression hardened but she ignored that too as her head snapped up as she demanded, ‘when did he tell you all of this?’

  His severe expression vanished and he shifted uncomfortably. She lay her head back on the pillows closed her eyes and whispered, ‘oh God, he was here wasn’t he.’ It wasn’t a question so he didn’t answer, ‘he was here in this hospital while I was unconscious.’

  His anger returned and he snapped, ‘stop that, quit panicking, if he was going to hurt you he could have done it any amount of times in the last few days couldn’t he.’

  She snapped back, ‘I’m not concerned about that.’ He frowned and her tone softened, ‘it’s just the thought that he was here, spying on me whilst I slept.’

  ‘He wasn’t, he left as soon as he knew you were going to make it.’

  She sucked in her breath and blew it out slowly trying to calm herself, but couldn’t help looking at the door as though she expected Hennessey to come walking through it, smiling that roguish smile she had once thought so charming but now knew was simply condescending.

  He watched her face and saw the emotions chase one another across it. He sighed deeply and said, ‘look, he told me some things you should know. About why he did what he did to you.’

  She closed her eyes again, ‘I don’t want to hear anymore of his lies.’

  He leaned forward quickly in his seat casing her eyes to pop open in alarm. His face was hard as was his tone as he said, ‘well that’s just too bad, lady, you’re the one who demanded to know everything, so here I am telling you everything and you’re damn well gonna listen.’

  She was disconcerted and at the same time infuriated by his high-handedness, but since she had no choice she did listen as he told her everything that Hennessey had told him, including why he had beat up Maxwell. At this her eyes had opened wide and her face blanched; it was the only time she showed any reaction to what he was telling her. Which surprised Lando, he would have thought she’d be as incredulous as he had been, or at least shocked but no, nothing. But then she had sat and listened to his lies for six days and must be extremely sceptical and unsurprised by anything he might say.

  He added as an aside that he’d heard that Maxwell was going to be all right with no ill effects of the beating he took. Lando sounded to her as though he was sorry there wouldn’t be.

  When he’d finished there was a profound silence, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall and their breathing.

  Lando was now regretting his imperiousness but he believed it was necessary. She could not go on the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, frightened that Hennessey would one day come to finish what he had started. Hennessey was on his way to assure one woman that she was no longer in danger and he had entrusted him with the same task for this woman.

  Eventually she broke the silence by asking the same question she had asked before, ‘did you believe him?’

  He let out a long breath, ‘I was a cop for ten years and in that time I prided myself on my ability to spot a liar.’ He did not add that he had not seen the most important lie of all, ‘if Hennessey was lying, he’s the best I’ve ever met.’

  He took an envelope from his pants pocket, ‘the agent I spoke to gave me this. It’s a dossier on the man they believe to be Sterling Hennessey. They lifted his prints and once they knew he had been a marine they checked with military intelligence and got this.’ He held up the envelope, ‘there’s not much. I believe there’s more but Montayne is holding most of it back. Hennessey used the name Sterling Callaghan to sign up, it might be his real name but I doubt it. Before he joined the marines there's nothing, it's as thought he didn't exist before he was eighteen. He took the papers from the envelope.

  ‘He was a decorated marine. When his squad was ambushed in Iraq he single-handedly got them out. The other guys said they had never seen anyone as cool or as unfazed as he was under fire.’ Lando had seen first hand his calm and witnessed his composure under pressure. 'He received the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for bravery on numerous occasions. He was by all accounts an excellent leader and a very brave man. It’s just a pity he didn’t continue to distinguish himself in civilian life.'

  Adela was shocked by this information and even more so by Lando’s seeming admiration. She said quietly, ‘he told me he killed his abusive uncle and two men who had tortured his best friend when he was thirteen years old. He said the marines trained him to do it better, more effectively. That he liked the idea of getting paid for something he enjoyed doing. That’s what he brought into civilian life, Mr. Lando, a better, more efficient and lucrative way of killing.’

  Lando was astounded to think that Hennessey had been so young when he had taken his first life, and also that he would tell her this. How frightened she must have been to witness his coldness, his mercilessness. Hennessey obviously got the reaction he hoped for, but even knowing this she had still stood out against him was a testament to her courage.

  But he said, ‘maybe he thought they deserved it, and by the sounds of it, they did.’

  She was amazed, ‘that’s what the law is for, Mr. Lando, you should know that better than anyone.’

  His eyes flashed and his voice dripped with disdain, ‘the law? The law doesn’t always get it right, and if you think they do you’re a bigger fool than I took you for. And unless you’ve forgotten, I beat a man to death in my own home, so what does that make me, Miss. Judgemental?’

  She was staggered by his attack, not only that he had called her judgemental, her of all people, but that he seemed to be taking Hennessey’s side, and he an ex- policeman too.

  She managed to say, ‘that was different.’

  ‘Oh? How?’

  ‘Because that man would have killed you, you were just defending yourself…and me.’

  The laugh he gave shocked her in its bitterness, ‘how do you know I didn’t enjoy it?

  She paled and her
voice was barely audible, ‘don’t…don’t be silly, of course you didn’t, you’re…you’re not like that.’

  His tone was chilling, ‘oh really? And how would you know what I’m like, lady? Maybe I wasn’t like that once upon a time, but I’ve been to prison don’t forget. Do you know what prison does to a man? It changes him, inside and out, it alters the very fabric of his being. Everything and everyone is a threat, and everyone is a potential killer. And the only way a man knows how to deal with that threat is to attack first, be the aggressor. In the end it comes down to the survival of the toughest, the most deadly. That’s the law of the jungle lady, and we’re all animals,’ he leaned forward menacingly, ‘all of us.’

  She could not tear her eyes from his cold, hostile ones. He smirked, ‘you think you know me, lady, think again.’

  They stared at each other, his eyes now so like Hennessey’s when he had told her what he was, hers stricken and fearful. She swallowed hard then her tone very soft but very earnest said, ‘I don’t believe that.’

  He continued to lean forward his eyes on her face. Then suddenly his lips twisted and he leaned back as he said scathingly, ‘lady, you ought come down from your ivory tower for a while, leave that safe cushy life you’ve led up to now and spend some time in the real world. Get down and dirty with the ordinary, everyday common people who don’t have the luxury of affording a good long vacation to forget their problems, or the funds to hire a fancy lawyer when they find themselves in trouble.'

  There it was again, that belief that she was a spoilt, pampered brat, that she had somehow been shielded from the world and from the cruelties that people inflicted on each other.

  She tried to keep her voice calm, ‘I’ve told you before you don’t know me, you have no idea what my life has been like.’

  ‘Huh, I can guess.’ He replied derisively.

  ‘No, Mr. Lando, I don’t think you can.’

  He raised his eyebrows at her soft but firm response.

  But the fight had gone out of her; she was too tired to be indignant. Besides, no matter what she said he would think what he liked. She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

  As for Lando he regretted his outburst, she was right, he didn’t know her; he only knew she had money, a lot of it, and that had influenced him from the start. And he had let his petty prejudice get the better of him.

  He made a conscious effort to keep his tone mild, ‘you’re tired and need to rest or you’ll never get better.’

  She said nothing but her eyes still closed she nodded her head which he took as a dismissal, he didn’t blame her. He rose to his feet and put the envelope on the bedside table for her to read or not. He said, ‘I’m leaving for Alban now, so I won’t see you again.’

  Again she didn’t answer; he sighed, ‘go home, try to put behind you what happened here. You’re tough; you’ve proved that, you’ll be okay.’

  Now she did open her eyes and he wished she hadn’t, there was no mistaking the pain there and he was sure it wasn’t just down to her physical condition.

  He turned away but paused as she said, ‘Mr. Lando?’ He turned back and waited, when she spoke again her voice sounded very weary but very sincere, ‘thank you, thank you for everything. Have a safe journey home. Goodbye.’

  He stood perfectly still just looking into her eyes for what he knew would be the last time. He wanted to say something, something profound, something meaningful, something memorable, something that would expunge his harsh words from her mind.

  But he couldn’t think of anything, or maybe he just couldn’t bring himself to utter it. Anyway, it was better this way, better that she left hating him; he just wished she had done him the same favour. He said simply, ‘goodbye.’ The he turned and left, feeling as though he was leaving his whole world behind in that white sterile room. He walked out of the hospital and never looked back.

  ********

  Jonas Lando had been back in Alban for four weeks, he had been astounded to find the place neat and tidy, or as neat and tidy as it could be in the aftermath of the fire. Someone had even left food and blankets and candles in the barn, everything he could possibly need for a few days, or even weeks, while he fixed up the cabin.

  The animals had been fed and well cared for. When he had asked Sheriff Lomax about Dante he had been told that the vet had kept him for the time Lando had been gone, treating his injuries and generally taking care of him.

  Most of the damage to the cabin had been at the front of the house and Montayne had been right, the basic structure of the cabin had been saved as well as some of his things, including, to his delight, the old grandfather clock. Although it had sustained smoke and water damage it was repairable as was the bookcase he had been working on.

  On his return he had slept in the barn for the first week until he had gotten the roof fixed. He had worked day and night, trying to make the cabin just the way it had been, but every time he thought he had he found himself looking at something completely different. The door for instance was three feet further to the left. The living room window was bigger and more in the centre than it had been letting in more light.

  But it was the inside that betrayed the most change, before it had been a pale grey colour, he thought it reflected him and his life, but he found himself painting it a warm cream colour, well, he told himself, at least it wasn’t pink. The bedroom he had done a pale blue and the bathroom a kind of gold colour. He had bought some vases and small ornaments to match the colour scheme. When he stood back and surveyed his handy work, instead of being pleased with what he saw he frowned and calling to Dante to stay in his basket he left the cabin and went for a walk in the woods.

  As he walked he thought about Lomax who had called on the morning of his first day back full of what Jason Berringer had told him. He said that Berringer had been very impressed with everything that had happened and with Lando, as well as being highly amused. He said he would be telling that story for years to come.

  He had handed him his Smith and Wesson Chief’s Special which had been found in the cabin. Lando had taken it very slowly from Lomax’s hands and gripped it tightly. Now this was the only thing he had of his time in the force and he was grateful to Lomax.

  The latter had asked about Adela and Leyton and was relieved that they were going to be okay. But he had said he felt sorry in his heart for them both, but particularly the woman who had asked for none of this, but had only tried to do the right and decent thing. Lando had thought that was the second time in two days someone had called her decent. He could not argue with that assessment.

  Lomax had stood looking at the cabin and shaking his head, then asked if Lando needed any help with the repairs. Lando had said rather abruptly that he could manage, then had regretted his abruptness and thanked Lomax and asked him to thank the townsfolk for everything they had done, and also for the food etcetera. Lomax did not tell him that he had informed the town’s people that someone had tried to kidnap the woman and Lando had protected her, almost losing his home and his life into the bargain. This caused a new found respect for Lando from the townsfolk of Alban.

  Then Lomax had asked if he had seen his friend Mr. Brutus. Lando had stiffened but then noticed the glint in the other man’s eyes. He said that no, he hadn’t, and he probably wouldn’t be seeing him again either. Lomax had said that was just as well and Lando had agreed.

  Two days later Lando had gone into town, he had not wanted to and had dreaded it, but not having a vehicle he could not go into the next biggest town for the timber and paint he needed. And since he had only two hundred dollars in his rainy day money, which thankfully he had kept hidden in the barn; he could not afford a cab there and back.

  So into town he went. He had to be very frugal with his money but at the same time not skimp on the building equipment he needed, he didn’t want the cabin blowing away in the next strong gust of wind.

  He had first called into Rose Hosewater's hardware store for his paint and nails and s
o on and was struck dumb when that lady greeted him like a long lost friend. “Mr. Lando,” she enthused, “how are you? Oh your poor face, that must hurt. Are you taking anything for the pain, have you something to put on it? I have some excellent ointment, take care of that right off.”

  He had to wait quite a while before he could assure her that he was all right and that no it didn’t hurt, and no he didn’t need anything to put on it. Nevertheless she had insisted on throwing some of the miracle ointment into his packages. He had given her the extra money but she had refused to take it, saying it was the least she could do for his poor face.

  He had been astonished by her generosity, astonished and dismayed. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t accept charity but did not want to cause a scene in front of the other customers, all of which had greeted him cordially. Plus, he recalled what she and the other townspeople had done for him, and so had thanked her and got the hell outta there.

  On his way down to Jemmy Butlers timber yard he saw a young girl coming the other way. He averted his eyes but she stopped and said pleasantly and rather loudly, ‘Mr. Lando, hey, how are ya? How’re those cute li’l animals 'o yours doin?

  It took a moment for him to recall her from the day of the fire; she was the one whose friend was afraid of Raccoons. As in Rose Hosewater’s place he felt very uncomfortable, he especially did not want to be seen talking to a young woman. He expected one of the several people who passed by to call out any moment for her to get away from the woman killer, but they just nodded and smiled at him. He told the girl that the animals were fine, then as an afterthought he thanked her for what she had done.

  She had waved a hand at him and told him that it was nothing, that she had enjoyed it.

  That she had especially liked looking after that there cute li’l foal, that they had become good friends in the last few days.

  He leaned back stunned. She went on to say that she and one or two others had been calling before and after school to take care of the foal and the other animals. She had smiled wistfully and said she would miss them. This was of course his cue to ask her to call any time, but of course he didn’t, just stood there as though in a trance.