Night Passage js-1

by Robert B. Parker

  “Yes,” Hasty said. “Of course.

  Who’s to do the killing?‘’

  “I figured you could get Jo Jo to do it.

  He’s got a mad on about Stone anyway.”

  “Well,” Hasty said. “I

  don’t know, Lou. I can promise at least to give it serious theoretical consideration.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I’ll think about it, Lou. Meanwhile you sit still, and keep your mouth shut. Until you hear from me.”

  “We need to move fast,” Burke said.

  “I’m aware of that, Lou. And we will, but we will move

  Only‘ ¢ z57 with deliberate Speed. I agree with you that we’ve underestimated Stone, nd we don’t want to underestimate him

  “Yeah, sure, Hasty. Just as long as we get him before he gets us.”

  “He won’t get us, Lou,” Hasty

  said. “You’re on suspension.

  Go home, sit in your house, stay there, and say nothing.“

  “I’m counting on you, Hasty,”

  Burke said.

  “Of course,” Hasty said.

  recent entry back. It took him a day to reach the parts that seemed interesting, and yet another day to cut and paste them together into a narrative that he could study.

  May 11 .—Talked to Hasty Hathaway at the post office.

  He is the most important man in Paradise, kind of old.

  Memorial Day—Hasty Hathaway was talking to me today at the Parade. He acts kind of interested. Its hard to tell with a guy as geeky as he is, but a girl can listen.

  June 28—Had a drink at the 86 last night. Looking good if I do say so. New white sweater, the black jeans I got that make my butt look really good. Hasty Hathaway bought me a drink, took me home. We stopped at Indian Hill on the way, and I thought he was going to come on to me, but we just talked. He’s really kind of nice, sort of a sad person. Who’d think so, all that money and everything.

  But he says him and his wife haven’t got much going in the sex department. Says he’s pretty lonely. Said he needs somebody like me to talk with. I told him he could

  .,take me out to dinner sometime if he wanted. He said he had to be careful in town, him being a married man and all, but we could go into Boston maybe. I said sure. He ti:i said did I mind him married, and I said His wife’s being no.

  Bi married I said, not him. He that cute.

  thought was pretty

  Then be took me home and never even touched me. Strange guy.

  Fun, maybe.

  July 9—ate at the

  Ritz—Wow!!!—fancy as hell, lotta food I didn’t know what It was. We had caviar. I thdn’t like it much. Hasty was asking me a lot of questions about l! Bobby and and how divorced and did I

  come we got

  I have I think be trying to find out boyfriend.

  Mostly a

  was

  I

  :. about our sex life, sort of weird, but he can show a you pretty nice time.

  Ju! 13—We had lunch at a place in town called Loc Ober’s. Really fancy.

  Champagne

  Had

  French too.

  After, f‘

  he said he had at the Parker House and would I a room want to go there with him. lust like that, he said it.

  Like he was inviting me to go fishing or something. I didn’t answer him at first, cause I was thinking about how he’d be kind of funny looking with his clothes off, but I’ve done worse than Hasty, and I was feeling no pain and a girl needs to think about her future. So I say, sure, I’d love to, and we did. I figured a guy his age and all I’d have to work pretty hard to get his motor going, but Hasty was so excited when we got into bed that I thought he was going to come on the bedspread. No work at all. In fact it was over so quick I never really got going myself. After, Hasty gave me a nice ring. Solid gold with a little diamond in it. A real one.

  July 29—-Hasty’s getting better. He lasts long enough now so I get something out of it. I mean it’s not like Bobby and me, but he’s getting the idea about touching me a little bit? first. I’m teaching him different positions.

  It’s like he thought there was only one. No wonder his old lady isn’t interested. I hope what I teach him doesn’t get her interested.

  He’s a good thing for me. I don’t want to lose him.

  August 13—Hasty says he loves me. He gave me a real pearl necklace for our one month anniversary (since we first did it).

  August 24—We had our first fight. Hasty doesn’t want me dating any other guys and I say to him

  “what about you. You got a wife. Maybe you should stop fucking her, you want me to stop.” Hasty says they Only do it twice a month, but he can’t stop because she’d be suspicious. And I tell him he stops fucking her, I’ll stop dating other guys.

  I told him everybody knew his wife was fucking other people.

  And he said he didn’t like that kind of talk, like if he didn’t talk about it it wasn’t happening. At the end he cried and said he loved me and we did it twice and he gave me a nice gold ankle bracelet.

  August 31mHasty heard about me dating Joe Hudson.

  He wanted to know what we did, and I told him none of your business and he got real mad and said he was going to break Up with me if I kept going out with Joe. I told him you do what you want Mister nosy. I go out with anybody I want, unless you want to divorce the old lady and marry me. Well you should have seen his face. But then we did it and he cried while we were doing it and said he could never lose me and after he gave me a really nice set of pearl earrings to match the necklace.

  September 7—I told Hasty I thought it was sick, him asking all that stuff about Joe Hudson and if we had sex and what we did. He said he loved me so much he needed to know everything, and nothing would be as bad as what he imagined. Divorce your wife I told him and marry me, and then we can talk about whatever you want.

  September 8—Poor Hasty is so agitated about me and Hudson, and me wanting him to get divorced. I didn’l mean I’d tell him about me and Joe. That would Ix weird!!!!!!

  But if it gets him, it’s just a little white lie don’t really get it anyway. I do the same thing with Jo Hasty. What’s so different about it???

  September 1 l—I told Hasty I was going to go publi me and him. I got all his letters. I said it was tim for him to either go or get off the pot.

  September 15—Hasty says give him a week. He said h would make it right. I said okay, but I wouldn’t see him until he decided.

  September 17inGot some new jeans at Marshall’s an one of those great midriff sweaters. Going to take mysel out for a few drinks tonight at the 86.

  September 17 was the last entry. Jesse read his cut-and paste narrative sitting alone on the little balcony over looking the harbor.

  It was too cold to sit out there, eve with his jacket on. But somehow it made the reading les painful to be out there, as if the openness of the settinl compensated for the hermetic quality of the small life live, so briefly in the excerpted pages. When he was finished h sat for a long time looking across the harbor at the light from the Yacht Club.

  you in whatever decision you make about Lo B’rket.¢‘

  Jesse nodded without comment. They were sitting at the counter in the Village Room. Jesse had coffee. Hasty had coffee and a large cinnamon roll with white icing on it.

  “We ‘both know it’s not a

  popular decision,” Hasty said.

  “But you’re the professional. You run the department your way.”

  Jesse nodded again. He poured some half-andrhalf into his coffee.

  “When I hire a man I back him until he proves I shouldn’t,” Hasty said.

  He took a bite out of his cinnamon bun. Jesse stirred two sugars into his coffee.

  “I just hope to God you know what you’re doing.”

  “Me too,” Jesse said.

  “You do, don’t you?” Hasty said.

  He was talking around his mouthf
ul of cinnamon bun.

  There were crumbs on his tie.

  “I mean you better have some solid evidence, everybody Lou in town.”

  Jesse nodded and drank some of his coffee.

  “You do, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  /.“i ”It ,,would help me support you if I knew what you !“know, Hasty said.

  Jesse shOOk his head.

  “Why not,” Hasty said. “For

  God’s sake, Jesse, I’m the c ,h ialrm, an of the Board of Selectmen.”

  “I we never gotten in trouble,” Jesse

  said, “being W quiet.”

  “Jesse, damn it, I’m your boss.”

  Jesse smiled at him and said nothing. Hasty started to speak again, and caught himself. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  “You are going to need me on your side,”

  Hasty said finally. “And don’t forget

  it.”

  “I’m counting on you, Hasty.”

  “You could count.on me more,” Hasty said,

  “if I had a better idea of what you’re

  doing.”

  Jesse finished his coffee and put the cup down carefully in the saucer.

  “You’ll be among the first to

  know,” Jesse said and got off the stool. “Coffee on you?” he said.

  Hasty nodded. Jesse stopped at the end of the counter to say hello to a couple of postal clerks having pie and coffee on break. Then he left the Village Room and walked back across the common toward the police station.

  They were in Hasty’s car cruising Route 128, north toward Gloucester.

  “Mistake,” Jo Jo said.

  “No, he has to go. He’ll ruin everything if he doesn’t.”

  “You 6an’t kill the chief of

  police,” Jo Jo said, “and think it’ll

  keep things quiet. You seen that state cop, what-sisname.”

  “Healy.”

  “Yeah. You think that he’s going to kiss it off when the second police chief in less than a year dies in this fucking town?”

  “It’s a risk we’ll have to

  take,” Hasty said. “We’re too close to

  the arms deal. The arms deal is crucial.”

  “What’s this ‘we’

  shit, paleface? I’m the guy has to do the clip.”

  “We’re in this together, Jo Jo.”

  Jo Jo looked almost amused.

  “Sure,” he said. “Why

  don’t we ace Lou Burke?”

  q/i¢

  265

  ,

  “Yea. lie’s e only ing eots ou to Torn

  Cson.

  Bke md e eofion’s gonzolla.“

  “u BkeT” in sd. “I’ve

  own u Bue for .”

  “I dump m,” lo o sd, “de e y, me

  it lk he tk off tr Stone susndm.”

  “u’s one of us,” in sd.

  “‘s a orm.”

  )“d you ey n’t going to find som out

  · e wild west in finger m, say, ye, he’s e guy blew Torn Con up? d you when ey get at ey won’t um, d when ey um you ink he won’t spill’s fng 7”

  “u wouldn’t k.”

  “You so, huh7 I don’t ow how ey do it in ng Monna…”

  “Wyong,” Hd.

  “aver,” Jo Jo sd. “I

  don’t ow if ey elec-cu you or hg you or do it wi injection or a cng firing uad, but just say you’u Bue d you’re sitng in jl d ey tell you ey e going to hg you or, if you don’t he at idea, you cve us song d may we won’t.

  You i Lou’s goa say gie at n, baby?”

  “e you d to 11 Jes Stone?” Hmked.

  “I ain’t ad,” Jo Jo sd.

  “d I’t stupid eider.

  It’s a lot smer to te out u Bke it is to clip Stone.“

  “I c’t y e movement.”

  “You’t Stone d it’ll into a wel

  movement.”

  Io Jo sd:

  As ey ed aut came mod mo like a movie tough y. H hated him at at moment, more th he ought was ssible. Jo Jo was a sneering, posturing bully. He cared for no cause, no person. No question of honor had ever penetrated that thick Neanderthal skull. He cared only about his muscles and the fear he could instill in people. Except Stone. Stone wasn’t afraid of him, and Hasty was pretty sure that Jo Jo was afraid of Stone. What made the hatred worse, though, so that it trembled in his solar plexus, was the fact that Jo Jo was probably right this time.

  “How would you hide the body?” Hasty said.

  “Let me figure that out,” Jo Jo said.

  “What you don’t know you can’t tell the cops later.”

  “You think I’d tell the police

  anything?”

  Jo Jo looked at him without answering.

  “You don’t understand, do you,”

  Hasty said. “You don’t understand commitment, or honor, or loyalty. And you certainly do not understand responsibility.

  You don’t even know what these things mean. All you understand is fear.”

  Jo Jo snorted.

  “What I understand, Hasty, is you want some guy iced, but you‘-haven’t got the balls to do it.

  We’both understand that, don’t we.”

  Hasty was silent for a time, They reached the Gloucester circle, and went around it, and started hack, southbound, on Route 128.

  “All right,” Hasty said. “Kill

  Lou Burke, and hide the body. Make it look like he took off.”

  “There’s a little matter of

  price,” Jo Jo said.

  “Thirty pieces of silver.”

  “What the hell is that?‘.’ Jo Jo

  said.

  Hasty shook his head.

  “Same as Tammy,” Hasty said.

  “No, Lou’s a cop, and I got to hide the body. I want double Tammy.”

  Hasty felt very tired.

  “Okay,” he said. “It’s

  a deal.”

  “Up front,” lo lo said.

  “Of course,” Hasty said. “lust

  do it quickly.”

  “What would you do without me, Hasty?” Jo Jo si

  The weariness Hasty felt was nearly overwhelming had trouble concentrating on the road. He didn’t res!

  Jo Jo and they drove in silence the rest of the way.

  then he heard Jenn’s voice.

  “Jesse?”

  He felt a small tug in the center of himself. He had always felt it when he heard her voice or saw her. Goddamn it.

  “Hello, Jenn.”

  “I was in the middle of a swallow,” Jenn said, “when you answered. How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you having a drink?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many?”

  “First one.”

  “It’s later there, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you really all right, Jesse?”

  “So far.”

  “Are you still scared?”

  “s of.”

  “Say more about that, Jesse. Can you get any help?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, have you caught the one who killed the girl?”‘

  “I know who he is. I can’t prove it

  yet.”

  “Is he what scares you?”

  :i “No, it’s more… well. The

  guy I replaced, guy named Carson, got blown up by a bomb out in Wyoming. Wyoming cops have evidence of a militia movement involvement back east. One of my cops, guy that was acting chief before me, that interviewed me for this job, guy named Lou Burke, flew to Denver just before Carson got blown up.

  Burke was a demolition specialist in the Navy. He’s a member of the local militia movement which calls itself Freedom’s Horsemen.“

  “You think he did it?” I’ll

  bet,“ Jesse said. ”Have you arrested

  him?“

  “Not yet. I suspended him.”

  “Why
not arrest him, turn it over to the Wyoming police?”

  “I’m not sure they can make the case yet, but even if they can, I want more,” Jesse said.

  “The chief selectman in town, the guy that hired me, is also the commander of Freedom’s Horsemen.”

  “You think he’s involved?”

  “He’s a married man. He’s having

  trouble with his wife.

  And he was having an affair with the girl that was mur dered.“

  Again there was silence while Jenn drank some wine.

  Jesse’s drink sat untouched on the kitchen counter.

  “But you know who killed her,”

  Jenn said.

  “Yeah, but now I’m not so sure I

  know why.”

  “You said last time it was about

  you.”

  o,tdter

  “Yeah, and maybe it is, but now maybe it was about · more than me.‘ ’

  “So why don’t you confront, or

  arrest, or call in the FBI or whatever.”

  “I don’t know exactly if any of

  what I suspect is true. I don’t know who I can trust. Maybe I can’t trust anybody.”

  “Even your own policemen?”

  “Even. I’m alone here,

  Jenn.”

  “I could come.”

  Jesse was silent. He felt suddenly overwhelmed by the desire for her to be there.

  “Jenn… I

  can’t…”

  “I know, Jesse. I know.”

  Jesse was silent, struggling not to fall.

  “I can’t have that,

  Jenn. At least not yet.“

  “I know.”

  “I want it more than I can tell you, but I can’t let that happen to me again. First I have to do this.

  Then we can see about us.”

  “It’s awful to be alone,

  Jesse.”

  “If you‘-can’t be

  alone,” Jesse said, “you can’t be with

  someone. I can’t have you here because I’m scared.

  You can’t come here because you’re scared for me.

  You understand?”

  “Yes.”

  They were quiet. Jesse picked up his drink and took a sip. He had switched his scotch from on-the-rocks to with-soda.

  “You seeing anybody?” Jesse said.

  “No. You?”

  “I’m still dating that woman, but