Dig Two Graves by James Harper (important books to read .txt) 📗

you. We need a private ambulance to meet us there, bring us to the house. You got all that so far, or do you need me to speak more slowly?’

A deeper hostile silence filled the void between them.

‘Hello?’

‘Yes, I’ve got that.’

He heard teeth grinding, looking forward to the next bit.

‘Good. At the same time, get Leon to drive out to Logan as if he’s picking us up from there. Tell him to take a circuitous route, but make it easy to follow. And you need to go with him. Make it look as if you’re giving someone a big welcome home. It’s dangerous but I’m sure the Bentley’s got bullet-proof windows and doors.’

LeClair had the sense not to object, his eye on his future employment status. He managed to squeeze out a question through those gritted teeth.

‘Anything else?’

‘Arrange for some private security. And if Mr Carlson has got half the clout you act like he has, get the Boston PD to put a cruiser outside the main drive up to the house.’

Bella was grinning at him when he finished the call, an accusation on her lips.

‘You enjoyed that.’

‘You bet. I could get used to having staff.’

‘You wouldn’t have them for long if you treated them like that.’

Despite the way he’d been talked to, LeClair came through for them. The taxi that picked them up had no problems getting through the private gate into the airport and from there to the FBO—the fixed base terminal separate from the main hub that private jets use. Then it was up into a sleek lounge for complimentary food and drinks followed by a hot shower—not together—and a couple hours shut-eye in one of the private snooze rooms. No lines, no TSA, no pre-flight security checks that do nothing more than remind you that the terrorists have already won as you shuffle through the scanner in your socks and without your belt, hoping you don’t get chosen, politely asked to touch your toes in the back room.

And he’d heard people say money doesn’t make you happy.

Trouble was, there were a couple things that took the edge off his enjoyment of it all, left him with a dry mouth and wide awake after only two hours’ sleep.

It was too easy.

And he’d called Guillory while Bella was in the shower, asked her to let him know if a woman answering Liz’s description turned up in the hospital or the morgue with her fingers broken and cigarette burns on the sensitive parts of her body. The likely outcome of that call weighed heavily on him, another scar on what remained of his conscience.

The private ambulance was waiting for them at Hanscom Field as requested. If Bella had been more his age, he’d have asked her if she wanted to play doctors and nurses in the back to pass the time on the half-hour journey to the house.

As it was, he could’ve done it anyway without asking and she wouldn’t have noticed. It was understandable. Coming home after thirty years makes a person a little distracted.

Through the tinted glass he caught a glimpse of a police cruiser backed into the trees at the bottom of the driveway. Climbing out of the ambulance he saw a number of men with impassive faces and dark glasses, suspicious bulges under their buttoned jackets and wires disappearing down the back of their collars, positioned strategically around the exterior of the house. Money had been spent, names dropped. It was a lot more secure than sitting up at the bar in the Jerusalem Tavern, a situation that felt like it was three years ago, not three days, and on a different planet. Planet real world, perhaps.

Blair was waiting for her sister at the bottom of the stairs up to the front door. There was lots of hugging and some tears—and that was just Evan watching. Then the two women disappeared into the house to reunite Bella with her father.

Evan stayed outside, the security guys watching him intently through their shades. Then it all went wrong. The Bentley came up the drive and Evan knew a price would soon be paid for the fun he’d had with LeClair. He was wrong. The back door swung open before the car had come to a halt and LeClair jumped out, as good as ran up the stairs without a second glance at Evan, his need to ingratiate himself greater than his desire for petty revenge. Evan was sure there’d be plenty of time for that later.

He joined Leon leaning against the front fender of the Bentley, almost accepted the cigarette offered to him. Leon sucked hard, angled his face towards the sky, let it out. Then voiced what was still on Evan’s mind.

‘That was easy.’

He shrugged modestly.

‘All part of the service.’

They both knew what he meant—you got that right.

It was time to go. He didn’t want to wait around for LeClair to come back out, pay him off with a look on his face like he was the man who’d just unblocked the toilets and hadn’t washed his hands afterwards. They could sort out the grubby business of money over the phone or by email. He’d have liked to say goodbye to Bella, but she was a little tied up at the moment. Likely to stay that way for a while. Besides, he had a feeling in his gut he’d be seeing her again.

It had been too easy.

‘You want to give me a ride back to the airport?’

‘My pleasure. You can sit in the back this time if you want.’

‘No. I’ve already gotten to like this lifestyle too much. I need to ease myself back into the real world.’

They drove down the driveway in a companionable silence. Leon raised his hand in a wave as they passed the police cruiser, got a quick flash of the lights back.

‘So what now?’ he said.

Evan wasn’t sure how to answer it truthfully, even if Leon was only the hired help.

Everybody sits around waiting for the old man to die.

‘Beats me.