Caravan of Thieves (11 page)

Shannon was looking at the menu and I was putting milk in my coffee when I was slapped on the back of the head. Chui said, “Why the hell you sitting at the edge of the booth?”

“Quick getaway. Chui, this is Shannon.”

“Hi.”

“Hi. Dan was in just a few weeks ago, said you were doing great, own a ranch in Wyoming, something like that. I figured that meant you were never in Wyoming. You looking for him?” The last part he said hopefully. Chui always wanted Dan and me to act like his version of a normal father and son.

“Dan died.” I had to think about it for a moment. “Couple of days ago.”

Chui turned and walked away. I signaled the waitress. I didn’t know her. She took her time and when she arrived, she was careful to make sure to let us know that despite the warm reception from Chui, we were going to receive the same gentle treatment she gave everyone. “Whaddya want today?”

I told Shannon, “You’re safe with the omelets.” She ordered an omelet, and so did I. As soon as the waitress walked away, Chui returned with Rosa. She was crying. I got up and hugged her.

“I’ll miss him so much, so much. He was my favorite,” Rosa said. “And I miss you so much.”

“You were his favorite. He talked about you just before he died.”

That turned up the tear faucet a few notches. She hugged me again and kissed me and ran away. “Excuse me a second,” I said to Shannon and I put my arm around Chui and we walked to the end of the counter where we could speak without being overheard.

“It wasn’t good.” Chui nodded. He understood. “Did you ever know Dan under another name?”

“I never even knew his last name until he gave me a check one time.” We both chuckled, knowing what that meant. “What’s going on? If you need help, you know…” Chui knew a lot of people in Phoenix, a lot of people with guns.

“He owed some people some money. I’m trying to help out.”

“You’re a good boy.”

“Let me start here. How much was his tab?”

“Forget his tab. I’ll start a new one for you.”

“Chu—”

“If you say you’re sorry again, I’ll stab you.”

“I was gonna say there’s a blue Ford parked just down the street. Could you send someone out there to see if anyone is inside and get a description?”

Shannon was halfway through her omelet when I sat down. We ate in silence for a while. I realized I could ditch the jeep here and have Chui’s car if I wanted it, but they would probably destroy the place in retribution. Most people would probably count that a blessing, but not Chui. Ditching Shannon was another matter. Her original version was that McColl would not want her anymore if
I knew she was working for him. But I was guessing there would be a revised version. Most people like to hang on to a job.

She finished up and said, “You don’t ask a lot of questions.”

“Where would you like me to drop you?”

“I didn’t know about your father.” Maybe she didn’t, but she sure knew how to make it sound like a lie. “McColl, he doesn’t care who dies as long as he gets what he wants, so…you should know that.”

“You mean I should be impressed.”

“He was Third Army. That’s where I met him. I’m a medic. I was. He had started as a lieutenant in Desert Storm. Logistics. And he made a name for himself. When the buildup began for the second Gulf War, McColl didn’t want to get stuck in Qatar or some backwater. He fought hard to get a forward assignment and he got it and he nailed it. Remember how fast we got to Baghdad? Getting the supplies there was a massive operation and McColl specialized in getting his soldiers to go the extra mile. Get it done.”

“Do you want more coffee?” I signaled the waitress and she brought over the coffeepot.

“How about dessert?” She had warmed up. I guessed Rosa’s tears did it.

“I’m good,” Shannon said. The waitress poured the coffee and left and Shannon started right back in, like she was determined to get something on the record, the way people do when they want to establish a lie. “McColl never cared how. Just get it done. He practically owned that airport. Of course, that meant he pissed off quite a few people along the way. Once the war felt won, his role wasn’t as important and people who were waiting to undercut him could get to work. He found out he was being transferred back home, so he retired.”

“Aren’t you leaving something out?”

“I don’t know how he got the money.”

“That wasn’t what I wanted to know.”

She understood what I wanted. “I finished my tour, worked as a nurse. In Las Vegas. It took me a while, but I finally fucked the wrong doctor. His wife was head of the nursing staff. I was fired. She accused me of stealing drugs, which I didn’t do. Hubby did. So I was out of work. Waitressing. I let my friends know I needed something and McColl came up with this.”

Before we left, I checked with Chui. “Two white guys, muscles, short hair, could be cops, could be military,” he said. I kissed him and left.

The blue Ford was gone. Shannon walked to the passenger side of the jeep, ready to hop in, but I stopped next to her. If she was going to stay on, we had to have an arrangement. “I think you better go off on your own. As you said, once I know who you are, McColl will be done with you. He’s not going to like you hanging around.”

“Take me with you. I can help you. I know McColl. I know his people. I know how they operate.” She tried to control her panic with a slow cadence, but her voice sounded brittle and breathless.

“And in return?”

“I get a cut. It’s only fair.”

“How much is fair?”

“Twenty percent.” I laughed. She said, “I don’t care how much. Whatever you say. I know his people. I can spot them. I know what resources he has access to and what he doesn’t. You need me to get away with this.”

“I don’t mind having a partner. But we would have to start with some honesty. How much is he paying you?”

“One percent.”

I went around the jeep and got in. “I hope you’re a better medic than you are a liar.”

She jumped in. “Wait.” She waited and I waited while she figured out a number I would believe. “Ten thousand. If I stayed with you the whole way.”

“I’ll pay you fifty thousand. If I end up with the money,” I said.

“Okay. Deal.”

“And if I don’t end up with the money, you can still get your ten from McColl.”

“That’s nasty,” she said, but she was trying to sound flirtatious. “You’re nasty.” She clutched her purse as if grabbing hold of the future she thought she had connived. I still had a few hours to kill.

Shannon was in the shower. I sat next to the bed in padmasana, full lotus position, and brought up my vision. The clouds looked like rejected cotton polka dots, stuck to the blue, as permanent as stripes on a highway. The chimney, red brick on the right side of the house; the porch; the open windows; upstairs a window with no curtain, but I could not see anyone inside; the chirping of crickets; then a bang…how many times? I couldn’t tell if I had missed the first few. I realized it was Shannon, out of the shower and banging doors and drawers to let me know it.

She made a little noise while adjusting the air conditioning and I knew the only way I would get any quiet was by opening my eyes. The show she put on was a good one. The lovely soft bulge of her breasts shimmered just above the towel, which was all she wore. She was tall enough, her legs were long enough, that when she bent
forward to search through her bag, I was treated to a peek at her butt. She turned and smiled at me. “You back in the world?”

“Yeah.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, bringing along the fresh scent of soap and body oil that seemed like an oasis in the musty motel room. Her hair was pulled up, accentuating her neck and faint, downy hairs too short to be included. She said, “I’m going to call him, McColl, and tell him I’m still working you, tell him you think you’ve turned me, but I’m still with him. I want to do it in front of you so there’s no question…”

She twisted around to face me and put one leg up on the bed. She had freckles on her chest. I remembered that there are days when I really like freckles. This was one of them. I said, “He knows where the jeep is. He’ll know I’m here. He can locate the call. Maybe it’s better not to do it, anyway.”

“I’ll wait until you go. I just don’t want you to not trust me.”

“Do you trust me?”

She stared into my eyes, but her gaze fell. She couldn’t lie about it. She couldn’t give trust anymore but believed she could still earn it.

“You could do me a favor.”

She whispered, “Okay.”

I sat on the bed next to her, pulled off my T-shirt, and turned my back toward her. “Next to my right shoulder, something’s there…” She let her fingers drift gently up to the spot where the itch was and circled it.

“Stitches there. A little swelling, just a little. They must have stabbed you there.”

“Thanks.” I turned toward her and she stayed close. We kissed. She pushed me back onto the bed and snuggled in close to me as the towel came loose. We kissed some more. My skepticism cleared its throat and mentioned her likely insincerity, but confronted with a superior force it withdrew to let the storm pass. I thought about how I was getting a much better deal than McColl: he just got a phone call; I got freckles and downy neck hair and long legs and…I opened my eyes to enjoy it all, and there, before me, was a clock. Who put it there? How dare they? I swore I would rent a cheaper room next time. I slid away from her.

“Where are you going?”

“Wait here. I’ll be back.”

“I’m not…lying to you.”

The towel had fallen off her. For a moment, fear and uncertainty twisted her posture and I believed her, but that did not do her any good. She looked away as if trying to find where she threw her defenses. I bent down and kissed her.

“I won’t be long.” I put on my shirt and went out.

H
al’s Discount Furniture sprawls along Apache Boulevard south of the Arizona State campus in a mishmash of buildings acquired piecemeal through years of booming prosperity and astute management. New cheap furniture, used cheap furniture, and, most profitable of all, rental cheap furniture. If you want cheap furniture, something you won’t feel like taking with you when you move, this is the place. TV? Fridge? Microwave? Computer? Hal has them for you, and the trucks to deliver and retrieve them, and the countless hardworking, reliable legal and illegal Latinos to do the heavy lifting. Hal, who put it all together, built it with hard work and guts and brains, is Dan’s older brother.

I lived with Hal and Marion the Bitch, as Dan called her, and their two children, Melissa and Mark, for most of a school year. The first time I ran away was when Marion started screaming at me because she could not find her earrings. I had not taken them at that point. The screaming went on for a couple of days and I was the main target. I knew Melissa had been trying them on. I searched
around in the den and found them in a drawer where Melissa’s hash pipe was stashed, too. Rather than rat her out, I took the earrings and sold them at a pawn shop. I didn’t come home, and when I was wandering around, I saw a family moving toward the rear of one of the outer buildings of Hal’s Discount Furniture. I followed. They disappeared. I waited. Next two Mexican women came timidly to the same rear door and knocked and said “No tengo adonde ir.” The door opened and they entered. I tried it.

Rudy, one of Hal’s managers, opened the door and he froze at seeing me. I shrugged and said, “No dire nada, se lo juro.” And he said, “Hal knows.” The large room was filled with illegals, mostly families, camped out on the furniture awaiting repair. I stayed a few nights until Rudy told Hal, who was worried about me.

Hal’s locks the front doors at six p.m. sharp so I walked in at 5:55. A salesman approached and I said, “Please tell Hal that Rollie is here to see him.” A moment later, Marion the Bitch came lilting across the floor, pretending not to see me.

“Hi, Marion.”

She seemed startled and acted like it took a second to recognize me. “Rollie, how nice to see you.” I went forward and we almost hugged.

“You, too.”

“You look great. A stuntman in the movies? I think that’s what Dan told Hal.”

“Starting to do a little acting, too. You look great.”