Authors: Jeffrey Allen
Popped Off (11 page)
28
I was exhausted by the time we got home, worn out by the shenanigans and the utter waste of time brought on by the cousins Huber. Julianne was polite enough to take Elliott’s phone number as we left the barn, but at that moment, I had no intent on using it.
We picked up Carly at my parents’ house and took her home, aiming for a quiet afternoon and evening with our daughter. She was happy to be home with us, but tired, as she usually was after a night or two with her grandparents. She put her head down on the living room floor as the three of us played Candy Land and was asleep in about thirty seconds.
“Do we just let her nap there?” Julianne asked.
“She’ll wake up if we move her.”
“Okay.”
I pushed the game board to the side and scooted next to her as Carly started to snore on the floor.
“I’m sorry the weekend went to crap,” I said.
“Weekend is only half over,” she said. “And I owe you an apology, too.”
“Why’s that?”
She took a deep breath and sighed. “Because I have been a royal bitch about having a baby.”
“No, you haven’t.”
She held up a hand. “Yes, I have. Don’t argue. I know when I’m being me and when I’m being a pain in the ass, and that is all I have been for the past few days.”
“Okay.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “You may not know this about me, but I’m a little obsessive.”
“You don’t say.”
She smiled. “Exactly. So I know I’m caught up in this baby thing. I’m just a little . . . anxious.”
“Why?”
She pursed her lips and dipped her chin. She blinked several times, staring into her lap.
“I really want her to have a sister or brother,” she said. “But what if it doesn’t happen?”
Something snagged in my gut. “Why wouldn’t it happen? Is something wrong?”
She squeezed my hand, moved her eyes to me. “No. Nothing is wrong. At all. I promise.”
I let out a long breath. “Okay.”
“I just worry about what it would be like if we couldn’t have another,” she said. “Would she be lonely? Would we feel unsatisfied? I don’t know. It’s just this . . . thing . . . on my mind right now. And I can’t shake it and it’s silly and it’s turned me into a bit of a lunatic.”
I let go of her hand and put my arm around her shoulders. I didn’t like seeing her worried, but it was nice to see a sign of vulnerability from her once in a while. She always seemed to have such a handle on everything in her life that I rarely saw her doubt anything that was going on.
“If for some reason we weren’t able to have another baby, we would be fine,” I said. “All of us. Her, you, and me. Fine. We’d find another way to fill the void. Adopt or something. I don’t know. It’s not silly at all, though. You want a baby. And you aren’t exactly the most patient person walking the planet.”
She laughed softly and laid her head on my shoulder. “Really?”
“Really. And that’s okay, too. But we can’t force it. It’ll happen when it’s time. And, yeah, that sounds awfully touchy-feely, but I’m not sure how else to put it.” I kissed the top of her head. “And for the record, I really want another one, too. It’s not just you. I just didn’t make charts and graphs.”
She slapped my thigh, and I laughed.
“I’m just feeling these motherly instincts,” she said. “And I need to feed them. I want to nurture and care and change diapers and get up in the middle of the night. Again.”
“Maybe we could rent a baby.”
“No. I want full ownership.”
“Ah. Okay.”
She stood and pulled me up with her.
“Come upstairs with me,” she whispered in my ear.
“Do we have the green light?”
She smiled and pulled on my hand. “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
29
I woke to a midget poking me in the cheek.
“Get up, pretty boy,” Victor said.
I rolled over, disoriented. The last I knew, Julianne was in bed next to me and we were sweaty and breathing heavy.
“Your gorgeous wife said to come wake you up,” Victor said. “Said you were napping.”
“You’re like waking up to a real-life nightmare.”
“Want me to hop in bed with you?” he asked. “Maybe spoon with you?”
“Jesus, no,” I said, searching under the covers for my shorts. I pulled them on and threw the sheets off. “Move, or I’ll step on you.”
He chuckled and moved from the side of the bed. I found my T-shirt on the floor and pulled it on over my head. “What do you want?”
“Wanted an update,” he said, hopping up into the old easy chair in the corner of the room. “On our case.”
“I’m not sure it’s our case anymore,” I said and told him about our evening, morning, and afternoon.
“Well, that dude called me,” he said when I finished.
“What dude?”
“The cousin.”
“Elliott?”
“Yep. Says he’ll pay.”
“With what money?” I asked. “Thought he was stealing money to give to his cousin.”
“Well, I didn’t know that when he called,” Victor said. “He just told me that he’d met with you today and that you weren’t sure you wanted to help.”
“I think he left out some details.”
“Guess so. But if he’s got money, I say yes.”
“Isn’t that some sort of conflict of interest since we’re already helping Belinda?”
Victor shrugged his tiny shoulders. “I don’t think so. The broad, we’re helping her find the money. With this dude, we’re looking for his brother.”
“They’re one and the same.”
Victor rolled his eyes. “Look, we got two people willing to pay for our services. Rule number one for private investigators is always say yes to the money.”
I made a face. My enthusiasm for investigating was fading. I wasn’t involved this time, and I was tired of dealing with people who seemed to be missing a few screws. I didn’t need the work. And I sure as hell didn’t need the frustration.
“He said he’d meet with us Monday,” Victor said, sensing my reluctance. “On our terms, wherever we wanted.”
“He wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“We’ll tell him it’s one and done. Either he spills what he knows or we dump him and he can go find his own brother. Simple.”
I doubted it was going to be simple, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. “Fine.”
He hopped down out of the chair. “Excellent. Monday morning for breakfast. I’ll set it up.” He stopped. “Hey. The swaddling thing? It worked.”
“I told you it would.”
“Well, you don’t need to get all puffy about it. I’m just telling you it worked for us. He’s sleeping and not crying so much.”
“I told you it would.”
His face screwed up in agitation. “I’m trying to say thank you, you big moron.”
I smiled. “I know. I just wanted to hear you say it. And you’re welcome. Let me know if you need help with anything else.”
He made a face. “I won’t need any other help from you. Guaranteed. I got this daddy thing wired.”
“Sure you do.”
“Go ahead, doubt me,” he said, walking to the door. “But I got it down. Maybe I’ll quit my job and sponge off my wife like you do. Play Daddy all day long and eat bonbons.”
“Your wife probably puts the bonbons up high in the fridge,” I said. “You’d have trouble reaching them.”
“Your short jokes get old, moron,” he said, sneering. “I’ve heard them all.”
“Really? That sounds like a challenge.”
“Bring it. I can handle you.”
I lunged at him, like I was going to grab him. He jumped, spun, and sprinted out of the bedroom.
30
Both of my girls were awake when I went downstairs, and Julianne seemed very pleased with herself that she’d sent Victor to wake me up.
“That little man is funny,” Carly said, working hard on a drawing of what was either a cow or a spaceship.
“If you say so,” I said.
“Plus, he’s my size.”
“That is accurate.”
We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, playing games, and watching a little television. On Sunday we stayed close to home, playing out in the yard, picking up the house, and generally being lazy. By the time Monday morning rolled around, I felt back in sync with my life.
I dropped Carly at VBS and headed into town for my breakfast meeting with Victor and Elliott. I was still hesitant about working with Elliott, but at least I’d have Victor’s opinion this time. As much as I hated to give him any credit, he knew his job and he did it well. If he thought we could work something out with Elliott, we probably could. What he lacked in social graces, Victor more than made up for in savvy business skills.
I found the two of them at a table near the front window of the diner on Main. Victor raised a small hand at me when I entered, while Elliott just stared blankly at me.
I took the seat next to Victor. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Victor said, holding a coffee mug with both hands.
Elliott nodded.
“I’ve just been getting to know Mr. Huber here,” Victor said.
“Ah, lucky you.”
Victor frowned at me. “Easy.”
I looked at Elliott. “Just so we’re clear, when Victor told me you contacted him, I was against working with you.”
“Thanks for the info,” he said.
“I gave you plenty of time to tell me what you knew and to come up with an idea of how to help you,” I said, “but you wasted my day.”
A waitress came, and I ordered pancakes, bacon, and coffee. Victor ordered the same. Elliott shook his head and sipped from his ice water.
“You have to understand,” Elliott said, “I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing here.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” I said.
He set the water down. “I don’t want to go to jail.”
“You stole. From a casino,” I said. “You aren’t going to have much choice.”
“We’ll see,” he said. “But forget about me. I wish to help my cousin.”
“How much is he in for?” Victor asked.
“A little over a hundred thousand,” Elliott responded.
“Then he’s got enough to pay it off,” I said.
Elliott looked at me, confused. “I don’t think so.”
“He took seventy-five thousand from the soccer association,” I said. “And he stole a boatload more from the church. I don’t even get now why you had to steal from the casino.”
Elliott squinted at me. “Wait. Church? What?”
I recounted my conversation at the church with Haygood.
Elliott’s expression hardened. “That is not true.”
“What isn’t?” Victor asked.
“Moises did not steal that money.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
His eyes shifted away from us for a moment. “I would know if he did that.”
“Maybe he owed more than you knew about,” Victor said.
Elliott shook his head. “No. Not possible.”
I looked at Victor and shrugged. “Just telling you what I was told.”
“He had a gambling problem?” Victor asked. “You don’t deny that, right?”
Elliott thought hard for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. He does.”
“So isn’t it possible that he might’ve been in deeper than he told you?” Victor asked.
Elliott tapped his fingers on the table. “It’s possible, yes. But I don’t think so.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you so sure?”
“Because he would’ve told me,” he said. “And because he was doing other things to pay off his debts.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Like?”
“I don’t wanna say.”
“Told you,” I said, shaking my head.
Our food arrived, and I dug into it, thinking about what I was going to do with the rest of my day, because it sure didn’t look like I was going to be doing anything to help Elliott Huber. Wash the car. I hadn’t washed the car in forever, and it was going to be nice....
“Look, pal,” Victor said, shoveling pancakes into his mouth, “if you want our help, you’re going to have to be an open book. End of story. Either you are or you aren’t. It’s pretty simple. And if you don’t want to be, that’s cool. Let’s part friends now.” He wiped his mouth. “Because if we agree to help and you hold out on us, I guarantee you, we will not part friends.”
Like I said, Victor was good at his job. He managed to sum up everything I had tried to convey to Elliott in the barn in about ten seconds. He was a pain in the ass, but he was good.
Elliott leaned back in his chair, contemplating his next move.
We ate and drank coffee and said nothing.
“All right,” Elliott said finally. “I understand. I will be an open book. But I need something else, then.”
“We can’t keep you out of jail,” Victor said. “That isn’t going to be our choice. Ultimately, you and the casino are going to have to work that out between yourselves.”
Elliott shook his head vehemently. “That’s not what I mean.”
“What do you want, then?” I asked.
“Protection.”
“Protection?” I glanced at Victor. “Like bodyguards?”
Elliott nodded. “Yes. I am going to need protection.”
“We can’t guarantee that, either,” Victor said. “We can offer some suggestions, but we aren’t bodyguards, pal.”
Elliott thought that over. “These suggestions . . . they will help keep me safe?”
Victor shrugged. “Probably. If you’re talking about hiding or whatever, I can help you with that. But not from the law.”
Elliott’s face tightened in anger. “I told you, I understand the legalities. I am not going to hide from the police once this is settled.”
“So who are you going to hide from?” I asked. “Who do you need protection from?”
He fixed me with a hard stare. “The girls.”
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