I decided to change the subject. “What led you to me?”
Merker said, “I listen to the news. They had the story about Trixie getting caught up in Kelton, they mentioned your name, that you worked for the paper, that you tried to talk her into turning herself in, and I figured you’d be a good guy to talk to.” He paused and studied my face. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Only briefly,” I said. “I was there when you were trying to get the cops to buy your supply of stun guns.”
“Fuck, yeah. That really pissed me off, you know? That was you, right, who did the story for the paper? That fucked up everything. Once that ran, the deal went queer. People start asking questions, cops start taking heat about buying my merchandise.”
“Because it’s hot,” I said.
Merker grinned at me. “Where you hear that?”
“One of your old friends back in Canborough. Michael Cherry. That was his guess.”
“Fucking Mikey. You were talking to him?”
“Yeah. I talked to a lot of people, trying to track down Trixie.”
“What’d Mikey tell you?”
“About what?”
“About me.”
“You ran the Kickstart. Some bad things went down. You lost some people, got out of town.”
“He tell you about that?”
“A little.”
“He tell you who did it? Who killed my boys?”
“No. He doesn’t know. I think he thinks it might have been you. That you cut a deal with the other gang in town, they paid you off, you wasted your own guys.”
“He thinks that?”
“It’s a theory.”
“It’s pretty fucking wrong,” Merker said. “It was that bitch, that friend of yours, did it.”
I said nothing.
“You don’t even look surprised,” he said. “She tell you? She tell you what she did?”
“She told me what you did. That you killed the father of her child, that the bunch of you raped her.”
Merker shrugged. “She was a stripper.”
“I thought she did your books for you.”
“Okay, she used to be a stripper, but what’s your point? She’s just a bit sensitive, you know? I’d a been a lot smarter, let her keep stripping, instead of looking after the money. Talk about getting fucked in the ass over that one. She robbed me blind.”
The phone rang. I grabbed it before the first ring had finished. “Hello?”
“It’s Wagland. It’s set up. Eleven o’clock.”
“Where?”
“Clayton Correctional Facility.”
“That’s an all-women’s prison, right? North Oakwood?”
“Yes,” Wagland said. “Mr. Walker, I had to pull in a couple of favors there to set this up, and that wasn’t easy, when I don’t have the foggiest notion why you have to see her.”
“I know. I appreciate that. You’re doing the right thing.”
“I better be, Mr. Walker. For your sake, I better be.” He hung up.
“Perfect,” said Merker. “We better saddle up, pardner.”
Mrs. Gorkin returned to the kitchen, followed by Leo and Ludmilla, who was dragging Katie by the arm. “Well?” she said.
“It’s set up,” Merker said. “Walker and I are going to pay a visit to the bitch who owes me. We find out where the cash is, we get it, we come back, I give you your share, we’re done.”
“And then you give him”—she pointed at me—“to us.”
“Yeah. And I get Leo back.”
Ludmilla, still holding the gun in one hand, squeezed Leo’s arm. “I might decide to keep him.”
Leo chuckled, and then his eyes landed on the fridge. “You got anything to eat here?” he asked of no one in particular.
He opened the door, leaned down, examining each rack. “Fuck, there’s nothing in here to eat. Haven’t you got—hang on, what’s this?”
He brought out a white Styrofoam container. Written on top, in black marker, were the words “EAT THIS AND DIE—PAUL.”
Leo flipped open the lid, saw the old burger and fries, and smiled ear to ear. “Fuck you, Paul,” he said. “You’ll have to find some other leftovers. This is mine. Where’s your microwave?”
35
I TOLD MERKER I needed a moment with Katie before we left.
She’d moved from the couch and was standing at the living room window, peering through a gap in the curtains, as though waiting for someone who’d never arrive. I knelt down beside her, but it was like I wasn’t there.
“Katie,” I said. “Katie, look at me. I need to know that you’re listening to me.” She turned her head slightly. “I know things may look bad right now, but I’m going to see if I can make things okay. Maybe not as okay as they were before, but better than they are now.”
Katie sniffed.
“I promise you I’ll do the best I can,” I said.
Katie sniffed again, and she opened her mouth. “Are you going to get me my other mommy?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to be going to see her now,” I said. “I hope I can get in to see her.”
“Can you tell her something?” Katie asked.
“What’s that, sweetheart?”