“Okay, well, you’re back safely now, and that’s the most important thing,” Patrick said. “And yes. Mr. Heinz is definitely a good guy. But your mom’s right. You can never, ever do that again. If your mom or I tell you to stay someplace, you stay right there. No matter what. Right?”
“Yes, sir.” Austin stared down at the toe of his boot. “But what about the bike?”
Murphy stared across the street. “Guess I’ll go have a little chat with those two bozos to straighten out a few things. But first, I’m gonna get my bolt cutters out of the truck and reclaim my property.”
“I’ll go with you,” Patrick said. “As wingman.”
“I can show you where the bike and trailer are hidden,” Heinz said quietly.
“And I’ll go too. Because I’m the one that found it,” Austin said, puffing out his chest.
“Oh no,” Gretchen said. “It’s getting dark. You’re coming home with me, young man.”
She took Austin’s hand and steered him homeward.
* * *
True to Murphy’s prediction, traffic picked up considerably as daylight faded. Vic arrived and was quickly dispatched to deliver trees. Kerry watched anxiously for her brother’s return.
Finally, nearly an hour later, Murphy came pedaling down the street with the trailer hitched to the back of his bike and the bolt cutters sticking out of the trailer.
“You did it!” Kerry said, as her brother dismounted from the bike.
“Went down slick,” Murphy said, looking around the booth. “And looks like it’s going good here too.”
“The trees are really flying out of here now,” Kerry said proudly. “Vic just took three more trees to deliver. But tell me about the great stolen bike caper.”
“Not that much to tell. Heinz showed me where the bike and trailer were, and like Austin said, they were in one of those gated areas under a front stoop, and the gate had a big ol’ fairly new-looking chain and padlock on it. Which I cut off.”
“Was anyone around? Weren’t you afraid the cops might stop you?”
“Nah. The place where it was hidden is under construction. There was all this scaffolding out front. Anyway, this is the city, Kere. People mind their own business. Besides, whoever put it there was a thief.”
Kerry looked past her brother.
“Patrick went home, if that’s who you’re looking for,” Murphy said. “He told me to tell you he’ll call you later.”
“Oh, uh, no,” she said, quickly trying to cover her tracks. “I was wondering about Heinz.”
Murphy rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Heinz left. I don’t think he’s feeling too good.”
“Yeah, I’m worried he’s really sick,” Kerry said. “All of a sudden, he looks so frail.”
“Well, he’s an old guy. Probably pushing ninety. Way older than Dad.” He reached into a plastic sack and brought out a new bike chain, wheeled the bike over to the utility pole, and padlocked the bike and trailer to it. “That oughtta do the trick.”
He straightened up, then grabbed the bolt cutters.
“What are you going to do with those?” she asked.
“Gonna go across the street and have a friendly conversation with the brothers, especially the clueless one who’s now wearing the green hoodie Austin described to us.”
“But you wouldn’t actually … hurt anybody. Right?” Kerry asked uneasily.
“I wouldn’t. But the Brody brothers don’t know that.”
chapter 36
Thirty minutes later, Murphy was back. He had a darkening bruise beneath his left eye and a wad of blood-soaked paper towels wrapped around his right hand, which was clutching part of a six-pack of beer.
Kerry stared at her brother in horror. “Are you all right? What happened? I thought you said there wouldn’t be any violence.”
“Wasn’t no violence,” he said, his tone of voice matter-of-fact. “I told those boys I knew they stole my bike rig, they tried to deny it. But Duane, the dumbass, was wearing that green hoodie. We had words. He made the mistake of taking a swing at me, so I laid the bolt cutters upside his head. Just a little tap, to get his attention. Then Donny, he’s the lardass, jumped me, and I had to explain things, mountain style.”
Kerry pointed to his hand. “You’re bleeding.”
Murphy chuckled. “Just a scratch. Anyway, it’s all worked out now.”
“Worked out how?”
“I told ’em I wouldn’t call the cops about the bike, wouldn’t show ’em the cell phone photos our witness took of Duane hiding my bike. And first thing tomorrow, they’re gonna pack up the rest of their pitiful-looking trees and be out of our hair once and for all.”
“That’s great,” Kerry said. “But couldn’t you have done that without a beatdown?”
“That wasn’t a beatdown,” Murphy protested. “I just softened those boys up a little, and then they were ready to listen to reason.”
He gave her a broad wink. “Really, I think that loud-ass Christmas music of yours is what drove ’em off. I mean, nobody can listen to Mariah Carey scream about all she wants for Christmas that many times.”
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the six-pack. “What’s with the beer?”
He wiped his hand on the seat of his jeans, leaving a bloody streak, then popped the top of one of the three remaining cans. “This here is diplomacy. After we got things settled, I bought us a round. Now it’s all good.”
Murphy pulled his lawn chair closer to the fire. “You wanna order some takeout from Red Dragon? I’m getting kind of hungry.”
They sat by the fire for another couple hours, eating steamed pork buns and wonton soup. They sold four trees, and eventually, Murphy made a show of turning down the volume on the Christmas music.
Kerry made an effort not to look at her phone, but in between customers, and once, when her brother went to Lombardi’s for a bathroom break, she sneaked a peek. But there was nothing from Patrick.
At ten, barely able to keep her eyes open, she got to her feet. “That’s it for me. See you in the morning.”
Murphy looked up from his notebook. “Hey, uh, Kere, you had a hell of a day today. The numbers are really good.”
“I know.”
“We’ve only got about thirty trees left. We should easily sell out by the weekend.”
“You think?” Selling out would mean leaving the city. And Patrick. And Austin.
“Definitely. Thing is, I kind of promised Claudia I’d take her out Friday night.”
“Oh?”
“Like out. On an actual date. Where we go to a restaurant besides Lombardi’s.”
“Sounds reasonable to me. Claudia’s great. Really special.”
“Yeah. But it would mean you working my shift that night,” Murphy said.
“That’s not a problem. I can work a double that day.” Kerry looked her brother up and down. “What were you planning to wear on this big date night and where are you going?”
He tugged at his unkempt beard, then looked down at his current attire, which, besides the jeans, included his barn coat, muddy boots, and faded flannel shirt.
“Well, not this, obviously. I’m still figuring out the restaurant part.”
“Did you pack any nice clothes at all? Do you even own a pair of shoes that aren’t boots?” She shook her head. “Never mind, I already know the answer.”
“Claudia knows how I dress. And she must like how I look.” He smirked.