39 

THE RUSSIAN SAT watching 60 Minutes on TV, when Bear performed his usual hammering on the door. “Come in, Bear!” he shouted.

Bear came in, puffing a little. “What’s so urgent?” he asked.

“Tonight’s the night,” the Russian said. “Billy Barnett and his girl having dinner up the beach from his house.”

“How do you know that?”

“You are not only person working for me, Bear—others, too. We will be there when they leave restaurant. No moon tonight, pretty dark parking lot. We take the van.”

“Okay, I’m in,” Bear said. “I want that girl.”

“Not until Dax is there,” the Russian said. “He want very much to see you in action.”

“Okay,” Bear said.

The Russian picked up a cane, one heavier than his usual. “You drive,” he said, tossing Bear the keys.

•   •   •

TEDDY AND SALLY had had what Easterners call a “shore dinner,” deep fried, with a bottle of good California Chardonnay.

“I think I’m relaxed again,” Sally said. “Life is back to normal.”

“You go ahead and relax,” Teddy said.

“You’re not relaxed, are you?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he replied.

“Is there a gun under the jacket?”

Teddy shook his head. “No, not necessary.”

“If you say so.”

Teddy asked for the check and paid it. They both used the restroom on the way out.

It was a cool, beach evening; the sun had gone, and there was a breeze. Teddy used the remote to find the car in the dark, crowded lot. Its taillights came on with a beep. They were walking past a gray van when something bit Teddy on the neck. He slapped at it and discovered that whatever it was was embedded in his flesh. He had just a moment to figure it out, then he collapsed onto the pavement. The last thing he heard was Sally crying his name.

•   •   •

THE RUSSIAN PUT his cane, which contained a dart gun, back in the van. He knew they would be out for at least an hour, so he didn’t worry. Half an hour later they arrived at Dax’s old house in the Hollywood Hills. They pulled into the garage and Bear unloaded their cargo.

The Russian bound Teddy’s hands and feet with duct tape and dumped him to one side, then Bear took Sally over to a Ping-Pong table against the other wall, laid her on it, and stripped her.

The Russian came over with some cord. “How you want her?”

“Facedown,” Bear said. “Legs off the end of the table, so she can bend in the middle.”

The Russian ran the cord from her hands to the double legs in the center of the table, while Bear adjusted her position.

“There,” Bear said. “I want her now.”

“I told you,” the Russian said, “not until Dax gets here. He wants to watch, and he may even want to help.”

“I don’t need no help,” Bear said.

The Russian used a throwaway cell phone to dial an identical one.

•   •   •

DAX WAS WATCHING TV when he heard the phone ring in the next room. He ran for it. “Hello,” he said breathlessly.

“You know who this is?” the Russian asked.

“Of course I know who it is. Why are you calling? I told you not to use this phone until—”

“You told me to call when I got them,” the Russian said.

Dax’s heart leaped. “You’ve got them? Already?”

“That’s what I say.”

“Where?”

“At the other place, you know.”

“Jesus,” Dax said, “the cops are all over me. I can’t come now.”

“The cops what?”

“They’ve been watching me to protect me. They’ve got a bug on the Porsche.”

“What about the other car?”

“Of course.” Dax had not been thinking clearly. “I’ll be there in an hour or so. I want to be sure I’m not followed.”

“Take your time, they not going anywhere.” He hung up.

“Dax will be a while,” the Russian said.

“Can I start entertaining the girl?” Bear asked.

“You know not. Not without Dax. He pays, you know. He don’t pay you for your pleasure. Take the load off, relax awhile.” There was a TV in the garage; the Russian turned it on, and they dragged a couple of old chairs in front of it and settled in.

•   •   •

THE FIRST THING Teddy knew was the sound of the TV. He opened his eyes and saw Sally across the room, tied to a Ping-Pong table, still out. The same dart would have affected her for longer, because of her lighter body weight.

Teddy breathed deeply, trying to clear his head, but otherwise, he did not move. He heard someone get up, walk, and open a refrigerator. “You want beer?” a voice asked.

That, Teddy knew, was the Russian.

“Yeah,” another voice replied. Two beer cans could be heard popping.

Teddy was lying on his stomach in a dimly lit space, his feet and hands bound. He did his best to stretch the tape binding his hands, but it didn’t help much.

Teddy heard two voices laugh together as his captives watched TV. The other voice was deeper. It was the man whose photograph he had taken, the hairy one. He could not see them, so he didn’t know if they could see him. They laughed again at the TV.

Teddy knew he would have been searched for weapons, but he knew something they didn’t. Slowly, quietly, he raised his feet toward his back. His feet did not quite reach his hands. He moved his legs several times, stretching his thigh muscles. He managed to get a finger inside one of his loafers and hold it there, while he relaxed his legs for a moment. Now he could pull his legs toward his hands, but not yet far enough. He got two fingers inside the loafer and pulled it off his heel, so that now, only his toe was inside the shoe. He took a few breaths then made an all-out effort to pull the shoe off his foot, and in so doing, managed to bump into the wall, making a noise.

“You hear something?” the deep voice asked. “Listen.”

The sound of the TV was muted, and all was quiet.

“Nothing. You nervous?”

“No, I just thought I heard something. I guess it’s nothing.”

“They both still out,” the Russian said.

Teddy waited for them to become absorbed in the TV again. When they laughed, he took hold of his shoe with one hand, and with the other, pressed a slightly raised place on the heel, then he grasped the heel and pulled. It came away in his hand.

He grasped half the heel, which was now a handle; at the other end was a three-inch, double-sided blade, very sharp.

Teddy’s knives were always very sharp.