Page 14 (2/2)

"In the bathroom down the hall, under the sink," said Jimmy "Take what you need"

In the bathroorazed my side It was crusty with dried blood, but froe I cleaned the wound, taped on a new bandage I looked at ht about Jimmy&039;s fairy story, the stash of et out of town Maybe I&039;d take Marcie I wondered offhand where raphic was

I just wanted to sit soood one She knew all aboutThere was so off without knohat happened that didn&039;t sit right in ut

I splashed water onroo the yellow brick road She looked confident; she didn&039;t know the score Oz was in color, but Kansas was real

Ji the way In his other hand he held a pastry the size of a hubcap No wonder he was a bliot one ofoff a truck We&039;ll slip in like it&039;s a regular delivery Just sit tight I got to get soain

Ji real close to the TV Ma would have told hio blind

"How&039;s the row up?"

He turned, spared ist"

"A pa-paleo- a what?"

"A paleontologist"

"That&039;s pretty good, kid When I was your age I either wanted to be a cowboy or a robot"

"Which did you choose?"

Hilarious fucking kid

Jied into a sweatshirt and sweatpants He told his son to behave while he was gone, and then ere in the parking lot next to a big yellow truck which used to be avan You could still see where the word Ryder had been spray-painted over, and I asked Ji for it anyed into my shoulder holsters We clinition

"How is it an i a truck?" I said it with a straight face, but he kneas ribbing hi his chins into fleshy wads Jiood under his Florida Gator sweats He was one of these career wise guys that was always shoving a bratwurst down his face, and whenever the sun came out, he&039;d sweat barbecue sauce

Jimmy said, "I like to keep a hand in" He looked back at his house "I just hate leaving Junior on short notice I guess it&039;s okay leaving hiirl Maria It&039;s been a while since I been on a run, you know? I fix up deals, right? It&039;s been ten years since I drove a truck or waved a piece around or any of that crap I do most of my work over the phone I fix deals"

"You fix deals," I acknowledged

We drove

"What&039;s in the truck now?" I asked

"Nike sneakers and Zippo lighters"

We drove east toward Bithlo, past the junkyards and the trailer parks, to the very edge of Stan&039;s cru out of this business?" I asked hi open, and he looked at me like I had three heads "What do you mean?"

"What the hell do you think I mean?"

"Think too o batty"

I guess what I really wanted was to find Stan and have hi to be okay Either we&039;d kick Beggar Johnson&039;s ass back to Miaet the hell out of town I didn&039;t feel right without Stan telling me what to do That wasn&039;t easy to admit, but it was true

Jihed to myself over the notion of a secret stash ofHow are you fixed for artillery?"

"Why?"

"Just in case"

"I got a snub-nose38 on my ankle"

"Get it up around your waist Tuck it in your pants"

"I&039; sweats It&039;ll fall down"

"Tuck it in your underwear too"

He did like I said and gri?"

"The metal&039;s cold"

"It&039;ll warm up"

We drove more

I kept a casual eye on the rearviewI didn&039;t like I said, "Jimmy, let&039;s stop for some coffee and a muffin What do you say?"

He looked at uess," said Jiainst a Chevron station, so Jihway and parked the truck We took a booth in the sandwich shop A teenage waitress with a Southern accent as thick as a slab of ham took our order for two coffees and a cheese Danish for Ji I thought maybe he&039;d dozed off, but he cut the flow and dumped about ts&039; worth of , cake batter?"

"Lay off"

"Don&039;t get defensive"

"Okay," said Ji followed Don&039;t look around Eat your Danish"

He took half the thing in the first bite and said, "Bring me up to speed"

"Mutt and Jeff in a black Ford Teht I&039;d given them the shake"

"Maybe not," said Jimmy

"They&039;re at the pay phone across fro to make a call"

Jimmy raised an eyebrow "You sure?"

"No" It looked like the saot to be sure"

"I know"

Ji van"

"No"

"Well, shit"

"Let&039;s pay for this and get going"

"What about our buddies?" Jimmy asked

"Like you said We need to be sure"

We drove for a while The jokers in the Tempo stayed at a discreet distance, but they were definitely tailing us They probably thought they were doing a good job

"Pull into that Burger King up there," I said "I&039;ll get to the bottom of this shit"