Fat Tuesday (40 page)

He raised his head and looked at her. The darkness was split by their searching gazes, eager to connect.

"Did you love your wife?"

Her whisper was so faint, he could barely hear it above his pounding heart."Barbara?"

"Did you love her?"

Barbara had made more of an impact on him than any woman he'd met up to that point. She had excited and stimulated him. He had felt better when with her than without. But through courtship and years of togetherness, all the times they'd had sex before and after marriage, through every bitter quarrel as well as the good times, he had never felt what he was feeling now. It was a total, complete, saturating, all-encompassing passion for another human being.

"I thought I did," he answered, baffled by the misconception he had lived under."Maybe not."

Slowly, he repositioned himself until his face hovered above hers, until their hands, those handcuffed together and those not, were clasped on either side of her face, and he could feel her breasts rising and falling beneath him, and taste her breath on his lips.

He laid his cheek along hers, rubbed his nose against her earlobe, inhaled her scent. For one forbidden moment, he imagined his mouth being intimate with hers, his hands exploring, that demanding part of himself being enveloped by her body.

The images were so real, he moaned with longing. But he pulled back.

When he did, she opened her eyes. Tears still glazed them. They also reflected her confusion."Basile?"

"God knows I want you," he said raspily."But I won't take you. I won't give you a reason to hate me."

Dredd saw him coming and was standing at the edge of his pier."

Bout time you showed up. I gave you up for a thirty."

"Nobody's killed me yet," Burke said, responding to the policeman's term for a murder victim."The rain kept me away." Noticing Burke's primitive repairs, he asked, "What happened to my boat?"

"It got me here, didn't it?" Burke snapped, immediately defensive.

He was in the worst of moods, and the sooner his friend understood that, the better. Ground rules for any dialogue should be laid now, so there wouldn't be hard feelings later.

His malcontent stemmed from the night he'd spent lying next to Remy while upholding his resolve not to touch her. What-he'd told her last night was only partially true. If he made love to her, she would hate him. He would be like all the other men, including her husband, who had exploited her.

The flip side to that coin was that if he made love to her, he would hate himself.

Five days ago, he'd been contemptuous of her for maintaining a relationship, any relationship, with a bastard like Pinkie Duvall.

His contempt had shielded him from his own attraction. But now, knowing what he did about her life before and after Pinkie entered it, his opinion of her had changed. Drastically. Disturbingly. He could no longer rely on his contempt to keep him honorable.

"How's it going?"

As the boat drifted toward the pier, Burke tossed the rope up to Dredd.

"Don't ask."

Dredd maneuvered his cigarette to the opposite corner of his mouth.

"Hmm. I'd ask, What's up?" but I think I can pretty well guess that.

The pichouette is getting to you, is she?"

As Burke climbed onto the pier, he shot his friend a sour look.

"What makes you say that?"

"I weren't born yesterday, that's what makes me say that. If she'd been a butt-ugly ol' gal, this still would have been a bad idea. But seeing as she's "

"I get your point," Burke said testily.

Dredd wheezed his chain-smoker's laugh."I'd gauge by Father Kevin's scowl that he hasn't broken his vows of chastity, but he's sure as hell been tempted to."

Burke ignored his teasing and strode along the pier toward the building."Have you got any coffee?"

"Do gators shit in the water?"

"I don't know. Do they?"

"Where's Remy at?"

"I left her in the cabin."

"Alone?"

"She'll be okay."

Dredd's dubious look made Burke feel even more uneasy about a decision that had made him uneasy in the first place.

"How long will you be gone?" she'd asked before he left.

"As long as it takes me to get to Dredd's place, pick up supplies, and get back."

"Hours."

"You'll be fine."

"Take me with you."

"Bad idea."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what I'll find when I get there. I might have to be ... flexible, and I can't be if I'm worried about you getting hurt."

"I could get hurt here."

"If a boat comes by, stay out of sight. I'll get back as soon as I can."

"What if they arrest you, and I'm stranded here?"

"I'll tell them where you are."

"What if you're killed, and I'm stranded here?"

"Dredd knows where to find you."

The argument continued for another half hour, but he had remained resolute Now, as he sipped Dredd's strong coffee, he was still haunted by her little-girl-lost expression as she stood in the doorway of the shack and watched him leave. He wouldn't draw an easy breath until he got back and found her safe. He hadn't forgotten about the men who'd happened by early last evening looking for Father Gregory.

He mentioned Gregory to Dredd now."Did he by chance come back here?"

"After stealing my boat? Not bloody likely. I'd've shot him on sight."

Burke related the story he'd heard from the search party."I'll be goddamn," Dredd cackled."A wedding?"

"That's what they said." Burke gestured toward the vintage black and-white TV set. Dredd disdained communication with the outside world and turned on the TV only if there was a hurricane brewing in the Gulf.

But Burke had asked him to monitor the local news.

"Anything about us?"

"Nary a word."

"As I thought. Duvall doesn't want anyone to know his wife's been abducted. Bad publicity."

"It appears that way. But how long can his wife be gone before somebody else notices?"

"There are servants in the house, but they'll keep quiet if Duvall tells them to. However, Remy's got a sister. She'll begin to wonder if she hasn't already."

"Oh, it's Remy' now, is it?"

Ignoring the gibe, Burke took a slip of paper from the pocket of his jeans and slapped it onto the counter."Here's my shopping list. Do you have anything fresh?"

"Like what?"

"Vegetables. Fruit. She likes oranges."

"Likes oranges," Dredd repeated as he took a final drag on his cigarette before grinding it out in the hollow belly of a ceramic alligator."Burke, if I was a younger, stronger man, if I didn't like you so much, I'd wrestle you down and hog-tie you to keep you from going through with this business. But I am old, and not as strong as I used to be, and I do like you. So all I've got to fight you with is a few words of caution. I don't like messing in any other man's business, but "

"Here goes."

"Yeah. Here goes." Dredd blew out a cloud of smoke that he'd been savoring in his lungs."Why don't you take that pretty lady on out of here? If you like her, and she feels the same, why don't you two just disappear? Get out while you can. Leave this business behind and go off someplace together?"

"She wouldn't run away with me, Dredd. And even if she would, I wouldn't leave this business, as you call it, unfinished."

"How's it going to wind up? Where's it going?"

"I don't know."

"But you know where it ain't going," Dredd said, emphasizing his statement by jabbing a horny finger at Burke."It ain't going nowhere nice."

"No, it's not."

Dredd tugged on his beard in exasperation."You've got your revenge on Duvall," he said, raising his voice."You took his wife. Whether or not you've screwed her, you've made your point with him. End it, Burke."

"It'll end when Duvall is dead."

"Why are you doing this? Why?"

"Because I have to!" he shouted. Then, ameliorating his tone, he said irritably, "Just get the stuff so I can get out of here, okay?"

Grumbling beneath his breath, Dredd snatched up the list and began gathering the items from his shelves and angrily tossing them into a paper bag. Burke walked over to the pay phone, fed it coins, and placed a call.

It was answered on the second ring."Good morning, Duvall," he said.

"I thought I might catch you up early."

"Basile."

Coming from Pinkie Duvall's lips, his name sounded like an epithet.

Good. He hoped to God he had become the lawyer's nemesis.

You have made one huge mistake, Basile, a larger, more suicidal mistake than Stuart made when he ran into that warehouse."

"Kevin didn't know what he was up against. I do."

"Then you know that I'm going to kill you."

"Kill me? You've got to find me first, you motherfucker."

Burke hung up, but for several moments he stared thoughtfully into near space. The man's wife had been kidnapped. She'd been missing for several days, in the custody of a man who'd sworn vengeance. Yet Duvall hadn't made a single inquiry about her well-being.

Burke repeated, this time with real feeling, "You motherfucker."

The dial tone filled Pinkie's ear."It wasn't long enough to trace, Mr. Duvall," said an assistant from the adjoining office."Sorry. We can have our man over at central trace it, but it'll take a while."

"It doesn't matter."

To the assistant's dismay, Duvall began to laugh, softly at first, then with a sinister gusto. Looking across at Wayne Bardo, who was also smiling, he said, "Basile sounded so goddamn complacent. The son of a bitch doesn't know we already have him."

Bardo, sharing Duvall's good humor, dropped a manila folder onto his desk."This will make your morning."

Pinkie read the label on the envelope as he dumped the contents onto his desk."So soon? I'm impressed."

He thumbed through the black-and-white photos. They were grainy, the quality hampered by distance, but the subjects in them were clearly identifiable. Pinkie tsked."Shame, shame, Dr. Caruth." Then to Bardo: "Get the new guy to bring the car around. I'm going to make a house call."

Dredd had placed the staples in the boat by the time Burke rejoined him on the pier."Found a couple of oranges," he muttered vrumdilv.

"Thanks."

"You got enough there to last you several days." Burke nodded, but he was distracted by other concerns."Dredd I fanned Duvall's fire just now, so watch yourself. First sign of trouble, you head for the swamp and lose yourself."

"I can take care of myself, thank you, sonny. I may be old and gray, but I'm not helpless."

"Listen to me," Burke said, making sure he had Dredd's undivided attention."Anybody on Duvall's payroll you do not fuck around with.

Promise me you'll make yourself scarce if anyone suspicious comes around. Be on guard."

"Okay, okay Aw, hell, there's the phone."

"I'll see you in a couple of days if not before."

Dredd headed back toward the shack, cursing either the ringing telephone or Burke's admonition, Burke wasn't sure which. He was fond of the older man. If anything happened to Dredd, he would never forgive himself for involving him.

"Burke!

He'd covered only about twenty yards when he heard Dredd's shout above the boat motor. He turned and looked, Dredd was signaling him back.

He brought the boat around, shouting, "What is it?"

"Telephone for you." His heart lurched. Had he miscalculated his timing? Had Duvall traced the call that quickly? Was he on his way here now? Adrenaline kicked in.

He leaped onto the pier before the boat came to a full stop."Who is it?"

"Your brother."

Burke drew up short."Joe?"

"How many you got?"

"What's he want? How'd he know to reach me here?"

"Shouldn't you be asking him?"

Burke jogged back to the shop and was breathing hard when he reached the telephone."Joe?"

"Hey. Can't believe I'm actually speaking to you. I was calling to leave a message with Dredd for you to phone me if you showed up at his place."

"You okay?"

"Hell, big brother, I'm fine. You're the one who's supposed to be in trouble. At least everyone seems to think so."

"What are you talking about?"

"For starters, Doug Pat shows up here yesterday morning just after daylight. He'd been driving most of the night and was about as glum as anybody I've ever met."

"Over what?"

"Your mysterious disappearance. He hem-hawed around before coming right out and saying that you were in a jam. Asked me did I know where you had gone."

"To which you told him ..."

"The truth. I didn't know. I told him I might have a hunch, but family loyalty being what it is, I wouldn't share my speculations."

"Good. Thanks, Joe."

"Hold it. There's more. While Linda was entertaining him in the kitchen, I took a phone call in the den. It was Mac Mccuen."

"Jeer. What did he want?"

"Same thing. His hints were a little more exaggerated "

"That's Mac."

"But I told him exactly what I told Doug Pat that I couldn't help him. After Pat left, I tried twice to reach Dredd on the outside chance you were at the fishing camp and the two of you had been in touch. Neither of those calls was answered. I got sorta spooked, and thought maybe you were in danger."

"I'm not."

'"Then why are Pat and this guy Mccuen convinced you are?

Mccuen doesn't take no for an answer."

"How well I know."

"He called again in the middle of the night, sounding even more strung out than before. I told him to fuck off."

"Good."

"But, Burke, he called again this morning. By now, Linda's freaking out, thinking you're dead or something. Mccuen's begging, swearing he means you well, vowing that if I didn't tell him what he needed to know, we'd be planning a funeral. He said that if I didn't shed light on your whereabouts, you were as good as dead. So I did."

"Did what?"

"Shed light."

Burke backed into the wall, thumping it hard with his head.

"What's going on, Burke? Did I do the right thing?"

Burke couldn't fault his brother for divulging information to Mccuen.