The Amateurs (28 page)

“What? Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.” His forehead felt overlarge, the blood vessels in it pounding. “Again. What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing.”

“Sure. He showed up at your place the other night for nothing.” The words were barely out of his mouth and he already regretted them.

“Excuse me?”

He sighed. “I didn’t mean that.”

“What did you mean?”

“I just”—a cab blared its horn, and another answered—“I like you, Jenn. A lot. I have for a long time.”
Jesus, what are you, twelve?
“I mean, I know this is new, and I don’t want to rush.”

She didn’t answer him, just brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Anyway, the thing with Victor, this is good. We can bring the stuff with us to the bank, then give it to him there. It won’t matter that it wasn’t in the safe-deposit box. He won’t pull anything.”

“Maybe.”

“Nah. You have to understand, a guy like Victor, we’re not on his radar. He’ll just take what he wants and go.”

“ ‘A guy like Victor’? What do you know about guys like Victor?”

“He’s a businessman, that’s all I mean.” Nothing seemed to be coming out right, like they were having separate conversations. “We’ll take care of him, and he’ll take care of Johnny, and then we’re clear to use the money. We can start a new life.” He caught himself, flushed. “I mean, you know, we all can.”

She turned and looked up at him. It seemed like she was searching for something, and he felt his face get hotter still. Finally, she said, “You have the wrong idea.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “You’re a doorman. I work in a travel agency. I didn’t lie to Victor to get us to a public place. I lied to buy us time to go to the police.”

For a second he felt like he was falling, that weird gut sense of imbalance. He stared, waiting for her to say it was a joke, that she had been kidding.

“Hey, buddy, got any change?” The man had that same look of a lot of Chicago’s homeless, indeterminate age, clothes nicer than you’d expect, but eyes rheumy and worn.

“No,” Mitch said. Then turned back to her. “Are you serious?”

“Come on, mister. Any change at all?”

“I said no.”

The man stood for another second, then grimaced and wandered away.

“You can’t be—”

“I am.” She crossed her arms in front of her breasts. “This is out of control. We need to get some help.”

“Think about what you’re saying. We’re going to walk into the police station and tell them what, we robbed a guy at gunpoint?”

“Whoever Victor is, he’s bad news. I’m sure they’ll take that into account—”

“Jenn, we killed someone
.
” He said the words under his breath, glancing around to make sure no one overheard.

“It was self-defense. We’ll all swear to that.”

This couldn’t be happening. He put a hand on her elbow. “Do you understand what you’re saying?”

She looked the other way.

“Oh, that’s great. Fantastic.” He could feel the throb of blood through his body, hot and cold at once. “So you and Alex and Ian get off for free, and I go to jail.”

“No, I’m not saying that—”

“That’s what will happen.”
He squeezed her arm tightly, and she jumped, turned to face him. “Why are the rest of you being so blind? This isn’t one of Ian’s goddamn games. We don’t get to start over.”

“Let go. You’re hurting me.”

“Hey, buddy, seriously, help me out, just a quarter, anything.”

Mitch let go of her arm, spun to face the homeless guy. “I said, fuck off.”

“Come on, I’m trying to get something to eat—”

Something in him snapped. Mitch stepped forward, put his hands against the bum’s chest and shoved. The man staggered, and Mitch followed, one fist bunched up, his hand shaking. The bum took another quick step back, then his heel caught on something, and he went over, his arms whirling. He hit the ground with a
whoomp
and a yell.

People froze, their eyes on him, that same old schoolyard feeling, everyone watching with vampire eyes. A woman had her hand to her mouth like she had stuffed a doughnut in whole. A burly guy twenty feet away started forward. On the ground, the bum writhed, saying, “Shit, man, all I wanted was a quarter.”

He was at once bulletproof and bleeding, that shaking intensity of being the center of attention. He grabbed Jenn by the arm and started away. He had to tug to get her moving. “Come
on
.”

“Lady, you OK?” It was Burly Guy, one of those Chicago big men, not exactly fat, but no
GQ
cover.

“I’m fine.” She shook off Mitch’s hand and started walking. Two teenagers were helping the homeless guy to his feet. The crowd turned as one to stare them out.

“Listen, that was—”

“What’s happening to you? You’re not the same.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s like you’ve become someone else. I know this has all been crazy, but—”

“Jenn, fuck that, OK? I’m the only one doing what needs to be done. And if you go to the police, I go to jail. It’s just that simple.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do. And so do you.”

“So we won’t tell them the whole story. We can lie, tell them that we found the bottles.”

“What, we stumbled on them in the alley? Don’t be stupid.”

She stopped, whirled to face him. Her feet were planted shoulder width, and her eyes flashed. “Don’t you ever. Just because we fucked doesn’t mean you get to do that.”

He raised his hands. “I’m sorry.”

She stared for another moment, then turned and started walking fast. He was taller than she was, but had to hustle to keep up. “Look, I understand. You’re scared.”

“Of course I’m scared. So are you. The difference is that I’ll admit it.”

“Jenn, please, listen to me, would you?” They reached the north end of Millennial Park, and she started across Randolph without looking. Horns shrieked and brakes squealed as she strode through traffic, parting it like the Red Sea. Even now, as everything fell apart, it was a thrill to watch her. “Would you listen?”

“I’m going home, Mitch.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

“Fine, but would you just listen for a second?”

She stepped up onto the sidewalk. “What?”

“You’re right. I’m scared too, OK?” He held his hands out in front of him, fingers almost touching, like he was squeezing an invisible ball. “I have been since we started this.” It was only as he spoke that he realized it was true. What was he doing? What had he done?

He made himself speak gently. “We have to be realistic. We can’t go to the cops. If we do, maybe, maybe you and the others will be OK. But I won’t. You know that.”

Something flickered across her face like a cloud shadow. She turned to look at the half-finished high-rise to the west, her eyes tracing the girders. “You did it for me, didn’t you? Not . . . what happened in the alley. Before that. You agreed to rob Johnny because I was.”

“No.”

“Yes, you did.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I told myself that I wasn’t manipulating you, but I knew how you felt, and I took advantage. Because I wanted to do this. I wanted an adventure.”

“I—” He felt he should say something but didn’t know what.

“I was wrong to do that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Maybe you’re right, maybe I did do it for you. But you know what?” He shrugged. “That’s as good a reason as any I can think of.”

“But now everything is bad.”

“We have to keep it together. Just a little longer.”

“You’re wrong.” Her smile a broken flower. She threaded her arm through his. “I think things are going to get a lot worse.”

 

 

VICTOR STARED out the limo window at Jenn and Mitch walking arm in arm. Beside him, Bennett said, “You think she’s playing straight?”

“She
is
straight. All of them are. They’re in over their collective heads, and I’m tossing them a line.”

“What about the cops? If they turn over the stuff, they’d have some heavy negotiating power.”

“They aren’t thinking that way. They’re civilians. Their idea of prison is
Oz
.”

“So you’re trusting in their fear of anal invasion to keep them in line?”

“If they knew what they had, maybe it would be different.” Victor shrugged. “Or maybe not. You know how little it can take to convince people to do the wrong thing. The money is a big temptation.”

“About that. You’re letting them keep it?”

“Our deal stands. I’ll still stake you the two hundred fifty thousand.”

“Why?”

“I’m being careful. That money is two hundred and fifty thousand reasons not to go to the police.”

“Why not just take them somewhere, lock them down?”

“Too risky. Who knows if someone is expecting them, will report them missing? This is safer. They don’t know what they have, and they don’t know anything about us. So we watch, and we wait.” Victor leaned forward, tapped the mic. “Let’s go, Andrews.” The car began to move almost immediately. “You’ll watch her.”

“I don’t work for you, remember? No orders.”

Victor sighed. “If anything happens, it will go through her. She’s the one who set up the safe deposit. No one will be able access it without her, that’s why I didn’t insist on the key. I’ve got plenty of men, but you’re better than they are. So pretty please, in the interest of our partnership, will you keep an eye on her?”

“Fair enough.” Bennett paused, rubbed at his chin. “You’re right. If they do make a play, they won’t leave her dangling. Three men, one woman, they’re going to protect her.”

“They’re going to try.”

T
HEY HAD SPENT ANOTHER HOUR wandering the city before Jenn told Mitch she was going home. He’d said he would come with her, and she had been forced to say no. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about him, or that her apology had been less than sincere. But everything was moving too fast. Maybe, maybe, they had a chance to make something happen. Of the original foursome, he was certainly the only one she still trusted. But they’d only slept together a couple of times, and he seemed ready to propose, and she just couldn’t take it.

“You’ll be OK?”

“I’ll be fine. I just need a little space.”

“Space from me?”

“Space from everybody.” She had taken his hand. “What you said before—”

“I know, it was too fast—”

“It was sweet. And I like you, too, Mitch. But I need some time to think. Let’s just get through all of this and let things settle down, OK?”

“Yeah,” he’d said. “Sure.”

“And once it has, why don’t you give me a call. Ask me out on an actual date.”

His face lit up like Christmas. “Yeah?”

“I’d like that.”

“Me too.” He laughed. “We’ll do it right. Go somewhere nice. On Johnny.”

That had made her laugh too, and as she’d gotten in a cab and closed the door behind her, she’d felt a quick pang of regret to leave him standing on the sidewalk, hands tucked in his pockets.

But it had also felt great to step into her apartment alone. To dodge out of the weight and meaning of everything. Habit, maybe, and one that she was looking to break. It was time to quit playing games, pretending that nothing meant anything. But it wasn’t going to happen all at once. Right now, all she wanted was to put life on hold. To forget about the dissolution of her friendships, the transformation of her world, the monsters tracking them. To have a vodka and read a silly magazine and forget everything. Maybe it was weak, maybe it was regressive, but she deserved it.

So the knock on the door had been anything but a happy surprise. She strode across the hardwood fast, reached for the door. “Damn it, I said I need a little space—”

Alex stood in the hallway.

“Oh.” She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling trapped and a little silly. “You.”

“Listen, I can’t stay. Cassie’s got a soccer game, I promised I’d be there. But I wanted to—I couldn’t say it in front of the others. First Victor, then Mitch, they got me so riled up.” He let out a breath. “It doesn’t matter. I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“OK.”

He gave her a rueful smile. “I really pissed you off, didn’t I?”

“You bailed on us.”

“That’s not what I’m apologizing for.”

“No?”

“I had to do that. I have my daughter to think of.”

“We all have people to think of.”

“I know. But you don’t know what it’s like to have a child. It . . . it takes over everything. When I heard Victor threaten her, I could have . . . Jesus. If it wasn’t for his guards, I might have put his face through that table.”

There was something in the way he held himself, the tension in his shoulders, that touched her. In the genes, she supposed—hard not to be attracted to a man who would do anything for his family. “I’m glad you didn’t try.”

“I know.” He paused. “I’m going to lose her, Jenn.”

“Mitch thinks that if we give the stuff to Victor—”

“I don’t mean that. They’re taking her away. To Arizona.” He looked down, rubbed at the back of his neck. “I brought Trish the money. I know, I shouldn’t have, just like Ian shouldn’t have paid his bookie, but I had to. And they had this lawyer there, this slick as shit corporate killer, and he—”

“Unbelievable.” She shook her head. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?”

“Huh?”

“First, you come down on Ian for doing the same thing you did.”

“That was different—”

“But beyond that, it’s always the same for you, isn’t it? You never look at the things you don’t want to. You convince yourself of something and screen out the rest of the world.
Of course
you can’t just waltz in, give her some money, and make everything OK. Did you really believe that was going to work? For a bright guy, you sure miss the obvious. You did it with your marriage, your job, the child support, even—” She stopped herself.