Not Too Long After

I pull over at the nearest rest stop and kill the engine. A black sedan pulls in behind me. Veronica hasn’t said anything since she told me to drive. She’s still silent as we sit in the motionless car. I’m starting to get irritated. This girl definitely knows how to push my buttons.

“Okay, I give,” I say, breaking the quiet. “What’s going on?”

“You are in grave danger, Mr. Maurice,” Veronica starts.

I don’t have time for this. I cut her off. “No shit.”

“If you’d please let me finish.”

I wave my hand, allowing her to go on. She nods and lights a cigarette before continuing. “As I was saying, you are in grave danger. There are a great many people who want to spill your blood.”

“Can we cut to the chase?” I ask, my patience wearing thinner with each passing second. “I’ve got an appointment to keep.”

“Mr. Maurice, I came to you in the beginning for two reasons.” Veronica has decided to ignore me altogether. “The first being that I needed your help. The second being . . . that you needed mine.”

She pauses, whether for effect or to allow me the chance to say some smart-assed comment, I’m not sure. I keep my mouth shut regardless. Now I’m intrigued.

“I need you to find my sister.”

The intrigue wears off quickly. I press the back of my head into the headrest. “Look, lady, I’m sure your sister means the world to you, but I have got a truckload of shit to deal with and the hits just keep on coming. You wanna know what my advice is for you? Put her face on a milk carton, and when she does finally wind up back at your doorstep, keep your fucking eye on her.”

“It has come to pass, Mr. Maurice, that the help I need and the help you need can both be provided with one fell swoop. The answer to both of our needs comes from the job that I need to enlist your services for.”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“Simply put, Mr. Maurice, my sister can provide you with the answers you’re looking for.”

“Okay, how about a starting point? Something I can work off of?” I ask, feeling the irritation growing deep within my organs. It’s becoming a full fledged disease. “Maybe a name?”

“My sister’s name is Maise.”

Instinctually, I start to come back with some smart-assed remark but stop. Maise. She was the one who happened to need protection just before Vincent got whacked. If Maise had been working for Vincent, then she could give me some answers. Even if she couldn’t, she’d at least be able to direct me to the right people to talk to.

“Find my sister, Mr. Maurice,” she tells me. “Find her and bring her to me. I want her back.”

“You got any leads?” I ask. Finding a runaway girl is far easier said than done. She’s hiding, that much is for sure, but Lord knows where. If I were in her shoes, I would be too.

Veronica shakes her head and puts her cigarette out in the ashtray on the door. “I have complete faith that you’ll be able to locate her, Mr. Maurice,” she says, matter-of-factly. “I’m sure you’ve found worse creatures hiding under rocks before.” Without another word, she gets out of the car and moves, like a shadow, to the sedan behind us. She disappears into the backseat. The sedan drives away.

I rub my temples. Great. Now, all I have to do is find a missing girl, get her to squeal, find the killer for the Asian, turn him in, and my life goes back to normal. I reach to the passenger seat for the rum.

Time to get cracking.