CHAPTER 26
HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON SHIFT UNTIL SIX, but Mitch just couldn’t find it in himself to give a good goddamn. When he thought about the sum total of hours he’d occupied the same patch of sidewalk, sun or rain or snow, in a monkey suit, smiling on cue, jockeying to open the doors of cabs and limousines, hauling luggage and giving directions, it made him not so much tired as physically sick. Eight hours a day, 250 days a year, times, what, ten years? Staring at the patterns of blackened gum driven into the sidewalk, at the building opposite, watching people walk to better jobs, talking into cell phones, women in stockings and long soft hair not even looking as they strode home. His life. What a colossal waste.
Alex and Ian had both already left, the first storming out, the second slumping, leaving him and Jenn sitting in the conference room alone. He had a quick flash of hoisting her up onto the polished wood table, laying her back with one hand behind her head, whispering to her as he kissed down her body, but a glance told him that wasn’t going to happen. She sat rigid, staring at her hands, elegant fingers splayed across the tabletop.
“Are you OK?”
She nodded but didn’t look up.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“What about your job?”
“I quit.”
She’d looked at him then, an appraising kind of stare. He met her gaze and put on what he hoped was a rakish grin. Maybe it was silly, but he felt good. Alive, and strong, and with the woman he wanted. They could stand shoulder to shoulder against the world. Forget the others.
It was a gorgeous day, the sunlight bright and pure, the colors fresh-scrubbed. He put his arm around her and steered east, no real destination in mind. They got lucky with the light at Michigan and crossed over to Millennial Park. The air smelled of fried foods and the lake. It felt good to walk with her, and he didn’t break the silence, just wandered up the steps toward the massive chrome sculpture. The thing was shaped like a bean, maybe forty feet across and mirror-polished, the curves reflecting the whole world. Tourists and their children wandered staring, watching the surface warp and distort them. He liked that about it, the sense of disappearing in plain sight, of turning into something else.
“Aren’t you scared?”
He turned to look at her, surprised. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is a good thing. It solves everything at once. We get to keep the money, don’t have to worry about Johnny, and all we have to do is give up something we don’t want anyway.” He watched a small boy, seven or eight, walk steadily toward the sculpture with his hands in front of him. “That was smart of you, telling him you’d put it in the bank, so we do it in public.”
“Is that why you think I said it?”
“Isn’t it?”
She didn’t reply. Whatever was spinning in her mind, he had a feeling he wouldn’t like it, and so instead of asking again, he said, “Can you believe Alex? I know we’ve had our differences, but I never thought he’d just abandon us like that. Prick.”
“He has his daughter to think about.”
“Like we don’t have people to protect?”
“It’s different for him.”
“Why?”
“He’s a father. He’s worried.”
“He’s a coward, is what he is.”
“Come on.”
“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?
Push. It. Down.
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.”