Mr Majestyk

  "How can you see it in the dark?"

  "When I came it was light. I never saw so much stuff not put away. Don't yo u h ang anything up?"

  "I haven't had much time for housekeeping. With one thing or another."

  "What's that, on the other side of the bed?"

  "Don't you know a deep-freeze when you see one? I got it secondhand fo r t wenty-five bucks. Keep deer meat in it."

  "I mean what's it doing in here?"

  "What's the difference? You got to put it somewhere."

  "You need help, Vincent. Well, maybe it's good you have it. They come, we ca n h ide in it."

  "They come shooting," he said, "we won't get a chance to hide. But if they don't c ome, soon, I lose a crop. I been thinking. He can wait a week, a year, long a s h e wants. But I can't wait anymore. So, I figure, I better get it done myself."

  "Like turn it around?" She sounded interested.

  "If I could spot him, bring him out--"

  "Call him up," Nancy said. "Ask him to meet you someplace." There was enoug h l ight that she could see his expression, the smile beginning to form, and sh e s aid then, "I'm just kidding. I don't mean really do it. Come on, don't. You'r e j ust crazy enough to try."

  "If he's watching us," Majestyk said, "I don't have to call him. And if h e d oesn't come tonight--" He paused. "I've got a half-assed idea that might b e w orth trying."

  "God, you are going to turn it around, aren't you? Go after him instead of hi m a fter you."

  "It's a thought, isn't it? Something he might not expect."

  "God, Vincent, sometimes you scare me."

  He smiled at her again, feeling pretty good considering everything, and wen t b ack into the living room.

  Chapter 12.

  BOBBY KOPAS SAID, "We got him for you, Mr. Renda. Sure'n hell he's in there an d t here ain't no way he can get out."

  Renda stared at the house, at the early morning sun shining on the windows , waiting for some sign of life, wondering what the man was doing, if he was i n t here. The place looked deserted, worn out and left to rot. He was thinking tha t i t would be getting hot in there. The guy should open a window, let in some air.

  The guy should be doing something, open the door, take the garbage out , something.

  "He tries to go out the road," Lundy said, "we got two people down there in th e p acking shed. Another boy's over behind that trailer, see it? Case he tries t o t ake off through the melon patch. Two more round the back. We cut his phon e w ire. I'd say all we got to do is walk up to the door and ring the bell."

  "If he's there," Renda said. He looked at Kopas. "You seen him this morning?"

  Bobby Kopas had been up all night, but he wasn't even tired. He'd been doing a j ob and hadn't made any mistakes. He said, "I figure he's locked himself in th e t oilet. Else he's hiding under the bed."

  "I still have trouble, don't I," Renda said, "asking you a question?"

  "What I meant, Mr. Renda, no, we haven't seen him yet, but he's in the house.

  His truck's right there. There's no place else he could be."

  "And nobody's come by?"

  "The girl," Lundy said, "yesterday. She's the only one."

  Renda was staring at the house again. It wasn't Sunday. It wasn't a day off. Th e g uy wasn't sleeping in. He should have come out by now. He should have been ou t a n hour ago, working, doing something. So if he was in there he knew what wa s g oing on. He felt it or smelled it or had seen somebody.

  "I don't like it," Renda said.

  Eugene Lundy didn't like it either, not a bit; but it was a living that pai d g ood money and gave him plenty of time to get drunk in between jobs. The thin g t o do was not think about it too much and just get the job over with. He said , "Well, we can stand here with our finger up our ass or we can go pull the son o f a bitch out of there and get it done."

  It was good to have people like Gene Lundy, they were hard to find. "That's wha t w e're going to do," Renda said, "but I don't want any fucking surprises. I don't n eed surprises. Gene, what have we got? What it looks like we've got. The guy i n t he house. He's got a girl with him. One, maybe two cops over on the highway.

  Are there more cops somewhere? You say no. All right, then what are the cop s d oing? Maybe they pulled out. Maybe they said fuck him. Maybe they don't give a s hit about the guy and they don't care what happens to him. Except there's stil l a cop over on the highway. Gene, you're sure, right?"

  Lundy nodded. "I saw him go in the tool shed. He's got a radio in there."

  "All right," Renda said, "they know I'm going to hit him, they're hanging round.

  But they're not hanging around very close, are they? What're they doing?"

  "Maybe," Lundy said, "they don't give a shit about the guy as you say. I don't k now. Maybe they figure you were here, you're not going to come right back, the y g ot a little time. I don't know how they think, fucking cops, but maybe that's w hat they think."

  Renda took a minute, staring at the house. He nodded then and said, "Okay, we'l l b ring him out. We'll be quiet, go in and bring him out. Walk him back here t o t he car. And the girl. We'll have to take the girl."

  Bobby Kopas had started to think about it too, the actual doing it, and he said , "Mr. Renda, what if he's got a gun?"

  "He does, we take it away from him," Renda said. "He tries to use it, then w e g ot no choice." He looked at Lundy. "Do it in the house and get out." He looke d a t Kopas then. "What I think we'll do--you walk up to the door first, we'll com e i n behind you."

  Bobby Kopas heard it but didn't believe it. He said holy shit to himself an d g rinned because, Christ, he had never been in this kind of a set-up before an d h e didn't know how to act, what kind of a pose or anything. He felt like a dum b s hit grinning, but what else was he going to do? He said, "Mr. Renda, I neve r d one anything like this before. You know what I mean? I mean I might not be an y g ood at it." Still grinning.

  Renda said, "You walk up to the door, we come in behind you."

  Majestyk put the two suitcases by the front door and looked at Nancy.

  "You ready?"

  "I guess so."

  "Both bags go in the back of the truck. Save you time, and we might need the on e s ooner than I'd like."

  "All right."

  "Once you start, put your foot on it. Don't stop or slow down. Somebody gets in your way, run him over. Five or six miles down the highway you'll see the Enc o s ign on the corner. The cafe's right past it."

  "Vincent--"

  "Listen to me. You get out, take your suitcase, and walk over to the cafe."

  "Vincent, please, you can't do it alone. You need someone."

  "Think about what you have to do," he said. "That's enough. More than I have a r ight to ask."

  "Please take me with you."

  "I'm not going to argue with you," Majestyk said. "We've discussed it. I'm no t g oing to change my mind now. You get off and I keep going and that's the wa y i t's going to be."

  "All right," Nancy said, "but you feel something, Vincent, the same as I do. Yo u c an't tell me you don't."

  He opened the door and stepped back from it, out of the way. He said, "It's tim e t o go."

  They watched her come out with the suitcases and swing them, one at a time, int o t he back of the pickup. When she got in behind the wheel Lundy said, surprised , "She's taking off in his truck."

  "Two suitcases," Renda said. He had to make up his mind right now. Stop her o r l et her go. The guy could be making her leave, getting her out of the way. Or t he guy could be pulling something. He said to Kopas, "She have a suitcas e y esterday?"

  "Hey, that's right," Kopas said. "She did."

  "How many?"

  "Just one. Yeah, walked all the way across the field with it."

  They heard her voice as she called something to the house. Her arm came out o f t he window and waved. As the truck started to roll away from the house Lund y s aid, "She's leaving him there. You believe it?"

  Right
now, Renda was thinking. Stop her. Yell to the guy behind the trailer.

  Yell at him to stop her, pull her out of the truck. But even as he made up hi s m ind and screamed it, "Get her! Stop the truck!" it was too late.

  Majestyk was out of the house, running, chasing the pickup, catching th e t ailgate with his hands and rolling over it into the box as the truck roare d o ff, raising a trail of dust.

  Nancy caught only a glimpse of the one by the melon trailer. He was steppin g i nto the road, raising a gun, then jumping aside, away from the front fender , and she was past him, her hands tight on the vibrating wheel, wondering if Vincent was being bounced to death on the metal floor of the box. She wanted t o l ook around, but she kept her eyes on the road, doing fifty now and suddenl y s eeing the car coming out from the side of the packing shed, coming fast an d b raking, skidding a little as it reached the narrow road and sat there blockin g t he way. Nancy cranked the wheel hard to the right, swerved around the front o f t he car, in and out of the ditch and back onto the road. In the rearview mirro r s he saw the car back up and make a tight turn to come after her. She wa s a pproaching the highway now and would have to slow down.

  Turn left and race the five or six miles to Edna. Get out at the cafe and tak e h er suitcase while he jumped in behind the wheel and before she could sa y a nything he would be gone, leading them up into the mountains somewhere and sh e w ould never see him again.

  He couldn't do it alone. He needed her. The two of them might have a chance, bu t h e was stubborn and wouldn't listen to her. So she could be meek and do what sh e w as told and never see him after he got in the truck and she walked across th e s treet to wait for the bus. Or--she could forget his instructions, everything h e h ad said, and help him, whether he wanted her to or not. It was simple, alread y d ecided. When she reached the highway she turned right instead of left.

  He was pounding on the window, yelling at her, "It's the other way! Where in th e h ell are you going?"

  She looked over her shoulder and gave him a nice smile, mashed the accelerator , and saw him fall off balance, away from the window.

  The deputy at the road construction site saw him raise up again, just as th e p ickup was going by, and press against the truck's cab, by the back window. Th e d eputy knew it was Majestyk. But he didn't get a good look at who was driving.

  He thought it was the girl, but he couldn't be sure. The truck went by s o f ast--west, away from Edna. He was on the radio when the car came out of th e r oad--dark green Dodge, two-door model--squealed out, turning hard, and ther e w asn't any question in his mind somebody was after somebody.

  Thirty seconds later Harold Ritchie was in McAllen's office.

  "Renda or some of his people are hot after him. Going east on the highway."

  "Now you're talking," McAllen said. "Let's put everything we got on it."

  He knew what she was doing now, and knew what he had to do. Lying on his side i n t he pickup bed he opened his suitcase, took out the stock and barrel of the Remington 12-gauge, got them fitted together and shoved in five loads. It wasn't e asy; it took him longer than usual, because of the metal vibrating beneath hi m a nd the sway of the truck and the wind. It was hard to keep his balance, proppe d o n an elbow, hard to keep the shotgun steady and the shells in one place.

  The crazy girl was having it her way. He saw her face a couple of times, lookin g o ver her shoulder through the window, seeing if he was ready.

  He needed more time to get the Marlin put together and loaded.

  But the dark green car was coming up on them fast. The truck could do mayb e e ighty, the car a hundred and twenty probably, or more. It wouldn't be lon g b efore it was running up their rear end. He looked back again, as they reache d t he lower end of a grade, and now saw two more cars behind the green one , closing in from about a half to a quarter of a mile away.

  Nancy's eyes moved from the outside rearview mirror to the road ahead, th e n arrow blacktop racing at her, a straight line pointing through scrub an d p asture land. On the left side of the road was a stock fence, miles of wire an d p osts and up ahead, finally, there it was, a side road. Higher posts marked th e r oad. And a closed gate hung across the entrance.

  There wouldn't be time to stop and open the gate. She knew that.

  There wouldn't be time to load the Marlin. Majestyk realized that now. He put i t d own quickly, across the open suitcase, and picked up the shotgun again. He ha d t o get turned around, face the tailgate.

  He was moving, keeping low, on his elbows and knees--and was thrown hard agains t t he side of the pickup box as the truck left the road and its hig h f our-wheel-drive front end smashed through the wooden gate, exploded through i t w ith the sound of boards splitting, ripped apart by the high metal bumper.

  By the time Renda's three cars were through the gate and had come to a sudde n s top, the truck was bounding across the desert pasture, making its own trail , running free where the cars couldn't follow.

  No one had to say it. The rocks and holes, steep-banked washes and scrub, woul d r ip the underbody of an automobile, tear out the suspension. They sat staring a t t he dust settling and the yellow speck out there in the open sunlight--Renda i n t he front seat with Lundy, Kopas in back.

  "There's a road over there," Renda said finally. "They got to be headed fo r s omething."

  "Taking a shortcut," Lundy said.

  "There is one," Kopas said, "if I remember correctly. About a mile, county roa d c uts through there, goes up in the mountains."

  The three cars turned in a tight circle and went out through the gate the wa y t hey had come in, the dark green Dodge leading off.

  Within five miles the county blacktop began to wind and climb, making its way u p i nto high country.

  Majestyk felt better now. He had a little time to breathe and knew what he wa s g oing to do. The girl had set it up for him, given him the time. She had said h e n eeded her and she was right. When he signaled to her and she stopped, he go t o ut of the box and came up on her side.

  "I guess there's no way to get rid of you, is there?"

  "I told you before, Vincent, you're stuck with me."

  She was the one to have along all right, but he couldn't think about her now. He t old her to hold it about thirty-five, let them catch up again. He got back int o t he rear end and that was the last thing he said to her for a while.

  There were a few new melon cartons in the pickup bed, flat pieces of cardboar d h e put under him for some cushion, soften the damn skid strips on the floor.

  Then he put the two suitcases at the back end of the pickup box, against th e t ailgate, and rested the shotgun on them. Lying belly down they were just abou t t he right height. He reached up and pulled the latch open on one side of th e t ailgate. The other one would hold the gate closed until he was ready.

  When he saw the three cars coming again, they were on a good stretch of road , straight and climbing, a pinyon slope rising above them on the right and a stee p b ank of shale and scrub that fell off to the left, dropping fifty or more fee t i nto dense growth, dusty stands of mesquite.

  Now he would have to keep down and rely on Nancy. In the window he saw her loo k b ack at him and nod. That meant they were coming up fast. He could hear the car.

  Nancy was watching it in the rearview mirror--catching glimpses of the other tw o c ars behind it--letting them come, watching the first car closely to see what i t w as going to do and trying to hold the truck steady on the narrow road. The ca r w as fifty, forty feet away, crawling up on the truck, overtaking it an d b eginning to pull out, as if to pass. She held up two fingers in the rea r w indow, a peace sign.

  Majestyk was ready. He reached for the tailgate latch, pulled the chain off. Th e g ate dropped, clanged open and there was the dark green Dodge charging at him, a l ittle off to the right. At twenty feet Majestyk put his face to the shotgun , fired three times and saw the windshield explode and the car go out of control.

  It swerved across th
e road, sweeping past the tailgate, hit the bank on th e r ight side and came back again--as the two cars behind, suddenly close, brake d a nd fishtailed to keep from piling into the Dodge. The car veered sharply to th e l eft, jumped the shoulder, and dived into the brush fifty feet below.

  He fired twice at the second car, the Olds 98, but it was swerving to avoi d h itting the bank. The shot raked its side and caught part of the third car , taking out a headlight, as the car rammed into the left rear fender of the Olds , kicked it sideways and both cars came to a hard abrupt stop.

  Majestyk gave Nancy the sign, felt the pickup lurch as it shifted and took off , leaving the two cars piled up in the road.

  The first thing Lundy did, he went over to the shoulder to look down at the Dodge, at the rear end of it sticking out of the brush. There was no sign of th e t wo guys. They were probably still inside. He couldn't see how they could b e a live, but it was possible. Lundy was starting down the bank when Renda calle d h im.

  "Gene, come on." Renda was walking away from the rear of the Olds. The other ca r w as slowly backing up. He said, "We're okay. Let's go."

  Lundy began to say, "I was thinking we ought to--don't you think we should take a l ook?"

  "We're going to get in the car, Gene, and not waste any more time. Now come on."

  "They could be alive. Hurt pretty bad, caught in there."

  "I don't give a shit what they are. We got something to do, right now, before h e g ets someplace and hides."

  Renda didn't say any more until they were in the car, following the road u p t hrough the pinyon, looking at side trails, openings in the trees where he coul d h ave turned off. But there wasn't any way to tell.

  "That goddamn truck of his, he can go anywhere," Renda said. "He knows thi s c ountry. He told me, he comes up here hunting."

  "If he knows it and we don't," Lundy said, "it changes things."

  "I don't know, is he running or what? The son of a bitch."

  "If he's still on this road," Lundy said, "we'll catch him. Otherwise I don't k now either."

  There was a game trail nearby where he had sat with the Marlin across his la p a nd waited for deer: meat for the winter, to be stored in his twenty-five-dolla r d eep-freeze. He wondered if he would go hunting this fall. If the girl woul d s till be here. If either of them would be here.