Yeah, thats the place. See, the woman who lived there, the gal who owns the place, she was sitting at a stoplight last night and someone came around the corner, broadsided her and then took off.

So?

Well, shes thought it might have been a black car. Im thinking Bulldog was driving your car and tried to kill her. For all I know he might be thinking he succeeded.

G.o.d, not my car, Freddy whined completely missing the point that someone, quite possibly Bulldog, had attempted to use the vehicle as a murder weapon.

Im just saying it looks that way, Freddy. Cant prove anything yet, but Im thinking, yeah probably.

When I get out of here theyre gonna pay. Every d.a.m.n one of them, you hear me, Haskell. I dont care what they did to me, but if they f.u.c.ked with black beauty they are dead meat.

I didnt doubt him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Casey returned my call while I was walking back to my car in the hospital ramp. Sorry I missed your call, Dev. I left my phone downstairs.

You sleep okay?

Yeah, two bottles of wine will do that.

I can be over there in about fifteen minutes and drive you back to your place to get the car if that works.

Can you make it a half-hour, I should jump in the shower first.

Ill give you forty-five minutes.

I picked her up and we drove over to her house. I walked in with her and headed for the kitchen while she talked with the contractors for a few minutes then came out in the kitchen where I was sitting.

I put some coffee on, you want some?

Yeah, she said then gave a sigh. I suppose I should get the spare keys out of his desk drawer and get that d.a.m.n car, she said not sounding at all thrilled with the proposition.

Shed joined a club no one wanted to be a member of; people whod had their lover torn from them. Whether she realized it or not, she had a year of firsts ahead of her. The first time she was in his car without him. The first time she was at friends for dinner, the first 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween on and on and always without him, forever.

Why dont you get the keys and Ill go out there with you.

She nodded and looked relieved for half a moment then took a deep breath and headed up the stairs to their bedroom.

Well, here we go, she said a couple minutes later and unlocked the side door of the garage. I was right behind her and pressed the b.u.t.ton to raise the double door. Come on Ill give you a ride to the front, she said then let out a sort of nervous little laugh.

It was vintage Dermot, the car, a dark blue Toyota Corolla, about six or seven years old. I walked around to the pa.s.senger side and noticed the Obama sticker on the rear b.u.mper. I climbed in and buckled up then waited for about twenty minutes while Casey adjusted the seat.

Am I being too fickle? she asked and then moved the seat back again, maybe a quarter-of-an-inch.

No, no take your time.

She adjusted the rear view mirror, then the side mirrors maybe a half dozen times. Okay, I think Im ready.

G.o.d, are you sure?

Shut up, she said, but smiled and that seemed to release some more of the pressure. She turned the ignition, then shifted and we jumped ahead into the garage wall.

The other way might be faster.

She shot me a look, but didnt say anything then put the car in reverse and backed out very slowly. She came to a complete stop every two or three feet. We drove around the block and she parked on the street just behind my car.

There mission accomplished, she said and turned the car off.

Good job, Casey. Im gonna grab some things out of the house then get down to the office.

Dev, thanks so much, I didnt mean to take up your entire morning, Im really sorry.

You didnt take up the entire morning and I was glad to help. Promise me, if you need anything or have any concerns youll call, okay?

I hate to be a pain? Youve got a life.

Yeah, and youre a part of it. Youll call me, promise?

Okay, it would probably serve you right anyway, she said then leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Youre a good guy, Dev.

Let just keep that our secret, I said and we got out of the car.

I noticed she sort of drifted toward the front of the car before she crossed the street, probably to check for damage after shed banged into the garage wall. I couldnt see any.

I grabbed a couple of things from the den, the guy from seven-thirty this morning was in there walking around on a pair of stilts touching up the ceiling plaster. He nodded a hi and kept on working. About the only thing I accomplished for the rest of the day was I met Louie at The Spot around five-thirty. Hed apparently been there for a while.

Good thing you showed up, man. I dont have any cash.

Theres an ATM between the juke box and that pinball machine, I reminded him.

First of all, Im not paying four and a half bucks to get my money from that ATM and second, well there might be a problem.

Dont tell me your cards declined, again.

Apparently.

Why?

Beats me, I just planned to keep running up a tab, I figured someone I knew was bound to come in sooner or later. And, if that didnt work Id most likely be drunk enough that it wouldnt matter.

I couldnt fault his logic. We had three drinks total, my beer and two more of Louies bourbons. The news came on and Jimmy turned the station to Dancing with the Stars.

Jimmy, let me settle up with you, Im getting Louies, too.

Thanks, he said. Its not like we got a lot of dishes he could wash or something he could do to earn his keep.

Louie, why dont you come home with me? I got beer and I think theres cold pizza in the fridge.

How long has the pizza been there? Louie asked.

Would it make a difference?

Now that you mention it, not really.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

I sipped another beer as I half-watched the news with my feet up on the coffee table. The .38 was within easy reach on an end table. Louie was snoring in the chair next to me. I was scrolling through text messages and not really paying attention to what was on when they gave a quick report about a car fire.

To be correct it was a story about a car being set ablaze earlier that morning. They showed the burnt out hulk of the car and the fire crew that was on the scene extinguishing the thing. It had been burning in a seldom used parking area down along the river. It would be a pretty safe guess the car was most likely stolen and although the front end looked to have been involved in a fairly serious accident even as a burned out hulk, the body bore an awfully close resemblance to Fat Freddys black beauty Camaro.

I phoned Aarons office number and left a message. Then I sent a text message to Casey telling her to call me when she got the text. Aaron returned my call around noon the following day.

Haskell In You called?

Yeah, about sixteen hours ago.

My deepest apologies, Im so sorry, but I might just have one or two other things hanging fire down here that take precedence. What the h.e.l.l did you want?

Did you see last nights news?

Dev, we all appreciate hearing from concerned citizens such as yourself, but unless someone shot one of the newscasters on the air and no one has reported it yet, whats your point?

There was a report about a car set on fire down along the Lilydale road. Im guessing it was stolen and.

And has an identification number that matches the 2014 Z-18 Camaro owned by Mr. Frederick Zimmerman. The license plates had been removed, to answer your next question and no, a quick search of the immediate area did not turn them up.

Did you search the river around there? You know in the water, some idiot could have just tossed them in there.

Right now were dealing with a stolen car that was torched. Im not calling divers out to search the river bottom for a quarter of a mile in all directions to confirm what we already know.

I was just thinking.

Dont, please dont. You are forbidden to think, which shouldnt be too hard for you. You are also forbidden to call me from here on in unless you, yourself have been murdered, in which case you wouldnt be able to call anyway. Then that would allow me to get back to doing what they pay me to do. Goodbye, he said and hung up.

I decided to spread more cheer and drove over to Regions Hospital. I didnt bother to check at the information desk, I just went up to the third floor then navigated the jungle path back to Fat Freddys room. He was staring out the window when I walked in.

Hey, Freddy, hows it going?

How do you think? he said. You ever have to spend some time in this joint? G.o.d, Id rather do a month in the workhouse.

I nodded like I understood.

By the way, great job on my flowers, look at them.

The flowers Id set on the windowsill yesterday were pretty much just a half dozen stems in brackish water. There was a pile of petals mounded around the base of the cheap gla.s.s vase.

Didnt exactly get my moneys worth, did I?

You got screwed is what you got, he said and that thought seemed to cheer him up a little.

I talked to one of my cop pals this morning.

Please tell me they shot Bulldog while he tried to escape.

No such luck. Actually, there was a car that got torched early yesterday morning down along the river. I caught it on the news last night.

Oh s.h.i.t, youre kidding me, dont f.u.c.king tell me.

Yeah, it was your black beauty.

Did you hear what I just said? I said dont f.u.c.king tell me, dumb s.h.i.t.

You were gonna find out sooner or later, I thought you should know.

Theyre sure its mine?

Yeah, they got the vehicle number, Im afraid it checks out.

They gonna arrest Bulldog? he asked.

No, they really cant, Freddy. Theres really no way to even prove he was involved.

What about fingerprints?

The thing was torched and even if they could prove he was somehow in contact with the vehicle it could have been from when he was with you. Didnt you tell me you drove him around once so he could pick up the cash from those little stores?

I drove his fat a.s.s around a lot more than once. G.o.d, I cant believe they did that, torched my d.a.m.n car, he said then tears begin to well up in his eyes. He blinked them back and cleared his throat a couple of times.

Sorry to be the one to tell you, Freddy, but I thought you should know.

He returned to staring out the window.

After a long moment I said, Hey, I guess Ill be taking off, leave you to your thoughts. Ill see you round, Freddy. I turned and headed out the door.

Haskell, Freddy yelled just as I was about to step into the hallway.