Fall Guy

for you to repeat what you just said to me, not to another living soul.“
    „No need.“
    „That's good. A man's career shouldn't have to end on a note of shame.“
    „I understand. But, of course, Parker knows.“
    He nodded.
    „He said Tim had been...“ I stopped, not thinking he'd want to have this discussion, not thinking there was anything I could tell him ' about job-related depression, about cop suicide,
    ’ that he didn't already know.
    „I'll take that beer now, if you don't mind.“
    I got up and unlocked the door, picking up the briefcase and dropping it onto the table outside the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and took 1 out two beers. For some strange reason, when I turned around, I expected Brody to be standing right behind me. But it was only Dashiell who had followed me inside, his tail thumping against the cabinets now that I'd noticed him, now that I'd gotten the message.
    I put down the beers, opened the refrigerator ; and took out the plastic container with Dashiell's ; food—raw turkey, brown rice, a medley of grated vegetables. There was only one portion left, so I put the container down, checked his water bowl, gave him a pat on the head and took the beers outside.
    „It's a funny thing, the way people do things,“ Brody said.
    „What do you mean?“
    „There was this woman a few years ago, lived on Charles Street, not too far from here. She decided she'd had enough, decided to take her cat with her.“
    „How do you know that?“
    „We found her clothes down on the old pier, all folded just so, as if she were going to put them back on after her swim, the shoes lined up, socks balled up and stuffed in the shoes, cat's collar on top of the pile.“
    „How do you know it didn't belong to a small dog?“
    Brody grinned, opened the beer, dropped the pull-tab into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
    „Do you mind?“ he asked.
    I shook my head.
    „Well, first off, there was a box of Friskies at her apartment, a litter box in the john, one of those jungle-gym things covered in carpet in the living room. There were a couple of catnip mice under the bed, a couple of small balls, one made of crunched-up foil, in the bottom of the closet, one of them in one of her shoes. And two, we found the cat.“
    „And the collar fit?“
    „Not after eleven days in the water.“
    He took a long pull on the beer. I popped my can and did the same.
    „Did you meet the dwarf yet?“ he asked.
    „What dwarf?“
    „The redheaded one, lives upstairs from Tim.“
    „Not yet,“ I told him. „But I have a feeling I might get lucky tomorrow.“
    „Not if you play cards with the dwarf, you won't. He'll ask you, guaranteed. You say no, he's going to make out like it's personal, like you have something against him.“
    „Because he's got red hair?“
    Brody smiled.
    „And if I say yes?“
    „You'll lose your shirt.“
    I could see the Big Dipper in the dark sky. „Don't worry about Friday,“ I said. „About Parker. I'll be okay.“
    „Don't underestimate him, Rachel.“
    „I won't,“ I said. „Anyway, I have a gun.“
    „I know.“ He looked at me, searching for a telltale bulge. „Where do you keep it?“
    „Bedroom closet, top shelf, way in the back.“
    „And the bullets?“
    „In the kitchen cabinets, behind the ziti, I think.“
    „Handy.“
    Now I was the one who was deadpan.
    „You any good?“
    „I am,“ I told him.
    „But?“
    „I don't like them. It makes it too easy when things are rough.“ I shook my head. „He's not going to give me a hard time. It wouldn't get him anywhere. It can't get him the apartment back. And if he gives me a hard time, he doesn't get to collect his possessions. He's going to be slimy, he's going to be manipulative, but he's not going to be dangerous.“
    „But...“
    „No poker with the dwarf. It is poker, isn't it?“
    Brody grinned this time.
    „Poker it is,“ he said.
    There was a little can with sand in it at the side of the path. He got up and pushed his cigarette into the sand. He turned and handed me the empty beer can. I called Dashiell over and tossed him the can. He walked toward the tunnel, dropping the can into the recycling container at the near end.
    „Good trick,“ Brody said.
    „We're full of them.“
    I walked him through the tunnel, thanking him for taking the time to let me know what was going on, unlocked the gate with the key and pulled it open.
    „You forgot to tell me his name.“
    „Doesn't matter.