Gin Palace 02 - The Bone Orchard

up going out till the next morning. When I found her she wasn’t even an hour dead. Anyway, I turned to run out of the house to call the cops and came face to face with her killer. That’s when I caught the bullet in the shoulder that brought me to you.”
    Neither of us said anything for a while. We watched the sky. Several minutes passed before one of us finally spoke.
    “You have three bruised ribs,” Gale said flatly. “God knows how many blows you’ve taken to your head. And then, of course, there’s that cut in your shoulder and the blood you’ve lost. I just want you to know that if you go back out there and start playing this game you boys play … well, I don’t want to begin to count all the ways it could go bad for you.” She waited a moment more, then said, “I just want you to know that.”
    I didn’t say anything, just looked ahead through the windows at the driveway at the end of her yard. A minute later Eddie’s red cab pulled in and stopped less than halfway down. Gale watched, then rose from her chair, went through the porch door, down the steps, and strode with those long tennis-player legs of hers across her lawn. She stopped halfway between the house and Eddie’s cab and waited for him to come to her.
    Eddie walked toward her on legs so bowed he was almost hobbled. I had forgotten how odd he looked, how he seemed, in his baggy trousers and shirt, so small outside of his cab.
    He walked stiffly, as if years of sitting had weakened him beyond all reason. He reminded me then of a man come back from space, burdened by gravity. When Eddie reached Gale he stopped, and they faced each other for a moment on the leaf-covered lawn. Gale had left the door opened, and the cool air smelled crisp and felt good on my face. They spoke to each other briefly, but I didn’t hear what they said. When they were done Gale turned and led Eddie across the lawn to the porch.
    As he entered he looked at me in a way that made me think Gale had told him what to expect as far as my condition was concerned. He stood above me and tilted his head to get a better look at my face.
    “Jesus, Mac, where you been? A war?” He tried to joke, but his smile was less than convincing.
    “Have a seat, Eddie,” I said. He sat down and leaned toward me in that way people do when they address the infirm. My mood was dropping fast. I wanted to be alone with Gale, in her home, safe. Eddie had brought the outside world into my hiding place.
    “What’s going on, Eddie,” I said.
    He spoke softly. “The cops are looking for you. They’re everywhere. Patrol cars everywhere you turn. I’ve never seen so many cops out in my life.”
    I was confused. “What are Montauk cops doing in Southampton?”
    Eddie wasn’t sure what to make of this. He glanced up at Gale, then back at me. “What Montauk cops, my friend? I’m talking about the Southampton cops. The Chief’s boys. They’ve been to the Hansom House, they’ve been to Augie’s house, they’ve even been to my house. They are serious about finding you, my friend. They are looking everywhere for you, calling on everyone who knows you. They made poor George almost piss his pants.” He glanced at Gale again. “Sorry, ma’am.” Gale shrugged.
    “But it’s the Southampton cops?”
    Eddie nodded. He was still speaking low, leaning toward me. “They’ve pulled me over twice already today.”
    All machines have their friction, and my brain was beginning to heat. It turned like a motor without oil. Thinking was a physical thing, like lifting heavy rocks and moving them from one place to another.
    “Why are they looking for me, Eddie?”
    He glanced at Gale again, then back at me. Even in my confusion I could read him.
    “It’s okay,” I assured him.
    Eddie looked at me directly. “I guess you haven’t heard. It’s been on the radio.”
    “What has?”
    “The geologist.”
    “What about him?”
    “He’s dead, Mac.”
    “What?”
    “That geologist, the one from the college, he was murdered.”
    “Concannon?”
    “Yeah, that’s the one. He was killed last night. Someone tied him to a chair and cut his throat. They say the cut was so deep his head was almost half sawed off. I guess he was cut more than once. Whoever killed him must have been really pissed off about something.”
    I glanced at Gale. She looked puzzled in a way that reminded me of Tina the night she was attacked by the Chief’s son.
    Eddie said, “If you don’t have any money, I can give