Mean Woman Blues

it was Karen. But he had to keep Rosemarie with him as a last resort. You always had to have a backup plan.
    He said, “We don’t have time for anything fancy. Let’s just get out of here before the cops come and find Todd’s body. You game?”
    Rosemarie said, “Where to, big fella?”
    The way she talked made him nervous, way too cool for school. He didn’t know what else she had up her sleeve, but it was something. Now that she’d showed her ass, there was no question of that.
    He said, “Got a nice plane we could gas up?”
    She shook her head. “Fresh out of those.”
    “Mexico, then. We’ll drive to Brownsville and find us a border to cross.” He was trying to match her cool.
    She said lazily, “Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine.” She let it lie there a minute. “Only one problem. Do we steal a car or what?”
    “Nope. We take one of yours.”
    “No good. Plates.” Once again, she let it lie there, appeared to be thinking. He was ahead of her though.
    He patted his briefcase. “Got an extra set. Right in here.”
    She shrugged, as if they were going to the movies. “I’ll get my toothbrush.”
    He put the gun back in the case, put the strap over his shoulder. “Uh-uh. No time. We’ll get one in Margaritaville.”
    She got up lazily and started toward the door.
    “Got your keys?” he said.
    “I’ll get my purse.”
Not alone you won’t
, he thought, and dogged her footsteps.
    They were already in the garage, he following with a show of meekness, when he slipped the gun out and cracked it over her skull. She gave a little sigh as she sank to the floor.
    Okay
, he thought,
duct tape
. There had to be some; they were in a garage. There was a sort of workshop Todd or someone had set up in there. Of course there was tape. He found it quickly and bound her wrists and ankles, cutting the tape with his Swiss Army knife, and threw the rest of the roll into his briefcase. Then be made sure he had working keys and opened the trunk of her least noticeable car— a fairly late-model dark-colored sedan. There was nothing much in it but jumper cables and a can of gasoline. He left them both. Never knew when you might need a Molotov cocktail. And the cables were a big set with little teeth on them; they’d hurt like hell with an arm, say, pressed between them. Excellent for persuading purposes.
    Working at top speed, he changed the plates and shoved Rosemarie in the trunk, first taping her lying mouth in case she regained consciousness.
    Then he barreled out of there, reaching after a few blocks for his last unused cell phone, the one in which he’d programmed his emergency numbers, Rosemarie’s and the one for the phone he’d given Karen. Dialing, he had no doubt in the world that his wife would answer.
    On the fourth ring, she said, “David! Dear God, David, what’s going on? I’ve spent the morning at the federal building. They arrested me, David. My uncle had to bail me out.”
    They’d moved fast. Much faster than he would have thought.
    “It’s okay, baby. Look, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.”
    “They stormed in with guns and everything. Jesus, David, it’s about you; that’s all I know. They said you’re dangerous and I shouldn’t even talk to you, but…”
    “But what? You love me, don’t you?”
    “Oh, hell, David, I’m so scared!”
    “Honey, you’ve got to hang on. You’ve got to be really brave and really, really cool. It’s okay; it’s really okay. I’ll get us out of this. I had no idea they’d go this far. It’s all a setup. You know that, don’t you? You know I love you. I was getting too powerful, that’s all. They had to do something to stop me. But it’s too late, you understand? Look, I’ve got some very important people working with me. We’ll get out of this, you know that don’t you? Sweetheart?”
    “What?”
    “You love me?”
    “David, they say you’re somebody else.”
    Oh, Christ.
“Baby, am I your Mr. Right? How could I be somebody else?”
    The line was quiet.
    “Karen?”
    “What?”
    “Listen, I’m on my way home. Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll work it all out.” This was a test. Her reaction might tell him something.
    “No! Oh, God, don’t! I’m at my uncle’s. They’ve probably got our house set up like a command post. You can’t go there.” That was a good sign.
    “Karen, you’ve really got to be reasonable. I didn’t want to tell you this, but some very high-up people are backing