The Big Enchilada

what’s known as revenge.”
    “Not quite.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Besides being busted for murder, your husband -was arrested for manufacturing and selling heroin out of Medco.”
    “What? Is that true?”
    “It’s true. They raided Medco tonight. How do you think this house was paid for? Not from a bankrupt pharmaceutical supply company, that’s for sure.”
    “Heroin! Jesus! Hunter, do you have any more surprises for me?”
    “One more, I’m afraid. You have to pack your bags and get out of here.”
    “Why?”
    “I figure any minute now this place is going to be crawling with cops. Local nares, state narcs, federal narcs, the IRS, and maybe a couple of other government agencies.”
    “What?”
    “Don’t keep saying ‘what.’ Get your ass moving. And take all the money you have around here. And all your jewelry. And anything else that’s portable and valuable.”
    “What for?”
    “All this property’s going to be seized. Without much trouble the cops’ll be able to show Acker’s entire income came from the sale of illegal drugs. Beyond the income he declared, there’s a large undeclared income for which be owes taxes. The factory, property, bank accounts, and everything else of your husband’s will be confiscated or frozen. Maybe one day you’ll get some of it back, but it’ll be a long time, and there won’t be much left.”
    She looked at me with disbelief. At first I thought she was upset, but then she shrugged and her mouth broadened into a smile. “No more Bel Air rich bitch?”
    “No more.”
    “What a relief!” She laughed. “But why should I go, and why should I take anything?”
    “Just because you’re no longer a rich bitch is no reason to become stupid. If you’re around, you’re going to be hassled, and you don’t need that, at least not right away. Let things cool down a little. And if you don’t take anything, you won’t have anything, and, lady, you’ve got a big bill to settle with me.”
    She laughed again. It sounded pretty good. “You’ve really got a lot of class, don’t you, Hunter?”
    “That’s me. And your little friend had better get out of here unless his immigration papers are in order.” I called to the kid. “You got your green card?”
    He looked at me, and then at her, and then without a word he dropped his towel and ran in the direction of the bedroom. Thirty seconds later I heard a door open and slam shut.
    “So much for romance,” I said. “He was pretty cute, though.”
    “Fuck off, Hunter.”
    She went to pack her things. With the cash in the house, and the jewelry, and the stuff that was easily convertible to cash, it turned out that she’d have a pretty good stake. Not enough to last forever, but enough to set her up fairly well if she was smart, and I figured she’d be smart.
    I kept telling myself I wouldn’t let her know about the ten thousand I got from Acker, but I knew I’d give it to her in the end. Stubby Argyll would never have understood, but fuck it. If I was going to be stupid, I was going to be stupid.
    She didn’t even look back as we drove away from the house. It was behind her, and over, and that was that. That was a tough lady.
    On the way down the hill, we passed four official-looking government cars going up. Each car was filled with official-looking men.
    “It’s all yours,” Clarissa Acker said quietly.
    Tough.

    I still had my room at the Love Nest Adult Motel, and I figured that was as good a place as any for her for the night.
    “Oh, Hunter, how charming!” she said as I pulled her into the parking space in front of the room. “From Bel Air to the Love Nest in one night. You really did a good job for me.”
    Yeah, didn’t I?
    I got her stuff inside and started to leaver
    “You’re not going to stay?”
    I looked at her for a long time. “I can’t. I’m expecting somebody to come to my place in the morning.” That was true, but was that the real reason?
    “Okay,” she said.
    I went to my car, opened the door, and stopped. All the way to the motel I had been thinking about something, but I hadn’t said anything about it. Now was the time, but did I want to do it? Yes? No? Maybe? What if?
    Fuck it.
    I went back and knocked on the door.
    “Look,” I said when she opened it, “if everything goes right in the morning, I’m taking off for Mexico for a while. It might be a good idea if you came along.”
    “What about the authorities? Won’t they need to talk to