“How you gonna make him erase it?” Tangerine asked. Ike glanced at her.
The question died in the air between them.
* * *
By the time they pulled up to Buddy Lee’s it was a little after two. Ike backed up to the door and put the truck in park. When he killed the engine Buddy Lee hopped out and opened his door.
“Tell me if you see anybody looking,” Ike said when he joined him at the tailgate.
“Aye, aye, captain,” Buddy Lee said.
Ike moved the tarp and gripped Gatsby by his golf shirt. He pulled the man out of the bed and into Buddy Lee’s trailer in one smooth movement, even as the older man twisted and bucked. Ike tossed him on the floor in front of Buddy Lee’s sofa. Gatsby groaned behind his tape. Buddy Lee toed the duct tape on Gatsby’s mouth.
“Shit, there really are a thousand uses for this stuff,” Buddy Lee said.
“Yeah. I’ve used it to stop a leak on a lawn sprinkler,” Ike said.
“No shit?”
“No shit,” Ike said. Buddy Lee blew air over his lips. He bent over Gatsby. He patted his pockets until he found the old man’s phone.
“I figure between the two of us we can dope out how to erase this thing. After that, what’s our next move?” Buddy Lee said.
“I’ll take Tangerine back. Then we wait for them to call and tell us where they want to do the exchange. They gonna have all kinds of demands. Now we got something Gerald wants more than he wants Tangerine. Now it’s time for us to make a few demands of our own,” Ike said.
“What if they don’t go for it?” Buddy Lee asked.
“Gerald will go for it. Every good son wants to save his daddy,” Ike said.
* * *
Ike pulled into Jazzy’s driveway and stopped the truck. Tangerine was resting her chin on the back of her hand. Ike put the truck in park.
“It don’t look like he had a camera system. There won’t no app on his phone or nothing. At least not one me and Buddy Lee could find,” Ike said.
“No offense, but you two are not really the most tech-savvy guys on the planet. But you aren’t really worried about him ever going to the cops, are you?” Tangerine asked. Ike didn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought. You know, I only helped you so we could get Arianna back. I don’t want to think about anything else that might happen,” Tangerine said.
“Then don’t,” Ike said.
“How do you do it? Kill people and keep going like nothing happened. Like at the house. You stepped over my mama and blew those guys away like it was something you did every day. And it don’t seem to bother you at all. I feel so guilty about my mama, about Isiah and Derek, I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I jump at every noise. I cry for no reason. Not you and Buddy Lee. You two just keep moving forward like sharks. I don’t know how you do it,” Tangerine said.
“People like Isiah and Derek and your mama didn’t deserve to die the way they did. And the people that killed them don’t deserve to live. I can’t speak for Buddy Lee, but that’s what keeps me going,” Ike said.
“Revenge?” Tangerine asked. Ike smiled ruefully.
“No, hate. Folks like to talk about revenge like it’s a righteous thing but it’s just hate in a nicer suit,” Ike said.
FORTY-ONE
Dome was a big believer in karma. You do foul shit; foul shit comes back to you tenfold. Dome couldn’t think of anything much fouler than kidnapping a little girl.
When they had gotten back to the clubhouse, he’d been tasked with watching the curly headed cherub. He wasn’t sure how he’d drawn that straw, but he didn’t want somebody like Too Much watching her. He’d probably offer her a sip of his Jack Daniel’s. Dome tapped the remote and flipped through a hundred different channels while the girl slept on a makeshift cot he had constructed out of blankets and a piece of plywood. They were on the back porch that he and Cheddar and Gremlin had converted into an extra room. Up front the rest of his brothers were whooping and hollering. They were all hyped up about setting a house on fire and running a woman off the road. All Dome could think about was how Gremlin and Cheddar were lying out in the middle of that girl’s front yard. He wondered if the buzzards were circling over them yet? Were their mouths full of maggots?
Dome changed the channel again.
* * *
Grayson scrolled through the phone they’d taken off the bitch when they’d grabbed the crumb snatcher. The time in the corner said 4:45 A.M. It was time to call the Fathers of the Year. An early morning call would catch them all disoriented and scared to death for the rug rat. Grayson stopped on the listing for “Ike” in the phone and pressed send.