always smiled.
Â
It was 6:05 by my watch when the phone rang. âWait, wait,â Honsa said, and we waited until the tech agent started his tape recorder and contacted the phone company. âAll right,â the agent said. Bobby answered the phone.
The disguised voice said, âDid you talk to McKenzie?â
âI spoke to him.â
âAnd?â
âAnd what?â
âYou stallinâ me, Bobby? You got the Feds there? You tryinâ to get a fix on my phone?â
âYou said I couldnât trace your phone even if I wanted to.â
âThatâs right. And guess what? I got a new phone, new car, new freeway.â
âYouâre very clever.â
âCleverer than you know, Bobby. Ainât gonna fuck with me this time.â
This time, my inner voice repeated.
Harry was standing next to me. He whispered in my ear. âThis asshole sure talks a lot.â
âHeâs overconfident,â I said.
Harry shook his head. âJust the opposite.â
âYou got the money?â the kidnapper asked.
âNot yet,â Bobby said into the speaker.
âNot yet?â
âItâll take some time.â
âFuckinâ McKenzie came through, though, didnât he? Didnât he?â
âYes.â
The kidnapper seemed relieved. âKnew he would,â he said. âKnew he would cough it up, McKenzie, fuck. Bet you didnât have to ask âim twice, neither. Man do anything for a friend. Is he there? Bet heâs there. Let me talk to him.â
âYouâre talking to me.â
âI talk to who I want. Iâm makinâ the rules here. You want me to prove it, Bobby? Huh? You want me to do somethinâ to prove it?â
âNo.â
Honsa caught Bobbyâs eye and gestured with his head toward me. Bobby nodded and gave me the receiver.
âWhoâs calling, please?â I asked.
A laugh.
âWhoâs callinâ, please. Fuck, McKenzie, you are such a comedian.â
âA joke a minute,â I said.
âYeah, youâre a joke, all right.â
âOkay, now youâre just being mean.â
âYou wanna see mean? Iâll show you mean on that little girl.â
I didnât respond.
âYou still there, McKenzie?â
âIâm here.â
âNot so funny, now, are ya?â
âNo.â
âAinât havinâ no fun at all, are ya? You were a big one for havinâ fun, too. Used to say it all the time. âLetâs have some fun, guys.â â
Bobbyâs eyes grew wide and an expression of complete astonishment transfixed his face. He knows, my inner voice told me. He knows!
âTimes have changed,â I said.
âYes, they have. You got the money ready?â
Honsa held up a piece of notepaper on which he had written a single word: Time.
âItâll take a while,â I said. âI have to wait until the markets open in the morning before I can liquidate my investments and transfer the proceeds into a money market accountâ¦â
âLiquidate some investments, transfer proceedsâyou changed, man.â
âHave I?â
âI remember when⦠Ahh, never mind.â
âMaybe later,â I said.
âMaybe never. I ainât your friend no more, McKenzie. You or Bobby.â
âI was thinking that myself,â I said aloud, even as my inner voice asked, Is he daring us to guess who he is?
âI want the money in cash,â the kidnapper said. âOld bills. Nonsequential serial numbers. Twenty-five thousand twenties, ten thousand fifties. Got it?â
âItâs going to takeââ
âI donât care how long it takes. Only you gotta know, the longer it takes, the longer we keep the girl. Got it?â
âWeâ again.
âGot it.â
He hung up.
I looked at the tech agent. He was holding both hands over the headphones covering his ears.
âWe
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton