Page 107 of Rest In Pink

“Whose handwriting?” I demanded. “Navy?”

“No.”

Rain had apparently tired of being good. She slapped the table. “Whose handwriting? We’ll find out eventually.”

“Cleve’s,” Faye said.

“Did he always write in code?” Rain asked.

“He liked secret shit,” Faye said. “Codes. His own door at the country club he could escape through and no one else had the key. Cryptic shit all the fucking time.”

“Can you decipher it?” Rain asked. She turned the pad around so Faye could see.

“No,” Faye said immediately. “That was Cleve’s point. Secrets. Always secrets.”

I looked at Pete. “What secret did he have with the Wolves? Why were you guys giving him cash? Was he laundering it for you?”

“Fuck you,” Pete said.

“Mickey won’t stop until he has all his money,” Faye said.

“Will he leave if he has it?” I asked.

Faye nodded but Pete spoke up, eager to change the subject. “Yeah. I think he will. I rode with him for years. Before he got locked up, he used to talk about making a big score and going south. Mexico or Costa Rica or wherever. Someplace where he could live cheap and have a small hooch on the beach. Get drunk every day. Fuck his brains out.”

Rain shot me another questioning look, wondering where I was going with this, but I ignored her.

I tossed my card on the table and picked up the briefcase. “You hear from Mickey, either of you, call me. You don’t, you’ll be accessory to everything he does after that.”

Rain and I walked out. Right after the door shut behind us, Rain exploded. “What a bitch. She was Navy’s mother! She got him killed!”

I was a bit surprised at her vehemence. Rain rarely got upset. There was something deeper there but we didn’t have the luxury of delving into it. Besides, I knew Rain wouldn’t allow it.

We got to the Gladiator and Mercedes. Then Rain said what I’d been waiting for.

“What the fuck was that, Vince? Why’d you show them the money?”

“To get them to talk.”

“Bullshit. There’s no upside to that.”

I held up the briefcase. “We’ve got what Mickey Pitts wants.”

“But he doesn’t know we have it,” Rain said.

I nodded toward the house. “He will soon. You agree Faye’s lying about not being able to contact Mickey?”

Rain nodded. “Either she or Pete will call him. They’ll tell him we have Navy’s money. Hell, I can see Faye shoving it in his face. That he should have handled that evening better. That the money was there all the time. And she has your number which she’ll give to him so he’ll call you.”

I nodded. “Right.”

Rain still didn’t see where I was going. That’s because she was law and order. A straight arrow. “That leaves the initiative up to him, Vince. What are you going to do when he calls? He won’t let you set the conditions for a meet.”

“Faye says he wants his money very badly. Pete says he’ll leave if he has it. And we’re lucky.”

“How are we lucky?” she asked.

“Mickey only needs one hundred K to make his magic number. And we have one hundred. I was worried we’d be fifty short.”

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