It was heavy, and he didnt need to open it to know what it contained.
Two of em, Leroy. Okay if I call you Leroy?
Feel free.
Get the feel of em, pick the one you like. No rush, take your time.
They were handguns, of course, one a pistol, the other a revolver. Keller didnt much want to handle them, but neither did he want to look squeamish. The pistol fit his hand better, but pistols could jam, which gave the revolver a definite edge.
But did he want either of them?
Im not sure I want to use a gun, he said.
You really like the idea of jamming the nozzle down his throat, huh? Still, you want to keep your options open. Theyre both loaded. I got an extra clip for the Glock auto somewhere. The revolver, I can send over a box of shells later on.
Maybe Ill take them both.
Walk up on him with a gun in each hand? I dont think so. I had to guess,
Id say you look like a Glock guy to me.
That was reason enough for Keller to choose the revolver. He checked the cylinder, noted the four bullets and the one empty chamber, snapped it shut. And for a moment he had a strong and entirely unexpected urge to point the thing at the man with the hairy ears and pull the trigger. Just blow him away and catch the next plane back to New York.
Instead he handed him the Glock, pocketed the revolver. Never mind the extra shells, he said.
You dont miss, huh? Big grin. I guess a pro is a pro, right? Oh, before I forget, lemme have the number of your cell phone.
Yeah, right. Keller told him he didnt have one, and the man patted his own pockets until he found one and handed it over. So we can call you. Keep it with you when you go over to the Dennys for a patty melt. I love them things, but you want to tell them to let you have it on rye bread. Makes all the difference.
Thanks for the tip.
No problem. Now, the car. You shouldnt have any trouble with it. You got a full tank of gas and shes got eighteen hundred miles before shes due for an oil change.
Thats comforting.
There was more about the car how to adjust the seats, the tendency of one of the trouble lights to go on for no good reason but Keller hadnt paid much attention. The fellow took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to Keller, and Keller asked him how he was planning to get home.
I go home, he said, and I got my wife to deal with. Id rather go someplace else, if its all the same to you.
I meant
Hell, I know what you meant. See that beat-up Monte Carlo over there? Thats my ride, just waiting for me. Now you could go to the front desk if you wanted, but theres no need. Room 204s on the second level, and you can just take those outside stairs right over there.
Suitcase in hand, gun in pocket, Keller mounted the stairs and found his room. He stuck the key in the lock and turned for a look at the Monte Carlo, which hadnt moved. He opened the door and went inside.
It was a pretty nice room, with a good-size television set and a king-size bed. The framed prints on the wall were easy enough to ignore. The air conditioner was set a little on the chilly side, but he left it alone. He sat on a chair for five minutes, and when he drew the drapery aside and looked out the window, the Monte Carlo was gone.
Half an hour later he was across the street in a booth at Dennys, with his suitcase on the seat opposite him. He had a patty melt on rye with a side of well-done french fries, and he had to admit it was pretty good. The coffee was not going to put Starbucks out of business, but it was decent enough for him to take the waitress up on her offer of a second cup.
Now how hard was that? Guy suggests a meal and you follow his suggestion and its not bad at all. So whats so bad about going along with the program?
But no, the patty melt was where the program ended. They make it easy, he told himself, and you have to make it hard. They supply a decent room at a clean, well-situated motel, and you wont even use the john because you dont want to leave your DNA in it. The only thing he was willing to leave in the room was the cell phone theyd provided turned off, wiped free of prints, and tucked away under the very center of the king-size mattress. Hed thought about leaving the gun there as well, but in the end hed decided to hang on to it for the time being, and it was in his suitcase.
Hed returned to the car they gave him, but only in order to wipe any surfaces he might have touched. He triggered the remote on the key fob to lock the car, and had the urge to fling the keys into a handy Dumpster. Could they use the car keys to track him? He wasnt sure, and his sense of contemporary technology was that anybody could do anything, and if they couldnt today theyd be able to tomorrow. Still, he didnt see any reason to toss the car keys just yet, or the room key, either.
Hed walked across the street to Dennys, finished his patty melt and fries and two cups of coffee, and now he used a pay phone next to the mens room to call a taxi. Going to the airport, he said, and they wanted to know his name. He felt like telling them hed be the only person in front of Dennys waiting for a cab, but instead he just told them his name was Eddie. Be ten minutes, Eddie, said the woman on the other end of the line, and the cab showed up in eight.