The girl at the Hertz counter was happy to rent Holden Blankenship a Nissan Sentra. He called ahead on one of the courtesy phones across from baggage claim and booked himself into a Days Inn, and the room was ready for him by the time he drove there. He unpacked, took a shower, turned the TV on, surfed through a slew of cable channels, turned it off again, and stretched out on the bed. But
he sat up almost immediately, convinced hed left the wrong phone in Room 204 at the Laurel Inn.
He found his phone if in fact thats what it was. It looked all right, but the truth was hed never really looked at it much since he bought it, and hadnt looked much at the one Mr. Ear Hair had given him, either, and
He opened it up and hit Redial, and it rang twice before Dot got to it. He relaxed when he heard her voice. They talked for a few minutes, and he brought her up to date.
Im in a holding pattern, he said, and I think I just made things more complicated than they needed to be. They have to let me know when its okay to do the work, and I just made it impossible for them to contact me.
If a phone rings and its underneath a mattress, does it make a sound?
Not when its turned off. Ill have to check the desk for messages.
Or maybe they can send you signals through the fillings on your teeth.
If I were any more paranoid, Id probably worry about that. Id have to make myself a protective cap out of tinfoil.
You can laugh all you want, she said, but they work like a charm.
The days passed slowly. Periodically he checked the Laurel Inn for messages, and on the third day the clerk read a number for him to call. He called, and a voice he didnt recognize asked his name. Leroy Montrose, Keller said. Im supposed to call this number.
Hang on, the voice said, and a moment later the man with the ear hair came on the line. Youre a hard man to get hold of, Leroy, he said. You dont answer your phone and you dont check your voice mail.
You gave me a dead phone, Keller told him. And no charger. I figured youd know to call the room.
Jesus, I coulda sworn
Suppose I just call this number a couple of times a day, Keller said. Thatll work, wont it?
The man wanted to bring him another phone, or a charger, or both, but Keller managed to talk him out of it. Hed call that number every morning and afternoon, and before he turned in for the night. And, he added, with a little steel in his voice, he hoped it wouldnt be too much longer, because Des Moines was an okay place, but he had things to do back home.
Probably tomorrow, the fellow said. Gimme a call first thing in the morning.
But the first thing hed done the following morning, after a quick breakfast down the street, was find his way back to Gregory Dowlings ranch house in West Des Moines. Hed driven past it once before, just to make sure he remembered where it was, and this time his quarry was out in front again, not watering the lawn but on his knees alongside a flower bed, doing something with a trowel.
Keller had taken the trouble to leave his Days Inn room so that he wouldnt need to return to it. Hed packed his bag, wiped down the few spots he might have touched, and did everything but drop his key at the desk. If he got the go-ahead from his contact, he could take out the target and go straight to the airport. If not, the room would be waiting for him.
Without having planned it, he braked to a stop right in front of Dowlings house, leaned across the front seat, rolled down the window. He couldnt quite bring himself to honk, it struck him as impolite, but he didnt have to; the man had heard the car approach and trotted right over to see if he could be of help. Keller told him he was new in the neighborhood and had managed to get lost trying to find the Rite Aid, and while the fellow was providing elaborate directions, Kellers hand dropped into the pocket where hed stowed the revolver.
Be nothing to it. Dowling, blissfully unaware, was gripping the window opening with one hand while gesturing expansively with the other. Whip out the gun, point it at him, give him two in the chest. The motor was running, so all hed need to do was put the car in gear and hed be around the corner before the body hit the ground.
Or forget the gun and just grab the poor bastard by the hair and the shirtfront. Yank him in through the open window, break his neck, then give him a shove and let him go.
Al might not be happy. But the job would be done, and what could they do, make him come back and do it over?
Well, Gregory Dowling said, straightening up and stepping back. If theres nothing else
Youve been a big help, Keller told him.
He followed directions to the drugstore it was as good a place as any to find a pay phone and called the number. If hed done that in the first place, he thought, the job would be done by now. Okay, fair enough, hed make the call now, and if he got the green light hed go right back and tell the fellow he must have misheard him, and theyd go through the farce again, only this time hed use the gun or his hands and finish the job once and for all.