Billy Summers

Billy has heard of the show but never watched it. ‘Is Petersen a bodyguard as well as an assistant?’

‘Don’t know if he’s got judo and krav maga skills, stuff like that, but he’s young and in shape and you can assume he’s good with firearms. Although he might not be actually packing on his hip or in a shoulder rig on the estate.’

Billy files the information away. ‘Here’s what I need from you. One thing you’ll have to send. Do it and we’re square.’

‘Hold on a sec … okay.’ All business now. ‘I’ll do what you want if I can. If I can’t, I’ll tell you. Give it to me.’

Billy gives it to him. Giorgio listens and asks a couple of questions, but he doesn’t raise any problems that Billy hasn’t already foreseen.

‘It might actually work, assuming you’ve got a girl that can pass muster. I’ll need you to email me some photos. Better send a couple dozen, actually. Mostly face, a few full body but dressed modest. I’ll pick the ones where she looks the youngest.’ He pauses. ‘We’re not talking about a real teenager, are we?’

‘No,’ Billy says. Just almost a teenager, one whose only sexual experience was a nightmare muffled (most likely mercifully) by Rohypnol or some similar drug.

‘Good. Judy’s man in New York is Darren Byrne. Klerke’s done business with him before so obviously you can’t be him, but you could be his brother. Or cousin.’

‘Yes. I could.’ Although he supposes he’ll need something pimp-appropriate. ‘Will Klerke expect her to spend the night?’

‘God, no. You park and wait. He does his thing – assuming the Viagra works – and then she’s out and back in the car. An hour, two at most.’

Not going to be that long, Billy thinks. Not nearly, and any Viagra he takes will go to waste. ‘Okay. We are going to roll east from where we are now—’

‘You and Bucky?’

‘Me and the girl. When we get placed somewhere close to Montauk—’

‘Try Riverhead. Hyatt or Hilton Garden Inn.’

You haven’t lost a step, Billy thinks. He almost expects Giorgio to say he’ll make them a reservation.

‘When we get placed, I’ll call you.’

‘Okay, but start by sending me some stills of your swing.’

‘Swing?’

‘The girl, Billy. And she’s got to be the right kind of girl. Young, yeah, but also wholesome. If she looks trampy, forget it.’

‘Understood.’ Something else occurs to him. ‘Do you know anything about Frank Macintosh? He was alive when I left, but I hit him pretty hard.’

‘Doc Rivers got him stabilized but after that there was nothing he could do. He had a brain bleed, and Nick said he might have had a heart attack to go with it. His ma took him to Reno. He’s in a long-term facility. Palliative care, they call it.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Billy says, and he really is.

‘Margie took an apartment nearby. Nick’s paying for the whole deal.’

‘He’s in a coma?’

‘It might be better if he was. Nick says Marge told him he sleeps a lot, but when he comes around he talks nothing but gibberish. Has seizures and screams a lot.’

Billy says nothing. He can think of nothing to say.

Giorgio says, and not without admiration, ‘You must have hit him really hard. Elvis has left the building.’

5

Billy, Bucky, and Alice go to Boulder, where Alice trawls through three different malls, shopping at stores with names like Deb, Forever 21, and Teen Beat. She discusses every choice with Bucky, who will be taking the pictures Giorgio (or Judy Blatner) will send to Klerke. Billy mostly follows them around, garnering suspicious looks from some of the sales staff. Alice buys a lightweight quilted parka, four skirts, two shirts, a blouse, and three dresses. One of the dresses has a boatneck top, but that’s as close to sexy as any of the clothes get. Bucky vetoes a pair of low heels in favor of sneakers.

He also vetoes some low-rise jeans she likes, at least for the pictures. ‘Buy the jeans for yourself if you want, but he’ll want to see you in a dress.’

Once the shopping is done, four hundred dollars’ worth, she gets her hair cut at Great Clips. While she’s occupied with that, Billy buys shoes, slacks, and a bomber jacket with inside pockets. He shows Bucky a lime green silk shirt and Bucky clutches his head. ‘You’re not going for the streetcorner pimp-daddy look. Concierge service, remember?’

Billy puts the green shirt back on the rack and selects a gray one instead. Bucky looks it over and nods. ‘Collar’s a little Rick James for my taste, but never mind.’

‘Rick who?’

‘Never mind.’

As they walk back toward Great Clips, both of them carrying bags, Alice comes bouncing out. Her hair is shorter and styled. She’s wearing a Colorado Rockies hat with a ponytail threaded through the back. She breaks into a run, the ponytail swishing, and Billy thinks, Holy God, I think this really might work.

‘The stylist tried to argue me out of cutting it. She asked me why I wanted to lose such beautiful hair that must have taken me years to grow. But the best part? She asked me if I liked high school so much I wanted to look like I was still there!’