Play Dead

“I don’t even know enough yet to be specific. I just want you to be alert to anything, maybe ask around discreetly. And carefully, very carefully.”

He promises that he will and, before he leaves, asks that I give his best to Richard. “I feel bad that I stopped going to see him,” he says. “It’s just that-”

“He understands.”

Franklin leaves, and I head back for my car. It’s gotten even darker, and I can barely find it. I’ll be glad when I get out of here.

I reach the car, open the door, and get in. I turn on the car and flick on the lights at the same time, and when I look through the front window I get a jolt comparable to maybe six or seven million volts of electricity sent through my body. It doesn’t kill me, but it makes me scream really loud.

There, lying on the front of the car, face pressed against the windshield, is a really large man. He’s also really ugly, a condition made even more severe by the fact that his large nose seems to be bleeding, perhaps from the impact on the windshield.

I’m not quite sure what to do next. I can’t drive like this, but neither am I inclined to get out of the car. The guy could be dead, and dead bodies freak me out. Even worse, he could be alive. Live bodies that look like this freak me out even more.

The next jolt is a tapping on the driver’s window, which makes me jump so much that I literally hit my head on the roof of the car. I turn and see Marcus signaling me to roll down the window.

I do so, and Marcus sort of nods in the direction of Windshield Man and says, “Out.”

“Him?” I ask, assuming that Marcus is talking about Windshield Man. “Is he just out, or dead?”

“He wants you to get out of the car, Andy. Which would be a good idea, since we’re going to be here a while.” It’s Laurie’s voice, which represents still another surprise.

I get out of the car, but before I can say anything, Laurie says, “Let’s take a walk. You can show me this part of the park.”

“It’s dark,” I point out.

“That’s okay,” she says. “I’ve got a good imagination.”

So Laurie and I go for a walk in the park, leaving Marcus behind with Windshield Man, whose moans indicate he is regaining consciousness. “Any chance you’ll tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s pretty simple,” she says. “Marcus was watching out for you, and he saw this guy following you. Marcus then put him on your car for safekeeping.”

“Who is he?”

“That’s what Marcus is in the process of finding out.”

“Did he see who I was meeting with?”

“No,” Laurie says. “Marcus intercepted him before Franklin got here.”

“The amazing thing,” I say, “is that you happened to show up in the same place and at the same time as Marcus and I. Talk about a small world…”

“Amazing,” she admits.

“What exactly were you doing here?”

“I wasn’t sure Marcus was covering you, so I figured I’d watch your back, just in case.”

I could give Laurie grief about being here, but I won’t. She was here to protect me, to make sure nothing bad happened. It turned out she wasn’t needed, but she could have been. Besides, no matter how much grief I might give her, she’d still do it again in the same circumstances-not that she’ll have the chance, since she’ll be back in Wisconsin in three days.

“How long will Marcus need?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t think very long.”

We start walking back across the baseball field. “So this is the scene of your greatest imaginary athletic accomplishments?” she asks.

“Yup,” I say. “Right over there is where I didn’t hit the game-winning home run against Clifton. And the very spot we’re standing on is where I didn’t make a diving catch to beat Garfield.”

“You must be very proud.”

I nod. “I am. But as great as those fake moments were, I never dreamed that one day I’d be back here with a big ugly guy facedown and bleeding on the hood of my car, with my girlfriend here to protect me. You can’t see it in the dark, but my eyes are filled with tears.”

We head back to the car, and Laurie wisely calls out so that Marcus will know it’s us. Suddenly the lights go on in the car, and we can see that Marcus has turned them on. Windshield Man is sitting on the curb, in front of the car. The headlights are shining right at him, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

He looks thoroughly dejected and defeated. Marcus can do that to you.

Laurie asks Marcus to bring us up to date on what he has learned. Bringing up to date is not Marcus’s strong point; he’s not the most communicative guy in the world. But Laurie is better at drawing him out than I am, and before I know it, one-and two-syllable words are pouring out of him.

Windshield Man is a low-level member of the Dominic Petrone organization. Petrone is a charming, intelligent man who just happens to control the most powerful crime family in New Jersey. I have had dealings with Petrone in the past; we have even helped each other on a number of occasions. It is not something I’ve been comfortable with, mainly because there’s always a chance that he will get annoyed and have me killed.