Egyptian shawl wrapped around her head, looking all dolled-up like she did the night I’d seen her at Back Biters. Her stone face made her look evil enough for me to have doubts about trying to bum-rush her. Couldn’t run now if I tried.
I caught my breath the best I could, my eyes on the source of the red dot.
I asked, “I see. You got. Your Glock.”
She said, “Not the Glock. It’s a new toy I picked up at a trade show.”
“Heard. About. That. Toy.”
“Got it at the Taser International Booth.”
“Right.” I opened and closed my aching hands. “Las. Vegas. With. Wolf.”
She pulled her scarf away from her head and neck, winced, made a sound like that simple move hurt her down to the bone. She wanted me to see the red and purple bruises, all the marks and fingerprints I had left behind. My fury had marked up her skin, left her hurting pretty bad.
She asked, “Ever been blasted with fifty thousand volts?”
“Not. Lately.”
“Like being hit by a hundred lightning bolts. I volunteered at the show. Got zapped.”
“Don’t. Do. This. Lisa.”
“Pretty cool. Compressed nitrogen gas shoots electrode-tipped wires out at a hundred miles an hour. The prongs harpoon in your skin. You couldn’t shake it loose if you tried.”
“Lisa.”
“I can zap you two hundred times. No gunshot. No echo.”
“Don’t. Lisa.”
“With that loud music across the street, hell, I can watch you dance all night.”
She lowered her stun gun, moved it down, pointed it at the ground. Old emotions had taken root. She didn’t have the Glock at her side. She didn’t want me dead, not here, not now.
People talked when they didn’t want to kill. People joked when they didn’t want to die.
I told her, “You had set me. Up.”
Her shoulders softened, the flame in her eyes lowered. “Are you okay?”
“From the get go. Your boys. Would’ve killed me before. The next sunrise.”
She knew what I was talking about. The camera in Wolf’s office told me the truth about her intentions. She knew about it. Anything I had done would’ve been caught on tape.
She stayed ten, maybe fifteen feet away from me, no doubt the length of the copper wires in that gun. If she backed up, the barbed prongs wouldn’t reach me.
I moved a foot away. She followed.
I moved toward her. She backed up.
“What did you want, Lisa?”
“To be loved by someone. I loved you, Driver. I really did.”
I coughed, got my wind. “We had no connection. Police would’ve found the tape. Out-of-work felon down on his luck. Or out-of-work black man robs rich white man on Christmas Eve. Take your pick. End of story. End of my story. Would’ve ... would’ve closed the loop.”
She sounded so tender. “You think I would do the things I did for you if I didn’t love you? That tape would’ve been for my own protection, not for the police. My insurance.”
I straightened up the best I could, looked down at the battered and twisted jackal.
It bothered me. What I had done bothered me.
The bloodied body of the jackal didn’t faze Lisa, didn’t disturb her at all.
She said, “Ask yourself why you’re not already dead. I could’ve had this done the day after you reneged on our agreement, could’ve made a phone call the moment I walked in and saw you working at my business. Didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Part of me wanted you there. A big part of me hoped ... I had hopes, Driver. What I feel for you is deeper than you’ll know. I never lied to you. I love you and I hate you for using me like that. The way you just ignored me. Why did you pick that stripper over me?”
I didn’t answer. She had her own version of what was going on.
“I told you I wanted you to give me babies. You said you loved me.”
The music kicked up across the street. Headlights hit us. Her bullyboy came out a couple of blocks down, was coming this way, creeping down the block, looking for us.
“I pull up in the parking lot at Back Biters and I find you all over some young ass, tight-eyed half-breed. You were standing in the middle of the lot kissing her.” Lisa paused, cringed like she was trying to focus. Looked like too many conversations were going on inside her head. Her voice splintered. “Why did you push me, reject me, and go see that stripper whore?”
Still no answer. I wanted to ask her if this three-day shit was because of Arizona,