Now and then - By Robert B. Parker Page 0,30

the van.”

I felt the muscles in my chest and shoulders begin to clench.

“I punched one, and kneed the other one in the crotch, but it wasn’t hard enough, I guess. They had me halfway into the van when Hawk and Vinnie arrived.”

She looked at Hawk.

“After that it got a little confusing,” she said. “I know Hawk grabbed me away from them and shoved me against the wall and pressed against me like a shield.”

Hawk nodded. Susan sipped her drink, playing absently with Pearl’s ear. Then she smiled.

“Actually I kind of liked that part,” she said.

“They all do,” Hawk said.

Vinnie remained blank, listening to his iPod.

“I get her away from them,” Hawk said. “And one of them comes out with a piece and Vinnie drills him. The other one dives into the van and the van boogies with the door still open.”

“Vinnie’s knocking off witnesses as fast as we can discover them,” I said.

Vinnie listened peacefully to his iPod. If he knew we were talking about him, he gave no sign.

“Didn’t have much choice,” Hawk said. “We looking after Susan.”

“Yes,” I said. “License plate?”

“Mass plate,” Vinnie said without taking off his earphones.

“ACE 310.”

“Won’t help,” Hawk said.

I nodded.

“Probably stolen,” I said.

I was looking at Susan.

“You okay?” I said.

“Yes,” she said. “Me and my vodka.”

“Scared?”

“Not at the time,” she said. “At the time I was furious.”

“Fear usually sets in later,” I said.

She smiled.

“And you would know that how?” she said.

“Everybody gets scared,” I said.

She looked around the room at the four of us and didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” I said.

“I don’t like to admit this in public,” Susan said. “But I’m with you. If this is part of the deal, it’s worth it.”

We looked at each other for a moment. I nodded.

“Chollo,” I said. “You stick with Susan.”

Chollo widened his eyes a little, but all he said was “Sí.”

“And me and Vinnie?” Hawk said.

“You too,” I said.

“What about you?” Susan said.

“He won’t come for me as long as he doesn’t know where the tapes are,” I said.

“So you think this is Alderson?”

“Yes. He knows that if he gets you he can make me give him what he wants.”

“So you don’t think he was going to kill me?”

“No. Not until he’s used you to leverage me,” I said.

“But one of them pulled a gun,” she said.

“Good help is hard to find,” I said. “He got scared. Probably going to shoot at Hawk.”

“Vinnie can’t take that chance,” Chollo said.

Shooter camaraderie.

“No, he couldn’t,” I said. “None of you can. You protect Susan. Kill anybody you have to, as soon as you need to.”

I had just articulated Vinnie’s guiding principle. Still listening to his iPod, he almost smiled. Then he shot at me with his forefi nger.

“If you’re so safe,” Susan said to me, “why did you ask Chollo to come here?”

“I thought he might come in handy,” I said.

“I am very handy,” Chollo said. “I can shoot, I can speak Spanish, I can pick beans. And I am a very fun hombre.”

“And we’ve all missed you,” I said.

“Sí,” Chollo said.

“If you give me all the protection and go it alone,” Susan said, “and something happens to you, how will I feel?”

“And if I don’t give you enough cover, and something bad happens, how will I feel,” I said.

“He hard to kill,” Hawk said.

“What if they try to force him to give up the tapes?”

“He hard to force,” Hawk said.

“I can’t function unless I know you’re safe,” I said to Susan.

“She be safe,” Hawk said.

“But why not just give him his damned tapes,” Susan said.

“And wash your hands of it.”

“Couple reasons,” I said. “I’ve heard the tapes. Once he gets the tapes he’ll try to kill me.”

“And Doherty’s wife cheated on him,” Susan said.

“This needs to come out right,” I said.

“This being what happened to Doherty recently,” Susan said,

“or what happened to us years ago, or both?”

“Goddamn it, Susan, this is what I do. I don’t tell you how to do what you do.”

Susan nodded. Had he been capable of it, Hawk might almost have looked shocked. I had probably never raised my voice to Susan in Hawk’s presence. I wished I hadn’t now.

“I think your work and mine may be intermingled here,” she said. “But the problem is better dealt with by you than me.”

“I’m sorry I yelled,” I said.

“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry I kvetched.”

“I know,” I said.

Chollo looked at Hawk.

“I miss something?” he said.

Hawk shook his head.

“Long time ago,” Hawk said.

“No. Not until he’s used you to leverage