Greene smiled as he thought about his easy escape, but it was a secret that he wasn’t ready to share. He wanted Payne and Jones to ponder the mystery for a little while longer. “I’ll tell you in a little bit, okay? But I’m in a public restroom as we speak, and I don’t know if there are people in the other stalls listening.”
“What did you do? Flush yourself to another part of the city?”
Greene laughed. “No, nothing like that, but you’ll have to wait a few more minutes for the details. Where are you guys now?”
Jones asked Payne for details. “We’re somewhere in the French Quarter. Jon thinks it’s called Conti Street.”
“That’s pretty close to me.” Greene gave Jones directions to Donna’s Bar and Grill and told him that he’d be waiting outside when they got there. “But first,” he insisted, “I’ve got some urgent business to attend to, and I’m not willing to do it while we’re on the phone.”
THE Mustang stopped in front of the crowded club and pulled away with its new passenger. As the car picked up speed, Greene greeted Payne and Jones, warmly shaking their hands. “Military? You guys never told me you were in the military. What branch were you in?”
Payne answered first. “I went to the Naval Academy. After that I got selected by the government to work on a special forces unit.”
“That’s where I met him,” Jones added. “I was assigned to the same team as Jon, even though I was from the Air Force. And we’ve been side by side ever since.”
“I’ll be damned,” Greene muttered. “I’m sitting here with two Rambos. No wonder you guys were able to escape the tattoo parlor. I’m surprised you didn’t kill the shooter in the process. What, are you guys rusty or something?”
“Actually, we wanted to get the bastard but weren’t able to because of you.”
Greene looked at Payne, confused. “Because of me? What did I do?”
“It’s what you didn’t do. You didn’t get us guns that worked.”
“They didn’t work? What do you mean they didn’t work?”
Jones jumped into the fray. “Just like he said. We pulled our triggers several times, and nothing came out. Like a guy with a vasectomy.”
Payne grinned at the analogy. “Tell me more about your gun dealer. Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“No,” Greene assured them. “He’s got a first-class rep on the streets.”
“Maybe so, but his faulty products almost got us killed.” Payne slowed to a stop at a red light and turned toward Greene. “I’d love a chance to meet this guy. You know, to see if I get a good feeling about him. Do you think you could set something up?”
Greene glanced at Payne and shrugged. “I could, but it won’t do you any good. You guys already met him, and you trusted him just fine.”
“Terrell Murray?” Payne asked. “The owner of the Fishing Hole?”
Greene nodded. “The one and only.”
“Why didn’t you mention that before we talked to him?” Jones demanded.
“Terrell is very hush-hush about his activities. Sure, he owns and operates some skin clubs, but those things are legal and can’t get him into trouble. What he refuses to do, though, is flaunt the things that could get him busted. If he sells something illegal, he deals with a restricted list of clientele, and if they betray him, he cuts them off immediately. That’s why I purchased the weapons by myself and why I didn’t mention his name earlier. Can you understand that?”
“Sure,” Payne admitted. “That makes plenty of sense to me. So, why tell us now? If Terrell is so secretive, why risk his confidence by mentioning his name?”
“Sometimes you gotta betray one trust to gain another.”
Payne and Jones pondered the comment, nodding their heads in admiration. For an ex-jock, Greene possessed a pretty good understanding of human nature.
“And besides,” he continued, “when we go to get your refund, I want you to do the talking. I’d feel safer if you pissed him off instead of me.”
CHAPTER 25
AS they drove to the Fishing Hole, Jones patiently waited for Greene to answer the question that he’d asked earlier, but it was apparent that Greene had completely forgotten about it—or was trying to avoid it. “Levon, since you’re out of the john now, can you please tell me how you managed to escape from Sam’s? That’s been bugging me for the past hour.”
Payne glanced at Jones and smiled. “You must’ve been reading my mind. I was getting ready to ask him the same thing.”