谎言书：09

two dirty feds arguing over a deal. My father was with me because, of course, 
we’re in on it together. Maybe a few words got exchanged, and both sides 
wound up dead. Best of all, with no one searching for the real killer 1, Ellis 
rides off in my father’s truck and whatever prize — he called it a book — 
he thinks is inside.
“I’d like that gun now,” Ellis says, his pistol now aimed at my dad’s face.
Panicking, my dad picks up the gun and tosses it to—
“Don’t!” I call out.
Ellis catches it with his free hand — a hand that I realize is covered by a
plastic glove — but never takes his eyes off me. “You’re smarter than
Timothy,” he says. “You understand why I’m here, Cal.”
Behind me, the car on the road is about a half mile away. But the way Ellis
keeps staring at me — his amber 2 eyes barely blinking even as the headlights
grow brighter — it’s like he doesn’t even care the car’s coming. His uniform
tells me he’s a cop, but that burning obsessed 3 look . . . that odd tattoo 4 on his
hand and how he rubs it over and over . . . and especially the way he keeps
glancing at his dog like it’s the Messiah. I don’t know what he meant when he
said he’s been searching for a century. But I know a zealot when I see one.
“Easy, Benoni,” he murmurs 5 as he finally notices the approaching car, about
a city block away.
For a moment, I’m worried it’s someone he knows. But as Ellis lowers his chin
at the arriving lights and hides both guns behind his back, it’s clear this is a
stranger. And potential witness. For at least the next thirty seconds, Ellis
knows better than to pull the trigger, which means I still have a chance to—
“Don’t be this stupid,” Ellis tells me in a condescending 6 tone.
But I’ve always been stupid. And stubborn. And lots of other things that look
bad on a report card. Right now, that’s the only thing to keep me alive.
Behind me, I hear my dad breathing heavily. Us alive. That’ll keep us alive.
The car’s fifty yards away. In this darkness, its lights barrel at my back like a
freight train and mix with the swirling 7 blue lights that I swear are pulsing at
the exact same speed as my pulse.
“If you flag them down, their deaths will forever be on your conscience,” Ellis
says, already starting to squint 8.
I believe him. But if I let them pass, “forever” is going to last about twenty
more seconds.
“Calvin,” my dad pleads, tugging 9 on my sleeve. As I turn around, I figure
he’ll be pleading for help. He’s not. His brow furrows 10, and his eyebrows 11 knit
into an angry glare. He’s pissed. This is my fault, he says with a glance. Go.
Leave. I consider it for a moment. But I’m not listening to him, either. Ellis
has two guns. We have none. Once this car passes, those bullets are going in
both our heads.
I take a step toward Ellis, who’s still too smart to raise his guns. But that
doesn’t mean he’s out of options.
“Benoni, ready!” Ellis commands as the dog prepares to pounce 12.
I squat 13 slightly, preparing to spring. The crickets squeal 14 in every direction.
The car’s so close, Ellis’s pupils shrink. This is it. On three . . .
One . . . two . . .
I leap as fast as I can. But not at Ellis. At his dog.
“Benoni, attack!” Ellis shouts just as the car blows past us, pelting 15 us with an
air pocket full of dust and gravel 16.
From the front seat, Benoni leaps like a wolf, all muscle and sharp teeth.
Finally, something goes my way.
I raise my right forearm like Dracula hiding behind his cape 17. The dog sees it
as a giant bone and opens its jaw 18. I did six months of K-9 duty. This is the
part that hurts.
Like a metal trap, the dog’s jaw clamps down with all its strength. Its top
teeth sink into my forearm, but its bottom teeth get a mouthful of metal pole
courtesy of the telescoping baton 19 that’s still hidden in place. I see the pain in
the dog’s eyes, but that’s nothing compared with the pain felt by its owner.
“Benoni!” Ellis screams as the dog cries with a high-pitched yelp 20. Letting go
of my arm, Benoni collapses 21 on its back, whining 22 and bleeding from the
mouth.
“Go . . . move!” I say to my dad, ignoring my own pain, grabbing the
shoulder of his shirt, and darting 23 back toward Timothy’s car. For a moment,
Ellis freezes. It’s a choice between us and checking on his dog. When I was
twelve, I had a beagle named Snoopy 2. It’s no choice at all.
“Benoni, you okay, girl? . . . Y’okay?” Ellis asks, dropping to his knees.
It’s all the distraction 24 we need. I try the door to Timothy’s car (locked, no
luck), then keep running along the shoulder of the road. My dad’s panting,
holding his side. We won’t be able to outrun Ellis and the dog for long.
On our left is the short chain-link fence that separates us from the Everglades
and its alligator 25 population. Directly below us is one of the dozens of canals
that run underneath 26 Alligator Alley 27. As I said, it’s no choice at all.
“I can’t run,” my father insists.
“That’s fine,” I tell him as I grab the back of his arm and drag him up onto
the ledge 28 of the overpass 29. “Can you swim?”
17
“Y’think they see us?”
“Shhh . . .” I hiss 30. For the past fifteen minutes, we’ve been waist-high in
black water, ducking and hiding behind a thick, thorny 31 bush that sits like a
hairy beach ball on the edge of the canal. My shoes and pockets are filled
with mud, and the tall sea grass is so thick, it’s like plowing 32 through a giant
soaked carpet.
We had only a few minutes’ lead time, enough to follow the canal underneath
Alligator Alley, where it forked and split into the wider canals that run parallel
to the road. If we’d gone left, we would’ve gone farther from Ellis. That’s the
only reason I went right.
No question, we were fast. But that doesn’t mean we’re fast enough. Except
for the pulsing blue lights, the night is dark as a coffin 33. Ellis can’t see us. But
as I crane my neck to peer out, we can’t see him, either.
There’s a hushed splash on our far right. We both turn just in time to hear the
krkk krkk krkk — someone walking through the dried saw grass on the edge
of the canal. The sound gets louder the closer they get. I squint and peer
between the branches, up toward the road. There’s a fast scratching sound —
someone running — then the unmistakable pant — hhh hhh hhh — that’s the
dog. Benoni. The dog’s right above us. By the road. I see her.
My father and I both duck deeper into the water. It’s freezing cold and my
shirt sucks like a jellyfish to my chest. The dog bite didn’t break skin, but my
arm still stings. Behind me, my father’s still holding the wound at his side. We
both know how filthy 34 this water is. But as the panting gets closer, we lower
ourselves without a word.
Up on the embankment, the dog stands there, her pointy ears at full
attention. I squat even lower until the muddy black water reaches my neck,
my chin, my ears. I’ve got my head tilted 35 back, trying to keep everything
submerged. My father does the same — as far underwater as he can get. A
few feet in front of us, there’s a squiggle in the water as a thin indigo 36 snake
skates across the surface. I hold my breath, pretending it’s not there.
“Benoni! Come!” Ellis calls as the dog darts 37 to the right, back the way she
came.
My father doesn’t move. I don’t move. Nothing moves until the krkk krkk krkk
fades in the distance. For a moment, I worry they’re coming back — until,
from the opposite side of the road, I hear the hiccup 38 of an engine, followed by
a huge diesel 39 belch 40, followed by a final piercing hiss that slashes 41 the night.
My father’s truck — Ellis wants the prize inside even more than he wants us. I
lift my head as the muddy water streams down my neck and face.
“They’re leaving,” I whisper.
Behind me, my dad doesn’t say a word, even as the engine rumbles 42 and
fades. I assume it’s because he’s still terrified . . . still in shock . . . and most
likely way pissed if Ellis drove off with his truck.
“You saved me,” my dad blurts 43. As I turn around to face him, he’s got tears
in his eyes.
“You did — You saved my life.” He shakes his head over and over. “I thought
you hated me.” He starts sniffling.
I raise my hands from the water and pull him toward the bank. “Listen,
erm . . . Lloyd . . . I appreciate that — I do. But can we please have this talk
later?”
He nods, but the tears are still there. “I just — What you did — You didn’t
have to do that for me.”
Sometimes a speech can make things better. This isn’t one of those times.
“Can we just go back to that cop? Ellis. Who the hell is he?” I ask as we
slosh through the canal, climbing back up toward the road and eyeing the
fence that separates us from the alligators 44.
“I have no idea.”
“Don’t lie,” I challenge, waiting to see his reaction.
“Cal, I swear to you, I’ve never seen him until tonight. When he pulled me
over, I thought he was giving me a ticket.” His voice is flying — he means it —
but as he says the words, the consequences finally hit. Reaching the top of
the embankment, he looks across the road at my van and Timothy’s car,
where the blue lights are still spinning.
“Motherf—! He stole my truck!” my dad shouts.
“What was in it, anyway? He mentioned a book.”
“D’you know what this—? I’m dead.”
“What book was in the truck, Lloyd?”
“Mary, mother of — I’m dead!” he explodes at full detonation 45, spit flying
through the air. “We should’ve killed his fu—” He catches himself.
During my short career in law enforcement, I sent eleven people to prison. To
real prison. And when you go to prison — no matter how straitlaced and Dr.
Jekyll you are going in, the monsters within those walls always bring a little
bit more of your own monster out.
My father swallows hard, clearly regretting the outburst. Whatever tears he
had are long gone. “I’m sorry, Cal. I’m not — It’s been a tough few years.”
“Just tell me what’s in the truck, and who you’re so scared of.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is. Give me the name and we’ll at least know who we’re dealing 46 with
— or at least who Ellis is working against.”
“That’s the thing: When they got in contact, they didn’t give me a name.”
“How could you not—?”
“Last year, I got my second DUI, which got me fired from my company.
Since then, business is more word of mouth these days, y’know? I get a
phone call. They send the paperwork and tell me where to drop it off — in this
case, I was supposed to leave Alligator Alley at Naples and wait for a call. I
know they have a 216 area code. From Cleveland. But that’s it.”
“That’s it? You sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“A minute ago, you were saying, ‘I’m dead! I’m dead!’ Why be afraid of
someone you don’t know?”
My father studies me. I look for his U.S. Navy ring and realize he’s no longer
wearing it.
“Calvin, I may not be the best father . . .”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Great Santini. Though I have to admit, I cannot
wait to see how you finish this sentence.”
“. . . but I’m not a liar 47.”
“No, Lloyd, you’re just an innocent truck driver. Nothing more than that,
right?”
He tugs 48 his soaking silk shirt away from his chest. From what I can tell, it’s
another Michael Kors.
“You’re giving me too much credit,” my dad says. “I never heard of no
books, and got no idea what could take centuries to find, except for maybe
some old art or something. Ease up, okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry — usually when I get attacked, potentially framed for murder,
and almost killed, I’m much more cheery and fun.”
“What do you want from me, Calvin?”
“I wanna know what the hell is really going on! You’re fresh out of the
hospital and still got up at four in the morning for this! You’re telling me you
thought it was for three thousand pounds of frozen shrimp 49!?”
“It’s Miami, Calvin. If they’re calling me instead of a real company — I
figured it was guns or . . . or . . . or something like that.”