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Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. Acknowledgments
  40. Discover More
  41. About the Author
  42. Also by Richard Lange

My quarters is about gone by the time Jesse and Monsieur Beaumont come over. Monsieur Beaumont kisses Johona again and says, Farewell for now. I hope to see you again when there’s time to become better acquainted. Why you leaving so soon? I ask him, you didn’t even hear me sing. Let’s have a quick one, he says. How about Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland. I start right in: Meet me tonight in dreamland under the silvery moon meet me tonight in dreamland where love’s sweet roses bloom. He claps when I finish and says, Bravo!

19

19

June 29, 1976, Las Vegas, Nevada

T​IME OFTEN SLOWED TO A STAGGER THIS PAST YEAR AS I TRACED and retraced Benny’s last steps, following the trail of postmarks on the cards he sent you. Five minutes in Eureka could seem like an hour, an hour in San Francisco like ten hours, a week in L.A. like an eternity.

The past few days, however, have flown by, full of enough tribulation for a lifetime. I feel like a meteor hurtling toward earth, falling faster and faster, growing hotter and hotter, about to explode.

I woke an hour before dawn yesterday, bought a couple of hamburgers from the truck stop’s restaurant, and took them to the kid in the camper. He wolfed the first sandwich down, drank from a jug of water, belched, and started on the second.

“What’s your name, man?” he asked me.

My coffee was kicking in, so I played along. “What’s yours, man?”

“Sal,” the kid said. “Cats call me Sally.”

“Cats call me Charles.”

“Cool,” Sally said. His gold tooth flashed when he grinned. “Charles meet Sally, Sally meet Charles.” He finished the burger and licked his fingers. “So the old man’s dead?” he asked in an offhand way, like he was trying to trick me into answering.

“He is,” I replied.

“And I’m working for you now.”

“I’ll be using you the same as he did,” I said.

“Well, you’re already a better bossman,” Sally said. “I found rovers for him for ten years, and he never told me his name or asked for mine. It was nothing but, ‘Get out of the box,’ and, ‘Get in the truck.’”

“Cross me, and you’ll wish he was still around,” I said.

“I know my place,” Sally said. He grimaced and rolled his head as if his neck hurt. “You mind if I stand and stretch?”

I took Czarnecki’s .45 from my pocket. Frail as the kid was, I wasn’t too worried about him overpowering me, but I also wasn’t taking any chances. He got to his feet, lifted his shackled arms as high as he could, and flexed his shackled legs.

“I used to be hell on the dance floor,” he said. “Doubt I’d last one number now.”