“She told me what you did. That you killed the father of her child, that the bunch of you raped her.”

Merker shrugged. “She was a stripper.”

“I thought she did your books for you.”

“Okay, she used to be a stripper, but what’s your point? She’s just a bit sensitive, you know? I’d a been a lot smarter, let her keep stripping, instead of looking after the money. Talk about getting fucked in the ass over that one. She robbed me blind.”

The phone rang. I grabbed it before the first ring had finished. “Hello?”

“It’s Wagland. It’s set up. Eleven o’clock.”

“Where?”

“Clayton Correctional Facility.”

“That’s an all-women’s prison, right? North Oakwood?”

“Yes,” Wagland said. “Mr. Walker, I had to pull in a couple of favors there to set this up, and that wasn’t easy, when I don’t have the foggiest notion why you have to see her.”

“I know. I appreciate that. You’re doing the right thing.”

“I better be, Mr. Walker. For your sake, I better be.” He hung up.

“Perfect,” said Merker. “We better saddle up, pardner.”

Mrs. Gorkin returned to the kitchen, followed by Leo and Ludmilla, who was dragging Katie by the arm. “Well?” she said.

“It’s set up,” Merker said. “Walker and I are going to pay a visit to the bitch who owes me. We find out where the cash is, we get it, we come back, I give you your share, we’re done.”

“And then you give him”—she pointed at me—“to us.”

“Yeah. And I get Leo back.”

Ludmilla, still holding the gun in one hand, squeezed Leo’s arm. “I might decide to keep him.”

Leo chuckled, and then his eyes landed on the fridge. “You got anything to eat here?” he asked of no one in particular.

He opened the door, leaned down, examining each rack. “Fuck, there’s nothing in here to eat. Haven’t you got—hang on, what’s this?”

He brought out a white Styrofoam container. Written on top, in black marker, were the words “EAT THIS AND DIE—PAUL.”

Leo flipped open the lid, saw the old burger and fries, and smiled ear to ear. “Fuck you, Paul,” he said. “You’ll have to find some other leftovers. This is mine. Where’s your microwave?”

CHAPTER 35

35

I TOLD MERKER I needed a moment with Katie before we left.

She’d moved from the couch and was standing at the living room window, peering through a gap in the curtains, as though waiting for someone who’d never arrive. I knelt down beside her, but it was like I wasn’t there.