“Am I sure?” Merker said. “You see a bag of money around anywhere? I left it at the bottom of the stairs, and not only did she take that, she stole my fucking truck.”

Leo was perplexed. “She seemed like such a nice person. We talked about all sorts of things while you were gone. Did you know that someday she wants to open her own beautician’s shop?”

Merker looked at Leo, dumfounded.

“I know she’s not what you’d call a beauty herself, she could stand to lose a few pounds, but she has a nice way about her,” Leo said. “I don’t see why she couldn’t make a go of it.”

Merker, who still had a gun at my head, said to me, “Keys.”

“What?” I said.

“Car keys.”

The only car left in the drive was Trixie’s, and if he wanted to take it and find his way to Burger Crisp on his own, that was fine with me.

“In my pocket,” I said, reaching in and dropping them onto the kitchen counter. Merker snatched them up.

Then he grabbed me by the back of my jacket and started leading me to the door. “Just take the car,” I said. “What do you need me for?”

“Navigator,” Merker said. “Leo, come on.”

Leo said, “I feel like I might have to go to the bathroom again.”

“Leo!” Merker said. “We’re going! We’re picking up three hundred fucking thousand dollars. If you shit your pants, you can buy a new pair.”

Leo still looked uneasy, but followed as Merker and I went out the front door. He hit the remote button on the key to open the doors of Trixie’s sedan. “You,” he said to me, “up front with me. Leo, you take the back.”

I got in the passenger side, Merker slid in behind the wheel, and Leo got into the back seat. He got in gingerly, favoring his ass.

“Take off your belt,” Merker said to Leo, who was just buckling up.

“You don’t want me to wear my seatbelt?”

“No, on your pants. Take off your belt and tie his head to the headrest.”

“Aw, come on,” I said.

Merker looked at me and pointed. “I don’t want you trying anything. I’m tired of getting fucked around. Letting your wife and the kid leave, letting that bitch run off with my money, that was wrong.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize I was working for you.”

“You see? That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. It’s your attitude. Leo, what are you doing?”

“I’m just trying to get my belt off, okay?” I glanced back, saw him slip it out of the last loop of his jeans. “How am I supposed to keep my pants from falling down, Gary?”

“I’ll buy you a new belt this afternoon,” Merker said. “I’ll buy you a hundred belts.”