"Winter, James - A Walk In The Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Winter James)

"Out front."
I speed-dialed a number on my cell phone. A muffled voice cursed at me upon answer. I just grinned. "Good morning, Lenny, I need a big favor. Do you know where I can dump an 87 Monte Carlo this time of night?"
Lenny knows more swear words in English and Polish than anyone I know. At that moment, he used all of them on me.
*
As I strolled into the station's lot, Lenny, pumping gas and pretending to read a map, took no notice of me. I slipped into the john and took a long, hard look at myself. I was pretty pale, the result of walking in the rain and lack of sleep over the last two nights. Circles had started to form under my eyes, and the brown irises sat in a sea of red. I slicked back my hair, even blacker than normal, being wet, though some of the wave had come back. At thirty-three, I was still surprised I hadn't sprouted any grey hairs.
I splashed water on my face, then dried off. Out in the store, bought myself a Coke and a pack of gum. The night clerk mumbled something about me looking like I'd been beat up.
"Something like that," I told her, and headed back outside...
*
Once Kopinski was tucked away in the backseat of his car, I followed Lenny out onto I-71, praying that the corpse in the back wasn't facing any outstanding warrants. We made our way past the airport, past Berea and Middleburgh Heights, to the very edge of Cuyahoga County and the last vestiges of rural Ohio within a thirty-mile radius of Cleveland. We got off on State Route 82 and headed into North Royalton, a sleepy little town on the border of Medina County. To the north, the city and the airport glowed ominously along the horizon, present, but not visible.
We drove through the center of North Royalton, even passing the town's sole cop on duty that night. He ignored us. To him, Lenny was just another tow truck. I was just another night owl.
We turned south onto Ridge Road, headed for a spot just south of town over the county line. As we crossed into Medina County, Lenny pulled off into a junkyard, hopped out of his truck, and opened the gates. I pulled up behind him as two large Dobermans came tear-assing from behind a stack of cars. Lenny whistled at them, and they skidded to a halt at his feet.
Lenny stroked the two dogs between the ears, then clapped his hands. The dogs jumped up and followed him over to me.
"Stick out your hand, so they can sniff you," Lenny said.
The dogs growled upon seeing me. I reached out my window toward them as Lenny shushed them. The dogs tentatively sniffed my hand, then began licking it.
Lenny grinned. "You now have the run of the place. You know how to run that crane, right?"
I nodded.
"Turn everything off before you leave." He handed me a set of keys. "Lock the gate when you leave and call me when you get back up the road. I'll be waiting in town for you."
"Stranded motorist act, like we agreed?"
Lenny grinned. "You owe me more than seventy bucks for making me do this so late. What'd you do? Kill somebody?"
I shrugged as I started up the car again. "Not exactly."
He waved and headed back for his truck. I drove deeper into the auto graveyard and headed for the crusher.
In reality, I could have just left the car there until morning. The owner, Lenny's cousin, would have automatically destroyed it without question. Lenny was a helluva mechanic and tow truck driver, but his real talent was grand theft, auto. I knew his cousin stripped some of the ditched cars for parts. I couldn't chance him finding Joe Kopinski wrapped up in a carpet in the back seat. That meant doing the job myself.
I fired up the crane and hoisted the car, Kopinski, and his gun about thirty feet in the air, maneuvering it into place over the crusher. To the left, I could see a stack of crushed steel cubes, no doubt headed to the steel mills in Lorain some time tomorrow. I lowered the car into the crusher, then killed the crane. Moments later, I fired up the crusher and watched. Within minutes, all evidence of Angie's crime... if it really was a crime... was reduced to a three-foot cube of metal. By the end of the week, it would be melted down, rolled, and shipped off to Detroit.
It was possible someone might discover what was left of Kopinski in that cube, but I doubted it. By the time anyone figured it out, he'd be part of a washing machine. I powered down the crusher and headed for the gate.
*
Lenny and I did the stranded motorist act for the benefit of any witnesses. After passing him seventy bucks to supposedly tow my car, I jumped in, and we headed back through North Royalton. Once we hit the freeway, he finally turned to me. "Who was it?"
I just looked at him. "Just a client's car. Keeping her out of trouble."
Lenny shook his head. "You never ditch hot cars. You just help me do it. Who was it?"
"Who was who?"
"The stiff." He grinned. "C'mon, Nicky. I always knew you'd cap someone someday without being able to explain it to the cops."
I sighed. "Oh, there was an explanation, but the shooter didn't want to give it to them." I settled back into the seat. "Can't say that I blame her."
Lenny seemed satisfied with this and drove in silence the rest of the way back to Brook Park. As he dropped me off at Angie's apartment, he leaned out the window. "You know, Kepler, you shouldn't have done it."
I looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?"
Lenny grinned. "Kopinski. You shouldn't have offed him. He should have been whacked already." He cocked his head in the general direction of the Flats. "Reese should have popped a cap in his head last night instead."
"Whacked? What are you? Donnie Brasco-ski?" I shrugged. "Reese would have to explain himself to the Sheriff, the Cleveland Police, the Plain Dealer, and every TV station in town. Anyway, I didn't off him."
"Yeah. Right. Better him than you. He's got a badge and the race card to get out of it. You have to hope Kopinski ends up part of a car by weeks end."
"Oh, well. Who said life was easy?" I waved to Lenny and headed into Angie's apartment. She was waiting.
"Well?"
I just stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, Angie, but I looked all over for him. He seems to have disappeared." I waited a couple of seconds, then smiled and winked.
Angie rushed up and threw her arms around me. "Thank you," she whispered, then kissed me on the cheek. "I owe you everything."
"You owe me nothing," I said. I stepped back from her and looked her in the eye. "If you hadn't killed him, I would have."

Originally from Cleveland, James Winter now lives in Cincinnati, where he works as a PC technician and network administrator. This is his first published short story. He is currently working on the first Nick Kepler novel. He can be reached at [email protected]

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