Part 22 (1/2)
Bowman stacked it all on the table, licking a thumb, perusing page by page.
”You and the Brothers Lombardi aren't seeing eye to eye these days?”
”You could say that.”
”What else could you say?”
”A guy like me is dead weight-and the first thing that gets cut when criminals go legit.”
”How so?”
”I did a seven-year stretch at NH Correctional. Back when I was a kid your age. Breaking and entering horses.h.i.+t. Prison ain't nowhere you want to spend a night, let alone seven years. But I tell you this. I met more mensch in NHC than I ever did in the construction racket. It's a business filled with liars and crooks, every last one of them. And Lombardi is the worst.”
”I'm guessing you'd know.”
”Not a lot of employment opportunities for ex-cons.” He pointed at the Star of David tattoo on his neck. ”Bit of a hiring deterrent.” Bowman kept leafing through the stack, carrying on a conversation in between slurps of black coffee. ”You have no idea what you stumbled on last winter.”
”Yeah, Gerry Lombardi was a creep.”
”I don't know anything about that.”
”And here I thought we were becoming friends.”
”I don't know what that old man did or didn't do. But their father's perversion wasn't what had Adam and Michael so rattled. That hard drive your brother got his hands on contained something far worse.”
”Like what?”
”I don't know, Jay. I'm not exactly an inner-circle guy. I handled more of the grunt work.”
”You mean breaking and entering, a.s.sault . . . murder?”
Even at the accusation, Bowman remained unfazed. ”I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. But I didn't kill your brother's friend.”
”Is this like a criminal's code or some s.h.i.+t? Beating and battery is okay, but you draw the line at murder?”
He stopped reading to catch my eye. ”I never said I haven't killed a man. Just not that man.”
I gauged the distance to the door, adding how many steps I could manage before I reached the edge of the forest versus the likelihood a bullet would split my scapula first.
Disinterested in my crisis of faith, he continued. ”Whatever was on that hard drive is tied to this UpStart business, I can tell you that. You only copied the pics. We got back the hard drive. Which is the only reason you're still here. Even when Gerry was alive, doing whatever he was doing, Adam and Michael were planning this center. It's why Adam spoke out about the drug epidemic so often, why Michael lobbied so hard to get legislation pa.s.sed for a private facility. The Coos Center is priority number one. It's why they blew up the truck stop and motel. It's why they paid off judges like Roberts to s.h.i.+p kids to North River. Necessity feeds the mother. They want this prison.”
”You can prove that?”
”If I could prove that, Jay, why the f.u.c.k would I need you?”
”Why do you need me?” I pointed at the trail of papers. ”Those are public records my friend Nicki copied, newspaper articles I snipped out. Available to anyone with a buck and pair of scissors.”
”Your girlfriend got her hands on something special. Someone from the courthouse called Michael. The Brothers have been freaking out ever since. I need to get out of here.”
”Here?”
”New Hamps.h.i.+re. New England. Maybe the country.”
”Had to f.u.c.k up pretty bad to need to run that far.”
”That part doesn't concern you,” Bowman said, ”But, yeah, I wouldn't mind landing somewhere those two can't find me. And a parting payback shot would be nice.” He closed the folder. ”You don't have it.”
”What?”
”What you need.”
”I thought you worked for Toma.s.si Construction now. Delivering payoffs.”
”I'm a jack of a lot of trades. Listen, kid, none of this would make any sense to you. It's a need-to-know basis. I'm telling you what you need to know. Don't worry about me or my life, what I did or where I'm going, okay? You're on the right track. Judge Roberts, HUD programs pushed through, the new juvie center. But the spike you need to nail those p.r.i.c.ks to the wall isn't here. Now think back. Your little girlfriend-”
”I told she's not-”
”-got into some records. Out-of-state extradition. Population overflow-”
”That's everything I have.”
He slammed his fist on the table. The hobo jump-farted in his sleep. The dropout cas.h.i.+er recoiled, terrified.
”If they want her that bad,” I said, ”why haven't they sent someone to toss her place?”
”They have. The girl hasn't been home in days.”
Where the h.e.l.l had she been sleeping?
Bowman stood to leave.
”Hold on,” I said. ”Where you going?”
”Away from here.”
”How am I supposed to get home?”
”Not my problem.” He slid on his jacket. ”Call your girlfriend. You're going to want to do that anyway.”
”Well, thanks for the date.” I would've pushed harder for a ride back, since I was now stranded, except for two things: one, I had no interest in running into those Longmont cops, and two, I didn't want to spend another minute in this guy's company. He had that wild, unhinged look of a man with nothing left to lose, someone who wouldn't mind going out in a blaze, a lethal combination I didn't want to spark.
Bowman nodded at the doc.u.ments. ”Don't go back to your place. Have your girl pick you up here. She has a photocopy. I know that for a fact. Every copy made at the courthouse needs an ID. Either she made it or someone using her name did. What you're looking for involves the kids s.h.i.+pped out of state. Kentucky. Arizona. You find that information and you slip it in an envelope, s.h.i.+p it down to the Monitor, care of Jim Case.”