Part 20 (2/2)

”Thanks for your help,” Digger said, getting up.

”Sure,” I said again, wondering for only a beat what Tim had said to him that had brought Digger back to the first small step of self-confidence.

I left a tip on the table and paid Jesse at the cash register with Elvis in midgyration a few feet to my right.

Less than fifteen minutes later I pulled onto the driveway at Seventeenth Street Park. I pa.s.sed a big open field on my left, where about a dozen people and the same number of dogs were running and barking. The parking lot a little farther down on the left was almost full, but there were s.p.a.ces open if I was willing to step into shallow puddles left by the rain.

I could see ball games going on beyond the mesh fence, and I went through an open gate and down a concrete path. Voices were traveling in the heavy air. The sound of an aluminum bat hitting a ball clanked clearly, followed by shouts of encouragement.

Hoffmann was waiting for me at the first field on my right. He was wearing jeans, a New York Yankees cap, softball shoes, and an orange T-s.h.i.+rt with ”Double Tiger Productions” printed on the front. The men on the bench behind more meshed metal were wearing the same Double Tiger s.h.i.+rts.

”Glad you could make it,” Hoffmann said cheerfully. ”I'm up this inning if we get a man on base.”

The men out in the field were wearing blue s.h.i.+rts. I couldn't make out what was written on them. Both the men in the field and the ones on the bench ranged in age from not young to decidedly old.

”They know you're only thirty-five?” I asked.

Hoffmann laughed. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't authentic either.

”Watch this next batter,” he said.

A heavyset man came off the bench, two bats in his large hands. He wore shorts, and both knees were reinforced with white elastic bands. He moved slowly, swinging the bats, handed one of the bats to a wiry man who had to be seventy, adjusted his gla.s.ses, and moved to the plate.

”That's Alan Roberts,” Hoffmann said. ”The Boomer. No knees. Has to hit it deep off the fence to make it to first. Then he gets a pinch runner.”

I watched. The pitcher was a lean man with a dirty white cap. He put his feet on the rubber, stepped off, and delivered the ball. The ball arced. Roberts swung and missed.

”Harder to hit a slow-pitch softball than a fast pitch,” he said. ”Fast pitch, the ball comes straight at you. You swing even, make contact, and that's it. Slow pitch, you have to hit up into the ball, time your swing perfectly, and supply your own power. It's an art.”

There was supportive chatter on the field, encouraging the pitcher, whose name seemed to be Winston. There was also supportive chatter from the bench for Boomer, who took a couple of practice swings and c.o.c.ked his bat back. Winston delivered. The arc was low. The ball was about to cross the plate chest-high when the batter swung. The ball sailed up and out about twenty feet in the air and rocketed toward the fence and over it. The bench cheered.

”That's more than two hundred feet,” Hoffmann said happily as Boomer shuffled around the bases. ”A lot of these guys played college ball, minor leagues, even a few made it to the majors. The hitting stays with you. The fielding, too. The body goes. Legs, back, arms.”

Boomer crossed the plate and accepted high fives from the bench and Hoffmann, who moved over to meet him and then came back to me.

”I'll get up this inning,” Hoffmann said. ”I'll make this quick and straight, Fonesca. See that gym bag at the end of the bench, the red one with the white handles?”

”I see it.”

”I can get an envelope out of that right now,” he said. ”Inside of the envelope is five thousand dollars. Cash. I'll get it for you now. You take it and disappear till after the commission meeting.”

I didn't answer. Another player, this one tiny and at least seventy, was at the plate.

”That's Cal,” Hoffmann said. ”He's from Chicago, too. Big Cubs fan. You should meet him.”

Hoffmann wasn't looking at me but he understood my silence.

”There are two envelopes in that bag,” he said. ”Each with five thousand dollars. They could be in your pocket in ten seconds.”

I still didn't answer.

”Okay,” said Hoffmann, looking at me now. ”What if that ten thousand dollars is a payment to you for your services. I have a job for you in...what's your favorite city?”

”Sarasota,” I said.

”New Orleans,” Hoffmann said, ignoring my answer. ”You'll like New Orleans. Go there till Sat.u.r.day or Sunday and find someone for me.”

”Who?”

”The fill-in piano player at Preservation Hall,” he said. ”The mime in front of the church in that square near the place where everyone goes for those puffy things covered in sugar. Find me the best antique dealer in the French Quarter.”

”Why?”

”Why? To get you the h.e.l.l out of town, Fonesca. Can you use ten thousand dollars?”

”Yes, but I don't need it.”

He sighed deeply and looked down at the ground. We were standing in wet red dirt. It would take me time to get my shoes clean.

”I've got a client,” I said. ”I've got two clients.”

”Remember my man Stanley?” Hoffmann asked.

”Vividly,” I said.

”He has no temper at all. He reads a lot, works out a lot, practices with a wide range of firearms, and has been diagnosed by competent a.n.a.lysts both in prison and out as being violent and sociopathic.”

”Must get invited to a lot of parties,” I said as Cal from Chicago sent a blooper into short right field and moved surprisingly quickly to first base.

”He does what I tell him to do,” Hoffmann said, applauding Cal's. .h.i.t. ”Sometimes he does things he thinks I want without telling me. Sometimes he...” Hoffmann's voice trailed off. ”Sometimes he makes terrible mistakes.”

I had the feeling that I was seeing the real Kevin Hoffmann for the first time. His face lost its tightness, his eyes closed, his head went down. I knew that look. It was grief. Real grief. But for who? William Trasker? Mrs. Trasker? And why had mention of Stanley triggered it?

”He's very loyal,” Hoffmann said, lifting his head and opening his eyes, his smile returning, his false front restored. ”You don't want to deal with Stanley.”

”I don't want any more literary lessons from him,” I said.

”You don't want any kind of lessons from him,” Hoffmann said.

A bite of bitterness? Did I detect the hint of it in his voice? Whatever it was, it was gone when he said, ”Take the envelopes, drive to New Orleans, come back Sat.u.r.day or Sunday.”

”I don't think so,” I said. ”I've got a dinner date for Sat.u.r.day.”

”So, money doesn't interest you?” Hoffmann said.

”Not very much.”

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