Part 34 (1/2)
”Never heard of her.” Jules frowned. Had he underestimated Mara? Had she sold the house in his absence?
”She live there?” he asked.
”I have no idea. I followed her here.” Burt paused. ”If you're looking for FBI, though, maybe you're looking for her. She is an FBI agent. And I suspect the guy who came with her is FBI, too.”
”So you're telling me there are two in there?” Jules nodded in the direction of Mara's house.
”Two that I know of.”
”How about this other house? How many?” He tilted his head toward Mrs. West's.
”I don't know about that house. I don't know who's there.”
”Who else is over there? With the two agents?”
”Some blonde woman, pretty. Mid-thirties, maybe. Another woman, dark. Small. I saw them yesterday, but I didn't see them today.”
Annie. Mara. No surprise there, Jules thought.
”A girl? Blonde girl, about twelve, maybe looks a little younger?” Jules asked.
”Didn't see a kid.” Burt shook his head.
”She's got to be in there,” Jules muttered, more to himself than to his unwanted companion. ”Where else could she be?”
They stood in the same place for another few minutes, the gun still solid in the middle of Burt's back. Finally, Burt said, ”Look, my arms are really starting to hurt. I don't know what you're doing here, or what you want with those people, and frankly, I don't give a f.u.c.k. Let me just turn and leave. I haven't even seen your face; I can't identify you even if I wanted to. Not that I want to. The last people I need to see right now are the cops. . . .”
”What do you want her for?” Jules asked. ”The woman you followed here.”
Burt took too long to come up with a good answer.
”Don't bother trying to think up a story. Just tell me the truth, G.o.dd.a.m.n it. What do you want with the woman? She your ex or something?”
”Someone paid me to follow her.”
”For what purpose?” Jules poked him again with the gun. ”Turn around. I want to see your face.”
Reluctantly, Burt did as he was told. ”I'm supposed to take her out.”
Jules stared at the man for a long moment.
”By take her out, I a.s.sume you don't mean on a date,” Jules said dryly. ”You mean, you're supposed to-”
”Get rid of her, yeah.” Burt slumped back against the garage.
”Well, that would certainly create a lively diversion, wouldn't it?” Jules said thoughtfully.
”What?”
”Maybe we could help each other.” Jules lowered the gun, but only slightly.
”Maybe. What is it you want?”
”I want my daughter. And my wife. They're in that house.” He nodded in the direction of the house across the drive. ”But you're telling me there are two FBI agents in there. One is the woman you're after. . . .” Jules scratched his head and continued to think through the situation.
”You know, maybe we can help each other.” The other man nodded. ”I want the woman to come out; you want to get in.”
”We need to draw both agents outside,” Jules observed.
”Then you can slip inside, do whatever it is you came to do, and we both go on about our business.”
”There are two agents outside,” Jules told him. ”We need to get rid of both of them. How are you with a knife?”
Burt shook his head. ”Never used one. Gun is my weapon of choice, and right now, you're holding mine.”
”So I am.” Jules pondered the situation, trying to figure out how best to utilize this strange turn of events.
When it came to him, he thought himself quite brilliant.
”I have an idea,” he whispered.
”Great.”
”We're going to have to work together on this.”
”Whatever.” Burt's eyes were still on the stranger's gun.
”This is how I see it.” Jules leaned closer, and laid out his plan.
”Hey, that could work.” Burt nodded with a little more enthusiasm, now that he hadn't been shot in the back. ”I can see that working.”
”You get what you want; I get what I want. Then we both go on our way.”
”Sounds good to me.”
”The timing is important, though. We have to wait until the guy there by the end of the garage makes his move toward the front of the house. Should be in about another-” Jules looked at his watch and pushed in the pin on the side that illuminated the face. ”-four minutes or so. He'll start over to the house, keep to the shadows, walk all the way around to the front. I'm thinking he might go around to the other side before he starts back.”
”He does.” Burt nodded. ”At least, he did last night. There's that hedge over there, he walks along it as far as the back fence, then he comes back around again. Sometimes he stands in the doorway and just watches the street. There's a small porch out there, and it's dark without the lights on. He sometimes hangs out there a little. I was behind the hedge last night and watched him.”
”Good, good to know.” Jules smiled. ”Now, all we need is for the agent in this house to come out. I don't know what's taking him so long. . . .”
”Oh, him? Last night he was mostly out by the front. There are some shrubs around the front steps.”
”Yes, yes, I know them.”
”Well, he stays mostly around the shrubs. Sits on the step, sometimes smokes a cigarette.”