Donna holds up a hand, conceding the point. “You’re right. But just hear us out. Two minutes, and you’ll be back out there.”
“Two minutes,” agrees Steve.
“You’re one of the good guys, Steve,” says Chris. “I know that; I don’t hear a bad word about you.”
“I appreciate that, thank you.”
“But here’s what I worry has happened,” Chris continues. “I think a few weeks ago you get a message, or maybe it’s just a knock at the door, I don’t know. Either way, it’s Johnny Gunduz.”
“Nope,” says Steve, shaking his head.
“And Johnny needs help. He’s back in town for something. Maybe he doesn’t say what; maybe he does. And he turns to you, a little favor, for old times’ sake. Somewhere to stay? Maybe just that. He doesn’t want a record of whatever his new name is anywhere in town. And no one’s to know?”
“I haven’t seen Johnny Gunduz in twenty years. He’s dead, or he’s in prison, or he’s in Turkey.”
“Maybe,” says Chris. “But Johnny could be trouble if he doesn’t get whathe wants. He could burn this place down pretty easily, I’d have thought. He’s the type to do it too, so maybe you had no choice. And it’s only a couple of days. He’s just got to deliver a couple of things, then tie up a loose end. Then he’d be gone. How does that sound to you?”
Steve shrugs. “Like a pretty dangerous story.”
“You’ve got a flat above the gym?” asks Donna.
Steve nods.
“Who stays there?”
“Anyone who needs to. Not everyone who comes in here is from a stable background. A kid tells me he can’t go home, I don’t ask the reason; I just hand him the keys. It’s a safe place.”
“Who was staying in the flat on June seventeenth?” asks Chris.
“No idea, I’m not the Hilton. Maybe some kid, maybe me.”
“Maybe no one?” asks Donna.
Steve shrugs.
“But you think maybe someone?” says Chris.
“Maybe.”
“Johnny is very well connected in Cyprus,” says Chris.
“Not my world.”
“You’ve still got family over there?” asks Donna.
“Yes. Lot of family.”
“Steve, if Johnny Gunduz had come here and asked if he could stay,” begins Chris, “if he put pressure on you of any kind, or maybe he paid you? If you agreed, if he slept upstairs on June seventeenth, there’s no way you would tell me?”
“No.”
“Consequences too great? Consequences for family in Cyprus?”
“I think that’s been two minutes, if we’re honest.”
“Agreed,” says Chris. “Thank you, Steve.”
“Anytime. You’re always welcome here. I mean that. We could sort that gut out in a heartbeat.”
