Letty stepped behind Flowers and began massaging his shoulders. “You’re such a manly man,” she said. “You’ve even got muscles in your shoulders.”
“Of course,” Flowers said. “That’s where I keep most of them, until they’re needed. Ooo. That feels good.”
Mattson watched the massaging, made a crooked smile, and looked up at Lucas. “Rose Marie talked to the director and he came up with my leave of absence in something like eight seconds.”
Rose Marie Roux was the head of the Department of Public Safety and Lucas’s old political friend. She was the one he’d called for the favor, asking, if Mattson agreed, that she be given an emergency leave of absence to watch over Weather.
Mattson worked for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Lucas’s former department, as did Flowers, and she knew Weather well. The director reported directly to Roux and was unlikely to resist any of her suggestions.
The fix was in.
—
LUCAS HAD CAUGHTMattson’s crooked smile and thought,Hmm. Catrin might have a thing for Virgil, dismissed the thought, and said, “How long...?”
“They told me to stay as long as I was needed,” Mattson said, “though it’s not my kind of gig.”
“I know that, but this is complicated,” Lucas said. “I asked for you because you can handle it.”
“I could handle it, too,” Flowers said.
Lucas: “Yeah, but I worry that that’s not all you’d handle.”
Letty rolled her eyes, and said, “Oh, Jesus.”
Weather: “Since you haven’t told me anything about what’s going on, why don’t you tell all of us at the same time?”
“It’s crazy,” Letty said. “But then, we’ve all seen crazier.”
—
LUCAS TOLD THEM,and the two women listened quietly. “You’re saying they almost killed Weather to move you off the job,” Mattson said.
“Yes. Whether they were trying to kill her or only hurt her bad enough to get me back here, I don’t know,” Lucas said.
“They werewillingto kill her, like they were Smalls’s girlfriend,” Letty said. “They killed that Last person in cold blood.”
“That’s right,” Lucas said. To Mattson: “That’s why I need somebody good in here. These guys are professionals. They kill for a living.”
“They’ve messed up a few times,” Weather observed. “Missed Smalls, killed his girlfriend. They tried to mug you but failed...”
“Would have worked with you, though, if Last’s mother hadn’t come to see me,” Lucas said. “St. Paul cops said it looked for all the world like a suicide. Like he sat there and finished a bottle of vodka and then shot himself. The gun even belonged to his girlfriend, nobody’s prints on it but his.”
“Interesting,” Flowers said.
Letty said, “Yeah. Almost worth staying for.”
“No, no, no,” Weather said. “You get on back to school. And, Lucas, when are you going back to Washington?”
“That depends on you,” Lucas said.
“They’re letting me out of here tomorrow, I think, if I promise to stay in bed for a couple of more days. Catrin can take me around, Helen can handle the house and the kids... you need to take care of this.”
“I’ll wait until you’re home,” Lucas said. “But, yeah—I oughta get back. These people need to be put away.”
“These people need to get shot, is what they need,” Letty said. She and Mattson slapped hands. Flowers only raised his eyebrows.
—
