Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty-Five

"You're not going to believe this," Ordell told Mr. Volka on the phone. "I just saw a palm beetle crawl up Rainier's leg. She was lying on the couch. The bug climbed her leg and got into her skirt, but she didn't move. Today and yesterday She just dozed off like this for the day. I got her a box of needles and enough stuff for a week. Now she flexes her knees. Touches herself... wait a minute. I heard that palm beetle say something .Yeah, it's like, 'Well, it's nice here. I believe the woman hasn't had a bath, yeah.' You've seen these dwarf palm beetles on the stove. They crawl in there, man, bite old It's greasy and broke my teeth. Mister Volka? You've got to get me out of here, man. When your boat comes back, come up to Lake Worth Harbor."

Ordell waited and listened. "No, not today. I'm not ready yet. I'm telling you, I have to see Jackie. I went to her apartment the night before, but she never came home. I watched her place all day yesterday— — I'm afraid I'm going to call that Max Cherry, I think she must be staying with him, or in a motel somewhere. Hey, I don't think she's going to run away so soon and cause the feds Doubt her." Ordell listened a little longer and said, "Maybe tomorrow, or it's Monday...not today anyway. I ain't gonna leave here without my money. . . ?Think about it. Your fucking boat ain't for me. Dude, I found out who my real friends are so fast.  … Now wait. I told you I didn't kill She, it was Luis who did it, and I killed Luis again, didn't I tell you? What can I tell you? . . . Mr. Volka? . . . "

Ordell glanced at the glazed-eyed woman on the sofa. "You believe it? Take time for me. Help someone else and they'll help you. You've got that thirty-six-foot boat and I'm stuck in this little place," he said. : "Girl, how can you live like this?" Rainier said, "How's it going?" Ordell had Max Cherry's business card that read "Bail Bonds Welcome."He dialed the number.The answering voice sounded like Winston's, telling him Max wasn't there. "He left the city?" "He's in town." "Give me the phone number where he lives."

"Let me tell you his BB button number." Ordell leaves the small stucco home, which looks rusty and has broken window screens.He walked east two blocks, round the corner, to the bar on Broadway, where he dialed Max Cherry's BB button number and left it in the booth for another call.Ordell drank rum sherbet while he waited for the call.The bartender at the bar was the same guy he'd inquired about on Thursday night.He asked what was the name of the addicted woman who came here and hid and smoked heroin.Is it Danielle?The bartender said that many people are now choosing heroin again.Ordell said the woman was red-haired, tall, with very thin legs.The bartender said, is that Rainier?

Yes, Rainier.Ordell tracked her down that night, bought her ice-cold rum cider, and drank it until one o'clock—the woman was a disillusioned, fast-drinking woman who looked exactly like her house , as if rusted. The phone in the booth rang. Ordell walked in and closed the door. Max Cherry's voice said, "I've been looking for you." After seeing the number on his BB, the first thing Max did was to call the police station and talk to an old friend of his, Wendy, who was in charge of the communications department.Wendy told him not to put down the phone, wait a moment, and answered in less than a minute.She told him the number was for Sissel's Bar, on Broadway on the Riviera.

The second thing Max did, now that he was seated at his office table, was to ask Winston if he had been to Cecil's.Winston said he had caught escaped bailers there, and it was a genteel place, but one could deal with them, and they knew him.What's up?Max asked him to wait a moment. He dialed the number, knowing with absolute certainty that it was Ordell calling.Therefore, as soon as the other party's voice came from the phone, Max said, "I've been looking for you." "Do you know who I am?" "Is that right, Mr. Robbie? I've got your ten thousand dollars. Is that what you're calling about?"

There was silence on the phone. "You transferred Beaumont Livingston's bail to Ms. Buck's bail. Remember?" "Is she all right?" "They decided not to file a case against her. Tell me where you are so I can send you the money." There was another silence. Max waited. "are you still there?" "Let's leave that alone," Ordell said, "I know you helped her, and you know what I want. Jackie can tell me a story about why she didn't give me the money first. Understand? I Will listen to her. I'll tell her, yes, it's cool to do that, now please hand me the money, we're still friends. That's what it is. Understand? If she doesn't want to be friends - let her think Tell Louis, what's the end of him now. Tell her, if she betrays me, I'll sue her, say she's my accomplice, man, and we'll be handcuffed together, in some dark place. Got it? That's the way it is. Tell her the words and I'll call you later."

Max leaned back in his chair, and Winston looked at him from his stomach on the table. "It's Ordell," Max said. "It's from 'Ciselle'. If you have time, see if you can help me find out where he lives?" "The police couldn't find him, huh?" "They don't have your identity." "Since you need it," said Winston, "I don't need to know what you're doing. You already know that." "I think I understand," Max said. "Is this okay?" "Are you still in our business?" "I'm going to think about it again."

Winston rose from the table.As he walked out, he said, "As soon as you make up your mind, tell me." Jackie said, "You know how to please a woman, don't you, Max?" She put her arms around him and kissed him.He handed her the scotch he'd bought, and watched her go to the low pantry, where there were open cans of Diet Coke and a plastic bucket of ice, where she mixed them.She was wearing a T-shirt hanging loosely to her kidneys and white panties, and he had just felt her body underneath; she had been in this Holiday Inn room for almost forty-eight hours , her clothes and a large towel were piled on the bathroom side of the double bed."I'm going crazy," she said on the phone just now, her voice tired, and he told her later that Ordell had called and that he was going to her now.

Max sat down on a chair by the window and said, "I know where he is." She turned to look at him, and he said, "Winston was just asking around. Ordell and a Drug addict lives on the Riviera. He's got a maroon Volkswagen parked in front of the house. That's his disguise." The curtains are half-open, just enough to light the room, and Max is sitting in the afternoon sun.Jackie sat next to his bed with their drink, her bare legs basking in the sun.She reached over, put her drink on the table, and took a cigarette from a cigarette case there. "Neither the Authority nor the local police here can find Ordell. How did Winston find him?"

"People talk to Winston," Max said. "He's a common man, like them. They can trust him. If they get arrested, they know someone who can bail them out." "You didn't tell anybody where Ordell was, did you?" "With the police? Not yet. I think we should talk it over first. I can go straight to him," Max said. "He'll be surprised to see me." "He's likely to rob you." "I told him on the phone that I owed him the $10,000 that you bailed on. He forgot about it, or he was thinking of something else. I can bring the money and papers for him to sign. … ..." "Why do you want to do this?" "I doubt he will come to the office." "He might," Jackie said, seeming to like the idea a little. Max couldn't tell why.He said: "The easiest way to do this is for me to go to him with the bail money back. The main purpose is to find out that he is really there. When he comes out, he will call the police station. Or let The Interpol squad is waiting to let them go in and get him." Jackie shook her head. "Ray still wants him." "Everybody wants to get him, he's a murder suspect. What you should think," Max said, "is that whoever gets him, you're going to have a problem. Once he's caught, he's going to say you're an accessory. " "I know that," said Jackie, "that's why I want the Authority to take this case. I'm their witness and I've been helping them. They can't do this case without me. If he says it against me , who will they trust?" "not that simple." "It's never been easy, so I'm not going to worry about it now. Look, Ray can't wait to be a hero. He'll do anything." Max got one of her cigarettes and lit it, and Jackie watched him, waiting. "Well, you want Nicolai to get him. How?" "Send Ordell to your office." "Lead him," Max said. "I told him you wanted to see him?" He saw the light in her eyes again. "I want to give him his money." "why?" "I'm timid. I'm afraid of him. He'll be happy then." Max thought about it while smoking. "And how do you explain to Nicolai why you want to see Ordell?" "I haven't figured it out yet—it's something like returning the bail bond." Jackie didn't speak for a long time.She took a sip from her drink. "That's how Ordell would come, to get the money back. I just said he called me and said I had to sign something." "You don't need to sign." "But I don't understand this kind of thing. That's why I called someone from the Authority. I wondered—what's he going to do? And I'm terrified." "You think Ordell is going to come out of his hiding place? The police all over South Florida are waiting to get him, does he dare?" "Max, if he wants money, he has to come out. If he doesn't want money, he's gone by now." "If he's so desperate for money, he must be desperate." "Of course he is." "What if he wants to see you elsewhere?" "The money is in your office, in the safe. This is the only place I can meet him." "What if you can't find Nicolai?" "I'll find it." "What if he's out of town?" "If you don't want to do it, Max, just say so." He ignored her remark, but looked at her without saying a word, thinking that he could have Winston present. "Let's put it this way, Ordell is willing to come," Max said. "He wants to make sure when you meet, and you know that." "Just tonight," Jackie said. "He's not going to sit around waiting and wasting his time. He'll have you call me. He probably wants to talk. I'll take care of it." .I'm gonna tell him that I didn't betray him, I just couldn't trust Melanie. So I just gave her the towel. If he asks me, we have to make our story tight. And I'm here for you to help me Before I was busy, I didn’t know how to contact him.” "Why don't you stay at home and wait, then he can find you." "I'm scared. I'm not sure he's going to give me a chance to explain." Max watched her think about it, and she put her hand in the ashtray to put out the butt, and her face moved into the sunlight, and she looked at the ashtray and said, "I have to go to your office before he gets there. .” Max said, "Why?" She still didn't look up. "Because I've been hiding in your office." "Where's Nicolai—was he waiting there first, or did he burst in while we were talking?" "He has to be there already." "What if he hears something in the conversation that he shouldn't hear?" "That's not going to happen to us." "Do you still have that gun?" Jackie looked up now. "Yes, how is it?" "You mustn't carry a gun."