Page 77 of Tell Me Why
Tina couldn’t figure out what he would be lying about.
“All the way to the bottom, then,” Tell said, and Perceval shrugged dramatically. Tell sighed.
“I’m milking him,” Tell said. “It’s something to do. Tina runs interference, and I keep making up steps to accomplishinganything, and keep him on the line. We’ve never gotten along, and I saw an opportunity.”
Perceval scratched his chin.
“You want to keep the little people down, too,” he said thoughtfully. Tell shrugged.
“The ones that annoy me,” he offered.
“I see,” Perceval said. “Let’s say I choose to believe you. Let you go. What are you going todonext?”
“Go back to the house, tell them that we went swimming to take the evening off, and go back to work,” Tell said.
“I’m going to crush him,” Perceval said. “Sooner or later, I’m going to end him and his pretensions. I would recommend you not be there, when that day comes.”
“I’ll find the back door as you walk in the front,” Tell said.
Perceval nodded, easing somehow and becoming more fluid.
“I’ll be sending him a head in a box, tonight,” he said, going to get his sport coat from the counter and flipping it over his shoulder. “So you might knock off early, too.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Tell said, and Perceval nodded, superiority dripping off of him as he went back toward the door.
“I assume you can see yourselves home,” he said, motioning. The bearded man looked like he was disappointed that he wasn’t going to get an excuse to stab Tina, but he followed Perceval through the door and left Tell and Tina standing in the dismal, dark little store on their own.
“He’s serious,” Tina said, looking over her shoulder at the front door.
“The driver left the minute we were inside,” Tell said. “Details matter. This was never going to end with a civil business agreement.”
“He was lying,” Tina said, and Tell laughed.
“He seldom does anything else,” he answered.
“About why we were here,” Tina said. “I think.”
Tell nodded.
“He was afraid,” he said. “He didn’t want to hint at where he’s staying in town, so he picked something as diametrically different as possible.”
“And that… doesn’t point you directly at where heis?” Tina asked.
Tell smiled.
“It does,” he said. “Though I’m wondering if I care. I couldmaybeget in and out without them noticing that I was there, but Perceval would smell me, if I got too close. You, too, now. And while it would be useful to knowspecificallywhich of Daryll’s minions are on Perceval’s payroll, there’s no guarantee that they’re making contact in person. I would keep themaway, if I were him, have them in their normal lodgings and just call with updates. So there’s no guarantee that tracking him down in person would gain me anything. What itdoesdo is give me some very solid leads on which of the men are his, so I can start eliminating and focusing on the ones who are spying for the others.”
“Geez,” Tina said, turning to walk to the door. “How many spies has Daryll gotinhis house?”
Tell laughed gently.
“From the look of things, all of them.”
They walked.
Neither one of them were carrying a cell phone, so they walked.
Fortunately, Tell knew where they were well enough to get them back to the apartment building several hours later, wherethey found a car and four men waiting for them with an attitude like the two of them might try to escape.
