Chapter 25

Clearly Fred was pretty happy about having an opportunity to be "useful" to me. I knew it wasn't really about me, he just didn't know me that well, but the old guy had been bored. He went to work, he came home, he ate, he slept, he peed and pooped, and that seemed to be his life. To have something important to do, at least as he saw it, now that was living. He took to it like a duck to water.

Before we left he made a big show out of retrieving his gun from the duffel he used to carry it to and from his job. The belt and holster he left in the bag, but he transferred the gun itself to a side pocket of his coat after making a point of showing me it was loaded. I wondered aloud at the legality of this; did he have a carry permit? He simply scoffed at that.

So it wasn't legal. But I suppressed my concern. Nobody'd probably ever know, the pocket was deep enough that the gun wouldn't simply fall out. And if my luck ran really foul and we bumped into Cesar Romero and company, well, the gun wouldn't exactly even the odds but at least it might give them something to think about.

There was, however, no problem at all, just as I'd expected. We hit one of the suburban branches of the bank I used—I hadn't wanted to go all the way downtown to the main building, which I normally visited, so I used Fred's phone book to find a nearby alternative—and I pulled out several thousand. That seriously depleted my account, but I was way past worrying too hard about that. I didn't even have a will, what young guy thinks of things like that, so if I died it'd go to my next of kin. That would be my brother and my sister, to neither of whom I was very close and both of whom had done pretty well for themselves, so it would be a lot better put to work keeping me alive a while longer.

While we did the transaction Fred was standing at my elbow, looking around vigilantly the way a good bodyguard should. I guessed, I had no actual experience with bodyguards. But he didn't overdo it, and it was vaguely reassuring to know he was on the alert.

You don't, I realized belatedly, just stuff that much cash into your wallet. It simply won't fit. So I took up the bank manager's offer (you don't do major transactions with a mere teller) of an envelope. Actually I wound up needing two envelopes, which I put in different pockets. I wasn't used to lugging that many greenbacks around, and it seemed a little safer that way.

Then I told Fred to head for the airport, where I knew there'd be rental cars galore available. But only about six blocks later I saw an agency just ahead, and asked him to pull in there. After assuring myself that they had cars on hand I went back out to tell Fred I'd be OK.

"You are sure of this, Larry?" he asked. "Sure that you will not change your mind and stay with me?"

I knew I was disappointing him by saying yes, I was sure, but I also figured the disappointment would be short-lived. It's one thing to offer on the spur of the moment to harbor somebody who's being chased by bad guys, but it's another thing entirely if he takes you up on it. After a couple of days of my company the "new"—and any sense of purpose it might have given him—would be worn off, and I was certain he'd be more than ready to be shut of me. I was just anticipating what might come, and he was smart enough to figure that out pretty quick.

Or maybe he already had. I thanked him effusively once again for the help he'd given me, and he made no more protests. "Also, auf Wiedersehen, Larry," he said, reverting to his native language. "Und vielen Glück in der Zukunft." Good luck with the future.

"Bitte, per 'du, ' Fred," I said. There are two cases of the second person pronoun in, German, one formal and the other for intimates. He'd used the first, I was telling him to switch to the second. "Du bist einen guter Freund gewesen, bitte sprachen wir zwischen uns so. Ich danke dir mehr als ist möglich zu sagen." You've been a great friend, let's speak to each other as friends. I thank you more than I can say.

"Ich bin froh dir hilfen zu können," he replied. Glad to have helped you. "Wenn du kannst, bitte ruf' mich an und erzähl' mir, was geschehen ist." Call me if you can and let me know how it went.

"Dass tu' ich sicher," I told him. For sure. We shook hands through the car window and he took off, waving as he drove away.