The rain had dropped back to a drizzle. It streaked the windshield and shimmered on the street. It was mid-?afternoon and traffic was picking up. A black Town Car pulled into the car wash lot and parked behind the office. The rear quarter panel of the car was peppered with bullet holes. The headlights blinked off, and Mickey got out of the car and went into the office through the back door.
Minutes later, an armored truck rolled down the street, pulled into the lot, and parked beside the Town Car. Delvina got out of the armored truck and walked to the building, carrying the messenger bag. He was wearing a bulky raincoat, and his head was wrapped in aluminum foil.
I tapped Diesel’s number into my cell phone and the number instantly went to voicemail. “Delvina’s here,” I said and disconnected.
I sat for a couple moments and ran out of patience. I got out of the car and ran across the street to the car wash. I crept around the building, hoping to see in a window, but had no luck. I very slowly and silently turned the knob to the back door and eased the door open just a crack.
The office was basically one large room with a front door opening into the car wash lobby and a back door opening to the parking lot. I peeked through the crack and saw Delvina and Mickey in front of the safe.
“You got a what?” Mickey asked.
“An armored car. I’m taking my money and I’m going to Kansas. I read where it’s safer from aliens in the middle of the country.”
“That’s crazy. And what about the missus and her new house?”
“Screw the missus. I don’t even want a new house. I don’t know what was wrong with the old house. Anyway, this is serious. I’m gonna get rid of this alien, but there might be more. They travel in packs or pods or something.” Delvina took a bottle out of his pocket and popped some pills into his mouth.
“You should go easy on those pills,” Mickey said. “I think they might be making you goofy.”
“I need these pills. I got a rash.”
“I don’t see no rash.”
“That’s because I’m taking the pills, stupid.”
“What are you wearing on your head? Is that for the rain?”
“It’s so they can’t control my mind. You know how we use aluminum foil to scramble the GPS when we hijack a truck? It’s the same with aliens. You wear this aluminum foil on your head, and they can’t fuck with your mind.”
“I guess that makes sense, but I’m not convinced they’re aliens. They don’t look like aliens.”
“That’s because they’re shape-?shifters. Remember when we used to watch Star Trek?”
“Yeah, them shape-?shifters were nasty buggers.”
“Anyway, I’m sorry I kicked you out of the car, and I didn’t mean it when I fired you,” Delvina said. “It’s just you weren’t making any sense.”
“Maybe, but I don’t see where we want to make trouble with that big guy Diesel and the Plum woman.”
“It’s us or them,” Delvina said. “Anybody can see that.”
Delvina set the black canvas messenger bag on the floor by the safe and spun the dial. He fed in the combination, pulled the door open, and gasped. No duffel bag in the safe.
“Where’s the bag?” he asked Mickey. “Where’s the money?”
“It’s in the safe,” Mickey said.
“The safe’s friggin’ empty.”
“That’s impossible. Only you and me’s got the combination. How would the safe get empty? Maybe you took the money out and forgot.”
Color was oozing into Delvina’s face. “I got a mind like a steel trap. I don’t forget nothing. I’m no dummy.”
“Yeah, but boss, you been taking a lot of pills lately.”
“Stop with the pills. I know what I’m doing. You’re the one who don’t know what he’s doing.” Delvina tapped his finger against the aluminum foil. “You’re not protecting your brain like I am. And I’m smart enough to know who took the money.”
“Who took it?” Mickey asked.