Finally she comes up with a 9mm Glock and a cheap wallet with a skull and crossbones on the front. I set them on the floor by the lamp. Then grab the barbed-wire cage and hold it over him.
“Set him up straight for me?”
Candy grabs Matthew by the hair and lifts him until he’s on his knees. I drop the wire spiral over his head and Candy pushes him over with her boot, so he’s lying in the soap wrapped in a cage.
“If you thought the glass was bad, try getting frisky in that,” I tell him.
He lets out a couple of little gasps but doesn’t give any back talk.
“Now I’m going out for a few minutes. I don’t want you bothering the kick fairy while I’m gone.”
I hand her the wire cutters.
“Talk too much and she has my blessing to remove your tongue.”
Candy smiles at me. She likes playing dress-up and femme fatale. I don’t think she’ll hurt him while I’m gone, but she won’t be nice either. I put Matthew’s gun and wallet in my pocket and pull up my hood.
“I’m going out for milk and eggs, honey. Be back in a couple of minutes.”
She blows me a kiss and I head out.
There’s a pharmacy a couple of blocks down Beverly from the apartment. It’s a short stroll. A light rain is starting to fall. Early for this time of year. I light a cigarette and smoke until the rain picks up and the foot traffic clears off the street.
The pharmacy isn’t marked around the back of the building, but there’s only one door covered with surveillance cameras and alarm stickers. I pull the hood tighter so only my eyes are showing and kick the door in. The alarm goes off. I have to work fast.
I hop the pharmacy counter and head for the back. Mostly I want to make a mess and grab some Vicodin or OxyContin. I find a couple of jars of vitamin V on a top shelf in the back. I grab both. Stuff one in my pocket and tear open the other, scattering pills on the floor. On my way back over the counter, I leave Matthew’s gun. I drop his wallet in the alley.
When I get back to Allegra’s place, I pop the top of the Vicodin bottle, crush up a few tablets, and scatter the powder over Matthew. Put the rest of the bottle in his pocket, then take off my gloves and stick them in my pocket.
“It’s raining outside,” says Candy.
“Just like a good film noir, right, Matt?”
He looks up at me from the floor.
“What did you do?”
“I just broke into a pharmacy. Took some drugs and left your gun and wallet at the scene.”
“Fuck,” he says. “Fucking fuck you, motherfucker.”
“He’s kind of a poet,” Candy says.
“Kind of one but not really.”
Matthew shakes his head.
“This isn’t going to stick, you know. The guy who told me about you, he’ll fix it.”
“Who’s that?”
Matthew tries to roll onto his side, but it hurts too much.
“Take out my phone and call him. He wants to talk to you. Just hit the most recent call number.”
I put my foot on his cage and roll him onto his back. He groans. I get a phone from his coat pocket, open it, and hit the number that comes up.
It rings a couple of times and someone with a drawl says, “Hello?”