Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane Read Free Book Online

unfurled from his head and he licked Bob's wrist. "Short for Cassius. That's his name. What did you call him?"
    "Called him Dog mostly. Sometimes Hound."
    Eric Deeds glanced around the kitchen, up at the old circular fluorescent in the ceiling, something going back to Bob's mother, hell, Bob's father just before the first stroke, around the time the old man had become obsessed with paneling--paneled the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, would've paneled the toilet if he could've figured out how.
    Bob said, "You beat him."
    Eric reached into his shirt pocket. He pulled out a cigarette and popped it in his mouth. He lit it, shook out the match, tossed it on Bob's kitchen table.
    "You can't smoke in here."
    Eric considered Bob with a level gaze and kept smoking. "I beat him?"
    "Yeah."
    "Uh, so what?" Eric flicked some ash on the floor. "I'm taking the dog, Bob."
    Bob stood to his full height. He held tight to Cassius, who squirmed a bit in his arms and nipped at the flat of his hand. If it came to it, Bob decided, he'd drop all six feet three inches and two hundred ninety pounds of himself on Eric Deeds, who couldn't weigh more than a buck-seventy. Not now, not just standing there, but if Eric reached for Cassius, well then...
    Eric Deeds blew a stream of smoke at the ceiling. "I saw you that night. I was feeling bad, you know, about my temper? So I went back to see if the hound was really dead or not and I watched you pluck him out of the trash."
    "I really think you should go." Bob pulled his cell from his pocket and flipped it open. "I'm calling 911."
    Eric nodded. "I've been in prison, Bob, mental hospitals. I've been a lotta places. I'll go again, don't mean a thing to me, though I doubt they'd prosecute even me for fucking up a dog . I mean, sooner or later, you gotta go to work or get some sleep."
    "What is wrong with you?"
    Eric held out of his hands. "Pretty much everything. And you took my dog."
    "You tried to kill it."
    Eric said, "Nah." Shook his head like he believed it.
    "You can't have the dog."
    "I need the dog."
    "No."
    "I love that dog."
    "No."
    "Ten thousand."
    "What?"
    Eric nodded. "I need ten grand. By tonight. That's the price."
    Bob gave it a nervous chuckle. "Who has ten thousand dollars?"
    "You could find it."
    "How could I poss--"
    "Say, that safe in Cousin Marv's office. You're a drop bar, Bob. You don't think half the neighborhood knows? So that might be a place to start."
    Bob shook his head. "Can't be done. Any money we get during the day? Goes through a slot at the bar. Ends up in the office safe, yeah, but that's on a time--"
    "--lock, I know." Eric turned on the couch, one arm stretched along the back of it. "Goes off at 2 a.m. in case they decide they need a last-minute payout for something who the fuck knows, but big. And you have ninety seconds to open and close it or it triggers two silent alarms, neither of which goes off in a police station or a security company. Fancy that." Eric took a hit off his cigarette. "I'm not greedy, Bob. I just need stake money for something. I don't want everything in the safe, just ten grand. You give me ten grand, I'll disappear."
    "This is ludicrous."
    "So, it's ludicrous."
    "You don't just walk into someone's life and--"
    "That is life: someone like me coming along when you're not looking."
    Bob put Cassius on the floor but made sure he didn't wander over to the other side of the table. He needn't have worried--Cassius didn't move an inch, sat there like a cement post, eyes on Bob.
    Eric Deeds said, "You're racing through all your options, but they're options for normal people in normal circumstances. I need my ten grand tonight. If you don't get it for me, I'll take your dog. I licensed him. You didn't, because you couldn't. Then I'll forget to feed him for a while. One day, when he gets all yappy about it, I'll beat his head in with a rock or something. Look in my eyes and tell me which part I'm lying about, Bob."

    After he left, Bob went to his