Out There in the Darkness by Ed Gorman Read Free Book Online

horses?”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    â€œAnd they found him a little Shetland pony and let him ride it and he loved it.   He wasn’t afraid at all.”   She laughed.   “In fact, we could barely drag him home.”   She paused.   “You’re probably not in the mood for this, are you?   I’m sorry, hon.   Maybe you should go do something to take your mind off things.   Is there a good movie on?”
    â€œI guess I could check.”
    â€œSomething light, that’s what you need.”
    â€œSounds good,” I said.   “I’ll go get the newspaper and see what’s on.”
    â€œLove you.”
    â€œLove you, too, sweetheart,” I said.
    I spent the rest of the afternoon going through my various savings accounts and investments.   I had no idea what the creep would want to leave us alone.   We could always threaten him with going to the police, though he might rightly point out that if we really wanted to do that, we would already have done it.
    I settled in the five-thousand-dollar range.   That was the maximum cash I had to play with.   And even then I’d have to borrow a little from one of the mutual funds we had earmarked for the kids and college.
    Five thousand dollars.   To me, it sounded like an enormous amount of money, probably because I knew how hard I’d had to work to get it.
    But would it be enough for our friend the vampire?
    Â 
    N eil was there just at dark.   He parked in the drive and came in.   Meaning he wanted to talk.
    We went in the kitchen.   I made us a couple of highballs and we sat there and discussed finances.
    â€œI came up with six thousand,” he said.
    â€œI got five.”
    â€œThat’s eleven grand,” he said.   “It’s got to be more cash than this creep has ever seen.”
    â€œWhat if he takes it and comes back for more?”
    â€œWe make it absolutely clear,” Neil said, “that there is no more.   That this is it.   Period.”
    â€œAnd if not?”
    Neil nodded.   “I’ve thought this through.   You know the kind of lowlife we’re dealing with?   A) He’s a burglar which means, these days, that he’s a junkie.   B) If he’s a junkie then that means he’s very susceptible to AIDS.   So between being a burglar and shooting up, this guy is probably going to have a very short lifespan.”
    â€œI guess I’d agree.”
    â€œEven if he wants to make our lives miserable, he probably won’t live long enough to do it.   So I think we’ll be making just the one payment.   We’ll buy enough time to let nature take its course—his nature.”
    â€œWhat if he wants more than the eleven grand?”
    â€œHe won’t.   His eyes’ll pop out when he sees this.”
    I looked at the kitchen clock.   It was going on nine now.
    â€œI guess we could drive over there.”
    â€œIt may be a long night,” Neil said.
    â€œI know.”
    â€œBut I guess we don’t have a hell of a lot of choice, do we?”
    Â 
    A s we’d done the last time we’d been here, we split up the duties.   I took the backyard, Neil the apartment door.   We waited until midnight.   The rap music had died by now.   Babies cried and mothers screamed; couples fought.   TV screens flickered in dark windows.
    I went up the fire escape slowly and carefully.   We’d talked about bringing guns then decided against it.   We weren’t exactly marksmen and if a cop stopped us for some reason, we could be arrested for carrying unlicensed firearms.   All I carried was a flashlight in my back pocket.
    As I grabbed the rungs of the ladder, powdery rust dusted my hands.   I was chilly with sweat.   My bowels felt sick.   I was scared.   I just wanted it to be over with.   I wanted him to say yes he’d take the money and then