Way Down on the High Lonely by Don Winslow Read Free Book Online Page A

so long to the bartender, and started a slow walk down the street toward the Comfort Rest. He didn’t look behind him to see if the truck and van were trailing him, he didn’t even try to pick out sounds. He knew that Friends would have the best drivers and the best muscle. He knew that Graham was rubbing his artificial knuckles into his real palm. He knew that Levine was whispering instructions a mile a minute.
    This is too good to be true, Neal thought as he reached the motel. The place was a bag job dream. It sat recessed off the street by a good sixty feet of gravel parking space. The motel itself was actually a group of run-down cabins set in a half-moon pattern around the badly lit parking lot. Cabin 5 was the farthest down from the office and cabins 1 through 4 looked empty. There were no lights on in the office. An old Ford pickup was parked outside Cabin 5. A light inside the cabin shone through the closed curtain.
    Neal felt the old adrenaline rush. Do it now or wait? he asked himself. If I wait Harley might talk to his boss, get suspicious, and bolt. We might never have a better chance than right now. At this time of night Cody’s probably in bed. If I can just talk my way in the door we can do this quickly and quietly.
    Do it now.
    He turned around and found the tourist van in the darkness, angled out of sight of the motel. The moving truck was on the opposite side of the street, about fifty yards back. Neal crossed the street, walked back up the sidewalk, and tapped on the driver’s window. The window slid down electrically.
    Neal recognized the driver from a couple of old jobs in New York: Vinnie Pond was the best get-away driver in the business. He had the reflexes of a cat burglar and the low blink rate of an Indy driver. Neal nodded hello and then looked at Graham.
    “Let’s do it now,” Neal said.
    “Is Cody in there?” a female voice whispered.
    Neal leaned in and looked in the back of the van. Anne Kelley was there, shivering with nerves, a cup of coffee clutched in her hand.
    Neal looked back at Graham.
    “She insisted on coming along,” Graham explained.
    “I know this sounds nuts, Ms. Kelley,” Neal said, “but we’re committing a crime in getting your son back this way. You weren’t supposed to have any knowledge of this, for your own protection.”
    “Cody would be terrified if I wasn’t here, strangers grabbing him. This is going to be hard enough on him. I’m staying.”
    One look at her eyes convinced Neal that they weren’t going to get rid of her and that there was no sense getting shirty about it. So he said, “Maybe it is good you’re here. Maybe you can keep Cody quiet when we put him in the van.”
    “I guarantee it.”
    “You want to do it now, Neal?” Graham asked. “Are you sure?”
    “I had to give up too much at the bar. This is as good a time as any. I love the setup.”
    Graham nodded. “It’s pretty,” he said.
    “You’re not going to hurt Harley, are you?” Anne asked. “I don’t want him hurt.”
    Neal turned away and the window slid back up.
    We don’t want him hurt, either, Neal thought, but if that’s what it takes …
    He took three deep breaths and walked back toward Cabin S. He could hear the van pull forward, within range. The truck wouldn’t be far behind.
    Neal knocked on the door.
    A man’s voice answered, “Who is it?”
    Is that aggravation or anxiety I’m hearing in the voice? Neal asked himself.
    “My name is Kellow,” Neal said. “Reverend Carter asked me to pay you a visit, see how you were doing.”
    “Who the hell is Reverend Carter?”
    The voice came from right behind the door.
    Shit, shit, shit, Neal thought. He’s hinky already. I don’t think this is going to be a finesse job. This is going to be size and speed.
    There was no peephole, so Harley couldn’t see out. Neal stuck out his right arm and made a fast circular motion forward with his hand.
    Hurry, hurry, he thought. He didn’t look back to see if they were