Body and Soul by InSilva
Disclaimer: just borrowing the characters from the great character library.
A/N: eagle-eyed readers will spot that this is not the end of this chapter and that I remain as numerically challenged as ever. This will surprise no one. :)
Chapter Twenty-five: A Simple Plan Part Two
Day One
Flowers in hand, Marty stood on the doorstep and shifted from one foot to other. Ridiculous, he told himself, absolutely ridiculous. Wasn't like he'd been called on to speak at a symposium. He took a deep breath and rang the bell. Lucy appeared and the smile bloomed on Marty's face without him realising.
"You look lovely," he said and meant it.
"Thank you," she said and smiled up at him.
There was a long moment and then Marty remembered the carnations.
"I brought you these."
White carnations. Same as he'd taken Annie the previous night. That had to be safe, right? Lucy had held them and she 'd looked like she'd liked them. They had to be a good choice, right?
"Thank you," she said again. "They're beautiful."
Good. Good. Marty felt like he'd passed his first viva at med school.
"I'll put these in water," Lucy said. "Would you like to come in?"
"Thanks."
He felt he should have said more. Maybe, he should have said more. What more was there to say? Damn but he needed to calm down. He waited in the kitchen while Lucy found a vase and wondered whether she could hear his heart thumping.
"Yes. No. No, I understand, Bobby. No. Yes. Thank you. Yes. I'll be there."
Saul hung up and took a deep breath then went into the lounge. Annie was sitting on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped round her knees. She was pale as she had been since they'd found the note. She'd been quiet too which was understandable. What was there to say?
"I caught Bobby at home," Saul said, sitting down beside her and taking her hands in his.
He spoke to Bobby maybe a handful of times a year and every time it was like they just picked up the conversation where it had left off. There was an ease and a warmth to it all and Saul counted Bobby as a very good friend. He'd never had to ask Bobby about something like this before.
"It's Rusty." He'd told Bobby about Rusty before. Not about…that was private. But he'd told him about Rusty's brilliance just like he'd told Carter.
"What's happened?" Bobby read his tone at once.
"I checked with Bobby about the car."
Annie nodded.
"Is it in his name?"
"Yes."
"You want me to report it stolen?"
"If it's reported stolen, then they can put out an alert."
Annie's eyes were wide and unblinking.
"They can…" Saul swallowed. "They can pull Rusty over. Arrest him."
There was a small noise of pain from Annie and Saul squeezed her hands.
"I know. I know. It's not an option."
It wouldn't be Bobby or anyone Bobby knew pulling Rusty over. It would be run of the mill cops…Rusty, behind the steering wheel, confused but complying…Rusty, flung roughly up against the hood of the car, his hands dragged behind his back and tightly cuffed…Rusty, at the station, a stubborn teenager with men who enjoyed the power officialdom gave…Rusty, sitting in a cell with a few bruises showing and a few more unseen… The whole point was to keep that from happening. Added to which, Saul didn't think he could face Rusty again if he'd been responsible for that.
He didn't tell Annie that he'd shared the details of the car with Bobby anyway.
"Just in case…"
"Just in case." Bobby had understood the end of the sentence. "I'll keep an eye out on the official reports."
"Did you…did you ask about reporting Rusty missing?"
Bobby hadn't actually sighed but Saul felt that he wanted to.
"You can do that. There will be…supplementary questions."
"The authorities are going to want to know why we're so interested in Rusty. They're going to want to know what Rusty is to us."
Annie's lips were trembling. Saul nodded understanding.
Rusty was everything. And they couldn't explain that to anyone.
Lucy sat in the Italian restaurant and tried to think of something to say that sounded witty and memorable.
"It's very nice here," she said and cursed silently. Lame, lame, lame.
Marty looked around him. "Yes. I can't say I've eaten here before but I remember Cathy saying a few months ago that she'd walked past and thought it looked nice."
Cathy. Lucy gave him a flat stare and Marty flushed.
"Cathy's my…well, my secretary."
Oh.
"Oh."
She felt stupid and they hadn't even ordered the starters yet.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, her eyes dropping down to the menu. "It's been a while since I've done this."
"Gone out for a meal?" Marty asked lightly.
"With a man," Lucy nodded.
"Me too," Marty smiled and then added quickly, "Not with a man," then added even more quickly, "I mean, not that I have a problem with that. Just that…"
He tailed off and his face was horrified that he might have offended and she giggled suddenly and then put a hand over her mouth and then Marty's lips were twitching.
"OK," she said, taking charge. "Let's just relax and start over, shall we?"
Marty gave her a slow grin. "Let's."
"So what are we going to do?" Annie asked and her voice was quiet and calm and still like an endless sharp scream. "We can't just let him go…"
Saul reached out and stroked her hair. "No, we won't."
The pasta was delicious and the crisp white wine was smooth and once they'd both stopped trying so hard, the conversation had flowed naturally, just as it had the previous night. Marty found himself opening up and talking about things that he hadn't talked about to anyone.
"Josephine. She was called Josephine. And she liked fine wine and fancy restaurants and expensive presents and she was very taken with the idea of being married to a professional man. I met her when I was just out of medical school." He swilled the wine around the glass and frowned at it.
"You were married to her?" Lucy asked in a hushed voice.
"Engaged," he corrected. "We were engaged for five years."
Five years of wheedling and manipulation and he'd smiled helplessly and been turned round and twisted up in tighter and tighter circles of greed and the inevitable journey to the altar.
"Then she found a handsome lawyer. And suddenly, she wasn't returning my calls." He took a drink. "At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I'm a bit clearer on that point now."
Lucy was silent for a moment and he wondered whether he'd shared too much too fast. Then she sighed.
"Parker Chance. High-flier at the accountancy firm I trained with. Confident and charming and a complete bastard."
The last word had been spoken with venom and Marty had immediately reached out and squeezed her arm without thinking. She lifted her head and her eyes were shining.
"I lived with him for eight years. I didn't realise how little of me was left until he had."
She blinked fiercely and grabbed her glass.
"Here's to avoiding life's poison," she suggested wildly.
Marty didn't take his hand off her arm. He raised his own glass.
"Here's to finding the antidote," he said gently and a little smile broke out on her face.
Carter had been his first call after Bobby.
"I'll tell Stevie and Rod. And Wilson and Gianfranco. They've all met him. Ask them to keep an ear open. If he's in Detroit, I'll find him."
Saul had called Reuben in Vegas and Scott in Texas and just like Bobby, they weren't people he phoned often but just like Bobby, that didn't matter in the slightest. And they were people who had influence and who knew people.
"5'11", blond, blue eyes, slim build, good-looking. Seventeen but he carries himself like he's a lot older. Great hands, natural touch. Handles cards like he's born to it…"
Both times, he'd gone on with the description until he'd run out of useful information and then he'd tailed off, cursing the fact that neither of them had actually met Rusty. Reuben and Scott had both stepped in with gentle understanding and assurance and all the right words: Saul had hung up, grateful that his friends were the best friends he could ever find.
It came as a surprise when the waiter put the bill down on the table: Marty hadn't even noticed the time passing. He settled up, ignoring Lucy's protests.
"Next time is on me, then," she insisted and then stopped and he knew she was going to apologise for being presumptuous.
"Next time," he agreed quickly and she smiled.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but I need you here," Saul said carefully and he knew that was the worst thing: to be the one who stayed put. "I need you here to answer the phone and take messages. To be here if Rusty calls."
Or comes back again. He could dream. Nothing was ever that easy.
Annie nodded and pressed the photo of Rusty into Saul's hand and he looked down at it. Rusty's birthday and Annie had insisted and Rusty was staring at the camera, slightly ill at ease and embarrassed and humouring Annie and in spite of all that, happy and contented and there.
They couldn't have lost him. They'd only just met him.
Saul put the photo and the strip of negatives carefully into his pocket.
"I'm going to meet up with Bobby and show him this and then…then I'm going to start looking," Saul said simply.
Marty and Lucy walked slowly back to the car. Somehow they'd ended up holding hands: neither wanted to stop.
Saul came down the stairs with a holdall packed with a few essentials. Annie didn't even try to argue about him waiting till morning.
"Not like I'm going to sleep," Saul said lightly and she gave him a weak smile of understanding and love and helplessness and gratitude and worry. "I'll be in Chicago by morning."
"Call me," she said as fiercely as she was clutching him.
"Every day at 6pm," he promised and kissed her.
In a motel in a nameless town, Rusty lay still in cheap sheets and scratchy blankets, his mind running at ninety miles an hour.
Once he'd made the decision to leave, it had been a case of leaving as quickly and quietly as he could. There'd been no one home when he'd got back from Sam's and he'd thrown some clothes into a bag and grabbed his stash of ready money. Saul had helped him open up a bank account but Rusty still felt comfortable having cash to hand. He'd left half of it on the kitchen table and scribbled a note. Not anywhere near enough.
He'd hesitated about taking the car but it was his. Saul and Annie had given it to him. And pragmatically, he needed transport. Public transport wasn't going to give him the independence he needed; the ability to run wherever, whenever.
Rusty rolled onto his back and did his best not to think about how comfortable his real bed was. Just as he'd sat in the diner earlier and tried not to think about Saul buying him a milkshake and a slice of cherry pie. Just as he'd eaten the greasy meatloaf and done his best not to think about Annie's cooking…
Fuck, it was going to be hard leaving Saul and Annie behind. Safety and love and home. He'd never thought of anywhere in that way.
He closed his eyes. He had to be strong. After all, it wasn't like he was going to live there forever. He was always going to be moving out at some point. Now was as good a time as any.
Day Two
Bobby went out to claim the mail and spotted the car parked on the street outside. Bobby approached the driver's window and stared at Saul's uneasily sleeping form. He knocked gently and Saul jolted upright, blinking blearily.
"Come on inside," Bobby suggested. "Molly's making pancakes."
In the kitchen, Molly was juggling a griddle-pan, a basin full of presumably pancake batter and a three-year-old wrapping his arms around her knees.
"Saul!" Her face lit up. She pushed a plate of pancakes towards them. "Head on through to the other room - Linus, Mommy is talking, sweetheart." She smiled indulgently at her son. "Alright, alright. Seconds coming up."
Bobby poured two mugs of coffee and led the way through to the living area. Saul took a mug gratefully and sank down on to the couch.
"When did you get here?" he asked.
Saul checked his watch. "Couple of hours ago."
"Uh huh. And how long were you thinking of leaving it till you knocked on the door?"
Saul smiled but the smile slipped away almost at once. Travelling had been all about the adrenaline and the impetus and getting to Chicago and trying not to let the worry flood over him. Bobby gave him a nod of sympathetic acknowledgement.
"You've got to pace yourself, Saul. Otherwise you'll be burnt out before you've begun."
"I know, I know."
Stamina was important. Just that speed was too. Saul fished into his pocket and produced the photo. Bobby studied it.
"He's a good-looking boy," Bobby commented.
"Yes, he is," Saul agreed. "He is good-looking and he's also intelligent and quick to learn and cool-nerved and decent…he's a fine young man, Bobby."
His voice choked on the last few words and he swallowed gulps of hot coffee to cover the moment.
Bobby took charge of the negative, taking a moment, giving Saul time to recover. He handed Saul back the original.
"I'll get a copy run off and then I'll post this back to Annie."
"Thanks." Saul pocketed it and then hesitantly took one of the pancakes, dripping with butter. He didn't feel hungry but just like sleeping, eating was necessary if he was going to do this.
"It's a big country," Bobby said softly.
Saul nodded. "He hasn't got a passport and for the moment, I don't think it'd occur to him to get one. That leaves me forty-eight states. I'm knocking out Alaska and Hawaii."
He smiled and Bobby smiled back and it helped to be talking about a plan. Oh, it wasn't like he thought Bobby would wave a wand and produce Rusty out of a hat but just knowing that Bobby knew was a comfort.
"Rusty knows cars, cards and the con," Saul went on. "And he likes to hide."
Bobby's eyes grew thoughtful.
"Believe me," Saul said, "as good-looking as he is, he's good at it. Which is why I'm targeting the big cities."
"Starting with…?"
"Not New York. Not Atlantic City. I think those are too close. Rusty'll want to put some distance between himself and…and where he's worked. Fresh start." He cleared his throat and uttered the lie, confident that Bobby wouldn't find it. "I'm going to begin with Reno."
Breakfast was a bag of Krispy Kremes. At least they were going to taste like they should. In fact, sticking to fast food seemed like a good option. Not like anything was going to compare to… Enough. Sitting in the car, Rusty bit into a doughnut and studied the map.
East Coast was out. Too close to home. And no small towns either. He wanted invisibility and that meant big cities. His eyes ran over a hundred different possibilities.
Saul knew the first place to look and it wasn't Reno. The last place he wanted to and nowhere that he was going to talk about to Bobby. Territory that Rusty was familiar with. Horror rose up in Saul at the very idea that Rusty had gone back to the place where he'd found him. Never the less, he had to check it out.
He arrived early evening, booked into a hotel and phoned an anxious Annie. It felt good to hear her voice; Saul just wished that he had something concrete to tell her.
He hung up and went out, walking the streets, trying not to think about Rusty coming anywhere near MacAvoy again. If those two met up again… Saul could see the gleam in MacAvoy's eyes: Rusty, walking back into MacAvoy's sphere of influence. The anger, alive inside Rusty… MacAvoy, so full of persuasion… Saul could see so many endings to that reunion and none of them were good.
Rusty was smart but he'd been smart when MacAvoy had met him. He'd still ended up being used and abused. Saul's imagination was dreading the thought that somehow Rusty was back in thrall to the man. (He didn't want to admit to himself that he felt sure he'd find Rusty so much quicker if he was).
Saul found the diner where he'd first met Rusty. Not admitting the nod to superstition, he sat at the same table and stared outside at the very spot where Rusty had stood, alone and trapped in a brutal hell.
He'd been back in this town a couple of times before. When Rusty had been going through those nightmares and he'd seen the sweat and the pain and the wretchedness and felt the urge to find MacAvoy and express his displeasure. He remembered hitting a few bars, asking for MacAvoy, waving money but no one was giving MacAvoy up. It had been impossible to hide his fury and his desperation and no one was in the mood to indulge him. Added to which, somewhere at the back of his mind, there'd been the thought that he ought to be back home with Annie and Rusty and that that was where he was needed.
Things had changed. He ate and drank and paid the bill. Right. This was going to be unpleasant and absolutely unavoidable. Wearing a sly look of lechery, Saul sauntered up to the counter.
"Can you tell me where I can find some male company for the evening?"
Another room in another motel and Rusty hoped he'd sleep better than he had done the previous night. Still, he reflected as he undressed, he'd been on his own before and this time was so much better than the last.
Those first couple of days spent running away, looking over his shoulder as he did so until he was certain there was no one following him… Money running out so much faster than he'd imagined… Nights on the street… cold and hungry and lonely…
Not this time. This time, he was always going to have enough money because experience had given him skills. Not… Rusty bit his lip. Never. Never that ever again. But he could lift wallets and deal cards and conmen existed all over America. Plus thanks to Sam, he knew his way around a car engine.
Rusty stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror above the basin. He could look after himself.
A/N: OK, it's late and I am allowing all mockery. There are fifty states, right? :D