Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones

Author:Stephen Mack Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2018-11-02T19:41:24+00:00

Twenty-four

“You know how many useless UHF antennas and first-gen satellite TV dishes are sitting on top of houses and apartment buildings and office buildings in Detroit?”

I was sitting on my sofa staring at the small black safe from Taffy’s on the Lake on my coffee table.

I’ve done a lot of things in my life.

Cracking a safe is not one of them.

Lucy sat on the granite work surface of my kitchen island eating from a bag of tortilla chips. An open jar of my salsa was next to her.

“Sit on a chair,” I said still staring at the safe. “Don’t sit on my island. I prepare food there.”

“Well, I don’t know exactly how many UHF antennas and TV dishes there are on buildings in Detroit,” she continued unabated. “But I’m guessing a shitload. Just sitting there being nests for pigeons and hawks and falcons.”

I sighed and flopped back on the sofa. “Is there a point, Lucy? Or is this just you free associating?”

“Oh, there’s a point, big guy,” she said, hopping down from the kitchen counter. She took a seat next to me. “Okay, so I couldn’t figure out who spoofed your phone besides me. I mean, I can usually trace a piggyback in my sleep. I wouldn’t be much of a digital-diva if I couldn’t do that, right? But this one? Pure freakin’ genius!” She paused. Then she said, “You want me to open that for you? I mean ’cause it ain’t gonna open itself.”

“You can crack this?” I said.

“Oh, my God!” she laughed. “A five-year-old could crack that! Move.”

I slid down the sofa a bit and Lucy took my position.

“It’s an old Nationwide Class B combination safe,” she said, staring at the metal box on my coffee table. “Thicker metal makes hearing the tumblers a little harder.”

“You’ve really had a misspent youth, haven’t you?” I said.

Lucy slid off the sofa and, on her knees in front of the safe, gently placed an ear against the door of the safe.

No sooner had she done this, Jimmy knocked on the door. As usual, he entered without waiting for an invitation. Seeing me on the sofa and Lucy with her ear against the metal door of an office safe, Jimmy said, “Uh—bad time?”

“Hi, Jimmy!” Lucy said without taking her ear from the safe door.

Jimmy was carrying a deep purple Club Brutus gym bag and wearing a white gi—the uniform used in the practice of jujitsu—tied at the waist was a yellow belt.

“Holy shit,” I said. “You’ve already earned your yellow belt?”

Jimmy stood a little taller. He smoothed his gi with a hand. “Yessir. Mr. Brutus says I’m a fast learner.”

“And Brutus doesn’t just hand out compliments,” I said.

Lucy pulled away from the safe and turned to look at Jimmy.

“Wow,” she said. “Ain’t you a sexy beast?”

Had Jimmy’s skin tone been a bit lighter, his blushing would have been very apparent.

“I, uh—I’s just wondering if everything was all right,” Jimmy said. “Mr. Ogilvy said you had some trouble the other night? Something about the shed?”

“Just a couple rats, Jimmy,” I said.

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