Rabbit Theory by Whitmore Les

Author:Whitmore, Les
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

They arrive in the small, no-name town, and Uri parks in front of the small grocery store. Inside the store, Uri pulls a twelve-pack of beer from the cooler and drops it in the cart. Stefan follows him to the deli section, where Uri hovers, seemingly unable to decide what lunchmeat he wants. Stefan glances around the market. The bright lights and people around him buoy his courage. “So, what are we doing here?”

“We’re buying lunchmeat, Stefan. Is there something you’d rather be doing on a Saturday night?” Uri picks up a package of sliced ham, turns it over, and reads the label. “Why are they always injecting this crap into our food? Do you know what these hormones do to your body? Turns you homo. I wonder if that might be your problem, Stefan, too many lunchmeat hormones. All those frou-frou shirts and cowboy boots.”

Stefan asks again, narrowing his question to the specifics. “What is the pony?”

“It’s a thumb drive. I’m sure you already know that.”

“What kind of information is on it?”

“Well, it must be something good, Stefan. Lots of people are trying to get their hands on it.”

“What is it?”

Uri turns to look at Stefan. “You are fishing for information that I simply do not have.”

“Then tell me what you do know.”

“OK, Stefan, I know this: a powerful client paid us twenty-five million dollars for a straightforward job, keep the pony in the corral. But you left the gate open and lost it. And your woman (and you’d better find a way to rein in that little bitch) lied about having destroyed it.”

“And now they want their money back,” Stefan says to himself as he puts the pieces together.

Uri snorts with laughter. “You can’t be that dense, Stefan. If a client is willing to pay twenty-five million to suppress certain information, that information must be worth more than twenty-five million.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning they won’t be satisfied with a return of their twenty-five million. No, they will want all their money back, plus a pound of flesh.” Uri drops the groceries on the counter, and as the cashier bags the items, Stefan sees her slyly slipping a manilla envelope into the grocery bag. Uri drops a small stack of cash on the counter, collects his purchases, and leaves the store. He climbs into the pickup cab, tosses a beer to Stefan, and takes one for himself. After a long chug, he removes the manilla envelope from the grocery sack, opens it, and goes through a small stack of photos, appraising each thoughtfully. “That is a surprise,” he says to himself. He puts the photographs back into the envelope and tosses them onto the seat. As they pull away from the market, Uri seems to have second thoughts; he takes the envelope from the seat and places it back into the grocery bag.

Stefan opens his beer and drinks it in large gulps, finishing it before they make it a half mile down the road. He is happy to discover that alcohol has calmed the nagging numbers.

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