The Payback Girl by Jonathan Dunsky

Author:Jonathan Dunsky [Dunsky, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-19T22:00:00+00:00

39

Martha asked Amber-May when she planned on bringing Grandma Betsy to her house.

"Maybe as soon as two days from now. I need to get something before I can start going after them."

"What?" Jolene asked.

"A gun. Something the police won't be able to trace to me."

Silence fell in the cozy kitchen. Each of the three women was absorbed in her own thoughts.

It was Martha who spoke next. "Do you know where to get a gun like that?"

Sounding more certain than she felt, Amber-May said, "I'll find one. Somehow."

Jolene said, "I may be able to help with that."

She took a pen and a scrap of paper from her purse and jotted something down. She handed the paper to Amber-May. An address was written on it. Amber-May frowned.

"This is in Roxbury, isn't it?"

Jolene nodded.

"What's there?"

"A bar. Or maybe a dive is a better word for it. Called The Black Steel. Not the sort of place nice girls tend to frequent. Or nice boys for that matter. At least not the sort of girls and boys we're used to thinking of as nice. Frankly, I'm not sure you should go there alone. I can come with you if you like."

Amber-May shook her head. "No. I don't want either of you more involved than you have to be. Not in anything that can't be denied if the police come calling." She looked at the paper. "What am I supposed to find in The Black Steel?"

"A man called Leroy. He owns the place, works the bar."

"And he can sell me a gun?"

"Or direct you to someone who can," Jolene said. "At least, I think he'll be able to do that. Leroy was in trouble with the law when he was younger, did time more than once. Burglary, car stealing, that sort of thing. He's been out more than five years, has cleaned up his act—or if he hasn't, at least he hasn't gotten caught. Either way, he knows people. Once you're in that world, you never get out of it completely."

"How do you know him?"

"I grew up in Roxbury. I lived three buildings south from Leroy. When he and I were fifteen, we were sweethearts." Jolene blushed a little. "He was my first real boyfriend, and I was his first real girlfriend."

Amber-May and Martha exchanged a glance and a small smile.

Jolene noticed. "Did I say something funny?"

Amber-May shook her head. Martha said, "I just didn't figure you for the kind to fall for bad boys."

Jolene stared at her for a second. Then she laughed. "You may think it's funny. My daddy sure didn't. He forbade me to see Leroy, and he had a long talk with him, told him to stay away from me or there'd be trouble. Not that it made much difference. Leroy and I still met in secret until he got busted the first time and went away." Jolene's face turned somber. "That neighborhood doesn't fit the image Boston portrays to the rest of the world, with its universities and parks. Those are rough streets.

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