through the Allston tolls on the Mass. Pike without hesitation.
"Did you acquire that transponder legally?" I said.
"No," Hawk said.
"At least you're consistent," I said.
"Guy behind us oughta have one, too," Hawk said.
"Somebody's behind us?"
"Blue Chevy," Hawk said. "Was behind us on Storrow, too. Then he got hung up in the exact-change lane, and now he's busting his ass to catch us."
I turned in my seat and looked out the back window.
"Third car behind us?" I said.
"Uh-huh."
"Picked us up on Storrow?"
"Be my guess he picked us up front of your place," Hawk said. "And I didn't make him until Storrow."
"You see who it is?"
"Nope. Maybe all day, all Sonny?" Hawk said.
"Could be," I said. "On the other hand, there's folks in the FBI might want to know what I'm up to. If they picked us up in front of my place, then they know there's two of us."
"They do," Hawk said. "But they might not know one of us is me."
"So they might be overconfident?" I said.
"Might," Hawk said. "What you want me to do with them?"
"We'll go about our business," I said. "If they're Feds, they're welcome to tag along. If they're from Sonny and they try to kill us, we'll try to prevent them."
"Wha's this we, Whitey? They ain't after me."
"You have to protect me," I said. "I'm your only friend."
The Chevy tailed inconspicuously along behind us. Sometimes, on stretches without exits, it would pull past us and drive along two or three cars ahead. As we approached exits, it dropped back. It was several cars back when we took the Walford exit.
Taft University was on a series of low hills along both sides of Walford Road, about a half mile from the Pike. The main entrance road curved up the tallest of the hills, past some dormitories, toward the administration building, which formed one side of a big quadrangle at the top. Hawk parked next to a sign that read FACULTY PARKING ONLY. The Chevy pulled in on the other side of the road, back down the hill a little in front of a dormitory. A mixed field of summer-school students was playing touch football on the lawn.
"Let's just sit for a minute," I said.
Hawk nodded, and we sat.
The Chevy sat.
We sat.
Nobody got out of the Chevy.
"As you so sensitively pointed out," I said, "if they are interested in bodily harm, they're after me, not you."
"Uh-huh."
"So if I got out and you drove off, they'd come after me, and we'd know. Or they wouldn't, and we'd know."
"Uh-huh."
"And if they're from Sonny and bear me ill will, and if you hadn't driven very far off, you could appear and descend upon them like the wolf upon the fold."
"Or," Hawk said, "I see there only be three or four of them and figure I like your odds, and I drive back to Boston."
"I prefer the wolf upon the fold," I said.
Hawk shrugged. "Okay," he said.
"If there will be shooting, we need to do this where a couple dozen college kids won't get cut down in the first volley."
"Don't make no difference to me," Hawk said.
"I know that."
We sat some more. The Chevy sat some more. The touch football game flourished on the lawn. I'd spent some time at Taft with a power forward named Dwayne Woodcock, and again looking into the murder of a girl named Melissa Henderson. I thought about how the campus was laid out. "Okay," I said. "I'll get out here and walk down that hill past the pond toward the field house. You pull away up past the library and into the quadrangle. Park on the other end, closest to the field house, and see what's up. If they come after me, you come lippity-lop to my rescue."
"Lippity-lop?"
"Yeah. Like Br'er Rabbit. I'm trying to bridge the racial gap."
"Let it gap," Hawk said.
"You got anything but the handgun?" I said.
"Usual selection in the trunk. You carrying that little.38?"
"No need to be offensive," I said. "It's got a two-inch barrel."
"Yeah. You Irish. You think that's long."
"Long enough," I said.
"Sho," Hawk said. "Can't miss from three feet." I got out of the car and closed the door behind me,
"Did you acquire that transponder legally?" I said.
"No," Hawk said.
"At least you're consistent," I said.
"Guy behind us oughta have one, too," Hawk said.
"Somebody's behind us?"
"Blue Chevy," Hawk said. "Was behind us on Storrow, too. Then he got hung up in the exact-change lane, and now he's busting his ass to catch us."
I turned in my seat and looked out the back window.
"Third car behind us?" I said.
"Uh-huh."
"Picked us up on Storrow?"
"Be my guess he picked us up front of your place," Hawk said. "And I didn't make him until Storrow."
"You see who it is?"
"Nope. Maybe all day, all Sonny?" Hawk said.
"Could be," I said. "On the other hand, there's folks in the FBI might want to know what I'm up to. If they picked us up in front of my place, then they know there's two of us."
"They do," Hawk said. "But they might not know one of us is me."
"So they might be overconfident?" I said.
"Might," Hawk said. "What you want me to do with them?"
"We'll go about our business," I said. "If they're Feds, they're welcome to tag along. If they're from Sonny and they try to kill us, we'll try to prevent them."
"Wha's this we, Whitey? They ain't after me."
"You have to protect me," I said. "I'm your only friend."
The Chevy tailed inconspicuously along behind us. Sometimes, on stretches without exits, it would pull past us and drive along two or three cars ahead. As we approached exits, it dropped back. It was several cars back when we took the Walford exit.
Taft University was on a series of low hills along both sides of Walford Road, about a half mile from the Pike. The main entrance road curved up the tallest of the hills, past some dormitories, toward the administration building, which formed one side of a big quadrangle at the top. Hawk parked next to a sign that read FACULTY PARKING ONLY. The Chevy pulled in on the other side of the road, back down the hill a little in front of a dormitory. A mixed field of summer-school students was playing touch football on the lawn.
"Let's just sit for a minute," I said.
Hawk nodded, and we sat.
The Chevy sat.
We sat.
Nobody got out of the Chevy.
"As you so sensitively pointed out," I said, "if they are interested in bodily harm, they're after me, not you."
"Uh-huh."
"So if I got out and you drove off, they'd come after me, and we'd know. Or they wouldn't, and we'd know."
"Uh-huh."
"And if they're from Sonny and bear me ill will, and if you hadn't driven very far off, you could appear and descend upon them like the wolf upon the fold."
"Or," Hawk said, "I see there only be three or four of them and figure I like your odds, and I drive back to Boston."
"I prefer the wolf upon the fold," I said.
Hawk shrugged. "Okay," he said.
"If there will be shooting, we need to do this where a couple dozen college kids won't get cut down in the first volley."
"Don't make no difference to me," Hawk said.
"I know that."
We sat some more. The Chevy sat some more. The touch football game flourished on the lawn. I'd spent some time at Taft with a power forward named Dwayne Woodcock, and again looking into the murder of a girl named Melissa Henderson. I thought about how the campus was laid out. "Okay," I said. "I'll get out here and walk down that hill past the pond toward the field house. You pull away up past the library and into the quadrangle. Park on the other end, closest to the field house, and see what's up. If they come after me, you come lippity-lop to my rescue."
"Lippity-lop?"
"Yeah. Like Br'er Rabbit. I'm trying to bridge the racial gap."
"Let it gap," Hawk said.
"You got anything but the handgun?" I said.
"Usual selection in the trunk. You carrying that little.38?"
"No need to be offensive," I said. "It's got a two-inch barrel."
"Yeah. You Irish. You think that's long."
"Long enough," I said.
"Sho," Hawk said. "Can't miss from three feet." I got out of the car and closed the door behind me,
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