Pit and the Pendulum. John Gregory Betancourt
fine,” I lied.
“You look…well.” He swallowed hard, clearly shocked and appalled. Of course he remembered the old Peter Geller, the brilliant geek from college, who knew everything and never missed any detail, no matter how small. But those days were long gone.
“I know how I look, Davy-boy,” I said with a rueful grin. “And well it isn’t.”
“God, Pit!” he blurted out. “What happened?”
I shrugged. “Nervous breakdown. Spent six months in the psych ward. Got out, got hit by a taxi that ran a red light. I’m an alcoholic now—as well as a crip,” I added with wry humor. “How about you?”
He sank down on the bench and buried his face in his hands. For some reason, he seemed to be hyperventilating. His breath came in short gasps.
“God. I’m sorry, Pit. Peter. If I’d known—”
“Really, Davy, I don’t mind.” I sat beside him and stretched out my legs. They hurt less that way. “Want to tell me about it? I’ll help if I can. I didn’t have anything else planned for today.” Or ever.
“I—I can’t ask you—”
“Sure you can. Isn’t that what frat brothers are for?” I didn’t add: even second-class ones like me? “So. Tell me what’s wrong.”
His ice-blue eyes searched mine for a minute. He must really have been desperate, since he gave a nod. I smiled encouragingly.
“Blackmail,” he whispered. His shoulders hunched. “I’m being blackmailed.”
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows. “Start at the beginning,” I said. So much for the squeaky-clean kid I’d known in college. What had he gotten himself into?
“Okay, Pit.” He looked around. “But not here.”
“Where, then? Your home? Or your office? You do have an office?”
He glanced at the lobby bar—Mack’s Place—which was open and doing a modest business with the pre-dinner crowd. But then he hesitated. Probably didn’t want to throw fuel on the fire of my alcoholism, so to speak.
“Come on,” I said, levering myself upright with my cane. Best get things moving. “You can buy me a ginger ale while you fill me in.”
“Are you doing that seven-step thing?” he asked carefully.
“It’s twelve steps, and no.” I grinned back at him over my shoulder. “I’m quite happy being a drunk. Alcohol kills the pain better than Tylenol and morphine. But I can take a day off for an old friend.”
“Um. Thanks.” Clearly that disconcerted him.
He grabbed his newspaper and trailed me into Mack’s. Most of the customers sat at the bar, so I picked a booth at the rear. When a waitress appeared (Cindy, said her nametag: bleached blond hair, fake fingernails, maybe twenty, looked like a college student from the University of Pennsylvania) I kept my word and ordered ginger ale, even though I felt the shakes coming on. Davy asked for scotch and soda. We sat in silence until Cindy served us.
“So?” I said again. I leaned back and sucked soda through a thin red straw. Nasty stuff. “Fill me in. How can I help?”
Davy folded his hands and leaned forward. “I told you I was being blackmailed.”
“Sex, drugs, or murder?” I asked lightly. It was hard keeping a straight face. I couldn’t imagine the David Hunt I’d known involved in anything shady.
“Gambling. There’s a private club out on the Main Line. I was there with a girl a few weeks back.…” He shrugged. “Had a few too many drinks, and before I knew it, I was twenty thousand in the hole. I left a marker for it. Didn’t want it showing up on my credit card statement—you understand.”
“Just pay it off. You have the cash, don’t you?”
“Sure. But I can’t pay it off. Someone beat me to it.”
Davy reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, pulled out a piece of paper, and slid it across the table. When I unfolded it, I found a color laser printout of a series of eight small pictures, four on each side. From the graininess, the shots must have been taken with one of those hide-in-your-palm micro cameras. Seven showed Davy gambling: craps, roulette, blackjack. In half of them, he had a drop-dead gorgeous blonde on his arm. The eighth was a picture of an I.O.U. to the Greens Club bearing his signature—$20,000.
“Who’s the lady?” I scrutinized the blonde’s face, but I had never seen her before.
“A friend of mine. Her name’s Cree.”
“Actress-slash-model?” She had that undernourished look. And breasts that defied gravity.
He shifted uneasily. “Yes.”
“You aren’t wearing a wedding ring. She’s not your wife. So that can’t be the problem.”
He stared at me. “You don’t read the Inquirer, do you?”
“Not often.” Not in the last four years, anyway.
“Here.” He picked up his newspaper, opened it to the second page of the business section, folded it back, and slid it across to me.
DRESHER NATIVE DAVID C. HUNT, JR. CONFIRMED FOR HUNT INDUSTRIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS
read a small headline. I skimmed the brief article. My friend Davy just joined the family business, it seemed.
Nodding, I looked up. “Congrats. But what does this have to do with blackmail?”
“Last year, there were…scandals in the company.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you missed it. The chief financial officer is in jail. The chief operating officer plea-bargained his way to fines and probation. Half the accountants are under federal indictment. Dad barely fought off being forced out as CEO. He had to struggle to get me nominated to the Board of Directors last week. The merest hint of a scandal and they’ll yank me out. So…these pictures and my marker have to stay buried.”
“You should go to the police.” I added pointedly, “Blackmail is illegal.”
He lowered his voice. “So is gambling in unlicensed clubs. If investors think I’m financially irresponsible, I’ll be yanked off the board—and, well, that will crush Dad. There’s been a Hunt at the top of the company for a hundred and ten years. He’s counting on me to take over when I have more experience. This is the first step.”
“Point taken.” You couldn’t argue with parental expectations. “So what do you want me to do?”
“I need someone to handle the payoff for me. Someone I can trust who doesn’t have his own agenda. My friends—well, let’s say they’re friends of convenience. If they scent blood in the water…they’re as likely to turn me in to the tabloids as the blackmailer is.”
I nodded; that I could understand. “But why me?”
“I saw your name in that alumni rag a few weeks ago—it said you were back in Philadelphia.” He shrugged. “You were the most straight-as-an-arrow guy I ever met. That whole ‘moral compass’ thing they teach in business ethics—that’s you to a tee. I thought.…” He choked up.
“That was a long time ago, Davy-boy.”
“I know, Pit. I…I’m sorry to have bothered you.” He stood, snatching up the laser print-out and the newspaper.
I grabbed his arm. “Come back here. Geez, you’re touchy. Of course I’ll help.”
He hesitated a moment, then sat heavily. If he hadn’t been so desperate, I knew he would have run.
“Pit.…” He leaned forward, voice dropping. “Look at yourself. You’re a mess. Your hands are shaking. You can barely walk. This isn’t a game. I appreciate your offer, but—”