– I don’t have it, man.

– Look, dude, I understand. Four mil is a lot of money. I get it how you don’t want to let on and all. And look, I’m not, we had a deal for 200 K and you broke it. So yeah, I want more, but I’m not greedy. I’m not some asshole who wants to clear you out. I want half. So it’s like this simple question of How valuable is your life? Almost anybody would kill for two mil. And almost anybody would pay two mil to keep from getting killed. So tell me where the money is and you get two, and I get two, and everybody goes their own way. Flipside is, dude, no one gets nothing and we kill you.

Sid points at the TV.

– It’s on again.

Rolf looks at the screen

– Shit!

I catch a quick glimpse of nighttime video footage. A bunch of SWAT guys surrounding a vehicle pinned in the spotlight of a hovering chopper. Rolf switches the set off.

I look at him and smile.

– Man, that looked just like Sid’s Westphalia. You guys really need that money now, don’t you?

– Shut up.

– You may have wanted it before, but, man, you need it now. Have they shown Sid’s driver’s license photo yet?

– Shut up, dude.

– ’Cause that’ll be next. They’ll find out who that thing is registered to, and his photo will be all over the place. After that? They start looking into his known associates. Did anybody see you when you hooked up in San Diego? Any of your old buds?

– Shut the fuck up, dude!

– Or what? Look at me, I’m a fucking mess. Go ahead, beat on me some more.

He clenches his fists and shakes them.

– Just tell me where the money is, dude.

– Duuuude, I told you, I don’t know where the money is.

He talks between gritted teeth.

– Tell. Me. Where. The. Money. Is.

– In. My. Ass.

He puts his hands on my neck, holds them there, shaking. Sid is leaning forward on the couch, watching closely. I could die here. This is another time that I could die. But I don’t. Rolf takes his hand away, walks to the couch, and kicks it five times, then sits down.

– Dude, just tell me where.

– Rolf. I don’t know.

I get myself off the floor.

– But someone else does.

I tell them the truth. Sort of. I tell them about Timmy and how I have a great lead on him. I tell them all I have to do is wait for a call that will tell me where he is, and then we can go get the money.

I don’t tell them about Dylan. If they find out about him, they’ll know there is no way in hell I will ever let them near the money that can save my parents’ lives.

And the story I tell them gives me time. Time for all of us to sit on the couch and watch TV and wait for a call that may never come, while I try to figure how to get them out of here before T comes home and chaos ensues.

My phone rings.

– WHO IS it, dude?

– I don’t know.

– Well, is it your connection or whatever?

– I don’t know.

Rolf grabs the phone and looks at the screen.

– Where’s your caller ID?

I take the phone back.

– I don’t think it has that.

– You bought a phone and didn’t get caller ID? Dude, ID is key.

The phone rings for the fifth time. What if it’s Dylan? I don’t want to talk to Dylan in front of these guys. It rings again.

– Well, answer it, dude.

I hit the green button.

– Hello?

– Wade?

My stomach lurches. Then I get it.

– Hey, Sandy, what happened to the party?

– Party? Oh, yeah, baby, we got it goin’ on. But. Hey, hey, baby, good news. I, we came back to my place, and there was a message from my boss, Terry.

– Yeah?

– He says he knows something.

– Yeah?

– Yeah.

– OK, well?

– Well, yeah, but, baby, he wants some money and says he won’t. You know?

– Wait. Does he know where Tim? Hey, is T there, can I talk to?

– He’s indisposed, baby, in the john. But my guy.

– Right, your guy. How much?

– Just five. He said a grand, but I told him you were nice so I got him to go five.

– Thanks.

– Sure. So, he says the money, he wants to get the money and then he’ll tell you.

– He knows where Tim is?

– I think. He said he has some info on him, so I think so, yeah.

– So when?

– Um, he’s gonna come over in like an hour? Is that? Over here? Can you?

– Yeah, I’m just not sure how I’m.

That’s when I hear a noise in the background. A noise I now realize has been there through this whole call.

– Uh, you know, Sandy, I don’t have a car or.

– Well.

– So it’ll take me awhile and I’m still pretty fucked-up, so later would be good.

– Well, he’s really.

– So have T call and tell me what time.

I hang up. She’ll get me a later meet. But it won’t be T who calls. I’m sure of these things because of the way I could hear Hitler barking in the background. Hitler, who never makes a noise except for a fart, barking mad and angry through the whole call.

T’s in trouble.

And I’m being set up.

I look at Rolf and Sid, waiting for me to tell them what the deal is. And I realize that being set up may be just what I need right now.

SID STILL hasn’t said a word to me. He sits as far from me as possible, his arms and legs crossed. I sit on the couch between the two of them and Rolf tells me what they’ve been up to.

He tells me how, after I left them, they drove down to Vegas. How they found T’s trailer and realized there was no way to stake it out without being seen by everyone in the trailer park. He tells me how Sid decided it was time to ditch the bus. How they left it on the roof level of a parking garage at one of the malls in Paradise, Sid hot-wired a car a few blocks away, and they got a room at the Super 8 just up Boulder Highway from the trailer park. How they came back here after the sun went down last night and parked across from the park entrance until they saw T’s car leave. How they followed us, and how it wasn’t until we came back out of the apartment and they saw me take off my hat that they figured out that I was the cowboy.

Rolf nudges me.

– Cool ’stache, by the way.

I nod and look at the TV. My folks were moved back home from the motel last night. The reporters are staked out there now. The lawn is trampled and there’s a lot of empty paper coffee cups and McDonalds bags in the gutter. The reporters are milling around while a group of twenty or thirty gawkers stands behind a barrier on the sidewalk and snaps pictures. A sheriff’s car is in the driveway and a deputy is standing on the porch in front of the door. The camera zooms in suddenly as a curtain is pulled away from one of the upstairs windows, but the curtain drops back into place without anyone being revealed. That you, Mom? Dad? I’m sorry. I’m so.

I shake my head. Rolf continues.

– Anyways, when you guys came out with nothin’, we followed you over to that strip club. And, dude, what was that about?

– We needed to talk to someone.

– You took your time. We waited awhile, then I was like, let’s just blow back to the trailer and search it. I figured if the money wasn’t here we could wait for you and Elvis and jump you. And, dude? Was I relieved when he didn’t come in with that big fucking dog. Hey, here it is again.

He points at the TV. It’s the footage of the SWATs again.

The bus is isolated on the roof of the garage, centered in the jiggling helicopter spot. The team edges up, assault weapons ready, and cracks the sliding door.

Rolf talks over the footage.

– At first, we were hidden and waiting for you guys. Then it just took forever, so we turned on the set and watched this happen live around one AM. Dude, was that freaky.

One AM, when I was in a casino, the last place on earth you’ll ever get news of what’s going on outside.