season’s usually six to eight months. Where are you going to go after that?”
“I guess I’ll find work at some other carnival.”
“It’s a rough life, kiddo. You get in this game and it changes you. Since I’ve come to know you, I don’t believe you’re put on this earth to work the carny circuit. Some people come here ‘cause they’re running from something. Others are running to something. It’s a human train, a vagabond life, picking up and moving on like migrant workers comin’ to a new field to pick the marks, empty their pockets after they cash their Friday paychecks. That’s not you, not who you are.”
“Why do you stay, Isaac?”
“Look at me. I’m three and a half feet tall. Where am I gonna earn a living? But you don’t have to. You have your whole life ahead of you. This guy you’re looking for, why’s it so important to find him?”
“Because he took something from a person I love very much, my grandmother.”
“What if you don’t find him?”
“I can go to my grave knowing I tried.”
“You’re a little young to talk about end-of-life scenarios. You once told me the man you’re hunting for is a hypnotist, someone who can get others to do stuff.”
“Yeah, he’s good at it, too. Scary good.”
“At any one time in the summer, there are more than two hundred carnivals touring the states. I’ve worked a bunch of ‘em. Seen some excellent hypnotists, some not so great, and a few that used magic and hypnotism for no good. Saw it more years and years ago, back when little people like me were called freaks. Back in the days of touring with the bearded lady, the three-headed cow, and a whole bunch of people and critters that looked like long-distance ancestors who were rejects from Noah’s ark.”
“You’re not a freak. You’re a sweet and caring man.”
Isaac nodded and looked at her, his olive-green eyes filled with compassion. “Courtney, what you don’t know is that Lonnie was a dealer for Tony Bandini and his older brother Carlos.”
“What?”
“He moved meth, pills, coke. Somewhere between Boston, Buffalo, and here in Florida, the accounting didn’t jibe. I’d heard that Lonnie was into the Bandini brothers for five grand. Carlos Bandini runs five carnivals. He’s here from time to time. Neither he nor Tony offer many repayment plans.”
“Did Tony Bandini or his brother kill Lonnie?”
“I doubt it. But Tony would just as soon take him out as not. Probably ordered it done. Cops won’t trace it back to him unless they can find the actual hit man. The Bandinis have a network of roustabouts. It sends a message to other dealers—the house gets paid first. Tony Bandini doesn’t care if you take the fall, he probably planned it that way.”
Courtney pushed the plate away, her eyes burning. “I gotta go.”
“Go where?”
“Bandini’s office. I need to—”
“Listen to me, Courtney. Play it cool. You walk in there and you’ll walk into a hornet’s nest. You don’t know this guy. He’s about as dangerous as they come.”
She stood. “I’ve seen a lot of dangerous people in my life. I’ll start by asking him if I still work here. I guess we’ll see where it goes from there. Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”
“Yes, but stay away from Bandini’s office tonight. Promise me?”
“I can’t make a promise that I know I won’t keep.”
He shook his head and handed her his phone. “Are you calling your grandmother?”
“Yes, and then I’m calling the man who picked me up on the side of the road at night. If he’s not there … if anything happens to me, if for some reason I vanish, I want you to ask him a question for me. His name is Sean O’Brien.”
12
I was getting ready to lock
Jupiter
and head back to my cabin on the river when Dave Collins leaned in through the open sliding glass doors from the cockpit to the salon. “Sean, is your phone working?”
“Last I checked.”
“Knowing you, that could have been a
“I guess I’ll find work at some other carnival.”
“It’s a rough life, kiddo. You get in this game and it changes you. Since I’ve come to know you, I don’t believe you’re put on this earth to work the carny circuit. Some people come here ‘cause they’re running from something. Others are running to something. It’s a human train, a vagabond life, picking up and moving on like migrant workers comin’ to a new field to pick the marks, empty their pockets after they cash their Friday paychecks. That’s not you, not who you are.”
“Why do you stay, Isaac?”
“Look at me. I’m three and a half feet tall. Where am I gonna earn a living? But you don’t have to. You have your whole life ahead of you. This guy you’re looking for, why’s it so important to find him?”
“Because he took something from a person I love very much, my grandmother.”
“What if you don’t find him?”
“I can go to my grave knowing I tried.”
“You’re a little young to talk about end-of-life scenarios. You once told me the man you’re hunting for is a hypnotist, someone who can get others to do stuff.”
“Yeah, he’s good at it, too. Scary good.”
“At any one time in the summer, there are more than two hundred carnivals touring the states. I’ve worked a bunch of ‘em. Seen some excellent hypnotists, some not so great, and a few that used magic and hypnotism for no good. Saw it more years and years ago, back when little people like me were called freaks. Back in the days of touring with the bearded lady, the three-headed cow, and a whole bunch of people and critters that looked like long-distance ancestors who were rejects from Noah’s ark.”
“You’re not a freak. You’re a sweet and caring man.”
Isaac nodded and looked at her, his olive-green eyes filled with compassion. “Courtney, what you don’t know is that Lonnie was a dealer for Tony Bandini and his older brother Carlos.”
“What?”
“He moved meth, pills, coke. Somewhere between Boston, Buffalo, and here in Florida, the accounting didn’t jibe. I’d heard that Lonnie was into the Bandini brothers for five grand. Carlos Bandini runs five carnivals. He’s here from time to time. Neither he nor Tony offer many repayment plans.”
“Did Tony Bandini or his brother kill Lonnie?”
“I doubt it. But Tony would just as soon take him out as not. Probably ordered it done. Cops won’t trace it back to him unless they can find the actual hit man. The Bandinis have a network of roustabouts. It sends a message to other dealers—the house gets paid first. Tony Bandini doesn’t care if you take the fall, he probably planned it that way.”
Courtney pushed the plate away, her eyes burning. “I gotta go.”
“Go where?”
“Bandini’s office. I need to—”
“Listen to me, Courtney. Play it cool. You walk in there and you’ll walk into a hornet’s nest. You don’t know this guy. He’s about as dangerous as they come.”
She stood. “I’ve seen a lot of dangerous people in my life. I’ll start by asking him if I still work here. I guess we’ll see where it goes from there. Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”
“Yes, but stay away from Bandini’s office tonight. Promise me?”
“I can’t make a promise that I know I won’t keep.”
He shook his head and handed her his phone. “Are you calling your grandmother?”
“Yes, and then I’m calling the man who picked me up on the side of the road at night. If he’s not there … if anything happens to me, if for some reason I vanish, I want you to ask him a question for me. His name is Sean O’Brien.”
12
I was getting ready to lock
Jupiter
and head back to my cabin on the river when Dave Collins leaned in through the open sliding glass doors from the cockpit to the salon. “Sean, is your phone working?”
“Last I checked.”
“Knowing you, that could have been a
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