The Hemingway Thief (30 page)

“You thought I'd abandoned you, didn't you?” Grady asked. We were sitting in deck chairs at the top of Elmo's mesa. Grady's wounds, while painful, weren't nearly as fatal as we thought. Elmo's doctor had pulled a small-caliber bullet from each leg, but the shoulder slug had passed clean through, as it had with Dutch. Elmo had given us half of his original offer of twenty-five thousand each, which was only fair, as we hadn't given him any proof the suitcase was destroyed. I had given him the manuscript, though. When I handed him the satchel, he had tossed it next to his gun belt on the ground, not even bothering to look inside. He had asked us to stay until Grady recovered, but Grady begged off, citing the upcoming Baja 500 and getting back to his hotel. We ignored the doctor's advice to lay off the rum.

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I said.

“Crossed mine, too.” He raised his glass of rum.

I touched mine against his and took a swig.

“I like this ending,” I said. “For the book I mean.”

“It's a little depressing,” Grady said. “Losing Digby and the suitcase. The thing with Milch.”

“That's what I like,” I said. “Not the part about Digby, but the suitcase.”

“It's no good. All that death and nothing to show for it. We got some cash, but how long do you think that'll last? Even Hemingway let the old man have his damned fish.”

“You should finish that book when you get the chance,” I said, and took a sip of rum.

“How long will it take you to write it?”

“Don't know,” I said. “I promised Ox another
MacMerkin
first.”

“So you're not going to kill Toulouse?”

“No, he's not such a bad guy. There are worse ways to earn a buck, you know?” I said. “And I'm not so cavalier about killing as I was last week.”

“Good,” Grady said. “I like that vampire. I want to see what happens now that he's moved to Las Vegas.”

“What?” I said, turning in my chair.

“I've been reading them for years,” he said with a grin. I laughed and looked out at the yellow-orange incandescence across the horizon. The stars were poking out and the rum felt good in my belly.

“I like this ending,” I said.

“You should change it,” Grady said. “People like a happy ending.”

“I'll think about it.”

Acknowledgments

Here is a list of people who helped. They know why, and they know, I hope, that I can never truly thank them enough. This is in no particular order except that my wife is first because she is. Teddy and Ginny are not on here because they did not help and the first draft was written before they were born. But I love you guys all the same.

  (1)
Anne Harris

  (2)
James Harris

  (3)
Jayne Harris

  (4)
Brent Taylor

  (5)
Jessica Negrón

  (6)
Uwe Stender

  (7)
Professor Walton Collins

  (8)
Dan Mayer

  (9)
Grant Gholson

(10)
Tony Bondi

(11)
Dan Stalilonis

(12)
Jade Zora Scibilia

(13)
Cheryl Quimba

(14)
The good people at Bretton's Village Trunk Shop, especially Churchill Barton

(15)
Everyone at Seventh Street Books

About the Author

Shaun Harris grew up in New England and has a degree in American studies and film and television from the University of Notre Dame. He now lives in rural Wisconsin with his wife and two kids.