Chapter 16

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

Carl had been working for the Senator long before Stuart Jaffe had risen to prominence. He always worked in the background and never in any official capacity. In the late sixties, when the International Woodworkers of America had tried to organize three lumber mills owned by Stuart Jaffe’s father, it was Carl who chilled the organizing efforts. When Stuart Jaffe ran for mayor of the Enterprise, Oregon, Carl quietly intimidated the supporters of his opponent. As Jaffe’s political career expanded so did his dependence of Carl. Now Jaffe was trusting Carl with the most critical job he’d ever given him and if he failed it could mean the end of everything.

 

“Carl, I know it was a dumb thing to do. What can I tell you? I was drunk okay. And I always had trouble saying no to Victoria. Damn it. She was amazing, Carl.” He paused. For a moment it looked like he might actually cry. “She wanted us to get matching tattoos. Have you ever gotten a tattoo, Carl?”

 

Carl shook his head. The thought had never even occurred to him.

 

“I figured what the hell. We drove over to this place in Northeast. Victoria said she’d heard about it from a guy she worked with in Philadelphia. It was owned by this Gypsy woman who was supposed to be some kind of genius with a needle. Anyway, we drove over there and sat outside in the car until she finished up with some longhaired guy. It looked like she was actually giving him a tattoo on his a*s. When he left, Victoria and I went inside. To make a long story short, when we left we had these matching tattoos –little angels – on our shoulders.” Jaffe could never have admitted this to anyone but Carl. He could tell Carl anything without worrying about him judging him.

 

“Carl, that Gypsy broad is going to watch the news and she’s going to remember giving us those tattoos – and she’s going to tell someone. And unless I’m really lucky – and I haven’t been particularly lucky lately – the person she tells is going to be a cop.”

 

“Do you think she recognized you, Boss?”

 

“It’s hard to say. She might have. At one point Victoria called me by my name and I think the woman put it together then. Yeah, I think she might have recognized me. But even if she didn’t, you’ve got to take care of her for me. And you’ve got to do it soon before she has a chance to run her mouth to anyone.”

 

“Sure thing, boss. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make sure she never says anything to anybody again.”

 

“I knew I could count on your, Carl.”

 

Gratitude wasn’t necessary. His boss was giving Carl the opportunity to do the one thing he enjoyed more than anything else – possibly the only thing he enjoyed.