Free The Weight by Andrew Vachss

unsolved murder. Nobody’s gonna do a TV show about some drill-through heist. But if either of the others got popped for something
else…
who knows?”
    “Big Matt wouldn’t give us up.”
    “I agree,” he said, real solemn.
    “And you put this Jessop guy in yourself.”
    “That I could have been wrong about.”
    “What!?”
    “Jessop has been … hard to reach lately.”
    “Maybe somebody took him off the count,” I said. That happens to men like us more than usual, I’m pretty sure. You steal for a living, you’re going to make people mad. You pull off a big job and start living too large, you call attention to yourself.
    And it doesn’t matter
who
notices. Not too many people are real thieves anymore. Some punks, they think you’re holding heavy cash, they might come in shooting. That’s not a win-or-lose for you; it’s just three different ways to lose.
    You win a gunfight in your own place, the cops still aren’t going away. Self-defense isn’t worth much if you can’t explain how you got your hands on all that cash the dead guys had been trying to jack you for.
    You take a homicide fall, anyone you ever worked with is going to wonder how you’ll stand up. Specially if you’re looking at the needle.
    Your partners wonder too much, you lose again. Someone you never heard of puts up your bail, that tells you you’re on the spot. Sure, you can refuse the bail; stay right where you are. But where you are, there’s no place to hide.
    “Maybe,” Solly said.
    “You got his for-real name?”
    “You think I’m stupid? I had that, I could find out what I need in an hour. I got
a
name, just like you did.”
    “The guy who sent him to you …?”
    “Gone. Not even two weeks ago, you believe that? Albie had a bum ticker. The fat fuck’s idea of exercise was chewing.”
    “So …?”
    “So—
Albie
, I trusted. Known him for more years than you’ve been alive. Jessop … Ah, I’m getting too old for this stuff. I never even asked Albie for his vitals, just his credentials, you understand what I’m saying?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I don’t like loose strings, Sugar.”
    “What’re you saying?”
    “I … I don’t know. There’s guys in this business, nobody ever works for them twice. That’s not me. Who’s got a more solid rep? You don’t get that for nothing. It’s like everything else—you pay for it. I make my payments on the installment plan, understand?”
    “No. Solly, if—”
    “Look, kid. All I’m saying is, I always play it
careful
, okay? Careful, that’s not something you are; it’s something you
do
. Every job, every time. That’s how come I’m … trusted, okay?”
    “Sure. But I already—”
    “Will you fucking let me
talk?
Just listen, for a damn minute. I got no reason to think this Jessop is … a problem. But I don’t like not knowing where to find him.”
    “If he knew your pal, he’s in the business. How hard could it be?”
    “What, you think we’re like some fraternity or something? Get together once a year, tell stories about the good old days? I know a few people, sure. But every phone call, that’s somebody
else
I owe. Besides, this ain’t phone work, understand?”
    “Yeah. What I don’t understand is why you’re telling me all this. Tell Big Matt—he’s the one with something to lose.”
    “He’s out, Sugar.”
    “Somebody took him—”
    “No,” he cut me off. “The opposite. He’s gone total Square John. Married, kid on the way.”
    “How could he just …?” I couldn’t finish the sentence; I didn’t know what words to use.
    “Oh, he told me in front,” Solly said. “That last job, it was gonna be
his
last job, no matter what. We score, he’s got enough to get a house, all the stuff you need to go straight. That’s what he said. I remember it real clear. ‘When this is over, so am I. No more stealing diamonds for me; I’m going to be buying them. Buying
one
, anyway.’ His girl, she’s not in The Life. Didn’t