Free Should Have Looked Away by Philip Cox

Mitch grabbed a napkin from the little stainless steel table standing by the kiosk and wiped ketchup from his mouth.
    ‘You wanna know something?’ Walt mumbled, also with a mouthful of food. ‘He’s already here, watching us. I know it.’
    ‘Bullshit. He’s just late.’
    ‘Well, I ain’t going to be hanging -’ Walt stopped as Mitch’s phone rang.
    The display on his phone read a number Mitch recognized. ‘It’s him,’ he said, stabbing a finger at the green button.
    ‘Yeah?’ he said into the phone. ‘Okay. See you there in ten.’ Hanging up he said to Walt, ‘He wants to meet us outside the MCU Park.’ He put the remainder of his hotdog in his mouth and tossed the napkin, aiming at the trashcan by the little table. He missed and it landed on the ground, but Mitch made no effort to pick it up.
    ‘Jesus, why over there?’
    ‘Quit complainin’, willya? Come on, let’s get it over with.’
    MCU Park is the shared home of the Brooklyn Cyclones and Brooklyn Bolts, since it was constructed at the turn of the century. The Cyclones are a baseball team, the Bolts football.  The site was originally home to an amusement park which closed in 1964 amid the deterioration of Coney Island and of the subway routes which lead there. Part of a regeneration of the area, the park broke ground on 22 nd August 2000, and opened 25 th June the following year.  Such was its popularity one thousand extra seats were added three weeks after opening, the original 6,500 being nowhere near enough.
    Mitch and Walt stopped by the grey metal gates at the entrance to the park. Neither had ever been inside, neither having any interest in baseball.  Mitch was not a sporty guy, being more interested in computer games; Walt managed to drag himself away from his consul a couple of years back to watch a soccer game, and had since proclaimed himself to be a follower of New York City FC, although had never even ventured near the Yankee Stadium. ‘Showy mother,’ was Mitch’s assessment of Walt’s periodic pretensions. Above where they stood was a light blue circular sign, gate 4 printed in dark blue. A gardener was mowing the circle of grass separating them from the parking lot entrance.
    ‘Thanks for coming, guys,’ said a voice from behind them. They both whirled round. ‘Been here long?’
    ‘No, Mr Kelly,’ Walt lied. ‘Just got here.’
    ‘Me too. Let’s sit down.’ He led Mitch and Walt over to a bench. The rear of the bench was covered with an advertisement for the Cyclones. He sat down next to them, next to Walt. Mitch sat the other side.
    ‘I didn’t ask you to kill him,’ Kelly said.
    They both looked at Kelly in shock. ‘No way,’ Mitch cried. ‘No fucking way. He was alive when we left him.’
    ‘Keep your voice down,’ Kelly said. ‘Get a grip. He might not have been dead when you left him, but he was when the police arrived.’
    ‘How – how do you know all this?’ stammered Walt.
    Kelly sat back, head looking forward. ‘I read the newspapers. You could try that. Reading, I mean. Funny thing is, it didn’t make the TV news.’
    ‘Where does this leave us?’ Mitch asked, his calmness surprising both of them.
    ‘Where does it leave you ? I just hope you made sure you didn’t get picked up by the mall security cameras. And there were no witnesses.’ He looked round at them. ‘There weren’t any? Nobody else using the john?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘You’re sure?’
    ‘I told you - no-one else.’
    ‘Nobody taking a dump?’
    ‘Nobody.’ Mitch looked at Walt. ‘Nobody, right.’
    Walt nodded. ‘That’s right. Nobody.’
    Kelly said, ‘Let’s hope you’re right. For your sakes. Now, to business: did he have it? Did you get it?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘He didn’t have it, or you didn’t get it? Which?’
    ‘He didn’t have it.’
    Kelly looked ahead. ‘Damn the son of a bitch.’
    ‘So where now, Mr Kelly?’ Walt asked.
    ‘I’ll have to see. I’ll be in touch.’ He stood up to go.
    Mitch put