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"You been calling here before?" I asked
"Yeah, get over here"
"What&039;s the problem?"
"The front door will be open, use it Come to the office"
"What&039;s-"
He hung up
Okay, so I assumed it had to do with Sullivan, and Gordy wouldn&039;t or couldn&039;t giveood it ht do-and hurried out to my Buick
At other times when I&039;et where I need to be; not so for this trip I had no idea what to expect and so I wasn&039;t all that eager to arrive Perversely, nals were in htcrawler Club I didn&039;t park right away, but circled the place, looking things over; that&039;s how I spotted the two cars the thugs had used escaping away from the hospital The driver&039;s door on one of them wasn&039;t properly closed Iit open
The next interesting thing I noticed was a Packard parked within sight of the club&039;s front entrance Not too new and pocked with bullet holes; I was surprised at Gordy for taking such a chance Of course, if he&039;d knocked off Calloway and Baker, then he was re witnesses who could connect the car to hiHe knew better
Not Sullivan, though I had no reason to take hi Maybe they&039;d split the job, Gordy doing the hotel hit and Sullivan burning the roadhouse
All of that would put Angela out of the picture but good
The club was dark, which rong The raid a few nights back shouldn&039;t have kept the joint closed for this long a time Maybe Sullivan didn&039;t like the noise
I parked and thought about slipping into the building quietly just to see whatin wait Gordy&039;s specific h If he&039;d wanted me to sneak in, he&039;d have found a way to say so
Unless he had a gun to his head
Walked fast down the street, eyes wide to take in every shadow, every
Nothing to see worth seeing until I got to the front steps There were grills on either side of the door Men usually sat in little rooms behind them to check out the custorillwork too well, but did spot movement beyond each, so someone was on watch
Opened the door, half expecting to see goons standing there with guns, but the outer lobby was eht was on over at the hatcheck counter I crossed to the next set of doors that led into the club
The joint had been busted up, but cleaning had taken place since then Chairs were piled onto tables, the tables shoved to one side, giving the floor cleaners rooe and bandstand looked lonely I hurried along to a door e here wasdevice from the slot machines to the roulette wheel to the blackjack tables had been thoroughly worked over by sledgeha to do with the remains but haul them out to the junkyard and start over
My shoes crunched against broken glass and splinters as I walked toward the back Nobody here either I was starting to get a good case of the creeps
Another door marked private; it opened to the back hall with the kitchen, various small offices, and stairs to the second floor, which was populated Foura s and stared at ulars with Gordy They knew iven me full run of the place
"The boss in his office?" I asked
One of theo on up"
"Sullivan there?"
"He&039;s there"
"What about his boys?"
"Why do you think we&039;re down here?"
"Don&039;t like &039;em?"
"What I like don&039;t come into it"
Went upstairs Heard several radios playing, each set on different stations The floor was fixed out with bedrooms and some of the men lived here Not a bad place to flop if you didn&039;tThey looked a lot likein less than perfect condition One ed; neither looked happy about it or about ht it best not to remind the their guns
They glared plenty hard, but didn&039;t speak or make a move to stop me as I took the few steps to Gordy&039;s office I knocked twice and opened the door
I don&039;t breathe regular, but still helda bullet
Nothing Just Gordy&039;s voice telling me to co out a hand of solitaire Half a dozen ht were scattered around the rooood crowd On the couch, the crease still fresh on his pants, was Sean Sullivan reading aht, haven&039;t you, Fle?"
I couldn&039;t tell if he wanted an answer to that and knew if I opened ed Shot Gordy a questioning look, but his face ay past being just deadpan
Sullivan went on "I heard you had a bit of an altercation with my boys They were full of wild stories about you"
"How flattering"
He gave ot the iht, but didn&039;t dare ask thehted roo and co back, how he survived a bullet in the belly, and not lose face with the hired help He wouldn&039;t get any straight answer out of ured as much
So he left that and tried a different tack "Why did you pretend to be working for Angela?"
"What&039;s with pretend? I do work for her" It seemed best to continue that fiction
"No, you don&039;t"
"I don&039;t?"
"You&039;re working for Gordy-or at least you were"
"Uh-huh" Okay, so Gordy had fed hi with it just yet I looked at him He looked back, still deadpan, and put a red queen on a red king His hands were steady, but either as going on was distracting the hell out of hi for Gordy and then what? I quit and worked for Angela?"
"No, you sidestepped all of us and went to work for yourself"
I shifted on oons came alert Two of them came forward and patted me down, but all they found were keys and an empty wallet They looked disappointed as I put the items back in my pockets
"So I&039;htly "The pay is lousy, then"
At a nod frooons rapped the back ofhard It wasn&039;t too forceful, beingoon, who had a blackjack in his fist He just grinned at me
"The idea," said Sullivan, "is you planned to take the books and bookkeeper off on your own and go into business for yourself-that is, after Angela and I killed each other for you"
Gordy glanced up at me a moment, then went back to his cards Now he put a black nine under a black ten He held to the stone face, but had given a very slight lift of his chin, so small that it could have been a nor with this line
Sullivan continued "Of course there were no guarantees ould be so cooperative, so you were setting things up to ht people died"
"Like the hit in front of the hotel? I&039;d set a hit on myself and Opal?"
"No, that was the responsibility of this gentleestured at Gordy
I didn&039;t want to hear this Thinking and suspecting is one thing, but it&039;s quite another to have to face it, face the ugly truth "Gordy? Were you behind that?"
"What do you figure, kid? That I&039; me? I&039;ve had my eye on you for months"
My mouth dropped open It ith vast relief, but Sullivan read it otherwise, as shock maybe, and that pleased him
"Gordy has a lot of eyes and ears in this town He got a tip you and Angela were at the hotel and sent so to do me a favor They made a sorry job of it Who did they think all those cops were, a girls&039; glee club?" He addressed the last to Gordy It obviously wasn&039;t the first time he&039;d needled away on the subject
Indifferent, Gordy lifted his big shoulders a quarter inch "They saw a short wouards, and went in shooting Adark That bookkeeper could have been Angela"
"Too bad she wasn&039;t"
"Where is she?" I asked "Where&039;s Opal?"
"She&039;s all right," said Gordy, givingafter her She&039;s going to be fine"
He didn&039;t absolutely have to add that last part I was glad he did "Good"
"Good for all of us," said Sullivan "All but Angela, that is-and you"
"Hey, I-" Another crack on the head A little harder than the last The guy still grinned, daring
Sullivan crossed his ar his head to one side I&039;d bet e debating teaive ela and can talk her out of the books I took a chance on you, but you didn&039;t ave Calloway the slip so you could get that drunk doctor out and kidnap my secretary By the here is Maxwell?"
I had to dish hiot him stashed at a warehouse I know It ain&039;t the Ritz, but it&039;s warm"
"We will discuss his release momentarily, then Why did you take the doctor?
What use was he to you?"
"He was ela"
"You could have told nation with her that would take all night"
"Yeah, I could, but I knew you wouldn&039;t have let me walk out of there with Doc"
"No, but I could have gotten the required information from him by other methods"
"And maybe killed hiela
He&039;d have died before giving you squat But by getting hiht in"
"Why didn&039;t he?"
"Who says he didn&039;t?"
That hooked his attention "What are you saying?"
"That I finally got to her She&039;s not someone you need to worry about any town You&039;ve got a clear field to-"
"Not good enough"
"Huh?"
"That business with the roadhouse"
"What about it?"
"Gordy and I are agreed that Angela is responsible for the deaths and dae
I&039;ve informed some friends of mine about the incident and the decision is that there has to be an accounting If she wants to play rough with the big boys, then she&039;ll get a bloody nose and more, the same as anyone else"
If it came to a face-to-face shoith Sullivan, ot the drop on her I shut up to think awanted to juure was one was lying to the other for his own reasons Gordy didn&039;t have anything to gain by destroying the roadhouse, though, but Sullivan did He was probably playing soame with New York to secure his place here Set the fire, kill his pet cops, blaet a contract on her, and "So you&039;ve got permission to rub her out?"
"I&039;ve always had that as an option, should it become necessary, but it&039;s nice to have it all official"
"Well, you can call it off She and her ood-but she left the books behind"
He smiled, all tanned and true He could have posed for a portrait of Jack Aret around tothose"
"I don&039;t have them-"
"You astonish me"
"But I knohere they are"
That made hiht now I&039;ve absolutely no reason to trust you with sofor some joke connected to the roadhouse, but he see to lose-I do The feeling I&039; here is that I&039;m dead meat"
"That&039;s for certain"
"I got a little aonna make an example of me, is that it?"
Gordy nodded "That&039;s it exactly, kid" Now he put a red three on a black four He was square withto watch my step
"But-" I spreadkilled?"
"It just ood liar" Lots of contempt in Sullivan&039;s tone He expected people to lie to him, it was part of the trade
I snorted "Before you think that, check with Gordy He&039;ll tell you what kind of poker player I am"
Gordy almost cracked a smile "It&039;s true He stinks If he says he has the books, listen to hioing to have to work out soot planned or you don&039;t get the books"
Sullivan ca to intiaze, it s very easy "Let&039;s keep it down to sio free"
He went blank for as long as it took ht away, just blinked a lot, as though trying to reoons would notice and get uneasy
"Sullivan?" Gordy asked He&039;d been watching, sahat I&039;d done, had been looking for it "What do you think?"
"I I don&039;t like it"
"Neither do I, but let&039;s play along just for laughs It&039;s not like the kid&039;s gonna disappear on us"
I chose to not take that as a signal to do so and waited
"He&039;s a liar, he turned on you"
"Then he&039;s ot the books then take &039;eot a business to run here and you and your boys are crowding ave me a sharp look I returned it with care "This is on the up-and-up,"
I said "You can have the books, and I&039;ll get clear of your business"
Release
He shook his head, probably wondering what hit hi on either side ofwas off, but not sure what
"What&039;s your answer, Mr Sullivan?" I proht But you even think of pulling a double cross"
"Then hang uy with the blackjack had an expression like he&039;d be pleased to do the honors
"Let&039;s get started," said Sullivan "Where are they?"
I put a hand up "Not until I see Opal"
"What for?"
"She&039;s a friend of ain, but Gordy spared me the headache
"Let him It&039;ll only take a minute I&039;ll send someone down to warm up the car"
"Cars," Sullivan added "You want us out, we&039;re leaving I haven&039;t had a decent uess ue curriculuht twitch around his ave me the idea that maybe his cook for the duration of Sullivan&039;s visit had been told not to rub "I&039;ll take hiirl," he said, and rose As he stood he swept his hands over the unfinished gaether in a neat stack, wiping out their e
"Come on, kid"
He took up a lot of space and Sullivan and his boys had to stand aside as he passed No one stopped me as I ith hi because Sullivan was right behind us
Gordy called orders about the cars to his men downstairs, then turned and led the way to the far end of the hall The big bedrooed to his former boss, now deceased, Slick Morelli His stuff was all cleared out and replaced, different wallpaper, different pictures The bed looked the sa in it I made a beeline for her
She seemed smaller than before Her face was too white and reminded me of a crushed flower I was scared to touch her
"Here, nohat&039;s this?" A fussy-looking man in sober dark clothes came out of the bathroom "Mr Sullivan, this simply won&039;t do"
"Dr Balsaht you be?" Neatly tri, a slight foreign accent I couldn&039;t place When I didn&039;t answer he went to talk to his boss in hushed, but insistent tones His the hours were over Gordy came up next to me to look down at Opal
I took the opportunity while I had it "Did you really do the hit at the hotel?" I asked, barelymy lips
"Nope"
"Why say so?"
"Because it was a good idea at the time"
"You knoho did do it?"
"Nope"
"The hit car&039;s out front, a Packard full of holes You can&039;t et the truth out of you if I have to"
"I know, kid Truth&039;s what you&039;re getting now"
"What about the fire? Who did that?"
"Angela, maybe"
No time to tell hioing"
It wasn&039;t enough I wanted her to be awake so I could apologize Selfish thing to do, robbing her of sleep just to ease ed not to do it, but I did pause on the way out to talk with the doctor
"Is she really going to be okay?"
"She should be, unless she develops an infection froerood You sure? Why doesn&039;t she wake up?" No one was being any too quiet
"That&039;s the sedative She was up earlier and beating et out of here this instant"
He was fussy, but I liked that It oodbye to her for now Apologies would have to wait for later
We trooped downstairs, Sullivan&039;s ht to break out, but sufficient to drive their point ho boss, the man with all the power I&039;d seen it before, but it&039;s usually on a grade-school playground
Sullivan&039;s two cars weren&039;t enough to hold us all; Gordy sent so around his Cadillac He drove and Sullivan sat up front with hioons None of Gordy&039;s men ith us, which had a funny smell I didn&039;t like
"Where to?" Gordy asked
"Flora&039;s Dance Studio," I said
Sullivan looked ready to choke "My people went over that place, every inch"
"It&039;s not ot a bunch of dummies on the payroll"
"Where are they?"
I assumed he meant the books, not the duer&039;s office" If Angela hadn&039;t lied to me, that is I didn&039;t think she had, but if so, then I&039;d have to take the hint fro to anyway
Once I had the books in hand, I&039;d get scarce and let Sullivan and his boys go chase the to findon their codes before dawn As for Opal, she was going to stay well clear of theto do with it Her part was over
Our caravan trundled through the thinning traffic, Gordy holding to a nice coot caught by a stop signal The drab studio and its neighborhood was on the other side of the world coht as twins to the co risky distractions Rich or poor, it went to all levels I wondered if the o out of business if suddenly all the current vices becaal Probably not; they&039;d just find a way to take their usual cut, only it&039;d be aboveboard
Not h; Gordy found a spot across the street to park and slipped in The other cars cruised forward to the end of the block and ot out Soht theater stopped trying to panhandle tickets and turned to watch our particular show instead
Our group waited until Sullivan&039;s boys broke the doors open and went through
The building had been boarded up by the cops, but no one was on watch The place was a dump, so why bother?
One of them came out and waved, then we started across the street Way at the far end of it a car rounded the corner, the headlights flashing in the turn, then shutting down No one else noticed because of the dark, but I recognized the Packard So was up, and I didn&039;t knoas behind it, Gordy or Sullivan
Gordy ht have lied toI couldn&039;t seriously try getting the truth out of him in front of the others Maybe all he&039;d wanted was some time to set up another one, and I&039;d provided a convenient way of having it take place far fro to him about it was impossible, of course For the moment
With Sullivan&039;s h the studio doors with a lot hts, only half of the couples gone Overturned chairs lay here and there by the walls and on the floor were hundreds of torn ticket stubs We walked over theoons to cool their heels below Sullivaner&039;s office, passing wrecked roo area of the Nightcrawler Club, full of broken lass panel on the office door was sht so everyone could see the wreckage, too The bowling trophy still lay on the floor, but it was easy to overlook amid the smashed desk and pulled-out drawers Not so easy to er&039;s blood No one had had time to clean it up before the raid
I went past it all to open the second door onto the back hall It was freezing, the fire-escapestill gaped wide The two goons outflankedthe in that direction It seenore theed open The threadbare rug was all ru the trap Even the diht worked
There wasn&039;t ether on the threshold to watch as I yanked the rug back and pulled the door up