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The noise galvanized Lowrey and his partner They went for their guns but couldn&039;t pinpoint the source of the sound for the echoes

Gordy shoved Adelle the rest of the way into the car but faltered in his dive to cover He faltered so much he pitched facedown onto the wet, cold sidewalk

Another couple shots sent the rest of us doith him I flinched out of pure instinct and recentlot!" I yelled at Lowrey, pointing

He got to his feet, dragging his buddy along with one hand and snapping a shot off randomly with the other It was stupid, but would maybe runt of pain I&039;d been torn between helping hi chase, but that decided ave a startled cry as he fell heavily across her

"What&039;s wrong, what&039;s wrong? Gordy?" panic raising her tone

I pushed in next to him and yanked the door shut "Out of here!"

Strounned the accelerator We lurched fro hold, spinning I caught only the barest gli lot and saw only the cars, no shooter I should have gone in, looked between theht around himself

"Where?" I asked Couldn&039;t see the blood for the dark color of his coat, but the smell was all over him "How bad?"

"Donno Hurts like hell Club, Stro to the hospital"

"Can&039;t They&039;ll be there"

"You think they won&039;t be at the Nightcrawler?"

"Can&039;t have cops in Gun wounds bring the cops"

"Okay, okay, I got a place then Bristoon&039;t know about it, I proot a doctor keeps his yap shut"

Gordy shut his eyes "I guess" He gave a long sigh

Adelle had been frozen, her face dead white "Gordy? Say so Gordy?"

I listened Heartbeat "He&039;s just passed out Take it easy Strome, head south at the next corner Make sure we ain&039;t followed"

"But the boss said-"

"I&039; over until he tells you different Go south and step on it"

A tough trip for us all Stro panic, blinking tears, andthat Gordy wouldn&039;t last out

To give her so to do, I had Adelle clamber over the seat to the front so I could lay Gordy down flat I crouched in the foot well and told her everything would be all right

Gordy opened his eyes a few ti in and out

"Here?" asked Strome in disbelief

"Here," I stated "Pull in and park Adelle, you get out and coetting a doctor Don&039;t let hi The last was ht it would help him, she&039;d keep control

Soon as Strome braked and parked, I hit the door handle and backed my way out I&039;d located one bullet wound and had a handkerchief pressed to it Adelle took over; I sprinted up solass panel It rattled, ca loud,in my throat God, wasn&039;t anyone holass "Who is it?"

"Jack Fle I&039;m a friend of Shoe Coldfield"

"Okay"

The Negro man on the other side unlocked and opened the door Dr Clarson was sray He wore a bathrobe and slippers but didn&039;t seem unduly disturbed by so late a visitor

"What&039;s the trouble?"

"Gunshot, otta keep it under the table"

"Can you bring hiain to roust Stroo&039;s Bronze Belt, and he didn&039;t like it one bit Couldn&039;t blas had no love for one another, even against their coency

I got Gordy under the arht his feet, and we lugged hih Clarson&039;s tiny reception area; he directed us to an equally tiny exa of carbolic and alcohol He&039;d changed his bathrobe for a doctor&039;s white coat, and once we had Gordy on the exa table, he told us to undo his clothes

The bright light here showed the dae all too clearly Gordy had taken two bullets, one in the side, another in the back of his shoulder The holes weren&039;t big, but they bled steadily and too much

"I&039;ll need help," said Clarson "Wash your hands, pull on soloves and masks They&039;re in that cabinet over the sink"

"All of us?" asked Stro man, I am not Hercules I will not be able to turn thisboys are to do that Miss? You&039;re not going to faint, are you?"

Adelle, as now very gray, hten up "No, Doctor"

"Know any nursing?"

"No"

"Well, you&039;re gonna learn some Wash up, too"

She threw her purse on a chair, shed her coat and hat, and plucked off her gloves in about three seconds and was at the sink scrubbing away before Stro deep breaths, and sobbed twice By the tiloves and sanitary mask on, she was in shaky control

While ashed, Strome muttered, "Ain&039;t there no other place?"

"No Now shut up and cooperate" I gave him a look

He shut up and cooperated

Clarson was either too busy working to notice or pretending not to hear He was quick and efficient, and his questions were strictly , Gordy&039;s age, and if he was allergic to anything

Adelle answered those I was surprised to learn Gordy couldn&039;t handle strawberries

"Then on&039;t give hi, which seemed to reassure her He did not ask for anyone&039;s naht was out, along with everything else

I lost track of time It passed slow and fast at once Gordy reh Clarson had as just in case I didn&039;t watch and wished I could shut my ears off Despite the fact I drink blood and utterly relish the taste, seeing it pouring out of a friend set off a whole different reaction indry heaves Stron of worry or queasiness; this was just part of the job

Adelle, holding up better than I, handed Clarson instruments and whimpered relief when one of the bullets clattered into a white-enameled bowl

"Good," Clarson ment Seems to haveslug At least a 38, maybe a 45 So Strome and I turned Gordy over when asked, and Clarson started on the shoulder wound The bullet had struck his blade bone and didn&039;t want to come out

"This is the tricky one I expect he&039;ll want to use his arm when he&039;s healed up"

"He&039;ll be all right, then?" asked Adelle hovering on hope

"Don&039;t know Lost a lot of blood Have to watch for infection He&039;s lucky, but not clear of the woods yet"

Out in reception, soht I knehat it would be and had Stroas "I&039;ll look after this"

Clarson nodded absently

I went down the short hall but didn&039;t make it to the final door It was kicked open I went still, hands away frorim-faced colored ht at my chest

"It&039;s ht off but barely shifted the loves "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Had soured Clarson could help"

"Shoe don&039;t know this"

"Not yet You can tell him for me" Isham was one of Shoe Coldneld&039;s soldiers I&039;d expected hi

Coldfield, who ran the biggest mob in the Belt, kept a careful watch on his territory, and four white people in an expensive car stopping in the middle of it at this late hour would draw all kinds of attention

"Who&039;s the friend?" He started toa challenge of it "You can look later I don&039;t want to distract Clarson" Keeping hiood idea "It&039;s Gordy Weems"

Isham didn&039;t quite rock back on his heels "North Side Gordy? What the hell&039;s going on?"

"Thug fro for his job, which would be a very bad thing to happen"

"You know that for a fact?"

Mob politics in Chicago were a very delicate balance of territory, power, and a kind of backhanded trust that it made lousy business to rock the boat unnecessarily Lately things had been even and peaceful But Isha over from Gordy would improve his own boss&039;s position "Yeah, for a solid fact You don&039;t want Hog Bristow coht around"

"Never heard of his A little war&039;s been declared Gordy needs to keep low in a neutral place until he can stifle this guy"

Isha his head "Not here, he can&039;t"

"Call Shoe, let him know I&039;ll talk to him"

He frowned "I don&039;t wanna wake hiet on with things for the ti" I putif you think that&039;s the right road What would he want done?"

Release

Isha "Guess I&039;ll call hi room, a pain between my eyes

About half an hour went by, and Coldfield ca, deep-voiced man who hated surprises I was a major one He looked like he&039;d been awake anyway, but I apologized for the intrusion He shook my hand and told Isham to find another place to park Gordy&039;s car Stro, but Isham didn&039;t mention a need for them

"Is Charles in on this?" Coldfield asked

"He&039;s at my club I called and told him what&039;s happened and where ent"

Escott had taken the news, passed it to Lowrey, and calh the ceiling orry Gordy was a big brother to her I had no good news on hi bad, either "He&039;ll keep quiet"

"I know that Who&039;s this Hog Bristow?"

In a feords I outlined what I knew of the et Gordy someplace safe where Bristoouldn&039;t look or could bribe or beat it out of people"

"Oh, yeah, a bunch like you co here, no one&039;ll pay mind to that"

He had a point Coldfield called the shots for many in the Belt, but not everyone could be counted on to back hiaet out soon as Clarson says Gordy wouldn&039;t want to i off tension like heat from a fire, nodded and seemed to ease back "Don&039;t worry about it We can look after hiyou can take care of?"

"As soon as possible None of us wants trouble, but Bristow" Until now I&039;d been holding a lot in I didn&039;t realize how much "That son of a bitch"

"Easy, kid," Coldfield warned

For the next h a wall or breaking furniture I shook froe of adrenaline Pacing up the hall, down, up again helped Only a little S in would cure it completely In his case, I wouldn&039;t ht have stepped out of the way Coldfield held his place, waiting as I worked through it "Easy," he repeated

I stretched out my stiff neck and shoulders "I&039;m okay"

"Glad I&039;m not your enemy"

"Wish I didn&039;t have any"

"Then you&039;d be deader than you are already"

That rehed Soft, weak, and short-lived, but it cooled the rage to soeable

"Ready to talk so can we stay here?"

"Couple days, no ?"

He shrugged "Gordy and I did soot soet that It won&039;t do, ood business"

"Glad to hear it"

"Besides, he gavefor a colored gal to sing at a white place Especially the Nightcrawler Got her sooodelse, I owe hiloves He and Cold-field sized each other up, but I&039;d already primed Strome to behave "He&039;s done," he said

Coldfield and I moved past him

Gordy lay on his side, histhan aa pillow under his head Her face was pinched and tired, and I thought she&039;d shrunk a couple inches until I noticed she&039;d kicked off her shoes

"He&039;s stable for now," said Clarson, as at the sink washing things The front of his coat was all bloody, and the scent teased me I shut that down fast "I want to keep him put for a while That okay with you, Shoe?"

"It&039;s fine How bad is he?"

Clarson shook his head "He&039;s a tough bird I cleaned hiood but need to watch for infection the next few days I&039;e for it If he wakes up while I&039;one, keep him still He may not remember what happened Tell hi to be all right If he stays asleep on his own, fine"

"What about pain, Doctor?" asked Adelle

"He&039;ll have plenty You kno to give a shot?"

She swayed a tiny bit "No"

"I do," said Coldfield "What should he have?"

Clarson indicated a hypoderlass dish on a table "That

Meaty part of his arm But only if he wakes up and would rather be out He&039;ll be thirsty He can have chips of ice, no water Got an icebox the next room over and a pick Get it from there I&039;ll be back soon" He dried his hands and left, just starting to unbutton his stained coat

"I&039;ll watch the boss," said Strome, his hard face still expressionless

"Where&039;s Bristow?" I asked hi?"

He shrugged "Columbia Hotel, last I heard He won&039;t be there"

"How do you know?"

"Just s die down"

"What about hi over at noon tomorrow?"

"He won&039;t come out He&039;ll wait someplace"

"Just how ht?"