Page 5 (1/2)
TO keep fro back, I hit a wall, but she didn&039;t see on in Russian between the loud wet smooches she planted all over I found out firsthand why the front of one&039;s head is called a kisser
Wow So loose inside I had no need to breathe, yet desperately sucked air, but it wouldn&039;t stay in For a second I didn&039;t understand as going on I thought it was a bad cough or soest dahter I was laughing
Hadn&039;t done that in a while
Faustine laughed as well, a very full one, happy
I couldn&039;t stop It felt good
We were lunatics, much too loud for a hospital, but for a few hed
Making a mah noise she kissed each of my stub-bled cheeks in turn then yelled, "Godt blezz A Faustine posed with both ar all her white teeth, except when she planted another kiss Right on ement from the audience and some applause
In the back of my mind, I knew the cameras could have e on film That could be trouble so ht now
She pressed me forward into the crowd It was easier not to resist A few strangers thu nurse tried kissingApparently they illing to ignoreas Faustine liked me
What the hell had they been told?
Just inside the roouy in a pale blue tropical suit and a e shirt that had to have been custo like it before He grinned and grabbed h I&039;d just flown over the South Pole
"Hiya, hiya, name&039;s Lenny Larsen! I wanna talk with you about atoood cheer It worked, and I got my hand back, albeit with his business card pressed to my palm Faustine pushed us farther into the so-called sick room
Roland looked just like his pictures in the paper, but more so Cameras loved his handsome face, and he was sharply turned out despite the paja was elevated by a sling, wires, and a pulley device, the rest of hi with reenhouse of flowers and a shop&039;s worth of fancy chocolates in ribboned boxes Except for the pale cast to his skin, he seereat time and smiled broadly
"Jack! Welcoing fro to make it look effortless despite the people in the way The Lah patches in their new otten She leaned in and kissed his forehead, then thoughtfully brushed at the red lip color she&039;d left behind "My poor da&039;link," she h, m&039;dear"
The ; there was no stopping it Better to play along, then get out
Roland introduced me as the man who&039;d saved his life
More pictures I wished them luck in the darkroo for Roland Laht the shooters, was I in the mob that one made me twitch
I held ht a temporary hush "Sorry, folks, I ao&039;s finest-" Sooof in the back, who probably covered local crio&039;s finest are on the job and will no doubt make an arrest"
That was the kind of stateh while on their side of the fence We all knehat it ot hit with more questions but shook lad Roland&039;s going to be fine" So I assumed from the circus; I&039;d had no chance to ask
"Is it true you&039;ve sold your nightclub to the mob?"
That was a new one "No It&039;s just closed untilthe cue, the Laster friends?" asked another wiseacre
"Don&039;t have any, sorry to disappoint you Why don&039;t you come by the club when it&039;s open and see for yourself-first round&039;s on the house!"
That turned the tide There&039;s nothing like an offer of free booze for distracting the Fourth Estate from the scent of a story Faustine, abox of chocolates around the roo attention back to herself
"Jek iz Am-er-i-kan he-rrro, joost like -sterz, they do not like heem When they shoot, my brafe Rrrolandt throwz heem self een way! He savez Jek&039;s life, Jek rrrushes heem to hoz-peetle"
Pencils scribbledtheir way past Faustine&039;s accent It seen Faustine glowed as they peppered her with more questions
"Yez, I am Amer-i-kan by the marry-ink of Rrrolandt, but I vish to be more Amer-i-kan and take tezt for eet I loff thees con-drrry!"
That went over well
The guy in the orange shirt looht folks, you can call Faustine Petrova our own little Miss Russian America! You never saw a more patriotic dancer, and you&039;ll see more of them both e make the movie! The name&039;s L-A-R-S-E-N, Lenny Larsen!" He passed out ain
Faustine and Roland were clearly in on the details I went along with the it had to do with Roland&039;s Hollywood coot in the way of his career-but he was on the wagon and ain after this debacle
I waved to let hi, eased into the hall, and found myself next to a doctor I asked hio ho It&039;s just a question of watching for infection So far, he&039;s clean"
That was good When I&039;d been in the ar that took a uard didn&039;t want to meet my eye He looked forlorn "You sure they&039;re safe, Boss? I ht Stick around, then I want you to keep an eye on Charles Escott, too"
"Who?"
"The guy in 305 He&039;s with Gordy&039;s outfit" Da, and the nas are copacetic, send up a flag if they ain&039;t But I need your car"
"Sure! No proble out a key, told me what kind of car and where he was parked I said I&039;d be at the Nightcrawler Club, then got clear
Kroun was still holding up the wall and shook his head "That&039;s quite a rash you got there"
"What?"
"The crazy dame who jumped on you You&039;re sot my handkerchief and rubbed my face It came away covered with Faustine&039;s deep red lip color "Jeez"
"You said it So how do I get your job?"
The only parking at the Nightcraas in the alley behind the club There was a guy hanging around to shoo away anyone who didn&039;t belong I eased into a spot There wasn&039;t a lot of space; Kroun had to slide across to the driver&039;s side to get out, gri more than the effort required After what he&039;d been through, I gave hiet into a car, period
The arette e climbed the steps He&039;d apparently heard the news about Kroun&039;s de he would be; he was always in This was uard knoas business as usual
Don&039;t think he bought it
The kitchen staff was too busy to pay notice, but a couple of ot out of the way
Kroun grunted, putting in a note of disgust Coot a si into Gordy&039;s office upstairs, butdesk He glanced over, then did one hell of a double take
"I&039;ll call you back," he said into the blower then hung up,the phone over on the second He stood up, eyes big as he threw me a what the hell? look "Boss?"
"Good news Mr Kroun&039;s back," I announced cheerfully
Kroun snorted and went past to drop himself into a deep, overstuffed leather couch He kept his coat and hat on, cigar box balanced on one knee, telegraphing that this better not take long
"Gee, that&039;s great," said Derner, his voice faint "What&039;s goin&039; on?"
I gave hiether, then tossed the ball to Kroun Leaning back, ankles crossed and feet on a table, he issued a nuforward Mitchell as the ringleader of all the trouble Derner had gotten that froht before, so it was no surprise, but he wanted to knohy
"Tried to give himself a raise the hard way," said Kroun "He&039;s in the lake, right?"
"Yeah, sir Couple of the boys took him over to the meat packers and-"
Kroun raised a hand "No details"
Couldn&039;t bla crew had to do to distribute awith enough cement to keep it all on the lake bed
"Get New York on the phone, and I&039;ll put the fix in," he said "This should be Mike&039;s job," he added, ai that at ave a grunt "Good point"
In ten ht be tapped, Kroun got me cleared of trouble with everyone else who h to say, Happy now?
Relieved was the word
Kroun got up, went to the desk, and just stood, looking down Derner quickly relinquished the chair to him Kroun switched on the desk radio, searched the phone book, and made a call He kept his voice lower than theon the inside of a ed looks; neither of us kneas going on I could figure it had to do with the kind of stuff Michael wanted to know about
Hanging up, Kroun arranged to have someone pick up his carload of new clothes He infor on for a fewin Derner took it in stride Entertaining the big bosses was easy enough Booze, girls, gaot a problem about Alan Caine," he said "Should they know about it?"
"No," said Kroun,back to the couch "I&039;ll handle the around the club The latest news reported that Jewel Caine&039;s death had not been suicide after all Small comfort to her family, if she&039;d had any Derner had found out she didn&039;t
"Okay," I said "Get soanized on services for her She was friends with the girls here, ood send-off Tip the papers Find people to say nice things about her"
"The cops ant to knoe&039;re paying"
"An anonymous cash donation to the funeral home I&039;m sure you can find one that understands what&039;s expected"
He started with another objection Kroun cleared his throat Loudly Derner nodded and went back to the desk to ood part of this job," Kroun , and they have to juue like that?"
"He brings up things I need to reht and told him as much
"What else is there?"
I showed the leather address book, not quite taking it froed to Alan Caine, I have to leave it in a spot where the cops can find it and solidly link Hoyle and Mitchell to the murders Should take the heat off the club and send it Mitchell&039;s way We can put a ru Hoyle-"
"Who?"
"The guy who rigged the bomb The clothes I burned that was his blood remember?"
"Who killed him?" he asked
"Doesn&039;t matter, I just make sure the cops blame Mitchell He&039;d have bu No one&039;s found the body yet, but it&039;s only a est to the cops that Hoyle killed Caine for ga
"Did you kill Hoyle?" Kroun&039;s voice was conversational
"No" I had the impression he wouldn&039;t care if I had, he just wanted the facts straight
"And this Hoyle is dead?"
"Yeah" Thoroughly What was bothering Kroun? Did he have any reason to doubtto surprise you the way I did?"
That was straight out of left field and right between the eyes "Uh"
"You never know," he said, matter-of-factly
Damn The possibility never occurred to e, no chance that he&039;d rise again I&039;d drunk from Hoyle only after he was dead There was also no way that Kroun could knohat I had done Even Escott didn&039;t know, no one ever would
For a bare instant I&039;d been thrown off-balance, but decided Kroun was just stirring things up for the hell of it He was dah
"What do you know?" I asked
"Enough to not take anything for granted"
"But what do you know?"
"I&039;et you to think, kid You&039;ve been lucky and done okay for yourself, but one of these nights it&039;ll catch up to you"
I thought of Bristow "It already has"
"If we&039;re here, there can be others" He cast a glance at Derner The radio was still on,our low voices "You think you&039;d have run into more like us by now? Not if they&039;re et ood point, but I couldn&039;t agree with him on the rest I&039;d always keptanotherhad come of it yet "Why think that about Hoyle?"
"Why not?"
No arguing with that "Okay, I&039;ll be more paranoid"
"The only way to live," he said He went on "So how does that book connect Hoyle to Mitchell?"
"Mostly it connects Hoyle to Alan Caine, ed money to Mitchell The cops can ask stoolies all over town and get the sa-out over who knohat Derner will see to it"
He shook his head "Needs more Gotta cover the &039;who knohat&039; part"
"I&039;ht dates Mitchell&039;s nanature on theot him "Plant &039;eure Hoyle killed the Caines, one for not paying his debts, the other to shut up a witness This shorts Mitchell out of hishim It&039;s not what happened, but it&039;s reasonable Cops like reasonable, don&039;t they?"
"Son of a bitch"
"Glad you agree"
Derner earned his keep that night He contacted a specialist and had the guy in the office thirtycame from the address book, and we kept it si different pens the forger wrote several IOUs, signed Caine&039;s name, collected a fee, and left I don&039;t think he said ten words and never once asked a question, the perfect mob employee
Hat over his face, Kroun stretched on the couch and pretended to nap until it was done "Ready to go?" he asked, standing
I&039;d hoped he would stay at the club waiting for his clothes to arrive while I finished things Despite orders to babysit hi," I said
"Good"
He left the cigars on the table and strode out I had to follow
Derner had called in additional help for this last errand As I rolled to a slow stop up the street froe, another car turned the corner and pulled in behind ain, but I told hiot out into the icy air
Strouy who&039;d been ot out and stood ghost-quiet He had shot Hoyle the night before, thinking to save iven the right circuht; it was just another job to hilanced once at Kroun and left it at that; apparently Derner had filled hih "You okay, Boss?"
That surprised me "Yeah"
He nodded, just the once Granted, the last time he&039;d seen me-sprayed with Hoyle&039;s blood and brains-I&039;d fallen into a seizure, and it had left one hell of an iirl as down there" Hoyle had kidnapped a little cutie who had been in the wrong place at the wrong ti a murder She&039;d been in need of a rescue It was just her hard luck Strome and I were the ones to do it "Did he hurt her?"