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Michael looked at y shoes My feet were damned cold "Somebody ran us off the road, then blew up the car Does it bother you we got clear?"
He digested the news pretty quick Suy, unless he&039;d known already "You think it was Broder?"
"Unless it was you" I checked his shoes and pant cuffs-dry-but he&039;d had plenty of ti in knee-deep snow "Give me proof to think otherwise"
"You-" Michael shut himself down "Inside We&039;ll talk there"
"Mike," said Kroun "Did you send Broder after us?"
He glared at me-I had the same idea, and it showed on my face-then he turned to Kroun "No, I didn&039;t"
"And you think he&039;s at your hotel?"
"That&039;s what he told me"
"Did you come after us?"
Michael shook his head "I&039;ve been here all night waiting for you to turn up Derner and half the dancers will tell you-"
"Only half?
"Never mind Are you okay? You look like hell"
"I&039;m just peachy Word to the wise, Mike: if it was Broder, you keep him out of my way If it was some other mutt you let loose, you keep hi to Michael He&039;d hunched in his suit coat, fighting off an initial bout of shivering
"I&039;ll tell you when I&039;m done"
"What&039;d the old bastard say to you?"
If the question was meant to surprise hi his answer "Not a daot the sense that Michael was being careful not to look at ht&039;s fun and ure it out I was tempted to vanish and let the wind carry me clear, but had aSee ya tomorrow"
"Not yet, you stay put," said Michael
"I&039;ve punchedhome"
"And I need to talk to Derner," Kroun said He stepped around Michael and went up the stairs, banging the door shut
Michael started after hirimly worried
"If you&039;d tell h inside I was kickingmy foot in, I wasn&039;t sure
"Whitey didn&039;t?"
I s a lot easier "I think he means to"
"What happened with the old ht?"
Kroun had allowedI&039;d talk to Michael Maybe it hy I&039;d been there "The old man&039;s crazy"
"Yes But what did he say?"
"Whitey tried to get hi The old guy seemed to think that would be a lot of fun The rest of the ti pictures of woet Michael&039;s reaction
He pulled in on hi to do with the cold
"That&039;s why he&039;s in the booby hatch, because of how he treats wo past come to me that if I showed too ht already be too late
He gavelook "About this car trouble-what exactly happened?"
"We were taking a drive in the country" I otten us lost, and e finally turned back to Chicago, the guy in the Caddy tried to kill us It was a risk If the guy was Broder, then Michael would learn his end of it and knoas lying for Kroun
I wasn&039;t exactly siding with hi Escott&039;s life Besides, ituseful about whatever feud he had going "If your boy Broder&039;s behind this-"
"He won&039;t be," Michael said quickly
"You don&039;t know that He could have his own operation running, like the late, unlamented Mitchell If that&039;s the case, you may need a friend"
"You?"
"Uh-uh Derner" I let that sink in "I&039;uys leave town, I&039; my nose clean That&039;s all I&039;ve ever wanted, it&039;s no secret For now I&039; walk"
I turned to look for another cab, but he caught as-what do you think?"
"Here" Da out a wad of cash and peel off ten portraits of Ben Franklin "Get another on me"
He shoved the bills into ainst the cold
"Thanks!" I called after him He raised one hand to show he&039;d heard, shot up the steps, and hustled inside
I looked at the money It was real I would keep it That Kroun had already bought ht&039;s excitement, I deserved a tip
KROUN
Gabe took the stairs to Gordy&039;s office one at a ti it He wouldn&039;t haveand followed
Derner didn&039;t stare too much "Have soood one, gassed up and with some heavy blankets in the back No one&039;s to know about it Especially Michael"
"Uh okay Now?"
"Sooner"
That done, he crossed to the bathroom and shook out of his once-new coat It wasn&039;t a total loss, but the slush and et another
He checked his faint reflection in the mirror and scrubbed the scrapes and dirt from his face The hot water warmed his hands He&039;d not realized how cold they&039;d been Aware of the proble, no wonder Flee in his skull, bracing for pain, but nothing blazed up Holding that snowball against the da soed, coat over one ar orders about the car and only looked a little curious when Gabe duuns on the desk Gabe opened each, re how many bullets were left in the seesture Derner pointed to a chro a drawer
The second drawer held boxes of ammunition of various types Kroun found what he needed in the ju extra bullets, deciding against it If he couldn&039;t turn a problem in his favor with the loads he had, then it was unturnable
It griped that he&039;d had no chance to resolve matters with Mrs Cabot, but the wo should have done sootten the drop on her while they were there
Instead, he hauls ued the point Though h another night coughing his lungs out and feeling that burning inside as he healed But as Fle&039;s excuse? On the other hand, any man with sense would have run from Mrs Cabot and her six-shooter The look she wore could scare granite
What the hell had happened to her daughter in that cabin?
And was ithis flanks, his usual reaction to the not-knowing
"Got your car, Mr Kroun," said Derner "It&039;ll be out back in five minutes with a driver"
"I won&039;t need the driver"
"Oh Okay"
"You reust"
"August Not Deceley Field, and it was hotter &039;n hell you said"
Gabe put his fists on the desk and leaned in; Derner blinked under the pressure but filled out the details He had no idea who Ra about a girl naet and eased back
A couple nights ago, Gordy had given the same story about Ramsey, didn&039;t know about Kroun&039;s Decenorant of the Cabots Whatever business had brought Gabe to Chicago two o had been very much under the table
"Gabriel," said Michael from the doorway He always used that tone and that nas were truly serious
He turned, on guard as alith Mike, which was a shauy, but couldn&039;t trust hiet one of those chorus girls to fix that?"
Michael scowled and couldn&039;t suppress a shiver, and it clearly irritated hiht?"
"You already know"
"Besides seeing hiot a haircut"
"A haircut?"
Gabe brushed the side of his head and put on his hat "I got &039;e, and I didn&039;t listen" Gabe pulled on his damp overcoat and slipped the semiauto in the shoulder holster As he reached for the revolver, Michael beat hihtly in his grip, not pointing at anyone, but ready for use He had long strong fingers, and they reminded Gabe of Sonny&039;s hands
"It&039;s reloaded," he said cheerfully
"Who did you shoot?" Michael&039;s tone matched the cheer
"Doesn&039;t un"
"Who&039;d you shoot?"
"Black Cadillac, last year&039;s ed front buer side, and a bullet hole in the windshield Ask Broder Let hione very quiet as soon as Michael walked in, made a soft sound from the back of his throat It had to be involuntary, thehis best to be invisible
"What do you know?" Michael asked hiot a call about that One of the club Caddies was stolen earlier The boys were hopping ured some kids hot-wired it and drove off Anyone else wouldn&039;t dare We don&039;t knohere it is"
"Have the distance of Mike&039;s hotel," Kroun suggested "Was it stolen at about the time Broder left here? No, don&039;t tell o" He pushed past, aih for hietaway
"Where?" Michael deley Field I heard it&039;s an ice rink now"
Mike didn&039;t follow Gabe had raised enough doubts to make him think twice about Broder
Seems pretty obvious
Gabe hadn&039;t been a hundred percent on it, but the tiht
Mrs Cabot had called for help, and while he and Fle up in his stolen car He had no reluctance about running therenade on the wreck He was not concerned about consequences That was Broder all over
Was he on his own or working for Michael? How did the woman even know to call Broder? Or had she wanted Michael, and Broder answered instead? She&039;d have had to call New York first No one there would have given up the name of Michael&039;s hotel, but they&039;d have passed on the e How did she rate that kind of service?
Or had it been Ramsey? Maybe he&039;s still involved
Michael wouldn&039;t lie to hi Gabe was teo back, put the eye on Mike, open up his head, and find out what lay inside
Not here
Not at the Nightcrawler He&039;d need someplace more private He needed better questions to ask, too Gabriel didn&039;t know enough yet to ask the right ones
The car was a new Hudson, painted a snappy green It armed up, the tank full, and four thick wool blankets lay neatly folded on the backseat What had Dernerto do with body disposal He wouldn&039;t be too far off
The waiting driver was a young, friendly, chatty sort, with a ot rid of him quick
Once behind the wheel, Gabe went easy for a block to get the feel of the gears, then headed toward Fleo et his bearings
The lights were on, but no one answered the bell He let himself in and listened The house was e from the electric icebox Good, else he&039;d have to put up with a bunch of questions fro down the doctor who had treated Nelly Cabot The man would have questioned Nelly and very probably called soo, or Gordy would have heard soh in the pecking order to have a number direct to New York If so, then some word of what had happened must have reached Michael
Who doesn&039;t want me anywhere near that cabin
That is, if Mike and Broder had been there or had it been only Ra?
The lack of memory was a different sort of pain than the physical kind that often hammered at Gabe&039;s skull, but just as intense
Gabe cracked open one of the suitcases and pulled on fresh clothes The dry socks were the best improvement; he wore three pair since they were the fancy silk kind and thin Wool would have been better for this trip He wanted woodsmen boots, too, but had only the one pair of shoes Wet, of course None of the clothes he&039;d bought during that ten- jaunt were suitable, but he&039;d survive He left his discards draped on the stair rail for Fleht of taking it, but decided against Better to travel light and make everyone think he&039;d be back for his stuff
He planned to return, after all
Thoughtfully, he relocked the door when he left
The Hudson ran a little rough, but he got used to it He checked hishad so accurately copied down It seeo, head north, follow this line, then that one
Depending on the roads, he could ood time before dawn