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The waiter reached the booth "Uh, Mr Escott, this lady wants to see-oh" He spotted "

Escott and I stood as the little lady trotted up the last steps

Her big-eyed gaze fell on ned for the waiter to retreat

She waited until he was out of earshot, then nodded vigorously

"What?"

"They&039;re going to kill Alan Caine," she blurted in her Betty Boop voice Apparently it wasn&039;t an affectation after all

"Who?"

"Those men"

"What, they&039;re back?"

"Not yet, but they will be His life is in danger!"

"As in later tonight, but not just this minute?"

"Please, this isn&039;t a joke! He needs help!"

Escott cleared his throat, giving me a look, the kind with a raised eyebrow in it

"Just checking the urgency of the situation," I told him, then turned back to her "You&039;re Evie ah ?"

"Montana I&039;m Evie Montana, just like the state, it&039;sher hand and adding in one of his polite little bows

"Pleased, I&039;ency is not immediate, perhaps you will sit and tell us all about it," he suggested,her into the booth

She cocked her head "You&039;re English, aren&039;t you, just like in England?"

"Once upon a time Please ?"

She took the hint and slipped in Released froentlemanly duty, we sat opposite her I leaned back in the middle of the half circle; Escott clasped his hands on the table in his best listening posture "What is the problereatest singer ever, better than Caruso even, and he&039;s just really too artistic and innocent and people take advantage of hiuys are gonna kill him if he doesn&039;t pay what he owes and they really mean business"

"I see," he said "And who are they exactly?"

"They&039;rethere and these cardsharps took advantage of Alan and he ran up a onna kill him if he doesn&039;t pay off"

"The cardsharps?"

"No, the muscle They want hihtcrawler, not Hoyle?" I asked

"Who&039;s Hoyle?" She turned her big eyes on ht"

"He&039;s the h I should know already "They got dozens of guys just like hiht if he doesn&039;t pay off"

"I get that You&039;re sure he doesn&039;t owe personally to Hoyle?"

"He owes the club and that goon is their et that, too So why&039;d you come to me?"

"Because you helped us earlier and because soht because you dated one of the singers there once and they said you were all right because she was all right"

"Not because you think I&039;s? They said

this was your club If you&039;re running things at the

Nightcrawler" She started to get up, but Escott caught her hand

"It&039;s all right," he assured "I&039; can sort this out for you"

I said, "Shouldn&039;t be a problem If he owesto kill hioon won&039;t be back I&039;ll make a call and put in the fix for you If Caine&039;s dead, he can&039;t pay off his h"

"It&039;s not just the hioes into the casino to try to hat he owes her and then they take advantage of hi to compete with the band

I put my hand up like a traffic cop "Slon, Evie"

She stopped altogether, looking like I&039;d just slapped her She made a peculiar sup-sup noise, then her face suddenly screwed up She plowed blindly in her handbag and pulled out a handkerchief just in ti hands and saying "there-there" than I was, so I gritted ot her calmed Sympathy came easier to him; he&039;d never met Alan Caine

"Don&039;t you believe ht help I thought you could make them leave him alone"

"I said I&039;d fix it"

"But I heard theot no right to do that They&039;re all just sooff steaular lack of personal charm "I&039;ll make a call and take care of it Caine will be fine, just keep hiles with a little brandy and hot water to keep his vocal cords loose"

Froht he kept theh to flap on a windless day

"It prevents colds, too," she brightly added

"Aren&039;t you supposed to be dancing in the show?"

"This was more ier he&039;s in, and I could lose ht you could help hi in full she eventually ran down No wonder Caine drank

"I&039;ll take care of it," I said "You can go back to the club and don&039;t worry about anything"

"You will? You really, really will?"

Escott stood so I could get out "Baby-sit?" I ood-sport s to ulars noticed and waved, inviting me over to their various tables I s to shoas busy, and o with Stroain than pretend to be jovial to the custohtcrawler&039;s office soon put ain?" I asked hi?" Derner was a man who expected phone calls to have trouble on the other end of the line

I ascertained that Evie Montana had the basic facts correct and got howhe couldn&039;t afford on what they had to be paying him I found out how much that was, too

"Okay, ban hi out of his wages"

Derner laughed once "He ain&039;t gonna like that et another working-over"

"He won&039;t like that much, either, but I&039;ll ency They never h He&039;s outta New York like Kroun"

"They hooked up in some way?"

"You kiddin&039;? Kroun wouldn&039;t stand for that kinda crap By the way, congrats on getting out alive"

"Thanks Where&039;s Kroun now?"

"He left not long back, with Stroets the fancy car till he goes hoood way to keep tabs on Kroun "When will that be?"

There was a shrug in Derner&039;s tone "Who knows He&039;s the big boss Cooes, it&039;s his business an&039; no one else&039;s He can&039;t stay away froh Has to be busy like the rest of us"

"Did Strorats on that, too None of those guys has showed here"

"If they do, they&039;re on the outs Especially Hoyle and Ruzzo"

"No loss with that bunch"

"Did Gordy go hoot word you were still walking Lowrey took him home"

"Great If he calls toht"

"No proble up The mob&039;s idea of no problems and mine were usually two different animals

And it looked like a new one just strolled in my front door As I came down the stairs a threesome in dark overcoats entered the lobby One of the ray hair with a distinctive streak of silver-white on the left side

Ah, shit Nohat?

Whitey Kroun spotted me almost in the same instant and sketched a wave and smile Mitchell and Strome ith him but in an odd ere alh he was the only one with a right to be there and telegraphed it clear to the corners Solanced up from conversations as if he&039;d called them by name

I wiped off whathere?" look and assu the rest of the way down the stairs

"Good evening again, Mr Kroun" Iabout theon the back of my neck

Kroun took in the chro," he said as a greeting

"You look like hell How&039;s the da"

"And after just a couple hours That&039;s pretty good"

Had he heard about ames with Hoyle? I couldn&039;t tell from Strome&039;s expression whether or not he&039;d mentioned the incident Not that any of it mattered, but Kroun&039;s curiosity re wounded I&039;d better act accordingly

"Quite a place you got here," Kroun said, very approving

"Thank you" It could be aof yours They were in a position to take it froirl hovered within view, but none of the, then So far the lights held steady, indication that Myrna-if she was around-didn&039;t see trouble ahead She

Mitchell did a double take on the display easel for Bobbi, fairly gaping

It hit me smack between the eyes that he&039;d remember her froain Bobbi did not need to stroll downa fair warning, but I didn&039;t kno to tip her off without broadcasting it to these guys Play it by ear and hope for the best, then

I led the way through the short, curving passage to the main room and a second-tier table looked after by the most experienced waiter He appeared out of nowhere, took orders, vanished, and returned with a trayful aluests were settled in He&039;d correctly read the discreet signal I&039;d given There would be no check for this party

Glancing up, I noticed Escott watching us with interest He knew Stroh

That white streak was hard to miss But beyond that, Escott had a hell of a memory for names and faces, especially the ones in the o wiseguys than the FBI files

"Gentlemen," I said, "Excuse lasses, and went up to the third tier, re afoot?" Escott asked

"I don&039;t think so Kroun probably just wants to check me out so to regret that suggestion

"Did ya put in the fix for Alan?" asked Evie, anxious "Did ya?"

"All done So long as Caine pays his ets hurt"

She let out a little squeal and ju a kiss on h as she could reach without a footstool and"Thank you! Thank you!"

Well, this was nice, but attracting attention I was supposed to be feeling tender around the radually unpeeled her "Glad to help, but htcrahile you still have a job there"

"I won&039;t make it in time for the second show The El doesn&039;t run-"

"You certainly will," said Escott "I&039;ll give you a lift"

I almost raised an eyebrow, but didn&039;t quite have the trick of it the way he did

He still caught it, though "Just being polite, old ood to hear After Vivian, Evie didn&039;t seeuided her downstairs, and I went back to take a seat at Kroun&039;s table, hiht, Mitchell opposite The band went on break just then, ot up to leave, a fe ones trickled in to replace theood

I looked around for Bobbi, but when perfor to God-knohat details and her own costuht

Kroun had finished his s on his, and Strome sipped a short beer

"Quite a place," repeated Kroun "What&039;s she pull for you?"

There is a certain level of business where such inquiries are not considered offensive "Last night, sixty-three dollars"

That got me a stony look, then coross "I mean outside of the booze sales"

"That&039;s it"

"He don&039;t have tables, Mr Kroun," Strome explained

"No tables? What about slots?"

"Nope"

"That&039;s crazy" He turned on ht in a back rooreed "But Gordy&039;s better at keeping track of those kind of earnings than ht it&039;d be best for everyone just not to compete"

Kroun&039;s eyes narroith additional understanding "Smart operator"

I didn&039;t correct his assu into Gordy&039;s profits It sounded better than the real reason, a desire to avoid legal trouble To guys like Kroun the laas only a minor nuisance, not a major threat He&039;d think I was chicken, too, but there is also a certain level and kind of business where such an assessment of character can contribute to one&039;s survival I&039;d gotten along pretty well in the past when people underestimated me

Mitchell nodded toward the entry where Escott and Evie had gone "Wasn&039;t that the little trick you got in a fight over at the Nightcrawler?"

"I just kept her out of harood about now I decided to play the card Stroiven me earlier "You used to work here in town, didn&039;t you, Mitchell?"

His eyes hardly gave a flicker "A while ago, yeah"

"Why&039;d you leave?"

"The weather stinks"

"Stinks just as bad in New York"

"Oh, yeah? I never noticed"

Kroun et paid well for it He found that in New York"

"Why you interested?" Mitchell asked

I was chancing a fall on ht the risk would pay off "Because you remember me from before you left"

He hooked a so

"What do you reed close to conte was so around Slick Morelli&039;s operation, looking into stuff he shouldn&039;t Next thing you know Fred Sanderson&039;s dead, Georgie Reamer&039;s in jail for it, then Morelli&039;s dead, Lebredo&039;s dead, Frank Paco&039;s in the booby hatch, Gordy&039;s in charge-and this guy as in thelike a rose"

Kroun held silent for aWhat about it, Fle about any of it I was looking for a newspaper job here and heard there was so I could land a sweet place with the Trib if I wrote a good piece on it That&039;s how I met Gordy, but he steered s settled down after the ruckus I did a couple of favors to help Gordy, and that&039;s all We been friends since"

"Must have been some kind of favors to be able to afford this kind of club"

"I earned the club on ot lucky at the track and hauled in a pile of cash Gordy helpedset up with suppliers, but that&039;s all He&039;s been a good friend and stand-up I&039; hi out of it?"

"I&039; plenty: a nice quiet town to run ree, though"

"Oh yeah?"

"You gotta expect change It&039;s the way things are Lot of the guys thought it was the end of the world e had Repeal-Bristoas one of &039;em-but it was just te delivered

We&039;re keeping an eye open all the tial, we find a way to get rich by supplying it"

"Yeah, but those govern up the chinks"

"It won&039;t last There&039;s always a way to get around the rules Like right now Couple guys I know practically got the FBI in their pocket, or J Edgar Hoover, anyway They think they own the world, but it won&039;t last"

"Why, is he onto &039;eive hireat, but they&039;re going to have probleuy&039;s forty-two, has ulcers, and is crazy-obsessed about commies If the Russians don&039;t bu his own tail and trying to nab headlines about it I don&039;t give him more than another year at the job before he drops stone dead Then I&039;ll start to worry That dauy who knohat he&039;s doing and can keep his nose clean When that happens we&039;ll have to start running for cover"

"How do they have Hoover in their pocket?"

Kroun shook his head, a anyone is knohat awhat he most wants to keep hidden A ive a dauy is not generally in a position where we need to own him, but there&039;s a few out there They&039;re the ones to look out for"

And what secrets do you want ht God knows I didn&039;t want people hearing aboutholes in my brain like acid

"That canary out front in the pictures," said Mitchell, whose ?"

"You mean Miss Smythe?" I asked

"That&039;s the one Bobbi"

I didn&039;t like the way he said her name "Later The second show"

"We&039;re old friends I&039;d like to go back and say hello to her"

He got a long look fro up with a puzzled front like he wasn&039;t getting ht"

"C&039;mon, she won&039;t mind a friend"

I didn&039;t like the way he said that, either Oily and unpleasant, yet with the s with his front teeth On this, I knew I could absolutely trust ive her my name She&039;ll tell you different" He waited

I still wasn&039;t blinking And had gone corpse-quiet

He chose to ignore it "What&039;s your problee "Lay off She&039;s just a skirt There&039;s plenty more back on Broadway you can say hello to instead"

Mitchell seeht better of it, and subsided There was a "We&039;ll see about this later" glint in his eye for h I wasn&039;t worried They&039;d be on their way back to New York soon, end of problehost from her past

Stroh that only I heard I interpreted it as relief I got the i stupid It had been close My second choice after punching Mitchell&039;s face to pulp would have been hypnosis, but that would have risked another skull-splitter for otten the firm idea that this suddenly excessive head pain was also connected to Bristow&039;s torture, and it seeo away after a while, but for noas stuck without one of es

On the other hand, this was ht to refuse service to anyone, which included allowing undesirable types to bother ain, I noticed Kroun studying me, his own face unreadable "Another drink, Mr

Kroun?"

He ain at the people, the band, even the lights above "Quite a place" he echoed his coain "I like the chairs"

"Chairs?" I hoped he wasn&039;t trying to drive a point ho it

"Yes These are really nice chairs Soht, but when it comes down to it, you have to offer people a place to park themselves Really nice chairs Nice Chairs"

Maybe he was drunk Mine ht "Thanks Took a lot of hard work to haul together"

Mitchell flashed an interesting expression Madean idiot It only lasted an instant

"But all these chairs and no ga tables," Kroun continued, unaware "Seems like too much effort for no real payoff"

"It&039;s plenty foryourself?"

For social cover I had a glass of ice water in front of me, my usual, and all the waiters knew it I&039;d not sipped any

"Well, you kno it is, the boss has gotta stay awake You guys enjoy yourselves, though"

Mitchell set us drunk like Gordy did with Bristow Thinks we&039;ll talk" His tone was meant to bait Kroun would knohat he was up to and be watchingtrouble

I pretended aot there Lemme knohen he&039;s outta short pants, and I&039;ll find him a job"

Mitchell didn&039;t take it well If his boss hadn&039;t laughed, he et just the one shot

"Relax, Mitch, we&039;re off the clock," said Kroun "Let thenow"

"But we ain&039;t seen the show," said Mitchell

"So?"

Under Kroun&039;s dark stare, he subsided again, dropping into silence like it was a foxhole

Doing a good ientlemen, we rose and strolled to the lobby Kroun thanked me for my hospitality, and I walked theet the Caddy The sleet had stopped, but the streets were still wet, the wind bitter For a ht of Gordy&039;s shooting, and I couldn&039;t help but look around, anticipating another hidden gun up on n of whiskey in the his hat to brush a hand through his hair It seeesture, always on the left side where that streak was "Yeah, you&039;d think those bandages would keep you wara a weird sense of humor?

"Ease off on yourself, kid," he said sotto voce so Mitchell couldn&039;t hear

"What d&039;you mean?"

"I h"

"Oh, he skinned you alive, too?" I was ju hostile in it, but I wasn&039;t about to ascribe anything like sympathy to the man Guys like him were born without or had it burned fro close to my ear "I knohat he was and what he could do"

"And you sent him"

"Yeah I did that It was supposed to be between hiot in the er Then you put Bristow exactly where he belongs"

"Yeah," I echoed "I did that"

"So ease off on yourself" He straightened and settled his hat firainst the wind "He was a bastard, but you beat him"

A pep talk froetic And how did he know about as in ht ere friends Maybe this was hoith them He couldn&039;t have had et a chance to find out; Stroot in, doors slammed, and off they went

Lady Cryht Except for one home or off to unwind then above the red street canopy was dark, but lights shoithin Of course, that didn&039;twith Myrna in residence