The Erection Set

“I don’t like you, Kelly. I used to hate you guys, but I’m too old to be bothered hating anymore. Now I just don’t like. Catch?”

“Loud and clear, Sergeant.”

“In or out, you’re nothing but trouble. Any information you have is only more trouble. You got 3 little hold with the executive suite and the men don’t want you tipped, but tipped you’ll get yet. There’s even a precedent for it ... a guy they called Lucky.”

“Luciano?”

“The same. Drags a stretch in the pen and because he has pull in the old country and makes it look like he helps out the country in the Italian campaign during the war, he gets paroled.”

“He was deported.”

“Sure, and right back into the narcotic traffic again from his old backyard.”

“He died pretty late in life, Sergeant.”

“It would have been better if he’d died at birth.”

“There’s always somebody else,” I said.

“Exactly what I mean. There’s always somebody else.”

“Didn’t mean to bug you, kid.”

“You don’t. It’ll just be a pleasure to see you get your lumps.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Don’t mention it.”

Lee and Rose were tired lumps under a tangled heap of bedclothes, both of them blubbering soft snores of applause. I went into the other room, packed my clothes in my old bag, showered and shaved, then made a sandwich. I was all set to leave when I turned around and saw Lee standing in the doorway with scratch marks all over his chest and wearing that same silly pair of shorts with the LOVE button pinned to them.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“Around. Go back to bed,” I said.

“Sure. Just like that.” He eyed my bags and frowned. “Where you going?”

“Clearing out, buddy.”

“You wait until the shit hits the fan, then you blow. Nice.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Read the papers.”

I knotted my tie and pulled my jacket over the gun in my belt. “Let’s hear it, Lee.”

“I was with Dick Lagen last night.”

“So?”

“Money and the power of the press can move mountains.”

“Bulldozers are quicker.”

“You’re tagged, Dog. He came across something in Europe and now the walls are going to tumble down. He wouldn’t say what it was and now he’s just lying back waiting for something else to come in and the boom gets lowered.”

“Buddy ...” I looked at him with a wry expression. “You’ve been civilized too long.”

“Cold, Dog. You’re cold. I remember you when you were a nice guy.”

“So do I.”

“What happens with Sharon?”

“Nothing happens.”

“That can be the worst part. She’s all fired up over this movie shit. All she talks about is how Linton is going to start over. You’re going to bust that girl wide open.”

“She’s a tough little cookie, Lee.”

“Not that tough.” He paused, leaning against the door frame. “The cops were back again.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“There was another one with the big guy this time. A federal agent. Treasury.”

I didn’t answer him.

“They didn’t get anymore this time in case you’re wondering.”

“I’m not wondering.”

“Dog ... there’s somebody tailing me.”

“That’s right.”

“Your side?” He sounded surprised.

“An old friend.”

He nodded, thought a second, his mouth twisted, gnawing on a idea. “Sharon too?”

“A precaution.”

“I see. You get that note the guy left?”

“Yeah.”

“He left another one. Same thing. Ferris and some numbers. It’s on the table outside.”

Back in my mind the seed started to germinate. It popped open with the heat of repetition, but it wasn’t in fertile soil yet, trying to blossom in the crack of a concrete slab. I could see it and I could feel it, but I knew damn well I wasn’t going to be able to identify it until the bloom showed on the stalk.

I picked up the bags and Lee stood aside to let me through the door. “Mind telling me where you’re going?”

“Tonight I’m going to a hotel, get a damn good sleep, make a lot of phone calls, then pick up a car and go back to a crazy old building on the waterfront at Mondo Beach, do some thinking and begin to enjoy myself.”

His face seemed to change and suddenly we weren’t here any longer but looking across a few feet of high sky through the bubble canopies of P-51s, props synced and in tight formation, waiting to pounce the krauts moving in on the bombers below.

“You’re looking for some running room,” Lee said.

He didn’t know how right he was.

XVII