Gluck paused, trying to make an impression. Jesso just sat, because it didn’t mean a thing to him.
“You roughed him up!” Gluck yelled, and it came so suddenly that Jesso wasn’t sure he’d heard it right. “You caused a stink, you lousy moron!”
Gluck sat down again, and except for the color of his face he looked as settled as before.
So did Jesso. He crossed his legs and said, “Say that again, President?”
“This is the deal,” Gluck said, and for once he talked straight. “We do things in a new way around here, and that includes you. We don’t rough-house, we don’t attract attention, we don’t act like hoodlums in a gang war. It’s big business all around, which means be nice, do what you’re told, and when you shaft a guy you make him like it. Understand?”
“Sure. But that’s not for me, President.”
Gluck sighed. “You know, you’re asking for it, Jesso.”
“What?”
“The boot.”
“Try it, Gluck,” and Jesso smiled.
“Not me, buddy boy The syndicate.”
Jesso just laughed.
“What if I asked you to fade, Jackie boy? Blow, scram, never come back?”
Jesso shrugged. “I wouldn’t go. I got some interests to protect.”
“That’s what I like to hear, boy.” Gluck looked friendly. “I like to hear you’re interested in your skin and that it’s all tied up with us.”
“So?”
“So you can stay. Like on probation.”
This time it stung. Jesso got out of his chair like a shot and slammed his hands on the desk.
“Gluck, you sonofabitch, try pushing me! Just try.” Jesso’s voice was like a knife. Then it sounded foolish to him, because it wasn’t really Gluck that mattered. It was the spidery web of one big clique that nobody ever saw, a thing much bigger than one man. He stood still, waiting.
“You listening, Jackie boy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I got a job for you.”
“Thank you. I got one.”
“An easy job, Jackie boy, but it’s like probation.”
“Like what? Apologize to Buchanan?”
Gluck laughed. “We wouldn’t do that to you, boy. This job is easy.”
“What?”
“I’m farming you out.”
Jesso got tense. He had to hold on, bide his time, stall them long enough to get his things in order. The syndicate might look polite, but in the end they handled things just about the way he did. One fast punch, or push, or shot, and the problem was solved. For good.
Jesso sat down again. “What job, Gluck boy?”
“They want you to find a man. That’s all.”
“How much?”
“Twenty grand. For me, not for you.”
Gluck sat back, obviously hoping that Jesso would bust something. He watched as Jesso’s neck swelled and the eyebrows made a sudden line grow down the middle of the forehead. But Jesso didn’t do anything else.
“I won’t do you the favor, President. I won’t goof,” he said. “I’m a good little boy taking his licking.” He took a breath. “Who’s the outfit?”
“Here’s the card with the address.” Gluck handed it over. “Just an address, Jack boy, and it isn’t an outfit.”
“No name, even?”
“The name’s Kator,” Gluck said.
Jesso got up and went to the door. “I’m going to do you the favor, buddy boy,” he said. “I’m taking that job.”
Chapter Three
Kator had a suite in an uptown hotel and Jesso got there at eight in the morning. If Kator wasn’t out of bed yet, that would be fine too.
The tall guy opened the door. He took the card Jesso had brought, and that was all. He hardly nodded when Jesso wished him a good morning.
“Remember me, friend? The clothes tree.”
“This way, please.”
“How’s Porker, friend?”
“Mr. Kator is waiting.”
The next room wasn’t large, but Jesso didn’t see Kator right away. He sat hidden in a high-backed chair, his small hands folded in his lap. The thick neck was wedged into a stiff collar, and Jesso had to walk around the chair before he could see the man’s face. Then Kator was out of his chair with an easy movement.
“You are Mr. Jesso,” he said. He held out his hand. When Jesso took it he was surprised by the strength of the grip. “Now that you will be working for us temporarily, please be seated and listen closely.”
Kator might just as well have left out the “please.” His voice was clear, machine-like. The English was so perfect that Jesso was sure that Kator spoke another language, one that he must like much better.
Jesso sat.
“Now that you are working for me, I will give you all the necessary leeway to do your job. However, I require a report of every step you take. The nature of your job and my interest in its outcome-“
“What’s the job?”
“Did you understand my instructions?”
“Sure, Kator. Sure. What’s the job?”
Jesso had been talking fast. The way he was starting to feel about Kator, it helped to talk fast.
Kator pulled up his chair and turned his head right, then left. The stiff collar made a scraping sound on his neck.
“A member of my organization has disappeared. You are to find him, Jesso. His name is Joseph Snell. He is, in fact, hiding out from me, apparently under the impression that I wish him ill. I know he is in New York. However, I do not know how long he will stay here. You can see it is imperative that he be found quickly. Those, in brief, are the facts. Find Joseph Snell, inform me of his whereabouts, and your job is completed.” Kator stopped.
“That’s it?” Jesso lit a cigarette.
“Yes. How do you propose to start?”
“I’ll start with you. What’s your business?”
Kator blinked. “I fail to-”
“If I don’t know what your boyfriend Snell’s been doing, how can I look for him in the right places?”
“It will be sufficient for you to know, Jesso, that I am a businessman. A businessman with far-flung obligations, and Joseph Snell is one of my associates.”
“Why do you want him?”
“Mr. Jesso.” Kator turned his head with that slow squeeze of the neck. “I will tell you what you need to know, and I will decide what you need to know I regard any questions as impertinence.”
For a moment Jesso forgot all about Gluck and what might happen. For a moment, he forgot that he was in the middle of a squeeze and that it would take more than a punch or a push or a shot to get it all back to where he wanted it. Then he held still. He leaned back in his chair and blew smoke slowly. He concentrated on just that, and Kator. What got him was the way Kator had said it. He had said it just so; not to be insulting or to act big, but just so. Because Kator felt he was talking to a bug. There probably wasn’t a man on this earth that Kator didn’t think was a bug.
Jesso kept sucking on his cigarette. When he figured his voice was going to be steady, he leaned forward again.
“I’m going to ask what I need to know. I’m not a divining rod, Kator, but I got the job to find your flunky, and as long as I do your gumshoeing for you, you open up and answer. Or get someone else.”
Kator sat still, waiting.
“Who’s Snell?” Jesso asked.
“An associate of mine.”
“Why’s he hiding?”
“I remind you, Jesso-”
“The hell with that!” Jesso was up now. “Let me remind you of something. If Snell’s on the lam because you’re gunning for him, that’s one kind of job. If he’s got something you want, that’s another. I wanna know if he’s laying for me ready to kill, or ready to argue, or just lying there scared stiff.” Jesso took a deep breath. “So let’s have some answers.”
“Joseph Snell is most likely scared stiff, as you call it, and I want him found because I must speak to him.” Kator raised his small hands and put the fingertips together. “Whether he is likely to take a shot at you, that is something you may tell me about after you’ve found him.” Kator shifted in his chair. “Now then, what else do you need to know?”