WE WALKED SLOWLY to a coffee shop on Cambridge Street. If Quirk noticed that Hawk was shuffling more than he was walking, he didn't comment.
All he said was, "You back in the gym yet?"
"Nope," Hawk said. "But Ah has started to brush my own teeth."
"Step at a time," Quirk said.
We got coffee. Quirk took a thick manila envelope out of his briefcase and put it on the table.
"If I go before you do and forget this, and leave it lying here on the table, I want you to return it to me immediately. I only got two other copies. And under no circumstances do I want you to open the envelope and read its contents."
"Where my man, Bohdan?" Hawk said.
"In jail awaiting trial," Quirk said.
"Suffolk County?" Hawk said.
"Yep."
"Think he'll last till his trial?" Hawk said.
"He thinks so," Quirk said. "He thinks everything's hunky-dory with the other Ukrainians."
"You keeping him separate?" I said.
"Yep."
Hawk made a soft, derisive sound.
"Never going to make trial," Hawk said.
Quirk shrugged.
"And ain't that a shame," Quirk said.
"What have you got on the rest of them?" I said.
"The details are, of course, confidential police business, which is why I have them sealed up safe in this envelope. We been talking to the organized-crime guys, the FBI, immigration. We know it's a Ukrainian mob. Which means we are dealing with some very bad people. Even the Russians are afraid of the Ukrainians."
"They straight from the old country?" I said.
Quirk shook his head.
"We think from Brooklyn. They've set up around here in Marshport, up on the North Shore, which has got a small Ukrainian population."
I nodded.
"They come in, start small. Take over a book here and horse parlor there. Usually small-time black crime. The assumption being that the blacks have the least power."
Quirk grinned at Hawk.
"Which, from the looks of you, may be correct at the moment."
"Enjoy it while you can, honkie."
"Hey," Quirk said. "I'm a police captain."
"That's right, you is," Hawk said. "Enjoy it while you can, Captain Honkie."
"Anyway, pretty soon they have all the black crime, and are moving on the Asians. And so it goes. Sometimes they end up with the city. They probably got Marshport. Boston is their first big-city try since Brooklyn."
"They don't run Brooklyn," I said.
"Nobody does," Quirk said. "But they got a part."
"This wouldn't have happened," I said, "if the Dodgers hadn't left."
Both of them looked at me silently for a while. Then Quirk shook his head.
"Gotta go to work," he said.
He stood up.
"We're going to chase these guys until we catch them for something," he said. "But if someone gets there first…"
Quirk shrugged.
"Well, what's a poor cop to do?" he said, and turned and went out the front door of the coffee shop. When he was gone I picked up the manila envelope.
"Hey," I said softly, "you forgot your envelope."
7
OUTSIDE THE WINDOWS of my apartment, it was getting dark. Hawk was asleep on the bed in my bedroom. The trip to Bullfinch Place had used up all his strength. Hawk slept a lot. I used the couch. The couch was fine. I sat at my kitchen counter with the overhead lights on and the contents of Quirk's big envelope spread out in front of me.
There were mug shots and arrest records of five men:
Bohdan Dziubakevych
Fadeyushka Badyrka
Vanko Tsyklins'kyj
Lyaksandro Prohorovych
Danylko Levkovych All five originally came from Odessa. All five had legitimate immigration credentials. None was wanted by Ukrainian police. They were foot soldiers. There had been various arrests for assault, extortion, and racketeering in Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Romania, New York, New Britain, and Boston. No one appeared to have done serious jail time. Witnesses were probably hard to come by. The men were all between thirty-five and forty-five; they had hard, middle-European faces. Their eyes had seen awful things. I looked at the names some more and decided not to memorize them. I wasn't sure I could forget the faces.
At about twenty to six, Susan unlocked my door and came in with two large shopping bags. She was in her understated work mode-gray suit, black sweater, clear nail polish, quiet makeup.
"It's hard to shrink people," she once explained to me, "if they're fascinated by your eyeliner."
She was beautiful and quiet when she came from work. Sometimes she wasn't coming from work. Then she looked beautiful and flamboyant. She put the bags on the floor and came and kissed me.
"How is he?" she said.
"He's asleep," I said.
"Hard to imagine him tired," she said.
She looked at the pictures spread out on the counter.
"Who are those awful men?" she said.
"Ukrainian mob," I said. "The ones Hawk will be looking for when he's not tired."
"Ick," Susan said. "Can you help me with the bags?"
I put the photos and paperwork back in the envelope and put the envelope away. I picked up the two shopping bags and put them on the counter.
"Could I have a glass of orange vodka?" Susan said.
"Straight up," I said. "No ice."
"With a slice of orange," she said.
"You eat and drink like no one else I know."
"I like warm orange vodka," she said.
"My point exactly," I said.
I got her drink while she unpacked the bags. Bread, cheese, cold chicken, fruit, and two bottles of Riesling. I gave her the warm vodka, and she sipped it as she arranged the food on a couple of good platters that she had insisted I buy.
"Can he eat and drink?" Susan said.
"He's permitted to," I said. "But he doesn't have much interest in it yet."
She nodded. I made myself a scotch and soda in a tall glass with a lot of ice. We sat at my counter and had our drinks together.
"You're on the couch?" Susan said.
"Yes."
"Do I remember correctly?" Susan said. "Were we on that couch the first time we ever made love."
"I think so," I said. "At least that's where we started. I remember you burst into applause afterwards."
"Are you sure?" she said.
"You said I should get an award for sustained excellence."
"I'm pretty sure I didn't say that," Susan said.
"What did you say then?"
"I think I said, 'Never touch me again, you lout.' "
"Maybe," I said. "But you didn't mean it."
Hawk came out of my bedroom, barefoot, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His face was still damp from washing.
"Did we wake you?" Susan said.
"I sleep about twenty hours a day," Hawk said. "Anything wakes me up is good."
"Can you eat anything?"
"Maybe sip a drink," Hawk said. "What you drinking?"
"Orange vodka," Susan said. "Up with a slice."
"Up?"
"Yes."
"Warm orange vodka?"
"Yes."
"Jesus, girl," Hawk said.
He looked at my drink.
"Gimme one of those," he said.
I made him one and he eased onto a stool at the counter.
"Would you be more comfortable on the couch?" Susan said.
"Too hard to get up."
"We could help you," Susan said.
Hawk looked at her balefully.
"Or not," Susan said.
Hawk sipped his drink. He seemed to be listening to his body as the drink went down.
"Okay?" I said.
Hawk nodded.
"Pretty good," he said.
Susan took a couple of grapes off the platter and ate them and sipped some vodka. Hawk shuddered.
"You will be all the way back sooner or later," Susan said.
"I will," Hawk said.
"And then what?"
Not a lot of people said "then what?" to Hawk. But Susan was one who could. Hawk looked at the manila envelope I had put aside. He shrugged.
"Business as usual," he said.
"You're going to find those men," Susan said.
"Yes."
"You're going to kill them."
"Yes."
"Five people."
"Four," Hawk said. "Old Bohdan will be dead long before we ready."