‘Get it done?’ he asked, as we joined him in a booth.
‘Done,’ I said.
‘Those the photos?’ He jerked his chin at the envelope in my hands.
‘I didn’t want to trust leaving it in the car.’
There was no way one side of the booth would have accommodated both Jerry and Billy, so I got in on one side with Jerry, Billy joined Danny on the other side, and they shook hands dutifully.
‘Is he the runt of the litter?’ Danny asked Jerry.
‘How’d you know?’
‘Huh?’ Billy said.
‘Forget it,’ I said.
‘So this is a celebration breakfast?’
‘Celebration second breakfast,’ I said. But my first one had only been toast and coffee, so I went for eggs with the works.
Danny had steak and eggs, while the cousins demolished a couple of stacks of pancakes each.
‘So?’ Danny asked, halfway though.
‘So what?’
‘We get to see what’s in the envelope?’
‘Nope,’ I said.
‘What’s in the envelope?’
‘That wouldn’t be right,’ Jerry said.
‘Just a peek,’ Danny said.
‘What’s in the envelope?’ Billy asked, again, pouring syrup on to his second stack.
‘Never mind,’ Jerry said. ‘It just wouldn’t be right.’
‘You haven’t seen them?’ Danny asked Jerry.
‘No.’
Danny looked at me.
‘He wouldn’t look if I gave them to him.’
‘What a gentleman,’ Danny said.
‘What’s in the damn envelope?’ Billy asked.
‘None of your business!’ Jerry snapped.
‘Jeez,’ Billy said.
‘What’s with the cousins?’ Danny asked.
‘Family tensions.’
‘I’d hate to be at the reunions,’ Danny said.
‘There,’ Jerry said, ‘you’d be the runt of the litter.’
The waitress came to clear the wreckage when we were done, and we all got seconds and thirds on the coffee.
‘So, what’s the next step?’ Danny asked.
‘Just get these to Abby,’ I said. ‘Then she’s on her way back to Hollywood, and we have our lives back.’
‘I guess we should all get back to our lives,’ Danny said. ‘I mean, after what happened yesterday.’
‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘We get a new president an hour later. The government goes on, so should we.’
‘Anybody talk to Sinatra?’ Danny asked. ‘See how he’s handling this?’
‘Entratter found out where he was when he heard,’ I said. ‘On the set.’
‘And now?’
‘I guess they closed it down, for the day at least. I don’t know where he is now.’
‘Mr S. is a pro,’ Jerry said. ‘He’ll be back on the set today or tomorrow.’
‘Probably,’ I said.
Billy looked over at the envelope beneath my elbow and asked, ‘Come on, what’s in the envelope?’
Outside the Horseshoe, Danny asked, ‘You guys gonna do some gambling down here?’ He was looking at the cousins.
‘Yes!’ Billy said.
‘No!’ Jerry said. He grabbed his cousin by the scruff of the neck and walked him away.
‘What’s that about?’
‘The kid got himself in the hole seventy grand.’
‘Yikes. Who gave him that much credit?’
‘It was a mistake,’ I said.
‘You?’
‘No, not me. A lunkhead Entratter promoted to pit boss.’
‘Has he met Jerry?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘he’s not gonna make that mistake again.’
‘Well,’ Danny said, ‘at least now I understand the family tension.’
‘I’ll talk to you soon,’ I said.
‘Yeah, sure,’ Danny said. ‘Thanks for breakfast.’
He went to his office, which was only a few doors away, and I joined Jerry and Billy in the Caddy.
TWENTY-EIGHT
We drove back to the Sands. Jerry dragged Billy up to their suite, and I went to Abby’s room. When she opened the door I held the envelope out to her.
‘Oh God!’ she said, grabbing it with one hand and my arm with the other. She pulled me inside.
‘Make sure they’re all there,’ I said, ‘but I think he was too scared to hold any back.’
‘Scared?’ she said,
‘You don’t want to know,’ I said. ‘Just check.’
She opened the envelope, slid the prints out and looked at them one by one. Then she looked further and found the negatives.
‘All there?’ I asked.
‘Looks like it.’ She slid them back in. ‘Did you, uh, look at them?’
‘Just took a peek to make sure it was you,’ I said, lying just a little.
She hugged the envelope to her chest. She was wearing a sleeveless dress, the length of which came to mid knee. There were suitcases by the door.
‘Catching a plane?’ I asked.
‘In two hours, I had hoped,’ she said, ‘so I guess so. I don’t know how to thank you.’
‘It was my pleasure, Abby.’
‘Joey says you don’t take money, but-’
I waved her off. Suddenly, she took a few steps and grabbed me in a tight hug. She smelled great and we stood that way for a few moments.
‘Well,’ she said, backing away, ‘I guess I should head for the airport.’
‘I’ll have a bellman come up for your bags,’ I said, ‘and take care of checking you out.’
‘Eddie, I see why Joey, Frank, and all the guys have such a high opinion of you.’
‘Thank you, Abby,’ I said. ‘That means a lot.’
She kissed me goodbye. Down in the lobby I told the desk she was leaving, and had them send a bellman up. That done, I went to let Jack Entratter know that my business with Abby Dalton was done, and I’d be going back to work.
His girl still wasn’t at her desk. I knocked on his open door, and he waved me in.
‘What’s up?’
‘I got the Abby Dalton thing done.’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘What’s Jerry doin’ about his kid cousin?’
‘I’m not sure, but I’m guessing he’s gonna take him home and try to keep him out of trouble.’
‘And are we gonna get paid?’
‘Don’t worry, Jack,’ I said. ‘You’ll get paid.’
‘Cousin Jerry’s got that kind of cash?’
‘I don’t know what kind of cash Jerry’s got, but I know he’ll bend over backwards to make sure the Sands gets its dough.’
‘I hope you’re right, Eddie.’
‘When have I ever lied to you, Jack?’
‘I ain’t talkin’ about lyin’, kid,’ Entratter said. ‘I’m just talkin’ about bein’ wrong.’
‘Well, I’m not wrong about this.’
‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘I’ll take your word for it.’
I looked over at his TV, which was dark.
‘I’m tired of seein’ all the reports,’ he said. ‘Had to shut the damn thing off.’
‘Can’t blame you for that,’ I said. ‘I’m going to work, Jack. Gonna take an extra shift this afternoon, and then do my regular tonight.’
‘Go ahead, then,’ he said. ‘I’ve got work of my own to do.’
TWENTY-NINE
The country had withstood another shock when, two days after JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, Oswald was shot by a saloonkeeper named Jack Ruby. Ruby was somebody the people in my world — Entratter, Skinny D’Amato, Momo Giancana, even Frank — knew. Suddenly, speculation that the mob was behind the assassination sprang up. But so far it couldn’t be proven. It appeared Oswald acted alone, and then Ruby acted alone. Of course, none of us on the outside were privy to the inner workings of the case. And, as the years went by, conspiracy theories would multiply.
But when I woke that morning I had been back to work a week, Jerry had dragged Billy back to Brooklyn and put him to work paying his debt, Frank had gone back to work, JFK had been buried, the image of John John saluting his father’s motorcade was forever burned into the psyche of us all, and the country had gone back to whatever they had been doing before that day in Dallas.
And somebody was slamming their fist on my front door.
‘All right!’ I yelled, stumbling out of bed in my underwear. If they wanted me so bad they’d have to accept me as I was. I secretly hoped it would be some Jehovah’s Witnesses I could shock.
But when I opened the door I was the one who was shocked. Detective Hargrove of the Las Vegas PD was standing there with a couple of cops in uniform.