“Which is?”
“That you don’t have enough distance on it,” Susan said.
“And it will get you killed.”
“What I do entails a certain amount of that,” I said. “We both know it. And we both move on. Nobody’s killed me yet.”
“You’ve set yourself up with Alderson,” Susan said.
“He won’t try to kill me. He doesn’t know where the tape is.”
“If he doesn’t do something,” Susan said, “your trap won’t work.”
“He’ll do something,” I said.
“What?”
“I don’t know. When I boxed I was a counterpunch.”
“So readiness is all,” Susan said.
“Yes.”
We were quiet for a moment.
“He might try to use you as leverage on me,” I said.
“I need to do my work,” Susan said. “I can’t go somewhere and hide.”
“We’ll protect you,” I said.
“I know.”
“Hawk mostly,” I said. “I don’t want to draw them to you.”
“Hawk will do,” she said.
“He often does,” I said. “I’m sorry this impinges on you.”
She smiled at me.
“It’s happened before,” she said. “Goes with the job description.”
“Which is?”
“Main Squeeze,” she said. “And what about the matter of identifying with Doherty?”
The timer sounded. I poured the pasta and vegetables into a colander and let them drain for a moment.
“I know about the time you were with another man,” I said.
“And I know we’re together now.”
Susan nodded.
I put the pasta and vegetables in a bowl, added the toasted crumbs, pignolias, and some grated cheese. I tossed it all with a splash of olive oil. Susan watched me silently. I stopped tossing the pasta and put the spoons down and looked at her. She put her hand on top of mine where it rested on the counter.
“That’s all I need to know,” I said.
29.
He gonna find out who you are,” Hawk said, “by now.”
“Probably,” I said.
“So he gonna fi gure out that you might be baiting him.”
“But he can’t be sure. Not all of us are equally honest,” I said.
“He might fi nd out that you are,” Hawk said.
“Either way,” I said, “he’s going to have to do something.”
“He could disappear,” Hawk said. “Start over someplace else. New identity. Not so hard to do, you know a couple people.”
“Feds are all over him,” I said. “I doubt that he’ll disappear.”
“Feds ain’t that good,” Hawk said.
“Epstein is,” I said. “And this is one of their own.”
Hawk shrugged. We were in his car, parked on Linnaean Street across from Susan’s home.
“You afraid he’ll make a run at Susan?” Hawk said.
“If he’s learned enough he’ll know it’s the only thing he can blackmail me back with. He can’t come straight at me because he doesn’t know where the tape is.”
“You thinking ’bout reinforcements?” Hawk said. “Me and Vinnie gonna get spread pretty thin covering you ass and hers.”
“I’ve made some calls,” I said. “Until we get more feedback we’ll all cover Susan’s ass . . . so to speak.”
“Lot better-looking than yours,” Hawk said.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Yeah, you do,” Hawk said.
A bald guy, maybe forty-five, in a black jacket and a blue shirt, came out of Susan’s front door and down the steps. I looked at my watch.
“Okay,” I said. “Fifty minutes, right on schedule.”
Five minutes later a young woman went up the stairs. She had on a gray jacket, unzipped, with a maroon sweater that ended four inches above her low-rider jeans.
“What you suppose her problem is?” Hawk said.
“Compulsive belly fl asher,” I said.
“Lotta that happening ’round here,” Hawk said. “You call Tedy Sapp?”
“I did.”
“Chollo?”
“Yep.”
“And?”
“Sapp’s out of the country. I talked to Mr. Del Rio. He said he could lend me either Chollo or Bobby Horse, but not both.”
“Chollo,” Hawk said.
“That’s what I told him,” I said.
“How ’bout the little dude from Vegas?” Hawk said.
“Bernard J. Fortunato,” I said. “Couldn’t locate him.”
“Last time he helped us out, he got shot up,” Hawk said.
“I know,” I said. “Probably deserves a bye on this one.”
“We got enough people anyway,” Hawk said. “Hell, Chollo come aboard, and we got them outnumbered.”
“You know it’s not your fi ght,” I said.
“Ain’t Vinnie’s fi ght,” Hawk said, “or Chollo’s either.”
“That’s right,” I said.
Hawk smiled.
“Any fi ght will do,” he said.
30.
Alderson came in with a big red-haired guy who looked like a tough hippie. Flannel shirt, work boots, beard. Halfway to the desk, Alderson stopped and stared at Chollo sitting on the couch.
“Who’s this?” Alderson said.
“My friend,” I said, “visiting from Los Angeles.”
Chollo was slender and medium height, with a ponytail. He looked with quiet amusement at the big red-haired guy.
“Why is he here?” Alderson said.
I pointed my chin at the big redhead.
“Protect me from the red menace,” I said.
“Him?” the redhead said.
“Sí,” Chollo said.
“Oh, I’m scared,” the redhead said.
“May I talk freely?” Alderson said.
“Absolutely,” I said.
The redhead kept eyeing Chollo. Chollo paid him no further attention. In fact he seemed as if he might be about to nod off.
“I have your money,” Alderson said.
“Good,” I said. “I have your tape.”
“Will this be the end of it?” Alderson said.
“You mean have I made a bunch of dupes,” I said. “And is this the fi rst of many payments?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve kept a backup to protect myself,” I said. “But I won’t ask for more money.”
“Not acceptable,” Alderson said.
“Does this mean you’re not going to give me the fifty large?”
I said.
“Not unless I get everything,” Alderson said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“Give me the fi fty, you get everything.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” Alderson said.
“I’m paralyzed with fear of Big Red?”
“Mr. Spenser,” Alderson said. “I do not respond well to frivolity.”
“What a shame,” I said.
“I will not be treated like this,” Alderson said. “I will not pay you any money.”
“And the tapes?” I said.
“There are many ways to get them,” Alderson said. “Please remember that I attempted the most civilized way fi rst.”
“How could I forget,” I said.
“This,” Alderson said, “is not a whimsical matter.”
“What kind of matter is it?” I said.
Big Red was eyeing Chollo as we talked. Red looked scornful. Chollo appeared to be thinking long thoughts about pleasant things.
“This government will use any means to silence me,” Alderson said. “The tapes would give them a pretext.”
“You don’t even know what’s on the tape,” I said. “Except for the excerpt I played. What do you think they’ll hear when they play it.”
“You won’t give the tape to them,” Alderson said. “You will lose any chance at fifty thousand dollars and any other leverage with me that you might need.”
“What other kind might I need?” I said.
“I will have those tapes one way or another,” Alderson said. Alderson turned on his heel and headed for the door. Big Red followed him. He stopped at the door and gave Chollo a long last look.
“Maybe I’ll see you again,” he said.
Chollo raised his head slightly and looked at Big Red through his half-closed eyes. Alderson was already in the hall.