“A stalwart lover,” she said. “I hope your girlfriend knows this.”
“I think she suspects it.”
45
“YOU WOULD LIKE the food down here,” Susan said. “They serve a lot of cornbread and have swell biscuits.”
I could hear restaurant sounds around her. She had stepped away from a table and the sounds became more slight.
“I took a drunk woman home last night,” I said. I leaned back in my office chair and crossed one jogging shoe over the other. “She got naked as a jaybird.”
“Good for you,” Susan said.
“And this morning, I brought her breakfast.”
“Even better,” she said. “If you had made her breakfast, I might become resentful.”
“She had great legs. Very tan and muscular.”
“Why else would you take her home?” Susan said.
“That and two men tried to kidnap her at gunpoint,” I said. “I had to intervene.”
“Are they dead?”
“One.”
“She must have been frightened to death. Or is she used to this kind of life?”
“Can’t say,” I said. “She’s from Vegas.”
“Ah,” Susan said. “The Brit who used to work for Rick Weinberg.”
“She says she’s now the CEO of his company.”
“And what does Rachel Weinberg say about that?”
“I don’t think she knows,” I said. “I’ve tried to reach her, without success.”
“Does your Brit admit to the affair?”
“She said Rachel and Rick had an open marriage.”
“Professionally, I do not condone or refute an open marriage,” she said. “I have patients who find it not only freeing but sexually stimulating.”
“Ick.”
“You would not find it sexually stimulating to think of me with another man.”
“Did you miss the part where I just killed someone?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. My chest swelled with the sound of her breathing. “Have you spoken to Hawk?”
“I’m starting to develop a complex,” I said. “Every time something dangerous happens, you want me to call Hawk.”
“Just looking out for you.”
“I call Hawk only in case of emergency,” I said. “I break that glass sparingly.”
“Where is Z?”
“Close.”
“He is not Hawk,” she said.
“Hawk would argue that nobody is.”
“He may be right.”
“Z stumbled a bit after the beating,” I said. “Physically and mentally, but he’s making a comeback.”
“Is he drinking?”
“Not to excess.”
“As much as he tries to emulate you, you can’t change ingrained behavior overnight. It takes time. And often, therapy.”
“He works hard on his own,” I said. “I hope he’ll come back even better.”
“Has he wavered on wanting to be like you and Hawk?”
“Nope.”
“Could I interest him in a solid career as a social worker or a stable office job?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“And if he’s going to do this, we both have to watch him stumble and fail.”
“It’s never pretty,” I said.
“Before I met you, did you often fail?”
“Meaning did I often have the crap kicked out of me?”
“Yes.”
“But I never liked it much.”
“Perhaps until Z is one hundred percent, you find better help.”
“Few options,” I said.
“Vinnie?”
“I will explain later.”
“And dare I ask about the naked woman?”
“I plan to drop her at the Boston Harbor Hotel,” I said. “Z will watch her. But first I’ll make sure she puts on some clothes.”
“Did she really look that good naked?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I had my hands over my eyes.”
“Hmm.”
“But she is no lithe, flexible Jewess.”
“No shit,” Susan said.
“Z seems very excited about his new gig,” I said. “I think he put on some cologne.”
“Be careful,” she said. “After what he’s been through, he may be very susceptible to her advances.”
“And that would be bad?”
“You yourself seem not to trust the woman.”
“I don’t one bit.”
“And may I remind you, Z can be quite impressionable.”
“True.”
There was another long pause. Susan sounded lovely breathing way down south. “Not long,” she said.
“Every minute,” I said.
“Safe,” she said. “Please be safe.”
46
MANY BOATS FILLED the Boston Harbor that afternoon. Sailboats, speedboats, and water shuttles cut across the choppy, dark water. The day was bright, beautiful, and cloudless. There was a heavy wind as Henry and I stood outside the health club for a chat. The wind ruffled his white hair as he stood rock-solid in satin running pants and a tight-fitting white T-shirt. The shirt had the logo for Harbor Health Club on the pocket.
“Put me on the shirts,” I said, “and you’d sell more memberships.”
“You need to work your legs more,” Henry said. “Do more squats.”
“I had a tip that there may have been another offer on the Ocean View.”
Henry leaned against a piling. The air smelled heavily of salt and dead fish. No amount of posh condos and restaurants could eradicate the smell. But the wind was strong and cool, and felt good against my face.
“Yep,” he said. “Just heard myself. Five hundred grand more than the original.”
“They had a deal.”
“Tell that to Lou Coffone,” Henry said. “He’d screw a dog for a nickel.”
“Hard times.”
“They want to hire another lawyer to deep-six what we signed.”
“Will they?” I said.
“What do you think?”
I leaned against a separate piling, my back to the harbor and the wind. The day was warm enough to leave my jacket in the car. I wore a navy T-shirt with Levi’s and my dress running shoes. I held the edge of my T-shirt down with my right hand so as not to let the wind expose my .38.
“I need to tell Rachel Weinberg what’s going on.”
“I think her husband was stand-up,” Henry said. He chewed on his cheek and nodded. “Do it.”
I nodded.
“Z told me about what happened,” he said. “Fucking Gino Fish’s nephew?”
“I have it on good authority Gino wasn’t overly fond of him.”
“Does that matter?” Henry said. “Jesus, I’m sorry I pulled you into this crazy fucking mess. I just wanted to keep my place. I like it out in Revere.”
“Z seems to like it here.”
“And I want the kid to stay,” Henry said. “Part of his training is being able to live where he works out. We still got some work to do.”
I nodded. A bright, warm wind kicked off the harbor. We watched the Logan shuttle dock at the wharf and the bright-eyed tourists setting foot on land. A man dressed as Ben Franklin met them, ringing a handbell. Henry pushed off the piling as if doing a one-handed push-up.
Ben Franklin kept ringing the bell. “Didn’t you used to go to school with him?” I said.
“He was in the grade up,” Henry said. “We thought he was a pussy ’cause he wore them socks.”
“I’ll explain to Rachel what’s going on,” I said. “Try and set something up with the board.”
“Tell her something for me,” Henry said. “Okay? Tell her that I ain’t a part of this. I shook hands with her husband. It was a done deal. I don’t even know who the hell these people are who want to buy it now.”
“Guy named Harvey Rose.”
“Harvey who?”
“Rose.”
“How did you find that out?”