They haul the boxes downstairs to the front door of the Precinct. There’s silence as they pass fellow police officers. As Colonel Butler opens the driver’s door, he glances back at the building that has been the command post for his energy and idealism since he launched his war on bootlegging. Standing by the front step is his faithful aide-de-camp who has stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
Joe stands at attention and snaps the Colonel a sharp salute. Colonel Smedley Butler returns it, smiles. “I confused the battle for the war, Kelly. Don’t make that same mistake.”
Chapter 64
M ickey’s hospital chair is pulled close to Edith’s bedside. She’s in a private room with her own nurse waiting outside; Mickey’s asked for a bit of privacy. He leans forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped, staring at his wife. Edith’s curled in a small ball, facing away from him. He breathes with the rise and fall of her back.
Mickey finds the scent of the room oppressive—so full of flowers it’s like a greenhouse. But if Edith likes them, each new bouquet a distraction from the sorrow of losing the baby, then Mickey will make sure there’s a new arrangement every day.
Despite the hospital noises beyond the door, Edith’s room is so silent you can hear a heart break.
“Kitten, do you remember the day we met? You were working the coat check at Zeiss’s. What a dump that joint was. Gosh, you were all sass and attitude. And a real stunner. I thought, ‘way outta my league’. But I couldn’t help myself. I made my move. You laughed. Skyrockets. God, I loved you. Right then and there, I knew you were the gal for me. The gal I would be with, forever.”
She shifts a little.
“You know me and how ambition drives me. And you should know, Edith, that you are a big part of all this success. Your beauty, intelligence, your spirit inspire me. You justify it. And sweeten it.” Mickey moves and sits on the edge of the bed, stroking Edith’s blanketed shoulder.
“It kills me, Kitten, seeing you like this. I’m sorry you lost the baby. So sorry, Edith. I’m sorry about how things went down with Tony but, doll, he was a louse. He wasn’t good enough for you. Heck, I’m not good enough for ya, and I’m Mickey Duffy.”
He stops, watching to see if his little joke gets a reaction. Nothing.
“What can I do, sweetheart? Want me to call Maggie? I can send a car round and get her.”
There’s a slight movement. “No. I don’t want anyone to know. I just want to be alone,” she whispers.
“I can’t leave you alone like this, Edith. I’ll stay with you.” He lies gently beside her, his arm around her waist.
“I think that you’re the only person I have left, Edith. Please don’t go and leave me alone. I know that I spend too much time away, but it’s just business. I’m working so hard for us, Edith. Those other dames don’t mean nuthin’. Piff. You get me, Kitten. I can trust you. And that doesn’t come ‘round too often.”
Edith shifts so that she can be snuggled into Mickey. Mickey pulls her closer. “It will be better when you get home, sweetheart. We’ll get through this like we always do. Together. I love you, Edith. And I got your back.”
* * * *
Still no word from Edith. What if Mickey found them? I wonder if I should call? Would Hilda know anything?
“Hello, Hilda. This is Mrs. Barnes. I was wondering if Mrs. Duffy is in?”
There’s a long pause. “Hello, Hilda?”
Maggie listens. Hilda said she’d thought ‘Mrs. Duffy’, Edith, would have called Maggie by now to tell her she was in the hospital, and then going away for a spell.”
Edith’s in the hospital? Did Mickey hurt her when he found out about Tony and the baby? I’ve got to talk to Edith.
* * * *
Maggie knocks gently at Edith’s hospital door, unsure of what she’ll find. She pokes her head around the corner. “Edith, honey. It’s Maggie.”
Once luxurious raven hair hangs lank. Her beautiful friend is gaunt, pale. Large, haunted hazel eyes stare at her.
“Maggie?” Edith whispers. “How did you know I was here?”
Maggie steps forward tentatively. “There was no one at the nurses’ desk so I just came in. Are you up for a visitor, sweetie? Should I go?”
Edith turns away and shrugs.
Maggie sits in the chair and takes Edith’s limp hand. “What happened, Edith?”
Edith appears to be focussed only on the wall; anchored in a dark place. “I lost the baby. I lost Tony. Everything’s gone,” she whispers.
“Did Mickey hurt you?”
“No, he didn’t.” Mickey’s voice is behind her.
Edith doesn’t even acknowledge that Mickey is in the room.
“Mrs. Barnes. I’m not sure that Edith is up for visitors. Why don’t I walk you to the elevator, and you can visit with Edith when she’s a bit stronger.”
Outside the room, he guides her to a private corner.
“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Barnes. I have been asking Edith if I should call you, but she doesn’t seem to care one way or the other. About anything. It’s all been a huge shock. Losing the baby. Getting cut off the drugs and the booze. I’ve convinced her to go away and get some rest. She needs to recover and she can’t do it here.”
All this is news to Maggie, who stares through Edith’s closed hospital door to see the poor, broken woman inside. Her hope for a new life as a mother, and a real relationship with Tony, gone.
“Where are you sending her? Will she be all right?”
“Mrs. Barnes, believe me when I tell you I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head. I love Edith and she’s my wife. She’s going to a very good facility where they can help her.”
The elevator door opens. Maggie hesitates. “Please ask her to get in touch with me when she feels up to it. Please, Mickey?”
“I will. She’ll pull through. She always does.” The elevator doors close. “And I’m counting on it,” he whispers.
Chapter 65
“ Almost there, Edith. Not much longer,” Henry says from the front seat of the Duesenberg. The large, luxury automobile purrs along the highway. Mickey had asked him to drive Edith to the rest home, a refurbished mansion outside of town.
Henry looks in the rearview mirror, concerned with what he sees. When she had first hooked up with Mickey, Edith had been the life of the party. She was spunky and feisty. Game for anything. This gal is just a pale echo of that. She’s gray; all the sparkle gone.
Henry checks his own reflection and wonders if he looks the same way. A couple of months of hard drinking and snorting drugs for the both of them. Each trying to escape something. Now they’ve run into a brick wall. That episode in the alley with Ralph Copeland was a low point, maybe the lowest. Thank goodness Mickey had his back.
“Hey, Edith?” He waits until he sees he has her attention. “You think this treatment is going to work?”
“Cold turkey?” she whispers.
“Yeah, sure. I mean, it seems a bit extreme. I hear there are shakes and stuff. And that you’ll be sick. Are you up for that?”
He watches Edith turn away again, staring out the window. Looks like she’s a million miles away. Too much partying for that girl. And it sounds like the scene at the train station was pretty rough, too.
“You know. I was thinking I’d try it myself. Get off the blow and the booze. I don’t think I need to check into any fancy rest home. I’ll just hole up in my apartment, lock the door. You think that I could do it myself?”
Edith shrugs listlessly.
“Maybe I’ll grab a dame to look out for me. You know, in case I get sick or something. Maybe heat up some soup once I’m on the mend. I know a gal. She’ll do it for me. Yup, I’m going to do it. You know, new year, new man.”
Henry looks in the rearview mirror. Edith is lost in her own thoughts.
“Yeah, I’ll call her as soon as I get back. I can do this,” Henry says, speaking to himself. “I owe it to Mickey.”
* * * *
Edith’s not worried ab
out the detox. However bad it is, she deserves it.
She is nervous about the second treatment she’s booked for. The treatment no one but Mickey knows about. That was also part of the deal; to try and deal with the syphilis—she’s noticed a slight tremor in her hands that’s getting worse. At first, she put it down to the drinking and the drugs. But it got stronger, just like the doc said it would.
The treatment seems barbaric. Quack medicine? Injecting her with malaria to have the fever burn off the syphilis. Apparently, it works. The doctor appears confident. If she survives the detox and survives the malaria, she should come out right as rain. Should. If she comes out. Maybe Mickey is trying to get rid of her? Whatever.
She stares out the car’s side window at the passing countryside. The front gates of the treatment facility loom as Henry slows the car to make the turn. The rest-home was the deal she had made with Mickey. He’d wanted to drive her, but she’d said no. She’s tired of his overbearing personality. So tired. Too much partying. Too much cocaine. Tony. The baby. It’s all been too much.
She’s toyed with the idea of just giving up, crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over her head. Looking out the window as the car slows at the front door, Edith shivers and closes her eyes. Giving up is so appealing, and she’s never been good at resisting temptation.
Chapter 66
I t’s afternoon, and the house is blissfully quiet. Festivities are over for another year. Tommy and his friends have gone sledding. The lodgers aren’t due back from their holiday visits until tomorrow. Peace and solitude. Rare commodities. Maggie’s tradition dictates the Christmas tree remains until the first week of January has passed; something she enjoys.
“Have you heard how Edith is doing?” Frank asks from his chair by the fireplace.
“I got another note from her today. She’s feeling much better. And I talked to Mickey earlier in the week. He said she was doing well and would be home in a few months. I don’t think I’ll rest easy until I see her for myself. The poor thing has been through a lot. Although, I have to give Mickey credit. He’s stood by her the whole way. I didn’t think he had it in him.”
“Hidden depths,” says Frank. “And how are things around here?”
“I have so enjoyed the tranquility of these past few days. Having the house to myself is a real novelty for Tommy and me. We’re not used to being on our own anymore. Things are slowing down all ‘round. I wasn’t surprised when Elliot cancelled Operation Minnow. It’s like Dick had said, nobody wants to make too many waves right now. The boat has been rocked enough. With Colonel Butler gone, the city seems to have relaxed. It’s probably a bad thing to lose the momentum, but I think everyone is enjoying the break from the war on Prohibition’s criminals.”
“I know what you mean, Maggie. Sustaining that kind of drive over the long term is difficult. It’s exhausting for both combatants and adversaries. How are things with the bank?”
“Speak of adversaries, you mean?” Maggie grins. “Better. I think I told you that I picked up two more clients? Millie from the hat shop recommended one, and the other is a dentist. That’s five altogether. I took my new bookkeeping contracts down and showed Mr. McKim so that he could see I now had the income to comfortably make the mortgage payments. I never want to be in that situation again. Through my own recklessness and discontent, I came so close to losing the house. And Inspector, to tell the truth, with the peace and quiet the last few days, I’ve had time to think. What scares me even more is how close I came to losing my honor, integrity, and self-respect. I’m shocked at how easily temptation can turn a person.”
Maggie repositions herself with a cushion. “Temptation can make you into something you’ve never dreamed. It presses you to give up everything you’ve ever cherished for that one brief taste of what you most desire. In my case, the house and what I thought it meant.” Her thoughts drift to Edith and what she’s going through.
“You know, Maggie, my mother used to say it’s better to find a whole worm in your apple than half a worm,” says Frank.
“Eww, Inspector.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Mickey was going to give you an easy way out of your troubles, but you decided that you’d rather take the more difficult path. It’s a hard life, and the biggest temptation is to let how hard it is be an excuse to weaken. You stayed true to yourself, which took strength and courage.”
“Thank you, Inspector. I appreciate hearing you say that.”
The clock ticks, measuring the march. Maggie stands and dusts her hands. “Well, I’ve got lodgers to feed and clients’ books to do, not to mention homework. Classes start again next week.”
“Sounds like a busy day.”
“Like all the others. Although I am hoping to get a pie baked for supper.”
“I used to love pie. What kind?”
“Why, apple of course,” Maggie says.
“Ah, temptation. The apple,” says Inspector Frank Geyer. “Touché. Indulge me just one more bit of insight from General Bonaparte? You should keep in mind that ‘the world is not ruined by the wickedness of the wicked but by the weakness of the good’.”
“His words are an apt sentiment for the state of Philadelphia these days,” says Maggie.
“Certainly, we’d be better off if others could emulate your strength, Maggie. I despair when I think on it. With Colonel Butler gone and the gates to the city thrown wide, it’s only a matter of time before ruin descends. Philadelphia will be like a bloated corpse, and bootleggers and the corrupt feeding off her like maggots.” Frank has a grim look, staring at his cigar.
“Inspector, those are bleak thoughts. There is still hope.”
“Of course, my dear. Forgive me. There is always hope. And where there is none, we must invent it.”
“That sounds like the struggle continues, then?”
“Of course, Maggie. Mickey’s growing stronger. Philadelphia is corrupt and content. What was it you said at the police station? Ah yes, Evil triumphs when there is no justice.”
“Not on our watch it won’t.”
The End
Wait!! Don’t go.
There are two exciting opportunities you might want to check out.
Curious about the day that Edith and Mickey met?
Was it love at first sight or fireworks?
Only Bootlegger Readers Group subscribers get the exclusive novella, Destinations.
Go to https://sherilyndecter.com/destinations-landing-page/ to become part of this exclusive group and you can start reading today
Book Three: BEST SERVED COLD
Release date: March 21, 2019
She's still out for justice. A rival vies for his crown. On the dark city streets, no one stays on top for good…
Philadelphia, 1926. Maggie Barnes keeps getting one step closer to putting bootlegger Mickey Duffy behind bars. The next hurdle for her and the ghostly cop by her side is an unreliable and unstable witness. But to finally achieve her goal of justice, she may just have to team up with her enemy's greatest rival…
Mickey Duffy is struggling to hold his underworld empire together. As he fights off small-time bootleggers and his own growing demons, the Baileys make a move to take over his turf. When an assassination attempt on Mickey just misses the mark, he vows to fight back with devastating consequences.
With bullets flying in both directions, can Maggie survive to put Mickey behind bars or will she be caught in the crossfire?
Best Served Cold is the third book in the Bootleggers Chronicles series of historical mysteries. If you like street-savvy heroines, complex cover-ups, and 1920s crime stories, then you'll love Sherilyn Decter’s grand gangster tale.
Buy Best Served Cold to slip into a bootlegger saga today!
The Bootleggers’ Chronicles series:
Innocence Lost (Book One)
Tasting the Apple (Book Two)
Best Served Cold (Book Three)
Watch Your Back (Book Four)
Come at the King (
Book Five)
Author’s Notes on the Bootleggers’ Chronicles:
There is the romantic image of a writer, toiling alone in a garret, suffering for her muse. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. I write all my books with a couple of bad dogs curled up at my feet in the comfort of my home, either in Canada or Mexico.
Standing behind me and peering over my shoulder (figuratively, at least) is my editor Marie Beswick-Arthur and her trusty partner in crime, Richard. She’s been the most patient of editors and coaches and I certainly couldn’t have done it without her. (Although I will keep insisting that draft ninety-seven wasn’t necessary- LOL). I was also lucky to work with a great cover designer, Jane Dixon-Smith. She reached into my imagination and brought Maggie, Frank, and all the other rogues and heroes to life.
Tasting the Apple Page 28