by James Ellroy
“Jesus, calm down. You’ll have another—”
“Lock up Bruvick. Make him call Ward at 10:00 p.m. L.A. time.”
Wayne said, “What is this?”
Pete said, “I’m not sure.”
89
(Los Angeles, 9/28/65)
Trashed: the living room/the bedrooms/the kitchen.
He saw wisps. He saw cords. They weren’t there. He trashed the phones. He looked for taps. They weren’t there. He trashed the TV. He looked for bugs. They weren’t there.
He trashed his study. He trashed Jane’s den. They were cord and bugfree. He walked to a liquor store. He bought Chivas Regal. He walked it on back.
He opened it. He smelled it. He dumped it out.
He rebuilt the phones. He reread the story. Arden Breen Bruvick/Carlos and Jane.
He clipped the piece. He cropped the pic. He taped them inside the front door. He taped them at Jane’s eye-level.
Jane was late. Jane was due—Arden Breen Bruvick Smith Coates.
Littell grabbed a chair. Littell sat outside. The terrace view enticed. West L.A./count the lights/gauge that long drop.
There’s the key. It’s her. It’s Arden Breen Bruv—
The lock clicked. The door slammed. There’s the pause. There’s the gasp.
She dropped her keys. She scraped a match. She’s scheming. She’s lighting up. She needs hand props.
Littell heard her foot scuffs. High heels tapped hardwood. Littell smelled her smoke.
There—she’s behind you.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. There’s an explanation for all of it.”
His neck went warm. He felt her breath. He stared at the lights. He hid from her face.
“Carlos protected you before Dallas. I protected you after. You went back to Carlos and started spying on me.”
Jane traced his shoulders. Jane traced his neck. She probed. She worked his kinks. Geisha/spy/whore.
“Carlos found me after Dallas. He knew I had to be the Arden at the safe house. He lied to Pete and pretended that he didn’t know who I was.”
She probed. She worked his neck. Call girl/liar/whore.
“Carlos was hiding my husband. He said he’d hand us up to Jimmy Hoffa if I didn’t report back on you. I’d had a thing with Jules Schiffrin, and Carlos told me about your Teamster-book plan.”
Her hands worked. Her voice worked. Concubine/whore.
“But I loved you, and I loved our life, and I loved what you’d done for me.”
She traced his neck. She kissed his neck. Mob slattern/whore.
“Yes, I went through your things. But I didn’t tell Carlos that you were stealing from Howard Hughes, or that you were sending money to the SCLC, or that you sleep with Janice Tedrow when you’re not sleeping with me, or that you hoard these pathetic mementos of Robert Kennedy.”
Littell rubbed his eyes. Streetlights blurred. Littell gauged the drop.
“You’ve got a file. You’re too good not to have one.”
Jane dropped her hands. Jane went through her purse. Jane dropped a key in his lap.
“The Encino B. of A. You can have it. That’s how much it means to me now.”
Littell squeezed the key. Jane kissed his neck.
“I loved my father. That rumor that I hated him was nonsense. Danny and I didn’t kill him. Jimmy Hoffa did.”
Littell rubbed his eyes. Jane leaned in. Jane rubbed her tears on his neck.
“This all goes back to Jimmy and the Outfit. I was going to complete my commitment to Carlos and go to the FBI. I was going to give them everything I had on every Outfit man I knew, and try to cut a deal to save you.”
Littell rubbed his eyes. Littell rubbed his neck. Traitor/spy/whore.
He stood up. He turned around. He saw Jane. He made fists. Her eyes were wet. Her cheeks were wet. She’d trashed her makeup.
The phone rang. He stared at Jane. Jane stared hard back. The phone rang. He stared. He saw:
New gray hairs. New face lines. Neck veins on a roar.
The phone rang. He stared. He saw: One hip cocked/those cheekbones/her pulse on a roar.
The phone rang. Jane broke the stare. Jane walked and got it. She said, “Hello.” She trembled—pulse on a roar.
He followed her. He stared at her. He saw her neck veins and cheek veins. He saw her pulse on a roar.
She turned away. She cupped the receiver. He walked around her. He grabbed the hall phone.
He heard a man. He heard “run.” He heard “blown with Littell.” He heard the man falter. He heard Jane get strong.
She said, “Run.” She said, “Hush now.” She said, “Carlos will care.”
She hung up. The line-click boomed. Littell dropped his phone.
He walked over. He saw her eyes start to dry. He saw her pulse ebb off that roar.
“Were we ever real?”
“I think we loved risk more than we ever loved each other.”
“You were always an Arden. You were never really a Jane.”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/2/65. Atlanta Constitution headline:
FBI RAIDS MISSISSIPPI HATE-MAIL RING
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/11/65. Miami Herald subhead:
GRAND JURY INDICTS KLAN LEADERS FOR
MAIL-FRAUD AND INTERSTATE COMMERCE VIOLATIONS
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/20/65. Jackson Sentinel headline and subhead:
NEO-NAZI LEADERS INDICTED
MEMBERS BLAST “FBI POGROM”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/26/65. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
MYSTERY AT BON SECOUR
POPULAR CHARTER SKIPPER AND BOAT DISAPPEAR
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/31/65. San Francisco Chronicle headline and subhead:
VIETNAMESE TROOP COUNT AT 240,000
KING CALLS FOR PROTESTS TO INFLUENCE NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/4/65. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
BON SECOUR SKIPPER’S BOAT FOUND IN FLORIDA KEYS
MYSTERY DEEPENS: SKIPPER NOT ON BOARD
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/8/65. Los Angeles Times subhead:
RFK SAYS NO PREZ’L BID IN ’68
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/18/65. Chicago Tribune headline and subhead:
U.S. ATTORNEY CITES “BRILLIANT WORK” IN FBI HATE WAR
RECORD NUMBER OF MAIL-FRAUD INDICTMENTS
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/20/65. Milwaukee Sentinel headline:
KING ANNOUNCES “ANTI-SLUM CAMPAIGN” IN CHICAGO
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/26/65. Washington Post headline and subhead:
HOOVER ATTACKS KING AT AMERICAN LEGION RALLY
CALLS CIVIL-RIGHTS LEADER “DEMAGOGUE”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/30/65. Washington Post headline and subhead:
CRITICS DENOUNCE HOOVER ATTACK
ANTI-KING STATEMENTS CALLED “SHRILL”
AND “HYSTERICAL”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/5/65. Seattle Post-Intelligencer headline and subhead:
HOUSE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING “ILLEGAL” BUGS
AND WIRETAPS
CIVIL-RIGHTS LEADERS CALL “FOUL”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/14/65. Los Angeles Herald-Express headline and subhead:
HOWARD HUGHES AND TWA:
BILLIONAIRE RECLUSE AGREES TO DIVEST STOCK
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/15/65. Denver Post-Dispatch subhead:
HOFFA CONVICTION APPEALS FILED
WITH SUPREME COURT
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/18/65. Chicago Sun-Times subhead:
KING REVEALS DETAILS OF “ANTI-SLUM CAMPAIGN”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/20/65. New York Times subhead:
“CITIZENS FOR RFK” GROUP ANNOUNCES EXPLORATION
OF ’68 CANDIDACY
DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/21/65. Chicago Tribune headline and subhead:
GIANCANA STILL IN JAIL
REFUSES TO TESTIFY BEFORE GRAND JURY
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/8/66. Washington Post subhead:
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TELLS HOOVER:
REMOVE ALL BUGS AND WIRETAPS NOT VETT
ED BY AG
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/14/66. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
MYSTERY CONTINUES:
WHERE IS POPULAR BON SECOUR SKIPPER?
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/18/66. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
MYSTERY DEEPENS:
DOES SKIPPER’S DISAPPEARANCE LINK TO ’56 CHARGES
AND LONG-MISSING WIFE?
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/19/66. Atlanta Constitution headline:
MAIL FRAUD INDICTMENTS CONTINUE
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/26/66. Chicago Tribune headline and subhead:
BOLD WORDS FROM REV. KING:
“THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE CHICAGO FREEDOM MOVEMENT
WILL BE TO BRING ABOUT THE UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER OF FORCES
DEDICATED TO THE CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SLUMS”
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/31/66. Denver Post-Dispatch headline and subhead:
JURY-TAMPERING CONVICTION UPHELD
HOFFA FACES JAIL TIME
DOCUMENT INSERT: 2/8/66. Los Angeles Herald-Express headline and subhead:
FOES DENOUNCE HOOVER
FBI BOSS CATCHES HEAT FOR ATTACKS ON KING
DOCUMENT INSERT: 2/20/66. Miami Herald subhead:
RFK STUMPS FOR NEGOTIATED VIET SETTLEMENT
ECHOES DR. KING’S PLEAS
DOCUMENT INSERT: 3/3/66. Los Angeles Times headline and subhead:
HUGHES DIVESTS TWA STOCK
6.5 MILLION SHARES NET $546,000,000
DOCUMENT INSERT: 3/29/66. Internal memorandum. To: BLUE RABBIT. From: Director. Topic: OPERATION BLACK RABBIT. Marked: “Stage-1 Covert”/“Eyes Only”/“Read and Burn.”
BLUE RABBIT,
Pull all SCLC bugs and wiretaps immediately. Implement at Stage-1 Priority. It is imperative that this be accomplished before the Judiciary Committee begins a formal inquiry.
Initiate the first stage of OPERATION BLACK RABBIT/ADJUNCT. Pick a target and assess the health of P. Bondurant, henceforth to be known as BIG RABBIT.
90
(Vietnam, Laos, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Bon Secour, Bay St. Louis, Cuban Waters, 4/1/66–10/30/66)
Ghosts: Arden-Jane and Danny Bruvick.
Wayne watchdogged Danny. Danny called Arden-Jane. Arden-Jane left Ward Littell. Wayne stuck with Danny. Wayne wet-nursed Danny. Wayne worked to save Ward Littell.
Pete said guard Danny. Pete said release him. Pete said cut him two days’ slack. Call Carlos then. Say Danny booked. Cite parts unknown.
He did it. He stayed with Danny. Danny boozed. Danny reminisced.
Danny loves Arden. Arden loves Ward. Arden loves Danny half-baked. Arden works for Carlos. Arden spies on Ward. Part-time spy/full-time lover/long-distance wife.
Wayne got it:
Danny was weak. Arden was strong. Arden hooked him on the Life. It all pertained to Teamster shit—embezzlement and flight.
Wayne waited. Danny waited. Arden came by. She chain-smoked. She den-mothered. She fussed.
She knew it was over. She said it: “I’m tired of running—and Ward knows that.”
Wayne left the boat. Danny cast sail. Wayne killed two days. Wayne called Carlos up.
He said Danny split. He said Danny took Tiger Klaw. Coward Danny—scared of scalp runs/scared for his life.
Carlos yelled. Carlos fumed. Carlos made vicious threats. Wayne tracked newspapers. Wayne logged updates.
Tiger Klaw drifts. Tiger Klaw runs aground. Danny and Jane are nowhere. Carlos stays mum. Carlos stays clueless. Carlos does not brace Pete. Carlos does not brace Wayne.
Pete clued Ward to Arden. Pete bucked Carlos. Arden ran to Danny. They ran to their death. They held in strong. They did not rat Pete and Wayne. Pete and Wayne would have heard otherwise.
Pete loves Ward. Ward loves Jane the ghost. Pete knows they’re dead. Pete never says it. Dead women fuck him up.
Pete loves Barb. Pete rotates home. Pete stays off rotation. Barb lured him home. Ward licensed him in.
Pete bought the Golden Cavern. Pete bought his own hotel-casino. Eldon Peavy had syph. Eldon Peavy sold cheap. Eldon Peavy dumped his fruit bowl.
The Cavern welcomed fruits. The Cavern housed fruits. The Cavern rejoined Tiger Kab. Fruit drivers drove fruit tenants. Fred T. bugged the rooms. Fruit moths were drawn to the flame.
Dirt accrued: Fruit dirt/hip dirt/pol dirt/fruit celebs/fruit hipsters/fruit politicos.
Pete installed “Swinger Suites.” Fred bugged the walls. Pete drew non-fruit biz. State legislators/junket groups/Shriners on toots.
Pete accrued dirt. Pete accrued straight dirt and fruit dirt. The word spread—the Cavern’s hip—dig the straight-fruit détente.
Biz boomed. Pete stored dirt and made money. Pete reprised health-wise. Pete looked good now. Pete restored his bad pump.
He stopped smoking. He dumped weight. He chewed gum incessant. He worked incessant. He ran the dope biz. He ran Tiger Kab. He ran the Cavern. He refurbished the lounge. He shot Barb a permanent gig.
Milt C. gigged with her. Milt did topical shtick. Milt had a puppet. Said puppet was a hairy ape. Milt called him Junkie Monkey. Junkie Monkey ragged celebs. Junkie Monkey ragged fruits. Junkie Monkey perved on Barb B.
Barb drew biz. Milt drew biz. Pete made more money.
Sonny Liston loved the Cavern. Sonny moved in. Sonny hid from his wife and helped Pete.
Sonny roamed the casino. Sonny made dope collections. Sonny muscled deadbeats. Wayne ran with Sonny. They made dope collections. Their reps drew heat.
Their reps clashed. They were salt-and-pepper. They were black-black and white-white. They prowled West LV. They talked Wendell Durfee. Sonny ran riffs. Sonny ran theories. Sonny dug that nom de pimp:
Cassius Cool—the ex–Wendell Durfee. I calls him Cassius X.
Wayne rotated. Wayne ran Saigon to Vegas. Wayne ran due west.
He cruised L.A. He stalked Wendell Durfee. He prowled Watts. He drew hate vibes. Call them riot aftershocks.
He hit pimp bars. He polled pimps. He polled whores. He got zero results. He palmed cops. He bought jail checks. He logged rumors. He got zero results. He prowled south. He tooled main drags. He watched faces. He got zero results.
He braced street creeps. He passed out cards. He logged jive. He got pushed. He got shoved. He got spit on. L.A. was L.A. He had no rep.
He rotated east. He rotated south. He did kadre biz. He cooked dope in Saigon. He ran dope in Vegas. He ran guns through Mississippi.
Profits were up. Kadre kosts accrued konkurrent. Guns moved south. They lost Tiger Klaw. They lost Skipper Bruvick. They bought a new boat. They armored it. They bought a new skipper. Dick Wenzel—seaborne merc—tight with Laurent Guéry.
Tiger Klaw II. Out of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Wenzel made Cuban runs. Wenzel brought Laurent. Wenzel brought Flash and Wayne. Wenzel was good. Wenzel was bold. Wenzel had boulder-size balls.
The runs went goooood. No glitches/no bullshit/no surprise attacks. They probed the coast. They grappled up. They met Fuentes and Arredondo.
They dispensed weaponry. They fed insurgents. The funnel moved inland. The coast fed the hills. The kadre fed fuel to la Causa.
The kadre was kautious. Pete said trust no one. Pete decreed poly tests. Laurent ran said tests. Laurent ran the Port Sulphur hot seats. Wayne tested clean. Flash tested clean. Ditto Fuentes and Arredondo.
The Cuban runs worked. Mucho runs with no glitches and shit. Bob worked. Laurent worked. They shagged guns. They hid their sources. They said they hit the Minutemen. They said they hit John Birch. They said they tapped Army QMs.
Bob played it close. Bob cited need-to-know laws and source restrictions. Bob shagged good guns. Bob made concessions.
His sources feared tracebacks. His sources dipped their guns. His sources burned serial numbers. Pete hated it. Pete craved confiscation. Let’s tell the Beard that it’s us.
Bob shagged good guns. Bob shagged dipped guns. Pete went along with it.
The funnel ran to Cuba. The funnel ran bac
k. The funnel ran information. Fuentes reported. Arredondo assisted.
Dig it: Skirmishes/village raids/running fire. Varaguay/Las Tunas/ Puerto Guinico. Insurgents hit. Insurgents kill. Insurgents die. Insurgents find replacements.
Good, but:
No major battles yet. No major progress discernible. No kadre guns thus decisive.
Wayne loved the Cuba runs. Wayne ate Dexedrine. Wayne notched seven run-notches. Dick Wenzel played skipper. Pete made two runs. Flash and Laurent made seven.
They got close. They dropped guns off. They shot inland. They torched huts. They scalped Fidelistos. They saved the scalps. They dry-cured them. They burned on their initials. They tallied them. They nailed them up. They served as boat decorations.
Wayne had sixteen scalps. Flash had twelve scalps. Laurent and Pete had nine each. Pete craved more. Pete craved escalation.
The war escalated. Their crops escalated. White horse escalated konkurrent. Mesplède ran Tiger Kamp solo. Mesplède brought in reinforcements.
Chuck was dead. Tran was dead. Pete was stateside. Laurent was stateside. Flash was stateside. Wayne was on rotation. Mesplède needed help. Mesplède bought more Marvs. Mesplède bought some Can Lao goons. They backstopped him. They ran the slaves. They surveilled the chemists.
Wayne knew the Tran story. Pete told him late. Pete said it’s all kool. Mr. Kao’s boys rent the lab. They work there on your rotations. It’s kosher. Goons guard your lab. Said goons pay tribute to Stanton.
The war escalated. Big troop stats swelled through ’66. Kao escalated. Kao pushed horse in France. Kao pushed horse in Saigon.
To slants only. No round-eyes. No GI biz.
Kao formed a dope squad. It was all Can Lao and all klandestine. They swarmed Saigon. They trashed “O” dens. They made them horse pads.
They ran said pads. They sold horse. They kept said pads klean. They scrubbed floors and swabbed spikes.
Kao had his fiefdom. Kao had export and Saigon. The kadre had Vegas.
They shared lab space. They shared vats. They shared guinea pigs. Junkies swarmed the Go-Go. Junkies geezed upstairs. Kao’s chemists used them. They brewed new formulas. They tested dosages. They notched fatalities.