by Stuart Woods
“Rick, my dear fellow,” Niven cried, smiling broadly. They pumped hands, and Niven introduced Rick to his wife.
“I gave David the new script this morning,” Eddie said. Suzanne and Mrs. Niven went to greet the little girl. “You seen the paper yet?”
“Not this morning.”
Eddie handed Rick the Los Angeles Times. “I thought you’d be interested in this.”
Rick took the paper and was greeted by a photograph of a man in a suit, sprawled on a sofa. Some of his face was missing. The headline read: “Ben ‘Bugsy’ Siegel Dead in Apparent Mob Slaying.”
“Holy shit,” Rick said.
“My sentiments exactly,” Eddie said. “Word is, Ben spent way too much of some other people’s money on this casino thing of his in Nevada; made his investors unhappy. Other people have already taken over the project.”
Rick looked at the text of the story. “A 30–06 rifle, many shots fired. Sounds like a BAR.”
“All sorts of war surplus stuff available these days,” Niven said.
“Yes,” Rick agreed, glancing at Eddie, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze.
“Well,” Eddie said, “that’s that. Tennis, anyone?”
Rick went and handed the paper to Glenna. “Read that when you get a chance.”
“How’s the knee?” Eddie asked as they walked down to the court.
“Never better,” Rick said. “Funny about Ben Siegel getting it that way.”
“I don’t think it was a mob hit,” Eddie said.
“No?”
“Nah, I think Virginia Hill had him blasted. Probably caught him with another woman. Ben always liked the girls.”
“Maybe a little too much.”
“Yeah,” Eddie said, “maybe a little too much.”
“I like the mob hit theory better, though.”
“That works for me, too,” Eddie said. “You serve. Cripples first.”
“That remark is going to cost you, pal,” Rick said.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want, once again, to express my thanks to my editor, David Highfill, and all the people at Putnam who work so hard to get my work to its readers.
I’d also like to thank my literary agents, Morton Janklow and Anne Sibbald for their continuing attention to my career over the past twenty-three years. Where would I be without them?
I’m grateful to the master gunsmith, Terry Tussey, who makes .45s very much like Rick Barron’s, for his patient tutorials on firearms.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I am happy to hear from readers, but you should know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pass before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.
However, if you have access to the Internet, you may visit my Web site at www.stuartwoods.com, where there is a button for sending me e-mail. So far, I have been able to reply to all of my e-mail, and I will continue to try to do so.
If you send me an e-mail and do not receive a reply, it is because you are among an alarming number of people who have entered their e-mail address incorrectly in their mail software. I have many of my replies returned as undeliverable.
Remember: e-mail, reply; snail mail, no reply.
When you e-mail, please do not send attachments, as I never open these. They can take twenty minutes to download, and they often contain viruses.
Please do not place me on your mailing lists for funny stories, prayers, political causes, charitable fund-raising, petitions, or sentimental claptrap. I get enough of that from people I already know. Generally speaking, when I get e-mail addressed to a large number of people, I immediately delete it without reading it.
Please do not send me your ideas for a book, as I have a policy of writing only what I myself invent. If you send me story ideas, I will immediately delete them without reading them. If you have a good idea for a book, write it yourself, but I will not be able to advise you on how to get it published. Buy a copy of Writer’s Market at any bookstore; that will tell you how.
Anyone with a request concerning events or appearances may e-mail it to me or send it to: Publicity Department, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.
Those ambitious folk who wish to buy film, dramatic, or television rights to my books should contact Matthew Snyder, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212–1825.
Those who wish to conduct business of a more literary nature should contact Anne Sibbald, Jan-klow & Nesbit, 445 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
If you want to know if I will be signing books in your city, please visit my Web site, www.stuartwoods.com, where the tour schedule will be published a month or so in advance. If you wish me to do a book signing in your locality, ask your favorite bookseller to contact his Putnam representative or the G. P. Putnam’s Sons publicity department with the request.
If you find typographical or editorial errors in my book and feel an irresistible urge to tell someone, please write to David Highfill at Putnam, address above. Do not e-mail your discoveries to me, as I will already have learned about them from others.
A list of all my published works appears in the front of this book. All the novels are still in print in paperback and can be found at or ordered from any bookstore. If you wish to obtain hardcover copies of earlier novels or of the two nonfiction books, a good used-book store or one of the online bookstores can help you find them. Otherwise, you will have to go to a great many garage sales.
Contents
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE