“For somebody who wanted to see me, you sure aren’t very friendly.”
…Could it be…? —It can’t be!
“I hear you want to ask me about the train.”
Claire started out the door, dragging Henry with him.
“In that case, let’s go catch a night train. Find out what the guys who got killed were feeling through an in-person simulation. Get a good, solid feel for power.”
Henry wanted to struggle, but his arms and legs wouldn’t obey him. It felt as though a wild beast were roaring at him from point-blank range.
“You can pay in terror.”
“This is the address of the mansion where Miss Eve Genoard is currently living. We’ll figure out the rest; for now, Miss Edith, take your friend and lie low at the Gandors’ office or some similar location. We’ll settle the matter with the Runorata Family inside a week.”
At the newspaper offices, after Henry had been dragged away, Nicholas was explaining to the three Gandor brothers and Edith what would happen next.
“The president told me about your situation, Keith, Berga, Luck. We’ll communicate Gustavo’s movements to you as soon as we know what they are, so please wait in your office or at home.”
Nicholas was wearing his customer service smile, but his eyes were completely serious.
After everyone had gone, Elean spoke to him cheerfully.
“Good work there. You’re really enthusiastic about this, aren’t you? Even though we’ve been so busy lately…”
“Yes, dammit. As an information broker, I like staying as neutral as possible. I don’t want to get any more involved in this incident. This is it.”
“I see. By the way, what happened to that bag?”
“It’s on the move, apparently. Lia Lin-Shan’s brother took the black bag and went out. No one’s reported its destination yet, but we should be hearing about it any minute.”
Just then, the door to the newspaper offices opened, and a group of varied ages, genders, and races entered.
“Elean! I gots a lil’ favor to ask ya!”
The plump black lady held out her right hand. There was a single piece of luggage hanging from it.
When he saw that black bag, Elean murmured quietly:
“It looks like objectivity isn’t an option anymore.”
“…Gimme a break.”
“Hold it. Did you say Vino?”
In a hotel room, Gustavo gave a wild cry.
“Yes. That’s right, Mr. Gustavo.”
“You mean the one-man-Western fella who says he’s freelance, in this day and age?”
“He isn’t a gunslinger or anything, but yes.”
“You’re saying the Gandors hired him?”
With an expression that seemed to say he couldn’t believe it, he stubbed the cigar he’d been smoking into an ashtray.
“The thugs all over town are talking about it. The fellas from the big outfits that were here a little while back, too. They said, ‘Well, that’s it for you guys. Once that monster’s on his tail, Gustavo won’t last three days.’ They were, uh, feeling sorry for us.”
“Screw those jokers!”
He was bluffing with both his body and his voice, but privately, he was filled with real fear.
Vino. That terrifying hitman? What was he doing with a puny outfit like that? Gustavo had heard that his boss, Bartolo, had hired him just once. They said he’d taken out the executives of several opposing syndicates in Newark in a single night. He’d also heard he’d been paid an enormous reward; did the Gandors have that kind of money?
“This isn’t good, Mr. Gustavo. Several of the men are starting to get jumpy.”
“Dammit, dammit, damn him! Send out our hitmen! Clip him before he clips us!”
“We can’t. All our cleaners work directly under Don Bartolo. If we’re going to borrow them, it would be faster to borrow some explosives.”
“Then use freelancers or mercenaries! Anything! Find them! Get me people who won’t piss themselves when they hear that name! If they rub him out, their rep in the underworld will shoot sky-high; there must be tons of guys who want that! Find me gonzo hatchet men like that! While you’re at it, set bounties on the Gandor bosses’ heads! Right now, do it now!”
“‘Their rep will shoot sky-high’? Sure, maybe if this really were the Wild West. Mr. Gustavo’s finally lost it.”
Even as Gustavo’s men grumbled, they reluctantly obeyed his orders.
And so the rumor about Vino became solid information.
That information spread quietly—and steadily—through the underworld.
I managed to get out of the house, but how am I going to find the Gandors?
Eve had chosen clothes that were easy to move in before she left, but even so, they exuded an air of luxury, and they were catching the attention of the people around her right and left.
Although the sun was long down, the neighborhood of Grand Central Station was just as crowded and raucous as it had been in the daytime.
It’s probably best to ask the people at that information brokerage.
On that thought, she tried to hail a taxi and head for Chinatown, but—
“’Scuse me. Are you Eve Genoard?”
Hearing a voice behind her, she turned. A timid-looking young man stood there. He couldn’t have been called well-dressed by any standard, and when he stood next to Eve, the contrast was almost comical.
Although she felt a little bewildered, Eve nodded.
“I’m, uh, my name’s Roy. Roy Maddock. Erm, there was something I wanted to ask you about, and, um, that’s why I stopped you… Is that okay?”
“Me? What could it be?”
“Well, it’s about your family.”
Immediately, the girl’s expression changed.
Yesss! That reaction has to mean I nailed it. Now I just need to threaten or sweet-talk her, get her under my control somehow. Then I’ll use the kid as a shield and threaten the Runoratas. If I do that—if I do that, Edith and I will both be saved! Waiting for this girl to be on her own for days on end was worth it!
Feeling certain of this, Roy grew just a little bolder as he faced Eve. In an attempt to get the advantage, he tried to use his most threatening voice, but…
“As a matter of fact, see, I know your family’s secret.”
The instant after he delivered the sort of line a two-bit punk would say, Roy was taken aback by an unexpected development.
“Oh! Are you a member of the Gandors?!”
“Huh?”
“Please! Take me—take me to your leader!”
She’d cried out abruptly in firm tones, and it overwhelmed him. Roy’s thoughts were thrown into complete confusion.
Why had the Gandors’ name suddenly come up here?
Could he still be in the middle of some drug-induced delusion?
Struck by this surreal feeling, all Roy could do was stand there, looking rattled.
Not good, Edith. Edith, what do I do…?
“It’s a lie! It can’t be—my grandfather and father can’t have done a thing like that! They can’t…!”
“Please, I’m begging you, please calm down.”
Eve had gotten all worked up, and Roy—who also looked as if he was about to cry—was desperately trying to soothe her.
He’d taken her to a nearby restaurant and, to start with, had explained his own situation. Apparently, this girl didn’t know anything, and all she’d done was frantically plead her family’s innocence. If she didn’t know, he’d have to keep her in custody and trick the Runoratas.
Looking at the girl, whose shoulders were quivering and whose eyes were swimming with tears, Roy knew that he was absolutely hopeless scum. There’d been no need to go out of his way to report her past, but he’d told her and had plunged a little girl—who, unlike him, had both hopes and a future—into the depths of unhappiness. Hadn’t there been a better way to tell her? If he’d been clever about it, couldn’t he have tricked her all the way to the end, so that they were both
happy when they parted ways?
However, Roy’s brain just didn’t seem capable of finding that method.
It’s the drugs. It has to be because I did too many drugs. It all felt so great; it was like my brain was melting, so I bet it actually did melt. A weird liquid came out of my ears that one time. I guess that was my brain. Dammit, dammit, dammit, if I’ve gotten this dumb, will I really be able to run away with Edith? Dammit, dammit, dammit, no wonder she called me an idiot hundreds and hundreds of times. I really am an idiot.
As impatience and annoyance with himself swirled and coiled, Roy desperately kept trying to calm the girl before him.
However, there was something he’d kept to himself, just one thing he hadn’t told her about.
It was the fact that her father and oldest brother had been killed by the Runorata Family. At first, he’d planned to tell her only that they’d been cooperating with the Runoratas. If she had refused to help him, then he would have told her, in order to plant a hatred of the Runoratas in her. But now he was really glad he hadn’t done it.
However, if he let slip the secret, she might help him.
But I’d hate that. If I did that, I’d be way worse than just a dope addict. How am I supposed to tell her a thing like that when I’m sober? The only way anybody could do that is if they were gowed-up on drugs, or an actual devil.
After about an hour, Eve finally calmed down.
As she regained her composure, she spoke to Roy, her eyes uneasy. “I’m sorry for having gotten upset.”
“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. Forget what I just said, if you can. Oh, but, no, if you do that, I’ll die. What do I do…?”
Roy was startled by the difference between now and a few moments before, but he struggled to calm down.
“May I ask you something?”
“What?”
“My father and older brother passed away in an accident a little while ago. Um, could that have been—?”
“No, no way! I, uh, don’t think so. See, the guy at the information brokerage said they’d taken advantage of their accidental deaths to take over!”
“Did they…?”
The expression of relief that appeared on the girl’s face plunged him into self-loathing again.
He’d lied.
But he had the feeling that he mustn’t sacrifice any more of this girl’s future.
For that matter, using her name and threatening the Runoratas would also be stealing her future.
If things went wrong—or no, even if they went right for him—she would probably be killed.
In that case, the Runoratas’ weakness will be gone, and my friends and family will get—
…Huh?
It finally hit him: He’d never had a shot at a complete win with this strategy in the first place.
That information-selling bastard…!
Just as hopeless anger welled up inside him, Eve abruptly said to him:
“I accept your offer.”
“Huh?”
“In exchange, I have a favor to ask.”
On hearing the word favor, Roy’s vision went dark. However, he knew with certainty that he couldn’t afford to turn her down at this point.
“Please take me to the Gandors, right away.”
“See? This is the Gandors’ office.”
In an alley just off Mulberry Street, Eve and Roy were standing in front of a posted paper sign that read TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR REMODELING.
Edith had taken him to this jazz hall several times, and he knew the Gandors’ office was in the basement.
“I can’t afford to run into them, so go on in by yourself. I’ll wait for you here.”
“All right. Um, thank you very much.”
“Nah, none of that. Please don’t say stuff like that to me.”
He shook his head, looking seriously wretched.
Just then:
Creeeak…
The door with the sign suddenly opened, and the sound of creaking metal fittings echoed in the alley.
Roy and Eve were so startled their hearts nearly stopped. Slowly, they turned to look at the door.
“Oh. Did you need something? I’m sorry. Unfortunately, it looks as though Tick’s the only one here at the moment.”
A beautiful woman who was nearing thirty stood there. She was slender, with short golden hair. Her transparent skin made her look rather like a doll, and she seemed fragile, as though she might break if you hugged her hard.
She appeared to be smiling faintly, but she didn’t seem like a very expressive person.
“U-uh, we wanted to meet Mr. Gandor, so we, um…”
“There are three people named Gandor here. Five, if you count me and my sister-in-law.”
Bewildered by what this elegant woman had said, both Roy and Eve asked:
“Um, who are you?”
The woman answered quietly.
“My name is Kate. I am the wife of the oldest brother…Keith Gandor.”
When Keith and the others returned to the office, Tick was by himself, cutting intricate pictures out of paper.
“Ah, welcome baaack.”
Unfolding a picture of a tommy gun that he’d snipped out with his scissors, he told Keith about the guest.
“Listen, a minute ago, Miz Kate stopped by. When I said you were out, she went back home.”
On hearing that, Keith’s eyebrows twitched.
“Oh, you did say you’d go home for a bit today, didn’t you?”
“Hey, weren’t you too busy at work to spend last New Year’s with her, too?”
“……”
Shaking his head slightly, Keith hung his coat and hat on the wall.
Apparently, he wouldn’t be able to make it home tonight, either.
“Well, I suppose this really isn’t the time for that.”
“Claire’s sure taking his sweet time. Don’t tell me he actually hopped a night train…”
“This is Claire. It’s possible.”
“Come to think of it, he was weirdly gung-ho about that. Said he had something to ask the information broker, too.”
Claire was generally pretty detached, but this time, his face had clearly shone. It was the way he looked when he’d hit on a fun idea.
“Ah, you know, he was saying something about the girl he’d proposed to. It’s probably that, isn’t it?”
“Okay. Got anything else you want to ask?”
Claire sat down on the roof of the night train, addressing Henry, who lay flat on his back beside him.
Henry’s face had gone a sickly white, and his wide-open eyes were cloudy, like the eyes of a dead fish.
“If not, then it’s my turn. You’re giving that Edith woman information, so I think you should slip that much info my way, too. That okay?”
In response to Claire’s question, Henry nodded several times. He looked exhausted.
“Props for not having passed out yet. I guess you’ve got a bit of a spine. So, about those questions. One is, I want the lowdown about a certain girl. The other is—”
On top of the moving train, Claire told him about the information he wanted, eyes wide and cheerful.
“Is that for real?”
Late at night on New Year’s Day, in the same hotel room, Gustavo was grilling a subordinate.
“There’s no doubt about it. That Roy guy made contact with Eve Genoard, then took her to the Gandors’ office. We thought we’d nab ’em there, but a dame came out of the office, and they got into her car and left. We had several guys following them in another car, but they went into a house outside the territory.”
“You blockhead! Why didn’t you plug ’im when he went onto the Gandors’ turf?!”
“I’m really sorry, sir. We thought it would be better to see where they went.”
“Hah! And if they’d given us the slip, that’d be it! If we’re just gonna ice the guy, who gives a rip about what’s in the background?!”
“B-besides, Mr. Begg said to take him alive.”
At the mention of Begg’s name, Gustavo’s face turned bright red.
“Nobody cares what that formaldehyde-pickled bastard said! Right? Who’s your boss, huh?! Go on, say it! Say it right now!”
“Well, Mr. Bartolo Runorata, of course.”
“Rgkh?!”
The man’s unexpected counterattack left Gustavo at a loss for words. He’d expected to hear his own name, but getting Bartolo’s instead was a problem. A number of his subordinates were in the room—if he flew into a rage over this, they might see it as disloyalty toward the Don.
“…That’s right. And Don Runorata left this territory to me. That means my orders are absolute!”
I dodged that one well. That was what he thought, but to the people around him, it had only sounded like a lame excuse.
“I…don’t…know…about…that.”
Begg, who’d apparently come in at some point, snorted at Gustavo’s yell.
“Why, you…”
“Bartolo…left…everything…about…the…drugs…under…m-my…control. In other…words, my…orders…regarding…the…drugs…are…also…abso…lute.”
Begg chuckled, and Gustavo clicked his tongue, sending a sharp glare his way. “Don’t think things are gonna go your way forever.”
His eyes held a fierce light, one that could have been either hatred or murderous intent.
“Nothing…has…ever…gone…my…way. All…right: Do…take…him…alive, if you…would.”
As if he had nothing else in particular to say, Begg headed for the door.
“Oh, yes. ‘Formal…dehyde…pickled…bastard…was…good. Considering…I don’t rot, it’s…fairly…accurate.”
Keith, the oldest Gandor, lived in a detached house in West Manhattan, on the edge of Hell’s Kitchen. Up until the previous year, he’d lived with his brothers in several rented rooms in a nearby tenement, but when Berga had gotten married, they’d each moved into places of their own. At present, only Luck was still living in the old apartment.
“Please, do help yourselves. I was planning to eat with my husband, but really, it sounds as though he’s too busy to make it.”
1932 Drug & The Dominos Page 11