“That’s where the light gets in.”
“What?”
“Forget it.”
My head buzzed with beer. When did I last eat?
As if reading my mind, Eddie stood up and walked over to the fridge. “You hungry? We’ve got shrimp.”
The shrimp were cold, garlicky and delicious. I tucked in until they were gone and then I leaned back in my chair.
Eddie sat down across from me. “The boys weren’t happy about closing up shop.”
“It’s a temporary thing.”
“Level with me, Jack.”
“I’m telling you straight up. It’s temporary. Grover … let’s just say he’s taking The Chief’s death pretty hard.”
“He’s coming to kill you.”
“Yeah. I think so.”
Eddie jerked his head toward the hall and the bedrooms beyond. “And Tommy?”
“I couldn’t leave him there. They were going to kill him.”
“Little Vito’s guys.”
“That’s right.”
“So now Little Vito is after you, too.”
“Yeah.” I shot Eddie a crooked grin. “It never rains, but it pours.”
Eddie tilted back his beer. “You got that right.” Eddie slammed the beer bottle down on the table. “We’ll get this shit worked out, Jack. We always do.”
“That’s what I like about you, Eddie. You’re an optimist.”
“Work it out or die trying.”
Suddenly the Sandman walloped me with a fifty-pound sack. My legs got rubbery and my chin bobbed toward the table.
“Get some rest, Jack. Tomorrow’s another day.”
“Don’t remind me.”
CHAPTER 45
I woke up before dawn. My joints were aching and my muscles were screaming. I was getting too old for this shit.
Eddie had courteously left a cellphone for me on the kitchen table. I clenched my teeth and punched in her number.
Suzanne answered, voice heavy with sleep. “Hello?”
“Sorry to wake you.”
“Jack?” There was a thunk as Suzanne fumbled the phone. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m somewhere safe. Where are you?”
“What time is it?”
“It’s early. I’m sorry. Where are you?”
“Where do you think I am? I’m at home.”
I closed my eyes. My teeth clenched.
“Jack?”
“I’m here. Suzanne … I’ve never lied to you. There’s some seriously bad guys coming for me. They might try to get to me through you.”
“I’m in danger.”
“That’s right.”
“Because of you.”
“It’s not me. It’s the people who are after me. I’ll send a car. They’ll take you someplace safe.”
“I told you, Jack. I can’t get sucked into all of this. Not again.”
“It’s almost over, baby. I swear it. Eddie and I, we’ll deal with this. And then that’s it. I’m done. You and I, we’ll live out the rest of our lives in peace and harmony.”
“Peace and harmony. Right after you kill everybody.”
“I’m not a killer, babe. But I will fight to defend myself and the people I love.”
“And so will I. Goodbye, Jack.”
The phone went dead. Fuck. That didn’t go well.
Outside the kitchen window the sky was changing from black to grey to shimmering silver. In another half hour birds would be chirping and tugging worms from dew-fresh lawns.
Eddie stumped into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and wearing a ridiculous powder-blue bathrobe about five sizes too short. “Mornin’, Jack.”
“Morning, Sunshine. Looking good.” I stood up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
I grinned. “You know the drill. The earliest bird gets the fattest worm.”
Residential neighbourhoods unfolded around me as I walked past joggers and dog-walkers. Up ahead two teenagers were staggering down the sidewalk, laughing loudly, heading home to bed. I could smell the booze wafting off of them from here. Lucky kids.
Residential faded into commercial. Strip malls, Chinese food, used car sales. I found a payphone and made a call.
“Yeah.” The voice on the other end was groggy.
“This is Jack Palace.”
“Jack.” Silence on the other end. “I heard we had a visit from you the other day.”
“I’m not going to bullshit you, Vito.”
On the other end of the phone, Little Vito chuckled. “You know, it’s been my experience that whenever someone says they’re not going to bullshit me, the next thing to come out of their mouth is pure bullshit.”
“I was there. At Tommy’s club.”
“You know, Jack, there’s a lot of very pissed-off people over here.”
“I did what had to be done.”
“I can appreciate that. But you have to understand: my guys, they’re howling for blood.”
“I understand.”
“Who was with you?”
“I was alone. Just me and Tommy.”
“Bullshit!” Little Vito growled. “I’ve got eight dead. A torched SUV. A club that almost burned to the fucking ground.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I was there, remember?”
“I look forward to our next meeting, Jack.”
“Vito … this shit’s got to end.”
“Oh, it will. Don’t you fret about that.”
“War’s not good for business. Well, it’s good for some businesses. But not yours.”
Again, silence. I pictured my words seeping into Vito’s brain like water in a freshly watered flower pot.
“Listen to me very carefully, Jack. You had your chance. Remember our dinner? I spelled it all out. You made your choice. Now you’re stuck with it. Give my regards to Tommy’s dad.”
The phone went dead.
Shit, shit, shit. I grabbed the receiver and bashed it to fucking pieces. Then I turned and slowly walked back toward the house.
In the kitchen Tommy was up and eating, shovelling eggs into his mouth like he had a gun to his head. Behind him two of Eddie’s guys stood with their arms folded. Eddie, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, sat across from Tommy. Tommy saw me coming and his eyes lit up.
“Jack! Tell these guys to lighten the fuck up, will you? They’re following me around like they’re fucking glued to my ass cheeks.”
There’s an image I could’ve lived without.
“Tommy … this is bad. This is very bad.”
Tommy waved it off. A piece of egg yolk was dangling from his chin. “Nah. You’ll take care of it. I believe in you, Jack.”
Eddie cleared his throat. “Jack’s saved your life twice now. You realize that?”
“Hey, I’m grateful. Don’t think I’m not grateful. You …” Tommy pointed to Eddie and then to the other two guys, “and you and you … you’ll be taken care of. You know who my father was? He was a rich fucking bastard, that’s who he was.”
Tommy pushed away his empty plate and patted his belly. “Good eggs.”
“Tommy. Tell me something. Little Vito must have enemies.”
“You’re damn right. Me. I’m his fucking enemy.”
“Yeah. Who else?”
“Who am I, his secretary? How the fuck should I know?”
I shut my eyes.
I’ve got a headache THIS BIG.
Tommy jerked his head at Eddie’s two guys looming behind him. “Let’s talk in the other room.”
I tilted my chin at Eddie. “That okay?”
Eddie shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Tommy’s bedroom was on the smallish side. Yellow wallpaper flowers wound around the walls. A handmade quilt was folded at the foot of the bed.
Tommy sat down on the bed and sighed. “Jack. It was a fucking miracle we got out of that club. No, don’t say anything. You saved my life and I’m not going to forget it. I could’ve died in there. That’s what
I woke up thinking this morning: I should be dead. I should be fucking dead. And then that rat Little Vito would get everything.” Tommy leapt to his feet. “Fuck him! He’s stealing my hard-earned money, Jack.”
“Tommy … maybe it’s time you walked away. Forget the money. Forget The Empire. You’ve got your life, your health —”
Tommy broke down coughing.
“You’ve got your life. You could move away, start fresh.”
“Yeah, right. What am I going to do? I never went to school. I’ve never done anything.”
“You managed a nightclub. You’ve got some cash. Take your money and split to the Caribbean. Open up a little bar on the beach. Sit in your hammock and drink rum all day.”
Tommy smiled sadly and slowly shook his head. “It sounds nice, doesn’t it? But it’s not for me. The beach? Come on, Jack. I’m a city boy.”
“So move to Montreal. Vancouver. There are other cities.”
“Yeah. But this is my city.”
“Not anymore it’s not.”
Tommy stood up and paced across the wooden boards. “You and me, Jack. We can set things right. Little Vito won’t know what hit him.”
“No.”
“No? What do you mean, no? We can take these guys. I’m going to cut off Little Vito’s head and mount it on a pike. That’s what you fucking get! You mess with me, I’ll saw off your fucking head.”
“Forget the head-sawing for a minute. Listen to me. You need to grab your cash and get gone. Little Vito isn’t about to forget what happened yesterday. He’s going to come gunning for both of us.”
“Not if we get him first. Come on, Jack. You and me. We go over to Little Vito’s house and we wait. He comes outside, BAM BAM BAM! We fuck him up. Leave him lying there bleeding in the driveway.”
“And then what? We go waltzing off into the sunset? Free as fucking birds? You know it doesn’t work that way. You cut down Vito, Vito’s friends come gunning for you.”
“Fuck Vito’s friends!”
“Tommy.” I stared at the mobster’s son. “It’s over.”
“Jack. Jack. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that in about five minutes, I’m walking out that door. Five minutes after that, Eddie’s guys will drive you anywhere you want to go. They’ll drop you off and then they’ll drive away. Have a nice life.”
“WAIT! For fuck’s sake, just wait a minute.” Tommy’s hands shook as he pushed back his hair. “Let’s think about this. Let’s work something out. Okay, okay, so we’re even. I saved your life, you saved mine.”
“Twice. But who’s counting?”
“Right, right. Look, I wasn’t bullshitting back in the kitchen. My father has cash stashed all over this city. You and me, Jack … help me get the cash and you’ll get your cut. A hundred grand. How’s that sound?”
It sounded like bullshit. “Make it two hundred.”
“Two! Who am I, Scrooge McDuck?”
“Two hundred.” Enough to buy a little house out in the country. Vegetable garden out back. Sunflowers. Tire swing. Pies cooling on the windowsill. Suzanne, laughing in a pale-blue dress. Kids shovelling sand in the sandbox. Fluffy orange and white cat stretched out sleeping in a sunbeam.
Tommy held out his hands. “All right, all right. What can I say? You’ve got me over a barrel. Two it is. But before we get the money, we’ve got to deal with this Vito situation. There’s this guy, friend of my father’s. His name’s Lou. We need to talk to him.”
I pulled out Eddie’s cellphone and flipped it open. “Set it up.”
Lou looked like a younger and tougher version of Ed McMahon. He was sitting spread out in an oak-panelled booth at the back of the bar like an overfed housecat on a velvet cushion. Lou’s hair was silver and carefully brushed back. Half his face was hidden by enormous smoky sunglasses. A huge man standing next to the booth was either a horse in a human suit or Lou’s bodyguard. The human horse beckoned us closer. Lou hefted his massive bulk from the booth and kissed Tommy on both cheeks.
“Tommy, Tommy. How are you holding up?”
“You know how it is. We’re all just hanging on.”
“That’s all you can do.” Lou turned his smoky lenses to me.
“Jack Palace.”
Lou nodded, then tilted his chin toward Horse Man. “That’s Yanni.”
Yanni cocked his eyebrow and gave me the once over. I was supposed to be intimidated.
I wasn’t.
“Sit, sit.” Lou wedged himself back in the booth and gestured to the waiter, a tall, bald man in all black. The waiter slid forward. “How ’bout another Scotch. Tommy, what are you drinking?”
“Club soda.”
“Club soda?” Lou and I exclaimed at the same time.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. I got a lot of work to do.”
Lou smiled approvingly. “Good man. Your father would be proud.”
Tommy beamed. His cheeks turned bright pink.
Lou pulled out a gold cigarette case and flipped it open. “Smoke?”
“No thanks.”
Lou lit up, right beneath the no smoking sign. The big man followed my eyes and laughed. “What are they going to do, kick me out of my own club?”
Tommy and Horse Man joined in laughing. I chortled along. The Workplace Laugh. Too loud, too fake.
Lou’s gold rings gleamed as he spread his hands across the table. “All right. So what’s the situation?”
“It’s like this. The situation is all fucked up.”
“It usually is.”
“You got that right.”
More guffaws. I shifted from foot to foot.
“Jack and me, we had a run-in with some of Little Vito’s crew.”
“I heard about it.” Lou blew smoke. “So why come to me?”
“I respect you, Lou. My father respected you. Little Vito … well, I don’t know about Vito.”
“Tommy … you know I love you like a son. No one would’ve been happier than me to see you take over the family business. But …” Lou shrugged.
Tommy’s face went black. “That prick Vito stole it all. He stole the shoes off my fucking feet.”
“Whoa, whoa. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just a little upset.”
“Sure, I understand. These are difficult times.”
“Vito tried to kill me. You hear what I’m saying? Me, the boss’s son.”
Lou shook his head. “Vito is boss now.”
“Yeah, whatever. Look, you know me. I only want what’s best for this family.”
“As do we.”
“Good. So we’re all on the same page. Vito isn’t the boss … you got that? I’m the fucking boss.”
“Tommy, Tommy. I know how you feel. These are emotional times. But it’s been decided. Vito is in.”
“This is bullshit. BULLSHIT!”
Lou shrugged. “That’s life. Someone moved your fucking cheese.”
I leaned down and whispered “be cool” in Tommy’s ear. Tommy nodded and said to Lou, “If that’s the way it is, that’s the way it is. Fuck it. I’m going to retire. I don’t want any more blood on my hands.”
Lou nodded. He looked like a slug on a leaf. “Good, good. I’ll talk to Vito.”
“The family’s got to get past all this bullshit, you know?”
“I hear ya.”
“Get back to making some fucking money.”
“I hear that.”
“Good. Talk to Vito. Let’s work something out.”
________
Eddie’s guy Willie was leaning against the car smoking a cigarette, watching the girls go by. Willie saw us coming, ground out the cigarette with the heel of his shoe, and then got behind the wheel.
Beside me Tommy’s shoulders slumped. “You see that, Jack? He didn’t even open the door for us.”
“We don’t sign his paycheques.”
“Just last month I had it all. Now I’ve got … what?”
CHAPTER 46
Back to the safe house. Willie zigzagged through traffic, shaking off any tails. Tommy was uncustomarily quiet as we walked into the kitchen.
Eddie looked up from the Globe and Mail. “How’d it go?”
I shrugged. “Time will tell.”
Tommy was shaking his head. “It’s bullshit. Fucking bullshit.”
“Be cool, Tommy.”
“What am I supposed to do, just sit here with my thumb up my ass waiting for Lou’s call? Fuck that. We’ve got to get proactive. Come on, Jack … let’s go get my fucking money.”
I laughed. “You know what I like about you, Tommy? You’re focused.”
“Damn right I’m focused.”
“You’re like a laser beam.”
“Damn right! Now come on. Do you want to get paid or not?”
I closed my eyes and the house in the country was right there. I could smell the lilacs and the freshly cut grass.
Eddie folded his newspaper. “You need any help?”
Tommy scowled. “No, we don’t need any fucking help! Just get us a fast car and a bag of guns. Jack can do the rest.”
Eddie stared at me over the top of his sunglasses. He raised his eyebrow. I shot him a smile. “No worries, Eddie. We can handle it.”
“You know, the whole point of having a safe house is that you hunker down and sit tight.” Eddie turned and rattled off rapid-fire Cantonese. Willie The Driver leapt for the stove and stirred the simmering sauce.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah. What can I say? When you’re right, you’re right. But that rat-ass Vito is out there pilfering my daddy’s lockboxes right this instant. If Jack and I don’t get out there, all my money is going to be long gone.” Tommy grinned at me. “And who knows? Maybe we’ll run into Vito. Kill two birds with one stone.”
Yeah. Or maybe Vito will run into us.
Eddie, without saying a word, tossed me the car keys.
Tommy slid into the passenger seat. I adjusted the rear-view mirror and fired the engine. “Where to? Your dad’s Wychwood House?”
“Nope. Lou says that place is off limits. He claims my dad left that house to some out-of-town bigwig. Some guy from New Jersey. That’s fine by me. I’m not fucking bitter. Jersey Boy can have it all. When did I ever spend any time there? That was my dad’s hideaway, his refuge from the rest of us. I was never allowed to go anywhere near that house. FUCK THAT HOUSE! FUCK! FUCK!” Tommy punched the dashboard and then shook his hand, wincing.
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