twenty years off my age.”
“Have you seen Lib?”
McGranahan shook him. “She was looking for you. What a gorgeous dish, Michael. She makes me think of a Scandinavian girl I met in my first session of the legislature. She could grind her ass and generate enough electricity to start an eight-cylinder motor. Great heavens above, I used to come home from some of those parties walking on my knees. The railroads would come up and spend upwards of two hundred thousand clams in sixty days. The champagne flowed like tap water. A long time ago now, before they invented computers. Where’s your drink, Mike? There’s a well-stocked bar.”
“Matt, I’m working. It’s been good to talk to you.”
“The year we put through pari-mutuel racing,” McGranahan went on nostalgically. “Many a back-country lawyer went home from that session a rich man. The girls, Mike. They brought in busloads of Cuban girls, you wouldn’t believe your eyes. Young, talented, lovely, every color of the rainbow. It was a happy time. Nobody was mean about it. Nobody was ashamed. In many ways politics in this state has gone to hell.”
“Are you going to vote for the casinos?”
McGranahan winked. “Ask me after the prayer tomorrow. I’m going to have to look at my hole cards, I’m going to consult my conscience, and then I’m going to vote for the side that seems to make the best sense. Because it’s when they get bidding against each other that things start to sparkle. Right now I lean in Sam’s direction. He does things with style. And Lib Patrick is the world’s most beautiful gal. They’re prepared to be generous, and in the right way, the happy way. None of that horse manure about consultant fees or retainers. Cash! That shows real acumen, and people like that deserve to win. They’ll run a happy casino.” His grip loosened. “Mike, you’re an old, old friend. I want to introduce you to an English bird. Real class.”
“I’ve already met her.”
“Are you having a good time, Mike? If there’s anything you want, mention it to Lib. Tell her you’re a friend of mine, and I know she’ll arrange it.”
“Right now I need some air,” Shayne said.
“God, when I remember that pari-mutuel party. Those Cuban gals.”
Shayne freed himself. Sam Rapp had entered by the front door. His shoulders drooped, his eyes seemed glazed. Shayne stepped out onto the screen porch, where Grover was waiting.
“Not here,” Grover said.
He went to the end of the porch with Shayne following. At the corner of the building, Grover beckoned again and went among the parked cars. He opened the door of a Dodge convertible.
“It’s probably safe here.”
“Let me pick the car, Grover.”
“I don’t blame you for being suspicious. Why I ever let myself get involved with these people-”
Shayne moved on, and chose a long official Cadillac. They entered the front seat through opposite doors. Grover started talking even before turning around.
“I’ve been thinking it over. It took a minute to register. I don’t think I trust you, but if I could just buy some time-I’ve got a splitting headache. That’s what gin does to me. Why do I never drink anything but Martinis? To punish myself, probably. Could you persuade that reporter to hold up publication of the story about the money I borrowed from Eddie Myer?”
“Maybe. But Tim doesn’t like to kill a story unless it gets him a bigger one.”
“I seem to be in a jam here, don’t I? I wish you hadn’t mentioned Boots Gregory. I hear he’s not only mean but stupid, and that’s a bad combination.”
He pulled at the stump of a cigar. In the sudden glow, his face looked younger and more vulnerable.
“I don’t believe in being hypocritical. Let’s not pretend the special interests don’t run this state. They always have and they always will. Never mind what they teach in social studies.”
“There goes my last illusion,” Shayne said. “Move it along, Grover. I don’t have time to talk about political theory.”
“No, no,” Grover insisted. “You have to understand or you’ll make the wrong move. My old man has his complexities, like the rest of us. You have to be careful or he’ll skin you and nail your hide to the barn door.”
“Speed it up.”
Turning, Grover said in a measured voice, “If you don’t want to listen to what I’m saying, get the hell out of this car.”
“I’m listening,” Shayne said impatiently.
“All right. That forty thousand from Eddie Myer and my little speculation in Aero-Electronics have nothing to do with this. It’s in a different category. The legislature meets only sixty days every biennium, which leaves me some time to fill. Dad doesn’t expect me to hang around Leesville drawing up those exciting wills and making out those melodramatic tax returns. I made a couple of deliberate goofs, to get the point across. I met Lib through McGranahan. Don’t get the wrong idea. We haven’t been to bed together. The Regency may not be the liveliest hotel in Miami Beach, but it’s comfortable-”
“Grover, do you understand that they’re all around us? Skip the things I already know.”
“Bear with me a minute, can’t you? I’m not the one who pushes the Aye or Nay button in the vote tomorrow. The fact that I had a little bad luck in the stock market has no bearing on how Dad votes on any matter. Believe me! Admittedly, he’s not a rich man. You know how much they pay senators in this state, and the law business in Leesville is not, shall we say, lucrative. But he has a position as majority leader, there are expenses he can’t avoid, and he accepts contributions from people who would rather have a responsible man in that office than some demagogue.”
“I get the idea.”
“But bear this in mind. No matter who contributes to this fund or how much, Dad doesn’t let it affect the way he votes. He votes according to his convictions. His convictions usually coincide with those of his backers, but what’s surprising about that? He’s economically and politically conservative, and so are they. No one could buy a statement like the one he made on the casino bill. He believes exactly what he said-that it may be the one way left to save Florida from disaster. A financial contribution from your people won’t change that, not one iota.”
Shayne was beginning to listen more closely, not so much to the words as to the tone.
“What would he be willing to do, and how much would it cost us?”
“He’d keep hands off, is the thing. The statement’s equivocal enough so those on his side of the aisle who usually follow his lead can vote as they like. There are at least six votes still uncommitted. They’re waiting for the word. All right. Dad will make clear that this is not a party matter. If you like I’ll conduct the negotiations. Fifty thousand should cover it.”
“Who do you think would give me fifty thousand?”
“Please.” He pitched his cigar out the window. “Don’t spar with me, Shayne. I happen to know that Sheldon Maslow has authority to draw up to a hundred, no questions asked. I’m running a risk here! This is your best deal. You won’t improve it by quibbling.”
“If Sam bought off the loan shark for you he’s not going to like this.”
“Sam doesn’t worry me. As you pointed out, he’s old. You must realize that Lib is doing the masterminding, and she can handle him.”
“Let’s get this straight. For fifty thousand you’ll-”
Grover fumbled with a three-cigar package. It shot out of his hands.
“I’m nervous as a witch. Say yes or no, will you? That fifty thousand is a firm figure. What the hell happened to those cigars?”
They had fallen on Shayne’s side, and he picked them up for him. At that moment the door opened and a bright light hit him in the eyes. A state highway patrolman was pointing a flashlight and a gun at him. The gun was far enough into the light so he would be sure to see it.
“Don’t shoot,” Shayne said wearily. “I was about to leave anyway.”
“There,” the cop said, as though gentling a horse.
He had a face like a side of beef, crosshatched with capillaries. His stomach, straining against the buttons of his shirt and pants, bulged menacingly toward Shayne. He put his flashlight on the ledge over the dashboard and took the cigar package out of Shayne’s hands. Warning Shayne not to move, he opened the box.
At this point Shayne was hardly surprised to see that it was full of money.
