'Sleepy, and I have a huge headache. Is this what it's like when you have a hangover?'
'No, a hangover's worse because you know it's your own fault, too. Listen, I'll be up to see you later. I just wanted to know how you were.'
'I can't wait. Bill, is Jimmy all right?'
'He wasn't hurt. I haven't seen him since yesterday, but he's okay. Go back to sleep.'
'Wait. You don't really have Eve's paintings, do you?'
'No. That was for Grice. It was all I could think of. But now I know where they are. I'm going to get them after I eat.'
'You do? Where are they?'
'I'll tell you about it when I come up,' I said, and I knew I would. The part I hadn't told anyone, I would tell Lydia. 'Hey, Lydia?' 'Umm?'
'You want me to call your mother, tell her what happened?'
She sighed, but just before the sigh I thought I heard a stifled giggle. 'You,' she said, 'are an idiot.'
'Yeah,' I said, 'I know. I'll see you later.'
I hung up, went back to the counter, where my breakfast was waiting. I ate, filled with immense gratitude toward chickens and cows, offering a prayer of thanks for grease and salt. The homefries especially were almost unbearably good, burned in the pan, flecked with onions and peppers.
Finally finished, I lit a cigarette and worked the room, found somebody who was headed north on 30. He turned out to be a weekender, like me, and as we sped past my driveway and the empty parking lot at Antonelli's we talked about the city and, again, the approach of spring.
He dropped me on 30; I caught another ride into Central Bridge, walked the mile and a half to Eve's house. It felt good to walk, even in the dullness of a late winter day that made the promise of spring seem like just another damn lie you'd let yourself be suckered, again, into believing.
I was halfway up the drive when Leo came charging around from the back, barking, growling, yipping, and wagging all at once. I gave him the jelly doughnut I'd brought from the Eagle's Nest, scratched his ears, looked up to see Eve standing on the porch.
'Hi,' she smiled. 'How are you?'
'Much better, thanks.'
'Come in. There's coffee and cake.'
I shook my head. 'Later, Eve. I want to finish this.'
She gave me the keys to her truck and I headed back south. I pulled into the gravel lot at Antonelli's, slowed to a stop close to the door. I let myself in with the keys I had taken from Tony's hospital room.
I was steeled for an eerie silence, a sense of something ended, lost. But inside, the tables were set and a strong smell of garlic and oregano came from the kitchen. The jukebox was playing Charlie Daniels. As the door slammed behind me a voice yelled from the kitchen, 'Marie?'
'No,' I called back. 'Bill.'
The kitchen door swung open and Jimmy came through wiping his hands on a towel. 'Hey, Mr. S.!' he grinned. 'You okay? I called the hospital. They said you went home. What're you doing here?'
'I came to pick something up. What are
'Oh,' he shrugged. 'Well, you know. Tony's gonna be in the hospital a long time. That kind of stuff costs a lot. The hospital, they said Miss Colgate was taking care of everything, but that ain't right. You know? I mean, he's my brother. Hey, you want a drink?' He started to move behind the bar.
'No,' I said. 'No, thanks. Does Tony know you're doing this?'
'Nah. He don't want to talk to me.'
'Did you go up to the hospital?'
'Uh-uh. He'd just tell me to get lost. That's what he always told me. You know.'
I knew. I gestured around the bar. 'You think you can manage here?'
'Sure. No problem. I called Marie and Ray. And Allies coming in later, to help.'
'Alice? Hey, Jimmy, that's great.'
'Yeah, well, she says just to help. For Tony. The rest of it, she says we'll have to figure it out.'
We stood looking at each other, suddenly awkward. Then Jimmy said, 'So—what'd you come to get?'
'Jimmy,' I asked, 'how much did Lydia tell you yesterday?'
He grinned, a little color seeping into his face. 'I was scared, man. Real scared. She just sorta kept talking, you know, until you guys showed up.'
'What did she say?'
'Well, about what happened.' He told me what Lydia had told him. It was the same story Id given Brinkman: the truth, except for details of what it was Ginny had stolen from Eve Colgate.
And except, of course, for the part Lydia didn't know.
'Well,' I said when he was through, 'here's what comes next.' I pulled a chair out from the nearest table, sank into it. I got a cigarette going before I went on. 'That stuff Ginny stole that turned out to be so valuable? It was also
