“You should know that, in my time, I’ve killed three men.”
“You were in the army?”
Herbie chuckled. “No, I wasn’t cut out for that.”
“Under what circumstances did you kill three men, Herb?”
“Have you ever heard of a man named Carmine Dattila? Also known as Dattila the Hun?”
Dink wrinkled his brow. “Mafia guy, maybe?”
“Mafia guy, certainly. I once owed some money to a bookie who worked for Dattila-oddly enough, the one I paid two hundred grand of your dad’s money to to get out of your life.”
“So, how did you handle that?”
“It’s more about how Dattila handled it. He sent two men to beat me up, then kill me. Large men. They got into my apartment.”
“And how did you handle that?”
“There was a fight. One of them came at me with a knife, so I took it away from him and killed him.”
Dink seemed to be frozen.
“Then the other guy came after me, and I killed him, too.”
“Why aren’t you in jail?”
“I didn’t commit a crime. I acted in self-defense. Dino Bacchetti and Stone Barrington saw that the whole business went away in a hurry.”
“What about the third guy?”
“That was Dattila. I took a long walk, and I thought about it. I decided that Dattila was going to send more men to kill me, if he was still around to do it, so I went down to the coffeehouse in the village where he did his business. I walked into the place and shot him twice in the head.”
“Why are you still alive?”
“Because a few minutes before my arrival, unbeknownst to me, the feds had raided the place, disarmed everybody, and taken half the people there away.”
“And that was self-defense?”
“When Stone got through talking to the DA about it, it was self-defense.”
“That’s quite a story.”
“My point is, it’s a true story. Stone once said to me that I have a rat-like instinct for survival. You should remember that, Dink.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“There’s something else,” Herbie said. “I’ve just spent some time at a facility where people are trained to be expert with firearms and other weapons, and I excelled there.” Herbie picked up a letter opener from a cup next to his chair and turned it over and over in his hand.
“So, when I came in here, you could have killed me with that?”
“With that or a couple of other innocuous objects in this room.”
“Are you threatening me, Herb?”
“Certainly not. I’m advising you on your future behavior. I would not like to think of you as a threat, Dink. You should conduct yourself in such a manner so as not to make me think that of you.”
“I see.”
“I hope you do. You see, your physical size and your past behavior as a bully give you a false sense of confidence when dealing with other people. You should always remember that there are people who are smarter, tougher, and more lethal than you, and you never know who they are until you pick on the wrong person. Last week, I met people who could kill you with a thumb.”
“I’ll try to avoid people like that,” Dink said.
“You can’t avoid them, Dink, so you should make it a point not to be a threat to anyone you meet.”
Dink nodded and tossed off his drink. “Thanks for the refreshment, Herb,” he said, “and for the advice. I’d better run along.”
“And,” Herbie said, “you should give serious consideration to a career in acting. There’s a very good drama school at Yale.”
Dink got up and left. Herbie took another couple of minutes to finish his drink and calm himself.
55
He hadn’t recognized her, Shelley was sure of it. She could take her time now. Carefully, face by face, she checked the room again. Nearly everybody was riveted on the singer; the rest seemed absorbed with each other, including the lesbians at the bar. Dino had started to check the room again.
“Everything all right?” Shelley said to Steve.
“I could use another drink. How about you?” He looked over his shoulder and waved at a waiter.
“I’m fine for the moment,” she replied.
The waiter brought Steve another drink.
“I’ll tell you this,” Rosie was saying to Viv, “even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t wear that designer shit-you know, Armani, Ralph Lauren. It isn’t cut for real women.”
“If I had money, I’d wear nothing else,” Viv replied. She flicked her eyes at the room.
“Don’t do that,” Rosie said. “The boss said not to.”
“I know, but it’s driving me crazy.”
“Look over my shoulder and tell me what the boss is doing,” Rosie said.
Viv looked at Dino for half a second. “He’s leaning on the bar, facing the room. Shelley isn’t here yet.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because he’s still looking for her, and he looks bored.”
“Why would she not show up?”
“Maybe she couldn’t get a table,” Viv said. “The place is jammed.”
“That would be a joke, wouldn’t it? She couldn’t get a table?”
“Wait a minute,” Viv said. “Dino sees something.”
“Stop looking.”
“He didn’t say don’t look at him. Something’s happening.”
Shelley fixed her gaze on Dino now. His eyes were panning the room again, starting from her right. She looked directly into his eyes and flashed a little of her new cosmetic dentistry, which practically glowed in the dark. The eyes came to her and stopped.
Shelley turned back toward Steve. “In just a minute, I’m going to get up and walk toward the bar,” she said.
“What would you like me to do?” he asked.
“If I stop at the bar and talk to a man standing there, pay the check and leave.” She threw a couple of hundreds on the table. “If I keep going and leave the room, follow me upstairs. I’m going to want to fuck you.”
“Anything you want,” Steve said, waving for the waiter again.
DINO’S MOVING gaze was stopped by half a smile and a pair of eyes. A woman he didn’t recognize was staring directly at him. Then she turned back toward the man she was with. That couldn’t be Shelley, he thought- or could it? He couldn’t tell how tall she was, but the nose wasn’t right. The hair was dark, though, maybe an auburn red. He continued to watch her. She glanced at him again.
Shelley took her handbag and stood up. Steve stood and pulled the table back for her, and she began picking her way slowly through the tables toward the bar. Then she was aware of another pair of eyes on her, in the mirror behind the bar. One of the two lesbians was watching her.
Dino slipped off the bar stool and stood, unbuttoning his jacket. She was coming slowly, the tables being
