“Reb!” Ginny screamed as the other guy grabbed me by the back of my jacket. I spun around, took his hand with both of mine, and twisted. To keep his arm from breaking, he went with the force of themomentum until he was facing toward the back of the car with me behind him. I let go of his wrist with one hand and pushed on his elbow. He groaned again and fell back to his knees.
“Where’s Tecci?” I shouted, wrenching his arm higher. “Tell me or I’m going to break it right off!”
“Oh, shit, no, please!” he moaned.
“Where’s—”
“Reb!” Ginny yelled, jumping out of the car. “Let go of him! They were just asking about the car. Jesus, you’re hurting him!”
“We were just looking at your fucking car, man,” the guy groaned. “Lemme go.”
I did. He crawled away, sat against a light pole, and massaged his shoulder, glaring at me. His buddy started to come to and held his hands over his ears, shaking his head as though something very loud was happening in there.
“I’m at UCLA Law, pal,” the lamp-post boy threatened. “You just committed assault and battery on two people. It’s just a fucking car. She called you Reb? Give me your last name now, you animal.”
“Animal,” I gulped, comprehending what I’d done. I removed two ten-thousand dollar packs from the satchel and handed them to the law student. “Here,” I told him. “Take these. One is for your friend. Consider it an out-of- court settlement.”
I threw the bag in the trunk and opened the door for Ginny, whose expression had changed from astonishment to veneration. I had saved her, again, or at least thought I was saving her.
I hated feeling unhinged.
“Where are you taking me now, animal?” she asked as I pulled into traffic.
“I’m not taking you anywhere,” I said flatly. “And please, please don’t call me— Hey, that’s Archie’s car!”
“Where?”
“Four cars up,” I said, pointing. “The black Humvee. He’s just turning on Wilshire. Goddamn!”
I threw on my blinker to follow.
“How do you know it’s his?”
“I know. Can you see the license plate?”
“HOO-AH!” Ginny read.
“That’s the name of his business,” I told her as we got caught at a red light.“He’s heading there now. I can’t believe this.”
Archie’s specialty gun shop,
In the store the opening credits of
I approached him while Ginny hung nervously by the door, taking in the spectacle of the place. Archie didn’t see us.
“Hey,” I said.
Archie jumped out of his chair, looking like a parent who just spotted his lost kid at the mall. He lunged for me, his face bunching up as though he was going to cry. He hugged me so hard I could barely breathe, the popcorn in his huge fist crunching behind me.
“Jesus, Rebsky,” he whispered in my ear, “I’ve been so worried.”
I finally got free, picked up the remote, clicked it off, and tossed it on the table.
Ginny approached cautiously.
Archie looked at his mashed handful of popcorn, then stuffed it inhis mouth. He offered his buttery hand to Ginny and mumbled, “Hi. Ahee Feh.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me,” Ginny said.
He chewed the popcorn as fast as he could, washing it down with a slug of Crush. “Uh . . . no,” he said to the bottle. “I’d remember seeing you. Who are you?”
“Archie,” I said. “What the hell’s going on here?”
He jabbed a thick finger at me. “You first.”
I was getting angry. “The bump into Ginny outside the Danieli? The note in her bag? The box full of guns? Shooting the guy when I did the bus gag in Milan? Dracco’s card?”
Archie looked at me like I was crazy. “You’re Ginny?” he said, smiling at her.
She nodded.
“What’s he talking about, Ginny? Notes, guns. What bus gag? Who’s Dracco?”
