“Where is this place exactly?” I asked.
“You hang a right three blocks after you cross the bridge from Thunderhead to Oceanby. It?s a mile or
so down the road, on the bay, like I said. You can?t miss it, the road ends there.”
I studied him for a long minute, tugged my ear, and then nodded. “What?s the name of the street?”
“Bayview.”
“I have a breakfast appointment,” I said. “It?ll be about ten thirty.”
“No problem, he?s spending the night out there. Ten thirty.” He smiled and held out his hand, palm
up. “How about the piece?” he said.
I took out the revolver, loosened the retaining pin, dropped the cylinder into my palm, and handed
him his gun.
“I?ll give O?Brian the rest of it when I see him,” I said.
His acne scars turned purple and pebbles of sweat began to ridge his forehead. He looked at me
quizzically. “Why the badass act?” he said. “You don?t have to prove how tough you are. Like I told
ya, we know all about Cincy.”
“I?m a cautious man,” I said. “Too many people are dying in town right now.”
“Did I lay any heat on you, Kilmer? No. I just come and delivered the message like I was supposed to.
Y?know, I get caught in the middle of this thing, I?ll end up in the bay, parley-vooin? with the fuckin?
shrimps.”
“That?s your problem.”
“So I come back with half a gun? It gets everything off on the wrong foot, know what I mean?”
I tossed him the cylinder for his .38 and he caught it without taking his yellow eyes off mine.
“You owe me one,” I said.
“You talk to O?Brian, you?ll be paid in spades,” he said, and was gone, darting across the lobby like a
dragonfly and out the nearest exit.
36
BREAKFAST TALK
There was a message in my box when I went down to meet Dutch the next morning, it was a
handwritten note from Babs Thomas:
“Cocktails in the penthouse tomorrow at 6. I expect you there. Love and kisses, B T.”
She wasn?t in the breakfast room but Dutch and Charlie One Ear were. I slid the note across the table
to Dutch as I sat down. He read it and chuckled.
