from the duchess.”
“Just what I need,” I said, “a freaking cocktail party.”
“Give you a chance to see how the other half lives,” Charlie One Ear said without looking up from his
fruit cocktail.
“1 don?t like crowds,” I said.
He looked up and smiled. “Perhaps it?ll be just the two of you,” he suggested.
That earned him a dirty look from me and a bit of contemplation from Dutch.
“Well,” Dutch said, “you could do worse.”
“Let?s forget cocktail parties for the moment,” I said, ending the conjecture. “Something?s come up. It
could be our first real break.”
“Oh?” Dutch retorted.
“Johnny O?Brian sent one of his gunmen to see me last night. He wants to have a powwow. Sounds
like he could be running scared.”
“Are you going to meet him?” Dutch asked.
“Yeah. At ten thirty. Do you have anybody on O?Brian?s tail?” He nodded. “Salvatore?s doing the
honors today.”
“Has he reported in?”
“Do any of these guys ever report in?” Dutch said. “I can check the Warehouse and see, but I can tell
you what the chances are.”
“We?ve got to raise him,” I said. “My deal is that I go alone. If O?Brian tumbles onto Salvatore it
could blow the whole deal.”
“I?ll see what I can do,” Dutch said, heading for the phone.
“Is that real smart?” Charlie One Ear asked.
“You mean going alone?”
He nodded. The muscles in his face had tightened up. I knew what he was thinking.
“Don?t worry,” I said. “If this is some kind of trap they wouldn?t warn me first. They can?t be that
sure I won?t have some kind of backup with me.”
“You know this bunch better than I do,” he answered, turning back to his breakfast. “But I wouldn?t
stray too far from the range, just in case.”
“I appreciate your concern,” I said. “The thing is, if O?Brian wants to make some kind of a deal, we
can?t afford to lose it. I?ve been down this road before, Charlie. I?ll watch my step.”
He shrugged. “You?re a big boy now,” he said. “I assume you know what you?re doing.”
I ordered a light breakfast and doctored my coffee. Dutch was gone about five minutes. He seemed
