“Nance was in Nam, right in the thick of it.”
“Uh-huh. And so were you, Stick, and half of Dutch Morehead?s bunch. Hell, even I was in Nam.
That doesn?t make Nance an assassin. Some people might even consider him a hero.”
“The war?s over,” I said.
“I think maybe you?re shagging flies,” he said.
“Maybe,” I said with a shrug.
“Anything else?”
“Well, uh
He leaned over the table and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Before you go any further,” he said, “let
me remind you that
you?re not here to solve homicides. Just between us, I don?t care if Yankee Doodle Dandy?s doing it,
unless it?s relevant. I want the package on Tagliani.”
He didn?t wait for me to say anything.
“This used to be a nice, quiet, historical tourist trap,” he said.
“It?s turning into Rotten City, U.S.A. I want to know how deep Tagliani had his hooks in. What did he
own? Who did he buy? How did he pull it off? Hell, I don?t have to give you the lecture, you know
what the Freeze is all about.”
“If you?re interested in what I think,” I said, “I think the homicides have to be relevant.”
He pointed at me with his fork.
“Don?t get lost on me, Jake. And don?t lead Stick astray.”
“Lead Stick astray! You got to be joking. And what?s all this shit about him not being jaded?”
“What do you think of him?” he asked with a smile.
“He?s as off the wall as the rest of Dutch Morehead?s hooligans,” I said.
“He?s just like you were,” he said. “Eager, tough, a lone wolf. You two can help each other. Working
with Dutch and his boys?ll give you both a sense of team play.”
“1 know all about team play, remember?”
“You been playing your own game for a while,” Cisco said. “Now you got plenty of help. I want to
nail the Cincinnati Triad. I think we got a giant washing machine here, Jake, and I want to see the
inside of it. I want to know how it works. That?s what this trip is all about, okay?” He paused for a
moment and added, “And I?d like to find out while a few of them are still breathing. Seen the morning
paper?”
Cisco could change the subject in midsentence. When he had said all he had to say on a subject, he
just dropped it and moved
