‘Where have I been? I’ll tell you where I’ve been, lady. My best friend was ambushed. I been beat up, kidnapped, hauled out to a goddamn Chinese junk in the middle of the lake, had my finger chopped off by three wildass China- men. I’ve killed four people, blown up a boat, stolen a car. Shit, I’ve had a great night! And you know why? Because they want you, that’s why.’
His eyes danced crazily in his head.
‘We’ve got to get you to a hospital,’ she said.
‘A hospital. Shit, I don’t need a hospital. I need answers. Who do you know has a Chinese junk? Who do you know has Oriental assassins doing his dirty work? Who do you know digs Chinese orgies? Your pal, Confucius, that’s who. You lied to me. Told me the bastard went to Europe. Why? Don’t you see it? He’s the one behind it all, the one who’s trying to kill you!’
He ripped the bloody bandage off his hand and held it out in front of her, the burned stump of his finger a foot from her eyes.
‘Look at it. That’s what they did to me.’
She moaned and turned her face to the wall. He grabbed her by the shoulder and whirled her around. ‘Look at it. Don’t turn your face away from me. That’s what your life cost. That and a little guy who never hurt anybody in his life ended up on a stinking tenement floor with his face blown off. And Tiffany, what about her?’
‘Please stop,’ she cried.
‘Me stop? These are the bastards you’re protecting.’
‘Slow down, Shark,’ Livingston said, moving closer to him.
He turned to his partner and said, ‘The crazy thing is, we had it figured right, Arch. We were right on it. Scardi, the rip-off in Italy, Scardi’s connection here. We had it by the ass.’ Then he turned back to Domino. ‘And we would’ve tied it up if you hadn’t lied to me.’
‘No.’
‘Bullshit. You told me that creep went to Europe, that he couldn’t have had anything to do with It. If you had given me his name, levelled with me, The Nosh would be alive now. We could have taken the son of a bitch last night. But I trusted you. You told me. . . I believed you. Should have known better. Should have. . . Goddammit, are you so much in love with him that you’re willing to —,
His fury exploded and he lashed out at her with the back of his good hand, slashing her across the face with such force that it knocked her back against the wall. Livingston grabbed his arm.
‘C’mon, pal, you’re acting like a jealous lover, for Christ’s sake.’
Sharky leaned against him. His hand was throbbing and he had a splitting headache. Was that it, was he jealous? He shook his head violently.
‘No, nothing like that, nothing like that. Too many lies. Nobody’s what they seem. All lies!’
‘Shark, I gotta get you down. You need —‘
‘I need Scardi. And the motherless son of a bitch that brought Scardi in. I want them and if we can’t take them legally, I’m gonna rip that cocksucker’s heart out with my bare hands. I need to get even!’
He had turned back to Domino, glaring at her. Here was a Sharky she had never seen before. Gone was the roguish smile, the rough charm. In its place was a raw power that frightened her. Stripped of any elegance, finesse, cleverness, or caution
He leaned against the wall, his knees shaking, turning to mud, his body wracked with chills, his mind teetering on the edge of insanity and bent on destruction, his strength coming from an almost carnal need for vengeance. The room began to swim around him.
He looked back at Domino.
‘Who did you tell?’
‘W-w-what?
‘Who did you tell? You told somebody about me. That’s how they knew. They were after me, goddammit. Don’t you get it? They suckered me by setting up my best friend. They told him it was all right if I came with him. Not Arch, not Papa, or Friscoe. Me.’
He jabbed his wounded hand at her. ‘You blew the whistle on me. You gave somebody my name.’
He was shaking almost uncontrollably and he began to sweat again.
‘They were gonna cut them off. Those crazy goddamn monkeys were gonna cut all my fingers off, one at a time, until I told them where you were. Can you believe that, hunh? Cut off all my fingers. Now what’s his name?’
‘Please,’ she said. She was crying hard. ‘Please, let us help you.,
‘Only one way to help me. Gimme the name. Just say it.’
His fingers pressed into her arm.
‘DeLaroza,’ she whispered. ‘Victor DeLaroza.’ It was all happening too fast. Could Donald also be part of ii? Of course — he had to be. It was Donald she had given Sharky’s name to, not DeLaroza. And yet, could there be an explanation? She needed time, time to reason it out.
Sharky began to sag, like a drunk losing control. It was almost an anticlimax, hearing it. ‘Shit,’ he said inanely. ‘Wouldn’t you know it? I never even heard of the motherfucker.’ He looked at Livingston. ‘You gotta promise me, Arch, promise me you won’t go after them without me. Tell Friscoe, tell him nobody’s stealin’ my melons this time.’
‘Sure, Shark, just take it easy.’
