'I suppose. I'd like a family. With you.'
She got off me, gently, disappeared into the washroom, the cheeks of her rear jiggling engagingly as she went. She was in there awhile, and there was a flushing, and water ran, then she came back and had some tissue and removed the condom from me and went and disposed of it.
She walked to the desk and got into the panties and camisole and came back to bed; we crawled under the covers. She cuddled to me, nuzzled my neck.
We were quiet for a long time- maybe half an hour. I thought she was asleep, but suddenly she said, 'Do you think you could still take Cermak up on his offer?'
'What?'
'You know. Get back with the department. Be a sergeant, a deputy coroner; be on one of his special squads.'
'On one of the hoodlum squads? You want to hear something about the mayor's hoodlum squads?'
I told her about the Nydick shooting.
'I don't see how that has anything to do with you.' she said afterward.
'The hoodlum squads are vile even for Chicago. Janey. I don't mind a little honest graft, but this has got out of hand. Janey. You know how my father died.'
'He killed himself with your gun. It was a long time ago, Nate. It's time to let go of that.'
'It wasn't that long ago. It was a year and a half ago. He did it because I gave him money.'
'I know. I know. You wanted him to be able to renew the lease on his store, and you gave him the thousand dollars you got. along with your promotion, for testifying in the Lingle case. It's an old story. Nate. You got to let go of it.'
'I gave him the money and told him I saved it, but he found out from somebody where it came from and he killed himself with my gun.'
'I know, Nate.'
'And now I've killed somebody with that gun. Somebody I didn't even know, all because my reputation as somebody you can buy in a murder case preceded me. Everybody in town thinks I'm for sale.'
'Everybody in this town
'I know that. I'm no virgin.'
'You aren't?'
'Cut it out. I just got to live with myself.'
'I thought you wanted to live with me.'
'I do. I want to live with you, marry you. have babies with you, live happily ever after with you.'
'That's a nice dream. It's a dream that could come true real easy, if you just took one of those offers.'
'What offers?'
'Cermak's offer. Or Dawes'. Dammit, Nate, even Frank Nitti offered you a job. That would've been money, too.'
'Are you saying you'd approve of that?'
'It's not my business how you make your living. If I'm going to be your wife, it's my business to give you moral support.'
Say good night. Gracie.
'Look.' I said, 'I've always wanted to be a detective. The cops turned out not to be the place to do that. Now I've got a chance to try it on my own. for real. It may not pan out. But can't you let me
She thought about that, then nodded. Smiled. 'Sure.'
She cuddled to me awhile.
Then she said, 'You know, working at the county treasurer's office is really interesting. You see a lot of important people; you see a lot of important things happening. Take my boss, Mr. Daley. He's about your age, Nate. Just a couple years older. He's so dynamic. He's involved with the tax end of things, sure, but mostly he's involved in the political end. I pick up on more of that than most people, you know, because my father's a precinct captain, you know. And Mr. Daley, he's just a little older than you, and there he is, in there distributing the jobs, handling the ward committeemen from all over the city, dealing with powerful men, in a powerful way. And then at night he takes night school, can you imagine? He'll be a lawyer before you know it. He lets me help him more than most of the others, because he blows my father so well, and he knows I'll cover for him, if he needs it, when his night school cuts into his duties.'
'It's too bad you're already engaged,' I said. 'Then you could marry the little Mick.'
'Oh. he's engaged, too. you know that.' she said distantly. Then, catching the slight, wrinkled her chin and said, 'Nate. I'm just trying to make a point.'
'Which is?'
'Daley's going places.'
'He can go to hell, as far as I care.'
