“No.”
“Why do you think it’s a payoff?”
“What else could it be?”
“Did you say anything to Felton?”
“No.”
“So for all you know, Felton could be paying off his bookie.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Rafferty said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it was a payoff. There was a threat there. The way the fat guy stood and talked. The way Felton was. There was something going on.”
“And you’d heard rumors about payoffs already.”
“Yeah, sure. I mean, Candy had mentioned she was looking into it.”
“So you were keeping an eye out.”
“Sure. But I didn’t read anything into it. I’m telling you, this is straight. Besides, look what happened to Candy. Doesn’t that prove it?”
“It adds credence,” I said.
“I went to see Felton,” Candy said. “He denied the entire incident. I talked to other people on the set. They didn’t know anything, but I had a sense Felton was covering up something. As if he were scared or guilty.”
“Just a feeling, like Rafferty’s?”
“Yes. But I’m a reporter; it’s a trained feeling. I think they used to call it a hunch in the old Bogart movies.”
“And?”
“And I had an appointment scheduled with the head of Summit Studios, Roger Hammond. It was scheduled for today.” She paused. “I missed it,” she said.
“Did you tell Felton that Rafferty saw him?”
“No. I just said I had an eyewitness.”
“Anybody know that Rafferty is it?”
Candy was quiet for a moment. “Just the police and the news director at the station.”
“You tell anybody, Mick?”
He shrugged. “Well I asked around a little. People on the crew. Some of the cast, like that.”
“So a lot of people know you saw the payoff.”
“Well, yeah. So what? I can handle what comes along.”
“Be prepared to,” I said. “I can look out for her, but you’re on your own.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Rafferty said.
“Listen,” I said. “I can take you, and there’s guys can take me. Don’t be such a goddamn rooster all the time. Someone wants to kill you, it’s not hard.”
“Just ‘cause I’d lose doesn’t mean I won’t fight you,” Rafferty said. “I don’t have to listen to a lot of cheap shit from you, win or lose.”
I nodded. “That’s true. I’ll give it a rest. But you’ve got to know what you’re dealing with. These aren’t tough guys who are trying to prove their manliness, or guys who are interested in who can take who. These are people who will shoot you in the back while you. walk up to your door, or guys who will run you over when you’re crossing Melrose Avenue on your way to Lucy’s El Adobe. They don’t care if it hurts. They don’t care if. it’s fair. They care about you being dead and silent. These are people you’re supposed to be scared of.”
“You be scared of them,” Rafferty said. “I got no time for any more goddamn lectures.” He looked at Candy Sloan. “I’ll be around. You need me, I’ll be there.” He left the room, walked down the short hall, opened the door, went out, and shut it behind him. Firmly.
Candy and I were quiet. The living room seemed to take on the blue clarity of the pool outside. Candy said, “He’s been small all his life.”
“I know,” I said.
The walls of the house were thick and stuccoed. No sound came through them. There was only the faint purr of central air conditioning somewhere inside. A single leaf drifted onto the surface of the pool and turned slowly.
“What now?” Candy said.
“Now you rest and I watch you. When you’re better, we’ll keep that appointment you broke today.”
“You and I?”
“You and I.”
Chapter 5
CANDY WAS a quick healer. I sat with her for two days while the swelling subsided and the cuts began to heal. I cooked soup for her and whatever I could find in her kitchen for me. The first night I made pasta with fresh vegetables in a thin cream sauce. After that it was downhill. Candy didn’t have a rich larder, and by the end of the second day I was reduced to crackers and peanut butter with a side of instant coffee. Nights I slept on the couch;
