'Might be able to prove the solicitation of a shooter,' I said, 'but your point is well taken. So far we can't prove anything much unless Dwayne is willing to talk about you.'
'Dwayne is not a squealer,' Deegan said.
Dwayne nodded silently.
'Or we could probably get this proved if we turned it all over to the D.A., but that would sink Dwayne.'
'And you don't want to do that,' Deegan said.
'No.'
Chantel said, 'I didn't know you was a friend of Mr. Deegan's, Dr. Roth.'
'You know that, Dwayne?' I said.
Dwayne looked at Deegan. He didn't answer me.
'Did you know that they met at Queens College while they were both in grad school?' Dwayne didn't move.
'You know she picked you out to help him control the spread?'
Madelaine said, 'You don't know any of that, it's simply supposition.'
'You pick Dwayne out for any special reason, Bobby?' I said.
Dwayne was frowning, slightly. Deegan didn't answer me. He simply shook his head.
'Makes sense, I suppose, to find a star you can buy.'
The room was quiet. I didn't know where I was going, I was just trying to keep it going. I knew Deegan wouldn't say anything. He didn't know I wasn't wearing a wire.
'What made you think Bobby could buy him, Madelaine?'
'I don't know what you're driving at,' she said.
'You steered Bobby, you must have. How does a Brooklyn wiseguy end up buying a Boston basketball player.'
'I'm from Brooklyn,' Dwayne said suddenly.
'Did you know Deegan before?' I said.
'No,' Dwayne said.
I waited. No one else said anything. 'We from the same city,' Dwayne said.
'That how you guys got together?' I said.
Dwayne looked back at Deegan. The arrogance and pizzazz were gone. Dwayne was scared and confused and trying to disappear in upon himself like a rabbit trapped in an open field.
'Didn't Dr. Roth introduce you?'
'You don't have to say a word, big guy,' Deegan said. 'These people got no right to be treating you and me like this. And they couldn't get away with it if they didn't have guns.'
'Dwayne,' Chantel said, 'how you meet Mr. Deegan?'
Dwayne made a shushing sound with his hand at Chantel.
'You want to get up and walk out of here now, Mr. Deegan,' Dwayne said, 'you and Dr. Roth, I walk ahead of you. I don't give a fuck about these motherfuckers. Dwayne Woodcock want to leave, he leave and his friends go with him. You want, Mr. Deegan, I take you both out of here.'
I liked him better then. It was a moment much better than the ones in which he sat looking at the floor. But I didn't like the development. Hawk and I weren't going to shoot him and he'd be a handful otherwise, with Deegan thrown in, who didn't look like a day at the beach himself. I would have thought of something, but Chantel saved me from it.
'They aren't your friends, Dwayne. Mr. Spenser's your friend. These people going to throw you away when they through.'
'Dwayne,' Deegan said, 'have I ever lied to you? Have I ever given it to you any way but straight? You get out I'm going to represent you. I'm going to get you a deal with the Knicks, like Willis Reed never had, like Ewing never had. You know that. I know that. These people don't know. They don't matter, buddy. We matter.'
'Let's walk out of here, Mr. Deegan,' Dwayne said. In the doorway Hawk was motionless. The prospect of stopping a six-foot-nine-inch, two-hundred-fifty-five pound guy without shooting him seemed to present him no perplexities. He leaned against the jamb, his body loose, his face blank except for the hint of distant amusement that he almost always showed.
Chantel moved in front of Dwayne and took hold of his shirt with both hands. Her face as she stood was nearly level with his as he sat.
'No,' she said, and her voice was scraping out of her throat. 'No. You walk out with him and it's over for you. He's a crook. The cops want him. He's not going to get you a deal with the Knicks. You stay with me, Dwayne. You do what I say.'
Dwayne said, 'Don't you grab me, Chantel.'
'I will,' she said. 'I gonna hang onto you so you won't drown. I won't let you drown with these people.'
Dwayne said, 'Chantel.'
