'Not direct. He may have some deal going with Mr. Ventura. If he do, I don't know nothing about it.'
'Thank you for your time, Tarone,' I said.
I nodded at Hawk and we started for the door.
'Hey, Hawk,' the young guy said.
'You sure you tough as you think?'
Without speaking, Hawk turned and kicked him in the groin.
The young guy doubled over and fell on the ground. And moaned.
Hawk looked at the ex-fighter. The ex-fighter shook his head, and Hawk turned back to the door.
'Probably am,' Hawk said.
CHAPTER 36
Dixie Walker agreed to take a ride with me before she went to work, and I picked her up outside The Starlight at about 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon. It was lousy weather, overcast and spitting rain. Dixie was wearing a yellow slicker jacket over jeans and a tee-shirt. To keep the rain off her head she was wearing a black baseball cap with her hair spilling out the adjustable opening in the back.
'Nice to see you dressed,' I said.
'Thanks a lot.'
'Be nice to see you undressed too,' I said.
She smiled without much enthusiasm.
'That's better,' she said.
'Go back down to one-A. Anthony's place is out Eastern Ave.'
'You know the address?'
'No, but I can find it. I went there enough.'
'Good.'
'Be the first time I went there with somebody sober.'
'You or me?' I said.
'Both,' she said.
'I hope I can find it without a hand up my skirt.'
'Well,' I said, 'if you can't…'
She smiled, more genuinely now.
'I'll let you know,' she said.
Route 1A is narrow and residential as it runs through Lynn. The rain was annoying. It didn't wet the windshield enough to prevent the intermittent wiper blades from dragging, but if I shut the wipers off altogether, the water beaded up and made it hard to see.
Timing is everything.
'You didn't find Anthony in Vegas?' Dixie said.
'Found him and lost him,' I said.
'His wife was killed.'
'Really? By him?'
'Don't know,' I said.
'My guess is no.'
'Yeah, he doesn't have the balls for it,' she said.
We turned left onto Eastern Avenue and drove past solid wooden houses, mostly two-family, mostly white, with small lawns in front, and some trees along the street. It was about as residential as Lynn got.
Dixie said, 'Slow down. It's along here someplace.'
We slowed. Cars behind me honked their horns.
'We're holding up traffic,' Dixie said.
'Take your time,' I said.
More horns. One driver pulled out around me and raced past me, tires screeching. As he passed he gave me the finger.
'He thinks I'm number one,' I said.
'There it is,' Dixie said.
I pulled in by a hydrant in front of a white three-decker v/ith dark green shutters and some scraggly lilac bushes along the driveway. The cars behind me gunned their engines in angry liberation as they passed me. I felt properly chastened.
