either was fine with me. She turned back to Clara and told her that we'd go ahead and stay at the hotel for another few days before heading home. Clara thanked her, and wished us a good evening. On the way home, I told Lucy and the girls about inviting Agent Jones to join us for dinner, and why. They all agreed that it was a nice thing to do, and welcomed her company.
Once outside, I saw that Agent Gallery was with us again, and gave him a friendly nod; he gave me a big grin and a thumbs-up, apparently having heard how things had gone at TechnoDynamics.
Back at the hotel, we were making our way to our rooms after getting off the elevator when the door to one of the other rooms opened up.
We'd just passed the FBI agent watching for us, and even he was surprised when a couple of large, burly guys came out and stood in front of the four of us. Lucy took one look at them and gave a little squeak before stepping back, in front of the girls. I just stood there looking at them, waiting to see what they had in mind – and ready to deal with it. Behind me, I heard the FBI agent ask 'What do you want me to do, sir?'
'Just hold on a second, and let's see what these gentlemen want.' I told him.
The one on the left asked 'Your name Dan Andrews?' I nodded, and he went on 'A friend of ours believes that you're involved in something that doesn't concern you. Our friend thinks that it would be best for everyone concerned if you were to remove yourself from any involvement in the matter.'
'And if I don't agree?'
'Then there exists the possibility that some unpleasant things could happen to you. Or maybe the broad.'
'What kind of unpleasant things?'
He looked at the FBI agent behind us before looking at me again, and said 'Things like maybe your house could burn down. Or maybe you could get hurt, or even dead. Or these things could happen to someone you care about.'
I looked at him, then his partner. Both had the cold, dead eyes of a shark – they were so used to doing this kind of thing, and following up on it, that it simply didn't mean anything to them any more. Legal problems aside, killing someone meant as little to them as removing a callous.
When he saw that I wasn't noticeably afraid of them, the one on the right started to get a little nervous. I asked the leader 'By any chance, do you know Jules Francone?'
They shared a look, and the leader answered 'It's possible. Why?'
'You got a cell phone?'
He nodded, and I went on 'Suppose you do us all a favor. Call him up.
Tell him you're here with Boomer, and ask if he wants to talk to me.'
'Why should I do that?'
'Like I said, it could save us all some time and trouble. You're already here, and you've delivered your message. What can it hurt to call him?'
He thought that over for a few moments, then reached into his jacket pocket. I heard Lucy gasp behind me; the FBI agent was playing it cool.
He pulled out a phone, and we watched as he dialed a number, then asked for Jules.
A moment later 'Jules? This is Vincent. I'm here with somebody called Boomer. You want to talk to him?'
He listened for a few seconds, then looked surprised before handing me the phone.
'Hey, Boomer, what the hell are you doing with Vinnie?' I heard.
'Hey, Guido, what's up? Listen, I'm standing here in a hotel hallway.
I got a woman and two girls with me. There's an FBI agent behind me, and a couple of legbreakers in front of me. So far, everything's cool, but after these guys talked to me, I'm thinking that the cool isn't going to last very long.'
'No shit? Boomer, I don't know what you're into, but if you've got Vinnie's attention, it's not good. What hotel you at?'
I told him, and gave him my room number, then he said 'Okay. Look, you know I'm not in the family business, right?'
'Sure. Saw Muddy, he told me. Anyway, you told me you didn't want to do it that way, so why shouldn't I believe you?'
'Okay, just making sure. Look, I'm not in the family business, but they're still family, right? Let me find out what's going on, and call you back.'
'Sounds fair to me. I'm pretty sure I know what it's about; what I'd like to do is see if we can't stop this bullshit before it gets too deep, you know?'
'Yeah, I got ya. So Muddy told you I was staying out of it? Before or after he offered to help? And with how many other guys?'
'After. A few, he said.'
'Oh, shit. Okay, let me tell them to lay off you, okay? Then I'll call you back later.'
'Fine with me.'
With that, I handed the phone back to Vinnie. He took it, and listened for several seconds before handing it to the guy on the right. The other guy listened a little bit, too, then gave me a strange look, and took a step back before closing the phone and giving it back to Vinnie.
'Jules says we should leave you alone, if we know what's good for us.
Says he'll tell… he'll explain it. Says if we mess with you, *we'll* be the ones to get hurt, not you.' Vinnie said.
I just shrugged. That seemed to make the one on the right even more nervous, and he took another step back.
'I think it's a buncha crap. I think I could kick your ass from here to Tijuana and back, not even break a sweat. Jules isn't even *family*, not really.'
I just looked at him for a moment, and said 'Vinnie? Don't let your alligator mouth get your hummingbird ass in trouble.'
He got red in the face, and tried to hit me.
A moment later, he was laying on the floor, out cold, his leg sticking out at an odd angle from his knee. When the other one looked up from where Vinnie was, he was looking down the business end of my pistol. His eyes got real wide, and I told him 'You, you're the smart one. Somebody isn't afraid of you, it's one of two reasons. Either they're a whole lot badder than you think, or they're flat-out crazy.
Either one is bad news. Now, you can go away and leave me and these folks alone, and I won't hurt you. If I see you again, I'm going to figure you're not as smart as I thought, and I'm going to take you out. We understand each other?'
His eyes locked on the muzzle of the.45, he nodded.
'Now, get the fuck away from me. Take this lump of shit with you. Do it easy, and slow, right?'
He nodded again, and carefully reached down to grab Vinnie by the collar, then drag him back into the room they'd been in. His eyes never moved from the pistol.
When the door had closed behind them, I pushed Lucy and the girls past me – Lucy was white as a sheet, and the girls were quietly crying. Right on their heels was the FBI agent.
'Sir, I'm sorry, sir. I don't know how they got this close!' he exclaimed, his weapon drawn as he watched the door.
'At ease, there, agent. It's a big hotel. You can't be everyplace at once, and you can't watch everything. I'd have been surprised if somebody
He looked at me strangely, and I went on 'You folks warned us that there might be organized crime involved. They've been at this longer than you have, and they don't have to play by any rules.'
He looked only slightly mollified at that, and said 'Still, I need to tell Agent Gallery about this.'
'That's fine. He can call the ambulance that Vinnie needs.'
The agent finally grinned at that, and asked 'Uh, what was that, sir?
That you used to take him down?'
'Tai Chi'
He looked at me in disbelief, and I told him 'Watch a Tai Chi tape sometime. Run it on fast forward. It's a
