took a pull on the beer and smiled. He acted as if he were enjoying himself.
'Who is this man?' Jeffrey asked Carol.
'Devlin O'Shea,' the stranger offered. He pushed off the doorjamb and stepped beside Carol. 'Me and the cute little missus here have been waiting for you for hours.' He reached out to pinch Carol's cheek, but she batted his hand away. 'Feisty little thing.' He laughed.
'I want to know what's going on here,' Jeffrey demanded.
'Mr. O'Shea is the charming emissary of Mr. Michael Mosconi,' Carol said angrily.
'Emissary?' Devlin questioned. 'Ooh, I like that. Sounds sexy.,,
'Did you go to the bank to see Dudley?' Carol demanded, ignoring Devlin.
'Of course,' Jeffrey said. Suddenly he realized why Devlin was there.
'And what happened?' Carol demanded.
'Yeah, what happened?' Devlin chimed in. 'Our sources report that there was no deposit like was promised. That's unfortunate.'
'There was a problem...'9 Jeffrey stammered. He'd not been prepared for this interrogation.
'What kind of a problem?' Devlin asked, stepping forward and poking Jeffrey repeatedly in the chest with his index finger, keeping the pressure on. He felt Jeffrey wasn't coming clean.
'Paperwork,' Jeffrey said, trying to fend off Devlin's jabs. 'The kind of red tape you always get at a bank.'
'What if I don't believe you?' Devlin said. He smacked Jeffrey on the side of the head with an open palm.
Jeffrey's hand went to his ear. The blow stung him and startled him. His ear was ringing.
'You can't come in here and push me around,' Jeffrey said; trying to be authoritative.
'Oh, no?' Devlin said in an artificially high voice. He switched the beer to his right hand and then with his left he smacked Jeffrey on the other side of the head. His movement was so swift, Jeffrey had no time to react.
He stumbled back against the wall, cowering in front of this behemoth.
'Let me remind you of something,' Devlin said, staring down at Jeffrey.
'You are a convicted felon, my friend, and the only reason you're not rotting in prison at this moment is because of the generosity of Mr.
Mosconi.'
'Carol!' Jeffrey yelled. He felt a mixture of terror and anger. 'Call the police!'
'Ha!' Devlin laughed, throwing his head back. ' 'Call the police!' You're too much, Doc. You really are. I'm the one with the law behind me-not you.
I'm just here as an...' Devlin paused, then looked back at Carol. 'Hey,
&arie, what was that you called me?'
'An emissary,' Carol said, hoping to appease the man. She was appalled at this scene but had no idea what to do.
'Like she said, I'm an emissary,' Devlin repeated, turning back to Jeffrey.
'I'm an emissary to remind you about your deal with Mr. Mosconi. He was a little disappointed this afternoon when he called the bank. What happened to the money that was supposed to be in your checking account?'
'It was the bank's fault,' Jeffrey repeated. He hoped to God this giant didn't look in his briefcase, which he was still holding. If he saw the cash, he'd guess that Jeffrey had been planning to flee. 'It was some minor bureaucratic holdup, but the money will be in the account in the morning.
All the paperwork is done.'
'You wouldn't be jerking me around, would you?' Devlin asked. He flicked the end of Jeffrey's nose with the nail of his
index finger. Jeffrey winced. His nose felt like it had been stung by a bee.
'They assured me there would be no further problems,' Jeffrey said. He touched the tip of his nose and looked at his finger. He expected to see blood but there wasn't any.
'So the money will be there tomorrow morning?'
'Absolutely.'
'Well, in that case I guess I'll be going,' Devlin said. 'Needless to say, if the money doesn't appear, I'll be back.' Devlin turned from Jeffrey and stepped over to Carol. He extended the beer. 'Thanks for the brew, honey.'
She took the bottle. Devlin again made a motion to pinch her cheek. Carol tried to slap him, but he caught her arm. 'You certainly are feisty,' he said with a laugh. She yanked her arm free.
'I'm sure you're both sorry to see me go,' Devlin said at the door. 'I'd love to stay for dinner but I'm supposed to meet a group of nuns over at
Rosalie's.' He laughed a hoarse laugh as he pulled the door closed behind himself.
For a few moments neither Jeffrey nor Carol moved. They could hear a car start out in the street, then pull away. Carol was the one to break the silence: 'What happened at the bank?' she demanded. She was furious. 'Why didn't they have the money for you?'
Jeffrey didn't answer. He just looked at his wife dumbly. He was shaking from his reaction to Devlin. The balance between anger and terror had tilted to terror. Devlin was the embodiment of Jeffrey's worst fears, especially since he understood he had no defense against him and no protection from the law. Devlin was just the kind of person Jeffrey imagined populated the prisons. Jeffrey was surprised the man hadn't threatened to break his kneecaps. Despite his Irish name, he seemed like a character straight from the Mafia.
'Answer me!' Carol demanded. 'Where have you been?'
With his briefcase still in hand, Jeffrey started for his room. He wanted to be alone. The nightmare vision of a prison filled with inmates all like
Devlin came to him in a dizzying rush.
Carol grabbed his arm. 'I'm talking to you!' she snapped.
Jeffrey stopped and looked down at Carol's hand gripping his arm. 'Let go of me,' he said in a controlled voice.
'Not until you talk to me and tell me where you've been.'
'Let go of me,' Jeffrey said menacingly.
Thinking better of it, Carol let go of his arm. Again he started for his room. She quickly fell in behind him. 'You are not the
only one around here who has been under strain,' she yelled after him. 'I think I deserve some kind of explanation. I had to entertain that animal for hours.'
Jeffrey stopped at his door. 'I'm sorry,' he said. He owed her that. Carol was right behind him.
'I think I've been pretty understanding through all this,' Carol said. 'Now
I want to know what happened at the bank. Dudley said yesterday there would be no problems.'
'I'll talk to you about it later.' He needed a few minutes to calm down.
'I want to talk about it now,' Carol persisted.
Jeffrey opened his door and stepped into the room. Carol tried to push through after him, but Jeffrey blocked her way. 'Later!' he said, louder than he'd meant to. He closed the door on her. Carol heard the lock click into place.
She pounded on the door in frustration and began to cry. 'You're impossible! I don't know why I was willing to wait on the divorce. This is the thanks I get.' Sobbing, she gave the door a kick, then ran down the hall to her own room.
Jeffrey slammed the briefcase down on his bed, then sat down next to it. He didn't mean to aggravate Carol like that, but he couldn't help it. How could he explain what he was going through when there hadn't been any real communication between them for years? He knew he owed her an explanation, but he didn't want to confide in her until he'd decided what to do. If he told her he had the cash in hand, she'd make him take it to the bank first thing. But Jeffrey needed time to think first. For what felt like the fortieth time that day alone, he wasn't sure what he would do.
For the moment, he got up and went into the bathroom. He filled a glass with water and held it with both hands as he drank. He was still shaking from a whirlpool of emotions. He looked at himself in the mirror. There was a scratch on the end of his nose where Devlin had flicked him. Both his ears were bright red. He shuddered when he
