“I didn’t send a flunky.” Suddenly Gluck wasn’t smiling any more. “So you shouldn’t have gone there, Jesso.”
Gluck hardly ever insulted a man in a straightforward way. And he hardly ever had a lit cigar in his mouth. Gluck was lighting it now and he never even blinked when the strong smoke crawled up around his face.
“Sit down, boy. I want to talk about Vegas.”
Jesso didn’t sit. He pushed himself away from the desk and thought about walking around to the other side, where Gluck was sitting, and starting out by grabbing lapels.
“This is important. It’s all about you, Jesso.”
Jesso sat.
“You goofed, Jesso.”
But this time Gluck made no impression. Jesso never goofed unless he knew about it.
“And I’m taking the time to explain it to you because in this new setup, you working for us, you can goof and not know it. You haven’t got the background to know it.”
Jesso kept still because Gluck was making sense.
“Who told you to go to Vegas, Jackie boy?”
“Nobody.”
“So you goofed.” Gluck sat back and started smiling.
Jesso sat back too. He took his time lighting a smoke, and this time he didn’t toss the match, but placed it in the tray as if he had nothing else on his mind.
“Gluck,” he said, “there’s two things I don’t like. One, I’m not working for you. I didn’t before you came, I’m not doing it now. Two, I don’t goof. We been after a tie-in with those two clubs in Vegas for a long time. Those two were outsiders and we wanted in, right? They been using our bonding company, the money outfit that started right here with dough I put out long before you ever came along. We put up their bond and they never came across with their percentage off the tables. Now, you know I want in, I know you want in. So what did you and your glorified bookie friends do about it? Nothing. So I did. I don’t horse around sending messages on business stationery. I go out there. We’re in for a cut on those clubs right now. What would have taken you another year I did in twenty-four hours. And that was yesterday.”
“Bravo,” said Gluck, but he wasn’t smiling. “And now I tell you why you goofed.” He squeeked his chair around and lit the dying butt again. “Let’s not talk about your taking off without my say-so. With you, I’ll overlook that. Let’s talk about what Limpy told me. Limpy called from Vegas and says you’re there seeing Buchanan and that sidekick of his. You’re seeing them about the percentage from their clubs. Next thing, you’re ready to leave town, the percentage guarantee all settled in your favor-and Buchanan in the hospital.”
Gluck paused, trying to make an impression. Jesso just sat, because it didn’t mean a thing to him.
“You roughed him up!” Gluck yelled, and it came so suddenly that Jesso wasn’t sure he’d heard it right. “You caused a stink, you lousy moron!”
Gluck sat down again, and except for the color of his face he looked as settled as before.
So did Jesso. He crossed his legs and said, “Say that again, President?”
“This is the deal,” Gluck said, and for once he talked straight. “We do things in a new way around here, and that includes you. We don’t rough-house, we don’t attract attention, we don’t act like hoodlums in a gang war. It’s big business all around, which means be nice, do what you’re told, and when you shaft a guy you make him like it. Understand?”
“Sure. But that’s not for me, President.”
Gluck sighed. “You know, you’re asking for it, Jesso.”
“What?”
“The boot.”
“Try it, Gluck,” and Jesso smiled.
“Not me, buddy boy The syndicate.”
Jesso just laughed.
“What if I asked you to fade, Jackie boy? Blow, scram, never come back?”
Jesso shrugged. “I wouldn’t go. I got some interests to protect.”
“That’s what I like to hear, boy.” Gluck looked friendly. “I like to hear you’re interested in your skin and that it’s all tied up with us.”
“So?”
“So you can stay. Like on probation.”
This time it stung. Jesso got out of his chair like a shot and slammed his hands on the desk.
“Gluck, you sonofabitch, try pushing me! Just try.” Jesso’s voice was like a knife. Then it sounded foolish to him, because it wasn’t really Gluck that mattered. It was the spidery web of one big clique that nobody ever saw, a thing much bigger than one man. He stood still, waiting.
“You listening, Jackie boy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I got a job for you.”
“Thank you. I got one.”
“An easy job, Jackie boy, but it’s like probation.”
“Like what? Apologize to Buchanan?”
Gluck laughed. “We wouldn’t do that to you, boy. This job is easy.”
“What?”
“I’m farming you out.”
Jesso got tense. He had to hold on, bide his time, stall them long enough to get his things in order. The syndicate might look polite, but in the end they handled things just about the way he did. One fast punch, or push, or shot, and the problem was solved. For good.
Jesso sat down again. “What job, Gluck boy?”
“They want you to find a man. That’s all.”
“How much?”
“Twenty grand. For me, not for you.”
Gluck sat back, obviously hoping that Jesso would bust something. He watched as Jesso’s neck swelled and the eyebrows made a sudden line grow down the middle of the forehead. But Jesso didn’t do anything else.
“I won’t do you the favor, President. I won’t goof,” he said. “I’m a good little boy taking his licking.” He took a breath. “Who’s the outfit?”
“Here’s the card with the address.” Gluck handed it over. “Just an address, Jack boy, and it isn’t an outfit.”
“No name, even?”
“The name’s Kator,” Gluck said.
Jesso got up and went to the door. “I’m going to do you the favor, buddy boy,” he said. “I’m taking that job.”
Chapter Three
Kator had a suite in an uptown hotel and Jesso got there at eight in the morning. If Kator wasn’t out of bed yet, that would be fine too.
The tall guy opened the door. He took the card Jesso had brought, and that was all. He hardly nodded when Jesso wished him a good morning.
“Remember me, friend? The clothes tree.”
“This way, please.”
“How’s Porker, friend?”
“Mr. Kator is waiting.”
The next room wasn’t large, but Jesso didn’t see Kator right away. He sat hidden in a high-backed chair, his small hands folded in his lap. The thick neck was wedged into a stiff collar, and Jesso had to walk around the chair
