around the room.
“In the telegraph office on Wireless Road. It’s less than a mile away.”
A mile away! She could hardly contain her impatience. “Then let’s hurry, before the connection is broken! Do you have a car?”
The youngster looked as startled as if she had asked for a space rocket. “No, ma’am.”
“So we’ll walk. Lead the way.”
They left the building, Nancy and Mervyn following the messenger. They went up the hill, following a dirt road with no sidewalk. Loose sheep grazed the verges. Nancy was grateful for comfortable shoes—made by Black’s, of course. Would Black’s still be her company tomorrow night? Patrick MacBride was about to tell her. The delay was unbearable.
In ten minutes or so they reached another small wooden building and went inside. Nancy was shown to a chair in front of a phone. She sat down and picked up the instrument with a shaking hand. “This is Nancy Lenehan speaking.”
An operator said: “Hold the line for Boston.”
There was a long pause; then she heard: “Nancy? Are you there?”
It was not Mac, contrary to what she expected, and it took a moment to recognize the voice. “Danny Riley!” she exclaimed.
“Nancy, I’m in trouble and you have to help me!”
She gripped the phone harder. It sounded as if her plan had worked. She made her voice calm, almost bored, as if the call was a nuisance. “What sort of trouble, Danny?”
“People are calling me about that old case!”
This was good news! Mac had put the wind up Danny. His voice was panicky. This was what she wanted. But she pretended not to know what he was talking about. “What case? What is this?”
“You know. I can’t talk about it on the phone.”
“If you can’t talk about it on the phone, why are you calling me?”
“Nancy! Stop treating me like shit! I need you!”
“Okay, calm down.” He was scared enough: now she had to use his fear to manipulate him. “Tell me exactly what has happened, leaving out the names and addresses. I think I know what case you’re talking about.”
“You have all your pa’s old papers, right?”
“Sure, they’re in my strong room at home.”
“Some people may ask to look through them.”
Danny was telling Nancy the story she herself had concocted. The ploy had worked perfectly so far. Blithely Nancy said: “I don’t think there’s anything you need worry about—”
“How can you be sure?” he interrupted frantically.
“I don’t know—”
“Have you been through them all?”
“No, there are too many, but—”
“Nobody
“I guess you’re right, but I never thought ... Who wants to see the stuff anyway?”
“It’s a bar inquiry.”
“Do they have the right?”
“No, but it looks bad if I refuse.”
“And it looks all right if I refuse?”
“You’re not a lawyer. They can’t pressure you.”
Nancy paused, pretending to hesitate, keeping him in suspense a moment longer. Finally she said: “Then there’s no problem.”
“You’ll turn them down?”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll burn everything tomorrow.”
“Nancy ...” He sounded as if he might weep. “Nancy, you’re a true friend.”
She felt a hypocrite as she replied: “How could I do anything else?”
“I appreciate this. God, I really do. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Well, since you mention it, there is something you could do for me.” She bit her lip. This was the delicate bit. “You know why I’m flying back in such a rush?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been so worried about this other thing—”
“Peter is trying to sell the company out from under me.”
There was a silence at the other end of the line.
“Danny, are you there?”
“Sure, I’m here. Don’t you want to sell the company?”
“No! The price is way too low and there’s no job for me in the new setup—of course I don’t want to sell. Peter knows it’s a lousy deal but he doesn’t care so long as he hurts me.”
“Is it a lousy deal? The company hasn’t been doing too well lately.”
“You know why, don’t you?”
“I guess ...”
“Come on, say it. Peter is a lousy manager.”
“Okay ...”
“Instead of letting him sell the company cheap, why don’t we fire him? Let me take over. I can turn it around—you know that. When we’re making money, we can think again about selling out—at a much higher price.”
“I don’t know.”
“Danny, a war has just started in Europe and that means business is going to boom. We’ll be selling shoes faster than we can make them. If we wait two or three years we could sell the company for double, three times the price.”
“But the association with Nat Ridgeway would be so useful to my law firm.”
“Forget what’s useful—I’m asking you to help me out.”
“I really don’t know if it’s in your own interests.”
Nancy wanted to say: You goddamn liar, it’s your interests you’re thinking about. But she bit her tongue and said: “I know it’s the right thing for all of us.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
That was not good enough. She was going to have to lay her cards on the table. “Remember Pa’s papers, won’t you?” She held her breath.
His voice became lower and he spoke more slowly. “What are you saying to me?”
“I’m asking you to help me, because I’m helping you. You understand that type of thing, I know.”
“I think I do understand it. Normally it’s called blackmail.”
She winced. Then she remembered who she was talking to. “You hypocritical old bastard, you’ve been doing this sort of thing all your life.”
He laughed. “You got me there, kid.” But that sparked another thought. “You didn’t
This was dangerously close to the truth. “That’s what you would have done, I know. But I’m not going to answer any more questions. All you need to know is that if you vote with me tomorrow, you’re safe; and if you don’t, you’re in trouble.” She was bullying him now, and that was the kind of thing he understood; but would he knuckle under or defy her?
“You can’t talk to me like that. I knew you when you wore diapers.”
She softened her tone. “Isn’t that a reason for helping me?”
There was a long pause. Then he said: “I really don’t have a choice, do I?”
“I guess not.”
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll support you tomorrow, if you’ll take care of that other thing.”
Nancy almost cried with relief. She had done it. She had turned Danny around. Now she would win. Black’s
