The waiter and two busboys, with great elan, served thetournedos Alfredo and the side dishes. Amy took four bites of the steak, then curiosity got the best of her.
'And it doesn't offend your sense of right and wrong to take free meals from a gangster?' she asked.
'Come on, Amy!' Matt protested again.
'No,' Wohl said, making a gesture-with his hand toward Matt to show that since he didn't mind the question, Matt should not be upset. ' What I will do in the morning is send a memo to Internal Affairs, reporting that I got a free meal here. As far as taking it-why not? Savarese knows he'll get nothing in return, and this is first-class food.'
'But you know he's a gangster,' Amy argued.
'And he knows I'm a cop, an honest cop,' Wohl countered. 'Under those circumstances, if it gives both of us pleasure, what's wrong with it?'
Amy Payne could think of no withering counterargument, and was furious. Then doubly furious when she saw Matt smiling smugly at her.
Matt glanced at his watch as the pastry cart was wheeled to the table, then jumped to his feet.
'I better get over to the FOP,' he said. 'You finish your dinner. I' ll catch a cab. Or run.'
When he was gone, Wohl said, 'He's a very nice young man, soaking wet behind the ears, but very nice.'
'I think I should tell you, Inspector,' Amy said, 'that I'm not thrilled with his choice of career.'
'I would be very surprised if you were,' Wohl said. 'Your mother must really be upset.'
Damn it, you weren't supposed to agree with me!
'She is,' Amy said. 'I had lunch with her today.'
'I feel a little sorry for myself, too,' Wohl said. 'Dennis Coughlin sent him to me, with the unspoken, but very obvious, implication that I am to look after him. I think Coughlin is probably as unhappy as you and your family about his taking the job.'
He looked at her, and when she didn't reply, added, 'He's twenty-one years old, Dr. Payne. I suspect that he has been very humiliated by having failed the Marine Corps physical. He has decided he wants to be a policeman, and I don't think there's anything anyone can do, or could have done to dissuade him.'
I don't need you to explain that to me, damn you again!
'You don't agree?' Wohl asked.
'I suppose that's true,' Amy said. 'Where's he going tonight? What's the Eff Oh Pee?'
'Fraternal Order of Police,' Wohl said. 'They have a building on Spring Garden, just off Broad. He's meeting two of my men there. They' re going to look for a man we think is connected with a couple of burglaries in Chestnut Hill. I told them to take Matt with them, to give him an idea how things are, on the street.'
'Oh,' she said.
'That chocolate whateveritis looks good,' Wohl said. 'Would you like a piece?'
'No, thank you,' Amy snipped. 'Nothing for me, thank you.'
'You don't mind if I do?'
'No, of course not,' Amy said.
Damn this man, he has a skin like an elephant, the smug sonofabitch!
Matt got out of the taxi in front of the Fraternal Order of Police Building on Spring Garden Street and looked at his watch. He was five minutes late.
Damn! he thought, and then Double Damn, either I've got the wrong place, or this place is closed!
Then, on the right corner of the building, he saw movement, a couple going into a door. He walked to it, and saw there were stairs and went down them. He had just relaxed with the realization that he had found 'the bar at the FOP,' even if five minutes late, when a large man stepped in front of him.
'This is a private club, fella,' he said.
'I'm meeting someone,' Matt replied. 'Officer McFadden.'
The man looked at him dubiously, but after a moment stepped out of his way, and waved him into the room.
Matt wondered how one joined the FOP; he would have to ask.
The room was dark and noisy. There was a dance floor crowded with people and what he thought at first was a band, but quickly realized was a phonograph playing records, very loudly, through enormous speakers. At the far end of the room, he saw a bar, and made his way toward it.
He found Officers McFadden and Martinez standing at the bar, at the right of it.
'Sorry to be late,' Matt said.
'We was just starting to wonder where you were,' Charley McFadden said. 'Talking about you, as a matter of fact.'
'You got to learn to be on time,' Jesus Martinez said.
'He said he was sorry, Hay-zus,' McFadden defended him.
McFadden, Matt saw, was drinking Ortleib's beer, from the bottle. Martinez had what looked like a glass of water.
'You want a beer, Matt?'
'Please,' Matt said. 'Ortleib's.'
'Hey, Charley,' McFadden called to the bartender. 'Give us another round here!'
'Two beers and a glass of water?' the bartender said. 'Or is Jesus still working on the one he has, taking it easy?'
'Call him, Hay-zus,' McFadden said. 'He likes that better. Charley, say hello to Matt Payne.'
Matt was at the moment distracted by something to his right. A woman leaned up off her bar stool, supported herself with one hand on the bar, and threw an empty cigarette package into a plastic garbage can behind the bar. In doing so, her dress top fell open, and her brassiere came into view. Her brassiere was one that Matt had yet to see in the flesh, but had seen inPlayboy, Penthouse, and other magazines of the type young men buy for the high literary content of their articles and fiction.
It was black, lacy, and instead of the cloth hemispheres of an ordinary brassiere, this one had sort of half hemispheres, on the bottom only, which presented the upper portion of the breast to Matt's view, including the nipple.
Matt found this very interesting, and was grossly embarrassed when the woman glanced his way, saw him looking, said 'Hi!' and then returned to her bar stool.
She was old, he thought, at least thirty-five, and she had caught him looking down her dress.
Oh, shit! If she says something…
'Matt, say hello to Charley Castel,' Charley McFadden repeated.
Matt offered his hand to Charley Castel. 'How are you?'
'Matt's out with us in Special Operations,' Charley said.
'Is that so?' Charley Castel said.
'He just got out of the Academy,' Jesus Martinez offered.
Thanks a lot, pal, Matt thought.
'Is that so?' Charley Castel repeated. 'Well, welcome to the job, Matt.'
'Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?' a female voice said in Matt's ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it was the woman who had caught him peering down her dress.
'Yeah, why not?' Charley said, chuckling. 'Matt, this is Lorraine Witzell, Lorraine, this is Matt Payne.'
'How are you, Matt Payne?' Lorraine said, putting her arm between Matt and Charley to shake his hand, which action served to cause her breast to press against Matt's arm. 'Is that short for Matthew, or what?'
'Yes, ma'am,' Matt said.
'Yes, ma'am,' Jesus Martinez parroted sarcastically.
'You're sweet,' Lorraine Witzell said to Matt, looking into his eyes and not letting go of his hand. 'Did I hear Charley say you've been assigned to Special Operations?'
'That's right,' Matt said.
For an older woman, she's really not too bad-looking. And she either didn't really catch me looking down her
