Free Gold Coast Blues by Marc Krulewitch Page B

crap from me. Despite my view of intuitive abilities, I thought the passion in her voice for investigating the spirit world was sincere. And true to my reckless nature, I was attracted to the mystery of her sudden appearance in the same alley where I had been jumped.

Chapter 14
    It always felt good to be home. Despite an absence of only four hours, I had learned to appreciate the simple comforts of coming home to a reclining chair and sleeping cat. I called Eddie.
    “It’s Jules Landau. How’re you doing?”
    “Huh? Yeah, I’m all right.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Out.”
    “You mind coming north? See a little more of the city? I’d like to have a meeting.”
    “What about?”
    I waited for the punch line. “What do you think? About why you’re paying me, yeah?”
    “Okay, yeah. You got new information?”
    “Go ahead and make that assumption if it’ll get you here.”
    I gave Eddie directions but couldn’t shake the feeling he was pretending to listen. About an hour later I heard the outside door to my building open and then Eddie’s footsteps on the stairs. I stuck my head out the door and watched the top of his bald head ascend toward me.
    I said, “You always stare straight down when you climb stairs?” No answer. “How does our subway compare to New Jersey’s?” Eddie had no opinion of the subway.
    At the top of the landing Eddie said, “So you got info on Tanya?”
    He followed me in and took a seat on the couch. I returned to the recliner and said, “How’s business?”

    He raised his eyebrows but ignored the question. “What have you found out about Tanya?”
    “Don’t get your hopes up. I want to tell you about yesterday evening’s events. Maybe something will come to mind—something you’ll want to tell me.”
    Eddie took a breath and let it out. Then he unclenched his jaw. “Okay, start talking.” I pretended he didn’t just give me an order.
    “After our lunch yesterday, I got a call. Someone wanted to pay me a grand to pick up a package in exchange for a pile of cash. I’ve dropped a lot of business cards around town so it’s no big surprise to get a call for a job, although this type of job was a first.”
    “What was in the package?”
    “An expensive bottle of wine. So I showed up at the meeting spot, got hit on the head and relieved of the cash. I found out later the wine had been stolen from the wife of the guy who ran off with Tanya. The same woman who told me Tanya was dead.”
    “You don’t know Tanya ran off with him. He might’ve kidnapped her or blackmailed her to go.”
    “We already discussed this. Tanya leaving willingly is the working theory.”
    Like the previous day, Eddie’s cold, blue-eyed stare put me on guard. The image of him diving at me with a knife clenched between his teeth flashed through my brain.
    Eddie said, “So what about Tanya?”
    “This other stuff you’re involved in. Would that include theft?”
    Eddie’s face reddened. “I know you think I’m a scumbag, but I do what I gotta do to survive. You don’t understand how I grew up—”

    “Lots of people grow up in crummy neighborhoods and don’t become criminals.”
    “It—it’s more than that. Trust me.”
    “I’m trying to keep the trust thing simple. Can I trust that what you’re not telling me has nothing to do with Tanya disappearing?”
    “I got nothin’ to do with stealin’ wine. I don’t know what that’s about.” He pulled an envelope from the breast pocket of his leather jacket and laid it on the coffee table between us. “You been workin’ hard. You gotta know I ’preciate it.”
    I could clearly see the well-defined rectangular outline of cash stuffed in the business-sized envelope. Eddie leaned back on the couch, looked around the room. I stared at him until he met my eyes then averted his gaze—just like he did at yesterday’s lunch.
    “I’m going to ask you this one time. And I’m going to trust that you’ll tell me the truth. Is that cash