Free A Week In Hel by Pro Se Press Page A

policeman said.”
    Now it was my turn to sit
like an ape with egg on my face. Well no harm in asking, “What
other policeman?”
    “ A detective named Johnny
Rosales,” she said firmly. “He said he was from the protection
squad.”
    I couldn’t believe she’d be
so easily fooled by a racket that had been in the papers, on TV,
and the radio. It takes one crook to get one over on
another.
    “ Oh yeah, well what did
‘Detective’ Rosales have to say about it?”
    “ He told me that the cops
felt that a crook like Angelo Delapina, or Joey Catanza getting
pinched really wasn’t a crime.”
    “ I can’t say I don’t agree,
but I’m surprised you were reeled in by that rat. Johnny Rosales is
a twice-pinched nickel bag dealer and wanna be hit man, nothing
more. He’s walking around because we can’t hang anything on him
right now, but if you’d be so kind as to tell me who was in that
back room, and what really happened to Bull McCaffrey, I’d gladly
go pick him up.”
    She was about to dispute, I
knew it, and I could almost guess what was coming next.
    “ Well he had a badge and
I.D.” She was confident in her argument.
    “ You know how many fake
I.D.’s I see every day?”
    “ Not as many as I do.
Remember, I work in a bar in a college town.”
    She had a point, at face
value, but White Walls was not trendy enough for the college set.
It was mostly blue collar, with a few upper middle class regulars,
but not many.
    “ Oh yeah, tell me about the
I.D.” I was about to tear into her, but the aroma of my steak
reached up and got me by the eyeballs. I turned to the steak and
went after it like I was mad at it. The potato was merely
collateral damage. I ate, she ate, and we sat in silence. There had
been an unspoken truce declared. Well maybe call it a
cease-fire.
    When I’d finished, I downed
the rest of my coffee. I didn’t mention it, but I was very doubtful
that I’d be able to wring the truth out of her about the money, or
anything else. I gotta say though, it was a real pleasure to watch
her eat, and not talk.
    “ Take me to your place,” she
said, as soon as she finished eating.
    I’d been finished for a few
minutes, and I was on my third cup of Joe. Hazel came around,
asking if we wanted that Buckeye Brownie. I passed, and Candi just
gave her a demure, girly smile and Hazel left with the impression
that we’d be having dessert later.
    I gotta say that Candi was
one hot ankle. I’d have been all over her if she wasn’t such a
minx.
    So after a palaverous
hugging from Hazel, and a semi-meaningful molestation from Billy,
who got a very chesty hug from Candi, we were on our way. I made
note of her moving his roving hand from her very shapely backside
to her waist no less than three times.
    When we got to the car, I
unlocked my door and I was about to get in, when I noticed Candi
standing by the back bumper.
    “ Can I have my bag please?”
She was subdued and very cordial. I was beginning to wonder if
being felt up by an old shell-shocked marine hadn’t had an
effect.
    “ If I’d known all it would
take to make you compliant was having your ass grabbed by an old
man.”
    She didn’t say a word, only
nodded, and didn’t make eye contact. I went to the back of the car
and opened the boot. There, just as we’d left it, was the duffle
bag. I dunno if it really contained the four million like she said
it did, but somebody would. I grabbed the heavy thing and dropped
it into her outstretched arms. She hefted its weight and smiled. We
got in the car and I started it up.
    “ You sure you want to go to
my place? I mean you been steadily avoiding telling me the truth
ever since I entered that gin palace this morning. I’d hate for you
to break your streak.”
    “ Ouch.” For some reason she
looked stung. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just pointing out
the obvious. Ever since I picked her up, we’d been on the run.
Every time she started coming on, trouble came up. Every time I
started to