Blood Money полностью

He shivered. (It was cold in here, damn air-conditioning.) Joey hadn’t wanted to think about Nolan, about Nolan being under the wing of the Family, about Nolan running this place here, this Tropical, for the Family. Word had it Nolan was going to move up, and fast. It was spooky, after Charlie and Nolan hating each other for so long, and an open Family contract out on Nolan for all those years. But times change, and Charlie the powerful underboss was now Charlie the deposed underboss.

And Joey? Joey was Charlie’s cousin.

Nothing to worry about, shit. Not a thing. Felix wouldn’t let Nolan do anything. Nolan was nothing to the Family, and Joey was so much.

Like the Riviera. Think how much money the Family made off just building the place, never mind the profit it was turning now. And he, Joey, was the one who wined and dined the various savings and loan guys, one firm anteing up $6 million (for an under-the-table inducement of a mere hundred grand). The rake-off for the Family from these multi-million buck loans was simple and immense. Family construction and supply outfits handed in inflated estimates of cost, and so Joey Metrano’s Riviera (which an appraiser today might put at, say $5 million) had had a provable projected cost of over $11 million.

After dinner he copped a few more feels from the waitress with the nice ass, then settled back with one last glass of wine. He was just starting the second one last glass of wine when Nolan came out of somewhere and approached Joey’s table.

“Hope you enjoyed your dinner, Joe,” Nolan said.

Why did Nolan look so tall, Joey wondered, when he couldn’t have been more than six foot or so? He supposed it was the long, hard lines in his face, the prominent cheekbones, the narrow, almost chink-looking eyes.

“How you doing?” Joey asked, motioning for Nolan to sit down.

Nolan sat.

“What are they calling you here?” Joey asked, in a whisper. “Felix told me but I forgot.”

“Logan,” Nolan said.

“Listen,” Joey said, “where is Felix, anyway?”

“Felix got called back to the city,” Nolan said. “He said I should put you up for the night. He’ll be back early tomorrow morning.”

“Aw, shit,” Joey said, unable to keep the infuriated feeling down inside him. “Aw, shit, goddamn shit. I come all the way down here, I cancel my goddamn evening, and aw, shit.”

“It’s not my fault, Joe,” Nolan said. “I’ll make you as comfortable as possible.”

“I know it’s not your fault, No... Logan. And listen, I want you to know something. Just because I was Charlie’s cousin, well, it doesn’t mean, you know.”

“Sure,” Nolan said. “No reason for hard feelings between us. You weren’t your cousin’s keeper.”

“Ha, that’s a good one. Uh, Logan, nobody was Charlie’s keeper, all right. He had a mind of his own, all right.”

“Too bad how he died.”

Joey swallowed. “Uh, yeah, real tragic is what it was.”

What was Nolan fishing for? Joey could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Surely Nolan knew Charlie’s “death” was a Family cover-up. Surely Nolan knew Charlie was spared the usual blow-him-apart-and-stuff-him-in-the-trunk-of-a-car gangland execution, because Charlie was too high up for that. Charlie was a goddamn underboss.

Nolan said, “He was disfigured in the accident, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Joey said. “Burnt up. Both burnt up. He and his son. They were in the car together.”

“Was quite a drop-off, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah it sure was.”

“Not much left of the bodies.”

“No. Burnt to a crisp, like I said. No doubt it was Charlie, though.”

Did he know? Did Nolan know?

“I never doubted it was Charlie,” Nolan said.

“They could check it out through Charlie’s bridgework, through his dentist, you know. And rings and other identifying things like that.”

“Well, Joe, it’s not really a pleasant after-dinner topic, is it? Let’s let it pass. Let me just assure you I hold you no grudge, just for being blood kin of an old enemy... and let me say, too, that I hold no grudge for that old enemy, either. I’m not one to speak bad of the dead. Rest in peace, I always say.”

“R... right. Some wine, Logan?”

“No thanks.” Nolan bent close, like a conspirator. “Listen. I saw you flirting with Janey.”

“Janey?”

“The waitress.”

“Well, hey, I mean Christ, uh, I didn’t mean anything by...”

“Cool it,” Nolan said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, then, uh, why...”

“Why mention it? Now listen, Joe, just between the two of us, I mean, we’re two of a kind, right? You run a hotel; I run a motel. The only difference is you’re in the city and I’m in the country, right?”

“Uh, right.”

“Now tell me, you have some pretty foxy chicks working in that Riviera of yours, don’t you?”

“Well, sure, sure I do.”

“And sometimes you, you know, dip into the old private stock, know what I mean?” Nolan grinned, the grin of lechery.

“I know what you mean,” Joey said, returning the grin.

“So if you like Janey, I think maybe I can work something out for you.”

“Terrific, I mean, Christ, would you do that for me, Nolan? Er, Logan? I never expected...”