You Make Me Feel So Dead (11 page)

‘Crap,' he said, ‘I thought it was my lawyer.'

‘Nice to see you, too.'

‘Have a seat,' Danny said. ‘Sorry I can't offer you some refreshment.'

I pulled out the other chair and sat across from him.

‘What's goin' on, Danny?'

‘That's what I want to know,' he said. ‘We went to work today and the cops were waitin' for us. I didn't know what the hell was going on until we got here and they told me I was under arrest for killin' William Reynolds.'

‘Did you and Penny talk about Reynolds?'

‘We did,' he said. ‘Old boyfriend who took advantage of her, blah blah blah. What do I care? I only care about who she is now.'

‘That's fine,' I said. ‘Now tell me you've never seen Billy Reynolds in your life.'

He didn't say anything.

‘Danny?'

‘I can't say that, Eddie.'

‘Oh Danny,' I said. ‘You didn't tell me the whole story, did you?'

‘No, buddy, I didn't,' he said. ‘I'm really sorry, Eddie.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘let's talk about that later. Just tell me you didn't kill the guy.'

‘I didn't kill the guy.'

I nodded. ‘I believe you.'

‘So now what?'

‘So now I guess we have to wait for your lawyer,' I said. ‘Look, I don't have much time. They say they got your description and your plate number, that you were in the area around the house.'

‘I was,' he said, ‘but I didn't kill him. I just wanted to talk to the guy, to convince him to leave Penny alone.'

‘And did you talk to him?'

‘I did.'

‘Did you convince him of anything?'

‘I didn't,' he said.

‘What else?'

‘I flattened him.'

‘And?'

‘That's it,' he said. ‘He said Penny was gonna have to pay to get rid of him. I … I told him there were easier ways, and I hit him. Just once.'

‘And then?'

‘And then I left.'

‘What'd you mean when you said there were easier ways?'

‘I was just trying to scare him, but the guy didn't scare.'

‘OK, quick,' I said, ‘tell me what you saw when you were there.'

‘Not much,' Danny said. ‘I've been thinkin' about it. I didn't see anyone else, didn't see any other cars. Not when I got there, and not when I left. As a witness, I'm fuckin' useless.'

‘You can say that again.'

The door opened at that moment and cut off any retort he might have had.

‘You're done,' Hargrove said.

‘My lawyer here yet?' Danny asked.

‘Not yet. But don't worry, you'll be the first to know.'

‘Can I have another minute—' I started, but I knew the answer even before he cut me off.

‘Not a chance,' Hargrove said. ‘You're done. Let's go.'

‘I'll see you later,' I said to Danny.

‘My lawyer will get me out, Eddie,' he said. ‘I didn't kill anybody. Take Penny home.'

‘I'll have Jerry take her, and stay with her,' I said. ‘I'll stick around until your lawyer gets here.'

‘Thanks.'

‘Hey, pit boss!' Hargrove snapped. ‘Out!'

I left the room, followed by Hargrove, who slammed the door.

‘He still singin' the same tune, huh?' he asked. ‘He didn't do it?'

‘That's because he didn't.'

‘We'll see. Martin will take you back to the front.'

‘Like I told Danny,' I said, ‘I'll be around until his lawyer shows.'

‘Suit yourself.'

Martin appeared at my elbow as if by magic and said, ‘This way.'

Sneaky bastard.

‘I
s he all right?' Penny asked anxiously when I got back to the front.

‘He's fine,' I said. ‘He wants you to go home.'

‘Eddie, I can't—'

‘You have to, Penny,' I said. ‘I'll stay. Don't make Danny worry about you while he's fighting to get out of here.' I turned to Jerry. ‘Will you take her home in the Caddy?'

‘Sure, Mr G.'

‘And stay with her,' I said.

‘How you gonna get back?' he asked. ‘You got that Elvis thing—'

‘I'll call you to come and get us when Danny gets out.'

‘What about Elvis?'

‘Don't worry about him,' I said. ‘I'll take care of it.'

‘Elvis?' Penny asked.

‘Jerry will tell you on the way home,' I said. ‘Go ahead, go.'

‘Eddie …'

‘Shoo!'

She pointed her finger at me and said, ‘Call me!'

‘I will.'

Jerry ushered her out of the building.

With Penny taken care of all I had to do was wait there for Danny's lawyer, who I had met only once or twice before, in passing, but who I would know on sight.

Jerry was right, though. I did have to deal with the Elvis thing. I still hadn't made a reservation, and I had to pick out a show to take them all to. But all of that depended on me – and Danny – getting out of the police station at a reasonable time.

I went across the street to a diner to get some coffee, then sat down on a bench in the lobby to wait for the lawyer.

I was starting to think I should call Elvis and make some excuse when the double doors opened and the lawyer came in. He must have gotten out of court early because it was only four p.m. He had a leather briefcase tucked beneath one arm.

‘Mr Kaminsky?'

He looked at me, squinting as if he recognized me but couldn't place me. But he was hard to forget. Aaron Kaminsky was all of five foot four, about forty-five, wearing a blue suit that was several years old and several weeks past needing a cleaning. But Danny trusted him, said he was a great lawyer.

‘Eddie Gianelli,' I said. ‘Danny's friend from—'

‘Sure, Eddie G.,' he said, triumphantly. ‘Of course Kaminsky knows you. You wanna fill me in before I go inside? I don't want any surprises. Kaminsky hates surprises like I hate schmaltz.'

The thing I always notice about Aaron Kaminsky is that there's no telling when he will start referring to himself in the third person. It just makes him that much more of a character.

‘That's what I'm here for.'

I gave him the rundown on everything I knew, holding nothing back.

‘Is that it?' he asked. ‘All of it?'

‘All I know,' I assured him.

‘OK,' he said, ‘you're Danny's oldest friend, and you've got this whole town wired. So tell me what you think.'

‘I think somebody killed Reynolds, and Hargrove is trying to pin it on Danny,' I said. ‘He already tried to pin it on Jerry.' Identifying Jerry had been part of my original story, so he nodded.

‘But Penny did have a relationship with this nudnik, right?'

‘Right.'

‘Years ago.'

‘Right.'

‘And she has a sheet from back then.'

‘Right again.'

‘OK, Bubula,' he said, ‘I got it. Lemme go get our friend out of the clink. You gonna wait here?'

‘Yes.'

‘Good.' He patted me on the arm. ‘Don't worry. Kaminsky won't leave here without Danny.'

‘Me, neither.'

So we bonded and then he was taken into the back to work his magic …

The next time I saw Kaminsky the lawyer was twenty-five minutes later, when he came walking out with Danny in tow. If possible, Kaminsky looked even more disheveled than Danny did.

‘Hey, pal,' I said, giving Danny a hug. He smelled funky. ‘You smell like the joint.'

‘Thanks.' He turned to Kaminsky and hugged him. ‘Thanks, Kaminsky.'

‘Don't leave town, Bubula, or Kaminsky's ass is in a sling, eh?' He pointed his finger at Danny, then slapped him lightly on the cheek.

‘You got it.'

Kaminsky left.

‘He must be as good as you say,' I commented.

‘He's the best. Come on, let's get out of here,' Danny said.

‘Do you want me to call Jerry to come and get us?' I asked.

‘Is he with Penny?'

‘Yeah.'

‘Nah, just leave him there,' Danny said. ‘Let's get a cab.'

‘OK.'

We left the station, caught a cab right out front that was letting off a weeping woman.

‘Broad got robbed,' the driver said. ‘Been snivelin' ever since. Where to, boys?'

‘You're all heart,' Danny said, as we got into the back seat.

‘Hey, when you've dropped off as many cryin' broads here as I have, you get like that, ya know?'

‘Yeah,' Danny said, ‘I know.' He gave the driver Penny's address, and off we went.

W
hen Danny and I got to Penny's place she hugged him, and then made the same pronouncement I did.

‘You stink,' she said. ‘Take a shower.'

‘Yes, ma'am.' He looked at us. ‘You gonna be here when I get out?'

‘We've got something to do,' I said.

‘Eddie has to go to dinner with Elvis Presley,' Penny said.

‘Really? Elvis?' Danny said, raising his eyebrows. ‘Wasn't I supposed to be in on that?'

‘Well, yeah,' I said, ‘before you got arrested for murder.'

‘Yeah, but now I'm out.'

‘You're not going anywhere, Danny Bardini,' Penny said, firmly. ‘We still have some talking to do.'

‘And so do we,' I said, ‘but we'll have to do ours tomorrow.'

‘You go and enjoy your dinner, Eddie,' Penny told me. ‘Don't worry about us.'

‘I am worried,' I said, ‘and I'll be back tomorrow. Whatever plan you come up with to deal with this thing, I want to be in on it.'

‘OK,' Danny said, ‘I want to thank both you guys for your help.'

‘Don't mention it,' Jerry said.

‘And don't hug me again,' I said, ‘not until you take that shower.'

‘I'm goin', I'm goin'.'

He disappeared into the bathroom, and Penny walked us to the door, sending us both off with a kiss on the cheek. Jerry blushed. I didn't.

We drove back to the Sands, where I found a phone and hurriedly made plans for an evening of fun and games with Elvis and the Memphis Mafia …

Like we planned, we took Elvis and his entourage to the Bootlegger, an Italian restaurant off the strip that Frank Sinatra had actually introduced me to. Aside from me, Jerry and Elvis there were Red and Sonny West, Billy Smith, Lamar Fike, Marty Lacker. Oh, and Ann-Margret. We were given a table for ten and were taken very good care of …

We ate family style, platters of food all over the table. Elvis ordered most of what was on the menu, so we started with salad and antipasto, then there were pasta, meatballs, chicken, prime rib, and veal dishes.

I sat on Elvis' right, Ann-Margret on his left. For some reason, he spent most of his time talking to me. Jerry sat to Ann-Margret's left, and she talked to him all night. He was in heaven. I knew that because every so often he threw a look my way and I could see it in his eyes.

‘What else have you got planned for tonight?' Elvis asked me halfway through the meal.

‘I've got tickets for a show at the Stardust … the
Lido De Paris
.'

‘Not a singer, I hope,' Elvis said.

‘No,' I said, ‘showgirls.'

‘Good,' he said, ‘the guys'll like that.'

‘And you?'

‘I'm gonna go back to the hotel while the boys go to the show. Then they'll wanna do some gambling.'

‘And what will you do?'

‘Watch some TV,' he said, ‘order room service, plan my set lists.'

‘And what's Ann going to do?' I asked.

‘She's gonna go back to her hotel,' he said. ‘She needs her beauty sleep.'

‘So you're going to your room … alone?'

‘Unless you wanna come and hang out,' he said. ‘I checked the listings. There's some good westerns on tonight.'

If I let him go to his room alone, there was no telling what kind of trouble he could get into. And the Colonel wanted me to keep him out of trouble.

‘Well,' I said, ‘I could come with you. You might be interested in what I was doing today.'

‘What's that?'

I didn't know what I was getting into when I said, ‘A friend of mine was arrested for murder. I was trying to help him.'

‘What, whoa, whoa,' he said, turning his whole body toward me. ‘Tell me more. In fact, tell me all about it.'

I told him just enough. But it wasn't enough.

Not nearly.

After dinner the crew piled into a limo and headed for the Stardust. Since it didn't matter to me if they got into trouble I didn't send Jerry with them. Red hesitated, wanting to go back to the hotel with Elvis, who convinced him otherwise. Finally, the big guy got into the limo with the others.

‘Hey, Jerry,' Elvis said, ‘would you do me a big favor?'

‘Whatever you want, Mr Presley.'

‘Oh, hey, na, na, na, none of that “Mr” stuff. You call me Elvis.'

‘OK …' Jerry said, but I knew that would never happen.

‘Would you take Miss Margret back to her hotel in that big Caddy of yours?'

‘Um, the Caddy is Mr G.'s, but sure … if he says it's OK.'

Ann-Margret was standing off to one side, arms folded, looking beautiful in a simple blue sweater and brown skirt. Her red hair hung almost to her shoulders in soft waves. I noticed something I'd never seen on the big screen. She had freckles.

‘Sure, Jerry,' I said. ‘Take Miss Margret back to her hotel, and then go on back to the Sands.'

‘What are you gonna do, Mr G.?' Jerry asked.

I looked at Elvis and said, ‘I guess I'm going back to Elvis' hotel to watch some TV.'

E
lvis wanted the whole story.

‘This is a real life murder case,' he said, when we got back to his room, ‘with a private eye and everything. I wanna hear it all.'