I'm a Fool to Kill You (18 page)

He looked surprised.

‘He went along with it?'

‘Dean and I were able to convince him.'

‘Well . . . good for you. Now what?'

‘I'm introducing Ava to Danny and he's gonna start workin' on those missing hours.'

‘You better not leave that guy alone with her,' Jack said.

‘You know, if I did I wonder who'd be in more danger?' I asked.

‘You got a point there,' Jack said. ‘How about you?'

‘What about me?'

‘Are you safe from Ava's feminine wiles?'

I hesitated, then said, ‘What man is, Jack? I'm doin' the best I can.'

‘Yeah, OK. Oh, there she is,' he said, spotting his secretary. ‘If she thinks she's gonna sneak in on me she's mistaken.'

‘Let me get out of here before you tear into her,' I said. ‘She'll find a way to blame me.'

‘Yeah, why
does
she hate you?' he asked. ‘What's that about?'

‘Beats me, but I don't have the time to find out. I'll see you later.'

Benny Binion had the best coffee shop in Vegas in the bowels of the Horseshoe. I got there first, ordered coffee and waited. Danny was next. His office was nearby. He slid into the booth next to me.

‘I wanted to make sure I was here when she walks in,' he said.

‘You gonna rein in your libido and be serious?' I asked.

‘Is she?' he asked, with a wry grin.

‘I guess we're gonna see, aren't we?'

‘You don't look so good,' he said, ‘and I know that look. Who were you up late drinkin' with?'

‘I was drinkin' in Tahoe with Frank, and then up late havin' coffee with Tony LaBella.'

‘He ain't dead?'

‘He's only sixty, and he's playin' the lounge at the Sands.'

‘He had a helluva voice once.'

‘Yeah . . . it's still pretty good.'

I couldn't remember much of what we talked about. I thought I recalled Tony telling me something about a cabin he had by Lake Mead, where he sometimes stayed between shows. I remember thinking he must not have been so hard up if he had a place in that area. Just because he'd been out of the limelight for a while apparently didn't mean he was broke.

At that point Jerry came down the stairs. Ava was behind him, hidden from view. Jerry looked quickly around the room, making sure everything was OK for Ava to enter. Satisfied, he turned, said something to her and let her enter ahead of him. She was wearing the dark glasses and a scarf but, thankfully, no blonde wig. She was also wearing a loose sweater, but tight fitting jeans and flat shoes. She wasn't Ava Gardner, the screen Goddess, but the men in the room still watched her walk to our booth.

‘Good morning, Eddie,' she said, in that sultry voice of her. ‘Who's your handsome friend?'

‘Have a seat, Ava, and I'll introduce you.'

Jerry stood by the booth. Ava sat then slid over to make room for him.

‘No way, Miss Ava,' he said. ‘I ain't built for booths. I'll sit at the counter. Hey Gumshoe.'

‘Hey Gunsel.'

Jerry grunted and went to the counter, where he'd order at least a dozen pancakes – to start.

Ava slid to the center of her seat and removed her dark glasses. I knew Danny was feeling at least what I was, like a slug to the stomach. Ava took your breath away.

‘Ava, this is Danny Bardini. He's the best private eye I know.'

‘Yeah, but ask him how many he knows,' Danny said. He put his hand out and Ava slid hers into it. ‘It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gardner.'

‘Ava, please, Danny,' she said. ‘It's nice to meet you too.' She looked at me. ‘Did you see Frank?'

‘I did,' I said. ‘He's goin' along with us.'

‘What did he sa—'

‘Let's order,' I said, waving at the waitress, ‘and then I'll tell you all about it.'

FORTY-NINE

O
ver breakfast I filled both Danny and Ava in on my meeting with Frank.

‘Sounds to me like Dean swung it for ya,' Danny said.

‘Dean can usually calm Frank down,' Ava said. ‘Well, this makes me feel better. Now what?'

‘Danny's gonna start workin',' I said. ‘You need to tell him everything you can remember, from Spain to New York to L.A. and anything else.'

‘Now?'

‘Right now.'

She continued to work on her omelet while she talked. I ate my scrambled eggs, but Danny couldn't take his eyes off Ava's face the whole time and his eggs were getting cold. The only time he did look away from her was to make some notes in a little book he carried.

‘OK,' Danny said, taking a bite of his toast, ‘is that it?'

‘I know it's not much,' she said, ‘but it's all I can remember.'

Danny looked at me. She hadn't given him any more than she'd told me. It seemed to me Danny was going to have to start in New York, where she woke up with blood on her.

‘OK,' he said. ‘I guess I have all I'm gonna get. Time to get to work.'

He started to slide out of the booth but Ava put her hand on his arm to stop him.

‘Thank you so much, Danny.'

He smiled and patted her hand.

‘You do everything Eddie tells you to do, Ava, and we'll figure this out. OK?'

‘OK.'

Danny stood up and headed for the door, pausing only to slap Jerry on the back. The waitress came by and refilled our coffee cups.

‘Is Danny done?' she asked, pointing to Danny's plate.

‘Yeah, you can take it away.'

She grabbed the plate and carried it away. I saw her sneaking glances at Ava, but she'd been working in Vegas too long to make a fuss.

‘He's very good-looking,' she said.

‘And he knows it.'

‘Is he good at his job?'

‘Very good. I've known him since we were kids. We can trust him.'

‘I trust you,' she said. ‘If you trust him, that's fine with me.'

She toyed with her omelet. Something was obviously on her mind.

‘Ava?'

She looked at me.

‘I want to call my sister, Bappie.'

‘Bappie?'

‘Her name's Beatrice, but I call her Bappie. She needs to know where I am.'

‘I don't think so.'

‘Eddie—' For a moment she worried, or was she feeling guilty? Or just upset that I wouldn't let her call her sister.

‘You can call her,' I said, ‘tell her how you are, but don't tell her where you are, Ava. We need to keep that to ourselves.'

She bit her lower lip.

‘All right,' she said, ‘but can't we find someplace else to stay?'

‘You don't like my house?'

‘It's a nice house, Eddie, but it's your house. It's too small. Where did you sleep last night?'

‘At the Sands.'

‘You need to be able to sleep in your own bed.'

I hesitated, then said, ‘I guess I could find another place – but give me a day or two.'

‘Sure.'

I looked over at Jerry. He was working on another stack of pancakes, but keeping his eyes on us, and all over the room at the same time.

I had wondered briefly if Ava's voracious appetite for sex would end up consuming Jerry, but he never would have been able to look me in the eye if that had happened. In fact, I'm not even sure he would have gone for it. Jerry's got his own code that he lives by, and it's based on the word ‘loyalty.' I say this because it occurred to me at that moment to ask Ava about it, but I quickly decided not to bring it up.

‘What are we going to do now?' she asked.

‘We can't interrupt Jerry during his meal,' I warned. ‘When he's done we'll go back to the house. I'm going to pack a few things to take to the hotel with me, just for a day or two, until I find you a new place.'

‘OK.'

‘Ava,' I said, ‘you know the Cal-Neva wouldn't be a bad place for you to go, but . . .'

‘. . . we'd have to tell Frank, and I don't want to do that. But you know, I think Howard owns some homes in Tahoe, and here.'

‘Howard?'

‘Hughes,' she said. ‘I know you don't want to tell anyone where I am, but I mean, who knows more about privacy than him?'

‘Why don't we put that idea on the back burner, ‘I suggested. ‘Let me look around first.'

‘OK, Eddie,' she said. ‘Whatever you say.'

I doubted she would be this cooperative all the time, but for the moment I appreciated it.

‘You know,' she said, ‘you could come home, spend the night in your own bed . . . with me.'

‘Not with Jerry on the couch,' I said.

‘You don't think he'd actually tell anyone, do you?'

‘I wouldn't want to test Jerry's loyalties,' I said. ‘I wouldn't want him to have to make that decision.'

‘No,' she said, thoughtfully, ‘no, neither would I. That would kill him.'

I was impressed that she already knew that much about him.

Jerry came over at that point, carrying a cup of coffee. He sat across from us. He was right about him and booths. Ava and I had to move our legs closer together for him to fit. She also rested her hand in my lap.

‘Everythin' OK?' he asked.

‘You done?' I asked.

‘Yup.'

‘Will that hold you?' Ava asked.

He grinned at her and said, ‘For a while.' Then he looked at me. ‘Where to, Boss?'

‘Back to the house,' I said. ‘Then I'm going to the Sands.'

‘You takin' the Caddy again?'

‘Yes,' I said. ‘You and Ava aren't goin' out, remember?'

He looked at Ava.

‘We better buy some more cards,' he told her. ‘The ones we're usin' are soggy.'

‘Well,' she said, with a smile, ‘this is the town for cards, right?'

Jerry laughed. I tried not to jump when she gave me a not so gentle squeeze through my trousers. Having sex with Ava had been a mistake – and I knew I'd do it again in a second.

FIFTY

‘
W
e got a tail,' Jerry said.

He was driving, and if he said we had a tail we did. But I still said, ‘We can't.'

‘We do.'

‘What now?' Ava asked.

‘This time,' I said, ‘I think we'll find out who they are.'

‘They musta picked us up at the Horseshoe,' Jerry said. ‘There was nobody following our cab on the way there.'

‘Maybe they picked me up at the Sands,' I said. ‘I'm not as good at spotting a tail as you are.'

‘I doubt it,' Jerry said. ‘I think you woulda noticed.'

I smiled. ‘It's nice that you have all that faith in me, Jerry.'

‘Why wouldn't I?'

‘You guys are something,' Ava said, with a smile.

Jerry and I exchanged a glance, and shrugged.

‘Where to, Mr G.?' he asked.

‘Remember that time we found the body in the dumpster?'

‘Yep.'

‘Remember how to get there?'

‘Industrial Road, right?'

‘That's right.'

‘Hold on,' he said, pressing down on the gas petal.

‘Don't lose 'em.'

‘I'll just scare 'em a little.'

I would have preferred to do this without Ava in the car, but we didn't have a choice. If we wanted answers we'd have to get them now.

‘Jerry, you got your .45, right?'

‘Mr G.,' he said, as if I'd just asked him if he had both arms.

‘Ava, you got that little popgun of yours?'

‘I don't think I'll go anywhere without it for a while.'

‘Pass it to me, will you?'

‘Why can't I hold it?' she asked.

‘You're gonna stay in the car when Jerry and I get out.'

‘But . . . wasn't I good at that junkyard?'

‘You saved my ass at that junkyard,' I said, ‘but the point of this whole exercise is for me to save your magnificent ass, right?'

She sighed and said, ‘Right.'

As she handed the gun over the back of my seat I noticed Jerry giving me an odd look. I was going to have to remember not to be so informal with Ava in the future. I didn't want him getting any ideas. They might be right.

FIFTY-ONE

J
erry drove us to the warehouse building where we had found a body in the dumpster during the
Ocean's 11
– what should I call it? Caper? Case? How about . . . adventure?

He pulled into the abandoned parking lot, and I wondered if the other car would be so obvious as to follow us. They did. Apparently they didn't care if we knew they were following.

‘What now?' Ava asked. ‘We drive around the parking lot?'

‘No,' I said, ‘just around the building.'

‘Gotcha, Mr G.'

Jerry accelerated around the side of the building, the other car following. Jerry kept going, turned around the back wall, then braked and put the car into reverse. The tires had squealed as we drove around the building. When they came around the back wall we were coming at them, backwards.

I watched through the back windshield as Ava covered her head. The other car's driver's eye went wide and he slammed on his brakes. Jerry did the same, but he tapped ours. He wanted there to be contact, and there was . . . just enough to jar the two men in the other car.