‘I know.’
‘I’ll do it if-’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I’ve got mine.’
We both leaned back into the car and relieved the bodies of their wallets and whatever else was in their pockets. We left the change. We’d look the stuff over later. I was about to withdraw from the car when I noticed the right hand of the passenger. He wore a silver ring with a snake on it.
‘Jerry.’
‘Yeah?’
‘His hand. The ring.’
‘Yeah?’
‘These are the two guys who put the cab driver in the hospital.’
‘That’s not good,’ he said.
He walked away from the car. I started to, but at the last minute took the ring from the dead guy’s hand and put it in my pocket.
‘What about the trunk?’ I asked.
‘It’s a rental, but there’s no harm,’ he said.
He pushed the driver’s wallet and things across the top of the car toward me, then grabbed the keys from the ignition and we opened the trunk. It was empty as a rental car’s trunk should be. No luggage, no nothing, just a spare and a jack.
Jerry slammed the trunk.
‘I’ll check the back and then we gotta get out of here,’ he said.
‘Right.’
He opened the back door and searched the back seat, sliding his hands into the cushions. Nothing.
‘That’s it,’ he said.
We turned back to the Caddy, and Jerry looked down at where it had come in contact with the other car.
‘Sorry, Mr G.’
‘We can get it fixed.’
‘Then let’s get out of here.’
As we walked back to the car Ava opened the back window and asked, ‘Can I get out now?’
‘No!’ we both shouted.
FIFTY-TWO
We didn’t talk on the way back to the house. Jerry pulled into the driveway and turned the engine off.
‘Still think you oughtta build a garage, Mr G.,’ he said. ‘You got a driveway, but no garage. What’s that about?’
‘I’ll give it some thought.’
At that point Jerry looked in his rear view mirror and said, ‘Mr G.’
‘What?’
He was still looking in the mirror so I turned in my seat and looked. Ava was sitting there, just staring straight ahead. I wasn’t even sure she was breathing.
‘Ava.’
No answer.
‘Ava!’
Still no answer. Her face was white as a sheet, her eyes slightly unfocused.
‘She’s in shock, Jerry.’
‘Whatta we do?’ Jerry asked. ‘Take her to the hospital?’
‘There would be publicity.’
‘We could give a phony name.’
‘She’s Ava Gardner, Jerry,’ I said. ‘Somebody’s gonna recognize her.’
‘So then what?’ he asked.
‘Let’s get her inside.’
‘Should I carry her?’
‘I think she’ll walk.’
We got her out of the car and walked her inside; Jerry really impressed me. He spoke to her the whole way. ‘Don’t worry, Miss Ava, everythin’s gonna be OK. You’re gonna be fine.’
Obviously, Ava had never seen a shooting before. I knew how she felt. After my first I shook for days. We got her inside and wrapped her in a blanket to keep her warm. Then I got a bottle of bourbon out, poured her a small drink and both me and Jerry a big one. Jerry fed her the booze like she was a child, and immediately the color began to come back into her face.
‘Ava? Sweetie?’ I said. I slapped her face lightly and her eyes fluttered. ‘Ava!’ I snapped.
‘What the hell-’ she said, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. ‘I need another drink.’
I poured her another but this time I let her hold it and drink it herself.
‘What the hell happened?’ she demanded. ‘What the fuck happened back there? All I know is there was a lot of shooting.’
‘Don’t worry about it, Ava,’ I said. ‘It’s over.’
‘Did you kill them?’ she asked. ‘Did you actually fucking kill them?’
‘Yeah, Miss Ava, I killed ’em,’ Jerry told her. ‘They went for their guns. I had no choice.’
‘This is crazy,’ she said. ‘What if they weren’t really following us? What if they were fucking innocent?’
‘Ava,’ I said, getting right in her face, ‘they followed us to an abandoned parking lot and pulled their guns. Believe me, they weren’t innocent.’
‘Oh God. . this is my fault.’
‘I think you need some sleep,’ I said.
‘Sleep? It’s early. It’s fucking day time, for Chrissake.’
‘You need a nap,’ I said. ‘Have some more.’ She finished the drink she held in her hand and I took the glass away. Then I walked her into the bedroom, laid her down on the bed, still wrapped in the blanket. In minutes she was asleep.
I walked back to the living room, where Jerry was having another drink.
‘This sucks, Mr G.,’ he said.
‘I know it, Jerry.’
‘How the hell did they get on to us so fast?’ he asked. ‘Somebody’s talkin’.’
‘Who?’ I asked. ‘Not you, not me. Not Ava. Not Jack Entratter.’
‘Not Mr S.’
‘Not Dean.’
We stared at each other.
‘Too many damn people already know what’s goin’ on,’ I said. ‘What if one of them just. . slipped?’
‘But. . who?’
I thought for a moment, had another drink, then closed my eyes and said, ‘Shit.’
‘What?’
‘Ava asked me if she could call her sister.’
‘You said no, right?’
‘Right, but the look on her face. .’
‘What about it?’
‘Damn it, Jerry,’ I said, ‘what if she already did call her?’
FIFTY-THREE
‘We need to get out of here,’ I said.
Jerry and I were sitting in the kitchen. We had the items we had taken from the dead guys spread out on the table in front of us, and we had coffee cups.
We went through the wallets, found Chicago driver’s licenses for each man — Aldo Camanitti and Tony Del Grosso — but there was no guarantee that these were their real names. They each had over two hundred dollars and several books of matches in their pockets from local strip clubs. One of them had a hotel key, but there was no telling which hotel. But since only one of them had a key they must have been sharing a room.
They each had plane tickets from Chicago to Las Vegas. They arrived the night before on a red-eye. Somebody had sent those two jokers to Vegas in a hurry.
‘Two guns from Chicago on a red-eye,’ I said. ‘We gotta get out of here, Jerry, before somebody comes lookin’ for these guys, or sends replacements.’
‘Hold up, Mr G.,’ he said. ‘Nobody’s gonna replace ’em until they’re found. We’re OK for now, but I agree we gotta get Miss Ava outta here soon.’
‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘soon, like tomorrow. But first we gotta find out if she did call her sister.’
‘She was still asleep last time I checked.’
It was later in the afternoon, and I could hear Jerry’s stomach growling.
‘That diner down the block still open?’ he asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘How about I go grab us some food?’ he asked. ‘I think better on a full stomach.’
‘Fine.’ I gave him some of the money Ava had given me. ‘Get whatever you want, bring me and Ava some burgers and fries.’
‘High class lady like her must be useta eatin’ better than we been givin’ her,’ he said.
‘She hasn’t complained about the food yet, Jerry.’
‘Maybe I’ll bring her a club sandwich,’ he said. ‘Classy people like club sandwiches.’
‘Whatever you think, pal.’
He grabbed my car keys. The Caddy had driven fine on the way home, betraying no damage other than some scratches to the back.
As the front door closed I thought I heard Ava stirring in the bedroom. She had been asleep for about three hours. I got up and walked to the doorway. She was moving around, then suddenly the blanket spread open and she rose up into a seated position.
‘What the hell happened?’ she asked.
I entered the room and approached the bed. She looked better, more color in her face and focus to her eyes.
‘You went into shock after the shooting,’ I said. ‘What do you remember?’