He poked the cigar at me. “I want you. I like what I hear about you.”
“I’m flattered, Ben, really. But I’m a businessman, too, and I have an agency to run.”
“I know all about being an executive. I sympathize. On the other hand, there’d be five grand in it for you for a week’s work.”
“When did you want me to come out?”
He grinned, making dimples that made Shirley Temple look like a piker. “You are a businessman, aren’t you, Nate? I like your style. Anyway, I’ll be in touch. I plan to open before the end of the year-I won’t bring you in till we’re closer to being up and running.”
“I think it’s only fair to warn you about something.”
“Oh?”
“Jim Ragen’s a friend of mine. And a client. Even for five grand…even for more…I won’t be party to anything that would put me in a conflict of interest with Jim.”
“Of course not,” Siegel said, talking around his cigar, “that would be bad business. But teaching my staff to spot and stop pickpockets has nothing to do with Ragen, does it?”
“Well, I just thought it needed to be said.”
“I know about you and Ragen. I know all about it. It doesn’t bother me.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Why should it? Ragen’s no worry to me.”
“Flat on his back in the hospital, you mean, all shot up?”
“I wish he was up and around.”
That knocked me back a bit. I said, “Why in hell?” Thinking: so your people can get another crack at him?
“Ragen’s business is good for my business,” he said, flatly.
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
Siegel smiled, almost to himself. He pitched the cigar over the side and turned and looked at me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m not a schmuck. Do I look like a schmuck?”
“No.”
“You were Ragen’s bodyguard when the hit went down. You swapped slugs with the shooters, who if they were my people woulda got the job done, by the way. And you been keeping guard on his hospital room. Am I right?”
“To a tee,” I said, feeling very uncomfortable with that friendly hand on my shoulder.
“It stands to reason that Ragen would hire you to find out who took the contract out. I mean, you’re his friend, and you’re already in his employ, and you got certain Outfit connections but you’re not in their pocket. Who else would he hire?”
“Pinkerton?” I asked.
“No. Nate Heller of the A-l Detective Agency at Van Buren and Plymouth. The guy who helped nail Bioff and Browne without even pissing Nitti off, which is a fucking miracle. And which opened some doors out here for me, thanks very much. You figure-Ragen figures-this hit coulda been bought by only one of two people: me or Jake Guzik. Guzik’s probably trying to make you and Ragen believe it was me behind it. Meanwhile he’s probably trying to negotiate a buyout, at the same time he’s trying to sneak somebody into Ragen’s hospital room to ice him. Am I cooking with gas here, or what?”
“Both burners,” I admitted.
He took his hand off my shoulder; looked out into the darkness. “From what I hear about Ragen, he must be a great old guy. I love it the way he’s standing up to those bastards. Those Outfit guys, they always want something for nothing. Out East we learned you work for what you get. Anyway, I’d be lying if I said I like Ragen, ’cause I only met him a couple of times, so I can’t even say I know him, really. But I wish him the best of luck.”
“You wish him the best of luck?” I asked. My mouth hanging open lower than Mickey Cohen’s.
“Sure. If he goes under, well, hell-sooner or later, I’m out of business.”
“I don’t get you. He’s your competition.”
Siegel laughed. “He’s no competition to me. Early on we had some rough stuff, sure; Mickey roughed up Ragen’s son-in-law, Brophy, back when we were trying to break in the L.A. market. But things have settled down since. Now, if I go in a wire room, or one of my boys does, they buy what I’m sellin’. No questions asked. If they like Ragen’s service better than mine, well they buy his too. How does that hurt me?”
“Not at all,” I admitted.
“I’m pulling in twenty-five grand a week on Trans-American, Nate. That’s my end alone. Sweet numbers, I’d say.”
“So would I.”
“If Ragen sells out, or if he dies and his family sells out, the Outfit will take over Continental and my pals back east, having business arrangements with Guzik and the boys, will cave in and shut Trans-American down. And I’ll be out of business.”
“I never of thought it like that,” I said.
“I hope Ragen lives forever,” Siegel said, his smile big and benign, “and I hope he hangs on forever with his business, too, fighting those bastards tooth and nail.”
I was shaking my head, wondering why I hadn’t figured it. “You really didn’t hire the Ragen hit, did you?”
“Of course not. It wouldn’t make any fucking sense at all.” He laughed. “You know, you got a great little girl there, Nate. I’m gonna hate to lose her.”
“What?”
“Peggy Hogan. She’s your girl. I know that, and not just ’cause Georgie and Tab both told me. I got my sources. I’m going to hate to lose her, ’cause she’s got a great head for figures. I’d put her in charge of my whole office staff if she’d give up working for her uncle and move west permanent. But I bet she wouldn’t do that, or leave you behind, either.”
“Have…have you talked to her about this?”
“Ha! Of course not! She doesn’t know I know anything about any of it. She doesn’t know I know how tight she is with her uncle. She’s been trying to pump me all week, sizing me up, watching me. You ought to hire her on at A-l.”
“You don’t seem to be pissed off or anything…”
“With who?”
“With Peggy. For, you know…checking up on you.”
“Hey, I think it’s cute. She’s dedicated to her family. That’s a good thing. It’s like friendship. You can’t put a price on it. Take her back to Chicago, Nate, and marry the girl, before she goes all career girl on you and you’re shit out of luck. Take my advice. I know my women.”
I bet he did.
“Come on,” he said, taking me by the arm, “let’s go back and get you two kids back together. I’m a sucker for a good love story.”
Siegel ushered me into the casino, me on his arm like the starlet on Raft’s, and with his big winning smile stopped at the crap table where Virginia Hill, having finally crapped out, was waiting for another turn, sipping one of a succession of stingers, holding her own purse while Peggy looked dutifully on.
Only now that she saw me, Peggy’s mouth was, as they say, agape, which amused La Hill no end.
“What’s wrong, honey?” she asked Peggy. “Aren’t you glad to see your little boy friend?”
“Nate,” Peggy said, her always pale face downright ashen now, violet eyes round and wet and tragic, “what are you doing here?”
Miss Hill pressed hand to generous bosom and laughed like a braying mule, managing to say, “I don’t think she’s glad to see you, Heller!”
Siegel let go of my arm and went to Peggy, who suddenly looked very frightened. He touched her arm, gently, and she flinched. He didn’t let go, however.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he told her. “Nate’s a friend of mine. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine. He’ll tell you all about it.”
He let go of her arm and nodded to me. The eyes of the nearby crowd were on us. I felt like I was wearing a fig leaf and it slipped. Nonetheless, I moved to her and she looked at me angry and hurt and confused, but I put my arm around her and walked her away from the table, from the crowd, toward the bar, where Raft looked at us, lifted his eyebrows, put them back down, and looked away.
“Come with me,” I said. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Nate, I…I don’t know what to say…does he know about me?”
“Yeah.”
“You mean, that I was trying to find out…”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. Look, there’s a launch every half hour. We’ll catch the next one.”